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I did an extra repeat for the pattern so I could get another set of stems. I am tall, used lace weight and blocked it should finish just right. I crocheted the binding edge. It went so much faster than me trying to knit chains. Now to block the heck out of this thing. Ahh happiness. It’s done yay!!!!!!!! I shall wear it everywhere. Now to get a new shawl pin b/c the one I have just doesn’t look right with it. 1/30/15 After having this for a year and a half, I never wear it anymore. I think I am going to undo the bind off and use the rest of the yarn I have and make it bigger. Really, that is reason I don’t wear it. I now feel like it is too small after all my other amazing shawls I have made. |
How To Mix Music is our essential guide to becoming a music mixing professional. With this series I help explain and teach music mixing to you – musicians, producers, and aspiring mixing engineers. I share our years of experience and insight on mixing and mastering. Covering the necessary preparations, tools, underlying physics and insider tips and tricks to achieve the perfect mix and master. The first episode covers setting yourself up to become a great engineer. We discussed monitoring, DAWs and plugins, composition, and stem preparing. The second episode covers organizing your mixer, setting up your signal flow, and understanding the essential plugins (EQ, compressor, reverb, and delay). The third episode covers how to improve your stereo image and make your mix sound wider. Also, we covered how to use the essential plugins to mix kicks and snares, the backbone of a song. In this part I reveal our best techniques to mixing drums and mixing bass. I explain step by step how we place these different elements in the mixing space, go over our compressor settings, and give equalising tips to achieve a clean and crisp mix. If you are looking for quick fixes for your mixing problems in regard to drums and bass, feel free to grab my personal drums and bass cheat sheet. It outlines easy solutions to the 11 most common issues: Cheatsheet: Quickly improve your Bass and Drums. Mixing Drums & Mixing Bass Mixing Claps Placement: Claps are often added as either a replacement of snares, an addition to snares, or as miscellaneous effects. With this in mind, and the fact that claps most often don’t have low frequencies, you can place claps at different locations in the mixing space. You have the opportunity to be creative here. EQ (cut): The base frequencies of claps are often somewhere in between 350Hz and 500Hz. Add a HPF to cut away all unnecessary frequencies right before that base frequency. Claps often need their high frequencies to cut through the mix. Therefore, we apply a LPF at around 15kHz to 20kHz to specify its frequency range. Compression: With claps, same as with kicks, snares and other drums, we set the attack time of the compressor to occur right after the attack time of the clap to enhance the punch of the sound. This is often somewhere between 6 and 20 milliseconds. The release time can be short, somewhere between 20 and 100 milliseconds often sounds great. We compress claps often by 2dB to 6dB, with a ratio around 4:1. EQ (boost): We rarely boost frequencies of claps. If we do, it is most often to increase the higher frequencies a tiny bit to enhance its brightness. Reverb: Depending on what sound you are going for, claps often sound great with either drum reverb or the reverb of the overall space. Mixing Toms Placement: Even though toms have low frequencies, if equalized properly, they can sound very interesting on the sides of the mixing space. By doing this properly, you also create more space for the kick and the bass in the center of the mixing space. EQ (cut): It is very important to cut away the low frequency rumble of toms. By doing this, you vastly improve your mix by making it less muddy. The base frequencies of toms are often somewhere around 100Hz and 200Hz. You want to set a HPF right before these frequencies. The highest frequencies of toms often differ, this could be between 500Hz and 15kHz, set a LPF according to the sound you want to achieve. Compression: Same as with the other drums, we set the attack of the compressor right after the attack of the tom. This is often somewhere between 10 milliseconds and 25 milliseconds. The release time of the compressor on a tom can be experimented with as the tails of toms often differ. Though, make sure that the compressor is back to 0dB before the next tom occurs. We compress toms most often by 2dB to 6dB with a ratio between 3:1 and 5:1. EQ (boost): To make toms sound rounder and give them more body, try boosting their ringtones with a notch filter. Read how to do this effectively in the previous episode. Reverb: Toms often sound great without any reverb. Though, if they are rich in mid-high frequencies, they might also sound great with a little drum reverb. Mixing Percussion Placement: Placement can be experimented with. If the percussion is a vital part of the core beat, it might sound best in the center of the mixing space. However, placement of miscellaneous percussion on the sides can create an interesting stereo image. EQ (cut): The base frequencies of percussion are often somewhere between 300Hz and 500Hz. Add a HPF right before these frequencies. On percussion we apply LPFs often around 15kHz, this way we still keep some high frequencies, but leave enough space for hi hats and crashes to come through in the mix. Compression: Same as with the other drums, we set the attack time of the compressor right after the attack time of the percussion. This is often somewhere between 8 milliseconds and 20 milliseconds. The release time of the compressor on percussion can be short. It often sounds great to set this somewhere between 25 milliseconds and 90 milliseconds. We most often compress percussion by 2dB to 6dB with a ratio around 4:1. EQ (boost): With certain percussion sounds you could enhance the ringtones with notch filters, which might give more body and sometimes more definition. Reverb: Percussion often sounds great with drum reverb, and in some occasions with an emptier or more minimalistic mix, with reverb of the overall space. Mixing Hi-hats Placement: Hi-hats sound great in the center as well as on the sides of the mixing space. If you have multiple hi-hats in a song, it can widen your mix by placing them differently on the sides. EQ (cut): The base frequencies of hi-hats are often somewhere in between 500Hz and 2kHz. Apply a HPF right before these frequencies to keep a clean mix. Hi-hats are important in defining the high frequencies of a song. Therefore, we add a LPF at the peak of their frequency range at around 20kHz. Compression: The attack time of hi-hats is often somewhere in between 5 milliseconds and 15 milliseconds. For a defined sound, set the attack time of the compressor right after that moment. The length of the sound of a hi-hat is short, so can be the release time of the compressor. For a right sound, you can set this often somewhere between 20 milliseconds and 60 milliseconds. We compress hi-hats often by 2dB to 6dB, with a ratio between 3:1 to 6:1. EQ (boost): We rarely boost the frequencies of hi-hats as this often results in a messy sound. If necessary, you can boost the high-end of hi-hats slightly around 10kHz to increase its definition. Reverb: The reverb of hi-hats depends completely on the style of the song. For a clean and tight sound, do not apply any reverb on the hi-hats. For a more natural sound, add a little drum reverb on the hi-hats. For a spacious sound, add reverb of the overall space. Mixing Crashes Placement: Crashes often consists of solely high frequencies and therefore sound great at the sides of the mix. EQ (cut): Crashes often do not need any frequencies below 500Hz or 1kHz. Apply a HPF in this area and find the sweet spot. Crashes, same as hi-hats, are important in defining the high frequencies of a mix. Crashes need to be able to utilize their highest frequencies to have impact on climaxing moments in a song. Therefore, we apply a LPF at around 20kHz, the peak of its frequency range. Compression: You can set the attack time of the compressor on crashes depending on what kind of sound you want. If you want the attack of the crash to come through, you should set the attack of the compressor right after (often around 5 milliseconds to 20 milliseconds). If you do not want to give an extra accentuation to the attack of the crash, you can set the attack time of the compressor before the attack of the crash. As crashes often have a long tail, it often sounds great to set a long release time for the compressor (around 100 to 300 milliseconds). We compress crashes often by 2dB to 4dB with a ratio between 3:1 till 5:1. EQ (boost): We rarely boost frequencies of crashes. Though, if necessary, you can slightly boost frequencies above 10kHz to enhance the brightness of a crash. Reverb: Depending on the sound you are going for, crashes often sound good with and without reverb. For a clinical sound, do not use reverb. For a spacious sound, you can use the reverb of the overall space. Mixing Bass Placement: A bass is rich in low frequencies and it is therefore important to place it in the center of the mixing space. EQ (cut): To get a defined sound for a bass, and get rid of the mud, it works great to set a HPF right before the base tone. This is often somewhere between 20Hz and 80Hz. Some basses contain only low frequencies, others are also rich in mid-range frequencies. If the bass has only low frequencies, set a LPF right after the highest tone. If the bass has also mid and/or mid-high frequencies, you want to define its highest frequencies according to other synths or instruments that might need those mid or mid/high frequencies to come through in the mix, or vice versa. We often find that it sounds best to set a LPF on a bass with mid and mid/high frequencies somewhere around 500Hz to 1kHz. However, this depends solely on the bass and the song. Compression: As basses are rich in low frequencies, we often compress basses more than other elements to increase the possibilities on a louder master. We do this with a compression of 2dB to 8dB with a ratio around 3:1 to 6:1. To maintain the impact of the bass we set the attack of the compressor often around 30 milliseconds. The tails of basses often differ, therefore you have to play around with the release time of the compressor and listen what sounds best. EQ (boost): We rarely boost frequencies of basses, as that often gives a muddy result. Sometimes however, if the mix allows, we boost frequencies between 200Hz and 500Hz to improve the sound of the bass on laptop speakers. Reverb: We do not use reverb on basses to create a sense of space, as a reverb with low frequencies sounds muddy. Only in some occasions you might want to use reverb on a bass as a creative effect. Pro Tip: In the low frequencies of a mix there is almost always a battle between the kick and the bass. To keep the mix clean it can help to determine that only one of the two elements is allowed to have frequencies below 60Hz. It depends on your judgement of the song which element that is. Also you can figure out on which frequencies the key tone of each element is, and cut a little away from those frequencies of the other element. That concludes this episode of Our Essential Guide To Becoming A Music Mixing Professional series. You can comment and ask any questions below. Did you grab my free cheat sheet how to fix the 11 most common mixing issues for drums and bass? If you haven’t yet, grab it here: Cheatsheet: Quickly improve your Bass and Drums. Next episode we continue with how to mix: synths, instruments, vocals, sound effects, reverbs, and delays. Thanks again for reading the articles and sharing the message. I am Tim van Doorne, it’s an honour to serve you. Stay motivated to improve your sound, every single day! |
Barton's and Zinn's works have also made a discernible impression on secondary education. Barton served as an expert consultant for the Texas State Board of Education's recent revamp of its influential state social studies curriculum, while A People's History (which first appeared more than three decades ago) is aggressively marketed by an education project that bears Zinn's name and has been taught in countless middle school and high school classes. It's not just that Barton and Zinn have large constituencies. They also inspire a degree of passion that verges on the pugnacious. In early 2011, Mike Huckabee quipped that the country's schoolchildren should be forced "at gunpoint ... to listen to every David Barton message." (Elaborating on his pedagogical vision, Huckabee suggested that students be exposed to Barton's teaching through a "simultaneous telecast.") Zinn received his own bellicose endorsement from Matt Damon's character in the 1997 film Good Will Hunting. "If you wanna read a real history book," Damon instructed his therapist, "read Howard Zinn's A People's History of the United States. That book'll [expletive] knock you on your [expletive]." What exactly is it about Barton's and Zinn's versions of history that inspire such uncompromising, take-no-prisoners fervor? And how do they manage to wield so much influence, given the widespread skepticism about their accuracy? Partisanship is the first answer that comes to mind. Barton and Zinn have served as eloquent and vocal supporters of right- and left-wing causes respectively, and both have reworked the past for transparently political purposes. Each has offered conclusions that resonate with his audiences' beliefs. Whatever the validity of their claims, in other words, many readers apparently think they should be true. (It's also likely that partisanship accounts for some proportion of votes against Barton and Zinn's credibility.) But that's only part of the explanation. There's a more insidious mechanism that helps explain both the passionate support these authors inspire and the well-founded suspicion that they are fudging the record. In short, Barton and Zinn have each crafted a sort of Da Vinci Code history. Nearly everyone knows the basic plotline of that bestselling Dan Brown novel, which leads readers via a highly dubious series of clues to the previously undisclosed origin of Christianity while unraveling the malicious web of deception that concealed it for centuries. Adapting this gripping storytelling approach, Barton and Zinn offer audiences the illusion that they have been hoodwinked by undisclosed authorities -- Ivy League academics, textbook authors, the New York Times, eighth-grade social studies teachers, parents. They give readers the intellectual self-assurance that accompanies expertise without the slog of unglamorous study required to attain it. |
Tasha: Has a movie ever broken your heart, Scott? I don’t want to be too melodramatic about my frustration over Elysium, but I think my disappointment, and even annoyance, merits at least a moment or two of clothes-rending and breast-beating. I had high expectations for this film. Neill Blomkamp’s first feature, District 9, was No. 3 on my top 10 movies of the year in 2009. It was such a revelation: a fully realized future, a smart science-fiction take on a series of modern real-world issues, and a cracking good action feature, all made to blockbuster visual standards, on a non-blockbuster $30 million budget. I hoped that given more money and support, Blomkamp would make another movie that was just as conceptually daring and unexpected, but in a different way. Instead, he remade District 9 with three times the budget and a much clunkier, shriller, clumsier take on frustratingly similar material. Simply put, Blomkamp has made his Mallrats. To state things more rationally: Elysium follows the same plot beats as District 9. Again, it’s about the gap between the haves and the have-nots, in this case explored via a divide between people who live on overcrowded, run-down, miserablist earth, and their rich overlords who have literally gone to live in the sky, on a space station full of green spaces and technological riches. (For other takes on this “wealth above, death below” idea, see also: Metropolis, The Time Machine, Upside Down, Battle Angel Alita, Land Of The Dead, etc.) Again, there’s a protagonist who nominally works for the overlords (in this case, Max, played by Matt Damon), but is discarded when an accident gives him a deadline on his life, and nothing left to lose. Again, he’s a selfish bastard until a child in a similar situation to his gets him thinking about others as well as himself; again, he’s taken in by hated second-class citizens, and offered a dangerous, messy form of possible salvation that involves leaving Earth and flying somewhere forbidden. The plot similarities continue right down to the ending, but I don’t want to spoil too much. Scott, how much is Elysium’s similarity with District 9 an issue for you? Scott: Only insofar as the new film fell short of the previous film in virtually every department. What impressed me about District 9 was that it did so much with so little: Like Bong Joon-ho’s The Host, it was produced for far less money than its Hollywood counterparts, and yet still put its terrific, budget-conscious special effects into broad daylight. On top of that, it also lacked the heaviness of a Hollywood production, and was able to smuggle a potent statement about apartheid in Blomkamp’s native South Africa into a fleet, engaging, thoroughly enjoyable action movie. While I don’t quite share your enthusiasm for District 9—it wasn’t in the running for my Top 10 list that year, and I counted it more as a late-summer sleeper than a modern science-fiction/action masterpiece—I, too, felt my stomach drop as Elysium plummeted to Earth. As Keith pointed out in his review and you indicate above, plenty of movies have taken inspiration from Metropolis’ “wealth above, death below” setup, but few have been so keen to carry over its rather hammy political sentiments. I admired the basic premise of Elysium, which sets up a future that seems fairly plausible given our current course: Overpopulation, scarcity of resources, infrastructure crumbling, security state ballooning to full-on automated oppression, need for the wealthy to set up the ultimate gated community. Okay, maybe that last part is a stretch, given the expense of a whole satellite full of rich white people, but it’s one I’m willing to allow the film, which uses the 1-percent/99-percent divide to go after savage inequalities in health-care access. But Blomkamp’s allegory is executed so bluntly that I was wondering why I resisted it as strongly as I did, given that I liked District 9 and felt politically simpatico to this film. I have ideas about why the allegory didn’t play for me, but I want to hear from you first, Tasha. Tasha: Well, a major part of it was how crashingly unsubtle the film is about its metaphor. This is one of those futures where rich people are so evil, they practically spend the whole film rubbing their hands together and cackling. We all know rich people are exactly like that in real life, but onscreen, it gets awkward to watch as Defense Secretary Delacourt (Jodie Foster) kills dozens of illegal immigrants with a hand-wave, then callously, smugly delivers the equivalent of Colonel Jessup’s A Few Good Men speech about living in a world where the walls have to be guarded by people with guns. Meanwhile, industrialist John Carlyle (William Fichtner) literally yells at a subordinate for breathing in his direction, then sneers at our protagonist, dying in the next room from injuries sustained due to terrible conditions in Carlyle’s factory, which is coincidentally devoted to building the oppressive robot cops that break Max’s arm for no reason early in the film. The bad guys are almost comically one-dimensional, and the heroes, in response, are sad-eyed paper saints. And the film just will not let it go; Blomkamp returns again and again and again to shots of Max and love interest Frey (Alice Braga) as children, running and playing and promising their eternal love with the optimism of childhood. The rich people, on the other hand, were presumably never children: They were born cynical, adult, and evil. A metaphor like Elysium’s space-station heaven is designed to reflect reality back at us in a way we recognize, and let us see the world from a new angle. But reality has nuance, and Elysium doesn’t. It isn’t close enough to reality to be recognizable, and it’s preachy, histrionic, and cloying to a degree that makes me ashamed to be on its side. Scott: We’re known for our fierce disagreements, even when we more or less feel the same about a movie, but I’m in complete agreement with you on this one, Tasha. The politics of Elysium are just brutally heavy-handed, and I’ve been struggling a little to figure out why, given that District 9, a film we both liked, gives a similar allegory a hard push, too. I think it may be a Mary Poppins problem: It takes a spoonful of sugar to make the medicine go down, and Blomkamp keeps refilling a bottomless cup of wheatgrass juice. Paul Verhoeven and screenwriter Ed Neumeier solved this problem with satire in RoboCop and Starship Troopers—and a compelling human center in the former that’s rooted out ruthlessly and hilariously in the latter—and with District 9, Blomkamp combined a news-story urgency with some of the slapstick splatter-comedy familiar from early Peter Jackson movies. Elysium is po-faced and leaden by comparison, setting the world of have-nots, with its parade of crippled kids and rubble-houses, against the haves, who are dealt with so glancingly that all we see are pool parties at colonial mansions and white preppies listening to classical music. (Though I’ll admit to being amused by the thought that 1-percenters watching the film will quietly root for Elysium to survive this assault by the Great Unwashed.) Opportunities for more subtle social commentary are missed left and right, and the action feels obligatory, like Blomkamp is reluctantly giving us the bread and circuses needed to sustain his political agenda. Ironies like Max working to produce the same robots that harass him on the street don’t land softly, and the bullet-time effects feel a little late-1990s/early-2000s. I’m struggling to find something nice to say about Elysium. While I mull it over, I’d like to hear more from you about why this failed where District 9 succeeded. What’s missing here? Tasha: While I agree that part of the problem is Elysium’s humorlessness and self-importance, I think there are three other major differences between the two films: 1) The protagonists. Wikus in District 9 (Sharlto Copley, who changes sides to become Elysium’s most active villain) is sympathetic and human. He’s desperately afraid most of the time, and fighting his own fears in addition to fighting an unstoppable force. While I agreed when Keith said in his review that Damon brings across a relatively subtle disappointment as Max, he’s still playing one of those unemotive, unstoppable slab-o’-beef action heroes who stops being a person early on, and becomes a blunt tool used to create mayhem. And I couldn’t buy into the attempts to humanize him by repeatedly flashing back to his childhood; it’s a cheap attempt to tie positive feelings for cute kids into more complicated feelings about Max, and the two versions of the character never feel related. Also, Christopher and his offspring in District 9 are active participants in their fight for survival, while Frey and her daughter are little more than props used to motivate Max. 2) The scale. Part of District 9’s charm is how much it accomplishes on the blockbuster equivalent of a shoestring budget, but it does look ramshackle and raw in a way that makes it more convincing. Elysium has a more polished look and a much bigger scale that make it feel sterile and airless by comparison. 3) The villains. District 9 is about fighting a corrupt, discriminatory system: In effect, it’s about institutionalized racism. There are a few specific enemies, but they’re functionaries; none of them are responsible for the existence of racism. That makes Wikus’ fight more desperate and doomed, but also more real. Elysium puts clownish faces on its institutionalized forces, and makes no effort to make them convincing or human. I still can’t decide who’s more ridiculous: Carlyle with his exaggerated “How dare you breathe near me!” solipsism, Secretary Delacourt with her “Somebody has to kill all the immigrants you’re too cowardly to kill!” speechifying, or Kruger (Copley’s villain), who has no personality but brutality, and no motives but his expressed enjoyment of rape and murder. The aggravatingly simplistic implication is that Max can end world poverty by killing these three ridiculously monstrous schmoes. And he never even gets to face Delacourt, which is a bold but unsatisfying narrative choice. Scott: I wonder if all three of those problems are related. Blowing up the scale of a film creates issues related to character, because we know from a summer of watching spectacle-driven blockbusters that the basics of character and story tend to get dwarfed. To his credit, Blomkamp has come up with a strong conceit—Metropolis for the Obamacare age—but the world of the film is so enormous that everything is painted in broad strokes: From the villainy of Secretary Delacourt, which rides on Jodie Foster’s abysmal South African-ish accent, to the romantic material with Max and Frey, tied mainly to a pact they made to each other as dirt-smudged street urchins. Blomkamp’s decision not to spend time getting to know anyone on Elysium isn’t necessarily a bad one, but it’s not as if the Earthlings are more richly drawn as a result. They’re no more flesh-and-blood in their victimhood than the wine-slurpers on Elysium are in their entitlement. Blomkamp’s use of a choral music cue to depict their plight reminded me of well-meaning action movies like Tears Of The Sun, where the poor people saved by some American action star are all suffering under this same musical umbrella. “This is one of those futures where rich people are so evil, they practically spend the whole film rubbing their hands together and cackling.” But please, Tasha, let us not think of Elysium as a political film. In this Wired profile, Blomkamp claims the film has no message, and he followed up with FOX411 by saying, “The first order of business for a big summer popcorn movie is to make a kick-ass movie with great action.” That’s all a lot of bullshit, of course, because it’s Blomkamp’s job on promotional tours to sell his movie to people of all political persuasions. (In the infamous words of basketball god/Nike icon Michael Jordan: “Republicans buy shoes, too.”) Still, as disheartening as I find Elysium’s aesthetic shortcomings, it’s even more depressing to think about a culture that can’t abide a strong political perspective in its movies. District 9 was a stronger and more distinctive action movie for having a point of view. Tasha: Having a point of view, and having a distinct personality. On top of all the issues we’ve cited in terms of tone, construction, and characterization, my problem with Elysium is the anonymity and ubiquity of its action, once Max gets super-suited up and starts beating on robots, baddies, and Kruger. Possibly that’s what Blomkamp meant when he said the film had no message: He has a high concept, but it gets back-burnered in favor of mindless Michael Bay action. (He cites Bay as an inspiration in that Wired piece.) As much as a piece like this needs action setpieces—as much as they’re the raison d’être—the battles in Elysium feel repetitive, arbitrary, and overlong. The hand-to-hand combat often lacks that clarity of staging and sense of spatial relationships we both want to see more of in action films, and the ability to stitch together a mauled, faceless Kruger and toss him right back in for another sword-fight makes Max’s progress seem meaningless. And then after 45 minutes of fighting, there’s an abrupt and unlikely ending, arbitrarily staged with Max staring into space and that flashback-to-childhood playing for the umpteenth time. I can see this story working under the right circumstances, Scott, but like you, I’m having a hard time coming up with anything particularly positive to say about Elysium. Scott: There’s a whole essay to be written—and I will one day write it—about the Michael Bay/Jerry Bruckheimer obliteration of filmmaking fundamentals and its impact on film language, but the short of it is that directors of that school (of which I’d never thought of Blomkamp as a graduate until now) mistake intensity for impact. Sequences that are not cleanly and coherently staged have a tendency to be unmemorable, because we’re simply being pummeled by them, rather than being aroused by distinct elements. The fact that I saw Elysium earlier this week and cannot recall a single action sequence says it all, really. |
KUSA—Ndamukong Suh is so big, so bad, he stands between the Denver Broncos and Von Miller from reaching agreement on a new contract. Think centers, guards, quarterbacks and running backs often find Suh an impenetrable force? Suh, who is otherwise a defensive tackle for the Miami Dolphins, has become a Berlin Wall in Broncos’ negotiations with Miller. Suh is the NFL’s highest-paid defensive player with an average of $19.0625 million a year. The Broncos don’t want to pay Miller that kind of dough because they consider Suh’s contract to be an outlier. And indeed, well behind Suh are the next five highest-paid defensive players -- Kansas City’s Justin Houston, Houston’s J.J. Watt, Buffalo’s Marcel Dareus and Mario Williams, and Tampa Bay’s Gerald McCoy – who are bunched between Houston’s $16.83 million annual average and McCoy’s $15.867 million. So Suh is well-separated from the pack – just as Calvin Johnson was as free-agents Demaryius Thomas and Dez Bryant were seeking to use the leverage of free agency to become the league’s highest-paid receivers last year. Sign up for the 9NEWSLETTER Thank You Something went wrong. This email will be delivered to your inbox once a day in the morning. Thank You for signing up for the 9NEWSLETTER Please try again later. Submit But here’s the Broncos’ problem as they try to re-sign Miller to a deal that would make him the league’s second-highest paid player: Their pass-rushing outside linebacker is the league’s No. 1 defensive player. OK, Watt is the best, but he’s also irrelevant in Miller’s case because he’s under contract through 2021. Miller's contract has expired. Besides, anyone who watched Miller record 5.0 sacks in three postseason games would argue Watt has company in the game’s best defensive player discussion. Demaryius Thomas was never quite Calvin Johnson in his prime. Miller is a more dynamic player than Suh. And yes, Miller and his agent Joby Branion are asking for a deal that would re-set the market. In this continuing 9NEWS series, the case for Miller is simple: He can singlehandedly win a Super Bowl. What else is there? In Broncos’ history only one other player – running back Terrell Davis in the Super Bowl championship season of 1997 – can make such a claim. But even Davis needed his offensive line to block for him and quarterback John Elway to keep the Green Bay defense honest. Miller all by himself destroyed the Carolina Panthers for two strip-sack fumbles that led to the Broncos' only two touchdowns – the difference in Denver’s 24-10 victory in Super Bowl 50 three weeks ago. Miller has never known anything less than a division title and second-round playoff appearance since the Broncos drafted him with the No. 2 overall pick five years ago. In fairness to the Broncos, they are acknowledging Miller’s postseason exploits. Houston was coming off a 22-sack season in 2014 when he converted the Chiefs’ franchise tag into a six-year, $101 million deal last year. Miller is coming off an 11-sack season, yet the Broncos have offered him a multiyear deal that exceeded Houston’s and crossed into the $17 million annual average territory. Miller can quash any regular-season argument, though, by the fact he has been more consistently productive than anyone but Watt since Miller, Watt, Houston and Dareus were drafted into the league in 2011. A look at the NFL sack leaders the past five regular seasons, along with Miller’s second specialty stat of forced fumbles: Player …………….. Sacks .… FF J.J. Watt ……......... 74.5 …. 15 Von Miller ……...... 60.0 …. 16 Justin Houston ..... 56.0 ….. 8 DeMarcus Ware … 54.5 … 10 Jared Allen ………... 53.0 ….. 9 If the Broncos and Miller don’t reach agreement by 2 p.m. Tuesday, he will be slapped with a franchise tag that would pay him a $14.129 million salary -- whether it's a non-exclusive tag, where teams can try to sign him away but would have to give back two, first-round draft picks, or the exclusive tag, where no other team could come in and try to steal him away from the Broncos. If he gets the exclusive tag, Miller would be the first to receive such a distinction since New Orleans quarterback Drew Brees in 2012. The good news for Broncos fans is the tag would mean Miller returns to the team in 2016. The bad news is Miller would not be happy playing on one-year salary. And the Broncos need Miller to play in 2016 like he did in 2015 if they are to repeat as Super Bowl champs. He is that important. The two sides have been exchanging proposals, as recently as within the last 24 hours. A possible compromise: Miller accepts a multiyear deal that is less than Suh’s $19.062 million annual average but exceeds his $60 million full guarantee in the first three years. That way, the Broncos can say they didn’t pay out Suh money to Miller but Miller can set a record in “real dollars.” A big reason why Suh is the league’s highest-paid defensive player is because he was allowed to reach free agency last year when Oakland, Detroit and Miami engaged in a bidding war. The Detroit Lions dropped out when the bidding got past $16 million a year. Oakland dropped out after Suh’s proposal reached an average of $17 million. Miami made sure it got Suh by leaping to $19 million. The contracts for Watt, Dareus and McCoy are not as large in part they were extensions – deals tacked on to previous deals. There is some thought the Broncos should have talked contract extension with Miller back in August, when two consecutive years of clean tests cleared him from the NFL substance abuse program. The reason the Broncos don’t do big extensions, though, is because they’ve all in payroll-wise year to year for a run at the Super Bowl. An extension might have prevented the Broncos from signing All Pro left guard Evan Mathis late in the preseason. The Elway general manager philosophy works. See the Lombardi Trophy. But the backlash to the “all-in’’ strategy is Elway is now looking at Miller – with Ndamukong Suh standing menacingly in between. (The 9News series, The case for ... '' looked at Malik Jackson on Sunday and will review impending quarterback Brock Osweiler on Tuesday and DeMarcus Ware, who is facing a pay cut , on Wednesday.) Copyright 2016 KUSA |
Please distribute this story as widely as possible. The spread of MRSA both in and out of hospital is a big problem that we have been warned about since 2005 by the physicians at Doctors Opposing Circumcision. It is now making headlines and it is only going to get worse. Beth Israel Hospital in Boston is affiliated with Harvard. I think we can safely guess that, if there is lax infection control in this institution, it’s probably the “canary in the coal mine” for other institutions. With economic cut backs we know that cleaning services are not going to improve. It’s time to bring an end to the unnecessary cutting of baby genitals. The writing has been on the wall for a long time but a moratorium on circumcision can no longer be delayed. Physicians are well aware that babies are dying from this antibiotic resistant strain of staph infection but it has not been publically displayed so they have been able to perpetuate the circumcision ritual. It’s now time for the AAP to take decisive action to protect families from the nightmare of MRSA in circumcision wounds. These are some of the news stories coming out of Beth Israel Hospital. http://www.boston.com/news/health/articles/2009/04/11/state_details_safety_lapses_at_beth_israel/ Quote: And, on several occasions, the investigators observed worrisome lapses related to circumcisions, including an instance when a nurse didn’t change gloves before tending to the dressings of a baby. Of the 19 infants who have become ill with the drug-resistant staph infection, 15 have been boys, according to Dr. Anita Barry, who is overseeing the investigation of the cases by the Boston Public Health Commission. “I think the circumcision dressing example was one we found particularly problematic,” Dreyer said. “You’ve got examples of contamination that may be in the context of kids with open wounds from circumcision. The danger is spread of infection.” End of quote. Update of story here: http://www.boston.com/lifestyle/family/articles/2009/04/10/beth_israel_faulted_for_staph_outbreak_in_mothers_babies/?comments=all&plckCurrentPage=0 or http://tinyurl.com/cp3r6s Quote: The father, who asked to remain anonymous to protect his family’s privacy, said his son was born in January, after the hospital was aware that there was a problem involving the MRSA bacteria. He said he wished he had been told what symptoms related to MRSA to look for when they were discharged, rather than be “kept in the dark.” The pediatrician alerted them to a problem after noticing several red marks the size of a pencil point on his son’s genital area, he said, and within days, the tiny marks turned into “blisters filled with pus.” End of quote Doctors Opposing Circumcision paper on MRSA complete with photos: http://www.doctorsopposingcircumcision.org/DOC/mrsa.html Feel free to repost, link or cut and paste —-this is a very urgent matter. Let prospective parents and medical workers know about this problem. |
Daniele Donato spoke to THR about this season, both of her seasons and who she's bringing with her for a third shot at the half-million dollars. The Big Brother season 17 finale is a day away, and while one person will be crowned the winner, two will lose out on the $500,000 prize. Of those two, one will be this season's runner-up, and although they'll be $50,000 richer, they are still likely to be haunted by losing the coveted title. "Coming in second place, imagine how much that would haunt you for so long being runner-up," Daniele Donato (seasons eight and 13) tells The Hollywood Reporter. "Every day for a really long time you think, 'What did I do wrong? Was my speech wrong?' " Although she lost in her first season to her father, Evel Dick Donato, in one of the most memorable seasons in the show's history, her second run in the Big Brother house brought a different prize by the name of Dominic Briones. Donato married her season 13 castmate, and with the recent baby news from Rachel Reilly and Brendon Villegas, the Huntington Beach native says, "I am so glad that Rachel is pregnant because now everyone can stop acting like it’s a competition for us to get pregnant. We definitely do want a baby — I’m just glad they took the pressure off of us.” Here, Donato talks to THR about the changes over the years on the CBS reality series, why finale night speeches do and don't matter, and which five players she would be bringing with her for an "all-star" season. You first appeared on Big Brother in 2007. What have been the biggest changes to the show? Now, everyone has it down to a tee of what competition it’s going to be, and people are outplaying the game. There needs to be some huge game twist because I don’t want to see people outplay the game. I want the game to outplay people. Everyone says that they don’t want twists, but when you don’t get twists, you get these people who just walk all over everybody. I actually had an epiphany the other day, and I remember there’s been three seasons — season 14, season 16 and season 17 — and each season, I’ve been like, “How are these people this stupid that they let one person dictate everything? This can’t be real. These have to be the stupidest people in the whole wide world.” But I’ve come to the realization that maybe it’s not the people that are stupid, that maybe the player is just that good, mixed with these stupid people. How do you think this season compares to your two seasons in terms of entertainment value? Season eight was insane. I’m not just saying this because of myself — I was probably one of the more boring people — but every character was so dynamic. Seasons six and eight, and obviously seven, those have been the three best casts of all time because they were so dynamic all over the board. I’m not disappointed with the cast — I think the casting was great this season — but I just think the way that they played they are outplaying the game. As soon as Vanessa and her squad steam-rolled the game, it got boring to watch. In the past, you have two sides of the house, and it was never like that [this season]. People used to be literally fighting and hating each other, and now it’s just everyone loves each other and gets along. Who has a better chance of staying together when the show is over — Austin and Liz or Shelli and Clay? I am totally rooting for Shelli and Clay. Shelli was a great player, and I don’t understand why people didn’t like her. She seems like a genuine, honest, really nice person, so I didn’t get that. They seem normal and down to earth. It’s so funny because every time a guy comes into the house Liz is like, “Oh my God, he’s so hot.” This is not going to go over well as soon as they leave the house. Between her and Austin all that they both want is to become somebody. Julie Chen said that booking an all-showmance season would be a nightmare, and the demands would be high. Would you be one to have demands, and who do you think she might have been talking about? (Laughs.) I know that in most seasons when people come back that the demands are pretty high. I can say that when I came back, my demands were pretty low. I totally know what she means though, and I definitely agree. She also admitted that past houseguests reach out to EPs Allison Grodner and Rich Meehan and pitch themselves for the show. What do you think about that? I can’t imagine people reaching out to Allison and Rich and pitching themselves, but I’m sure a lot of people do. That’s so sad! You've been to finale night as a juror and final-two houseguest. Is there anything that goes on behind the scenes that fans don't get to see? It’s so different now than it used to be. In season eight, we were alone together in the house for a week — after everything’s done you’re like, “I just want to go home, whoever wins, wins. Let’s just go home.” This season's win might come down to finale-night speeches. How much time did you take to prepare yours? Oh my God, my final-two speech — first of all, I had just turned 21, so I was a little kid who was naive at the time. I didn’t really prepare a speech at all. I kind of already knew I was going to lose by the jury questions and their reactions. In the show's history, when a female sits next to a male in the final two they lose. If Vanessa sits next to Steve, will she lose? Vanessa will beat out Steve, but I don't know if everyone will vote Liz to beat Steve. In order to win, what do they need to say in their finale night speech? As a specific juror, some people go in there saying, “I’m going to ask this person this question, and if they answer this way, I’m voting for them. If they don’t, I’m not.” That’s some people, and other people already have their mind set of who they’re voting for and who they’re not. It’s kind of 50-50 where your speeches don’t really matter, but more along the line of the answer to the question a specific person is asking you might matter. Which runner-up in the past deserved to win over the winner? Me, obviously. (Laughs.) I feel like there have been quite a few that don't necessarily deserve to win. Was there any other season that finale speeches really mattered? Dan [Gheesling’s] speech kind of ruined it for him because he was such a brown-noser to everybody. It was so obvious. Andy [Herren] loves to brag about how great his speech was. I’ve told him I hated him in the game. He was horrible to watch. I hate Game Andy, I hate Twitter Andy, but I like real-life Andy. Was there anyone this season you were surprised didn’t make it to the final three? I think everyone was rooting for James. I was so sad to see him go. He was a great player, and I think everyone would have loved to see him in the final three. What do you make of all the recent Twitter wars between former houseguests? There are so many that go on all the time, but I think sometimes people are tired of listening to other people. It’s so funny how judgmental past players can be to the current players, and I think they need to realize they struggled in the game, too, and a lot of them didn’t do very well in the game. For them to judge people is just mean. And then there’s other people who just start fighting, I don’t know if it’s for attention or what. It’s weird. If you could return for "all-stars," who’s coming with you? Give five names. I would have to say Eric [Stein]. I would want to say Dom obviously because I’d want him to be there to keep me company, but I feel like I’d be a bigger target, and he wouldn’t want to come. He probably wouldn’t play good. I’ll let him stay home. My heart will miss him. I’d bring Andy just so I can have fun. Strategic-wise, I would bring Diane [Henry]. She’s my favorite player of all time, and probably Donny [Thompson] and Nicole [Franzel]. Do you stay in touch with people from both of your seasons? Eric, Jen [Johnson], and Kail [Harbick]. I’m actually really close to Kail. From 13, obviously my husband, and Rachel, Brendon and Kalia [Booker]. I see Jeff [Schroeder] every now and then. Most of the people I’m friends with are the people who haven’t kept up with the game too much and are more normal. (Laughs.) Which season did you prefer — eight or 13? I had more fun in the house as a whole season eight, but I enjoyed the experience a little bit more the second time in season 13. But season eight you came in second place. Season 13, not so much … Coming in second place, imagine how much that would haunt you for so long being runner-up. Every day for a really long time you think, “What did I do wrong? Was my speech wrong?” You overthink everything. Who will face the forever haunt of coming in second place this season? Who is winning the game? Would you watch a season with Daniele, Eric, Diane, Donny and Nicole back in the game? Sound off in the comments below. The Big Brother finale airs Wednesday at 9:30 p.m. on CBS. |
What's next for the Longhorns? Make sure you're in the loop by signing up for our FREE Texas newsletter! With 408 rushing yards in two games 11th-ranked Texas heads into Saturday’s road game against California (9:30 p.m., ESPN) with the nation’s 53rd-ranked rushing attack. That’s not elite in terms of ranking right now. Nevertheless, it’s a good start for an offense that’s proven it’s got the pieces to hang its hat on being able to pound the rock. Sterlin Gilbert has called plays with a run heavy emphasis in the first two games. Texas’ 106 rushing attempts as a team are the most in the Big 12 and are the 10th-most nationally out of 128 FBS squads, a sign that the veer-and-shoot is a system that will take what the defense presents is there to take and can survive by eating up yardage on the ground. With that in mind, Texas has every reason to feed its backfield stable against a Cal defense that’s had issues stopping the run so far in 2016. The Golden Bears are currently the fourth-worst team in the nation when it comes to defending the run, ranking 125th with 291 yards per game allowed in their first two games of the season against Hawaii and San Diego State. In a 45-40 loss to the Aztecs last weekend San Diego State running back Donnell Pumphrey ran for 281 yards, breaking Marshall Faulk’s school record of 4,589 rushing yards in the process. Now the Golden Bears face a Texas backfield stable that’s expected to be at full strength after D’Onta Foreman was given the night off in last weekend’s 41-7 win over UTEP. Foreman, who had 131 yards and 24 carries with a touchdown in the season opener against Notre Dame, returns to the field with Chris Warren (34 carries, 141 yards, one touchdown) and Kyle Porter (eight carries, 33 yards) coming off of a game where they took on the workload in Foreman’s absence. Foreman was available against the Miners in an emergency situation but the game never reached a stage where his services were needed. Now the Longhorns are ready to run in Berkeley on Saturday night with a rested, experienced backfield looking to feast on the Cal defense. “It’s fortunate you’ve got three backs and now all three of them have experience,” Gilbert said. “Especially with Chris and D’Onta being bigger-type backs, but just excited to have those guys in a rotation and being able to keep those guys fresh and being able to run our run scheme and those guys be a part of that.” Want free VIP access to Horns247? Click here and take advantage of this offer! |
Documentary chronicles the end of Dante's Jef Bredemeier, a thirteen year employee of Dante's Down The Hatch, made a documentary about the historic Atlanta area restaurant and has taken to Kickstarter to finish the film. The documentary, called simply " Dante's Down The Hatch " was filmed in the days leading up to the restaurant's July 2013 closure The land on which Dante's was located is today home to a 329 unit luxury apartment building known as CYAN on Peachtree. Situated on Peachtree Road, across from Lenox Square in the heart of Buckhead, Dante's benefited from a stellar location but it was its patrons who benefited from the unique environment created by owner Dante Stephensen. Dante's, which operated for 43 years, was different than your typical restaurant, very different. Stephensen, a former military man and avid skier, had visited both Switzerland and Austria and was introduced to fondue. Eventually, all the pieces came together and Dante's was born. In addition to fondue, Dante's was a pirate themed restaurant complete with an old pirate ship and live crocodiles swimming in a moat beneath your feet. Stephensen eventually convinced the Paul Mitchell Trio to leave Atlanta's former Playboy Club, and play jazz at his new restaurant. The rest, as they say, is history. The documentary has been filmed but is seemingly in need of "finishing" and distribution. Bredemeier has set a goal of raising $20,000 by October 6th of which about $3,400 has been raised thus far. Among the "rewards" offered to those who pledge funds are genuine Dante's restaurant memorabilia like fondue sets and commemorative glasses, as well as copies of the movie and signed prints of Dante in the restaurant. It's worth noting the film has previously been screened at a few film festivals where it collected a number of accolades including the 2015 Spirit Award Audience Winner at the Atlanta Film Festival. |
An advert by a leading U.S. manufacturer of SUVs featuring a Muslim woman has sparked a mixture of reactions on social media, with some detractors slamming it as “un-American” and defenders praising the commercial for depicting religious diversity. Set to the tune of the American folk song “This land is your land,” the advert by U.S. automaker Jeep begins with images of American landscapes before moving around the world. But the inclusion of a Muslim woman in the advert, which was produced for Sunday’s Superbowl, seemed a step too far for some people, British newspaper the Independent reported. On the website YouTube one user wrote: “Who is in the advertising department? Fire them. This is an American song. AMERICAN. Why showing other foreign countries? Not only that I think it’s an insult to show Muslim women, rather anything muslim related.” “Maybe #Jeep can sell all their vehicles to MUSLIMS because good Americans shouldn't buy them,” @MilamBill, a Twitter user, said in one post. Other Twitter users defended the commercial, with some saying it celebrated religious diversity. “Thank you @Jeep for celebrating diversity by featuring a Muslim woman in your #SuperBowl ad! http://bit.ly/169r074,” one user using the Twitter handle @mpac_national said. “I've always been a big fan of #Jeep ... And I'm a Muslim Women! The #JeepCommercial was perfect,” @amas_d, another Twitter user said. “I find it utterly disappointing that there are individuals who are upset about a Muslim woman being in the #Jeep commercial. #SuperBowl #Smh,” Twitter user @InnominateMe276 said in a post. So Jeep did an ad that had a Muslim woman and ppl are mad? Ok, I'm mad too! Bc why does that Muslim lady hate the environment? #GreenDeen — Hind Makki (@HindMakki) February 2, 2015 “Oh no! A Muslim is smiling in a Jeep commercial! Hurry, let's all be offended! Only racist morons are upset by that ad. #JeepCommercial,” @enciteout, another Twitter user, said in a post. Not everyone was annoyed because of religious prejudices in the commercial; some had other concerns: “So Jeep did an ad that had a Muslim woman and ppl are mad? Ok, I'm mad too! Bc why does that Muslim lady hate the environment? #GreenDeen,” @HindMakki said in a tweet. Last Update: Tuesday, 3 February 2015 KSA 17:00 - GMT 14:00 |
Sarah Tew/CNET Amazon said Thursday that it will again be selling Apple TV and Google Chromecast devices, two video-streaming gadgets the e-commerce giant removed from its site two years ago and that compete with its own Fire TV products. "I can confirm that we are assorting Apple TV and Chromecast," an Amazon spokeswoman told CNET on Thursday, referring to the company's plans to stock up on the devices. She offered no further statements. Now playing: Watch this: Amazon to sell Apple TV, Google Chromecast after two-year... Amazon added product listing pages for the Apple TV and two versions of the Apple TV 4K, as well as the Google Chromecast and Chromecast Ultra. The gadgets aren't available for sale yet, but customers should expect they will be shortly. Screenshot by CNET Amazon's move should be a relief for customers of all three tech titans, who may have felt caught in the middle of public disputes between the companies. The change may de-escalate mounting fights between Amazon and Google in particular, whose disagreements resulted in Google pulling YouTube from Amazon devices just last week. Amazon is pushing deeper into Google's turf of online advertising and Google is moving into Amazon's territory of e-commerce and smart speakers, which seems to be causing tensions between the two companies. "We are in productive discussions with Amazon to reach an agreement for the benefit of our mutual customers," a Google spokesperson said Thursday. "We hope we can reach an agreement to resolve these issues soon." Apple representatives didn't respond to a request for comment. Amazon removed both competing streaming devices from its online store in late 2015. At the time, the company claimed it wanted to "avoid customer confusion" that might be caused by selling streamers that didn't work well with its own Prime Video service, which offers Amazon original shows including "The Man in the High Castle" and "Transparent." But last week Apple TV finally added Prime Video, laying the groundwork for an anticipated return of the device to Amazon.com. Separately, Google said last week that it was removing YouTube from the Amazon Echo Show and Fire TV devices. Google claimed a "lack of reciprocity" from Amazon, which stopped selling Chromecast and some Google-owned Nest products on its site. Amazon's move to start selling Chromecast again can be seen as an olive branch offered to Google in the hope of bringing YouTube back to Amazon's devices. Richard Nieva contributed to this story. First published Dec. 14, 10:33 a.m. PT. Updated, 2:02 p.m. PT: Adds Google's statement. 'Alexa, be more human': Inside Amazon's effort to make its voice assistant smarter, chattier and more like you. Does the Mac still matter? Apple execs explain why the MacBook Pro was over four years in the making, and why we should care. |
Power Rankings: Preseason: No. 29. This week: No. 23. Peyton Hillis has rushed for 644 yards and seven touchdowns in the Browns' first eight games. Jason Miller/US Presswire 2010 schedule/results Where they stand: Although not in great shape at 3-5, the Browns feel much better about themselves after back-to-back quality wins over the New Orleans Saints (6-3) and New England Patriots (6-2). Cleveland must be kicking itself for blowing fourth-quarter leads in early losses to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Kansas City Chiefs and Baltimore Ravens. Winning those games would have put the Browns in much better position. Cleveland is a tough team, but it lacks game-breaking talent. But when the Browns play smart and efficient football, they are hard to beat. Falling: Veteran quarterbacks Jake Delhomme and Seneca Wallace could find themselves on the bench for the remainder of the season. Rookie quarterback Colt McCoy has accounted for two of the Browns' three wins this year. Ankle injuries to Delhomme and Wallace opened the door for McCoy, who has taken advantage. Delhomme is making $7 million, but he has thrown four interceptions and just one touchdown pass in limited playing time. Wallace is just 1-3 as the starter. Cleveland's receivers haven't made many big plays and must step up in the second half. Rising: Running back Peyton Hillis arrived in Cleveland with little fanfare in an offseason trade with the Denver Broncos for quarterback Brady Quinn. It was new president Mike Holmgren's best move as Hillis has rushed for 644 yards and seven touchdowns. McCoy's stock is obviously rising with consecutive wins over Drew Brees and Tom Brady. Head coach Eric Mangini also is making a case to continue coaching the Browns beyond the 2010 season. Mangini's entire body of work will be judged by Holmgren at the end of the season. Midseason MVP: Hillis is the clear choice. He makes Cleveland's offense go and has three 100-yard games this season. Hillis wears down defenses, moves the chains and protects McCoy from having to do too much. Outlook: It's doubtful the Browns can make a late playoff surge, especially in the tough AFC North where they trail the Ravens and Pittsburgh Steelers. But the Browns appear to relish their role as spoiler and can be a tough out for playoff contenders in the second half . If Cleveland can remain hot and finish 8-8, that would be considered a successful year. In the offseason, the Browns could add several more pieces via the draft and free agency to make a major push in 2011. |
I’d recommend reading part 1 first. https://revenga73.wordpress.com/2012/10/24/chronicles-of-a-teenage-runaway-part-1/ So, Matt drops me off at Mickey’s flat. He’s a good friend of mine and he lives with a girl I knew vaguely from school. She was in the year above me. They both have big rooms, I’m squeezed into the box room with a load of broken furniture, but I don’t mind. I only have around 2 black bags of possessions and 2 guitars after all! But it’s clean and everything works and they both work early so I get to sleep undisturbed. I actually feel quite safe here, in a way I never quite did at Stan’s, even before the shit hit the fan. We cook together and spend time with each other. Naturally, it can’t last. Mickey and the girl have a pregnant friend who wants my room so after a week of safety, with 12 hours notice, I have to find somewhere else to stay. I met a guy a few days ago, called Sim, who really sympathised with my situation. He assured me that I could stay with him if I needed to, he lives with his Dad and it’s a safe place to be. They’ve sheltered people in the past who have needed help. I call him up and he agrees to let me stay. I don’t feel 100% comfortable with the situation, but I’m desperate. Desperation is a common theme in this next year. I’m 16, I’m alone and I’m so, so scared. I turn up the next day with my two black bags and two guitar cases. Sim shows me to my room. “Two beds? Are we expecting someone else?” No. Turns out this is his room. But I’m not to worry, he’s done this before, it’s totally safe. I don’t really have a choice now. I have nowhere else to go. But why didn’t he tell me this in the first place, so I could decide if that was cool with me? For the first four days it’s fine. I’m not really there much anyway, I’m travelling to the nearest city most days, trying to secure a job and sort out a more permanent place to stay. I wake up one night to find him standing over my bed. I hold my breath and eventually he goes away. He keeps trying to talk to me about sex, telling me his girlfriend is a frigid bitch and he deserves so much better. We went for a drive the next night with a few of his friends. I didn’t really want to be in such close proximity to him, but he accused me of using his place as a doss house and made me feel really guilty, so I agreed. His friends park up after about half an hour and start smoking weed. They don’t pay any attention to me and Sim, sat in the backseat. Sim starts touching me up. His friends get out of the car, lock the front doors and walk away. It’s a hatchback, so I don’t have direct access to a door. I don’t know where I am either. I’m pushing his hands away but he’s getting more and more insistent. He shoves his hands up my top, under my bra. He pinches my nipples, really, really hard. I whimper – I can’t help it. He thinks that means I’m enjoying it, so he forces his hands up my skirt. He’s got me pinned against the inside of the car with one arm across my throat and now he’s forcing his fingers inside me. I can’t help it; I start crying. Sim gets really angry and for a minute I think he’s going to keep pressing on my throat until I’m a goner. He pulls away abruptly. Calls me a whore and a cocktease. What did I expect, coming to live with him? Of course he was going to think I was willing to fuck him! His friends drop us back. I still have nowhere to go so I have to follow him in. I bolt straight for the bathroom and take a really long shower. I’m desperately hoping he’ll be asleep by the time I get back in the room. No such luck. He’s laid on his bed, masturbating and staring straight at me as I walk through the door. I just flip the light off and get straight into bed, fully clothed. The next day, he throws me out. Advertisements |
Gaza - Three years ago, a teenage boy plummeted three storeys to the ground in the pitch dark after accidentally stepping out of the side of his Gaza home, which was missing a wall due to Israeli shelling. Taken to the emergency room at al-Shifa hospital, he was handed over to Ben Thomson, a volunteer doctor from Canada. Thomson began inserting a chest tube to drain the air and blood that had accumulated outside of the boy's lungs - a procedure that usually takes only a few minutes to complete. With the power out, however, Thomson struggled to operate. "I couldn't see. I was trying to put this [chest tube] in, in the dark. What would have normally taken me five minutes or less, took me about 25 to 30 minutes, and the boy died … because of something that was easily preventable," Thomson told Al Jazeera. "That could have been fixed. He could have survived, had I been able to see what I was doing. People are dying in Gaza quite often, regularly, every single day because of the lack of electricity." RELATED: Gaza: Left in the dark In Gaza, the availability of light in an emergency room often determines whether a patient lives or dies. The besieged Palestinian territory has been suffering from a chronic power deficit for years amid Israel's blockade - a situation that worsened after the 2014 Israeli assault, which destroyed Gaza's power plant. Even before the war, Israeli-supplied electricity to Gaza met less than half of the territory's estimated needs. The solution was [that] we need to have a sustainable, consistent, reliable source of energy that can be stored and used Ben Thomson, a volunteer doctor from Canada Outages can last for more than 16 hours a day. When it is available, power comes in sporadic, five to eight-hour intervals. "The solution to this seemed very obvious," Thomson said. "The solution was [that] we need to have a sustainable, consistent, reliable source of energy that can be stored and used." Fortunately, Gaza is one of the richest countries worldwide in such a resource: sunlight. Gaza has an average of 320 days of sunshine a year, making solar energy an attractive alternative power source. Recognising this, Thomson teamed up with several Canadian doctors last summer to launch Empower Gaza, a project that aims to install solar panels in major hospitals throughout the territory. Organisers raised more than $215,000 on Indiegogo, enough to fund the installation of solar panels at al-Aqsa hospital. Islamic Relief Canada donated another $1.5m, which will help fund six major hospitals in total, including al-Aqsa. Construction of solar panels at al-Aqsa hospital will start this month, and by June 2017 the panels should be installed in four hospitals. They will provide a reliable source of energy for emergency rooms, intensive care units and operating rooms 24 hours a day. Currently, diesel generators are the primary power source for hospitals. Two hospitals in Gaza, al-Shifa and Nasser, already use solar energy to run their intensive care units. Since Shifa installed solar panels in the autumn of 2014 with Japanese assistance, there have been no power interruptions in intensive care, a unit which houses 14 beds linked to monitors, ventilators and lab equipment. "We have [protected patients] from the electricity problems occurring in the rest of the hospital, due to shortages of fuel and dependency on generators that consume fuel equal to $10,000 daily," Medhat Abbas, the director of Shifa hospital, told Al Jazeera. The United Nations Development Programme is supporting the Empower Gaza project by transporting batteries and panels into Gaza from Israel. The UNDP has also installed solar panels in schools, healthcare clinics and water facilities in support of the Palestinian Solar Initiative, which aims to meet 30 per cent of energy demands in the coastal enclave with renewable sources by 2020. INTERACTIVE: Gaza, life under siege Private use of solar power is also catching on. One solar power unit worth $1,500 can supply a family home with electricity to power fridges, heaters, lamps, water pumps and other appliances. Even so, many families cannot afford this, and instead resort to warming their homes by burning wood and coal. "Some leave the fire on when they go to sleep. Last winter, we had at least three or four incidents where the fire spread in the home because the family left it while they were sleeping … It was a real tragedy," said 29-year-old Gaza resident Nader Abd el-Naby. Amid Israel's blockade, firewood and gas are scarce, while liquid fuel is expensive and not easily available. "These days, people are suffering from a lack in cooking gas. Every one of us wakes up and goes to bed thinking of how to get a filled canister," said Mosab Mostafa, 23, an unemployed graduate in Gaza. Private businesses in Gaza cite electricity shortages as one of the key obstacles to investment and growth as reported in a study by the World Bank. Gaza's unemployment rate, at 43 per cent, is the highest in the world. Back at Shifa, Thomson recalls an incident when all the respirators were shut off in the intensive care unit. A young man, Ahmed, had his mother by his side, and she learned to squeeze the oxygen bag in and out until the electricity came back on, allowing her son to continue breathing. Other patients died that day. "Ahmed was only alive because his mother was by his bedside the entire time," Thomson said. "Empower Gaza was inspired by local Palestinian healthcare workers and engineers … This is by Palestinians, for the Palestinians." |
What is the Gambler 500? That’s kind of like asking what the meaning of life is. The response is kind of complicated, but overall actually very simple. Essentially, the Gambler 500 involves navigating vehicles to and from waypoints over about 500 miles. It’s not a race. It’s not a competition. It is, however, an awesome time. The Gambler 500, which brought in 744 official entries, started from Portland Meadows racetrack and wound its way through highways, back roads, and forest service trails across northwest and central Oregon. The goal? To have a great time. Warn was the official recovery sponsor, and thus, I brought my 2001 Jeep Cherokee, equipped with a WARN ZEON 8-S, Epic hook and Epic shackles, and full recovery kit, in case we had to help some Gamblers back onto the trail. We did have some WARN employees take part in a Lincoln Continental, Volvo 240, Subaru Legacy, and a Ford Explorer. Gambler 500 organizers suggested you will have more fun in a lower-priced oddball vehicle than a built up 4×4. Many people took that advice as there were scads of highly customized, low-dollar vehicles including things like subcompact Subaru Justys and Ford Festivas; scads of cheap, old AWD Subarus; cut-up Ford Crown Victorias; mountains of ancient minivans; and several vehicles we’d throw into the land yacht category. We also saw no fewer than three lifted limousines and one articulated city bus with a hot tub in the back. No lie. We have pics below to prove it. Whether it was tackling the Barlow Trail on Mt. Hood, rolling down the highway towards Bend, Oregon, or zooming through the forests near Hoodoo, everyone had a great time and lent a helping hand to those who broke down. The end point for day one was the parking lot at Hoodoo Ski Area outside of Sisters, OR. There we camped, conversed, and had an awesome night. Then it was back on the road in the AM for day two. At the end of day two, Gamblers met up again at Portland Meadows that evening for The Final Waypoint, where there were bands, food, and drinks waiting. We had a booth, and even gave away some product, including a WARN VR8-S. The Gambler organizers awarded the WARN VR8-S to the “recovery hero.” This was the person who was the most helpful out on the trails, too. While we didn’t personally pull anyone out of a ditch, we did help a Subaru straighten out an A arm on the trail. He’d hit a large rock and the vehicle was immobile. I hooked my ZEON 8-S to strap and shackle, and with the help of a big hammer and huge wood block, we were able realign the control arm. This got the driver back onto the trail so the rest of the pack could get by. Rumor has it he was able to get to town that evening, get another control arm, and “gamble” the next day! The whole thing isn’t just one big rolling rally, either. There was a competition to see who could pickup the most trash along the trails and shooting pits. A total of 30 yards were brought in, which included the massive amount of shells you see below. Additionally, several Gambler cars were auctioned off, with 100% of the money raised going to the Children’s Cancer Association—$3,200 total. Now that’s doing some good! Crazy cars, crazy cool people, and a crazy good time. The Gambler 500 proved to be awesome, and we look forward to gambling again in 2018. Until then, as organizer Tate Morgan would say, “always be gambling,” and here are some more photos. |
After 70 years of publishing, Marvel Entertainment has built up an incredible universe of heroes, villains, and super teams–a sea of data that no mere wiki can organize. At long last, Marvel has embarked on a mighty quest of its own: to create an entirely new graph database and search system to conquer continuity malaise by visualizing each character across the Marvel Universe. advertisement advertisement The time is now for a solution, and as Marvel cradles the newborn “Agents of SHIELD” and its upcoming Netflix tetrology, the company now depicts the same characters across multiple mediums, from comics to blockbuster movies. There’s a wealth of information out there, and it’s not pretty–holy massive backstory and hyperlinked contextually relevant other characters, Batman! A Universe Of Power–And Complexity Click to expand The problem, like with any massive chunk of data, lies in getting the right data pieces in front of users–but for Marvel, the question becomes a semantic exercise. Just who is the character Hawkeye? Well, he’s Clint Barton, except when he’s not; erstwhile sidekick Kate Bishop and villain Bullseye have taken the Hawkeye identity. He’s a member of the Avengers, except when he’s not; he’s also been part of the Thunderbolts and West Coast Avengers. He got his skills performing trick shots in a circus, except when he didn’t: He got them as an agent redeeming a murder conviction in the Ultimate universe and as a Black Ops SHIELD agent in the Marvel films. You can see how fans who want to dig deeper into their favorite characters could be, ahem, easily waylaid. It’s telling that I checked the above Hawkeye information on Wikipedia and the fan-curated Marvel wikis…and not on Marvel’s own wiki, which is clumsily organized, uncertain whether it wants to be an infodump or a recommendation engine for Marvel’s Unlimited subscription service. To be fair, no current website gives me a clear vision of a character across universes: To do so, Marvel has charged Peter Olson, the VP of Web and Application Development at Marvel Entertainment, and his team to start from the ground up. And that means figuring out a way to make all this data–every interaction between hero and villain across multiple comic titles over decades of publishing history–make sense. advertisement Above is a powerful illustration of character connections, like a superhero social network with popular heroes exhibiting more centrality and heavily radiating connections outward. Notice Iron Man as the top-center spiral with thick connections nearly across the entire Marvel universe: Despite being surrounded by other well-known Avengers, Iron Man has appeared in many more books and interacted with many more characters. Other popular names stand out: Spider-Man, Wolverine, and the X-Men, among others. Take note of the rogue spiral on the right: That’s the Ultimate Marvel universe, a rebooted, continuity-free version launched in 2000 with Ultimate Spider-Man serving as a heavy connection to the normal universe. That’s just two universes colliding in a simple two-dimensional graph: Fold in the versions of characters from the Cinemaverse, video games, and television shows, and you’ll get an idea of the scale they’re trying to grasp. “We want an uberframework–the words ‘ontology’ and ‘taxonomy’ get thrown around a lot,” Olson said. “We want characters to appear as close to as possible from all their stories and iterations but, overall, we want the characters to bubble up to archetypes.” Olson believes that fiction is fluid when characters undergo change. This primarily applies to narrative arcs, but also to interpretations: from dark hero in the ’40s to TV camp in the ’60s to grim ‘n gritty return in the ’80s, Batman retains his elemental and iconic attributes as an archetype of the DC Universe. Likewise, Captain America still has his shield, even when Steve Rogers is dead and the mantle is taken by former sidekick Bucky Barnes. But then a Captain America movie got in the works with Rogers as the titular hero: Neither Rogers or Barnes as the star-spangled Avenger are right or wrong, Olson says, but explaining the complexity is difficult. Hence, the forthcoming website, a visualization tool for fans new and old. Hence, the rush for Marvel to show, not tell its users about its pantheon of superheroes. advertisement The Big Data Question Most databases are relational, most easily visualized as tables of rows and columns: When you enter a search query, like “all products that sell for more than $3 but less than $5,” the search system returns absolute answers based on data properties. Marvel still has use for this kind of database that returns queries with solid, irrefutable answers, like listing all the issues they’ve sold for the above prices. The new database, however, will run on graph theory, looking for relationships between characters, teams, and events. The graph above displays relationships between characters, which would be extremely difficult for a relational database that might look for superheroes but leave out villains instead of showing more abstract values, like how popular/visible a character is across Marvel’s comic titles. This visualization uses the same data as the previous image, but color-codes teams as it maps character relationships: The X-Men are blue at the top, the Avengers in red at the bottom-right, Spider-Man in green at bottom-left, and Wolverine almost smack in the middle in purple. In the early ’90s as Wolverine’s popularity skyrocketed, the comic community jokingly wondered how Wolverine had time to be in five or six comic titles every month. With data, we can see how many titles nabbed Wolverine facetime. Track this across titles, across time, and patterns begin to emerge. That’s where the money is: Marvel won’t just be able to provide users with the most layered exploration of a character and his/her versions, it’ll intelligently recommend comics. Marvel’s Business Mastery Is A Boon To Fans This is the much-sought key for comic universes: Instead of waiting for Amazon-style “users also bought” data suggestions, Marvel wants to track relationships within its vast library. Like the teen superhero angle of Runaways? Try Young Avengers. But wait, you just want to see more stories drawn in the style of original Runaways artist Adrian Alphona? The Marvel graph database will find an answer based not only on book similarities but nuanced metadata, like writer or artist style. Better still, it’ll do what the venerable ComicBookDatabase cannot: confidently propose a list of essential story arcs for the new fan. advertisement And lo, Marvel’s multimedia empire strikes again: Aside from Sony’s death grip on Spider-Man, Marvel holds the rights to all its major characters, so their recommendations aren’t limited to subscriber-only comics on its Marvel Unlimited service. Let loose the hounds of suggested merchandise! Of course, this also means those ultra-streamlined character pages will become the most seamless portals to every character’s stories that the Internet has ever seen. The Future Of Universes Online Olson’s vision for a graph database isn’t a niche product for one particular universe–it’s a structural framework for understanding the relationships between any universes. Like the best “who would win in a fight” cross-universe nerd debates, Marvel’s graph database thinks about abstract similarities and relationships between people and entities. Why not apply it to historical figures? Why not apply it to find unseen similarities between compatible companies? The applications could be even more abstract, says Olson, comparing every Google Maps street intersection to a “node” of data whose traffic is chalked up to that of nearby intersections. That’s how Google Maps plots the fastest route; why is it crazy that Marvel could plot the fastest route through suggested titles to convey the essence of each hero? Olson and his team have chatted with others working in the intersection of comics and data, like Comics.org’s attempt to create a massive pan-universe database. They’ve also talked to Schema.org, an organization dedicated to making the web more semantic so massive search engines can bring up better search results. Since comics are basically periodicals, Olson and his team were just going to use the periodical schema for their content–but one didn’t exist, so Olson and his team wrote one. The spirit of the comics community is great, says Olson–they really want to get their hands dirty with organization and answering the question, “How do you represent comics? How do you represent material?” As pioneers of digital comics, Olson is proud of Marvel’s commitment to harnessing graph databases to create the supreme experience for Marvel fans. It’s easy to see the dollar signs pushing Marvel’s progress, but the quest to translate Marvel’s colossal data store into a native, novel service for fan exploration is easy to rally behind. |
Today on The View, we met 15-year-old Amanda, who had a breast reduction and liposuction on her stomach. Amanda is small, so you can see that DD/E cup breasts might be a strain on her tiny frame. But since she is obviously not obese, why would lipo be necessary? To prevent an eating disorder, of course! Amanda's mom explained that everyone in their family has belly fat, so she knew that even though her daughter was "eating less and less" it would never go away. Amanda's doctor had no problem doing the surgery, since "not everyone is blessed with the right looks," and he likes to "give children who are disadvantaged a chance to look better." Check out the clip above, and try to figure out what about Amanda's normal physique made her so "disadvantaged." |
TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (WPBN/WGTU) -- The Detroit Red Wings are ready to take on their season after finishing up training camp Monday at Centre Ice Arena. But the future of their time in Traverse City could be in jeopardy, if Centre Ice doesn't upgrade their facilities. The NHL came down with new regulations for all arenas that host games, prospect tournaments, or training camps. And for Centre Ice, those upgrades come with a big price tag. “It’s my vacation every year,” said Saginaw resident, Mary Leary. “I take vacation come up here we got a whole group of people that we hang out with it's really fun it's just a blast.” For 20 years, Leary has made her way to Centre Ice Arena for the Red Wings training camp. “The camaraderie is great,” said Lerie. “We get to meet the players like super close and you get to freak out because you're super close to the players.” The Red Wings have made Traverse City Hockeytown North since 1997, but the NHL now has new regulations for any rink that hosts their teams, to make it safer for players. For Centre Ice to keep hosting, they will need to upgrade their boards, glass, and netting. “It would mean 110,000 per rink so with our two rinks it would be $220,000,” said Centre Ice executive director, Terry Marchand. Marchand says that's a big investment for the arena that only needs those upgrades a couple weeks of the year. “For us to spend that kind of money though we really need a commitment,” said Marchand. “We’re in the middle of discussions with the Red Wings about getting some type of commitment.” And for a town that relies on tourism, losing the Red Wings camps wouldn't go unnoticed. “A lot of money is spent here over the course of the prospect camp and the training camp and so it is a very significant event especially in a month like September when school is gone back into session,” said Traverse City Tourism CEO Trevor Tkach. Marchand says the players also love it, so they're hoping they can find the money for the upgrades. “We take such good care of them and we do a good job we've been doing it for a long time we take a lot of pride in it,” said Marchand. Marchand says the upgrades wouldn't just be beneficial for the Red Wings, but would make it safer for everyone who takes the ice at Centre Ice. He also says the Red Wings camps make up a significant part of Centre Ice's budget, so losing that would also be a big hit for them. |
An all-out brawl broke out in front of a Florida mall's Victoria Secret and one of the women fighting even had her child, riding in a toy car stroller, caught in the middle. Video of the squabble shows six women duke it out in the Edison Mall in Fort Myers, Florida, over the weekend. In the clip posted by David Milburn, at least four women are seen stomping on another as she cowers on the ground and tries to protect herself. BRAWL! Video of the squabble shows six women duke it out in the Edison Mall in Fort Myers, Florida, over the weekend All of a sudden, a woman in a turquoise jacket and hot pink beret comes pushing a red car stroller with a small boy inside, and kicks the woman square in the face. She then leaves the stroller and is chased down the mall by the kicked woman. 'Upon arrival, the incident had already dissipated and police did not find a confrontation going on,' said Fort Myers police Capt. Jay Rodriguez. 'Approximately two hours later police were called back to the mall in reference to apparent injuries that occurred previously and spoke to complainants.' In the clip posted by David Milburn, at least four women are seen stomping on another as she cowers on the ground and tries to protect herself Karate style! One woman pushing a stroller comes up and kicks the woman in her face before leaving her toddler to continue fighting A simple battery report was filed and the investigation remains open but Lee County sheriff personnel are also investigating racist language that a lieutenant's wife made in connection to the video. Linda Deverso-Pakulis, the wife of Lt. Chip Pakulis, allegedly posted a comment on the video calling the women 'filthy n*****s' and added that to 'send them back to Africa.' 'Yep filthy n*****s! If they aren't killing eachother in Lehigh then they are shopping and spending government money at the Edison!', she allegedly said in the post. 'And they wonder why everyone picks on them? Watch the video! Send them back to Africa! World peace with then begin!' Linda Deverso-Pakulis (right), wife of Lt. Chip Pakulis (left), allegedly posted on the video calling the women 'filthy n*****s' and added that to 'send them back to Africa' She would later post on separate account that she was 'compromised' and that someone was using her Facebook profile, according to WBBH-TV She would later post on separate account that she was 'compromised' and that someone was using her Facebook profile, according to WBBH-TV. Deverso-Pakulis added: 'Late last night someone posted under my name comments regarding an altercation that took place at the Edison Mall. 'As a result I notified Facebook that my account was compromised and I deactivated the account at that time. Deverso-Pakulis added: 'Late last night someone posted under my name comments regarding an altercation that took place at the Edison Mall' LCSO do not believe that she made the post but are still conducting an internal investigation 'I am appalled about the comments that were made, neither I nor my family share these beliefs. As a result of this, after today, I will be removing myself from social media. Linda Deverso-Pakulis.' LCSO do not believe that she made the post but are still conducting an internal investigation. 'Although there is no reason to believe any member, or even the wife of an agency member had any involvement in placing this disgraceful language online, because of the nature of this incident, we're using an abundance of caution and we're conducting an internal review of this incident,' said Undersheriff Carmine Marceno. |
In a shootout at Sewri on Thursday night, a history-sheeter along with three accomplices allegedly fired upon his former aide suspecting the latter was having an affair with his wife. The Mumbai police crime branch arrested one of the aides of Sushant Salunkhe alias Kala Khatta, who is believed to have planned the attack. Advertising As per police, around 12.30am on Friday, Aniket Kadam, the arrested accused, along with two other unidentified persons accompanied Salunkhe on two bikes to attack Ganesh Pol. [related-post] The latter along with his friends were consuming alcohol at a restaurant in Sewri when the firing took place. The accused fired from a country made revolver that hit Pol on his arm and fled. Pol is recuperating at the Sion hospital. While a case of attempt to murder was registered at RAK Marg police station, unit 4 of the crime branch questioned the friends of Pol and found the involvement of Salunkhe’s gang. Eventually the police managed to track down and arrest Kadam. WATCH INDIAN EXPRESS VIDEOS HERE Advertising An officer said that while Salunkhe and Pol earlier were part of the same gang, the duo parted ways after Salunkhe’s suspicion that Pol was having an affair with his wife. Both Salunkhe and Pol have several cases registered against them. mumbai.newsline@expressindia.com |
Image copyright West Mercia Police Image caption Ashley Shuck carried out the attacks after being released from prison on licence for a rape in 2012 A convicted rapist attacked two women a month after being released from prison on licence. Ashley Shuck, 24, from Worcester, sexually assaulted the women, aged 28 and 77, in Kidderminster in June. His 77-year-old victim was forced to drive around for two hours after she was raped, police said. Shuck had been released on licence a month earlier after being convicted in 2012 of raping an 18-year-old woman. He was jailed for life and will serve a minimum of 10 and a half years. Image copyright West Mercia Police Image caption Assistant Chief Constable Richard Moore said a serious case reveiw had been commissioned A serious case review will be carried out and the case has been referred to the Independent Police Complaints Commission. See more stories from across Herefordshire and Worcestershire here West Mercia Police said two women reported the attacks on 18 June. The force said Shuck's younger victim was sexually assaulted early that morning at her friend's home in the Worcestershire town. The other woman was raped at her home later that morning and forced to drive around the county afterwards. Image copyright Google Image caption Shuck was sentenced at Worcester Crown Court on 7 August Police said Shuck was first convicted of rape at Worcester Crown Court on 19 March 2012 and sentenced to eight years in prison on 19 September 2012. Assistant Chief Constable Richard Moore, of West Mercia Police, said: "Following his release from prison in May 2017, Ashley Shuck was managed through multi-agency public protection arrangements (MAPPA). "The Strategic Management Board for West Mercia MAPPA has now commissioned a mandatory multi-agency serious case review to examine the offender management of Ashley Shuck." Shuck, of Ombersley Road, was sentenced at Worcester Crown Court on Monday. He had previously admitted two counts of rape, two counts of sexual assault and one count of kidnap. He will be placed on the sex offenders register for life and has been made the subject of a lifetime Sexual Harm Prevention Order. |
Five Inspiring Tech Entrepreneurs Who Will Be Hanged in the Revolution In our increasingly tech-driven society it seems like more and more new startup products and services are bursting onto the market everyday. At the forefront of every successful startup is an inspiring story of perseverance, hard work, and tacit acceptance of capitalism and hierarchical rule. Here are five inspiring tech entrepreneurs who will be hanged in the revolution: Clifton Grayer, Fishr Grayer is the founder of the groundbreaking app Fishr, the social networking site that connects people to aquatic life they may find attractive. How inspiring! Critics are already clamoring over this app and its inventive creator, however, those critics gloss over one fact: Clifton Grayer is an enemy of the revolution. His incredible work matching fish with zooerasts is inspiring, but is a distant second to the fact that he is an active capitalist and will need to go. Trish Rainbow, Dildork Rainbow is likely the furthest along in her career of the young entrepreneurs populating this list, having began her career at Google before founding the feminist-focused dildo review behemoth Dildork. She is an inspiration for young, sex-positive female entrepreneurs the world over, and a slave-master over a society which never consented to capitalism. OFF WITH HER HEAD! Loyd Jeffers, MVPeeps There is nothing acceptable about participating in capitalism, especially not if you’re this dickhead. You know what MVPeeps does? They make celebrity peeps. You know, the marshmallow candies from Easter? They put sunglasses on them and shit and call them MVPeeps. People starve and Loyd Jeffers may as well have his boot on their necks. Kit Cassidy, Gunass It’s sexy versions of the butts of guns, fucking get it? You’re dead, Kit Cassidy. Rembrandt Gray, Love Pillow Okay this one is kinda sick actually — Rembrandt founded a company that will print you a custom body pillow of whomever you want and didn’t even ask for clarifying questions before printing me the perfect Emma Goldman body pillow. This guy can live, I guess. |
Houston's panhandling, camping ordinances violate rights, lawsuit says Edwin Ford, right, and Roy Dailey are packing up their belongings into a small cart in preparation for moving from underneath the overpass of U.S. 59 at Congress Ave. Friday. Edwin Ford, right, and Roy Dailey are packing up their belongings into a small cart in preparation for moving from underneath the overpass of U.S. 59 at Congress Ave. Friday. Photo: Yi-Chin Lee, Staff Photo: Yi-Chin Lee, Staff Image 1 of / 4 Caption Close Houston's panhandling, camping ordinances violate rights, lawsuit says 1 / 4 Back to Gallery The ACLU of Texas announced Monday that it has filed a lawsuit on behalf of three homeless Houston residents asking a federal judge to halt the city's new ordinances limiting panhandling and camping in public. City Council passed the two ordinances last month. The encampment rule forbids tents or other structures for living in public areas and requires that all of a person's belongings fit into a three-foot cube; it took effect Friday. The panhandling rule, which went into effect when it was signed April 12, extended the city's restrictions against impeding a roadway to also forbid blocking a sidewalk or doorway. "This law shows little respect or sympathy for the impoverished people of Houston," said Eugene Stroman, who says in the lawsuit that he has been turned away from emergency shelters. "Living in shelters just isn't an option for us, but if you can't find your own place to live, you're treated like a criminal." READ MORE: Houston's homeless adapt to city's ban on camping, which took effect Friday Mayor Sylvester Turner defended the ordinances in response to questions from the Chronicle at a Monday afternoon news conference, saying the rules aimed to balance constitutional rights and "the legitimate public health safety and welfare of all citizens in the public space." "Based on my reading of the lawsuit filed by the ACLU, they would have us do nothing," the mayor added. "We have chosen to work with those living on the streets on a one by one basis to assess and address their individual needs and provide compassionate and meaningful solutions. Make no mistake, this is a public safety issue and we cannot bury our heads in the sand and pretend that it does not exist. The question is what is the best way or ways to transition people from living on the street." The mayor has said the panhandling ordinance doesn't put an undue burden on free speech, as the ACLU lawsuit contends. "We're not penalizing speech," he said last month. "We are saying your conduct cannot be such that you impede the traffic or the flow of people who have every right to utilize sidewalks, hike and bike trails and their doorways." On Monday he added that Houston's encampment ordinance wouldn't be as vulnerable as those in other cities because it was citywide rather than targeting a particular place, which the Supreme Court made harder to justify in a 2015 ruling, lawyers said. READ MORE: Turner's homeless plan includes 'low-level shelters' under overpasses Trisha Trigilio, staff attorney for the ACLU of Texas, said in a news release that the city has "admirably managed to reduce homlessness by pursuing sensible and compassionate solutions. But these latest ordinances abandon that humane approach. The City says they're meant to get people into shelters with 'tough love,' but the truth is the shelters are full and Houston's homeless have nowhere else to go." However, the Houston Police Department captain who oversees the mental health division told the Chronicle on Friday that he was optimistic about shelter beds. "Right now, the shelters are working with us and saying that if somebody tells us they want shelter, we're going to get them shelter that night," Capt. William Staney said. "That might not work for 100 percent of the people, but it will work for almost all of them." Another legal activist took issue with the use of police and other resources to enforce the two laws. "Laws that criminalize homelessness are ineffective, waste limited public resources and violate basic human and constitutional rights," said Maria Foscarinis, executive director of the National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty. "The Law Center shares the ACLU's concerns that Houston's new ordinances governing outdoor camping and panhandling violate homeless persons' constitutional rights." Capt. Staney said Friday that Houston police would slowly ramp up enforcement. He said no one was arrested, cited or even formally warned on Friday. However, police eventually would take away people's property if they keep more belongings than would fit in a 3-foot cube, as the ordinance requires. The police department circulated a memo Friday emphasizing that arrest is a last resort and that officers must first offer access to medical help, addiction treatment and temporary shelter before taking action under the new rules. While the ACLU lawsuit and some homeless people contend that shelters don't have room, the mayor's special assistant for homeless initiatives differed on Monday. "We've worked with these shelters to make sure that even if a bed is not available that there's still room for them to get them out from the elements inside where there's additional services," said the assistant, Marc Eichenbaum. The ACLU lawsuit, filed Friday in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas, contends that the ordinances infringe on civil rights and violate several constitutional guarantees: First Amendment free-speech rights, Fourth Amendment freedom from unreasonable searches and seizures, Eighth Amendment prohibitions against cruel and unusual punishment, and Fourteenth Amendment limits on vague laws. Another plaintiff, Tammy Kohr, said the issue went beyond practical matters. "The main thing these laws take from us is our dignity," Kohr said. "We're not bad people. We're just trying to survive." The lawsuit also asks the judge to grant class-action status, meaning the three plaintiffs can sue on behalf of all people similarly affected by the laws. |
Donald Trump’s critics said his hastily arranged visit to Mexico was an act of desperation, a Hail Mary pass, the sign of an erratic campaign. But he got the world’s attention. And the gamble paid off. Trump used his showman’s instincts to create a television moment, setting the stage for his Arizona speech on immigration. Once President Enrique Pena Nieto extended the invitation (with Hillary Clinton declining), Trump had a chance to portray himself as a dealmaker, a bold negotiator willing to meet the adversary on his foreign turf. What was the downside? I suppose Pena Nieto could have used the occasion to rip Trump (as the out-of-office Vicente Fox did). But a guy with a 23 percent approval rating would probably want to show that he could do business with a potential American president. Just having a bland we-agreed-to-disagree statement would help Trump by showing him doing business on the international stage. And he got more than that. Pena Nieto was gracious in his remarks, saying he and Trump had an “open and constructive” conversation. And when he said both countries should invest more to make the border safe, well, it wasn’t exactly thumbing his nose at Trump’s oft-repeated demand that Mexico would pay for the wall. (Trump said they didn’t discuss that, but Pena Nieto contradicted his account, saying he made clear Mexico wouldn’t pay.) And Trump not only moderated his tone, talking about the two countries “working beautifully together,” he said he had told Pena Nieto that illegal immigration must end and NAFTA must be renegotiated. He even called the Mexican leader a “friend.” So the Republican nominee didn’t back off his positions, but showed he could calibrate his language and play in this arena. It’s hard to imagine that the excursion could have gone better for Trump. It’s not that his insta-diplomacy will suddenly make Trump popular among Hispanic voters, but it adds to the sense that he can be reasonable, that he isn’t some hothead who will drag us into a trade war. Clinton, as a former secretary of State, doesn’t need to do this sort of thing. But she is also too risk-averse to stage such a meeting without the details having been negotiated in advance. Trump’s challenge in his Arizona speech was just as great: how to reconcile his tough primary rhetoric, especially about kicking out all the people who are in this country illegally, with the electoral reality that he needs to expand his base. The problem is that there were a cacophony of sometimes contradictory voices speaking on his behalf, and it fueled a sense of confusion on what Trump himself described as a “softening” of his approach. It also didn’t help that Trump’s people kept denying there was any change in policy on deportation, even as they kept using language that signaled such a change. On Sunday’s “Media Buzz,” Mike Huckabee, a top Trump surrogate, told me Trump “realizes it’s utterly impractical to try to deport 11 million people, just to round them up. That’s not going to happen.” That seemed pretty clear. Such mass roundups were never realistic, and probably less important than Trump’s signature plan for a border wall. But pressure built to the point that Trump had to make the once-delayed speech last night. But pressure built to the point that Trump had to make last night’s much-anticipated speech. After announcing a series of get-tough measures, Trump essentially rescinded his previous policy of mass deportations of illegal immigrants, except for those who have committed crimes. He said he would figure out what to do with them after all the other steps have been implemented, which he acknowledged would take "several years." In effect, he kicked that can down the road—which amounts to a bow to reality—while vowing to be more aggressive across the board on the immigration problem. Will that matter? It wasn’t even the day’s biggest story. Some of Trump’s strongest detractors, including Charles Krauthammer and Steve Hayes with me on the “Special Report” panel, were praising not only Trump’s demeanor in Mexico but calling it the best day of his campaign. That visual will overshadow the retreat from a deportation plan that even many supporters thought would never be carried out. So with Hillary Clinton’s American exceptionalism speech all but blotted out, Trump, in Beltway parlance, won the day. |
The NYPD is asking for help with two different missing persons cases in Brooklyn reported this week. East Flatbush Jada Alexander, 14, has been missing since Thursday, November 2. She was last seen around 11:00 am leaving her home on the 1400-block of Brooklyn Avenue, at Flatbush Gardens. Bklyner reporting is supported by our subscribers and: Alexander is described as 5’1″, 130 lbs., with a dark complexion, brown eyes, and brown hair. She last seen wearing a black jacket, black jeans, and blue shoes. Crown Heights Cardinal Perez, 76, has been missing since Saturday, October 28. He was last seen around 11:00 am leaving at his home on the 1100-block of Dean Street, near Bedford Ave. Perez is described as 5’5″, with a thin build, brown eyes, and a dark complexion. He was last seen wearing dark blue coat, black jeans, and a white shirt. Anyone with information in regards to either of these cases is asked to call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the Crime stoppers website at WWW.NYPDCRIMESTOPPERS.COM or by texting their tips to 274637 (CRIMES) then enter TIP577. All calls are strictly confidential. This story is free to read thanks to the generous support from readers like you. To support independent local journalism and keep local news free, become a member! |
The New York Police Department has formally introduced the “receipt” cops will be required to issue when they stop-and-frisk people in the street, as part of the city’s increasing oversight of police. Police will be required to give the “What Is A Stop?” slip to those who are stopped but not arrested, the New York Daily News reports. On the receipt, police officers will have to write their name and explain the reason for the stop—for example, if the person was near a crime scene, acting as a lookout, or matching a specific suspect description. A Sept. 21 internal NYPD memo also underscores that police will no longer able to stop-and-frisk a suspect merely for making a furtive movement or being in a high crime area. The changes are “important first steps in reducing illegal and discriminatory stops, while the new receipt will improve accountability and hopefully de-escalate tensions,” said Christopher Dunn, associate legal director of the New York Civil Liberties Union. Patrick Lynch, head of the largest NYPD union, called the new paperwork “another nail in the coffin of proactive policing” and said that the receipts “will accelerate an increase in crime and disorder.” The Brief Newsletter Sign up to receive the top stories you need to know right now. View Sample Sign Up Now [New York Daily News] Contact us at editors@time.com. |
HOLLYWOOD, California—Picture a movie theater, packed for the opening night of a blockbuster film. Hundreds of strangers sit next to each other, transfixed. They tend to blink at the same time. Even their brain activity is, to a remarkable degree, synchronized. It's a slightly creepy thought. It's also a testament to the captivating power of cinema, says Uri Hasson, a psychologist at Princeton University. At a recent event hosted by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Hasson presented his research into what happens inside people's brains when they watch movies. His work got a receptive but somewhat wary reaction from several film makers, including Jon Favreau (Swingers, Iron Man, Chef) and Darren Aronofsky (Pi, The Wrestler, Black Swan). Why Study Movies? Every waking second, a torrent of information flows into out brains through our eyes and ears. Scientists who want to understand how the human brain processes that stream to make sense of the world in real-time have a problem: You can't use a 5-ton fMRI scanner to monitor people's brain activity as they go about their lives. Even if you could, each person's experience is so different it would be impossible to interpret the findings. That's why many vision scientists use simple stimuli they can carefully control in the lab, things like bars of light, bursts of noise, and screens filled with moving dots. But those stimuli don't come anywhere close to mimicking the real-world complexity of the sensory information our brains constantly have to deal with. Movies are somewhere in between the chaos of reality and a simplified lab experiment, says Princeton psychologist Uri Hasson. They're complex and life-like. But the same clip can be shown to different people, and quantified frame-by-frame to study visual elements like color and motion, as well as sound. In one of his first forays into cinema science, Hasson found that when people watch a clip from the classic Western,The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, activity in several brain areas rises and falls at the same time in different individuals. The synched up brain regions included the primary auditory and visual cortex, as well as more specialized regions like the fusiform face area, which is important for (you guessed it) identifying faces, Hasson and colleagues reported in the journal Science in 2004. More recently, he's been trying to figure out what it is about movies that makes people's brains tick together. Not all movies, it turns out, have the same mind-melding power. Structured movies that use a lot of cinematic devices—cuts, and camera angles, and carefully composed shots designed to control viewers' attention—do it to a greater extent than movies of unstructured reality. At the Academy event, Hasson showed brain scan data his team collected as people watched several different video clips. When people watched tense bank robbery scene from Dog Day Afternoon, there was a significant correlation in activity across nearly 70 percent of their cortex. "The movie takes over the brain responses of the viewers," Hasson said. A clip from the improv comedy show Curb Your Enthusiasm, on the other hand, elicited synchrony across less than 20 percent of subjects' cortex. And an unscripted clip of reality—a video the researchers made by simply pointing a camera at a crowd of people watching a concert in a New York City park—elicited synchronous activity across less than 5 percent of subjects' cortex. Colored areas indicate brain regions whose activity was synchronized as people watched four different video clips, that ranged from highly structured movies (left) to unstructured reality (right). Click the image for a larger version. Uri Hasson On the second evening of the two-night event, Aronofsky and his writing partner and sometimes co-producer, Ari Handel, were on stage with the scientists as Hasson presented the results of a small study he'd done with a clip from Black Swan. It comes near the end as Nina, the main character portrayed by Natalie Portman, is unraveling. She hallucinates black feathers poking through the skin on her back. It's an intense scene, and like that of Dog Day Afternoon, it seemed to get nearly 70 percent of the cortex firing in synch across subjects. "They do look very similar, but it'd be more surprising if they didn't," said Handel, who earned a PhD in neuroscience at New York University before getting into movies. "If you're watching a movie, that's your entire sensorium and your feelings." If people's brains were out of synch during a movie, Handel suggested, that might be a bad sign that their minds were wandering. One person might be thinking about the call they need to make, while another contemplates making a popcorn run. "It's a scary tool for the studios to have," Aronofsky said. "Soon they'll do test screenings with people in MRIs." The audience laughed, but it didn't seem like he was joking, at least not entirely. Favreau had been similarly intrigued and wary of the idea of tracking audience engagement with brain scans. "The whole trick of film making is hacking those parts of the brain that keep people entertained," he said. But that's not the only goal for most film makers, he added. "How do you use all this to smuggle in something that's a little more transformative? Ideally, you want to present something a little more elusive than what the statistics at this point can identify." Hasson readily agrees that his fMRI metrics don't measure the quality of a movie. But he thinks some metrics might come closer than others. For example, he suggests scenes that consistently engage people's frontal cortex (which has roles in abstract thought and other "higher" cognitive functions) or parts of the limbic system (which deals with emotion) may be better indicators of the type of elusive quality Favreau mentioned. Unlike the primary auditory and visual cortex, which track what's happening in a movie frame by frame, some of these other areas seem to be integrating what's happening over many minutes, Hasson says. "They might be responding to more interesting aspects of the movie." He envisions filmmakers using brain scans to gauge how viewers' brains respond to different aspects of a movie. Does the soundtrack cause people's auditory cortex to synch up? Does an emotional scene take control of their limbic system? What to do with that information would, of course, be up to the individual filmmaker, Hasson said. The Russian filmmaker Andrei Tarkovsky, whose films were known for their ambiguity and lack of conventional structure, might use it differently, than, say, the documentary filmmaker Michael Moore, who applies conventional cinematic devices and narrative structures to real life topics. "If you want people to think alike and be in synch, you could use this tool," Hasson said. "If you want people to think differently, you could also use it." This is the second in a series of stories about how scientists are studying cinema for clues about the nature of perception, and how the science might aid film makers as they pursue their art. |
Image copyright Getty Images Image caption The FAA ban only applies to US carriers, such as Delta, United, American Airlines, and others The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has banned all US airlines from flying over Iraq until further notice. The FAA said the ban was introduced due to the "hazardous situation" created by fighting between militants from the Islamic State (IS) and Iraqi security forces. British Airways said it was suspending its flights over Iraq and would "keep the situation under review". The US launched air strikes against IS in Iraq on Thursday. The FAA had previously banned all air travel over Iraq below 30,000 feet on 31 July. On Saturday, Australian airline Qantas said it had suspended flights over Iraq, following similar actions by German airline Lufthansa, Dubai-based Emirates, Virgin Atlantic and Air France. Flying over conflict areas has come under increasing scrutiny since the crash of MH 17 in Ukraine in July. Earlier in July, the FAA and other European carriers briefly suspended flights to Israel's Ben Gurion airport in Tel Aviv after a rocket landed near the airport. |
The aftershocks of demonetization is far from over. As per reports coming in, Reserve Bank of India has almost stopped the printing of Rs 2000 currency notes, as the primary focus has shifted to printing of Rs 200 notes, and circulating them. Most probably, from next month onwards, Rs 200 notes would be introduced, and preparations are on full swing. Does this mean that Rs 2000 currency notes would be slowly put out of usage? Radha Rama Dorai, country head, ATM and allied services, at ATM service provider FIS said, “Although we haven’t see any drop in supply of Rs 2000 notes, we expect it to be moved out of ATMs once Rs 200 notes hit the market,” Enough Rs 2000 Notes In The Market – RBI As per one of the people close to the RBI, there are currently 3.7 billion notes of Rs 2000 denomination in the market, which amounts to Rs 7.4 trillion. RBI feels that this is enough as of now, and have stopped further printing of the notes. When demonetization kicked in, there were 6.3 billion notes of Rs 1000 denomination, hence, it makes sense as well. Now, more Rs 2000 notes exist in the market, compared to Rs 1000 currency notes, before demonetization. Another reason is the abundance of Rs 500 currency notes in the market right now. Right now, 14 billion Rs 500 currency notes have been printed, and in circulation, which clearly compensates 15.7 billion old Rs 500 notes (amounting to Rs 7.85 trillion), which were demonetized last year. Hence, a stage has arrived wherein existing quantity of Rs 2000 notes are matching quantity of Rs 1000 notes which existed before and Rs 500 new notes are matching Rs 500 old currency notes, which existed earlier. Note here, that 90% of all available currencies is Rs 500 right now. As of 14th July, total of Rs 15.22 trillion worth of currency notes are in circulation, compared to Rs 17.7 trillion that was in circulation on 4 November, which is 86%. Confirming this, Neeraj Vyas, deputy managing director, State Bank of India (SBI) said, “The cash crunch which existed till two months ago has now eased with RBI increasing supply of Rs 500 notes over the last 40 days. But we have also seen a sharp drop in the supply of Rs 2000 notes during this period.” The New Focus: Rs 200 Currency Notes As an equilibrium has been reached regarding the old state of currency and the new state, RBI has now focussed all energies into printing Rs 200 currency note, which will help to fill the gap between Rs 2000 and Rs 500. As per reports coming in, around a billion Rs 200 currency notes would be introduced in the market, in the next month. RBI’s printing press in Mysore has been instructed to print Rs 200 currency notes in full swing. We have already reported how Rs 200 currency note would be different, and equipped with advanced security features as well. We will keep you focussed as we receive more information.. |
Developer Igor Vasiliev, creator of MIDI Pattern Sequencer, has announced Audio Mastering Studio for iPad, described as a “fully functional audio mastering application for iPad”. Features: Linear-phase 10-bands graphic Equalizer based on phase shifts – has “unique soft sound, very close in sound to the quality analog devices”. Harmonic Saturator with three sets of harmonics Stereo Imaging “takes control of sound space of your composition and lets you make sounding wider or narrower in each of three bands.” Loudness Maximizer can increase RMS of your track without audible distortion. Here’s what he has to say about Audio Mastering Studio: This project is done in cooperation with a professional sound engineer Andrew Startsev who has been developing and producing audio devices and software for audio recording and mastering for many years. This all-in-one tool lets you process sound, converts audio formats, change sample rate, convert bit depth, cut part of track for demo or preview and make fade-in and fade-out. With very easy and clear interface you can tweak all controls in real time and hear final result right away. All settings will be stored for each track and you don’t lose accidentally the best sounding of your composition. Also this feature allows you to upbuild common style for all tracks of your album and finalize all of them at once. Built-in presets for popular styles allow you to quickly find the general mood of composition and slightly tweak to get a better result. If you have own preset that you want to use for future you can save it in one of presets hotkey. Audio Mastering Studio for iPad availability and pricing are to be announced. |
I simply can’t tear myself away from the Pinterest. So when I saw this beautifully illustrated cinnamon roll pancake situation, I was all, “I’ll nail that!” So I woke up the kids, told them the good news and we proceeded to have the most amazing Saturday morning of all time. Cinnamon. Roll. Pancakes. While there are a few steps here, if you grab your favorite gluten-free pancake mix you can knock out a few of them. I also was thanking the maker I’d made an impulse buy so I had these icing bottle things to put my cinnamon mixture and my icing into for easier pancake distribution – You can use a Ziploc bag with a small cut in one corner if you don’t have this random plastic in your home, but be sure everything has cooled as not to melt the bag. But once you’ve mixed up these two add-ons, you just throw your g-free ‘cakes on the griddle, let them find their space, and make a cinnamon swirly, like so – Cute, no? Recipe Girl suggests you steer clear of the pancake edge when you’re adding your cinnamon mixture, otherwise it could wreck the whole thing. But I’m guessing, even if wrecked, these would still be totally delicious. Although we have decided the amount of sugar means we can only eat these once a year. Only 363 more days before we can enjoy the crap out of these dessert pancakes. Yes, I am counting the days. You too, can o.d. on sugar in the morning! Gluten-Free Cinnamon Roll Pancakes adapted from recipe girl Prep time: 15 minutes Cook time: 5-7 minutes per ‘cake Ingredients Cinnamon Mixture: 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter, melted 1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons brown sugar 1/2 tablespoons cinnamon Icing: 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter 2 ounces cream cheese, room temperature 3/4 cup powdered sugar 1/2 teaspoon vanilla Pancakes – Use your favorite gluten-free mix. I like Pamela’s, XO, and The Pure Pantry the best 1. Prepare cinnamon mixture—Mix melted butter, brown sugar, and cinnamon together in medium bowl. Transfer to icing bottle or Ziploc bag and set aside. 2. Prepare icing—Melt butter over low heat. Add cream cheese and whisk together completely. Add powdered sugar, 1/4 cup at a time and whisk until completely mixed. Add vanilla and mix. Remove from heat and transfer (when cool) to icing bottle or Ziploc bag. 3. Make pancakes according to instructions and heat oil on griddle. 4. Pour 1/3 cup—or even more—pancake batter on the griddle and let cook for 20 seconds before creating a winding circle of cinnamon mixture inside. Flip after pancake has lots of air bubbles and bottom is browned on one side. 5. Stack pancakes on top of each other, and use icing bottle or Ziploc bag to create cinnamon roll stripes or circles on the top pancake. ENJOY. |
I was downstairs the other day when I heard this rumbling sound coming from the second floor. As I hopped up the stairs, the sound got louder, and when I made it up, there was a puddle of water growing outward from the bathroom door. I opened the door and the toilet was overflowing. I don’t know how or why it started to overflow right then and there, because I hadn’t used that toilet in a while, but this train of thought only lasted for five seconds, tops, because the more I stood around and thought about it, the more gross toilet water was making its way out of the toilet and into the rest of the house. My first instinct was to grab the plunger and get right to work, which, with the toilet bowl already filled to the brim with toilet water, with the water cascading down the sides of the bowl, only made things splash around. I tried to position myself standing on my tiptoes, as if I could somehow get to work here without getting wet, but as soon as I started plunging, up and down, there were these mini tidal waves making direct contact with the front of my pants. It wasn’t working. And that’s when I thought to turn the water off at the source, something I should have done immediately. But I only let myself contemplate my missteps for another second, second and a half, because I was standing there and my shoes were getting wet. I had to bend down to reach for the knob behind the base of the toilet, and I was really afraid that some of the toilet water was going to splash on my face, which somehow it did. Once the water was off, the sound of rushing water went away, which gave me the false sense that my problem had been solved. This feeling of comfort didn’t last very long, as I realized that I had a huge mess on my hands. My brain was looking for some sort of quick action. Or, if not an immediate fix, at least an immediate plan, something that I could get to work on right away, a series of steps that, once executed, would make my problem go away. But I didn’t know where to start. And the growing pool of water that was escaping the bathroom made its way to the edge of the staircase, so I could hear the water start to trickle down in those little lines of very rapid drops. There was a towel hanging next to the shower, and without really thinking it out, I just grabbed it and threw it to the ground. But the water was so much that it immediately overwhelmed my puny effort. The towel soaked through, and it hadn’t made any noticeable dent in the water level. And now what was I supposed to do with the towel? I couldn’t pick it up and put it anywhere, it would just drip all over the place. If anything, I’d only added to the mess. I thought about paper towels, but no, I had to go down to the basement and find a mop. And then I had to mop everything up with a bucket until it was all clean. It took like two hours, total. I was just sitting there, I had other things on my mind besides mopping the floors, and then all of the sudden the toilet went bonkers and totally hijacked my day. And just as I was going over the floors with a soapy solution, I heard the same rumbling sound coming from downstairs. I went to run, like a real life game of human whack-a-mole, to turn that water off before there was another giant mess to clean up, but the floors were still slippery from me having just mopped everything up, and so I wiped out, my feet flying out forward, the back of my head hitting the lip of the top step before my entire body slid. And I would’ve fallen the entire flight, but right as my head made contact, my left arm instinctively shot up and grabbed on to the railing. So I was stable for a second, but only a second. With the wind knocked out of me due to the hit to my head, I started panicking, concentrating all of my strength toward my left hand on the railing. It must have been too much weight for the piece of wood bolted to the wall, because something popped out, a piece of hardware, I couldn’t be sure, and when that gave way, that’s when I fell down the rest of the stairs. My bottom tooth had punctured the inside of my lower lip, and as I opened my eyes after realizing that I wasn’t seriously injured, I felt the dual sensation of the warm blood filling my mouth as well as a coolness at the back of my head. It was a puddle. It was coming from the bathroom. I don’t know how it got to me so quick, or maybe I’d been knocked out for a little while when my body tumbled to the ground floor. Then there was a loud popping sound, like a burst, like a mini explosion. It was the upstairs bathroom. I definitely turned the water off, but there must have been some sort of pressure behind it, because now there was a strong current of rushing water pouring out of the bathroom, down the stairs. I was getting soaked from above and below. And I tried to twist my body into an upright position, but everything hurt pretty badly, and so I let myself just kind of sit there, the water accumulating under my head, now maybe half an inch deep. And then I heard the doorknob turn, I realized too late that I was unfortunately positioned right by the front door. I tried to scream out, “Wait!” but she must not have heard me over all of that running water, and when the door opened, it opened right to my head, another slam. Right before I blacked out again, I could hear my wife, screaming, she was just like, “Jesus Christ, Rob, what the fuck?” |
An Ethiopian immigrant who was working as a Certified Nursing Assistant in Portland, Oregon is behind bars, charged with rape, unlawful sexual penetration and other sexual contact with patients who were 87 and 94 years old. Around a half dozen other alleged victims came forward after the September 14 arrest of Adeladilew A. Mekonen and he is likely to face “many more charges,” the Washington County Sheriff’s Department confirmed to Breitbart News. As the online record of who is in custody in Washington County shows, the 34-year-old suspect is currently facing 18 charges. Even more shocking: a lawsuit filed on behalf of the 87-year-old victim claims that many of the assaults could’ve been prevented had the hospital where the accused rapist worked acted after the 94-year-old victim told the hospital she had been raped back in June. The lawsuit alleges that Providence St. Vincent Medical Center: knew and had reason to know that Adeladilew Mekonen had abused and was likely to again sexually abuse ill and elderly female patients, including plaintiff, if he were allowed to be alone with them in their rooms, and yet defendant Providence directed and allowed Mekonen to continue to attend such female patients, including plaintiff, under such circumstances. As the 87-year-old woman’s attorney Greg Kafoury told Portland TV station KOIN: “When you get an accusation as serious as this, you’re really supposed to do something about it,” Kafoury said about the hospital’s actions. “You’re not supposed to look for the first door out and try to look for a way to say it never happened.” It is unclear what happened in June after the lawsuit claims the 94-year-old woman told the hospital she had been raped but Providence St. Vincent gave KOIN 6 News this statement: Providence has been working closely with law enforcement and prosecutors in this ongoing investigation. As additional patients contacted us, we worked with Washington County detectives to connect patients with investigators and conduct interviews. We played a direct part in helping detectives take action in these new cases. Providence is committed to the safety of our patients and their families. In all of our hospitals, we have a team of people working to review and investigate any patient concerns we receive. We work every day to earn the trust of our patients, just as we have been doing for 160 years. The suspect’s neighbor, Jeff Reed, expressed dismay to news station KATU, telling the station he was shocked to hear the allegations after Mekonoen’s arrest. “I thought he was a very nice guy, family oriented,” said Reed, who lives across from Mekonen at an apartment complex in Southeast Portland. Mekonen had been working at the hospital since May, just a month before the first rape was allegedly reported. Breitbart News has confirmed with the Washington County authorities that the suspect, Adeladilew Mekonen, told a detective that he came to the United States from Ethiopia in 2011. |
Christopher Bollyn – bollyn.com January 21, 2011 There is an excellent article on VoltaireNet.org entitled “The Real Crime of M. Khodorkovsky“ by F. William Engdahl, which I recommend. In his short article, Engdahl explains how Khodorkovsky was working with George H.W. Bush, Jacob Rothschild, Henry Kissinger, and George Soros to take over the vital oil assets of Russia – in order to destroy Russia as a “functioning state”. This plot was clearly not hatched in Washington nor was this being carried out to benefit the American people. The only beneficiaries of this criminal plot were the small group of men behind it. The astute reader will notice that this is the same group of people who, I contend, are at the highest-level of the global hoax and cover-up of 9/11. I am listed in something called the Encyclopedia of American Loons because my research and findings indicate that these people are the real culprits behind 9/11. As the Encyclopedia says of my thesis : “9-11 was the product of a Zionist conspiracy (in particular organized by the Rothschild family) – the Zionist conspiracy that controls the US government and media.” (See “Slaying the Debt Spider“) As Engdahl explains in his article, Khodorkovsky had a contractual agreement with Jacob Rothschild that in the event of his arrest and incarceration, Khodorkovsky’s shares of 40 percent of Yukos would belong to Rothschild. This is a pretty good indication of who was financing Khodorkovsky’s attempt to take over the vital oil assets of Russia. Khodorkovsky was a Rothschild-funded agent on the front line in the war to plunder Russia. Engdahl explains that Khodorkovsky was working closely with Henry Kissinger, George H.W. Bush, and George Soros, which raises the question of who is the top dog. It’s pretty clear that these men are merely senior officers in Rothschild’s army, as are the Clintons and Obamas. As Eustace Mullins wrote in Secrets of the Federal Reserve: The House of Rothschild: “The fact was that in 1910, the United States was for all practical purposes being ruled from England, and so it is today. The ten largest bank holding companies in the United States are firmly in the hands of certain banking houses, all of which have branches in London. They are J.P. Morgan Company, Brown Brothers Harriman (George H.W. Bush is the son of Prescott Bush, a founding partner of Brown Brothers Harriman), Warburg, Kuhn Loeb and J. Henry Schroder. All of them maintain close relationships with the House of Rothschild, principally through the Rothschild control of international money markets through its manipulation of the price of gold. Each day, the world price of gold is set in the London office of N.M. Rothschild and Company. “Although these firms are ostensibly American firms, which merely maintain branches in London, the fact is that these banking houses actually take their direction from London. Their history is a fascinating one, and unknown to the American public, originating as it did in the international traffic in gold, slaves, diamonds, and other contraband. There are no moral considerations in any business decision made by these firms. They are interested solely in money and power.” 9/11 – THE GLOBAL HOAX When we consider the 9/11 cover-up, we find the former president and C.I.A. director George H.W. Bush and his son the president perfectly placed to block a blue-ribbon investigation and push a pack of lies on the public in order to wage a war of conquest in Afghanistan. Henry Kissinger was President Bush’s first choice to chair the 9/11 commission. Kissinger’s partner, the late Richard Holbrooke, served as Obama’s special envoy to the Afghanistan-Pakistan war until his death last year. The C.I.A. is obviously engaged in the 9/11 deception while it wages its own covert war in the region using the pack of lies it peddles to the public through the controlled media. Remember, the C.I.A. was holding a plane-into-building drill on the very morning of 9/11, which oddly resulted in the employees of the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) in Chantilly, Virginia being sent home after the first plane struck the World Trade Center. The C.I.A. is clearly not serving the interests of the American people or republic, but simply works on behalf of the people behind the evil plot. The following are some key extracts from Engdahl’s article, which can be read in its entirety with links at: http://www.voltairenet.org/article168007.html “At the time of his arrest Khodorkovsky was in the process of negotiating via his Carlyle friend George H.W. Bush, father of the then-President George W. Bush, the sale of 40 percent of Yukos to either Condi Rice’s former company, Chevron, or ExxonMobil in a move that would have dealt a crippling blow to the one asset left Russia and Putin to use for the rebuilding of the wrecked Russian economy: oil and export via state-owned pipelines to the West for dollars.” The final decision in the Russian trial against former oil oligarch Mikhail Khodorkovsky has drawn dramatic statements of protest from the US Obama Administration and governments around the world labeling Russian justice as tyrannical and worse. What is carefully omitted from the Khodovkorsky story however is the true reason Putin arrested and imprisoned the former head of Russia’s largest private oil giant, Yukos. Mikhail Khodorkovsky’s real crime was not stealing Russia’s assets for a pittance in the bandit era of Yeltsin. His real crime is that he was a key part of a Western intelligence operation to dismantle and destroy what remains of Russia as a functioning state. When the facts are known the justice served on him is mild by comparison to US or UK standard treatment of those convicted of treason against the state. Obama’s torture prison at Guantánamo is merely one example of Washington’s double standard. … Prior to his arrest in 2003 Khodorkovsky (in the photo with first Russian President Boris Yeltsin) funded several Russian parties, including the Communist Party, most of which were in competition with each other. In an auction run by his own bank, Khodorkovsky paid $309 million for Yukos. In 2003 the same company was assessed as worth $45 billion ($45,000,000,000 or 145 times the purchase price), and not owing to Khodorkovsky’s management genius. With his new billions in effect stolen from the Russian people, he made some powerful friends. He set up a foundation modeled on US billionaire George Soros’ Open Society, calling it the Open Russia Foundation. He invited two powerful Westerners to its board—Henry Kissinger and Jacob Lord Rothschild. Then he set about to develop ties with some of the most powerful circles in Washington where he was named to the Advisory Board of the secretive private equity firm, Carlyle Group where he attended board meetings with fellow advisors such as George H.W. Bush and James Baker III. Jacob Rothschild was Khodorkovsky’s key partner…along with Rothschild’s high-level agents Henry Kissinger, George Bush, and the late Richard Holbrooke. However, the real crime that landed Khodorkovsky behind Russian bars was the fact that he was in the middle of making a US-backed coup d’etat to capture the Russian presidency in planned 2004 Russian Duma elections. Khodorkovsky was in the process of using his enormous wealth to buy enough seats in the coming Duma elections that he could change Russian laws regarding ownership of oil in the ground and of pipelines transporting same. In addition he planned to directly challenge Putin and become Russian President. As part of the horse trade that won Putin the tacit support of the wealthy so-called Russian Oligarchs, Putin had extracted agreement that they be allowed to hold on to their wealth provided they repatriate a share back into Russia and provided they not interfere in domestic Russian politics with their wealth. Most oligarchs agreed, as did Khodorkovsky at the time. They remain established Russian businessmen. Khodorkovsky did not. Moreover, at the time of his arrest Khodorkovsky was in the process of negotiating via his Carlyle friend George H.W. Bush, father of the then-President George W. Bush, the sale of 40% of Yukos to either Condi Rice’s former company, Chevron or ExxonMobil in a move that would have dealt a crippling blow to the one asset left Russia and Putin to use for the rebuilding of the wrecked Russian economy: oil and export via state-owned pipelines to the West for dollars. During the ensuing Russian state prosecution of Yukos, it came to light that Khodorkovsky had also secretly made a contract with London’s Lord Rothschild not merely to support Russian culture via the Open Russia Foundation of Khodorkovsky. In the event of his possible arrest (Khodorkovsky evidently knew he was playing a high-risk game trying to create a coup against Putin) the 40% share of his Yukos stocks would pass into the hands of Lord Rothschild. The crocodile tears of Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama for the violations of Khodorkovsky’s human rights hide a far deeper agenda that is not being admitted. Washington used the Russian to try to reach its goal of totally destroying the only power left on the earth with sufficient military strike power to challenge the Pentagon’s Full Spectrum Dominance strategy—control of the entire planet. When seen in that light the sweet loaded words “human rights” take on a quite different meaning. Sources and Recommended Reading: “The Real Crime of M. Khodorkovsky”, by F. William Engdahl, VoltaireNet.org, 5 January 2011 http://www.voltairenet.org/article168007.html “Slaying the Debt Spider”, by Christopher Bollyn, 20 July 2010 http://www.bollyn.com/slaying-the-debt-spider-2 Source |
Ecelop via Shutterstock Go ahead, admit it. Like a lot of people, you have a favorite number. Maybe you’re not as extreme as Sheldon Cooper, the arch-nerd character on television’s Big Bang Theory, who loves the number 73: “73 is the 21st prime number, its mirror 37 is the 12th and its mirror 21 is the product of multiplying, hang on to your hats, 7 and 3!” Maybe your favorite number is your birthday, or the jersey you wore in high school. Or maybe it is your significant other’s birthday. (That would be smart, because then you would never forget it.) But what is the world’s favorite number? Alex Bellos, a mathematics blogger for The Guardian, started collecting favorite numbers a few years ago. One of the most frequent questions he got from readers was, “What’s your favorite number?” (Or “favourite,” since this was in England.) He didn’t actually have one, but then he started asking readers the same question. Quite to his surprise, he found that a lot of people were passionate about numbers… or at least one number in particular. “Numbers are like gold coins—you might see a lot of them, but they’re all wonderful.” Bellos set up the website http://favouritenumber.net and asked people to cast votes for their favorite numbers and explain why they liked them. More than 44,000 people did. Along the way, Bellos noticed lots of patterns. “Definitely, non-mathematical reasons were more frequent than mathematical ones,” he says. “Dates and birthdays are the most common.” Odd numbers do better, in general, than even ones. In China, 8 is popular because it sounds like “prosperity,” and 4 is unpopular because it sounds like “death.” English has sound-alikes, too: one voter said his favorite was 11, because “it sounds like lovin’.” Round numbers, ending in 0 or 5, are quite unpopular. “My theory, which is not scientifically proven, is that we use round numbers to mean approximate things,” says Bellos. “When we say 100, we don’t usually mean exactly 100, we mean around 100. So 100 seems incredibly vague. Why would you have something as your favorite that is so vague?” It seems that we like our numbers to be somewhat unique, which may be why prime numbers are popular. They aren’t divisible by any smaller numbers (aside from 1). Bellos just announced the results today on the BBC and in his new book, Alex Through the Looking-Glass, published this week in the UK. (It’s published under the title The Grapes of Math in the US.) Let’s count them down: The bronze medal goes to the number 8. Hey, all those Chinese people can’t be wrong! The silver medal goes to the number 3. That should go over well with fans of the Three Musketeers, the Three Stooges, and the Three Little Pigs. But the number cited most often as a favorite number is (drum roll, please)… 7. To be honest, this is hardly a shock. If you go to Las Vegas, you can’t miss the 7’s all around you. “People’s strongest emotional reaction is to the number 7, and this has been true throughout history,” says Bellos. But strangely enough, no one really knows why. “The argument most frequently given, which I think is not credible, is that there are seven visible planets or seven days in the week,” Bellos says. He thinks that we like 7 because it’s the only number between 2 and 10 that is neither a multiple nor a factor of any other. It somehow stands apart from the others. But if you don’t feel any attachment to 7, that’s okay. Rebels like the number 13, which finished way up in sixth place. If you like the number 0, join the smart aleck club. More than any other number, people seemed to pick 0 because they thought it was a clever thing to do, Bellos says. As for the world’s “least favorite” number, that would be 110. It was the smallest whole number that didn’t get any votes at all. One nice thing about favorite numbers is that there are so many to choose from. “Numbers are like gold coins—you might see a lot of them, but they’re all wonderful,” says Neil Sloane, a retired mathematicians at AT&T Labs and curator of the Online Encyclopedia of Integer Sequences. “I have quite a few favorites,” he says. 240 (the number of billiard balls that a single billiard ball can “kiss” in eight-dimensional space) is near the top, but so are 1, 2 (“the oddest prime,” because it’s even), and 1089 (check Wikipedia if you want to know why). “People’s strongest emotional reaction is to the number 7, and this has been true throughout history.” On the other hand, some mathematicians profess not to care. “I must confess that I have tuned out of the whole fave number thing,” says mathematician-magician Colm Mulcahy of Spelman College. However, as a magician he is definitely aware of people’s preference for 7, and he even does a card trick that takes advantage of that preference. Bellos also denies having a favorite number, but he does say, “I have quite a good birthday, 11/22. You double one and you get the second. When I was growing up, it made me feel that I was destined to be good at math.” His birthday also made for a good conversation starter in, of all places, Brazil, where he lived for five years. “They really believe in astrology and numerology there, and you often get asked your birthday in a bar,” he says. He offers a tip to anyone traveling to Brazil this year: “If you’re going to the World Cup, lie about your birthday.” For example, 7/3 would be a really cool choice. Just ask Sheldon Cooper. Dana Mackenzie is a freelance mathematics and science writer based in Santa Cruz, California. His most recent book is The Universe in Zero Words: The Story of Mathematics as Told Through Equations, published in 2012 by Princeton University Press. |
Editorial: New AT&T iPhone Data, Tethering Plans Equal Future Shock Long-time iPhone users know that Apple makes “good news” announcements early in the day, a deliberate step to maximize their exposure, and sneaks less positive ones out when the stock market’s closed or journalists are just about to leave the office. So the fact that Apple’s iPhone partner AT&T announced huge changes to its iPhone and iPad data plans in the dead of night with no assistance from Apple should tell you something: there are major changes afoot, and Apple doesn’t want them to cloud its upcoming unveiling of the next-generation iPhone next week. In short, AT&T revealed two pieces of potentially controversial news: first, that $30 “unlimited” data plans are going away for new iPhone and iPad customers, and second, that it plans to charge $20 for iPhone tethering. Effective June 7, 2010, the company will cap new users at 2GB of data for $25 per month, and offer a $15 monthly plan with 200MB—the same price as the current low-end 250MB per month iPad 3G plan, but with less data. As marginal as the cheaper plan was for the iPad, it looks even less attractive now, quite possibly to push more users into the more expensive monthly offering. Additionally, AT&T will charge $15 plan users an additional $15 for another 200MB if they exceed that cap, while $25 plan users will be assessed an extra $10 for 1GB more if they exceed the 2GB threshold. In other words, stay within your limits, or you’ll pay $30 per month for 400MB, or $35 per month for 3GB, far worse than the old $30 unlimited iPhone and iPad plans. Initially, our reaction to this news was negative across the board—the first response most users will have. But after we went back and looked at our actual iPhone data usage for the past six or so months, the reality is that there are several current usage scenarios that play out across our editors and their spouses, with almost all of them seeing net positives under the new AT&T data plans. Best off will be this sample user, who according to AT&T’s “View Past Data Usage” chart (see the first page of your AT&T Wireless account page for your own numbers) has never exceeded 200MB per month in usage. Over the seven months charted here, she could have paid $15 per month for data and never faced an overage charge. If her data usage stays the same under the new iPhone, and she doesn’t want to use a computer for tethering on the road, her data bills could go down by 50%. Similarly fine will be this sample user, who routinely uses in excess of 200MB per month but far less than 2GB per month. Over the eight months charted here, he could pay $25 per month for data and never have an overage, with plenty of spare bandwidth for a tethered device. Notably, this user’s last month of iPad data usage amounted to around 325MB of data, which on top of the 277MB of iPhone data is still well below the 2GB cap. Paying $45 per month for tethered iPhone + iPad service—if Apple offers tethered data for the iPad—wouldn’t be great, but it wouldn’t be awful, either. Problems start for users like this one, who has months that fall under or above the 200MB and 400MB caps of the $15 plan. In December, she would have had an overage fee of $15 for a mere 18MB of additional data, with a similar $15 overage in May. But in April, she would have paid $45 for 429MB of data versus $30 under the current iPhone unlimited data plan. Over six months’ time, she would have been better off overall on either the $15 plan or the $25 plan than the $30 plan—a non-trivial fact—but her future bills will fluctuate a lot from month to month, and if she has more months like April going forward, the $15 plan could put her in the hole. She’ll need to pick the $25 plan, or get ripped off every month by overages. Unfortunately, these charts are all based on prior iPhone usage patterns, and bigger problems are sure to come. Thanks to recently-approved 3G VoIP and video streaming applications, iPhones are just now becoming considerably more capable of using data than they were last year, so people accustomed to staying under 200MB may well wind up facing overages in the near future. There’s significant evidence to suggest that the next-generation iPhone will include video chat functionality, as well, though it’s unclear as to whether the feature will be allowed on AT&T’s 3G network. If it is, expect 3G bandwidth usage to race upwards, as video streaming is amongst the most data-demanding features of an iPhone, and during video chat, it’ll be going in both directions. The 200MB and 2GB plans that are borderline acceptable today may well become constraining within only a few months of the new iPhone’s introduction. Then there’s the iPad. As the massive uptake of iPads over the last two months illustrates, demand for lightweight portable tablet computers is already surging, and the iPad with Wi-Fi + 3G offers a great way to get anywhere access to the Internet. Tethering to an iPhone with existing data service would be the other—and a logical way to let current iPhone customers enjoy using two devices at a modest premium. AT&T’s $20 tethering fee is not modest. It is only available to users who have already purchased the $25 2GB data plan, and then, offers nothing more than the ability to share that 2GB between the iPhone and another device. Charging a tethering fee is justifiable under an unlimited or near-unlimited iPhone plan. The logic is clear: you’re given “unlimited” iPhone access with the understanding that you’re not going to use 3G data in a truly unlimited fashion on a device with such a small screen, but that changes when you connect a data-hungry computer or a tablet-class device, which will use far more of the “unlimited” service than a phone. Similarly, if AT&T wants to charge a small fee so that two data plan-sharing devices can each have SIM cards, or separate data phone numbers, or something of that sort, fine. Yet under a capped data plan, you’re paying for a specific amount of data per month and should be able to use as much of it as you want without having to answer to AT&T for what type of data it is, or the devices that are displaying it. A $20 fee for the privilege of using your 2GB plan more fully is ridiculous; a lower fee for tethering, or a similar fee with an unlimited plan would have been less objectionable. Readers, what do you think of the new AT&T data plans? Does the company have some adjustments to make before WWDC next week, particularly in the tethering department, or are you satisfied with what it has come up with? Voice your opinions in the comments section below. |
CLOSE Days after the Senate passed tougher sanctions on Russia, the White House is reportedly saying “not so fast.” Buzz60 In this June 9, 2017, President Donald Trump listens during a news conference in the Rose Garden. (Photo11: Susan Walsh, AP) WASHINGTON — It started with her emails. Hillary Clinton's emails were hacked — through both Democratic National Committee servers and the private account of her campaign chairman — and released on the website Wikileaks. The intelligence community pointed the finger at Russia, and officials later said they believed the operation was part of a deliberate effort to sway the 2016 presidential election. There is, as of yet, no direct, public evidence that President Trump knew anything about the hacking — though he did say last July that he hoped Russia would be able to find official emails missing from Clinton's home server. But as tends to happen in Washington (see Watergate, 1972-1974 and Whitewater, 1993-1998), one controversy can beget another until the central question becomes not what the president did, but whether he obstructed the investigation. "They made up a phony collusion with the Russians story, found zero proof, so now they go for obstruction of justice on the phony story," Trump tweeted Thursday. And so it is five months into the Trump administration, as the original firestorm over hacked emails has set into motion a series of offspring controversies that have consumed the presidency. Here's a guide to the Russian hacking investigation and its many offshoots: Russian hacking Russian President Vladimir Putin. (Photo11: Alexei Nikolsky, Alexei Nikolsky, AP) In October, as the Clinton campaign was weathering near-daily disclosures of internal emails, 17 U.S. intelligence agencies concluded that the Russian government was behind the hacking of the emails. At the time, the agencies said only that Russia was attempting to interfere in the election. But in January, the same agencies released an even stronger assessment: Russian President Vladimir Putin personally ordered the hacking — and not just to interfere with the election, but to get Trump elected. Trump, then president-elect, responded by complaining that the report was leaked to NBC News before he had a chance to read it. And he said the report showed that the election wasn't tampered with because no votes were changed. "Intelligence stated very strongly there was absolutely no evidence that hacking affected the election results. Voting machines not touched!" he tweeted. The Russian interference campaign also included "fake news" stories and propaganda from Russian-owned media, intelligence reports said. Flynn's contact with Russian diplomat A file picture dated Feb. 10 shows Michael Flynn, then National Security Adviser to President Trump, attending a press conference with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in the East Room of the White House. (Photo11: JIM LO SCALZO, EPA) In December, incoming National Security Adviser Michael Flynn talked to Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak about relaxing sanctions — a call that would be reported in the Washington Post two weeks later. White House officials — including the vice president — insisted it was a courtesy call and sanctions were not discussed. When that turned out not to be true, Trump fired Flynn for lying. But that wasn't the end of Flynn's legal troubles. He also failed to disclose his lobbying for the Turkish government, and didn't get approval to work for a Russian state-owned media outlet. The Jared Kushner 'back channel' White House senior adviser Jared Kushner attends the first meeting of the President's Commission on Combating Drug Addiction and the Opioid Crisis, Friday. (Photo11: Susan Walsh, AP) During the transition, Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner met with Russian officials at Trump Tower in an apparent attempt to create a “back channel” between the White House and the Kremlin. That move could have used Russian communications methods, and appeared designed to allow the senior officials to speak directly to their Russian counterparts outside of normal diplomatic and intelligence protocols. The White House said such communications are "an appropriate part of diplomacy." But the communications could implicate federal laws governing communications with foreign powers: The Logan Act, a rarely used law forbidding private citizens from conducting foreign policy; the Espionage Act, which prohibits divulging state secrets; and the Foreign Agent Registration Act, which requires those acting on behalf of a foreign power to disclose their contacts with the government. Also, using Russian communications equipment could have made Kushner or anyone else vulnerable to blackmail, as the Russians would have had control over the communications and any recordings that might have been made. Kushner, who later took on a formal role as an adviser to Trump, also allegedly failed to disclose meetings with Russians on security clearance forms. Sessions' incomplete testimony Then-senator Jeff Sessions prepares to testify at his confirmation hearing to be President Trump's attorney general in the Russell Senate Office Building Jan. 10. (Photo11: JIM LO SCALZO, EPA) During Jeff Sessions' confirmation hearing as attorney general, Sen. Al Franken asked him about reports of communications between the Trump campaign and the Russian government. Sessions said he was unaware of any such contacts, and then volunteered, "I have been called a surrogate at a time or two in that campaign and I didn't have — did not have communications with the Russians." That turned out not to be true: He met with the Russian ambassador at least twice as a U.S. senator. But whether Sessions committed perjury is a question that turns on whether he intended to deceive the Senate Judiciary. "My answer was honest and correct as I understood it at the time," Sessions later said. Sessions later recused himself from investigations into the Russian matter. Trump fires FBI Director Comey President Trump shakes hands with then-FBI Director James Comey in the Blue Room of the White House Jan. 22. (Photo11: Andrew Harrer / POOL, EPA) Trump abruptly fired FBI Director James Comey — the man responsible for the various Russia investigations — on May 9. The purported reason: A memo from Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein excoriating Comey for how he conducted an investigation into Clinton's mishandling of classified information. But Trump later told NBC's Lester Holt he was thinking about "the Russian thing" when he made the decision. And Comey later testified that Trump had repeatedly pressed him to publicly deny that the president personally was under investigation in the probe. Special Counsel Robert Mueller is now investigating whether the president obstructed justice. Trump's disclosure of foreign intelligence — to the Russians This file handout photo taken on May 10, 2017 made available by the Russian Foreign Ministry shows shows President Trump speaking with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak during a meeting at the White House. (Photo11: HO, AFP/Getty Images) The day after firing Comey, the president met in the Oval Office with Kisylak — the same Russian ambassador whose meetings with other officials had proved problematic — and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. Trump reportedly told the two men that Comey was a "nut job" and that his firing relieved "great pressure" on him. Separately, the Washington Post reported that Trump divulged classified information to the Russian diplomats, giving them details of an intercepted plot to bomb planes using disguised laptops. While the president can legally share classified information with anyone, the intelligence in question belonged to Israeli intelligence agencies. 'Lordy, I hope there are tapes' Former FBI Director James Comey delivers his much-anticipated testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee on the FBI's investigation into the Trump administration, and its possible collusion with Russia during the campaign, in the Hart Senate Office Building June 8. (Photo11: SHAWN THEW, EPA) After firing Comey, Trump set off weeks of speculation with a single tweet: "James Comey better hope that there are no 'tapes' of our conversations before he starts leaking to the press!" Secretly recording conversations in the White House isn't illegal, because the District of Columbia requires only one party of the conversation to consent to the recording. But those tapes, if they exist, could be evidence in an obstruction of justice investigation, and Congress has officially requested that the White House turn over the tapes. Comey has said the tapes would back up his testimony about the conversations. "Lordy, I hope there are tapes,” he told the Senate Intelligence Committee. Reality Winner and election hacking Lincoln County, Georgia, Sheriff's Office booking photos of intelligence contractor Reality Winner. (Photo11: HO, AFP/Getty Images) Last week, the online publication The Intercept published a leaked National Security Agency memo documenting Russian attempts to hack election vendors and local election officials. The website said the memo showed that Russian hacking "may have penetrated further into U.S. voting systems than was previously understood." Hours later, the FBI arrested Reality Lea Winner, an NSA contractor, and accused her of illegally leaking the memo. Next week, the Senate Intelligence Committee will hold a public hearing on Russian cyberattacks on U.S. election systems in 2016 and efforts to prevent it in future elections. Obstruction of justice After Comey was fired, Rosenstein appointed former FBI director Mueller as special counsel. His mandate: To investigate "any links and/or coordination between the Russian government and individuals associated with the campaign of President Donald Trump" and "any matters that arose or may arise directly from the investigation." President Trump looks on during a meeting in the Oval Office May 18. (Photo11: Olivier Douliery / POOL, EPA) But the special counsel regulation also allows the special counsel to "investigate and prosecute federal crimes committed in the course of, and with intent to interfere with, the special counsel's investigation, such as perjury, obstruction of justice, destruction of evidence, and intimidation of witnesses." The Washington Post reported Wednesday that Mueller would interview two high-ranking intelligence officials with an eye toward investigating whether Trump obstructed justice. Those officials: Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats and NSA Director Mike Rogers, who have declined to answer congressional questions about their conversations with the president. Trump appeared to confirm that he was a target of the investigation in a tweet on Friday: "I am being investigated for firing the FBI Director by the man who told me to fire the FBI Director! Witch Hunt," he said. But on Sunday, Trump's lawyer Jay Sekulow said the president is not under investigation Read or Share this story: https://usat.ly/2sBtk5K |
A couple were left with non-life threatening injuries after a suspected gas explosion at their house in Cork city early on Saturday. The couple, who are in their late 70s, suffered minor burn injuries in the incident on the Lower Glanmire Road on the city’s northside at around 8.45am. The emergency services were alerted and the couple were taken by ambulance to Cork University Hospital for treatment while four units of Cork City Fire Brigade attended the scene of the explosion. Firefighters from Anglesea Street Fire Station spent around 45 minutes bringing a fire under control and making safe the terraced house. Gardaí were also alerted and a garda technical expert has started an examination to try and establish the exact cause of the explosion which blew out windows but caused no major structural damage. |
Salmonella Outbreak (Suspected or Confirmed) DATE/TIME DETAIL COUNTRY CITY No Event to Display Meningitis Outbreak ( Suspected or Confirmed) DATE/TIME DETAIL COUNTRY CITY 2019-02-26 00:32:00 Detail United States Rutgers University, NJ NEW JERSEY - 2 Rutgers Students Diagnosed With Bacterial Meningitis 2019-02-22 23:30:00 Detail South Africa Amanzimtoti SOUTH AFRICA - Amanzimtoti Child Dies Of Meningitis 2019-02-20 00:40:00 Detail United States Saratoga, WY WYOMING - Bacterial Meningitis Reported In Hanna 2019-02-18 23:18:00 Detail United States Woodward, OK OKLAHOMA - Oklahoma Student Dies From Bacterial Meningitis 2019-02-17 22:41:00 Detail South Africa Amanzimtoti SOUTH AFRICA - Durban Meningitis Warning After Death Of 7-Year-Old Boy 2019-02-13 01:05:00 Detail United Kingdom County Tyrone UNITED KINGDOM - Meningitis Confirmed In Two Schoolchildren In Co Tyrone 2019-02-06 23:46:00 Detail United States Middlebury, IN INDIANA - Northern Indiana 4th-Grader Dies From Bacterial Meningitis 2019-02-05 22:12:00 Detail United States Rutgers University, NJ NEW JERSEY - Student Contracts Case Of Meningitis At Rutgers 2019-02-01 22:28:00 Detail United States School of International and Public Affairs, NY NEW YORK - Two Graduate Students Diagnosed With Meningitis B Classical Swine Fever DATE/TIME DETAIL COUNTRY CITY No Event to Display Anthrax DATE/TIME DETAIL COUNTRY CITY 2019-02-21 00:27:00 Detail Zimbabwe Mutare ZIMBABWE - Anthrax Outbreak Hits Mutare 2019-02-18 23:26:00 Detail Tanzania Dodoma TANZANIA - Anthrax Outbreak In Southern Tanzania Under Control 2019-02-13 00:46:00 Detail Australia New South Wales AUSTRALIA - Anthrax Kills About 350 Sheep In Central West New South Wales 2019-02-08 00:06:00 Detail Australia Nyngan AUSTRALIA - Hundreds Of Sheep Killed By Anthrax At Nyngan Property Plague DATE/TIME DETAIL COUNTRY CITY No Event to Display Typhoid / Typhus DATE/TIME DETAIL COUNTRY CITY No Event to Display Cholera Outbreak DATE/TIME DETAIL COUNTRY CITY 2019-02-18 21:58:00 Detail Uganda Kampala UGANDA - Cholera Sickens Dozens In Kampala Area 2019-02-09 21:46:00 Detail Kenya Nairobi KENYA - Cholera Continues Killing In Vulnerable Regions 2019-02-06 21:52:00 Detail Nigeria Zamfara State NIGERIA - 130 People Die Of Cholera In Zamfara In 2018 2019-02-06 21:21:00 Detail Japan Tokyo JAPAN - Hog Cholera Outbreak Spreads - Farm Minister Says Situation Extremely Serious 2019-01-30 23:28:00 Detail Kenya Tharaka-Nithi County KENYA - 30 Students Hospitalised In Tharaka-Nithi After Cholera Outbreak 2019-01-30 22:17:00 Detail Zimbabwe Mutoko ZIMBABWE - Cholera Outbreak Hits Mutoko Malaria DATE/TIME DETAIL COUNTRY CITY 2019-02-26 00:40:00 Detail Bolivia Yacuiba BOLIVIA - 39 Cases Of Malaria Confirmed In The First Two Months Of The Year Suspicious or Threatening Powder DATE/TIME DETAIL COUNTRY CITY No Event to Display Vaccines DATE/TIME DETAIL COUNTRY CITY No Event to Display West Nile Virus (suspected or confirmed) DATE/TIME DETAIL COUNTRY CITY No Event to Display Rabies DATE/TIME DETAIL COUNTRY CITY No Event to Display Foot-And-Mouth Disease DATE/TIME DETAIL COUNTRY CITY 2019-02-15 00:49:00 Detail Kenya Nairobi KENYA - 55000 Cattle Vaccinated Following Outbreak Of Foot-And-Mouth Disease 2019-02-10 00:09:00 Detail South Africa Hoedspruit SOUTH AFRICA - Over 10 000 Cattle Vaccinated Following Foot And Mouth Outbreak 2019-02-04 23:09:00 Detail India Punjab INDIA - State Reports 6 Cases Of Foot And Mouth Disease Swine Flu - Confirmed Cases DATE/TIME DETAIL COUNTRY CITY 2019-02-25 21:34:00 Detail India Shimoga District INDIA - 2 New Cases Of H1N1 Confirmed In Karnataka Shimoga - Officials Step Up Surveillance 2019-02-24 21:44:00 Detail India Kasaragod INDIA - H1N1 Outbreak In Kasargod Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya - 5 Cases Confirmed 2019-02-24 21:40:00 Detail India Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya INDIA - H1N1 Confirmed Among Students Of Periya Navodaya School 2019-02-22 21:54:00 Detail India Jharkhand INDIA - Swine Flu Outbreak In Jharkhand - 26 H1N1 Cases Confirmed 2019-02-21 23:39:00 Detail India Surat INDIA - Eight More Test Positive For Swine Flu 2019-02-21 22:06:00 Detail India Shahjahanpur INDIA - First Swine Flu Case In Shahjahanpur - Doctor Tests Positive 2019-02-18 23:25:00 Detail Kenya Abkhazia KENYA - Outbreak Of Swine Flu In Abkhazia 2019-02-18 22:01:00 Detail Japan Gifu JAPAN - Japan Detects More Swine Flu - Culls Pigs 2019-02-17 23:32:00 Detail India Rajasthan INDIA - Swine Flu Death Count Climbs To 127 In Rajasthan - 3508 Tested Positive 2019-02-16 22:50:00 Detail India Zirakpur INDIA - One More Tests Positive For Swine Flu 2019-02-14 21:29:00 Detail Japan Nagoya JAPAN - Swine Fever Case Confirmed On Aichi Farm 2019-02-13 21:11:00 Detail India Agra INDIA - Etmadpur Girl - Jhansi Resident Test Positive For Swine Flu 2019-02-13 00:18:00 Detail India Telangana INDIA - Swine Flu Toll Rises To Six In Telangana 2019-02-11 23:26:00 Detail United States Onondaga County, NY NEW YORK - Swine Flu Hitting Onondaga County 2019-02-10 22:44:00 Detail India Surat INDIA - Three Test Positive For Swine Flu In Surat 2019-02-10 22:08:00 Detail India Bhopal INDIA - 38 Swine Flu Cases Reported In City 2019-02-10 00:14:00 Detail India Vadodara INDIA - Death Toll Touches 14 - 24 More Test Positive For H1N1 2019-02-09 22:49:00 Detail India Lucknow INDIA - 7 More Swine Flu Cases Reported 2019-02-08 21:54:00 Detail India Gujarat INDIA - 80 More Swine Flu Cases - Three Deaths In Gujarat 2019-02-06 23:51:00 Detail India Indore INDIA - One More Succumbs To Swine Flu - Toll 7 2019-02-06 22:21:00 Detail Japan Tokyo JAPAN - 15000 Pigs To Be Culled In Japan For Swine Fever 2019-02-05 21:35:00 Detail India Dehradun INDIA - Swine Flu Threat Continues - 8 More Cases Reported 2019-02-03 21:27:00 Detail South Africa Mediclinic Bloemfontein SOUTH AFRICA - Two More Cases Of Swine Flu Confirmed In South Africa 2019-02-02 22:14:00 Detail India Himachal Pradesh INDIA - 86 Swine Flu Cases In Himachal 2019-02-02 21:20:00 Detail India Amritsar INDIA - 9 Swine Flu Cases 2019-02-01 21:29:00 Detail India Dehradun INDIA - 3 New Swine Flu Cases Surface In Dehradun - 56 Patients Found Positive 2019-01-29 21:39:00 Detail India Gurugram INDIA - 11 More Test Positive For H1N1 - Confirmed Cases Go Up To 59 In Gurugram Swine Flu - Confirmed / Possible Related Death DATE/TIME DETAIL COUNTRY CITY 2019-02-25 22:55:00 Detail India Bhopal INDIA - Swine Flu Claims One More Life - Toll Rises To 21 2019-02-25 22:18:00 Detail India Jammu And Kashmir INDIA - 23 Deaths Due To Swine Flu In Kashmir Till Now 2019-02-24 22:23:00 Detail India Rajasthan INDIA - Swine Flu Claims One More Life In Rajasthan 2019-02-23 22:37:00 Detail India Shimla INDIA - Swine flu - Death Toll Rises To 31 In HP 2019-02-23 22:33:00 Detail Pakistan Muzaffargarh PAKISTAN - Two Die Of Swine Flu Virus In Alipur 2019-02-23 21:33:00 Detail India Bareilly District INDIA - With 4 More Patients - Swine Flu Cases Rise To 33 In District 2019-02-22 23:36:00 Detail India Chhattisgarh INDIA - Swine Flu Claims 7 Lives In Chhattisgarh 2019-02-22 23:33:00 Detail India Gujarat INDIA - Swine Flu - Four More Dead - 118 New Cases In Gujarat 2019-02-22 22:41:00 Detail India Vadodara INDIA - Swine Flu - 70-Year-Old Man Dies - 25 More Test Positive In City 2019-02-22 22:23:00 Detail India Bathinda District INDIA -8 Swine Flu Deaths Reported From City This Season 2019-02-21 22:09:00 Detail India Maharashtra INDIA - Swine Flu Claims 23 Lives In State So Far This Year 2019-02-20 01:31:00 Detail India Punjab INDIA - 31 Deaths Due To Swine Flu In Punjab 2019-02-19 01:36:00 Detail Pakistan Bahawalpur PAKISTAN - Woman Dies Of Swine Flu In Bahawalpur 2019-02-17 23:27:00 Detail India Himachal Pradesh INDIA - 4 More Swine Flu Deaths In State 2019-02-16 22:58:00 Detail India Vadodara INDIA - Two More Succumb To H1N1 - Death Toll Reaches 18 2019-02-14 21:51:00 Detail India Ludhiana District INDIA - One More Dies Of Swine Flu - Toll 6 This Year 2019-02-14 21:48:00 Detail India Amritsar INDIA - 16 Positive Swine Flu Cases - Three Deaths 2019-02-13 23:54:00 Detail India Maharashtra INDIA - H1N1 Claims 18 - While 281 Test Positive In Maharashtra 2019-02-13 21:36:00 Detail India New Delhi INDIA - Over 1600 Swine Flu Cases - 7 Confirmed Deaths 2019-02-11 21:57:00 Detail India Jalandhar INDIA - 20-Yr-Old Suspected Swine Flu Patient Dies 2019-02-10 00:35:00 Detail India Rajasthan INDIA - Swine Flu Outbreak In Rajasthan Claims 107 Lives - Over 2900 People Tested Positive 2019-02-08 23:35:00 Detail India Haryana INDIA - Swine Flu Has Claimed 8 In Haryana 2019-02-08 23:33:00 Detail India Punjab INDIA - Swine Flu Has Claimed 15 Lives In Punjab 2019-02-07 00:09:00 Detail India Rajasthan INDIA - 5 More Die Of Swine Flu In Rajasthan 2019-02-05 21:41:00 Detail India Gujarat INDIA - Swine Flu Claims Four More Lives In Gujarat 2019-02-05 21:37:00 Detail India Shimla INDIA - 16 Swine Flu Deaths This Year - Says Minister 2019-02-05 21:19:00 Detail Trinidad and Tobago Port Of Spain TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO - 5th Swine Flu Death Recorded 2019-02-04 21:28:00 Detail India Himachal Pradesh INDIA - 16 Die Of Swine Flu In HP - 113 New Cases Surfaced 2019-02-02 22:03:00 Detail Morocco Rabat MOROCCO - Morocco On Alert As Swine Flu Kills 5 2019-02-02 21:42:00 Detail India Mohali INDIA - 75-Year-Old Dies Of Swine Flu 2019-01-31 22:07:00 Detail India Amritsar INDIA - Suspected Swine Flu Patient Dies 2019-01-31 00:51:00 Detail India Gujarat INDIA - Four More Deaths - 36 New Cases In Gujarat In Swine Flu 2019-01-31 00:04:00 Detail India Amritsar INDIA - 3 Swine Flu Deaths - Seven Test Positive 2019-01-30 01:06:00 Detail India Patiala INDIA - 25 Swine Flu Deaths In Punjab 2019-01-29 22:10:00 Detail India Gujarat INDIA - Swine Flu Claims Four More Lives - Toll At 24 In Gujarat 2019-01-29 01:09:00 Detail India Patiala INDIA - Swine Flu Kills Two More - Toll Touches 17 In Saurashtra Swine Flu - Suspected or Probable Cases DATE/TIME DETAIL COUNTRY CITY 2019-02-26 22:52:00 Detail India Gandhinagar INDIA - Swine Flu Claims Three More Lives In Gujarat 2019-02-25 22:23:00 Detail India Lucknow INDIA - 18 New Swine Flu Cases From Lucknow 2019-02-17 21:24:00 Detail India Ahmedabad INDIA - 97 More Swine Flu Cases - Three Deaths In Gujarat 2019-02-17 21:18:00 Detail India Gururgam INDIA - Gurugram Records Highest Swine Flu Cases In Last 5 Yrs 2019-02-15 22:32:00 Detail India Bareilly District INDIA - Rise In Cases Of Swine Flu In Bareilly Distric 2019-02-11 22:12:00 Detail India Gurugram INDIA - 85 Cases Of Swine Flu Reported 2019-02-06 21:48:00 Detail India Zirakpur INDIA - 30-Year-Old Zirakpur Resident Dies Of Swine Flu 2019-02-05 22:13:00 Detail India Telangana INDIA - 330 Positive Swine Flu Cases Reported In Telangana 2019-02-04 21:59:00 Detail India Rajasthan INDIA - Deadly Swine Flu Hits Himachal After Rajasthan 2019-02-01 22:05:00 Detail India New Delhi INDIA - Swine Flu Cases In Delhi Cross 600-Mark Notable H1N1 News And Announcements DATE/TIME DETAIL COUNTRY CITY No Event to Display Polio DATE/TIME DETAIL COUNTRY CITY 2019-02-18 23:16:00 Detail Pakistan Islamabad PAKISTAN - OVER 13M Children Targeted In Polio Drive 2019-02-15 23:53:00 Detail Indonesia Jakarta INDONESIA - Polio In Indonesia - 1st Case In Over A Decade 2019-02-15 23:20:00 Detail Pakistan Shalimar PAKISTAN - First Polio Case Of Year Reported In Lahore 2019-02-09 00:03:00 Detail Pakistan Faisalabad PAKISTAN - Poliovirus Detected In Faisalabad After Two Years 2019-02-07 00:00:00 Detail Pakistan Bannu PAKISTAN - Second Polio Case Of Year-2019 Surfaced In KP 2019-02-03 23:58:00 Detail Pakistan Bajaur District INDIA - First Polio Case Of 2019 Reported From Bajaur 2019-02-02 22:33:00 Detail Pakistan Bajaur District PAKISTAN - Pakistan Confirms First Polio Case In 2019 Avian Flu DATE/TIME DETAIL COUNTRY CITY No Event to Display Rift Valley Fever DATE/TIME DETAIL COUNTRY CITY 2019-02-12 00:20:00 Detail Kenya Nyandarua County KENYA - Test Show More Rift Fever Cases In Nyandarua 2019-02-02 22:24:00 Detail France Mayotte FRANCE - Mayotte Reports Increase In Rift Valley Fever Cases Botulism DATE/TIME DETAIL COUNTRY CITY No Event to Display Dengue / Hemorrhagic Fever DATE/TIME DETAIL COUNTRY CITY 2019-02-27 21:53:00 Detail Colombia Boyaca Department COLOMBIA - Nearly 50 Cases Of Dengue Reported By The INS In Boyaca 2019-02-26 22:17:00 Detail Colombia Quindio Department COLOMBIA - About 92 Probable Cases Of Dengue Have Been Presented In Quindio During The Course Of The 2019-02-26 22:06:00 Detail Brazil Piaui BRAZIL - Piaui Notifies 94 Cases Of Dengue In 2019 2019-02-26 21:49:00 Detail Taiwan Taipei TAIWAN - Taiwan Confirms First Imported Dengue Cases From The Philippines 2019-02-26 21:45:00 Detail Reunion Saint-Denis REUNION - 179 Dengue Cases Confirmed In One Week 2019-02-25 21:57:00 Detail Wallis and Futuna Mata Utu WALLIS ANN FUTUNA - 1st Case Of Dengue Type 2 In Wallis 2019-02-25 21:49:00 Detail Pakistan Karachi PAKISTAN - 25 New Dengue Fever Cases Emerge In Karachi 2019-02-25 21:42:00 Detail Pakistan Karachi PAKISTAN - Officials Confirm Year First Death From Dengue In Karachi 2019-02-24 22:52:00 Detail Brazil Franca BRAZIL - With 47 New Cases A Day - Franca Struggles To Contain Dengue Fever 2019-02-24 22:40:00 Detail India Bhilai INDIA - Dengue Outbreak In Bhilai Again 2019-02-23 22:54:00 Detail Mexico Jalisco MEXICO - There Are 13 Cases Of Dengue In Jalisco 2019-02-23 22:43:00 Detail Argentina Rosario ARGENTINA - Rosario Adds 22 Cases Of Dengue So Far This Summer 2019-02-22 22:09:00 Detail Mexico Mexico City MEXICO - Suman In The Region 44 Cases Of Dengue 2019-02-22 21:46:00 Detail Brazil Campo Mourao BRAZIL - Campo Mourao Has 15 Suspected Cases Of Dengue Fever 2019-02-22 21:42:00 Detail Colombia Bogota COLOMBIA - 232 Cases Of Dengue In Bolivar In The First 6 Weeks Of 2019 2019-02-21 22:02:00 Detail Ecuador Esmeraldas Province ECUADOR - 65 Cases Of Classic Dengue In Esmeraldas 2019-02-21 21:51:00 Detail Cambodia Phnom Penh CAMBODIA - Dengue Cases Hit 1000-Mark In 2019 2019-02-20 00:48:00 Detail Brazil Jundiai BRAZIL - Jundiai Has 30 Confirmed Cases Of Dengue 2019-02-20 00:18:00 Detail Taiwan Tainan TAIWAN - Dengue Fever Cases Hit Southwest Taiwan 2019-02-19 22:13:00 Detail Colombia Cartagena COLOMBIA - 304 Cases Of Dengue Have Been Reported In Cartagena And Confirmed 155 2019-02-19 00:23:00 Detail Brazil Ceara BRAZIL - Dengue Has 81 Confirmed Cases In Ceara In 2019 2019-02-18 22:16:00 Detail Colombia Risaralda Department COLOMBIA - Alert For Increase Of Cases Of Dengue In Risaralda 2019-02-18 22:07:00 Detail Vietnam Ho Chi Minh City VIETNAM - HCM City Sees Strong Rise In Dengue Fever Cases 2019-02-18 22:06:00 Detail India New Delhi INDIA - 2 Fresh Dengue Cases Appear - Total Hits 14 This Year So Far 2019-02-18 22:02:00 Detail Philippines Central Visayas PHILIPPINES - Dengue Fever Has Killed 28 In Central Visayas Since January This Year 2019-02-16 23:57:00 Detail Paraguay Itapua Department PARAGUAY - Confirmed First Case Of Dengue In Itapua 2019-02-16 23:50:00 Detail France Reunion FRANCE - Dengue Cases Up In Reunion 2019-02-15 22:48:00 Detail Peru Paijan PERU - There Are 46 Probable Cases Of Dengue In Paijan 2019-02-15 01:00:00 Detail Paraguay Alto Parana Department PARAGUAY - Confirm 94 Cases Of Dengue 2019-02-15 00:55:00 Detail Hong Kong S.A.R., China Central HONG KONG - Dengue Fever - Hong Kong Reports Record Number In 2018 2019-02-14 23:28:00 Detail Armenia Yerevan ARMENIA - 57 Cases Of Dengue In Armenia Registered To Date - The Figure Increased In 2019 2019-02-14 22:02:00 Detail Argentina Salta ARGENTINA - Dengue - In Salta 72 Cases Are Registered 2019-02-14 21:51:00 Detail Peru Cajamarca PERU - Five Confirmed Cases Of Dengue In Jaen 2019-02-13 23:05:00 Detail Brazil Blumenau BRAZIL - First Recorded Case Of Dengue Of The Year In Blumenau 2019-02-13 22:24:00 Detail Honduras Tegucigalpa HONDURAS - 510 Cases Of Dengue Fever Have Been Recorded In The Northern Part Of The Country 2019-02-13 21:49:00 Detail Philippines Biliran PHILIPPINES -Dengue Outbreak Declared In Kawayan - Biliran 2019-02-13 21:47:00 Detail Jamaica Kingston JAMAICA - Dengue Kills 6 Children Since Virus Outbreak 2019-02-13 21:44:00 Detail French Polynesia Tahiti FRENCH POLYNESIA - Dengue Type 2 Diagnosed In Tahiti 2019-02-13 21:34:00 Detail Indonesia East Sumba Regency INDONESIA - Dengue Fever Claims Lives Of Eight East Sumba Residents 2019-02-13 21:17:00 Detail Malaysia Johor Bahru MALAYSIA - Dengue Cases Rising In Johor - Says Health Department 2019-02-13 00:37:00 Detail India SCB MEDICAL And College INDIA - Two Swine Flu Patients Admitted To SCBMCH 2019-02-12 22:20:00 Detail Brazil Parana BRAZIL - Dengue Bulletin Points To 95 New Cases Of The Disease In Parana 2019-02-12 22:12:00 Detail Brazil Ribeirao Preto BRAZIL -Ribeirao Preto Confirms 124 Cases Of Dengue - But Secretary Of Health Of SP Discards Epidemi 2019-02-12 22:10:00 Detail Maldives Male MALDIVES - 107 Cases Of Dengue Reported So Far In February 2019-02-11 22:15:00 Detail Brazil Sorocaba BRAZIL - Sorocaba Has Recorded 30 Cases Of Dengue Since The Beginning Of 2019 2019-02-11 22:06:00 Detail Pakistan Karachi PAKISTAN - 17 New Dengue Cases Surface In Karachi 2019-02-11 22:03:00 Detail Taiwan Taipei City TAIWAN - Tainan Reports 8th Case Of Dengue Fever For 2019 2019-02-11 21:46:00 Detail Philippines Aklan PHILIPPINES - Twice As Many Dengue Cases Reported In Aklan 2019-02-10 22:09:00 Detail Brazil Araraquara BRAZIL - Araraquara Confirms Death Of 28-Year-Old Woman Due To Dengue 2019-02-09 23:05:00 Detail Mexico Tampico MEXICO - Two Cases Of Non-Severe Dengue Have Been Recorded In The First Month Of The Year 2019-02-09 22:26:00 Detail Brazil Ipua BRAZIL - Health Secretariat Of Ipua-SP- Confirms First Death Due To Suspected Dengue In 2019 2019-02-08 23:45:00 Detail Brazil Bauru BRAZIL - Health Confirms Another 410 Cases Of Dengue And Epidemic Reaches 1547 People In Bauru 2019-02-08 23:42:00 Detail Paraguay Asuncion PARAGUAY - Paraguay Registers 60 Cases Of Dengue 2019-02-08 22:57:00 Detail Philippines Cebu PHILIPPINES - Daanbantayan Reports 66 Dengue Cases Since January - Loot Orders Cleanup Drive 2019-02-08 22:43:00 Detail France Martinique FRANCE - 4 Confirmed Cases Of Dengue In Martinique 2019-02-08 21:58:00 Detail Singapore Pulau Ujong SINGAPORE - Two Dengue Deaths So Far This Year - One In Bedok Reservoir - The Other In Hougang 2019-02-07 22:02:00 Detail Philippines Cagayan De Oro PHILIPPINES - Dengue Spikes In Oro - 256 Cases In January 2019-02-07 22:00:00 Detail Cook Islands Rarotonga COOK ISLANDS - One Dengue Case On Raro 2019-02-07 21:58:00 Detail Indonesia Bekasi INDONESIA - Bekasi Records 128 Dengue Fever Cases - One Dead 2019-02-06 22:08:00 Detail Argentina Chaco Province ARGENTINA - 4 Probable Cases Of Dengue In Chaco 2019-02-06 21:33:00 Detail Brazil Sao Joaquim BRAZIL - Sao Joaquim Confirms 4th Death Due To Dengue 2019-02-06 21:29:00 Detail Ecuador Quito ECUADOR - 36 Cases Of Dengue In Duran - Guayaquil And Samborondon 2019-02-06 21:26:00 Detail Brazil Araraquara BRAZIL - With 906 Cases Of Dengue - Araraquara Prefecture Wants To Increase Fine For Breeding Sites 2019-02-04 22:08:00 Detail Jamaica Saint Catherine Parish JAMAICA - 3 Suspected Dengue Deaths - Another Confirmed - In St Catherine – SMO 2019-02-04 22:04:00 Detail India New Delhi INDIA - First Dengue Case Recorded In Delhi In Jan Delhi 2019-02-04 22:01:00 Detail Taiwan Kaohsiung TAIWAN - Kaohsiung Reports First Indigenous Dengue Fever Case Of 2019 2019-02-03 21:53:00 Detail Paraguay Alto Parana Department PARAGUAY - 1472 Possible Cases Of Dengue 2019-02-03 21:46:00 Detail Philippines Central Visayas PHILIPPINES - 14 Deaths Due To Dengue - Cases Rise In Central Visayas 2019-02-03 21:43:00 Detail Bolivia Tarija Department BOLIVIA - In January - 91 Suspected Cases Of Dengue Were Registered 2019-02-01 22:23:00 Detail Argentina Santa Fe ARGENTINA - Confirmed 11 Cases Of Dengue In The City Of Santa Fe 2019-02-01 22:16:00 Detail Jamaica Portmore JAMAICA - Over 500 Dengue Notifications In Portmore In January 2019-02-01 22:07:00 Detail France Martinique FRANCE - First Confirmed Dengue Fever In Martinique 2019-02-01 21:26:00 Detail Colombia Tolima Department COLOMBIA - More Than 300 Cases Of Dengue AreReported This Year In Tolima 2019-02-01 21:20:00 Detail Brazil Brasilia BRAZIL - Confirm 18 New Cases Of Dengue 2019-01-31 23:41:00 Detail Brazil Bauru BRAZIL - Bauru Registers 775 Of Dengue This Year Alone 2019-01-31 23:37:00 Detail Mexico Mexico City MEXICO - Locate Health 11 Cases Suspected Of Dengue 2019-01-31 23:33:00 Detail India Pune INDIA - 70 Patients Test Positive For Dengue 2019-01-31 23:31:00 Detail Indonesia Jakarta INDONESIA - Indonesia Dengue Death Toll Jumps To 133 In January 2019-01-30 23:00:00 Detail Brazil Campo Mourao BRAZIL - In 26 Days - The Region Has Already Registered More Than 130 Reports Of Suspected Dengue Fe 2019-01-30 22:50:00 Detail Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Kingstown SAINT VINCENT AND THE GRENADINES - Only One Confirmed Case Of Dengue So Far – Ministry 2019-01-30 22:19:00 Detail Philippines Davao PHILIPPINES - Girl - 12 - Dies Of Dengue In Davao Sports Meet 2019-01-29 22:17:00 Detail Antigua and Barbuda St Johns ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA - Six Confirmed Cases Of Dengue In Antigua Encephalitis DATE/TIME DETAIL COUNTRY CITY 2019-02-06 22:08:00 Detail United States Nashville, TN TENNESSEE - Horses Sickened By EIA In Tennessee Rathayibacter DATE/TIME DETAIL COUNTRY CITY No Event to Display Newcastle Disease DATE/TIME DETAIL COUNTRY CITY 2019-02-15 00:52:00 Detail United States Riverside County, CA CALIFORNIA - Virulent Newcastle Disease Hits Riverside County Chickens Brucellosis DATE/TIME DETAIL COUNTRY CITY No Event to Display Chikungunya DATE/TIME DETAIL COUNTRY CITY 2019-02-19 00:26:00 Detail Brazil Ceara BRAZIL - Chikungunya Has 17 Confirmed Cases In Ceara In 2019 2019-02-15 01:02:00 Detail Paraguay Paraguari Department PARAGUAY - Confirm 7 Cases Of Chikungunya 2019-02-11 22:17:00 Detail Brazil Sorocaba BRAZIL - Sorocaba Has Recorded Five Cases Of Chikungunya Since The Beginning Of 2019 2019-02-07 23:06:00 Detail Malaysia Selangor MALAYSIA - 23 Chikungunya Cases In Selangor 2019-02-07 00:03:00 Detail Sudan Red Sea SUDAN - Chikungunya Fever On The Rise In Eastern Sudan 2019-02-05 23:04:00 Detail Thailand Bangkok THAILAND - Thailand Chikungunya Outbreak - Another 400 Cases In Past Week 2019-02-03 21:55:00 Detail Paraguay Alto Parana Department PARAGUAY - 4 Possible Cases Of Chikungunya 2019-01-31 00:59:00 Detail Malaysia Selangor State MALAYSIA - Chikungunya - 11 Cases Diagnosed In Selangor - Malaysia Miscellaneous / Unknown Diseases or Illnesses DATE/TIME DETAIL COUNTRY CITY No Event to Display Monkey Pox DATE/TIME DETAIL COUNTRY CITY No Event to Display Biological Incidents/ Threats/ Anthrax Hoaxes etc DATE/TIME DETAIL COUNTRY CITY No Event to Display H7N9 / H5N1 / H5N2 / H7N1 / H7N3 / H7N7 / H5N8 DATE/TIME DETAIL COUNTRY CITY 2019-02-19 23:21:00 Detail Nigeria Plateau State NIGERIA - 3900 Birds Die - As Bird Flu Hits Plateau 2019-02-11 22:00:00 Detail India Godda District INDIA - Jharkhand On Alert As Sample Tests Positive For Bird Flu 2019-02-09 22:30:00 Detail India Bokaro Steel City INDIA - Bird Flu Confirmed - Health Department On Alert To Check Spread 2019-02-02 00:11:00 Detail Namibia Halifax Island NAMIBIA - Namibia Confirms 1st Outbreak Of Highly Pathogenic Bird Flu - More Than 200 Penguins Kille Hendra Virus DATE/TIME DETAIL COUNTRY CITY No Event to Display NDM-1 DATE/TIME DETAIL COUNTRY CITY No Event to Display African Swine Fever / Swine Fever DATE/TIME DETAIL COUNTRY CITY 2019-02-26 21:37:00 Detail Bulgaria Tervel BULGARIA - Bulgaria Reports New Case Of African Swine Fever 2019-02-26 00:35:00 Detail Vietnam Thanh Hoa Province VIETNAM - African Swine Fever Spreads To Another Vietnam Province 2019-02-25 21:44:00 Detail Vietnam Hanoi VIETNAM - African Swine Fever Spreads To Fourth Vietnamese Province 2019-02-24 21:50:00 Detail Canada Hebei CHINA - China Reports New African Swine Fever Case 2019-02-22 21:49:00 Detail China Yunnan CHINA - China Reports New African Swine Fever Case In Yunnan 2019-02-20 22:16:00 Detail China Shandong CHINA - First Cases Oof African Swine Fever Reported In Shandong 2019-02-20 22:15:00 Detail China Guangxi CHINA - First Cases Of African Swine Fever Reported In Guangxi 2019-02-19 21:54:00 Detail Vietnam Hanoi VIETNAM - Vietnam Confirms First African Swine Fever Cases On Three Farms 2019-02-16 23:15:00 Detail Zimbabwe Manicaland Province ZIMBABWE - African Swine Fever Outbreak Hits Zimbabwe 2019-02-13 00:57:00 Detail Bulgaria Devnya BULGARIA - Bulgaria Reports New Case Of African Swine Fever In Wild Boar 2019-02-08 23:42:00 Detail China Yongzhou CHINA - China Reports New Outbreak Of African Swine Fever 2019-02-02 21:25:00 Detail Taiwan Taipei Songshan Airport TAIWAN - Two More Pork Packets In Taiwan Test Positive For African Swine Fever 2019-02-01 01:17:00 Detail China Beijing CHINA - China Reports Fewer African Swine Fever Cases Congo Fever DATE/TIME DETAIL COUNTRY CITY 2019-02-17 23:32:00 Detail Pakistan Jinnah Post Graduate Medical Center PAKISTAN - 75-Year-Old Man Becomes Year Second Congo Fever Casualty 2019-02-17 22:47:00 Detail Pakistan Karachi PAKISTAN - Second Congo Virus Victim Dies In Karachi In One Week 2019-02-14 00:54:00 Detail Oman Shinas OMAN - Congo Fever Case Reported In Shinas 2019-02-13 00:53:00 Detail Pakistan Karachi PAKISTAN - 35-Year Old Woman Dies Of Congo Virus 2019-02-10 22:49:00 Detail Pakistan Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre PAKISTAN - Year First Congo Virus Case Reported At JPMC Glanders DATE/TIME DETAIL COUNTRY CITY No Event to Display Hantavirus DATE/TIME DETAIL COUNTRY CITY 2019-02-24 22:25:00 Detail Paraguay Capiata PARAGUAY - An Alleged Case Of Hantavirus In Capiata Lassa Fever DATE/TIME DETAIL COUNTRY CITY 2019-02-21 21:59:00 Detail Nigeria Abuja NIGERIA - Lassa Fever Claims 10 More Lives 2019-02-18 21:30:00 Detail Nigeria Ebonyi State NIGERIA - Lassa Fever - Ebonyi Records Three Deaths - Treats 14 Patients 2019-02-17 22:29:00 Detail Nigeria Abuja NIGERIA - Lassa Fever - 355 Confirmed Cases In 7 Weeks - NCDC 2019-02-16 23:46:00 Detail Nigeria Abuja NIGERIA - Lassa Fever Cases Remain High - CDC Updates Travel Notice 2019-02-10 22:41:00 Detail Nigeria Abuja NIGERIA - WHO Increases Support On Lassa Fever In West Africa 2019-02-08 22:17:00 Detail Nigeria Abuja NIGERIA - NCDC Confirms 275 Lassa Fever Cases 2019-02-07 22:11:00 Detail Guinea Conakry GUINEA - Lassa Fever Outbreak Scare In Guinea 2019-02-03 21:34:00 Detail Guinea Conakry GUINEA - Guinea Reports First Confirmed Case Of Lassa Fever 2019-02-02 22:09:00 Detail Nigeria Abuja NIGERIA - Lassa Fever - 42 Confirmed Dead - 538 Cases Reported In 16 States 2019-01-31 22:12:00 Detail Nigeria Plateau State NIGERIA - Lassa Fever - 8 Persons Killed - 40 Cases Recorded In Plateau 2019-01-30 22:24:00 Detail Nigeria Ondo State NIGERIA - Tension As Lassa Fever Claims Over 50 Lives In Ondo KCP DATE/TIME DETAIL COUNTRY CITY No Event to Display Tularemia DATE/TIME DETAIL COUNTRY CITY No Event to Display Ricin DATE/TIME DETAIL COUNTRY CITY 2019-02-20 00:31:00 Detail United States Las Vegas, NV NEVADA - Officials Find Toxin Ricin With Dead Man In Las Vegas Apartment Schmallenberg Virus DATE/TIME DETAIL COUNTRY CITY No Event to Display Q-Fever DATE/TIME DETAIL COUNTRY CITY 2019-01-29 01:45:00 Detail Afghanistan Helmand Province AFGHANISTAN - 90 Soldiers Contracted Q Fever While Serving In Afghanistantran Small Pox DATE/TIME DETAIL COUNTRY CITY No Event to Display Ebola / Marburg DATE/TIME DETAIL COUNTRY CITY 2019-02-22 23:26:00 Detail Congo (Kinshasa) Kinshasa DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO - Ebola Death Toll In Democratic Republic Of Congo Climbs To 529 2019-02-15 23:09:00 Detail Congo (Kinshasa) Kinshasa DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO - Ebola Still Claiming Lives As DRC Cases ClimbTo 835 2019-02-09 23:00:00 Detail Congo (Kinshasa) Kinshasa DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO - Ebola Outbreak Reaches 800 Cases 2019-02-07 23:55:00 Detail Congo (Kinshasa) Kinshasa DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO - More Than 74000 People Vaccinated Against Ebola Virus Disease In 2019-02-06 21:51:00 Detail United States Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, PA PENNSYLVANIA - Pennsylvania Hospital Tests Patient For Possible Ebola Exposure 2019-01-29 23:38:00 Detail Congo (Brazzaville) Beni DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO - Two DR Congo Soldiers Killed By Ebola Virus - Army General News DATE/TIME DETAIL COUNTRY CITY 2019-02-22 22:09:00 Detail Canada Alberta CANADA - Second PED Case Found In Alberta 2019-01-31 23:46:00 Detail Philippines Manila PHILIPPINES -211 Measles Cases In Region 6 In 2018 – DOH H3N2 - Swine Flu / Canine Influenza DATE/TIME DETAIL COUNTRY CITY No Event to Display Nipah Virus DATE/TIME DETAIL COUNTRY CITY No Event to Display Zika DATE/TIME DETAIL COUNTRY CITY 2019-02-20 01:25:00 Detail Taiwan Ho Chih Minh City TAIWAN - Taiwan Reports First Imported Case Of Zika Fever For 2019 2019-02-14 21:58:00 Detail Peru Organos PERU - One Of Zika Case In Los Organos |
Attention! This news was published on the old version of the website. There may be some problems with news display in specific browser versions. Mi-35: the Russian Hind Download wallaper: 1280x1024 | 1920x1080 | 2560x1440 The Mi-35 helicopter closely resembles its predecessor, the legendary Mi-24. How much better is the Hind E? Find out in War Thunder! The Russian Mi-35 multipurpose helicopter was the result of extensive modernization of the Mi-24 attack helicopters. Improvements to the good ol’ Mi-24 were designed to solve a number of issues, from enhancing its reliability and performance and expanding its latitudes to extending its flight time. Russian engineers succeeded in creating an all-purpose attack helicopter that was not only suitable for deployment virtually anywhere on the planet, but was also capable of fulfilling a wide range of combat and transport functions. Interestingly, many of the Mi-35’s components are borrowed from the Mi-28 Night Hunter attack helicopter, which will also be flying War Thunder’s unfriendly skies. The new and improved “Hind” will take its place at rank IX in the USSR/Russia multipurpose helicopter tech tree. While its new powertrain gives it a slightly higher speed than the Mi-24, it features fewer hard points for armament, which have been reduced from six to four. Players can choose a pair of unguided missile launchers and guided anti-tank missiles, an ideal combination for War Thunder’s mixed battles. The large-caliber machine gun in the nose of the early Mi-24s has been replaced by the menacing GSh-23 twin gun, complete with an ammo rack of 450 rounds. With these impressive flight and combat capabilities, the Mi-35 is a compelling alternative to modern attack helicopters such as the GM-64. |
Editor’s note: This is one in a series of articles on the legalization of marijuana, produced in partnership with the 2015 Carnegie-Knight News21 national student reporting project. PORTLAND, Ore. — Jon Tester and Jeff Myers come dressed to work each day in newsboy caps, round-rimmed glasses and suspenders — plus a bowtie for Tester and a dark buttoned shirt for Myers. Together, they own the Brooklyn Holding Company, a medical dispensary in the guise of a 1920s speakeasy. “From the time that you open the door, you walk into a time warp, you are in a turn-of-the-century speakeasy with a few modern upgrades,” Tester said of their store in the heart of Portlandia. Tester and Myers said they attract patients because Oregonians’ taste in marijuana compares to their taste in beer — craft is best. Now that legal recreational sales are on the horizon, the two are preparing to open their doors to many more discerning customers. This July, Oregon joined Colorado, Washington and Alaska as the only states to have legalized recreational marijuana. Possession and home growing of marijuana became legal July 1, and the state will soon allow dispensaries to begin making some recreational sales. Southeastern Oregon sits on the northern tip of the Emerald Triangle, a region famous for growing potent (and often illegal) marijuana. “Oregon has built a reputation over the last 20 years for having this phenomenal cannabis,” said dispensary owner and grower Case Van Dorne. “People have started to really realize that Oregon is a place of such a high-grade product.” But as Oregon Liquor Control Commission draws up the rules for the new recreational market, it has heard one consistent request from local growers and growers-to-be: Keep Oregon’s marijuana industry indie. “They were very vocal about wanting the growing operations in Oregon to be small boutique type operations, much like the winery business was when it started in Oregon,” said Tom Towslee, communications director for the commission’s recreational marijuana program. The duo at Brooklyn Holding Company believe that Portland deserves an artisanal weed experience. They plan to control every step of marijuana production, from seed to sale, in order to maintain a premium reputation. “The whole concept of Brooklyn Holding was about trying to set ourselves apart from what’s already out there,” Myers said. “We’ve got to pay attention to quality, we have to pay attention to branding, we got to pay attention to how it feels when you are in here.” “I really see the idea of the craft cannabis dispensary, and craft cannabis in general catching on and staying around,” Tester said. Video by Kathryn Boyd-Batstone. Words by Nick Swyter. |
Washington (CNN) Ohio Democratic Rep. Tim Ryan is calling his bid to oust Nancy Pelosi a "David versus Goliath" type clash -- a back bencher competing against the top House Democrat who made history in 2007 when she was sworn in as the first female speaker of the House. "If you're a quarterback and you keep throwing interceptions, you change quarterbacks," the 43-year-old Ryan, a former high school football player, said in a recent interview criticizing the record of Pelosi, 76, and arguing it's time for a younger generation to take the reins. Ryan's gambit is unusual because most leadership challenges come from members using another party position or a top slot on a key committee as a launching pad. While he holds seats on two important panels dealing with government spending -- Appropriations and Budget -- he isn't the most senior member and hasn't been the point person for the party on any leading issue. His highest-profile activity was serving as a regular surrogate for Hillary Clinton in the key battleground state of Ohio. Cameras captured him next to the Democratic nominee on St. Patrick's Day as she sipped a Guinness in a Youngstown bar. Ryan also tag teamed at events in the state with former President Bill Clinton. JUST WATCHED Tim Ryan: Dems need a 'deep economic message' Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Tim Ryan: Dems need a 'deep economic message' 01:20 But Donald Trump won the Ohio by 8 points, part of his Rust Belt sweep. The Democrats' economic message hasn't resonated, Ryan said. "We need a brand as a party that says we're the party that are going to help working-class people, white people, black people, brown people, gay people, straight people, improve opportunity for them to grow their wages, to have security, economic security. And we got off that message. And when we don't talk about economics, we lose elections," Ryan told CNN's Jake Tapper on "State of the Union" Sunday. His run is also a warning to Pelosi and other members of the Democrats' House leadership team that younger lawmakers feel they little chance of advancement. Yet while Ryan's words could resonate with Democratic voters, convincing his fellow lawmakers to throw out Pelosi in next week's election and gamble on an untested messenger when facing a Trump presidency and GOP-controlled Congress could be a tougher sell. That's because leadership elections often hinge on personal relationships. Members cast secret ballots and much of campaigning is done behind the scenes -- in phone calls and personal meetings. Candidates and their supporters tout their ability to devise the broad strategy for the party, but there are also conversations about parochial issues -- request for seats on top committees, boost home with fundraisers, and pledges to make particular issues priorities for the caucus. All those factors favor Pelosi. She has unparalleled experience driving the party's message, negotiating with Republicans and raising hundreds of millions of dollars for Democratic House candidates -- advantages many Democrats see as critical right now. After Ryan announced he would compete for the post Pelosi's office declined to respond, in a signal they didn't view his candidacy as a serious threat. President Barack Obama, asked about the contest during a news conference in Peru over the weekend, said he shouldn't "meddle" in internal party contests, but sent the clear message he backs Pelosi. "I cannot speak highly enough of Nancy Pelosi. She combines strong, progressive values with just extraordinary political skill. And she does stuff that's tough, not just stuff that's easy. She's done stuff that's unpopular in her own base because it's the right thing to do for the American people. I think she's a remarkable leader," Obama said. Ryan is also playing the inside game, spending the weekend in his office the Longworth House Office making calls and holding some one-on-one meetings. But so far only two House Democrats -- Rep. Ed Perlmutter of Colorado and Rep. Kathleen Rice of New York -- have publicly backed his bid for minority leader. And he has kept up the public campaign, appearing on multiple cable news programs a day, in an effort to keep the race in the media spotlight. Moving from a pro-life, pro-NRA record The seventh-term Democrat got his start in politics as a junior aide to his colorful hometown congressman, Jim Traficant, in 1997. After his first job on the Hill, Ryan left to get a law degree and moved back home to serve in the Ohio legislature. When Traficant was convicted of corruption charges and expelled from Congress in 2002, Ryan, then 27, decided to challenge a sitting Democrat in the primary. Redistricting changed the contours of the southeast area seat and Ryan defeated Rep. Tom Sawyer and others for the Democratic nomination. His former boss, Traficant, ran from federal prison as an independent, but Ryan won. When he arrived on Capitol Hill in 2003 as the youngest member of the caucus Pelosi created the "thirty something group" to showcase fresher faces and asked Ryan to help lead the group. He made speeches on the House floor and campaigned for other Democrats with the other leaders of the group, including the former Democratic National Committee Chairwoman, Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Florida. In his early congressional career Ryan had a more moderate political profile. Raised Catholic, he had a pro-life voting record, but in 2015 penned an editorial in a Ohio newspaper explaining that over the course of his time in Congress and since becoming a father his views had evolved. "I have come to believe that we must trust women and families -- not politicians -- to make the best decision for their lives," Ryan wrote in the Akron Beacon Journal. He also earned an "A" rating from the National Rifle Association when he was elected in 2003. But the moderate wing of the Democratic caucus has largely disappeared in recent election cycles and now Ryan stresses his support for expanding background checks, barring those on the government's "no fly list" from buying guns and other measures opposed by the gun lobby. Prelude for state-wide run Critics of Ryan's note that he has mulled over opportunities in the past to compete for statewide office -- both for governor and for Senate -- in Ohio but ended up taking a pass. Some senior Democratic aides were surprised he decided to take on Pelosi, and believe it may be a way to get his name in the mix to mount a statewide run for in 2018. Michael Zetts, Ryan's spokesman, pushes back on that notion, telling CNN, "you don't challenge this kind of power just to raise your profile. This election is about standing up for working class people, whether they are black, brown or white -- gay or straight -- young or old who feel left out of the process. This is about changing the direction of our party and the country." During his 14 years in office Ryan has developed close ties to labor unions, and co-founded the manufacturing caucus in the House. He opposed fast track authority for trade deals and in his first race highlighted his opposition to the North American Free Trade Agreement. His supporters stress that he's not just a messenger that can help the party reach out to the white working class. He has spent time cultivating relationships in the African-American and Latino communities in the Youngstown area -- as the city's demographics changed with the departure of the manufacturing base there. Younger congressmen looking for chances to advance JUST WATCHED Tim Ryan full interview Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Tim Ryan full interview 06:25 Ryan doesn't have much time to pull off what would be a huge political upset. Pelosi enjoys broad support in the Democratic caucus and claimed in her letter officially launching her bid that she already had support from two-thirds of the members. But one frustration whoever emerges as the minority leader will have to address is the lack of opportunity for advancement for newer members and need for greater geographical diversity in the leadership ranks. Many are frustrated they are stuck in a status quo cycle because the same slate of people continues to make the decisions. Ryan and other Democrats who pressed for more time before the vote point out that there is basically no bench for House Democrats. Over the weekend, he released his own plan for adding more seats at the leadership table for new voices, and limiting how many terms members can remain in some positions. Wasserman Schultz, who called Ryan one of her "closest friends" on CNN recently, has also pressed for opportunities for younger members, but also said the priority now is dealing with the fight in front of them. "The reality that we're facing here is that we are going to be dealing with a -- a legislative train wreck coming at us at warp speed," she said. "And there is nobody in my mind that is more battle tested and prepared or frankly, savvy enough to be able to go toe to toe with Paul Ryan, the Republican leadership and this really troubling and disturbing administration than Nancy Pelosi." |
Two-year-old Dale lives the perfect turkey life: He spends his days with the love of his life, Daphne, soaking up the sun and noshing on his favorite foods—fresh blueberries, raisins, shredded lettuce, and diced apples. But life wasn’t always this easy for this handsome bird; In 2009, a little turkey with foot deformities hatched his way onto a farm that raises, slaughters, and prepares meat for pot pies and seasonal meals. Knowing the handicapped bird would never survive, a tender-hearted worker brought him home, only to realize that the bird was lonely. He returned the very next day to rescue a companion, now known as Dale, for the bird. The chicks rapidly grew large and were soon too big for the worker’s abode, so he delivered them to their current home: Maple Farm Sanctuary in Mendon, MA. Now, Dale plays the role of “ambassador,” as sanctuary staff calls him, welcoming visitors by strutting around with a magnificent feather display that rivals any peacock’s. Giving a whole new meaning to the term “love bird,” Dale’s world revolves around his mate Daphne, whom he met at MFS, and the two are inseparable. This guy will certainly be grateful this Thanksgiving for his daring rescue, which now allows him to live a fulfilling existence and show the world why these unique birds deserve compassion and an escape from dinner-plate destiny. More Thankful Turkeys: Farm Sanctuary’s Hildy The flock at Precious Life Sanctuary |
Search Mailing List Archives Limit search to: Subject & Body Subject Author Sort by: Date Rank Author Subject Reverse Sort Limit to: All This Week Last Week This Month Last Month Select Date Range Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 2014 2013 2012 2011 2010 2009 2008 2007 2006 through Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 2014 2013 2012 2011 2010 2009 2008 2007 2006 [liberationtech] PRISM: NSA/FBI Internet data mining project FWIW, Google has issued a similar blanket (and kinda funny) denial. http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2013/06/what.html On Fri, Jun 7, 2013 at 2:20 PM, Andy Isaacson <adi at hexapodia.org> wrote: > Apologies for replying out of thread and the wide CC list. > > On Fri, Jun 07, 2013 at 06:41:32PM +0200, Eugen Leitl wrote: >> ----- Forwarded message from Matthew Petach <mpetach at netflight.com> ----- >> >> Date: Fri, 7 Jun 2013 09:32:53 -0700 >> From: Matthew Petach <mpetach at netflight.com> >> Cc: NANOG <nanog at nanog.org> >> Subject: Re: PRISM: NSA/FBI Internet data mining project >> >> Speaking just for myself, and if you quote me on this >> as speaking on anyone else's behalf, you're a complete >> fool, if the government was able to build infrastructure >> that could listen to all the traffic from a major provider >> for a fraction of what it costs them to handle that traffic >> in the first place, I'd be truly amazed--and I'd probably >> wonder why the company didn't outsource their infrastruture >> to the government, if they can build and run it so much >> more cheaply than the commercial providers. ;P >> 7 companies were listed; if we assume the >> burden was split roughly evenly between them, that's >> 20M/7, about $2.85M per company per year to tap in, >> or about $238,000/month per company listed, to >> supposedly snoop on hundreds of gigs per second >> of data. Two ways to handle it: tap in, and funnel >> copies of all traffic back to distant monitoring posts, >> or have local servers digesting and filtering, just >> extracting the few nuggets they want, and sending >> just those back. > > That's not what PRISM is claimed to do, in the WaPo/Gu slide deck. The > deck claims that PRISM provides a way for an analyst at NSA to request > access to a specific target (gmail account, Skype account, Y! messenger, > etc) and get a dump of data in that account, plus realtime access to the > activity on the account. The volume is quoted to be on the order of > 10k-100k of requests annually. The implication is that data production > is nearly immediate (measured in minutes or hours at most), not enough > time for a rubber-stamp FISA warrant, implying a fully automated system. > > At these volumes we're talking one, or a few, boxes at each provider; > plus the necessary backdoors in the provider's storage systems (easy, > since the provider already has those backdoors in place for their own > maintenance/legal/abuse systems); and trusted personnel on staff at the > providers to build and maintain the systems. Add a VPN link back to > Fort Meade and you're done. > > That's obviously a much easier system (compared to your 200 GBps > sniffer) to build at the $2M/yr budget, and given that $2M is just the > government's part -- the company engineering time to do it is accounted > separately -- it seems like a reasonable ballpark for an efficient > government project. (There are plenty such, and the existence of > inefficient government projects doesn't change that fact.) > > It's even possible that executive/legal at the providers actually aren't > aware that their systems are compromised in this manner. NatSec claims > will open many doors, especially with alumni of the DoD who have > reentered the civilian workforce: > https://financialcryptography.com/mt/archives/001431.html > > -andy > -- > Too many emails? Unsubscribe, change to digest, or change password by emailing moderator at companys at stanford.edu or changing your settings at https://mailman.stanford.edu/mailman/listinfo/liberationtech |
The number of enrolled still falls short of the 3.3 million the Obama administration was hoping for. Joe Raedle/Getty Images Over 2 million people have enrolled in health insurance plans through the federally run HealthCare.gov and state healthcare websites since enrollment began in October, U.S. officials said on Tuesday. While the numbers of enrollees fall short of the 3.3 million enrollees the Obama administration was hoping for by the end of year, the number is a dramatic improvement from the early weeks of the program when barely 150,000 signed up for coverage through HealthCare.gov because of a series of technical problems. HealthCare.gov covers 36 states; another 14 states have their own websites. Sign-ups for what has become known as "Obamacare" picked up during December as the website's performance improved, and as more Americans focused on getting coverage by the new year. Many of the newly insured under the "Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act" enrolled just ahead of a Dec. 24 deadline to receive benefits on Jan. 1, giving health insurers a tight framework to create accounts that can be accessed by doctors. The Obama administration was alerted to HealthCare.gov's problems as early as March, and the site crashed soon after its launch on Oct. 1, as millions of visitors entered the site, and remained balky for much of the ensuing weeks. The problem-plagued rollout disappointed those who were trying to enroll in subsidized health insurance and damaged the credibility of President Obama and his signature domestic policy achievement. Two officials have left the U.S. agency that was in charge of launching the website. Administration officials hope they have now turned a corner toward a better-working program that makes it possible for millions of Americans to get health insurance who did not have it before. People can still sign up until March 31 for coverage in 2014. But the new year is expected to bring new challenges as many Americans begin to use their medical coverage for the first time. "January 1st marks not only the beginning of a New Year but an exciting new day in health care as millions of Americans will now be able to access care, thanks to the coverage they found at the Health Insurance Marketplace," Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said in a blog posting on Tuesday. "For many of the newly insured ... it will be the first time that they can enjoy the security that comes with health coverage," Sebelius said. She said the administration was doing everything possible to help with the transition period. Al Jazeera and Reuters |
Reprising a legendary 1985 National Geographic cover, this week's Time magazine cover girl is another beautiful young Afghan woman. But this time there is a gaping hole where her nose used to be before it was cut off under Taliban direction. A stark caption reads: "What Happens If We Leave Afghanistan". A careful editorial insists that the image is not shown "either in support of the US war effort or in opposition to it". The stated intention is to counterbalance damaging the WikiLeaks revelations – 91,000 documents that, Time believes, cannot provide "emotional truth and insight into the way life is lived in that difficult land". Feminists have long argued that invoking the condition of women to justify occupation is a cynical ploy, and the Time cover already stands accused of it. Interestingly, the WikiLeaks documents reveal CIA advice to use the plight of Afghan women as "pressure points", an emotive way to rally flagging public support for the war. Misogynist violence is unacceptable, but we must also be concerned by the continued insistence that the complexities of war, occupation and reality itself can be reduced to bedtime stories. Consultation with child psychologists apparently preceded Time's decision to run the image, but the magazine decided that in the end it was more important for children (and us) to understand that "bad things do happen to people" and we must feel sorry for them. The WikiLeaks revelations of atrocities and civilian deaths are evidence of some rather terrible things that are done to people but are bizarrely judged not to provide a "window into the reality of what is happening". Time is not alone in condensing Afghan reality into simplistic morality tales. A deplorable number of recent works habituate us to thinking about Afghanistan as what Liam Fox, Britain's defence secretary, called a "broken 13th-century country", defined solely by pathologically violent men and silently brutalised women. While Afghans have been silenced and further disempowered by being reduced to objects of western chastisement, a recent judgment against Asne Seierstad's The Bookseller of Kabul has raised the possibility of challenging their depictions. Based on her stay in the eponymous protagonist's home, Seierstad's memoir uses offensive commercial language to describe ordinary marital negotiations and refers to female characters as "the burka". The tone implies even the most anti-Taliban Afghan men are irredeemably vicious patriarchs. Predictably, some critical reaction deemed Afghanistan a "horrible society". While there exists a colonial tradition of relegating the non-west to the past of the west – and some suggest leaving it to rot in hopelessness – the trendier option involves incorporating Afghans into modernity by teaching them to live in a globalised present. In non-fiction bestsellers such as Deborah Rodriguez's Kabul Beauty School, an American woman teaches Afghan women the intricacies of hair colour, sexiness, and resisting oppression. "To all appearances, there is no sex life in Afghanistan," writes Rodriguez, obsessed – like Seierstad – with the nuptial habits of Afghans. Sex and the City in the Middle East may have tanked as a movie, but as ideology it has displaced meaningful global feminism. Acceptable Afghan-American voices such as Khaled Hosseini (The Kite Runner) and Awista Ayub (Kabul Girls Soccer Club) reiterate the notion that suburban America can "infuse" Afghans with freedom. Formulaic narratives are populated by tireless Western humanitarians, sex-crazed polygamous paedophiles (most Afghan men) and burqa-clad "child-women" who are broken in body and spirit or have just enough doughtiness to be scripted into a triumphal Hollywood narrative. The real effects of the Nato occupation, including the worsening of many women's lives under the lethally violent combination of old patriarchal feudalism and new corporate militarism are rarely discussed. The mutilated Afghan woman ultimately fills a symbolic void where there should be ideas for real change. The truth is that the US and allied regimes do not have anything substantial to offer Afghanistan beyond feeding the gargantuan war machine they have unleashed. And how could they? In the affluent west itself, modernity is now about dismantling welfare systems, increasing inequality (disproportionately disenfranchising women in the process), and subsidising corporate profits. Other ideas once associated with modernity – social justice, economic fairness, peace, all of which would enfranchise Afghan women – have been relegated to the past in the name of progress. This bankrupt version of modernity has little to offer Afghans other than bikini waxes and Oprah-imitators. A radical people's modernity is called for – and not only for the embattled denizens of Afghanistan. |
Crude Awakening This Week: Crude Awakening | Whistleblower: A Former Government Employee Speaks Out | FAQ: Oil and Gas Royalty Relief | Essay: Trivializing Corruption | Transcript Gambrell was fired in 2003. He reportedly said the Interior Department told him it was because he destroyed records. Gambrell sued for wrongful termination and said he and the department have reached a confidential settlement. NOW contacted the Department of Interior to discuss Gambrell's allegations, which they deny, but they turned down our request for an interview. This is an edited transcript of our interview with Gambrell. MARIA HINOJOSA: Can you explain what you did for the office? KEVIN GAMBRELL: My job was to manage Indian allotments in the Four Corners [area of the American Southwest] to make sure that the Indian people were getting what they were entitled to, royalties. HINOJOSA: How did you see your role in the greater scheme of working on behalf of the American taxpayer? GAMBRELL: ... I had the responsibility to make sure that the companies pay correctly and that the taxpayers get everything that they're entitled to. HINOJOSA: Did you witness a time when the oil companies were not trying to pay their royalties? GAMBRELL: Oh many times. I think oil and gas companies were always trying to figure out how to not pay royalties or to pay as little as possible. HINOJOSA: How much do you think that the American taxpayer is losing from your understanding of what oil companies are not paying in terms of their royalties? GAMBRELL: I think the American taxpayers are losing billions of dollars. HINOJOSA: How did they do it? GAMBRELL: They would take deductions that they could not legally take. They would price their oil to gas using artificial pricing mechanisms that weren't true to the market. They would get bonuses, premiums and other considerations that were not visible to the royalty collectors ... HINOJOSA: How easy is it for an oil or gas company to essentially underreport the royalties that are due? GAMBRELL: It's easy ... In the past it was much easier ... I had an example probably three years ago where an oil and gas company was producing oil and gas from a well site and they never reported anything to the federal government. And I found out through a transporter that transports oil and gas that they had been producing. There was no way to really know that they were paying correctly until we've got the third party verification. HINOJOSA: Is this a systemic problem? Is it all of the oil and gas companies that are trying to get out of paying royalties or is it just a few bad companies? GAMBRELL: I would never say that all oil and gas companies are trying to get away without paying royalties ... I would say that it's more that oil and gas companies are underpaying royalties, probably a majority of them. And there are some that actually do pay correctly, but most of them don't. HINOJOSA: So are Americans then to walk away [knowing] the oil and gas companies are purposely trying to take advantage of the American taxpayer? GAMBRELL: I don't think the American people should walk away from this. I think they need to really question the government that is currently auditing oil and gas royalties and make sure that they do it correctly. I think there needs to be independent review, I mean separate from the government, a review of the agencies that collect royalties, manage the oil and gas properties. There needs to be better oversight and there needs to be independent audits of these agencies. HINOJOSA: With respect to your job collecting royalties from the oil companies, did things change at all when the Bush administration came into power? GAMBRELL: There was a specific mandate to the executive level people within the government to push oil and gas, to get oil and gas development domestically everywhere. And it became a priority over everything else. It was almost like a tunnel vision. The issues that were being dealt with under the Clinton administration had just basically been pushed to the side and things like Indian Trust became secondary to oil and gas. And oil and gas just became the priority. And if it meant jeopardizing the health and safety of people, such as Indian people, it was secondary. It was almost ignored. It became just a low priority, and oil and gas became the priority ... I think that when the Bush administration came into power it changed our way of taking care of a lot of the audits. It became a priority to get rid of the legacy audits -- audits that had been pending or had not been completed from many years. And our focus became solely on getting the past cleaned up and getting a situation where oil and gas could pay the royalties without a lot of complications. And Minerals Management Service (MMS) could do the compliance work without a lot of work involved and the detail that it required in the past. HINOJOSA: What did your superiors say when you wanted to push to make sure that the oil companies were paying the royalties that were due? GAMBRELL: During the time that I was trying to push to get oil and gas companies to pay correctly, there were a lot of changes in the way that management thought that we should take care of the past audits. They try to push a lot of short cuts in doing the audit process. In fact it became ... no longer an audit process. It became almost a review, a simple review and there wasn't really any audit any longer. Just pretty much ignore the audit process. And the collection of royalties, from my experience, I was able to collect eight times the amount of royalty in terms of back-paid dollars than what the new process that the management had bantied (SIC) up for me to do. HINOJOSA: And do you believe that MMS was in fact working the hardest they possibly could to collect the royalties from the oil and gas companies? GAMBRELL: No I do not. I think if you go back to a 2003 report by the Inspector General [2MB - Requires Adobe Reader], that reviews some of MMS's work, they found that there was I think out of 14 audits that [10] audits were substandard or not done correctly ... HINOJOSA: When you would realize that perhaps a company was underreporting, when you were auditing and you wanted to push forward to get this company to kind of step forward and explain the problems with their paperwork. What happened? GAMBRELL: I got a lot of resistance. I've had companies basically divert the issue to my authority and question what authority I have to go after them for a particular issue. I had them telling me in court. They often bring in their attorneys. I mean there's never been a situation that they didn't bring in their attorneys. They try to negotiate. Since it's very difficult they'll sometimes contact a congressman and have their congressman contact me or contact my supervisor and try to circumvent me. That's happened many times ... ...sometimes I would get a call from my boss, who was talking to that oil and gas company, that oil and gas executive would contact my boss. And my boss would call me and say, "What are you doing? Why are you doing this? We don't want you pushing this issue on this oil and gas company." HINOJOSA: When you witnessed that happening to you, what went on for you? GAMBRELL: I was shocked ... I thought industry would fess up to the mistakes and pay correctly. I didn't think they would do something underhanded like contacting their congressman to ... hit me from basically from the side. I thought they would be direct with me and try to work with me. I think after they realized that I wasn't really responsive to Congress in the sense that I would actually change my decision I think they then realized that they would have to you know work with me. I mean they did take a lot of putting the pressure on them to pay correctly. HINOJOSA: Did you go speak to your superiors? GAMBRELL: I spoke to my superiors. I sent memos. I contacted the courts in [Washington] D.C. ... and explained to them some of the problems I was having. And I felt that no matter what I said, no matter how much I was able to provide documentation to support my conclusions that we were going to damage the taxpayer's interest, they continued to push that. They continued to push that directive. And when I wasn't willing to participate I felt that I was retaliated against. All of a sudden I became like the bad guy. Who was I to question the management? ... the objective was to remove me from government once I started refusing to ... violate the collection of royalties for taxpayers. HINOJOSA: And how would you grade the governmental organization, the MMS, in charge of collecting those royalties? GAMBRELL: I would actually probably give them an F. I think they fail in their duties to protect the taxpayers. HINOJOSA: Do you believe that oil and gas companies are lying sometimes to avoid paying royalties? GAMBRELL: I think some oil and gas companies do lie in order not to pay royalties. I think in the past, I know in the past that, if you look at a lot of the things that they did, they did lie. You couldn't trust the oil and gas companies to do what was right. HINOJOSA: From somebody who's been on the inside, who knows how the agencies and the oil and gas industries work, what's the solution when the American taxpayer says, "What are we supposed to do?" GAMBRELL: I think a lot of the solution is to have a person who manages these agencies that collect royalty that is independent of oil and gas, that has nothing to do with oil and gas, has been a person who understands regulation and how to protect the taxpayer. I think what we have now is a lot of people who understand profit. And they understand money. And they understand oil and gas influence. But they don't understand the responsibility to the taxpayer. |
ES News Email Enter your email address Please enter an email address Email address is invalid Fill out this field Email address is invalid You already have an account. Please log in or register with your social account Double Olympic champion Laura Trott today accused cyclists of being reckless and causing accidents by failing to obey the rules of the road. The cycling gold medallist said she was shocked by how many rogue riders jumped lights and dangerously weaved through traffic — and added that accidents were “not always the car’s fault”. The star also insisted that laws must be brought in to make safety helmets compulsory for all riders as she spoke of how her sister, also a professional cyclist, had survived being knocked off her bike by wearing such a helmet. The London 2012 champion spoke out on rider behaviour using the strongest terms yet in her role as the chief ambassador for the Mayor, who has expressed concern that cycling’s image is being tarnished by an aggressive, Lycra-clad minority. She told the Standard: “Cyclists wonder why they get a bad name. I see cyclists jumping in and out of the buses and people wonder why they get hit. “It’s not always the car’s fault. Cyclists need to help themselves and should not jump red lights. I would ride in London but I certainly wouldn’t ride like that, you just have to be careful. I can understand going down the outside of traffic but you should obey the rules of the road because we’re all road users.” Fourteen cyclists were killed on London’s streets last year and already there have been six deaths this year. But City Hall says the streets will become much safer as Boris Johnson’s £913 million cycling fund is spent on schemes including a “superhighway” along the Embankment, linked to Amsterdam-style quiet roads in outer boroughs. Accident blackspots such as major road junctions and roundabouts will benefit from bike-friendly measures. Trott said the new infrastructure, which has escaped major government cuts, was overdue. She added: “It shows show we’re becoming a cycling nation and the scheme is needed now. If you don’t do it then London’s roads are going to be filled with cyclists. We need more bike lanes in central London.” But Trott, 21, from Essex — who won gold in the Omnium and team pursuit events in the velodrome — called on politicians to go further and make helmets a must for cyclists. It puts her and fellow cycling superstar campaigner Sir Bradley Wiggins at loggerheads with the Mayor’s cycling commissioner Andrew Gilli- gan, who insists that helmets have no proven benefits and refuses to wear one, ruling him out of this summer’s RideLondon 100 event. Trott said wearing a helmet was drummed into her at a young age by her parents, despite complaints that it was “uncool”. In 2010 her sister, Emma, 23, broke her collarbone and suffered concussion so bad that she “barely even knew who she was” when a car hit five British riders in Belgium. Trott believes that Emma’s life was saved by the helmet she wore. She said: “When I was 11 I didn’t want to look uncool but my parents wouldn’t let me out unless I was wearing it. “I think it should be a legal requirement to wear a helmet. So many lives have been saved by them and it saved my sister’s life. She got hit by a car and cut her head open. “When Emma called from hospital she barely even knew who she was, so if she wasn’t wearing a helmet now she wouldn’t be here today. “For me, putting my helmet on now is a habit and I’ll wear it even if I’m going to the shop for a pint of milk.” Trott spoke after being announced as an ambassador for the Lee Valley VeloPark, which includes the Olympic velodrome. Paralympic gold and double silver medallist Mark Colbourne was also announced as an ambassador for the park, which will open to the public in March. It includes a BMX track, mountain bike trails and a road cycling circuit. |
BILL MOYERS: She was a spark plug in my PBS series on Genesis, her books are best sellers, "The History of God", "The Battle for God", "Jerusalem". She's written a biography of Buddha, and a short history of Islam. Soon we'll have her new memoir of her life after the convent where she spent seven years as a nun. Joining me now is one of the world's foremost students of religion, Karen Armstrong. Thank you. KAREN ARMSTRONG: Thank you Bill. BILL MOYERS: If you were God, would you do away with religion? ARMSTRONG: Well, there are some forms of religion that must make God weep. There are some forms of religion that are bad, just as there's bad cooking or bad art or bad sex, you have bad religion too. Religion that has concentrated on egotism, that's concentrated on belligerence rather than compassion. MOYERS: And so much of religion has been the experience of atrocity. ARMSTRONG: But then you have to remember that this is what human beings do. Secularism has shown that it can be just as murderous, just as lethal, uh, as religion. Now I think one of the reasons why religion developed in the way that it did over the centuries was precisely to curb this murderous bent that we have as human beings. MOYERS: You get September 11th ... you get the Crusades, you get ... do you remember the young Orthodox Jew who assassinated Itzhak Rabin? I can see him right now, looking into the camera, and he says, everything I did, I did for ... ARMSTRONG: For God. MOYERS: ... for the glory of God. ARMSTRONG: Yes. Yes. Well, this is ... this is bad religion. Compassion is not a popular virtue. Very often when I talk to religious people, and mention how important it is that compassion is the key, that it's the sine-qua-non of religion, people look kind of balked, and stubborn sometimes, as much to say, what's the point of having religion if you can't disapprove of other people? And sometimes we use religion just to back up these unworthy hatreds, because we're frightened too. MOYERS: Fear? ARMSTRONG: There's great fear. We fear that if we're not in control, other people will cut us down to size, and so we hit out first. From the beginning, violence was associated with religion, but the advanced religions, and I'm talking about Buddhism, Hinduism, monotheism, the Hebrew prophets, they insisted that you must transcend this violence, you must not give in to this violence, but you must learn to recognize that every single other human being is sacred. MOYERS: That's what we're taught when ... growing up, you know, Jesus loves the little children. All the children of the world, red and yellow, black and white, they are precious in his sight. Jesus loves the little children of the world. But as soon as they grow up, they go for each other's throats. ARMSTRONG: Yes. And a lot of this talk about love and compassion can be on the rather sloppy level. Or rather easy, facile level, where compassion is hard. It's nothing to do with feeling. It's about feeling with others. Learning to put yourself in the position of another person. There were years in my life when I was eaten up with misery and anger, I was sick of religion but when I got to understand what religion was really about, uh, not about dogmas, not about propping up the church, not about converting other people to your particular wavelength, but about getting rid of ego and approaching others in reverence, I became much happier. But you have to go a long journey, a journey that takes you away from selfishness, from greed. And that leads you to value the sacredness in all others. I'm thinking of Abraham in Genesis there's a wonderful story, where Abraham is sitting outside his tent and it's the hottest part of a Middle Eastern afternoon, and he sees three strangers on the horizon. And now most of us would never dream of bringing a total stranger from the streets into our own homes, strangers are potentially lethal people. But that's exactly what Abraham does. He runs out, he bows down before them, as though they were kings, and brings them into his encampment, and makes his wife prepare an elaborate meal. And in the course of the ensuing conversation, it transpires quite naturally that one of those strangers is Abraham's God, that the act of practical compassion led to a divine encounter. In Hebrew, the word for holy, kadosh, means separate, other. And sometimes it's the very otherness of a stranger, someone who doesn't belong to our ethnic or ideological or religious group, an otherness that can repel us initially, but which can jerk us out of our habitual selfishness, and give us intonations of that sacred otherness, which is God. MOYERS: What happened in your case? You said that you came to this insight that you weren't a good person. ARMSTRONG: After I left the convent, for 15 years I was worn out with religion, I wanted nothing whatever to do with it. I felt disgusted with it. If I saw someone reading a religious book on a train, I'd think, how awful. I had no job at all, and I was asked to do a television series on Saint Paul, and I was working with an Israeli film company ...I went to Jerusalem. And there, very importantly, I encountered Judaism and Islam. And up until that point, my religious life had been very parochial, been very Catholic, and I'd never thought of Judaism as anything but the kind of prelude to Christianity, and I'd never thought about Islam at all. But in Jerusalem, where you see these three religions jostling together, often very uneasily, even violently, you become aware of the profound connections between them and it was the study of these other faiths that led me back to an appreciation of what religion was trying to do. MOYERS: What appealed to you about Islam? Because in the context of 9/11 ... there's so much talk about Islam as a violent religion. We saw those suicide bombers, heard those suicide bombers invoking the name of Allah, saying they were doing this in the name of ... of God, and the name of their own faith. So you're saying, there are good things about this religion, that helped you rediscover your own spiritual journey. ARMSTRONG: Ironically, the first thing that appealed to me about Islam was its pluralism. The fact that the Koran praises all the great prophets of the past. That Mohammed didn't believe he had come to found a new religion to which everybody had to convert, but he was just the prophet sent to the Arabs, who hadn't had a prophet before, and left out of the divine plan. There's a story where Mohammed makes a sacred flight from Mecca to Jerusalem, to the Temple Mount. And there he is greeted by all the great prophets of the past. And he ascends to the divine throne, speaking to the prophets like Jesus and Aaron, Moses, he takes advice from Moses, and finally encounters Abraham at the threshold of the divine sphere. This story of the flight of Mohammed and the ascent to the divine throne is the paradigm, the archetype of Muslim spirituality. It reflects the ascent that every Muslim must make to God and the Sufis, when I started talking ... MOYERS: The mystical sect. ARMSTRONG: The mystical branch of Islam, the Sufi movement, insisted that when you had encountered God, you were neither a Jew, a Christian, a Muslim. You were at home equally in a synagogue, a mosque, a temple or a church, because all rightly guided religion comes from God, and a man of God, once he's glimpsed the divine, has left these man-made distinctions behind. MOYERS: How do you explain the hatred in the world of Islam toward the west, toward America in particular? ARMSTRONG: Well, uh, all fundamentalist movements, that's whether they're Jewish, Christian or Muslim or Buddhist, all begin as an intra-religious debate, an intra-religious struggle. Then, at a later stage, fundamentalists sometimes reach out towards a foreign foe and hence the Muslim feeling that American foreign policy is ... is holding them back. MOYERS: Why do they think American foreign policy is the root of their ills? ARMSTRONG: This was very much an Arab feeling. They feel that they are fighting a holy war ... that America fights Muslims, has killed Muslims, in Iraq, that America is still continuing to bomb Iraq ... MOYERS: And yet in Bosnia, we went to the defense of Muslims there. ARMSTRONG: Exactly, exactly. There's a running sore of the Arab-Israeli conflict, which has been festering for so long, and has become symbolic of everything that Muslims feel that is wrong with the modern world. Just as here, in the United States, fundamentalists have symbolic issues, abortion, uh, and evolution, which they can't see rationally, but they've become symbolic of ... of the evils of modernity. The state of Israel, which meant that Palestinians lost their home, has become for Muslims a symbol of their impotence in the modern world. It wasn't always like this. At the beginning of the twentieth century, every single leading Muslim intellectual was in love with the west, and wanted their countries to look just like Britain and France. Some of them even said that the Europeans, they didn't know about America yet, that the Europeans, uh, were better Muslims than they themselves, because their modern society had enabled them to create a fairer and more just distribution of wealth, than was possible in their pre-modern climates, and that accorded more perfectly with the vision of the Quran. Then there was the experience of colonialism under Britain and France, experiences like Suez, the Iranian revolution, Israel, and some people, not all by any means, uh, some people have allowed this ... these series of disasters to corrode into hatred. Islam is a religion of success. Unlike Christianity, which has as its main image, in the west at least, a man dying in a devastating, disgraceful, helpless death. MOYERS: On a cross, crucified. ARMSTRONG: The cross, crucified, and that turned into victory. Mohammed was not an apparent failure. He was a dazzling success, politically as well as spiritually, and Islam went from strength to strength to strength. But against the West, it's been able to make no headway, and this is as disturbing for Muslims as the discoveries of Darwin have been to some Christians. The Quran says that if you live according to the Quranic ideal, implementing justice in your society, then your society will prosper, because this is the way human beings are supposed to live. But whatever they do, they cannot seem to get Muslim history back on track, and this has led some, and only a minority, it must be said, to desperate conclusions. MOYERS: You said once that you felt the fundamentalists were trying to restore God to the world. ARMSTRONG: Yes, all fundamentalists feel that in a secular society, God has been relegated to the margin, to the periphery and they are all in different ways seeking to drag him out of that peripheral position, back to center stage. MOYERS: They drag God back into the political world by denying democratic aspirations. ARMSTRONG: Yes. MOYERS: I mean, do you think democracy and fundamentalism are, uh, can co-exist? ARMSTRONG:Fundamentalists are not friends of democracy. And that includes your fundamentalists in the United States. Every fundamentalist movement I've studied in Judaism, Christianity and Islam is convinced at some gut, visceral level that secular liberal society wants to wipe out religion. Wants to wipe them out. Jewish fundamentalism, for example, came into being ... came really to the fore in a new way after the Nazi Holocaust ... And some fundamentalists in the Muslim world have experienced secularism, not as we have, as a liberating process, but so rapid and accelerated that it's often been an assault.The Shahs of Iran used to have their soldiers go out with their bayonets out, taking the womens' veils off, and ripping them to pieces in front of them, because they wanted their society to look modern, never mind the fact that the vast majority of the people had not had a western education, and didn't know what was going on. On one occasion in 1935, Shah Reza Pahlevi, gave his soldiers orders to shoot at hundreds of unarmed demonstrators in one of the holiest shrines of Iran, who were peacefully protesting against western dress, uh, obligatory western dress, and hundreds of Iranians died that day. Now, in a climate like this, secularism is not experienced as something benign, it's experienced as a deadly assault. MOYERS: When fundamentalism experienced its rebirth in this country, a quarter of a century ago, political rebirth, it was because the federal government, the Internal Revenue Service, had, uh, denied their parochial religious schools tax-exempt status ... ARMSTRONG: Yes. MOYERS: ... if they segregated. ARMSTRONG: That's right. MOYERS: And the fundamentalists became alarmed at that, and fearing that they were going to be annihilated. ARMSTRONG: Exactly so. And similarly, in the famous Scopes Trial, which I think tells us a lot about the fundamentalist process in 1925, you'll remember, fundamentalists tried to ban the teaching of evolution in the public schools, and there was a celebrated trial, in which the fundamentalists were really ridiculed in the secular press. After the Scopes Trial, after the ridicule, they swung to the extreme right, and there they've remained. MOYERS: The inequality gap in this country is larger, I believe, than in any other industrial society. ARMSTRONG: Yes. MOYERS: What does that say about the most religious country in the world? And that's your definition. America's the most religious country in the world, and yet it's the most unequal economically. ARMSTRONG: It's ... and this should trouble us all. It should trouble us all. Religious people should join hands, and fight for ... for greater equality. Try and see if you can introduce Christian, Jewish or true Muslims values into society. Not trying to force other people, but bringing to bear that respect for the sacred rights of others that all religions, at their best, three very important words, at their best, are trying to promote. MOYERS: Where are you in your own journey? You're not a practicing Catholic, are you? ARMSTRONG: No. I usually call myself these days a freelance monotheist. I draw nourishment from all three of the religions of Abraham, uh, I spend my life studying these faiths, in a sense I'm still a nun. I live alone, and I've never married, and I spend my life writing and talking and reading and studying spirituality and God. And I can not see in essence any one of these three faiths as superior to any of the others. I suppose one of my hopes in life is to try to get Jews, Christians and Muslims to realize the profound unanimity, the unanimous vision that they share, and to join hands together to stop the kind of cruelty, violence and obscenity, moral obscenity that we saw on September the 11th. MOYERS:Thank you, Sister Karen. ARMSTRONG: Thank you, Bill. |
While the sting was still fresh from a defeat in double overtime, the Ottawa Senators were already hopefully looking to the future after Game 7 of the Eastern Conference final. "We've got a lot to build on right now," winger Bobby Ryan said after Thursday's 3-2 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins. "I think we can be here a year from now." But unfortunately for the Senators, another deep playoff run doesn't appear likely in the near future. Almost everything had to fall exactly into place for the Sens to win two rounds and push the Pittsburgh Penguins to seven games, beginning with unlikely regular-season success. Ottawa was far from dominant. Lucky Sens The Senators scored the fewest goals of the 16 playoff teams and were the only one to own a negative goal differential (minus-4). Opponents fired 211 more shots on goal than Ottawa did at five-on-five and special teams were also below-grade with the Sens tied for the seventh-worst power play and ninth-worst penalty kill. They survived on those especially thin margins with mostly terrific goaltending from Craig Anderson and Mike Condon (eighth-best overall save percentage), an MVP season from Erik Karlsson, solid campaigns from Mike Hoffman, Kyle Turris and Mark Stone, and a full embrace that Boucher's way was optimal toward success. Much of that continued in the playoffs with the Sens continually prevailing in close games. While they deserve some credit for landing that extra goal, the good fortune in winning six of eight overtime games can't be discounted. Nine of their 11 post-season wins were by a goal. Nashville outscored opponents by 18 in getting to their first Cup final. Pittsburgh, the Predators' soon-to-be opponent, had 14 more goals than the opposition. The Sens were outscored by three and outshot 622-574. They beat two more talented teams in the Bruins and Rangers, but also a pair who have passed their Cup-winning windows. Ottawa benefited from the NHL's unusual playoff format which saw the two best teams in the league — Washington and Pittsburgh — face off in the second round. Had the playoffs been a one through eight seeding system, the Sens would have faced the Columbus Blue Jackets in the first round, a seemingly superior team to Boston and one that would have had home-ice advantage. A repeat of all those circumstances next season and beyond seems unlikely, though hardly impossible as this year's fortuitous run proved. Lack of depth Detrimental to future runs and even Cup contention otherwise is a lack of elite-level talent after Karlsson. While repeatedly trying to paint the Sens as underdogs, Boucher often made note of the opposition's higher-calibre talent, most notably after a 7-0 blowout loss to the Pens. "We know they're a better team," Boucher said then. "Everybody knows that on the planet." The Sens have some fine players after Karlsson and even Anderson — who just turned 36 — but no real stars. Hoffman has become a dangerous offensive player, but his career-best 61 points this season tied for 35th overall. Stone has hit at least 22 goals and 54 points in each of his first three full NHL seasons, good numbers certainly, but not elite. Recent first-round picks like Mika Zibanejad, Cody Ceci and Curtis Lazar have failed to meet that mark, though both Thomas Chabot and Colin White appear promising. Depth is repeatedly stressed as crucial to playoff success, but make no mistake, stars win Cups. The Penguins might capture their second straight this spring primarily because of Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Phil Kessel. The Blackhawks won behind Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane, Marian Hossa, Duncan Keith and others. Karlsson's magnificence pushed the Sens past the Bruins and Rangers, but the 26-year-old slowed in the conference final amid injury, fatigue and many shifts against Crosby. Even great players need high-level help. Also standing in the way of another Ottawa run is an Eastern Conference that's likely to improve as Toronto and Carolina rise and Tampa returns to full health. The Sens are far from a lock to qualify for the post-season. 'They were better than we were' Then there's Boucher's staunchly defensive style of play, which quickly wore out its welcome over two-plus seasons with the Lightning. While admittedly evolved as a coach these days, his ways for success require little room for error. Generally speaking, teams that keep the puck less than their opponents usually don't fare well over the long haul. None of this discounts the resiliency Ottawa demonstrated through an adversity-ridden season, nor the ability of those like Karlsson and Anderson to raise their games, it just points to a reality even the captain seemed to acknowledge after Thursday's loss in Pittsburgh. "I think with the group of guys that we have and the way that we play we did everything we could to get as far as we possibly could," Karlsson said. "And yeah we could've got a lucky bounce and won it and we would've liked that, but we didn't and they won because over the course of seven games they were better than we were." |
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