text stringlengths 0 100k |
|---|
Apparently people like Erin Simmons, who hate CrossFit didn't read my article on how CrossFit saved my health, nor have they considered the broader implications of how this fitness program may be helping tens of thousands (and maybe more) of people get healthy and happy. Erin is just one among many who have made headway bashing CrossFit as being a sport that causes too many injuries, is overwhelmed by poor coaching or thoughtless programming, and, oh yes, for being a cult. And though there is some validity to some of what I have read, and I am happy to stand corrected on any point, it seems to me that these opinions are personal, ego-based vendettas written by people who feel the need to shout out warnings on subjects that are not completely substantiated by research or fact. It's really incredible to me. Really. I've been practicing medicine for close to 20 years and none of us have figured out a way not only to get people motivated to exercise and get fit, but to stick to it. CrossFit is not the problem folks, obesity is. We have an epidemic of obesity that is not only propelling the rising costs of healthcare, but also morbid problems like metabolic syndrome, heart disease, cancer and diabetes. The estimated annual medical cost of obesity in the U.S. was $147 billion in 2008 U.S. dollars. The medical costs for people who are obese were $1,429 higher than those of normal weight. I remember this time last year, I spent a weekend going to watch the CrossFit Northeast Regionals competition. It was truly an amazing experience. I couldn't decide where to feast my eyes, the athletes competing, or the athletes in the spectator stands. The entire Reebok CrossFit One field was swimming with fit people. It was such a thrill for this doc to witness, especially since the night before I found myself walking amongst an ocean of obesity in the streets of Boston's North End. In my two years of being part of CrossFit, I have witnessed more couch potatoes getting fit either because of CrossFit or because they were influenced by my or a friend's change in fitness level from participating in CrossFit. My friends and parents, for example have stopped eating high levels of grains and sugars and have started exercising regularly. Do you have any idea how many years I have been trying to get them to do so? This time around, I didn't push them to do anything. They merely started because they saw how much healthier and fitter, not to mention happier I became. Now why would you want to shut down something that is getting people to exercise by the droves? No program is fail-safe, especially when it gets to be this big and popular. But rather than bashing something that is working to get so many people fit, maybe we can put our minds together to fix any flaws, unless, that is, you feel the program is threatening your business or way of life. How about I'll start. I am going to list the top three factors that seem to get bashed most frequently and offer my opinion to meet yours. Maybe we can come up with some solutions. Let's start with bashing factor number one: CrossFit (CF) is dangerous because of the injuries: This seems to be the most popular, though there is no current literature that validates that CF causes more injuries than any other sport. You can get injured skiing, running marathons, playing football and yes, the new research is pointing to injuries from yoga. I personally am more worried about the broad health implications of the increased morbidity and mortality associated with poor fitness and not being able to get up from sitting on the floor. Perhaps it is more important to shine a light on the notion that injuries are occurring because people are actually exercising and talking about it? I don't know about you, but in my clinic, I hear more complaints of injuries people are sustaining from walking up the stairs because their knees can't handle carrying the heavy weight of their body. If people actually like to run, do gymnastics, play basketball or become active in any sport, you are going to see more widespread injuries because being active and inactive come with risks, risks which can be avoided with proper education and learning to be mindful of one's abilities and the body's needs, instead of allowing the ego to run the show. So if I were to pull out the value of this argument, I would surmise that the real concern is that novices and people who don't know their fitness levels are pushing too hard, too fast and getting injured. It seems to me that the solution is asking people to be more mindful and educated, to put their egos aside and understand their fitness level and set appropriate goals, and take into account that the fitness program also involves days of rest and recovery, appropriate sports and life nutrition, and self-care. Oh wait a minute, CF already advocates that. Which brings me to bashing factor number two: poor coaching and thoughtless programming: The claim that CF coaches are under-qualified, as they need only a weekend certification course to teach, which means they are not trained adequately to offer good or safe programming or training to participants, is an important one, though I am not so sure how prevalent. I am not sure how many CF gyms the "bashing" authors have been, too, but I have never had this experience. In the two gyms I belong to, nothing we do is random. The coaches spend days coming up with specific programming that sometimes seems boring because we work on building strength or getting a form right for a long time. I have, on the other hand, experienced poor coaching from at least three different personal trainers who did not take my back injuries into account when prescribing exercise routines for me, that left me injured and out for the count for six months to a year. From my understanding, one can get a personal training degree from doing an online program, so I am not so sure pointing a finger at CF is the answer. It seems to me the answer is education and the need for all teachers, coaches or leaders to understand that pupils, students and participants take your words very seriously. As a doctor I face the same problem, which is why I am very careful about what I recommend and I am constantly staying on top of new literature and my own education. To pull from the value of this argument, I would suggest that clients, students and coaches should continue to stay educated and programs or classes can be initiated to enable everyone to do so, whether this involves classes on injury prevention, nutrition, stress management, or importance of form. Anyone joining CF or any other exercise program can be smart by doing their own research, getting to know the coaches and seeing for themselves how qualified they are to teach. My favorite, bashing factor number three, is the CF is a cult: Calling CrossFit a cult holds with it the implication that people who choose to engage in this sport do not think for themselves because they have been drinking some kind of "Kool-Aid", and that the members are "a relatively small group of people having religious beliefs or practices regarded by others as strange or sinister." I am sure most of the people in my gym -- lawyers, doctors, engineers, teachers, nurses, firemen, plumbers, mothers and fathers -- might take offense to this belief, but most of us would more likely just laugh. It's true, CrossFitters are very excited about CF and they have a tendency to talk about it too much to anyone that will listen. But let's look at the big picture, which is that this so called "cult" is really representative of people who are experiencing a strong sense of belonging, something that is actually vital for a human being's sense of well-being and happiness. Studies, in fact show that our happiness, motivation and health are tied to the feeling that we belong to a greater community. Studies also show that individuals are more likely to stick to a fitness plan when it is social or there exists social support. As I have mentioned before, I am one of those people who has a hard time motivating to go to the gym on some days and I go because I know my friends will be there and I have someone and something to be accountable to. In addition, coming together with the larger community to cheer and watch competitors, whether it is the Northeast Regional's competition or a rumble with a nearby gym, is beyond thrilling and motivating, not just because the athletes are so inspiring, but because the sense of togetherness and belonging is fun and inspiring too. In all honesty, if I could get more of my patients to jump on this healthy bandwagon I would. Instead, I will advocate that though a sense of community and belonging is important, people also need to still think for themselves and make wise decisions based on their own needs and fitness levels. |
It’s a new day in Africa, and I love it! What makes me say that? I say that because we now have the likes of award-winning Nigerian recording artist Yemi Alade remaking her songs in Swahili for African fans on the other side of the continent (she specifically mentions Kenya). Why does that matter? It matters to me because finally, I am seeing the fruit of much-spoken-about Pan-African ideals not only in the usual rhetoric of our political leaders (sorry I don’t have much faith in that) but also in the everyday lives of regular Africans and in pop culture, which usually reflects the zeitgeist of the times. I find this exciting! Have you heard Yemi Alade ‘Na Gode’ Swahili Version yet? Let me take a step back and tell you a little more. First and foremost, who is Yemi Alade? Yemi Alade is a Nigerian singer best known for her hit song ‘Johnny‘, which rocked Africa in 2014-2015 (honestly, it still gets quite a bit of airplay in Dar es Salaam where I live). If you haven’t heard the song before, check out the video below—chances are, you’ll recognize it. Not only did ‘Johnny’ do very well in Ms. Alade’s home country Nigeria, but it was also well received in Kenya, Tanzania, Ghana, South Africa, Liberia, Uganda (that’s where I first heard it), Zimbabwe, and the U.K. In an unexpected move, Ms. Alade also released a French version of ‘Johnny’ for her Francophone fans. Yemi Alade’s success with ‘Johnny’ and her maiden album, King of Queens, earned her the Best Female Artist Award at the MTV Africa Music Awards in 2015. READ ALSO: Coller La Petite Lyrics, Meaning of ‘Sanga La Petite’ & More Na Gode Mid-last year, Yemi Alade released the first single off her second album, Mama Africa, set to be in stores in March 2016. The single, ‘Na Gode’ (which means ‘thank you’ in Hausa), is a beautiful song about thanking God no matter what your circumstances in life are. Here’s the GORGEOUS video she released for the song. The success of her music in East Africa was not lost on Ms. Alade and right before the end of the year, she mentioned on social media that she had a special Christmas present for her East African fans: a Swahili Version of ‘Na Gode’. Yemi Alade – ‘Na Gode’ Swahili Version I first heard it when a friend shared it with me on Whatsapp (can you tell I am on Whatsapp a lot? ;-)), and my first thought was that a Tanzanian singer had jumped on the bandwagon of Nigerian music being popular and decided to release a song in the same style. Boy, was I wrong!…But that tells you somewhat how good of a job Ms. Alade did of singing in Swahili. Unlike the French remake of ‘Johnny’, for which Ms. Alade did not release a video, she has gone all out with the Swahili version of ‘Na Gode’ and released a video earlier this year. Watch ‘Yemi Alade – Na Gode (Swahili Version Official Video)’ below. Where else other than Kenya is Swahili spoken? Swahili is spoken in 8 countries in Eastern and Central Africa: Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Mozambique, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo though very similar languages are also spoken in Comoro Islands and Mayotte. As a native Swahili speaker, I am absolutely pleased by Yemi Alade’s hat tip to her fans in the Swahili-speaking world. As an African, it delights me even more because of what it means in terms of cross-cultural collaboration and sharing between vastly different African countries and regions. What do you think about Yemi Alade ‘Na Gode’ Swahili version ? Let me know in the comment section below. Biche P.S. Enjoyed this post? If so, sign up for email updates using the form below. Also, please share this post with your friends and followers on social media. I’d greatly appreciate it. Photo Credits: Yemi Alade’s Facebook page YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE: Like this: Like Loading... |
‘Terror and Consent’: brilliant, contrarian James E. McWilliams / Austin-American Statesman | March 30, 2008 During the course of a long, intellectually demanding narrative, "Terror and Consent" pivots on several paradigm-shifting claims. One of them, which appears in the introduction, stands out for its humanitarian implications: "During the era of twentieth century industrial nation states … 80 percent of the dead and wounded in warfare were civilians." For Philip Bobbitt, a distinguished lecturer and senior fellow at the University of Texas and a law professor at Columbia University, this is more than a gee-whiz factoid. It’s the basis upon which he advances an ambitious argument for fighting the wars that are bound to plague the 21st century. The prospect that the good old industrial nation state is a shrinking violet might rankle patriotic flag-wavers. But Bobbitt’s statistic thrusts home an unsettling question: What does it say about the nation state that it has so often failed to provide, in the words of British statesman Douglas Hurd, "the security, prosperity, and the decent environment which the citizens demand"? Might it be time for something new? In Bobbitt’s view, the current wars against terror provide a shrill wake-up call to confront this question. The best way to protect citizens of modern democracies, he claims, is to fundamentally rethink the nation state as the guarantor of the freedoms that terrorists intend to obliterate. Bobbitt’s previous book, "The Shield of Achilles," explored the grand themes of warfare and state development, marking his penchant for the magnum opus. At nearly 700 pages (including more than 100 pages of notes), "Terror and Consent" follows suit, taking on a similarly big picture. If "we want to defeat state-shattering terror in the twenty-first century," Bobbitt writes, we will have to "transform the emerging constitutional order of the twenty-first century State." Specifically, we must stop thinking like a nation state and start thinking like the "market state" that we are inevitably becoming. The nation state — a constitutional order dedicated to protecting and improving the material welfare of its citizens — served the United States well from the mid-19th century to the end of the Cold War. But Bobbitt contends it’s vulnerable to a new battery of threats. The accessibility of weapons of mass destruction, the globalization of international capital and the "universalization of culture" have eroded the conventional borders that once legitimated national security. What’s needed is a constitutional order that takes its structural cues from multinational corporations and nongovernmental organizations, relying "less on law and regulation and more on market incentives" to expand people’s options. Such a market state keeps its finger on the pulse of consumer demand, advocates trade liberalization, is prone to the privatization of public works and "will outsource many functions." In the seminar rooms of political science departments this change is referred to as "neoliberalism" (on the streets, it is known as "globalization") — and Bobbitt, who is a geopolitical realist, believes we have no choice but to embrace it. The market state, Bobbitt contends, has great potential for the cause of individual freedom, but it also has a dark side. Global terrorism has already taken advantage of its ethos of openness in order to undermine it. For example, the wide-open arms market that neoliberalism endorses has allowed terrorists to gain access to weapons of destruction that they then use to destabilize legitimate market states. "Market state terrorism," Bobbitt explains, thus feeds on the "ardently sought innovations" of the 20th century to exploit "the increasing vulnerability of market states to catastrophic events." "One cannot say," Bobbitt warns, "precisely how long we have." What is to be done This is not fear-mongering but rather a sophisticated geopolitical assessment. Therefore, a great deal rests on the solutions Bobbitt offers. Fortunately, his suggestions are, if not entirely novel, largely sensible. But they are ambitious to the point of being unachievable without extraordinary political leadership and unprecedented corporate discipline. First, Bobbitt argues that the market state must allow the timeworn strategies of deterrence and containment to yield to the more aggressive tactics of preclusionary warfare. In an "epochal war," which we’re in, market states share the burden of employing power "preclusively rather than waiting for an acute crisis to set in that irrevocably puts us at a disadvantage." Venturing educated guesses about the behavior of future threats is no one’s idea of an ideal tactical strategy, but Bobbitt argues that if we strengthen our alliances with other states, networks of shared intelligence could do an impressive job of it. Of course, this would require a more invasive process of information gathering within and across national borders. In order to reduce the threat to civil liberties this would entail, Bobbitt highlights "(o)ur commitment to globalize the systems of human rights and government by consent." He insists that emerging market states must collectively, out of "self respect," define and protect our inalienable rights. What this means in concrete terms is that governments "must rethink ideas like ‘Homeland Security,’ when the threats to security cannot be neatly cabined as in or out of the homeland," that an "alliance of democracies" must form to discourage isolationism and that the United States must "change its role as hegemon" in NATO. Only then can a consortium of neoliberal democracies draw "a bright-line rule against the intentional infliction of pain on any person detained by government," one of the many human rights threats that Bobbitt believes we must address. These developments — the acceptance of preclusionary war, the universalization of human rights — hinge on a revamping of international law. Bobbitt believes that the UN Charter should be amended to allow the preemptive use of force without a Security Council authorization, that the Geneva Conventions should be changed to forbid the indefinite containment of terrorist prisoners without trial and that we must, in cases in which the use of non-lethal chemical weapons could be used to prevent terror, be able to redefine such methods as "counterforce measures." The messy reality These prescriptions provide a useful blueprint for fighting terror. As with any blueprint, however, there is the messy reality of filling in the details. Bobbitt presents his arguments persuasively; there is nothing dumbed down about "Terror and Consent." Nevertheless, one wonders if he concedes too much to the many virtues of neoliberalism without fully appreciating its negative impact. Two issues stand out. First, Bobbitt admits that there will be no obvious answer to many of the human rights issues that are bound to arise. In many situations, he explains, our only option is to vest faith in properly formulated international and constitutional systems of law. This sort of vagueness is frustrating, perhaps dangerously so. Take one case that Bobbitt offers: What should a market state do when an Islamic state holds free elections that bring a bin Laden to power? This situation, after all, presents allied market states with a human rights quandary — some sort of ethical corner will have to be cut. Bobbitt’s approach to these kinds of problems is often to dance a bit too delicately around them. He argues, "States must measure their tactical and strategic policies against the impact these policies are likely to have on their legitimacy," and "Whether (a) state is subject to intervention … ought to be measured by the relationship between the strategic interests of the states of consent and the severity of the deprivations of human rights." Both answers tell us we need to take measurements but offer no ruler with which to do so. Further left unexplored in this response is the possibility that the market state offers a conception of inalienable rights that it has not yet developed the means to protect. One can’t help but wonder, as globalization renders millions of people vulnerable to human rights violations, if the nation state and its emphasis on human welfare should be so thoroughly dismissed. Second, there is the matter that Bobbitt does not spend much time addressing: the war in Iraq — specifically, the subcontracting tactics that a CEO president and his corporate-modeled Cabinet have embraced. The inefficiencies of Halliburton, the corruption of Bechtel and the violence perpetuated by Blackwater call into question Bobbitt’s advocacy of privatizing public duties. How does a market state draw "bright-line" rules on human rights when the actors in charge of drawing those lines hold privately funded erasers? These questions, like so many others that this book poses, lack easy answers. But the long century we face might demand that we answer them not by choosing good over bad, but — as is usually the case in war and politics — the lesser of evils. If this is so, then "Terror and Consent" offers the most we can expect from our blinkered vantage point: a dauntingly learned and occasionally infuriating manifesto. Philip Bobbitt: Phone: (512) 232-1376 Fax: (512) 471-6988 E-mail: [email protected] |
Westlicht revealed the mystery item for the "100 years of Leica" special auction: a boxed set with a new Leica M-A film camera based on the Leica MP, a Leica M Monochrom and 28mm, 35mm, 50mm Summilux lenses (including a new Leica 28mm Summilux-M f/1.4 ASPH lens, previously discussed here and here). For now the new MA and 28 Lux are listed as limited edition, but I am sure they will be released to the public in the future. Here is the press release from Westlicht: Lot 100: Edition No. 001/101 Starting Price: € 22.000 This year, Leica Camera AG is celebrating 100 years of Leica photography. On the occasion of this special anniversary, a uniquely special highlight will be presented in the course of the official opening celebration for the new Leica headquarters in the Leitz Park complex in WETZLAR on MAY 23, 2014: the Leica M Edition 100. The first set will be auctioned at the WESTLICHT SPECIAL AUCTION "100 YEARS OF LEICA" on May 23rd in Wetzlar. As the first Leica special edition of its kind, the Leica M Edition 100 brings together a purely mechanical rangefinder camera for film photography – the LEICA M-A – with a digital Leica M (LEICA M MONOCHROM) in one set. The combination of these two cameras is unique. Its symbolic character as an homage to the beginnings of Leica 35 mm photography and, in particular, to black-and-white photography makes the centennial edition truly special. This applies, above all, to its high-quality construction and finish: for the first time ever, both Leica cameras and the lenses in this set are made from solid stainless steel. Both cameras stand as symbols for the origins of Leica photography and the present day. The Leica M-A, with technical specifications based on the currently available Leica MP film camera, is a direct descendent of the Ur-Leica. Alternatively, the second camera, a Leica M Monochrom, is the contemporary variation of the theme composed a century ago by Oskar Barnack. The set also includes THREE SUMMILUX-M LENSES with focal lengths of 28, 35 and 50 mm. Renowned for their combination of extremely compact size, speed and exceptional imaging quality, they ideally reflect the characteristic performance criteria with which Leica lenses contributed to the establishment of the brand as a legend. The M centennial set will be supplied in a black anodized aluminium case constructed by Rimowa especially for Leica. Inside, the case is subdivided into compartments precisely tailored to the individual components of the set and lined with real leather in black. The set also includes Kodak TRI-X 400 black-and-white film for use with the Leica M-A. SPECIAL ENGRAVING on the top plate of the body commemorates the centennial, as do the unique serial numbers that end with the four digits of the years between 1914 and 2014. The Leica M Edition 100 is strictly LIMITED TO 101 SETS for the entire global market. The cameras and lenses will be available exclusively as sets from Leica Stores and Boutiques from June 2014; none of the items contained in the sets will be available as separate items. |
New special at Pizza Hut and the Dallas Police Department: Rob a delivery man of a large pepperoni pizza and cash, get a felony aggravated robbery charge thrown in free. Police say Jorge Armando Flores Montenegro 19, admitted to police that he helped rob a pizza delivery man Wednesday night after he was foiled by Caller ID, according to an arrest warrant affidavit. Montenegro ordered the pizza and a two-liter Pepsi Wednesday night to his West Oak Cliff apartment in the 300 block of Glipin Avenue, police said. When the delivery man got there, a man opened the door while covering the bottom half of his face with a bandanna. The delivery man told police the robber said, "give me the money and pizza!" The delivery man said he also saw two other men with their faces covered in the doorway. One man held a knife. The other had a baseball bat. Police say one of the men put the knife to the delivery man's face, pushed him to the ground and told him to stay quiet or he'd be killed. The men then ran away with about $15 in stolen cash -- and the pizza. Police tracked back the phone number used in the order for a "Jorge Flores." And they found a previous address matched the delivery address. Officers found a current address Thursday and arrested him. He told police he was a lookout and made the order. He said they used the cash they got to buy drugs. Montenegro also said he and the men committed a burglary Wednesday, too, police said. Montenegro is in Dallas County jail in lieu of $25,000 bail. He also has a few warrants out of Cockrell Hill. |
The Jets needed help in goal in a big way and they've found it, signing Steve Mason to a two-year, $8.2-million contract. The Winnipeg Jets had one of the league’s best attacks in 2016-17, a defense with two steady pairings at the top of the lineup, but goaltending that simply didn’t cut it. Winnipeg GM Kevin Cheveldayoff has gone out and addressed that issue on the opening day of free agency, however, with the signing of Steve Mason. Even before free agency had opened, it was reported that Mason, 29, was heading to Winnipeg, and the Jets made the inking official moments into signing season with a two-year, $8.2-million deal, which leaves Cheveldayoff roughly $15-million to work with this off-season. The signing is a brilliant one for the Jets, too. This past season, Winnipeg had the seventh-best offense in the entire league, firing home 246 goals, but the Jets were the only club with 230 or more goals for to have a negative goal differential. Between Connor Hellebuyck, Michael Hutchinson, Ondrej Pavelec and Eric Comrie, Winnipeg had the third-worst overall save percentage at .900 and an awful .916 SP mark at 5-on-5, which was the fourth-worst of any team in 2016-17. Some may wonder how Mason, who is coming off of his worst year as a Flyer, managing a .908 SP, 2.66 goals-against average and 26-21-8 record in 58 games, is going to help turn the Jets’ goaltending situation around, but it’s a look beyond his most recent numbers that is most telling about how Mason can solidify the crease in Winnipeg. In the three years prior in Philadelphia, Mason pieced together a 74-55-28 record, .921 SP and 2.43 GAA, not to mention 11 shutouts. But a much better indication of Mason’s quality over the past few seasons are his 5-on-5 numbers. Mason isn’t often mentioned in the same category as the top-calibre goaltenders in the league, but of the 58 goaltenders to play at least 3,000 minutes at 5-on-5 over the past four seasons, Mason’s .931 SP is the fourth-best in the entire league. The only netminders who have been better are Carey Price (.938 SP), Scott Darling (.933) and Braden Holtby (.932). That’s impressive company to be keeping. That’s not to say the Mason signing doesn’t come without its questions. More specifically, it’s worth wondering what this means for the future of Hellebuyck and Hutchinson. For the past few years, Hellebuyck has been touted as the future in goal for Winnipeg, and the expectations grew after he turned in a .918 SP in 26 appearances in 2014-15. Unfortunately, he took a significant step backwards this past season, managing a mere .907 SP in 53 outings for the Jets. But Winnipeg hasn’t given up on Hellebuyck. The 24-year-old is a restricted free agent in line for a new deal, and the addition of Mason is simply a way to give Hellebuyck some support as he continues to grow into his role as Winnipeg’s No. 1 netminder. The same can’t be said for Hutchinson, however. The 27-year-old has one year and $1.15-million left on his contract, but it’s unlikely he remains up with the big club now that Mason is in town. There are a few options for Hutchinson, including a demotion to the AHL’s Manitoba Moose, but Cheveldayoff could look into potential interest in the netminder on the trade market. He’s had a poor season, but he’s a capable and young enough backup that he could bring value to another club. No matter how the goaltending situation shakes out, though, Mason provides a quality upgrade and creates a solid one-two punch that should be able to right the ship in the Jets’ crease. |
madals Profile Blog Joined June 2011 United Kingdom 623 Posts Last Edited: 2014-07-28 10:10:16 #1 Remember, games will be streamed live here! Tuesday, Jul 29 4:00pm GMT (GMT+00:00) Day 1 promises to be a hard fought start to Challenger. Some big names are already running and will be facing off against some new comers and also some people who have more recently risen to fame! Tomorrow launches the start of WCS EU Challenger League S3. As with other seasons, I am going to be doing a brief write up of the games to start discussion going!Day 1 promises to be a hard fought start to Challenger. Some big names are already running and will be facing off against some new comers and also some people who have more recently risen to fame! Slivko vs uthermal (ZvT) Slivko made it into the challenger groups via the Wildcard qualifier - arguably one of the hardest qualifiers to get through. While historically his zvt is his weakest match-up, recently his practice and form are showing good things - up to nearly 70%. Notably, in the last few months Slivko has been able to take games off of MMA & GoOdy as well as beating uThermal the one time they met in March, 2-0. uThermal is a dutch player who is certainly making much more of a name for himself. Recently, he has been really climbing the ratings by posting strong results. Also worth noting is his TvZ is currently VERY strong - 87.5% winrate in the match up. This isn't all against weaker players, he took a 2-0 victory over Liquid Snute in DH Summer and a 2-1 over Tefel at HomeStory CUp IX! Stats + Show Spoiler + Poll: Who will win? uThermal (22) 65% sLivko (12) 35% 34 total votes (22)65%(12)35%34 total votes Your vote: Who will win? (Vote): sLivko (Vote): uThermal Slivko made it into the challenger groups via the Wildcard qualifier - arguably one of the hardest qualifiers to get through. While historically his zvt is his weakest match-up, recently his practice and form are showing good things - up to nearly 70%. Notably, in the last few months Slivko has been able to take games off of MMA & GoOdy as well as beating uThermal the one time they met in March, 2-0.uThermal is a dutch player who is certainly making much more of a name for himself. Recently, he has been really climbing the ratings by posting strong results. Also worth noting is his TvZ is currently VERY strong - 87.5% winrate in the match up. This isn't all against weaker players, he took a 2-0 victory over Liquid Snute in DH Summer and a 2-1 over Tefel at HomeStory CUp IX! Namshar v TLO (ZvZ) Namshar may not be a name familiar with many - he is a Sweedish Zerg player who had his first official game of SC2 in Mar 2013! Since then though, he has had a steady ranking. Importantly for him, his ZvZ is both his best matchup and currently his best match up. Revently, in ZvZ he has taken maps off Bly and paranoid to get through the wildcard qualifier. On the other side, TLO is a name many will be a lot more familiar with. A staple of the Team Liquid line up, TLO is an established player. Currently, his ZvZ is a little on the low side statistically at 43.5%, but factoring in he took a game off Scarlett, hendralisk, miniraser and impact in the last couple of months it is little surprise his win % may be a little low. Stats + Show Spoiler + Poll: Who will win? TLO (32) 73% Namshar (12) 27% 44 total votes (32)73%(12)27%44 total votes Your vote: Who will win? (Vote): TLO (Vote): Namshar Namshar may not be a name familiar with many - he is a Sweedish Zerg player who had his first official game of SC2 in Mar 2013! Since then though, he has had a steady ranking. Importantly for him, his ZvZ is both his best matchup and currently his best match up. Revently, in ZvZ he has taken maps off Bly and paranoid to get through the wildcard qualifier.On the other side, TLO is a name many will be a lot more familiar with. A staple of the Team Liquid line up, TLO is an established player. Currently, his ZvZ is a little on the low side statistically at 43.5%, but factoring in he took a game off Scarlett, hendralisk, miniraser and impact in the last couple of months it is little surprise his win % may be a little low. Heromarine v Jjakji (TvT) I am going to say it, THIS TVT IS GOING TO BE AMAZING. While the initial reaction may just be putting all your money on the force that is jjakji - lets look at some facts Heromarine is an incredibly consistant player, his win % for each match up are within 1% of eachother with a 60% tvt winrate recently. Having played a lot of TvT in the ATC vs people such as innovation, ryung and taeja - this guy certainly knows his stuff. Back at HSC IX, heromarine faced off vs Jjakji and was able to take a game. Jjakji on the other hand is on paper still the favorite coming into this series. A form of 71% vs Terran is a good place to be. Like Heromarine, he lost vs innovation in the ATC, but has been able to smash terrans in DH Summer. Jjakji will be looking to prove he is still a top contender in EU. Stats + Show Spoiler + Poll: Who will win? Jjakji (22) 61% Hermarine (14) 39% 36 total votes (22)61%(14)39%36 total votes Your vote: Who will win? (Vote): Hermarine (Vote): Jjakji I am going to say it, THIS TVT IS GOING TO BE AMAZING. While the initial reaction may just be putting all your money on the force that is jjakji - lets look at some factsHeromarine is an incredibly consistant player, his win % for each match up are within 1% of eachother with a 60% tvt winrate recently. Having played a lot of TvT in the ATC vs people such as innovation, ryung and taeja - this guy certainly knows his stuff. Back at HSC IX, heromarine faced off vs Jjakji and was able to take a game.Jjakji on the other hand is on paper still the favorite coming into this series. A form of 71% vs Terran is a good place to be. Like Heromarine, he lost vs innovation in the ATC, but has been able to smash terrans in DH Summer. Jjakji will be looking to prove he is still a top contender in EU. Sacsri v Bunny (ZvT) Sacsri is quickly making a big impact on the international SC2 scene. The mYi blessing is in full swing this zerg, although they have just picked up a new player... has it moved on? Statistically Sacsri is a boss - 76% win rate vs T at the moment with wins vs the likes of ForGG, ByuN etc etc all under his belt at some time. Not to mention he is currently on a winning streak! Bunny isn't all out of tricks though - a 68% win rate vs Zerg and a solid performer for Team Liquid Bunny definitely has what it takes to put up a solid fight! He has recently takent games off of Scarlett, Armani and Nerchio as well as a close 2-1 vs Jaedong in DH Summer. Stats + Show Spoiler + Poll: Who will win? Sacsri (18) 55% Bunny (15) 45% 33 total votes (18)55%(15)45%33 total votes Your vote: Who will win? (Vote): Sacsri (Vote): Bunny Sacsri is quickly making a big impact on the international SC2 scene. The mYi blessing is in full swing this zerg, although they have just picked up a new player... has it moved on? Statistically Sacsri is a boss - 76% win rate vs T at the moment with wins vs the likes of ForGG, ByuN etc etc all under his belt at some time. Not to mention he is currently on a winning streak!Bunny isn't all out of tricks though - a 68% win rate vs Zerg and a solid performer for Team Liquid Bunny definitely has what it takes to put up a solid fight! He has recently takent games off of Scarlett, Armani and Nerchio as well as a close 2-1 vs Jaedong in DH Summer. Starnan v MMA (PvT) StarNaN, i'm sorry to report the stats are against you. A 42% win rate vs T currently isn't the best footing to be going up agaisnt such a strong Terran. However, all is not lost - in DH Summer StarNaN was able to take a game off of MMA and in the E-Sports SM GF he took a map off of ThorZaIN. There is definitely the capability for an upset here! MMA on the other hand has the double edged sword of being the favorite. While the confidence will always be good, complacency certainly isn't. Sitting with a 71% win rate vs P with wins vs people such as MaNa, Daisy and Patience - things can seem good. However, he also dropped that game vs StarNaN in DH Summer - one of only 15 games he has lost to P in the last 3 months. Stats + Show Spoiler + Poll: Who will win? MMA (28) 78% StarNaN (8) 22% 36 total votes (28)78%(8)22%36 total votes Your vote: Who will win? (Vote): MMA (Vote): StarNaN at Tuesday, Jul 29 4:00pm GMT (GMT+00:00) . Casters (both of who will be in the studio this time!): Madals PengWin StarNaN, i'm sorry to report the stats are against you. A 42% win rate vs T currently isn't the best footing to be going up agaisnt such a strong Terran. However, all is not lost - in DH Summer StarNaN was able to take a game off of MMA and in the E-Sports SM GF he took a map off of ThorZaIN. There is definitely the capability for an upset here!MMA on the other hand has the double edged sword of being the favorite. While the confidence will always be good, complacency certainly isn't. Sitting with a 71% win rate vs P with wins vs people such as MaNa, Daisy and Patience - things can seem good. However, he also dropped that game vs StarNaN in DH Summer - one of only 15 games he has lost to P in the last 3 months. Remember, games will be streamed live here! atCasters (both of who will be in the studio this time!): Caster: @Madals91 http://www.youtube.com/Madals91 <-- |
McCarty staying mum on trade to Fire, focusing on long-awaited U.S. opportunity Dax McCarty tells Goal he is focused on his U.S. national team return right now rather than his surprising trade to the Chicago Fire. CARSON, Calif. — Well after his teammates had walked off the practice field at StubHub Center, Dax McCarty sprinted back and forth on a muddy field, all alone. Just days removed from his wedding, McCarty was still working off the rust of Saturday's nuptials, and getting his fitness up for the challenge of trying to impress U.S. national team coach Bruce Arena. "It's unbelievable to be back with the national team," McCarty told Goal. "It's all guys, everyone I know, former teammates, current competitors, we're all a close-knit community. It's been a little while, so it's just a great opportunity to show myself and see if there's anyway I can help the team and bring my qualities to the team." McCarty has a lot on his mind these days. Along with having just tied the knot, and having returned to the U.S. national team for the first time since 2014, McCarty is still trying to process the shock trade that sent him from the to the in exchange for $400,000 in allocation money. McCarty didn't want to discuss the details of his departure from the Red Bulls, but did express his appreciation for the visit paid to him by Fire head coach Veljko Paunovic and GM Nelson Rodriguez, who flew into Los Angeles to speak with their new midfielder. Article continues below "I thanked them a lot for coming out and visiting with me, that was a really classy thing of those guys to do, and I thanked them in person, and it was a good conversation that we had," McCarty said. "I'm still processing everything, trying to digest the kind of whirlwind it has been. The wedding was incredible, literally everything was perfect, then to be able to come into camp, and be able to play, that's all I'm focused on, trying to do my best for the national team. I think after all the dust settles, and I have a little bit more time to reflect on my time at Red Bull I'll probably be prepared to talk about it more." Sources tell Goal that McCarty was blindsided by the trade, not learning about it until the morning it was announced when Red Bulls coach Jesse Marsch paid him a visit at U.S. camp to tell him in person. McCarty had no idea he was being shopped around the league, not after establishing himself as one of the league's best midfielders and the Red Bulls captain, so it does make sense that he would want to take some time before sharing his thoughts on the trade. McCarty doesn't have to go far in camp to be reminded of the team he is no longer a part of. Red Bulls playmaker Sacha Kljestan is also in U.S. camp, and goalkeeper Luis Robles is McCarty's roommate in camp. "Chicago got an incredible player, and more than anything they got a leader on the field," Robles told Goal. "He's a guy who is going to make everyone better, so I'm exciting not only for his future, but it seems like the (Fire) are making some big moves to head in the right direction." For now, McCarty is focused on the national team, which he hadn't been a part of since 2014, and even then he didn't get on the field. Unlike Benny Feilhaber and Kljestan, McCarty never made his frustrations public, but that didn't mean he was okay with being overlooked by Klinsmann during years when he was clearly among the best midfielders in MLS. "It was really tough, and it was something that I never really gave up hope, so I always tried to keep my frustrations to myself," McCarty said. "I respect the guys that came out and talked about it. I think there's not enough of that. I think there's not enough guys that are willing to speak their minds and show fans that players go through a lot of emotions. "I kept to myself and tried to keep working hard, and I thought if my performances with the Red Bulls were really good I'd always have a chance," McCarty said. "I tried to keep a high level with my club team and keep my fingers crossed that a call would come, but it never did. Obviously it came in 2014 but I never got a chance to play in a game, and after that it was nothing. Every coach has their own preferences, and you have to respect that as a player. I never held a grudge against Jurgen at all and wish him well in whatever's next for him." McCarty and Feilhaber became poster children for the handful of top MLS players who Klinsmann didn't bring into the national team during his tenure, and the former U.S. Olympic teammates kept in touch during that time, including after Feilhaber ripped Klinsmann's refusal to call in players like McCarty exactly a year ago. "We exchanged a couple of texts and I told him he was candid and honest and I have a lot of respect for guys that come out and say that," McCarty said. "Benny and I have a good relationship. I enjoy playing with Benny whenever we get a chance to play together. We see the game the same way, and I have a high amount of respect for him as a player, so for him to not get the chances that he was getting, I also felt the same way, that he deserved more chances for what his qualities are and what he brings to Kansas City." Now both McCarty and Feilhaber are in camp, and they're both in the middle of some healthy competition in the U.S. midfield. The next two weeks of camp before the upcoming friendlies against and should give McCarty enough time to not only impress Arena, but also help him gather his thoughts and process a trade he didn't see coming, and is still trying to come to grips with. "Right now my main focus is just being out here with my current teammates, trying to enjoy my soccer, trying to get back into shape because the wedding took a lot out of me," McCarty said. "Obviously there's a lot of competition for spots, but the good part about Bruce being in is it's a set of fresh eyes and I think everyone is starting on equal footing." |
Jan 25 (Reuters) - The Los Angeles Lakers have unseated the New York Knicks as the National Basketball Association's (NBA) most valuable team with an estimated worth of $900 million, according to a Forbes report released on Wednesday. The value of the Lakers, who won NBA titles in 2009 and 2010, soared 40 percent from last year due to a blockbuster 20-year television deal with Time Warner Cable, the report said. The Lakers, who also boast the top-earning player in 13-time All-Star Kobe Bryant, are comfortably above the second-place Knicks, whose value rose 19 percent to $780 million. The average NBA team is worth a record $393 million, up 6.5 percent from last year, because of new television deals and the labor agreement reached last December, Forbes said. Rounding out the top five were the Chicago Bulls at $600 million, the 2010-11 NBA champion Dallas Mavericks at $497 million and the storied Boston Celtics at $482 million. Despite falling out of the top spot, the Knicks are the most profitable NBA team with an operating income of $75 million, comfortably above the $5.8 million league average. The report also showed that Bryant, who is in the midst of a three-year contract with the Lakers and has deals with Nike Inc and other companies, is the top-paid NBA player with $53.2 million in total earnings. He is followed by two-time league most valuable player LeBron James of the Miami Heat, who earned $49 million, $33 million of which came from endorsements. The 10 most valuable NBA teams: 1. Los Angeles Lakers, $900 million 2. New York Knicks, $780 million 3. Chicago Bulls, $600 million 4. Dallas Mavericks $497 million 5. Boston Celtics, $482 million 6. Miami Heat, $457 million 7. Houston Rockets, $453 million 8. Golden State Warriors, $450 million 9. San Antonio Spurs, $418 million 10. Phoenix Suns, $395 million |
SpaceX has announced that the first major test of its Crew Dragon (aka Dragon V2) is expected to take place tomorrow, May 6, from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) in Cape Canaveral. For the first launch of the Crew Dragon capsule, SpaceX will be performing what's known as a pad abort test, which will test the capsule's launch abort capabilities. While the next test after this one (the in-flight abort test) will launch a Crew Dragon using a full-size Falcon 9 rocket, this first test will see the Crew Dragon take off from the launchpad using its own integrated SuperDraco thrusters. The capsule will ascend to around 1500 meters (4,900 feet) before separating from the trunk section; it will then deploy its parachutes and land about 2,200 meters (7,200 feet) down range in the Atlantic Ocean. The Crew Dragon's launch abort system is very different from how it's usually done. In the case of Mercury, Apollo, and Soyuz, the launch escape is provided by way of a rocket on top of the capsule, which ignites and pulls the crew away from the main launch vehicle. This system works, but unless the rocket is actually used (and you pray it won't be), it is simply extra weight that has to be jettisoned a few minutes after launch. Crew Dragon's launch abort system consists of eight SuperDraco thrusters that are built into the capsule itself, which is much tidier way of doing things. The pad abort test is the the first step towards making sure that Crew Dragon is actually safe enough for human spaceflight; think of it as the first test of the capsule's ejector seat... except it's the whole spacecraft being ejected, rather than just a seat. Every crewed spacecraft must have a launch-abort capability, in case of a technical failure or abnormality during a real launch. If the pad abort test is successful, there will then be an in-flight abort test at a later date, with the Crew Dragon separating from a Falcon 9 rocket at an altitude of a few miles. In both tests, the main purpose is to gather lots and lots of data through hundreds of real-time sensors, both on the spacecraft and within a crash dummy that's seated in the cockpit. It would certainly be nice if the pad abort test goes off without a hitch tomorrow, but as SpaceX says, "the odds of encountering delays or issues are high." The current target for SpaceX's first human missions, incidentally, if no major road blocks are hit, is 2017. |
18.42 Time to wrap-up today's coverage. We'll be back tomorrow when the Bank of England will reveal its latest decision on interest rates, and Ben Bernanke , the chairman of the Fed, will testify before the US Senate. 18.24 Economists at RBS think that the ECB will cut rates in July. Silvio Peruzzo and Gareth Anderson outline two reasons why: Firstly, the confirmation that there was a debate about lowering interest rates in the Council, showing a process of transition within the Governing Council towards a more dovish stance, especially compared to the May discussion when Draghi said that no changes in interest rates were discussed. The decision to keep rates unchanged in June was supported by a broad consensus but a “few” members argued in favour of lower interest rates. Looking forward, we do not expect there to be any meaningful good news about the euro area economy which will reverse the Governing Council transition and therefore we expect a majority of members to recognise the materialisation of downside risks to the economy. Secondly, President Draghi was very explicit in mentioning some of the assembedded in the new Eurosystem staff projections. The projections have already been challenged to the downside by some of the most recently available survey data for May, especiallthose pinning down conditions of foreign demand, which the ECB still expects to be “buoyant”. In fact following the cut-off date for the Eurosystem projection assumptions (May 24th), survey data suggest the global business cycle might be weakening, especially as far as the manufacturing sector is concerned. 17.31 The investigation will focus on the formation of Bankia from seven Spanish savings banks, or cajas in 2010, according to the Spanish newswire Efe, which cited an interview with Spain's chief prosecutor, Eduardo Torres-Dulce. Complaints from consumer groups representing small Bankia shareholders have grown louder in recent weeks, and many have threatened legal action over the sudden collapse in the bank's share price. According to Reuters, thousands of ordinary Spaniards invested an average of €6,000 each when the bank floated last year at €3.75. The shares closed at €1.04 today. 17.13 Spain's public prosecutor's office has opened an investigation into bailed-out bank Bankia, Last month, Bankia requested €19bn in state aid on top of the €4.5bn it has already received from the government. The investigation will be conducted by the anti-corruption unit, a spokesman told Reuters. 16.59 Charles Dallara, the man who represented banks in Greek debt write-off talks, will step down as head of the Institute of International Finance (IIF) at the end of the year. An IIF spokeswoman told AFP that Mr Dallara's departure was not linked to the stressful debt negotiations, adding that he would stay on at the IIF until the end of the year to ensure an "orderly transition". 16.54 Ben Critchley, sales trader at IG Index, comments on today's market movers: There was a brief wobble for markets during the early afternoon after Mr Draghi said no to any rate cut for the eurozone. However, indices rapidly stabilised after they remembered the more important rumour, that QE3 might finally be on its way in the US. The ECB didn’t hint at any liquidity boosts so all eyes now turn to Washington. Both the Fed’s vice-chairman and chairman will make speeches over the next 24 hours, and, so the theory goes, the spate of weaker US data means that intervention must be on its way. Markets might of course be setting themselves up for a fall in the coming days if we don’t get any supportive words, but for now the optimists are in full control. 16.43 European markets have drawn to a close for the day, climbing on hopes European authorities are moving closer to more effective measures against the debt crisis. The FTSE 100 has ended 2.29pc up, the DAX rose 2.15pc and the CAC gained 2.61pc. The FTSE MIB soared by 3.42pc. 16.02 We've got a slideshow this afternoon of European banknotes which could be making a comeback soon if the eurozone debt crisis isn't solved. 15.35 A banker who was involved in the Greek debt haircut negotiations that ultimately saw investors lose the majority of the value of their bonds has pleaded for other countries to avoid similar tactics. Jean Lemierre of French bank BNP Paribas told a conference in Copenhagen hosted by the Institute of International Finance: Don't do it again, please, in the official sector. Once is enough. Stick to your word, stick you commitments, and pay back the creditors. I'm very grateful to the heads of state in Europe (for having) promoted a negotiated solution. We are not happy about the haircut at the end of the day, of course, but negotiation has great value. It is very crucial when you have a process to understand what is going to happen, otherwise you have a systemic crisis. I hope in the future we shall stick to that principle of negotiation. This is key. 15.27 The Crisis in the eurozone is hitting small companies’ confidence and cash flow, writes James Hurley, with European suppliers demanding cash up front for orders while exporters are being caught by customers delaying payment. Data from Western Union show that businesses are increasingly shifting payments to the end of the month as they hoard cash and wait for better exchange rates. 15.12 Wall Street is now up and running, with sentiment buoyed by the ECB's decision to leave interest rates at a historic low and keep cash flowing to banks - until the end of the year, anyway. Oil is also back above $100 a barrel this afternoon. The Dow Jones has already gained 1.24pc, the S&P 500 is up 1.3pc and the Nasdaq has risen 1.47pc In Europe the markets are also climbing once again. The FTSE 100 is back to just over 2pc, the DAX is 1.64pc higher and the CAC has floated 2.05pc. 14.45 Glenn Uniacke, senior dealer at Moneycorp, comments on the ECB press conference: With its direct reference to increased downside risk, heightened uncertainty, flat GDP and a lack of momentum, Mario Draghi's press conference will have left many onlookers scratching their heads as to why rates were left on hold. While Draghi has a point in that monetary policy cannot make up for a lack of action elsewhere in the banking and political apparatus of Europe, watching and waiting could be a woefully flawed strategy. Knee-jerk policy reactions are less effective than a determined and committed policy stance. Caution and procrastination could be the catalyst of the eurozone's collapse. 14.38 The ECB has passed the buck to eurozone governments, warning that the single currency is under increasing threat. Mario Draghi talked down the chance of more cheap LTRO funding once the current batch runs out, saying it was wrong for monetary policy to fill a policy vacuum created by others: The issue now is whether these LTROs would actually be effective. Some of these problems in the euro area have nothing to do with monetary policy... and I don't think it would be right for monetary policy to fill other institutions' lack of action. The economic outlook for the euro area is subject to increased downside risks relating in particular to a further increase in the tensions in several euro area financial markets and their potential spillover to the euro area real economy. 14.28 The Wall Street Journal asks Mario Draghi what he would say to people outside of Europe who believe their unemployment levels have been raised by the crisis in the eurozone. He replies: The capacity of the European crisis to affect the rest of the world, one one hand I think it has to be right. We are the second richest economy in the world, so if this weakens we're certainly going to have some impact on the rest of the world. But Draghi also warned about taking this reasoning too far: Europe may have some responsibility but these countries also have their own responsibilities. It's not balanced to say that only Europe has a responsibility. And this is maybe going to be the main message of the G20 summit, that all countries have to work together. First and foremost they have to address their own problems, and then they should worry about the spillover of their own policies - or lack of policies - on the rest of the world. 14.09 Markets have slipped back slightly since Mario Draghi started his press conference. The FTSE 100 has come off to rest 0.9pc up on the day, the DAX is just 0.63pc higher and the CAC has pared gains to 0.99pc. For those of you unfamiliar with equine pharmaceuticals, Dormosedan is a sedative... <noframe>Twitter: Constantin Gurdgiev - Mario Draghi - Dormosedan for the markets.</noframe> 13.56 Mario Draghi has been asked if Spanish banks will be able to receive help without having to go through the Greek government as a middle-man. He says: I don't view it as the ECB's task to push governments into doing something. It's their own decision whether they want to access the EFSF or not. He says the IMF assessment of the country's banking sector will come "very soon" and then the independent one soon after, and that any decision will need to be made on "realistic assessments of the needs to recapitalise the banks and the money that's available to the government". 13.45 We're on to questions and answers now. Draghi has been asked how functional the bond markets currently are: We still have very low nominal rates and negative real rates. We also have dysfunctional markets - the inter-bank market is really very dysfunctional, it's not working. 13.42 The ECB's governing council considers economic and monetary union to be a "highly important step" in restoring stability in the eurozone. It predicts growth during 2013 of between stagnation (0pc) and 2pc - that's the same lower limit, but a slightly lower upper limit than the last estimate of 2.2pc. 13.41 Credit demand is likely to remain subdued, and banks need to do more to ensure their resilience. On interest rates, he said the decision was by "consensus" and wasn't unanimous. 13.37 Indirect taxes and rising energy prices will keep eurozone inflation above 2pc for the rest of the year, says Draghi. It's likely to fall below the threshold in early 2013 he claims. 13.34 Mario Draghi, president of the ECB, is now giving a press conference. Within minutes he's down to the key points: three-month LTRO lending will continue to the end of 2012. 13.05 We've heard from the basics from the ECB - although Draghi will be holding a press conference soon - but the MPC decision won't be made public until tomorrow afternoon. David Kern, chief economist at the British Chambers of Commerce, looks ahead at what to expect: Most analysts expect the MPC to maintain its current policy at the June meeting, with interest rates staying at 0.5pc and the quantitative easing programme at £325bn. However, demands for more QE have started to rise due to the worsening crisis in the eurozone and signs that the US and Asian economies are slowing. More QE will have only marginal effects in boosting growth. But if the pressure facing Spanish banks puts the UK financial system at risk, an increase in QE may be necessary. In the meantime though, the MPC should focus on boosting the flow of credit to businesses. David Kern 12.45 The European Central Bank held its key interest rates steady at an historic low of 1pc. All eyes are now on what Mario Draghi will say at his press conference. The bets are that he will indicate a cut in interest rates and keep pressure on eurozone leaders to act to stem the debt crisis. Rabobank economist Elwin de Groot said: The key question for the market now is whether the ECB will cut rates next month and whether it is willing to also lower the deposit rate. 11.47 Part of the reason for that solid demand for German bunds could be down to slow bank runs (bank jogs?) in Europe. 11.31 Some mixed news from Germany now. Industrial production fell 2.2pc in April, wiping out gains in the previous month. Analysts had expected a 1pc contraction. Meanwhile, the country sold €3.98bn of five-year debt this morning, enjoying solid demand. The yield was 0.41pc, compared to the last similar auction which came in at an average of 0.56pc. Achilleas Georgolopoulos, strategist at Lloyds Bank, said: It was nothing spectacular in that the market expected a good result. The record low yield was expected, though the Bundesbank probably held a bit more than we thought. The market probably liked it a bit more than we expected - despite the very low yield there's still decent demand. 11.14 The EC has published its report on bank recapitalisation. Bruno Waterfield brings us the key points: <noframe>Twitter: Bruno Waterfield - 1) European Commission proposals of no use in the eurozone's current bank crisis as they are for the long-term, in six years time</noframe> <noframe>Twitter: Bruno Waterfield - 2) Weak banks would see their management sacked and shareholders forced to take losses - but only after 2018 (academic in other words)</noframe> <noframe>Twitter: Bruno Waterfield - 3) national bank resolution funds set up in all EU 27, paid for by "ex ante contributions to equal 1pc of covered deposits over 10 years"</noframe> <noframe>Twitter: Bruno Waterfield - 4) funds will be 'mutualised', compulsory loans to other countries after decisions taken by a "resolution college" in the EBA</noframe> <noframe>Twitter: Bruno Waterfield - 5) Senior bondholders potentially face haircuts, currently ruled out by the EU and ECB - still protected, fairly meaningless as after 2018</noframe> 11.03 Markets are continuing to bob upwards as the ECB announcement nears. Investors are optimistic that the ECB could unveil more stimulus to fight the debt crisis. The FTSE 100 is now up 1.27pc, the DAX by 1.55pc and the CAC is 1.92pc higher. Spain's IBEX is now 2.86pc up on the day, it's third consecutive positive trading session. 10.37 First quarter eurozone GDP data out this morning shows that strong exports saved it from recession. The EU statistics office confirmed GDP was flat in January to March, quarter-on-quarter. Reuters reports: Eurostat confirmed that the eurozone escaped technically moving into recession by the skin of its teeth as GDP was flat quarter-on-quarter in the first quarter of 2012 after contracting 0.3pc quarter-on-quarter in the fourth quarter of 2011. However, this does not mask the fact that the eurozone is exhibiting recessionary tendencies in most respects, Indeed, eurozone GDP was down 0.1pc year-on-year in the first quarter (revised down from flat). It is also notable that it took a strong net trade performance to prevent the eurozone contracting in the first quarter, and the eurozone cannot rely on this going forward given current heightening global growth concerns. 10.35 More on the Spanish bank bailout, or, more specifically, the lack of one. Economy Minister Luis de Guindos says there are no immediate plans to request a recapitalisation - it needs the results of a banking sector audit first: I have absolutely not discussed any intervention in Spain's banks today... in no more than 10, 15 days we will have the report from the independent auditors... which we are cerain will be very similar to that of the International Monetary Fund. From there the Spanish government will take the decisions it has to take in terms of recapitalising the institutions. Economy Minister Luis de Guindos 10.26 The ECB may cut interest rates to a record low later today. Officials are meeting in Frankfurt at the moment and an announcement is expected this afternoon. With governments struggling to fix the debt crisis that’s engulfing Spain, pressure's mounting on the ECB to lower rates and introduce more liquidity support for banks. Bloomberg surveyed 44 economists: 32 predict rates will remain as they are, 11 predict a 0.25pc cut and one expects a 0.5pc cut. What do you predict? Time for a quick poll. Will the ECB cut interest rates? 10.13 Spain's in discussions with Germany and EU policymakers on how to recapitalise its troubled banks, but no decision can be made until the first phase of an independent banking audit is completed later this month, sources say. A series of reforms have failed to persuade investors that huge losses from 2008's property crash have been fully addressed. Treasury Minister Cristobal Montoro said yesterday that Spain was locked out of the credit markets. That could prove troublesome tomorrow, as the country hopes to raise €2bn in a bond auction. Reports this morning suggest that the EC will propose a new plan for boosting failing banks later today. But it won't kick-in until 2014, which means it will be of little help to Spain. 09.55 Spain isn't keen on a full bailout, as seen by Greece, Portugal and Ireland, instead calling for direct recapitalisation of its struggling banks by the eurozone bailout fund, the EFSF. In any case, it argues, it's too big to bailout directly. There's a strong editorial by Ignacio Camacho on Spain's ABC which shows exactly how the troika inspectors and austerity measures which come part and parcel with European bailouts are seen: They call it a rescue, but in reality it is a kidnapping; they take over the sovereignty of the nation concerned and wire it up to shock treatment, until the now-happy patient relaxes a little. They are the Men in Black, the flying emissaries from the dreaded EU troika, the commissioners that Merkel sends to impose her airtight budgetary discipline. It’s a pitiless brigade whose presence always sparks panic in governments when things start to go the way they are going in Spain. Starting with pensions and unemployment benefits, they move on to taxes and civil service salaries and end up selling off all the assets that can be bought. When they finish, they leave the economy burned to the ground and politics mowed down to stubble, and depart arm-in-arm with the patient brushing the dust off their shoes. They may be able to clean up a nation that has sunk, but if there is any possibility of recovery they will leave it buried it under the rubble. 09.50 Oil is floating back towards $100 a barrel as data showed US stocks fell more than expected. Positive services data also gave investors a hint that demand would remain high. Brent crude rose more than $1.10 to $99.94 before easing back to $99.75 this morning. Ric Spooner, chief market analyst at CMC Markets, said: We probably need to see a more significant rally out of this level to be more confident we have a corrective rally going on. We have gone from pricing in a potential supply shortage because of the situation in Iran... to a market that is more than adequately supplied. 09.35 Growth in British house construction fell back to a three-month low in May as new orders dried up. The Markit/CIPS Construction PMI fell to 54.4 from 55.8 in April, staying in growth territory and beating expectations slightly. But, still, a three month low... The slip will undermine hopes of an early end to recession, especially given previous disappointing manufacturing data. Tim Moore, senior economist at Markit, said: While still in positive territory, the month-on-month fall in business confidence was the greatest since June 2010, which was when plans for the autumn government spending review were first announced. This reassessment of the year-ahead outlook represents worries within the construction sector that weakening economic conditions could leave firms running on empty again once existing projects have come to completion. 09.24 As we've mentioned, Moody's downgraded six German banks, but it also took a swipe at Austria. The rating agency cut the long-term rating for Erste Group Bank by two notches to A3 from A1 while UniCredit Bank Austria AG was cut to A3 from A2. Both got a negative outlook into the bargain. Raiffeisen Bank International was cut to A2 from A1 and assigned a stable outlook. The main concern for German banks was contagion, while for the Austrian banks Moody's noted vulnerabilities from operating conditions in Central and Eastern Europe. 09.14 Warren Buffett has been speaking on the eurozone crisis, calling for more fiscal union: They can't have a common currency, but not common fiscal policy or culture. It can't be half slave and half free. European leaders need to resolve some of the union's weaknesses. Speaking at the 25th anniversary dinner of the Economic Club of Washington, the billionaire investor also said the odds of a renewed US recession were "very low." 09.04 There are two big meetings today: the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee, and the European Central Bank. As usual, we won't hear anything from the MPC until tomorrow at noon, but the ECB is expected to make an announcement this afternoon. The Bank of England. 08.52 Irish services PMI data is out this morning, showing its first contraction in four months. Slumping confidence is causing new orders to dry up and the backlog of work is running out. The index fell to 49.6 in May, from 52.7 in April. 08.49 There's an interesting article on CNBC warning that Greece could run out of cash next month, and have to stop paying salaries and pensions, along with imports of fuel, food and pharmaceuticals. It also has a fascinating insight into the endemic nature of tax evasion in the country: To understand the difficulty, just talk to Nikos Maitos, a longtime official in Greece’s financial crimes investigation unit. When he and a team of inspectors recently prowled the recession-hit island of Naxos for tax evaders, a local radio station broadcast his license plate number to warn residents. “One repercussion of the crisis is that people are harder to find,” Mr. Maitos, an imposing, burly man, said last week in his sweltering office on the edge of Athens. “And when you do find them, they don’t have money.” Even tax collectors, who have had to take large pay cuts, find that budget reductions make it hard to pay for the gasoline needed to reach their targets. 08.41 The morning briefing from Benedict Brogan has just been sent out (sign up here), focusing today on "Eurogeddon". Parliament might be in recess and politics put aside for the Jubilee, but the eurozone crisis still rages across the continent, giving David Cameron something to be busy with. Yesterday he had a telephone call with Barack Obama about preparations for this month’s G20 summit in Mexico. No wonder - things are getting hairy. Yesterday Spain admitted for the first time that it can no longer raise money on the global markets or roll over its sovereign bonds. And manufacturing and jobs data in the US and China came in weaker than expected. You can read more in Ambrose Evans-Pritchard’s report. 08.34 Spain's industrial output slumped to its lowest level since 2009 in April. It took an 8.3pc tumble year-on-year, way below forecasts of 6.5pc. And this follows a 7.5pc drop the previous month, showing that contraction is serious and prolonged. 08.26 A quick update on markets across Europe now, which are all making gains ahead of the ECB meeting. The FTSE 100 has edged 0.8pc higher, the DAX is up 0.72pc and the CAC has risen 0.53pc. Asian markets also mostly rose overnight, following a positive lead from Wall Street. Tokyo closed up 1.81pc, while Seoul was closed for a public holiday. 08.04 The FTSE 100, which is playing catch up after being closed on Monday and Tuesday for the Queen's Diamond Jubilee celebrations, has opened higher, rising 45 points - or 0.9pc - to 5305.7. 07.55 Germany's banks are in focus today. Moody's, the credit rating agency, has downgraded six German banks, including the country's second largest lender Commerzbank. Moody's said in a statement it was downgrading by one notch the credit ratings of Commerzbank, DekaBank, DZ Bank, regional banks LBBW, Helaba and NordLB in view of "the increased risk of further shocks emanating from the euro area debt crisis, in combination with the banks' limited loss-absorption capacity." <noframe>Twitter: Tim Weber - Downgrades for 6 German banks <a href="http://t.co/tAjbs3bt" target="_blank">http://t.co/tAjbs3bt</a> We'e entering a vicious circle were downgrades trigger weakness which triggers downgrades</noframe> Mario Draghi is expected to keep pressure on eurozone leaders to act 07.30 The European Central Bank is expected to hold back from policy moves when it meets later today, instead urging governments to address the eurozone's crisis, but it could indicate a readiness to cut interest rates as early as next month given a weakening economy and Spain's banking troubles. Bloomberg reports that the meeting has been moved to today, because of holidays in Germany tomorrow. Yesterday IMF chief Christine Lagarde said she thought the central bank had room to cut rates. 07.15 The European Commission is to unveil proposals for far-reaching powers for regulators to deal with failing banks on Wednesday. This is seen as a step towards the banking union the European Central Bank has demanded to secure the euro's future. The Commission's 156-page draft will suggest giving supervisors powers to "bail in" or force losses onto bondholders of a bank so that taxpayers are kept off the hook. However, any legislation is unlikely to take effect before 2014. That would be too late for Spain and its ailing banks. Nicolas Veron, of Brussels think tank Bruegel, told Reuters: Everybody's energy right now should be focused on the current crisis. I'm not sure we can afford the luxury of thinking about a permanent framework when the houses are burning. 07.00 We have a debt crisis special on our Finance page today, focusing on Ireland, Greece, Portugal and Iceland. Bruno Waterfield reports: Unlike Greece and Portugal, the two other countries under the yoke of EU-IMF austerity programmes, Ireland is meeting the fiscal targets required of it in Brussels and Frankfurt... But behind the gloss and glow of a successful EU referendum and encouraging signs of inward investment there is still a mountain to climb... The country still faces unemployment of 14.3pc and extra pressure on the domestic budget from weaker economic activity than anticipated, compounded by high exposure to risks from eurozone contagion. 06.55 Yesterday, Spain admitted for the first time that it can no longer raise money on the global markets or roll over its sovereign bonds. Premier Mariano Rajoy said the country is "in an extremely difficult situation" and called on Europe to stand by the mutual obligations of euro membership. "Europe must say where it is going and show that the euro is an irreversible project that is not in danger, that helps nations in difficulty," he told Spain's senate. Treasury minister Cristobal Montoro confessed that Spain can no longer raise money. "The market is no longer open. The risk premium is telling us that Spain as a state has a problem accessing the market when we need to refinance our debt." Treasury minister Cristobal Montoro said Spain's economy is too big for the EU bail-out machinery 06.50 UK markets are open today after a double bank holiday. 06.45 Good morning and welcome back to our live coverage of the European debt crisis. Debt crisis live: archive |
BFL 53 is setting up to become one of the most stacked fight cards in British Columbia history. Veteran B.C. fighter, Hardeep Singh returns after a six year hiatus against Alberta’s Keegan Oliver. Hardeep Singh returns after long layoff Battlefield Fight League President Jay Golshani announced plans for Singh a few days ago. On Tuesday afternoon, he gave MMASucka.com the details of his bout. Singh (9-3) has not fought since November 2012, when he lost to Tom McKenna at Super Fight League 8. He hung up the gloves to pursue other ventures. Prior to the last two losses on his record, Singh was on a five-fight winning streak, with four of those victories being stoppages. “At 43-years-old, life is so different now and I see it in such a different light,” Singh told MMASucka.com. “I’d be ashamed to die if I never tried to make the whole world a better place than when I came into it.” The Universal MMA and Franco Kickboxing/Pankration (FKP MMA) product will be taking to the cage and fighting for charity. In fact, he will be donating all of the money made from this fight to animals in need. Singh will be fighting for those without a voice “I already give money to help, but it’s just not enough,” said Singh. “I will give my blood, sweat, pain and soul away to help.” The MMA veteran does not have to fight, but he wants to and he has a reason to. “I have a really good life outside of fighting and I don’t need to do it, but I do need to help those without a voice.” Oliver (6-6) got his pro career started one year after Singh last fought. The 28-year-old started off his career on a three-fight losing skid, but went on to win his next two. He has fought three times in 2017 and is 2-1 this calendar year. Other fights expected for the BFL 53 fight card are Jamie Smyth vs. Caio Machado, Jamie Siraj vs. Radley Da Silva and James Foster vs. an unnamed opponent. The promotion is also hoping to put a bout together with two undefeated fighters, Achilles Estremadura and Alexi Argyriou. BFL 53 goes down on Jan. 13, 2018 from the Hard Rock Casino in Coquitlam, British Columbia. |
President Barack Obama’s Democratic allies and Republican foes are battling over a once-in-a-decade prize in November mid-term elections: power to literally redraw the US political map. Each US state gets two senators, but the 435 full members of the House of Representatives are divided among the 50 states depending on their population, meaning some will gain or lose seats based on the results of the 2010 US census. The November 2 elections will decide which party controls key state legislatures and governorships that typically carry out the task of redrawing a state’s congressional districts, a job that can be bent for a partisan edge. “The redistricting process has a large impact on whether or not any given seat is contestable,” said Justin Buchler, an expert on redistricting who teaches political science at Case Western Reserve University in Ohio. “A Democrat in a district where 40 percent of the voters are Democrats and 60 percent are Republicans, the Democratic candidate will not have much of a chance,” Buchler told AFP by telephone. So politicians have sometimes sought to pack their opponents in as few constituencies as possible, or divided them so that they are in the minority in several districts, tactics to reduce their presence in the US Congress. In the best-known example, then Massachusetts governor Elbridge Gerry signed legislation in 1812 to redraw his state’s districts to help his Democratic-Republican party, including one constituency that a newspaper decried as resembling a salamander — and the term “gerrymander” was born. The behind-the-scenes battle has already begun, with lawyers on both sides preparing for a fight that commonly spills into the courts, which have increasingly decided redistricting battles over the past few decades. The formal two-phase process begins at the end of December when the US Census Bureau reports to Obama on the population figures for all 50 states, as well as the number of seats each state will have going forward in the House — a step called “apportionment”. Detailed population figures are formally reported shortly thereafter to the states so that they can begin the next phase, “redistricting”, the actual act of redrawing the map. In most cases, that job will fall to state legislatures, often with the governor playing a key role, though some states rely on independent commissions and the smallest have only one House member. The US Census Bureau has yet to formally determine which states will gain or lose House seats based on the latest congressionally mandated 10-year population count, completed April 1, said spokesman Derick Moore. But independent observers have forecast that Republican-leaning Texas could gain up to four House seats through apportionment, and Florida may get one more, while traditional battleground Ohio could lose two. The resulting shuffle will slightly alter the balance of US presidential races, in which each state has as many votes in the electoral college that decides such contests as it has representatives and senators in congress. Another historic, though controversial, use of redistricting has been to try to ensure that racial minorities can win office in the winner-take-all US system. |
Per Darren Wolfson on his ESPN1500 podcast The Scoop, Minnesota has offered an extension to Andrew Wiggins. His report includes the detail that Wiggins’ agent, Bill Duffy, will be in Minneapolis later this month to discuss it. Provided the deal meets the standards of Wiggins and his camp it can be assumed that when Duffy arrives the extension will be signed. But the key question remains, how big is the contract extension? If the full five-year and $148 million “max” extension is offered, Wiggins will almost certainly pen his name to the dotted line. “Players do not pass on five-year maximum extensions,” said Wolfson via tweet. Again, the max deal would start at $25.5 million in 2018 and would come loaded with eight percent raises year-over-year. The maximum deal, in its entirety, looks like such: Andrew Wiggins Max Contract Extension Year Max Contract Extension w/ Wolves Year Max Contract Extension w/ Wolves 2017-18 $7,574,323 Contract extension kicks in 2018-19 2018-19 $25,500,000 2019-20 $27,540,000 2020-21 $29,580,000 2021-22 $31,260,000 2022-23 $33,660,000 Five-Year Extension Total $147,900,000 Taylor did not definitively say they have offered the max deal, but did not dispute when Wolfson implied it. In what is becoming a very expensive financial future between Wiggins, Karl-Anthony Towns, and Jimmy Butler, the Wolves would certainly like the price tag of retaining Wiggins to be lower. Even if just slightly so. As we have learned this offseason, every dollar of financial flexibility is key. However, in many ways, he has the team over a barrel. Wiggins has been clear in his belief that he is worth “nothing less” than the maximum extension. If the team does not agree, instead believing that their young franchise cornerstone is not (yet) worth the price, they have a bit of an awkward situation on their hands. If the Wolves front office opts to draw a line in the sand — offering a contract less than 5 years and $148 million — and Wiggins remains adamant about receiving a max the two sides would be destined for restricted free agency the following season. That path leads to a few different options that I laid out here, but appears very unlikely at this point. However, Wiggins could receive an extension and still be traded. Veteran extensions prohibit the new signee from being traded for six months following the date of the signing but rookie scale extensions have no such provision. The newly extended Wiggins contract would be immediately tradable but it would be “poison pilled.” The poison pill, as it is referred to, is in place to make extending and trading a rookie more difficult but not impossible. The difficulty comes from the change in the amount of outgoing salary from the extended rookie. In the case of Wiggins, his current outgoing salary, without being extended, is the $7.5 million he is owed next season. The poison pill juices the amount of outgoing salary. Wiggins outgoing salary becomes the sum of his final year ($7.5 million) plus the total of the extension ($148 million, assuming a max extension) divided by the total number of years (now six with the final year of his rookie deal plus the five years of his extension). This is all to say, Wiggins’ outgoing salary becomes $25.9 million making a deal more difficult but, again, not impossible. For a deal that centers around Wiggins and Kyrie Irving, more players would need to be added to balance out the additional $18.4 million. Another route would be to include a third team, with cap space, so as to absorb the additional cash. The third team scenario is the most likely and not extraordinarily difficult. For example, Cleveland has $19 million of dump-able contracts through Iman Shumpert ($10.3 million), Channing Frye ($7.4) and the non-guaranteed contract of Kay Felder ($1.3 million). The Irving dream or annoyance, dependent on your personal stance, remains even if Wiggins is extended. So long as Irving remains firm on his desire to be traded and Minnesota’s name continues to be bantered about as a potential destination, this trade will continue to receive speculation. Buckle up. Other Free Agency Point Guard Notes |
Clinton says the U.S. still has problems in areas like pay equity and work-family balance. Clinton: Clock 'turning back' for women Hillary Clinton warns in a new book that the “clock is turning back” on women across America and offers a passionate argument for prioritizing the advancement of women and girls. Clinton, the former secretary of state and possible presidential contender, is one of a slew of high-profile contributors to a new report set to be released Sunday compiled by author and activist Maria Shriver and the liberal Center for American Progress. Story Continued Below ( PHOTOS: Hillary Clinton’s 50 influentials) “[Fighting] to give women and girls a fighting chance isn’t just a nice thing to do,” Clinton writes in “The Shriver Report: A woman’s nation pushes back from the brink.” “It isn’t some luxury that we only get to when we have time on our hands. This is a core imperative for every human being in every society. If we do not continue the campaign for women’s rights and opportunities, the world we want to live in — and the country we all love and cherish — will not be what it should be.” Clinton’s essay is part of the book’s broader examination of working women and the economic challenges many confront, a cause she champions in many of her public appearances. ( Also on POLITICO: Will Obama drag down Hillary?) “I think of the extraordinary sacrifices my mother made to survive her own difficult childhood, to give me not only life but also opportunity, along with love and inspiration,” Clinton writes. “I’m very proud of my own daughter, and I look at all these young women I’ve been privileged to work with or know through [daughter] Chelsea, and it’s hard to imagine turning the clock back on them. But in places throughout America large and small, the clock is turning back.” Clinton points to a wide range of issues, from pay equity to work-family balance to life expectancy, as areas where women in the United States still face problems, though she also nods to gains in “business, academia, government—you name it.” Contributors include pop star Beyonce Knowles-Carter, Facebook’s Sheryl Sandberg, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) and basketball star LeBron James. The report comes as Democrats have intensified their focus on addressing income inequality issues, starting with the unemployment benefits extension currently under consideration in Congress. ( Also on POLITICO: Priebus: 'Scandal surrounds' Clinton) “There’s just a lot of facts that are driving this conversation,” said Neera Tanden, the president of the Center for American Progress and longtime adviser to Clinton, in an interview. “Wages have been down, we have the level of inequality that we do, people kind of feel like they’re falling behind … Those concerns are really highest amongst this group of women who are working and still aren’t able to get their heads above water.” Through her family’s foundation, Clinton has launched “No Ceilings,” an initiative designed to promote women around the world, and a theme that comes through in the essay. “Hillary has had a focus on the condition of women literally throughout her career, from the ’70s, ’80s, ’90s to today,” Tanden said. “I’d also say she’s had a particular focus on the economic concerns women face … so having Hillary make the case, she does it from the global perspective of why empowering women at all levels of the economic strata, is usually helpful to the debate. People see her as a champion for women.” Clinton has indicated she could decide about a 2016 presidential bid by the end of this year. Follow @politico |
12 September 2012. Successor report: http://cryptome.org/2012/09/cert-transparency-02.htm 7 September 2012 Certificate Transparency IETF Working Group Topic discussion: https://www.ietf.org/mailman/listinfo/therightkey Related: Certificate Transparency certificate-transparency-draft: http://www.links.org/files/sunlight.html Date: Fri, 7 Sep 2012 14:20:02 +0100 From: Ben Laurie <benl[at]google.com> To: sidr[at]ietf.org, therightkey[at]ietf.org Subject: [therightkey] Certificate Transparency WG It has been suggested to me that the SIDR WG might be interested in Certificate Transparency and a possible BoF in Atlanta. Please send followup discussion to therightkey[at]ietf.org. Here's an (updated) draft charter. CT IETF WG Draft Charter version 2 Objective Specify mechanisms and techniques that allow Internet applications to monitor and verify the issuance of public X.509 certificates such that all issued certificates are available to applications, and each certificate seen by an application can be efficiently shown to be in the log of issued certificates. Furthermore, it should be possible to cryptographically verify the correct operation of the log. Optionally, do the same for certificate revocations. Problem Statement Currently it is possible for any CA to issue a certificate for any purpose without any oversight. This has led to some high profile mis-issuance of web certificates, such as by DigiNotar, a subsidiary of VASCO Data Security International, in July 2011: http://www.vasco.com/company/about_vasco/press_room/news_archive/2011/news_diginotar_reports_ security_incident.aspx The aim is to make it possible to detect such mis-issuance promptly through the use of a public log of all public issued certificates. Domain owners can then monitor this log and, upon detecting mis-issuance, take appropriate action. This public log must also be able to efficiently demonstrate its own correct operation, rather than introducing yet another party that must be trusted into the equation. Clients should also be able to efficiently verify that certificates they receive have indeed been entered into the public log. For revocations, the aim would be similar: ensure that revocations are as expected, that clients can efficiently obtain the revocation status of a certificate and that the log is operating correctly. Also, in both cases, the solution must be usable by browsers - this means that it cannot add any round trips to page fetches, and that any data transfers that are mandatory are of a reasonable size. Existing Work Certificate Transparency v2.1a http://www.links.org/files/CertificateTransparencyVersion2.1a.pdf Spec and working code: http://code.google.com/p/certificate-transparency/source/browse/ _______________________________________________ therightkey mailing list therightkey[at]ietf.org https://www.ietf.org/mailman/listinfo/therightkey |
Not the toys. And not the Michael Bay horror films. I mean the 1986 animated feature. At the time, Transformers: The Movie was notable for two things. One was the fact it killed everybody, traumatising an entire generation of young, impressionable movie-goers. The second, and more lasting, was the movie's casting. It was a mess. A glorious, haphazard mess. There were teen heartthrobs, oscar-winning actors, sci-fi staples, comedians, TV veterans, voice-over people, the works. Yet somehow the "throw as many random names as we can afford" approach actually worked, and better still, it made the flick memorable. Example? I once won a pub trivia night by successfully answering the question "What was Orson Welles' last ever movie". With Mass Effect 3's cast assembled earlier today, it struck us how much BioWare's series had begun to take after Transformers' batshit crazy approach. That with each game came an increase in the size of not just the cast itself, but how bonkers it was. Advertisement Where Transformers went the "elder statesman" route with Orson Welles, Mass Effect has Martin Sheen. Where Transformers hired a veteran voice man in Robert Stack, Mass Effect has veteran voice man Keith David. Transformers had sci-fi staple Leonard Nimoy, Mass Effect went and hired half the cast of Battlestar Galactica. Transformers had Monty Python comedian Eric Idle unexpectedly voice a role, Mass Effect went deep into left field and hired funny man Seth Green to play not a teenage loser, but a starship pilot. And where Transformers shot for the swoon vote with Judd Nelson, fresh off Breakfast Club, Mass Effect now has...Jessica Chobot. Now, I'm not saying Mass Effect is copying Transformers. It's just, we noticed this morning that the Chobot hire had tipped the movie over the edge. For over 25 years, Transformers has stood at the pinnacle of crazy nerd sci-fi casting. Nothing came close to assembling such a talented, yet bizarre cast of talent. Advertisement But if Mass Effect 3's new hirings don't completely ruin the mix, it may have a little competition from a cast that includes a former President of the United States, a star of They Live and a girl who licked a PSP that one time. |
Get the biggest daily news stories by email Subscribe Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Could not subscribe, try again later Invalid Email Anyone who has ever watched a sci-fi film and wished they could upload information to their brain in seconds could be in luck. Scientists have developed a way of amplifying learning in a way that almost mimics the methods used in The Matrix. In the film, Neo - played by Keanu Reeves - has a range of kung-fu skills 'uploaded' directly into his brain in just a few seconds. Experts working at the HRL Information and System Sciences Laboratory in California, have been able to do the same thing, albeit on a lesser scale. Read more: By studying electric signals in the brain of a trained pilot, and feeding that data into an unskilled person through a electric scalp-cap, novices were able to learn the task 33% better than the placebo group. (Image: REX/Shutterstock) Dr Matthew Phillips said: "Our system is one of the first of its kind. It's a brain stimulation system. "It sounds kind of sci-fi, but there's large scientific basis for the development of our system. "The specific task we were looking at was piloting an aircraft, which requires a synergy of both cognitive and motor performance. "When you learn something, your brain physically changes. Connections are made and strengthened in a process called neuro-plasticity. (Image: REX/Shutterstock) "It turns out that certain functions of the brain, like speech and memory, are located in very specific regions of the brain, about the size of your pinky. "What our system does is it actually targets those changes to specific regions of the brain as you learn. "The method itself is actually quite old. In fact, the ancient Egyptians 4,000 years ago used electric fish to stimulate and reduce pain. "Even Ben Franklin applied currents to his head, but the rigorous, scientific investigation of these method started in the early 2000s and we're building on that research to target and personalise a stimulation in the most effective way possible. "Your brain is going to be very different to my brain when we performs a task. What we found is, that in specific circumstances, brain stimulation seems to be particularly effective at actually improving learning." The findings, published in the journal Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, invited expert pilots to perform the experiments to test their brain activity when using a flight simulator. They then replicated the brain states of the expert in the novice, who had never done the task before. Video Loading Video Unavailable Click to play Tap to play The video will start in 8 Cancel Play now Dr Phillips went on: "We were able to take a group of individuals and train them to a similar level. "The method relies on physical contact with the scalp - a head-cap through conductive gel to apply the current to the skin. "The effects can persist for hours. The effects take days or weeks of practice to consolidate. It's the same learning mechanism, we're just amplifying or boosting it. "As we discover more about optimising, personalising, and adapting brain stimulation protocols, we'll likely see these technologies become routine in training and classroom environments. "It's possible that brain stimulation could be implemented for classes like drivers' training, SAT prep, and language learning." |
Soon my staff became known around the White House as ‘Hillaryland.’ We were fully immersed in the daily operations of the West Wing, but we were also our own little subculture within the White House. My staff prided themselves on discretion, loyalty and camaraderie, and we had our own special ethos. While the West Wing had a tendency to leak, Hillaryland never did. Born - October 26, 1947 in Park Ridge, Illinois Parents - Hugh Ellsworth Rodham & Dorothy Howell Married - October 11, 1975 to William Jefferson Clinton - Chelsea Victoria (1980 – present) Education – Bachelor of Arts degree at Wellesley College in 1969; J.D. at Yale Law School in 1973 Occupation – Lawyer, political activist Firsts - 1st First Lady to host a webcast from the White House. 1st First Lady elected to a public office. 1st First Lady to be a “de facto” federal official. 1st First Lady to have an office in West Wing. Post White House residence - Washington, D.C. Other offices – First Lady of Arkansas 1983 – 1992. U.S. Senator of New York 2001 - 2009. Secretary of State 2009 – 2013. Click here to see full bio of Hillary Clinton |
Is There Any Way to Prepare for Death? Death has been very close this year. From the sudden loss of my dearest mentor and friend, the passing of my young cousin and godmother to the greatest loss of all, my father. Death has made its presence known. I have learned this year, that there are really no ways to prepare yourself for the moments when it occurs. You can tell yourself it is forthcoming or tries to envision what life would be like without them. You can even prepare your will and estate for such a day, but when the moment arrives, there is no preparation. Each Instance Brings a Way to Understand Loss On the Holmes-Rahe Stress Scale, the death of a spouse and death of a family member are number 1 and number 5, respectively. In the case of my father, he was ill for over four years, so in many ways, my mother, brother and I had time to “prepare,” in some way. With the loss of my mentor, it was very sudden. I felt that we were going to grow much older together and yet, he left this world as quickly as he came into it. In the case of my cousin, her death from breast cancer was a long and painful one. This death seemed unresolved and unfair, while with my godmother, her Alzheimer’s diagnosis left her bed-ridden and speechless for years. So in some ways, death was a welcomed relief. In each case, I found my heart and mind going through an entire range of emotions. Fits of crying one day, then laughing the other. Some days, it would be a conglomeration of both. I also watched as my mother, brother and family expressed their grief in many different ways. How Awareness Can Help Us in Coping with Death I have learned that there is no right or wrong way in coping with death, only awareness. This awareness has shown me how to understand the process better. By observing how people react and bringing attention to my own responses, I have learned to be conscious of the events, objects, thoughts, emotions, or sensory patterns that present themselves each day. Grieving such losses are an important part of moving forward. Until we grieve in our own way, we are likely to find the present, a difficult place to live in. The end product of our grief is peace. Getting there does not mean having to drown yourself in tears, feel guilt or anger around the loss or feel like you need to forget to move forward. Getting to a place of peace with someone’s transition comes with awareness. Death and Letting Go of Expectations With someone’s passing, expectations become evident. But, it is the letting go of these expectations, which will allow you to let the “natural” grieving process unfold. We are geared to handle this process, yet our need to control it often steps in. We may think that we are supposed to “feel” a certain way or grieve for a certain amount of time. If we release these expectations, observe our own processes and be more aware of them, we will find that grieving is an active process. Grief is ever-changing and constantly evolving. This active “unfolding” of emotions must allow us to accept the finality of the loss. No two people grieve exactly the same way, but it is important to acknowledge the full range of emotions we experience and to express them in a healthy and balanced manner. This “balance” also gives us a way to adjust our own life, after our loved one is no longer with us. As we tend to pour all our efforts into finalizing our loved ones’ wishes and consequently, not giving ourselves adequate nourishment, attention or even love. Hard and Fresh Realities of Coping with Death Realization can bring to the forefront, hard reality. But, it is through this realization that we must rally to its truths. My mom is now alone on a large farm, by herself. I am now made aware of the fact that I have to be there for her, even more. My cousin left a wonderful husband and two children behind. I found it important to try and understand how they must now cope with their loss. My mentor only left his books, work and intellectual properties behind. Helping to keep these projects alive, are now my mission. Accept help when it is offered. Talk about your situation with someone you trust. Give yourself time to things you love. Try to maintain healthy eating and sleep habits. Journal about your experience or help someone else with a project or plan. These acts of self-balance will help you to grieve naturally without control, expectations or feeling you have to grieve by any set of rules, other than your own! Share |
There has been chatter around the Philadelphia Eagles and WR Jordan Matthews this offseason. Does he deserve an extension? We look to the tape for answers. A bit of breaking news coming your way: the Philadelphia Eagles WRs are pretty crummy. 2015 1st-round pick Nelson Agholor has received a beating by the media and fans alike (though we at Section 215 still think there’s hope). Trade acquisition Dorial Green-Beckham sure looked tall running those slant routes and dropping every fourth pass. Josh Huff got cut, Bryce Treggs played like an undrafted free agent, Paul Turner decided to slow-play the onset of his undoubtedly Hall of Fame career, and Jordan Matthews… Well, it depends on who you ask. Plenty of Matthews truthers out there will speak to his route-running, toughness, and rapport with rookie QB Carson Wentz. The naysayers will cite his questionable hands and inability to play outside. No matter in which camp you plant your flag, Matthews will hit free agency after the upcoming season. GM Howie Roseman showed last summer that he wouldn’t shy from extending impact players before their contracts expired. And of course, every year, as the salary cap increases and bigger names demand more money, the price for a free agent goes up and up. The Eagles have two options, at their current juncture: extend Matthews this offseason or have him play out the remainder of his rookie deal and consider negotiations following the 2018 season. To determine which route they should take, I charted each Jordan Matthews target over the 2016-2017 season. Here’s what I found. |
As the Trump White House plunges into turmoil and markets tumble, Republicans in Congress are trying to salvage one piece of their legislative agenda: overhauling the nation’s tax system. Republicans in the House of Representatives were ready to move forward this week on slashing personal and corporate tax rates, a priority of Speaker Paul Ryan for years. But a constant barrage of bombshell stories on President Donald Trump’s relationship with fired National Security Adviser Michael Flynn, teamed with a volatile stock market, has undermined the attempt by House Republicans to have their tax message heard outside Washington. On Wednesday, Ryan and Ways and Means Chairman Rep. Kevin Brady, R-Texas, had led off the House leadership’s weekly news conference by highlighting Thursday’s tax overhaul hearing. “It’s time for Washington to lead on this issue now, and that’s what we are doing,” Brady had said. “Tomorrow, Ways and Means Republicans will hold a major hearing on tax reform related to growth of jobs and wages and the U.S. economy, and we encourage all Americans to tune in.” But they didn’t get to answer a single question from reporters about taxes. Trump’s relationships with Flynn and former FBI Director James Comey dominated the conversation instead. SHARE COPY LINK The Trump administration unveiled its tax overhaul plan April 26 during the daily press briefing. White House National Economic Council Director Gary Cohn said the plan is “the most significant tax reform legislations since 1986.” “I think people in America turn on the TV and they think this is all that’s happening,” Ryan said. “That’s just not the case. I want the American people to know that we’re busy, hard at work fixing their problems. The point I want to make here is . . . we’re going to walk and chew gum at the same time. We’re going to keep doing our jobs.” Even the business leaders asked to testify before Congress on Thursday were concerned that the controversy surrounding Trump would make it harder for Ryan and Brady to overhaul the tax code. “We saw what happened with the markets yesterday because people were concerned that we’re not going to get things done here,” Zach Mottl, chief alignment officer at Atlas Tool and Dye, based in Lyons, Illinois, said during Thursday’s hearing. The U.S. stock market dropped by 370 points on Wednesday, the largest single-day drop in eight months. EDITORS: STORY CAN END HERE Revamping the nation’s tax code will require a lot of political muscle from House Republicans, and significant changes have not been achieved since Ronald Reagan’s administration. The White House released a broad tax plan in April that would dramatically cut taxes for corporations but did not explain how the government would pay for the massive tax reductions. I think people in America turn on the TV and they think this is all that’s happening. That’s just not the case. House Speaker Paul Ryan The plan includes a 15 percent corporate tax rate – a 20 percentage-point drop from the current rate – along with the elimination of all tax deductions except for mortgage interest and charitable giving. There would be three tax brackets for personal income – 10, 25 and 35 percent – instead of the current seven. Steven Rattner, a former investment banker who served as the lead adviser for President Barack Obama’s auto industry task force in 2009, was skeptical of Trump’s tax plan during Thursday’s hearing. “To pay for the Trump plan, we would need average growth of 4.5 percent per year,” said Rattner, who was invited by the committee’s Democrats. “That hasn’t happened on a sustained basis in modern history and is highly implausible in the future given our current aging and productivity trends.” In addition to the Trump turmoil, Republicans themselves are not united over the tax plan devised by Ryan last year. The plan includes a 20 percent tax on imported goods, known as a border adjustment tax, that proponents say will raise $1 trillion over 10 years to offset the cost of lower taxes and make American manufacturing more competitive with international companies. Opponents argue the tax will result in everyday goods being more expensive for American consumers. Brady has scheduled a hearing on the proposed border adjustment tax for next Tuesday. The Houston-area Republican said he wants to accomplish a major tax overhaul effort by the end of the year. |
Tim Kurkjian says there's no place in the game for Matt Barnes' throw at Manny Machado on Sunday and Aaron Boone calls it "wreckless" because Machado's slide on Pedroia didn't warrant retaliation. (1:12) The Baltimore Orioles won again on Monday doing Orioles types of things: They hit home runs -- three off Tampa Bay starter Chris Archer -- and the bullpen pitched 5⅔ scoreless innings. Brad Brach has four save opportunities in place of the injured Zach Britton and hasn't allowed a hit. The Buck Showalter machine just plugs in names and rolls along, confounding the computer projection systems and OBP worshipers. They're 13-5 even though Manny Machado and Mark Trumbo have hit more like Manny Alexander and Mark Belanger, and their Opening Day starter has a 7.50 ERA. On Monday, Adam Jones hit the go-ahead two-run shot in the sixth. Buck on what sets @SimplyAJ10 apart: "In the dugout, there's Adam acting like it's 70 degrees, a sunny day on Sunday with a full house." pic.twitter.com/Zj5OldlnHn — Baltimore Orioles (@Orioles) April 25, 2017 Aside from sitting in first place, however, the big story brewing in Baltimore is the bad blood with the Red Sox. Matt Barnes was suspended four games on Monday for throwing at Machado, but the most interesting fallout from Sunday's incident may have been Britton's comments about Dustin Pedroia. From Dan Connolly's report at BaltimoreBaseball.com: "Dustin, him telling Manny, 'Hey, that didn't come from me' may be even more frustrating," Britton said. "Because he's the leader of that clubhouse and if he can't control his own teammates, then there's a bigger issue over there." Britton does seem to have a point here. Machado's slide happened Friday night. If Pedroia thought the slide was an accident, he had two days to tell his teammates that was his belief and that no retribution was necessary. But Pedroia didn't actually say that until after Sunday's game, when he threw Barnes under the bus. As Connolly wrote, "By not saying anything, Britton contends, Pedroia gave tacit approval for Barnes to retaliate -- although Britton doesn't suggest that Pedroia would have instructed Barnes to throw at anyone's head." Whatever the case, we still have a pitch near Machado's head that may lead to retaliation from the Orioles when the teams meet again on May 1. We have two longtime division opponents who will likely be competing for a playoff spot. We have bad blood and now some pointed comments from an All-Star closer about an All-Star second baseman's leadership skills, or lack of them. The Orioles do seem to love picking these little fights. The team has long had a running feud with Jose Bautista, and GM Dan Duquette said in spring training that the Orioles didn't consider signing Bautista because the fans don't like him. There was the brawl with the Royals last season after Machado was hit by the late Yordano Ventura. Machado and Blue Jays third baseman Josh Donaldson haven't liked each other since their incident in 2014. Back in 2011, Showalter poked at Boston's high payrolls and then-GM Theo Epstein when he said, "I'd like to see how smart Theo Epstein is with the Tampa Bay payroll. ... That's why I like whipping their butt. It's great, knowing those guys with the $205 million payroll are saying, 'How the hell are they beating us?'" In short, the Orioles do love -- as Duquette even said about signing Trumbo -- to portray themselves as a blue-collar kind of team while Showalter paints his richer rivals in Boston, New York and Toronto as the scum of the earth. It all makes for good theater. And Orioles-Red Sox may be the best theater of 2017. Rockies end Nationals' win streak at seven -- More good baseball from the Rockies. They faced a spot starter in Jacob Turner, called up to fill in for Stephen Strasburg, whose wife was having the couple's second child. Turner was superb for five innings, however, and the Nationals led 4-1. But in the sixth, Mark Reynolds hit a two-run homer, and the next inning Charlie Blackmon hit a two-run homer off Enny Romero -- both with two outs -- and the Rockies bullpen did its job. Game over. Reynolds has been huge -- so good, in fact, that while Ian Desmond took some batting practice on Monday, he also took some balls in the outfield. With Reynolds hitting .329 with six home runs, Bud Black can't just give first base to Desmond once he returns. So look for Desmond to jump into more of a Ben Zobrist-like super-utility role. Reynolds' hot streak may not be a fluke either. The all-time single-season strikeout leader has worked hard to redo his swing and approach; last year, he focused on making contact and he's now working on driving the ball. Reynolds' strikeout rate peaked at 35.4 percent in 2010, when he fanned 211 times (his 223 K's in 2009 is the record). He cut that down to 25.4 last year with the Rockies and is all the way down to 20.5 percent this year -- that's basically Mike Trout territory. Yes, I just compared Mark Reynolds to Mike Trout! We can do this in April. What's unique about this approach is that when everybody else is trying to hit more fly balls, Reynolds is hitting fewer -- like, a lot fewer. His fly ball rate in 2010 was 52 percent; it's just 27 percent this year. He's hitting more grounders, but also more line drives, so he's going to sacrifice some power, but if the contact rate holds, he's going to get more hits and hit for a much higher average. It's an approach especially suited for Coors Field and its large outfield dimensions. Oh ... the Rockies now have the best record in the NL. Eric Thames just bought the Reds because he owns them -- Thames hit two more home runs as he became the first player to hit 10 -- seven of those have come against the Reds. (Kris Bryant basically won his MVP award last year against the Reds, hitting .364 with 10 home runs and 25 RBIs in 19 games.) Note from researcher Mark Simon: The average major league hitter hits a home run on a pitch located between the knees and the number on his jersey approximately one out of of every 98 pitches. All 10 of Thames' home runs are on pitches to that area. He's averaging one for every 27 pitches seen in that area. One nation, under Eric Thames, indivisible... — Cespedes Family BBQ (@CespedesBBQ) April 25, 2017 Royals flushed -- Wow, this is bad: By the way, Royals just set a franchise record, scoring two runs or less in eight straight games. — Jeffrey Flanagan (@FlannyMLB) April 25, 2017 The Royals are hitting .184 in those eight games, although they did manage to win two of them -- both with shutouts. Madison Bumgarner meets with the media The picture says it all. Don't ride dirt bikes on an off day in Colorado. Bumgarner says he's feeling a little better each day. Apologized to teammates 1 on 1. Says he's crashed before as a kid but nothing serious. pic.twitter.com/ANWHrPH65P — Casey Pratt (@CaseyPrattABC7) April 25, 2017 The Never-ending story -- This isn't your typical baseball story. In fact, it's a baseball story that has never been told before because it's never happened before. A kid grows up in Lithuania, signs a pro contract with the Pirates, comes over to the U.S. at age 17 speaking almost no English, works his way through the minors and reaches the major leagues. Right-hander Dovydas Neverauskas -- "Never" to his teammates in the minors -- appeared in his first major-league game in a 14-3 loss to the Cubs, giving up one run in two innings. It's a remarkable story primarily because nobody really plays baseball in Lithuania. As Luke Winn once wrote, "Basketball is the only sport the 3.2 million Lithuanians truly care about." Neverauskas has even said that he's a "nobody" in Lithuania. He picked up the sport from his dad, who played on one of the first Lithuanian baseball teams in the 1980s. I talked to him at last year's Futures Game, and he said his dad still coaches baseball over there, although finding fields to play on is difficult, at least fields without rocks. The Pirates discovered him at a European camp when he was 16. He had several fastballs against the Cubs that hit 98, which means he has a chance to stick around. And maybe get 3.2 million Lithuanians to check out Pirates' box scores. |
I’ve been keeping you up to date about the situation around net neutrality in The Netherlands – and today, everything finally came to its logical conclusion. During a debate in our lower house, most of the kinks were ironed out, and our minister of economic affairs, Maxime Verhagen, will now turn net neutrality into law. This means that after Chile, The Netherlands will be the second country in the world to do so. I already told you that Verhagen wished to comply with the lower house’s demands, but I failed to make the clarification that he just wanted to prohibit carriers and ISPs from throttling and blocking, without actually turning it into a law. During today’s debate, he faced an almost unanimous lower house asking for net neutrality to actually become a full-grown, big-boy law. The only party against net neutrality was the VVD, by word of Afke Schaart. As detailed in our previous coverage, it was easily revealed that up until she was instated as a member of the lower house last July, she was actually a lobbyist for KPN, the largest carrier in The Netherlands, and the first to announce plans to start charging extra for applications that competed with calling and texting (VoIP and things like WhatsApp), including blocking and throttling of these services. The fact Schaart worked for KPN for nearly a decade before introducing her own, competing proposal which did not include net neutrality, of course called her loyalty and trustworthiness into question. Not entirely unsurprisingly, she retracted her own motion during the debate today, after facing a very hostile lower house. A few concerns of Verhagen were addressed during the debate. The right-wing Christian-extremists of the SGP were concerned that due to net neutrality becoming a law, the business of ISP-side content filtering of things like violence and porn would become impossible. Other parties in the lower house advocated that filtering of these types of content is a client-side issue (i.e., you should take care of that yourself), but Verhagen, being from a Christian party himself, felt sympathetic to this concern. As such, as long as customers specifically choose to have such content filtered on idealogical grounds, ISPs are free to do so. Another important aspect of our new telecommunications act is that the use of deep packet inspection will be restricted. While ISPs and carriers will be prohibited from using DPI to spy on their customers, they may still use it to manage their networks. The use of DPI will be inspected by our telecommunications watchdog OPTA. The official vote on our new telecommunications act will take place next Tuesday, but considering the near-unanimous support for it, that’s nothing more than a formality. The Netherlands will become the second country in the world to add net neutrality to its laws; Chile did so last year. With this, we are ahead of the rest of Europe – and we’re sure going to be a thorn in the eye of France and the UK, which have both decided to disregard net neutrality to start censoring the web; worse yet, France is actively trying to enact world-wide censorship of the web. |
Kyrgyzstan's President Almazbek Atambayev has signed a parliamentary resolution to refuse $100 million in aid from oil-rich neighbor Kazakhstan amid an escalating spat between the two Central Asian countries. Both Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan are close to Russia and are members of a Moscow-led trade bloc, the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU), which the Kremlin has styled as an alternative to the European Union. But Kyrgyzstan reacted furiously when ageing Kazakh leader Nursultan Nazarbayev appeared to endorse a popular opposition candidate rather than Atambayev's chosen successor ahead of a bitterly contested vote that took place in October. The two countries have traded accusations ever since, with Kazakhstan imposing growing restrictions on goods imported from Kyrgyzstan which the resource-poor country says run counter to the terms of the EEU trade bloc. Kyrgyzstan's presidential website published the news that Atambayev had signed off on the parliamentary resolution on Thursday, deepening a rift in which Russia has yet to intervene. Atambayev, who came to power on the back of the country's second revolution in 2010 but was limited to a single six-year term in power, is set to be replaced as president by ally Sooronbai Jeenbekov on November 24. Jeenbekov defied predictions of a second round by winning the October 15 election with around 54 percent of the vote. His nearest challenger, Omurbek Babanov, secured Nazarbayev's support but only a third of all votes cast in an election tainted by accusations of administrative pressure and voter intimidation. The $100 million in Kazakh aid was earmarked for the construction of laboratories to help bring Kyrgyz goods in line with the bloc's standards, but had been delayed several times, according to Kyrgyz authorities. SS |
As more people attempt to turn their ideas for connected devices into actual products, the maker movement is turning into a serious business. And the companies that serve makers are getting their chance to build serious businesses as well. Thus, SnapEDA, a company that provides a design to manufacturing service online has signed a partnership with Octopart, which offers a library of commonly used electronic components. It’s akin to providing the startup maker community with a more reliable view of the supply chain for the most used bits and bobs they need to build their products where they are designing them. This is obviously handy because it’s it’s time-consuming to design a board on the computer and fit pieces around it, only to find out later when you shift it to a manufacturer that the Wi-Fi radio you chose isn’t in stock. That means it’s back to the drawing board for you and likely means you’ve lost a few hours, or even a few days, of work depending on how complicated your project is. Advertisement With the emergence of startups like the Toronto-based SnapEDA or the YCombinator startup Octopart, we’re seeing the evolution of hardware development that aims to be a bit more like software. Faster, more iterative and more responsive to the needs of a rapidly-changing marketplace. We won’t ever get to the speed of code, but it’s awesome to see the agility that’s common in software creeping its way into the hardware world as much as it can. |
Editor's note: This story was updated on March 14 to add information about the nonpartisan nature of city elections. DALLAS — It began with a wave of state legislation taking aim at city ordinances and policies involving issues like anti-discrimination rules, property tax collections and ride-hailing regulations. Then came newly elected President Donald Trump’s initial ban on travelers from seven countries that led to the detainment of several people at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport. At news conferences and before scrums of television cameras, Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings derided several of those state and federal initiatives that he said could undermine his city’s already troubled economic health and belie Dallas’ diverse and accepting personality. The Texas Tribune thanks its sponsors. Become one. The second-term mayor, who is a Democrat, swears he’s not suddenly trying to insert himself into state and federal politics. “But what I realize is the fight is coming more to me and coming more to the city,” Rawlings said. That has become a common refrain among urban mayors across Texas and America, who feel that officials in higher levels of government are increasingly passing budgets and laws that tear at the economic and social fabrics of big cities. Much of the tension in Texas centers on disagreements over what “local control” means — and who should have it and when. City leaders across the state say it should mean leaving as much power in their hands because they are closest to the issues affecting Texans. “They elect us to make those decisions, and we need the flexibility to be able to govern our cities,” said Fort Worth Mayor Betsy Price, a Republican. State Rep. Jeff Leach, R-Plano, says that Texas created its cities so state lawmakers should be able to "rein them in" when they overstep bureaucratic boundaries. Bob Daemmrich Texas legislators, though, often point out that the state created and decided what powers to give its local governmental entities. They argue that it’s their responsibility to protect constituents from cities that overstep bureaucratic boundaries or enact rules that lawmakers deem to be infringements of liberty. The Texas Tribune thanks its sponsors. Become one. “When cities or political subdivisions go outside those boxes, we have an obligation to rein them in,” State Rep. Jeff Leach, R-Plano, said last month at a meeting of the Texas Lyceum. As some mayors continue to look at the new presidential administration with trepidation, their brewing battle with state leaders will play out on multiple fronts this week as several controversial local control bills are debated in the Texas Capitol. Lawmakers from both chambers will vote on or hear testimony about the controversial “bathroom bill,” ride-hailing regulations, anti-"sanctuary" bills, short-term home rentals and legislation that would limit how much property tax revenues local entities can collect without an election. “It’s like the state trying to be the mayor and city council,” said Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner, a Democrat. Does local mean cities or states? Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner says that Texas lawmakers should be weary of hamstringing cities that he says are the economic engines of the state. Bob Daemmrich for the Texas Tribune Brooks Rainwater, an executive with the National League of Cities, an advocacy group, said that it used to be commonly accepted that local control meant municipalities should decide many issues for themselves. “This used to be something that was much more commonly believed across the political parties,” Rainwater said. That began to change about a decade or so ago, he said, and there’s now a growing school of thought that local control means letting states decide issues. “Texas is a perfect example,” he said. Partisanship isn’t the only factor, and it isn’t always at play. While city officials may make their political leanings publicly known, local elections in Texas are not conducted by party affiliation. But partisanship undoubtedly contributes to the divergent opinions. Most big cities and their leaders (though not all) tend to be Democratic. Meanwhile, the White House, Congress and the Texas Legislature are all controlled by Republicans. The Texas Tribune thanks its sponsors. Become one. Rainwater said the increased polarization of politics, Americans self-sorting themselves geographically into big cities or suburban and rural areas, and lawmakers drawing their own districts have helped the chasm widen. “So the politics don’t line up between what’s happening in the cities and at the state level,” Rainwater said. That infuriates Turner, the Houston mayor. He spent decades as a state representative before taking his city’s top post in 2016. He said that for many years, even his colleagues across the aisle thought of local control as meaning cities could largely decide issues for themselves. “If it is your conviction, then that doesn’t change with time, it doesn’t change with the wind, it doesn’t change with the personalities,” Turner said. Economic engines Austin Mayor Steve Adler worries that the state's "bathroom bill" could impact his city's economy. Shelby Knowles for The Texas Tribune Much of Texas mayors’ frustrations with higher levels of government has to do with economics more than anything. More than half of the average monthly number of Texas jobs during the third quarter of last year were located in the state’s five biggest urban counties, according to the Texas Workforce Commission. And big-city mayors are quick to point that job concentration out. Austin Mayor Steve Adler fears that a bill pre-empting his city’s ride-hailing regulations will hurt the innovation he said the free market has shown as new nonprofit companies have filled a void left by Uber and Lyft. Adler, Rawlings and Turner fear that the “bathroom bill” will repel companies, conventions, tourists and even potential new residents. Texas lawmakers in support of the bill have said there's no evidence that the bill will be bad for business in the state. Adler said his city’ reputation for being an accepting city helps it draw corporations that provide residents jobs and the city and state tax revenues. “They’re here in Austin because the people they want to have work for them want to live in Austin, Texas,” said Adler, a Democrat. Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings fears that President Donald Trump's approaches to immigration and trade could hurt the economy. Brandon Formby Rawlings and Turner, meanwhile, are weary of several federal measures coming from the White House and working through Congress. They feel the repeal and replacement of the Affordable Care Act will leave constituents without health care, putting more financial stress on county hospitals. Turner also worries about what a potential cut to the federal Housing and Urban Development budget will mean for affordable housing in his city. And Rawlings fears that Trump’s attempts to tackle immigration and alter international trade pacts could have a chilling economic effect in Texas. Adler, Price, Rawlings and Turner also worry that amid all this, Senate Bill 2's new property tax rules would hamstring their ability to provide essential services while saving the average Texan just a few dollars a month. “You cannot choke local governments like cities and expect the state to thrive,” Turner said. “We are the economic engines of the state. If you turn off the engine, you may as well put up a sign that says, ‘The state of Texas is no longer open for business.’” But backers of the legislation say it is key to providing relief to property owners in Texas. Diversity and division Fort Worth Mayor Betsy Price is a Republican, but she doesn't always agree with conservative lawmakers on local control issues. Bob Daemmrich Price also thinks that state lawmakers often try to solve isolated problems with sweeping bills that have unintended consequences. She also doesn’t think that the conservative-controlled Legislature should look at metropolitan areas as hotbeds of political opposition. She is excited about some of Trump's plans, particularly his intent to increase infrastructure investments and defense spending. And, after all, her city anchors the country’s most conservative urban county. “It’s always interesting when they start painting every city with the same brush,” Price said. Like officials from several small towns and big cities, Price will be in Austin testifying on bills that are before lawmakers. And while Leach, the Republican state representative, and scores of his colleagues defend their approaches to local control, he acknowledged last month that the tension has grown palpable. “It’s unfortunate it’s become so divided,” he said. Read more of our related coverage: As budget writers and lawmakers eye billions in voter-approved highway money for other matters, transportation officials are touting high-profile projects that will benefit from those funds. After 13-plus hours of emotional testimony, largely in opposition, the Senate State Affairs Committee voted 7-1 to advance the so-called Texas “bathroom bill" — a legislative priority of Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick. Disclosure: Steve Adler, a former Texas Tribune board chairman, has been a financial supporter of the Tribune. Uber and Lyft have also been financial supporters of the Tribune. A complete list of Tribune donors and sponsors can be viewed here. |
With finals looming at colleges throughout the country, it’s obvious that students have been sleeping less and less. At Carnegie Mellon, students tend to be very vocal about how little they sleep – and now, the numbers are there to prove it. A study compiled by fitness tracking company Jawbone has shown that students at Carnegie Mellon receive the 10th least amount of nightly sleep among surveyed schools. The survey, which polled tens of thousands of Jawbone’s college-aged users at over 100 schools, revealed exactly how little college students are sleeping. Though the Air Force Academy clocked in as the most sleep-deprived with roughly 6 hours, 22 minutes of sleep, CMU is rather close behind, getting just 25 more minutes of shut-eye. Additionally, CMU students also go to sleep rather late: our 1:13 AM average weekday sleep time ranks fourth of all evaluated universities, on par with Stanford and Duke. For what it’s worth though, Carnegie Mellon students seem to take more steps each day than students at schools like Princeton, Columbia, and WashU. Jawbone also examined the correlation between late bedtimes and US News and World Report rankings. They concluded: “The tougher the school, the later the students go to bed.” This comes as no surprise to anyone at Carnegie Mellon, and our bedtimes prove just how tough our course load and environment can be. To many of us, getting almost seven hours of sleep every night would be heavenly – but we’ll see how these numbers change as finals creep closer. |
KDE Plasma 5 is one of the main desktop spins in Fedora. It’s under heavy development and a lot of things are changing. There are plenty of new features, bug fixing, and optimizing code. It’s an expansive desktop environment with programs for all basic tasks. There are also applications that can be used for sciences, design work, finances, and more. Installing KDE Plasma 5 To install KDE Plasma 5 in an existing Fedora installation, there are two commands you will use in a command line (i.e. terminal) to do this. They will install the latest version of KDE and extra packages for additional features and functionality. As mentioned earlier, the Plasma 5 desktop is an expansive desktop packed with many features, and the initial installation size will run around 300MB (worth noting for anyone with poor bandwidth or connectivity). After installation, it will expand to about 1GB in total size. Said that, you can run the following commands for the installation of KDE Plasma 5. $ sudo dnf group install kde-desktop-environment You will first be prompted to enter your password (to gain root user privileged temporarily). Afterwards, it will list all of the packages to install, the approximate download size (usually around 300MB), the final size once installed (usually near 1GB). If you are ready to proceed, you can enter y (or the letter that means “yes” in your language) and press enter. From here, downloading and installing the packages for KDE Plasma 5 will take a while a while. You might want to resume other daily tasks while you’re waiting, depending on your connection speed. If you’re using GNOME or Cinnamon, there should be a notification from the terminal once the installation is finished. Getting started with KDE Plasma 5 Once it is installed, you can log into KDE Plasma 5 as your desktop environment after restarting your Fedora computer. From the login menu, you can look for a gear-like icon or other symbol (depending on what your initial desktop was) and choose to log in with KDE Plasma 5. When you first log in, you’ll be greeted by an empty screen and a task bar with a menu on the bottom. To begin making modifications to your new desktop, you will want to open the System Settings application from the menu. If you are familiar with previous versions of KDE Plasma, you will notice some things have changed since previous releases. There are new methods of applying themes and wallpaper changes. You can pick from what is installed by default or use a site like KDE-Look.org to find additional modifications to your environment. Color schemes An interesting feature recently added is that Plasma themes are able to follow color schemes. You can pick a scheme for Qt and apply it your Plasma desktop to have that color scheme reflected in your various windows, applications, and menus. Adjusting the user icon As mentioned earlier, the KDE Plasma 5 desktop is under active development, and there are some minor features that are not yet implemented, such as changing your user icon for your account. The developers are aware and are planning on adding ways to do these things in the future. However, in the meanwhile, you can manually add a profile icon by manually placing an image with the name username.face.icon in the /usr/share/sddm/faces/ directory (remember, if you’re using a custom theme, icons may not be supported). Performance with Plasma 5 For those worried about performance and computer resources, Plasma 5 is a good option. It isn’t as heavyweight as previous versions of KDE Plasma, and you can also reduce the number of effects running in your desktop as well if you need to (I was able to run it well with 1GB of RAM in an Atom notebook). KDE looks and works nicely with both GTK and Qt programs. This image is just an example of that. Learn more about KDE Plasma 5 You may want to see what’s new in Plasma 5.You can visit spins.fedoraproject.org to download the KDE spin of Fedora and visit the wiki to read more about using KDE. Additionally, if you have used KDE in the past, you can get a better idea of what is specifically new in this version from a previous article on the Fedora Magazine. |
Car hacking is possible, I have proposed different works presented by security experts that demonstrate how to compromise modern vehicles with cheap environment. Modern cars have a huge quantity of components connected by an internal network that could be easily compromised knowing the communication protocol used by principal vendors. “Modern cars contain upwards of 50 electronic control units (ECUs) that exchange data within an internal network. The safety of the automobiles relies on near real time communication between the different ECUs for predicting crashes, performing anti-lock braking, and much more.“ Recently Security researchers have demonstrated that car hacking is possible using wired systems or short-range wireless such as Bluetooth, but experts at Toucan Systems confirm that similar attacks can be conducted remotely from any place on the planet. As reported by the Sydney Morning Herald, security expert Jonathan Brossard declared that he “does not know of a car that has been hacked on the road, but says his company does it for vehicle manufacturers in Europe.” “The only way to verify that a car is not subject to cyber attack is to try to break it, fix it and try to break it again, he said.” ”The vehicle is remote from me. I am sitting at the desk and I am using the computer and driving your car from another country. I am saying it is possible.”A car is, technically speaking, very much like a cell phone and that makes it vulnerable to attack from the internet,” ”An attack is not unlikely.” he added. The scenario is scaring, my mind immediately flies to the infinite possibilities ofIntelligence agencies that could have already implanted in the control systems of million of cars any kind of device to advantage their remote control, it is already happening with routers and servers, why not for modern vehicle? “At this year’s [Black Hat] conference in August he says attention will turn toan open back door allowing someone to take control of your computer remotely. He says it already infects 2 million computers worldwide, including Australian machines made by mainstream manufacturers.” reported the Sydney Morning Herald. The majority of the attacks presented by the scientific community is operated through the Controlled Area Network, Electronic Control Units exchange operation data on one or more bus based on the Controlled Area Network standard. Popular security expert Charlie Miller and Chris Valasek demonstrated last year that it is possible to gain the control of a vehicle simply by connecting laptops to the dashboard. A recent report published by CNN Money raises again the debate on the car hacking, the media describes the 50 to 100 computers controlling steering, acceleration and brakes in the typical automobile as “really dumb” “there’s a danger to turning your car into a smartphone on wheels”. states the CNN. As explained by Ed Adams, a researcher at Security Innovation, a company that tests the safety of automobiles, the principal problem in car hacking is the lack of security by design, the expert confirm that of proper security mechanism in the software which equip modern vehicles. “Auto manufacturers are not up to speed,” “They’re just behind the times. Car software is not built to the same standards as, say, a bank application. Or software coming out of Microsoft.” said Ed Adams Computer architecture in modern cars is not different from any other computer system, it is wirelessly connected to the Internet and could be targeted by a cyber attack. The report claims that the next generation of cars from both Audi and Tesla can be victims of car hacking, in April the researcher Nitesh Dhanjani, presented a study conducted on his own Tesla Model S Sedan, he reported a series of security issues that could be exploited to locate and unlock the vehicles. Be aware attacks where cars are “taken over” wirelessly have not been widely demonstrated, but it is worrying the approach of principal car manufacturers that seems to be impassive to the continue warning of hacking community. “At the moment there are people who are in the know, there are nay-sayerswho don’t believe it’s important, and there are others saying it’s commonknowledge but right now there’s not much data out there,” “We would love for everyone to start having a discussion about this, and for manufacturers to listen and improve the security of cars.” said the popular hacker Charlie Miller. As vehicles become more integrated with wireless technology, their surface of attacks will be enlarged in significant way giving to attackers much more opportunity to inject malicious code in the car components or to interfere with them. Let’s hope car manufacturers will carefully assess their technologies, even if many of the components they integrates are designed by third-party companies. |
because the mass media REFUSES to do so - essentially hiding behind the cover of "First Amendment" despite the fact that much of this "speech" IS "hate speech", and in some instances, has encouraged fringe supporters to carry out actual violence against people who are innocent except for not fitting their criteria of "Americans". The media thinks it's a joke and that Trump's continual flow of verbal vomit is not even worthy of their critique but another candidate's "coughing" represents the end of the world as we know it. BUT adding the context of that remark (notably this was a fundraiser and celebration of LGBT rights) that sound-bite followers miss - And there�s so much more than I find deplorable in his campaign: the way that he cozies up to white supremacist, makes racist attacks, calls women pigs, mocks people with disabilities � you can�t make this up. He wants to round up and deport 16 million people, calls our military a disaster. And every day he says something else which I find so personally offensive, but also dangerous. You know, the idea of our country is so rooted in continuing progress that we make together. Our campaign slogan is not just words. We really do believe that we are stronger together. We really do believe that showing respect and appreciation for one another lifts us all up. <...> The racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, Islamaphobic � you name it. And unfortunately there are people like that. And he has lifted them up. He has given voice to their websites that used to only have 11,000 people � now how 11 million. He tweets and retweets their offensive hateful mean-spirited rhetoric. Now, some of those folks � they are irredeemable, but thankfully they are not America.But the other basket � and I know this because I see friends from all over America here � I see friends from Florida and Georgia and South Carolina and Texas � as well as, you know, New York and California � but that other basket of people are people who feel that the government has let them down, the economy has let them down, nobody cares about them, nobody worries about what happens to their lives and their futures, and they�re just desperate for change. It doesn�t really even matter where it comes from. They don�t buy everything he says, but he seems to hold out some hope that their lives will be different. They won�t wake up and see their jobs disappear, lose a kid to heroine, feel like they�re in a dead-end. Those are people we have to understand and empathize with as well. <...> http://time.com/4486502/hillary-clinton-basket-of-deplorables-transcript/ And there�s so much more than I find deplorable in his campaign: the way that he cozies up to white supremacist, makes racist attacks, calls women pigs, mocks people with disabilities � you can�t make this up. He wants to round up and deport 16 million people, calls our military a disaster. And every day he says something else which I find so personally offensive, but also dangerous. You know, the idea of our country is so rooted in continuing progress that we make together. Our campaign slogan is not just words. We really do believe that we are stronger together. We really do believe that showing respect and appreciation for one another lifts us all up. The racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, Islamaphobic � you name it. And unfortunately there are people like that. And he has lifted them up. He has given voice to their websites that used to only have 11,000 people � now how 11 million. He tweets and retweets their offensive hateful mean-spirited rhetoric. that Trump's followers are the ones, with the help of RW talk radio and television political "pundits", essentially espousing views that anyone not "them" (European-descended whites) must be removed form the country and the Clinton campaign IS calling out this rhetoric- essentially hiding behind the cover of "First Amendment" despite the fact that much of this "speech" IS "hate speech", and in some instances, has encouraged fringe supporters to carry out actual violence against people who are innocent except for not fitting their criteria of "Americans". The media thinks it's a joke and that Trump's continual flow of verbal vomit is not even worthy of their critique but another candidate's "coughing" represents the end of the world as we know it.BUT adding the context of that remark (notably this was a fundraiser and celebration of LGBT rights) that sound-bite followers miss - |
A multi-day, large-scale meeting has been taking place in Pyongyang since the weekend which, uncharacteristically, has not yet been reported by North Korean state media, a source in Pyongyang has told NK News. The meeting, which saw between 100-150 buses trafficking delegates across the city from Saturday through to Wednesday, had the characteristics of being ‘political’ in nature, the source said, who requested anonymity due to the sensitive nature of the information being provided. “What was striking was the absolute traffic priority of these [bus] convoys,” the source said, noting that even diplomatic delegations had to stop for periods of up to “ten minutes” to give the delegations priority road-access. Police, assisted by military, cleared whole streets of all cars on multiple occasions between Saturday and Wednessay, the source explained, with buses parking near the Pyongyang indoor stadium, “where the event may have taken place”. Meeting delegates used “brownish” color buses – “as usual for such gatherings” – the source said, in addition to “a dozen or two old double-deckers” imported from China for participants unable to fit in the regular fleet. Open top trucks were also seen dropping off large groups of female soldiers, unusually being given the same priority as the VIP buses. Based on the sources’ estimate of the size of the bus fleet, approximately 5,200 delegates may have attended the meeting, assuming an average bus capacity of 30-40 people. NK News could not independently corroborate the report made by the source. In recent days neither state news agency the Korea Central News Agency (KCNA) or national daily the Rodong Sinmun has made any reference to the alleged meeting, referring only to small-size ministry delegations and selected groups of foreign visitors. Typically, North Korean media reports on large-scale meetings and gatherings in Pyongyang, regardless of whether they are political in nature. But the next large anniversarys due to take place are not until August 25, for Songun Day, or September 9, when North Korea will celebrate the 66th anniversary of the DPRK. “Whatever happened during the weekend might be linked to [Songun Day],” speculated North Korea leadership watcher, Michael Madden. But “Whatever the gathering was in PY, Kim Jong Un was most likely not in attendance,” he added. “[Kim] was in Hamhu’ng and Wo’nsan on Saturday and Sunday”. In April 2012 a large delegation of Korean Workers Party (KWP) officers arrived from throughout North Korea by train to take part in 100 year anniversary celebrations of Kim Il Sung. That event saw so many domestic visitors to Pyongyang that the tourist industry was impacted, with several groups of foreigners required to stay in rural hotels due to high occupancy rates in the North Korean capital. Main picture: KCNA |
Zora Neale Hurston wrote the following letter to Countee Cullen, her friend and fellow writer, in 1943. In it, she discusses lynching, segregation, and her feelings about white “liberals.” March 5, 1943 Dear Countee: Thanks a million for your kind letter. I am always proud to have a word of praise from you because your friendship means a great deal to me. It means so much to me because I have never known you to make an insincere move, neither for personal gain, nor for malice growing out of jealousy of anyone else. Then too, you are my favorite poet now as always since you began to write. I have always shared your approach to art. That is, you have written from within rather than to catch the eye of those who were making the loudest noise for the moment. I know that hitch-hiking on band-wagons has become the rage among Negro artists for the last ten years at least, but I have never thumbed a ride and can feel no admiration for those who travel that way. I have pointed you out on numerous occasions as one whose integrity I respected, and whose example I wished to follow. Now, as to segregation, I have no viewpoint on the subject particularly, other than a fierce desire for human justice. The rest of it is up to the individual. Personally, I have no desire for white association except where I am sought and the pleasure is mutual. That feeling grows out of my own self-respect. However blue the eye or yellow the hair, I see no glory to myself in the contact unless there is something more than the accident of race. Any other viewpoint would be giving too much value to a mere white hide. I have offended several “liberals” among the whites by saying this bluntly. I have been infuriated by having them ask me outright, or by strong implication if I am not happy over the white left-wing associating with Negroes. I always say no. Then I invariably ask why the association should give a Negro so much pleasure? Why any more pleasure than with a black “liberal”? They never fail to flare up at that which proves that they are paying for the devout worship that many Negroes give them in the cheap coin of patronage, which proves that they feel the same superiority of race that they claim to deny. Otherwise, why assume that they have done a noble deed by having contact with Negroes? Countee, I have actually had some of them to get real confidential and point out that I can be provided with a white husband by seeing things right! White wives and husbands have been provided for others, etc. I invariably point out that getting hold of white men has always been easy. I don’t need any help to do that. I only wish that I could get everything else so easily as I can get white men. I am utterly indifferent to the joy of other Negroes who feel that a marriage across the line is compensation for all things, even conscience. The South must laugh and gloat at the spectacle and say “I told you so! That is a black person’s highest dream.” If a white man or woman marries a Negro for love that is all right with me, but a Negro who considers himself or herself paid off and honored by it is a bit too much for me to take. So I shall probably never become a “liberal.” Neither shall I ever let myself be persuaded to have my mind made up for me by a political job. I mean to live and die by my own mind. If that is cowardly, then I am a coward. When you come to analyze it, Countee, some of the stuff that has passed as courage among Negro “leaders” is nauseating. Oh, yes, they are right there with the stock phrases, which the white people are used to and expect, and pay no attention to anymore. They are rather disappointed if you do not use them. But if you suggest something real just watch them back off from it. I know that the Anglo-Saxon mentality is one of violence. Violence is his religion. He has gained everything he has by it, and respects nothing else. When I suggest to our “leaders” that the white man is not going to surrender for mere words what he has fought and died for, and that if we want anything substantial we must speak with the same weapons, immediately they object that I am not practical. No, no indeed. The time is not ripe, etc. etc. Just point out that we are suffering injustices and denied our rights, as if the white people did not know that already! Why don’t I put something about lynchings in my books? As if all the world did not know about Negroes being lynched! My stand is this: either we must do something about it that the white man will understand and respect, or shut up. No whiner ever got any respect or relief. If some of us must die for human justice, then let us die. For my own part, this poor body of mine is not so precious that I would not be willing to give it up for a good cause. But my own self-respect refuses to let me go to the mourner’s bench. Our position is like a man sitting on a tack and crying that it hurts, when all he needs to do is to get up off it. A hundred Negroes killed in the streets of Washington right now could wipe out Jim Crow in the nation so far as the law is concerned, and abate it at least 60% in actuality. If any of our leaders start something like that then I will be in it body and soul. But I shall never join the cry-babies. You are right in assuming that I am indifferent to the pattern of things. I am. I have never liked stale phrases and bodyless courage. I have the nerve to walk my own way, however hard, in my search for reality, rather than climb upon the rattling wagon of wishful illusions. I suppose you have seen my denial of the statements of Douglas Gilbert of the World-Telegram. I know I made him sore. He is one of the type of “liberals” I spoke of. They are all Russian and want our help to put them in power in the U.S. but I know that we would be liquidated soon after they were in. They will have to get there the best way they can for all I care. Cheerio, good luck, and a happy encounter (with me) in the near future. Sincerely, Zora Document from Amistad Research Center, Tulane University. “Zora Neale Hurston: Jump at the Sun” is available on DVD at www.newsreel.org |
In theory, this is a great item. Unfortunately, I am on my third one, and I still don't have the awesome stool that I was hoping for. The first was ordered from Amazon. Once assembled, it did not roll very far until the one side started to drag on the floor. Upon inspection I noted that that the base wasn't perfectly round, having been damaged in shipping. I called Cramer, and their customer service was very helpful, and they offered to send a replacement right away, as well as a larger box so that I could return the assembled one that I now have. The delivery came quickly, and the condition of the boxed stool was laughable. Totally crushed on one side, as was the stool base inside. I did not bother to assemble this one, and called Cramer again. Same person apologized and said that this sometimes happens, but that they ship these things all the time, and she'd be happy to ship another, and that maybe this one could be double boxed. That one came today - same single box as the first two, and while it is the best of the three, it is still out of balance, and one side definitely hangs lower than the rest of it, affecting it's ability to scoot in anything but a right hand curve. So, this stool is a lovely idea. It appears to be made from quality materials, with sturdy springs and such. I have seen them in other places, and they are usually easy to use, and helpful to have around. The problem with receiving one through the mail is that they come in a simple cardboard box, which is not built to withstand the rigors of the delivery system of FedEx or UPS. I feel silly calling again to have yet ANOTHER one sent to me, but on the other hand, I spent fifty bucks on a stool so that it would be awesome. This is not awesome. This is just a wonky rolling stool. It's okay. |
THE ELECTION of President Trump has prompted a lot of talk about the checks and balances of the American constitutional system. As guarantors of freedom and stability, James Madison’s cherished devices — separation of powers, an independent judiciary, freedom of the press — will be tested as never before, it has been said. But another potential check on presidential action has gotten less attention: the sheer power of reality. There are some things Mr. Trump won’t be able to do because, well, he just can’t. Call it the reality check. [Down the conspiracy rabbit hole] To be clear: We are not referring to political reality. Of course there are certain things the president can’t do, at least not immediately, because of opposition at home or abroad: In the face of Arab-world opposition, for example, he has hesitated on his promise to move the U.S. Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. What we have in mind, rather, are things that are impossible, period — such as massively cutting taxes and leaving entitlement programs alone, while simultaneously reducing the federal debt. Or deconstructing the “administrative state ” while beefing up the federal government’s capacity to find and deport undocumented immigrants. Or protecting a sacrosanct right to gun ownership while stopping the mayhem in Chicago. The contradictions have been heightening as Mr. Trump and his team attempt to cobble together a federal budget, with a blueprint for discretionary spending due on March 16. At his Senate hearing to be confirmed as treasury secretary, Steven Mnuchin asserted forcefully that the Internal Revenue Service needed more funding, which would more than pay for itself in enhanced tax compliance. Yet the White House budget office, searching for cuts to pay for Mr. Trump’s proposed $54 billion defense increase, has proposed slashing the already tight IRS budget 14.1 percent. Mr. Trump is bound and determined to step up security along the U.S.-Mexico border, including by building a wall. To get the resources, his budgeters are reportedly targeting the Coast Guard’s $9 billion budget for a $1.3 billion cut. Sounds like an invitation for drug smugglers and migrants to come in by water instead of by land. [How President Trump has already hurt American democracy — in just 50 days] (The Washington Post) Mr. Trump’s pitch to the American electorate in 2016 was that they could have it all — low taxes and generous government benefits; a dynamic economy that “protects” existing jobs — and that the only thing preventing this nirvana was the perfidy of Washington’s elite. Entrust me with power, he declared, and everything will be different. Of all his many false promises, this was probably both the most effective and the phoniest. Government’s resources and capabilities are limited, and trade-offs are real. Like all his predecessors, Mr. Trump will be forced, by reality, to set priorities and make choices, whether he ever acknowledges that openly or not. And sooner or later, he will be held accountable for them. |
Amid allegations of police brutality on Long Island, two men are now opening up about their experiences.The claims involve former Suffolk County police Chief James Burke, who who is now facing assault and obstruction charges, as well as the Nassau County officer who was just acquitted in a violent caught-on-camera traffic stop.The two alleged victims appeared at a news conference at a hotel in Uniondale Monday to tell two very different stories that they believe warrant the same federal attention.Kyle Howell was the motorist during that traffic stop who claims his civil rights were violated by Officer Vincent LoGiudice, while Christopher Lowe claims he was beaten by Burke while under interrogation. The Justice Department has taken over that investigation, and Howell and his attorney want federal officials to do the same with his case.Despite Howell's injuries and the fact that his vision may be permanently impaired, the county court judge found the officer not guilty . The judge in the non-jury trial insisted that Howell refused to comply with police commands, and thus, the officer's actions were justified.Both young men took questions from reporters, and although they had not met before, they insisted that their cases are powerful examples of police brutality that local prosecutors are either unwilling or unable to prosecute fairly."The police beat me, and now it seems that they're going to get away with it," Howell said. "That is not right. I hope the federal prosecutor will investigate my case just like they investigated Chris'.""If the police can beat me and Kyle, they can beat anyone," Lowe said. "Punishment for minor crimes is not supposed to be beating by the chief of police." Burke is being held without bail on those charges. There is no word from the federal government as to whether they will get involved in the Howell case. |
Weeks will bring his debut book and its companion album to the stage for one night only in December Orlando Weeks has announced a special one-off live performance of his debut book and companion album The Gritterman. The former Maccabees – who disbanded back in July – frontman published his first novel last month. The Gritterman, which was both written and illustrated by Weeks, tells the story of an “ice-cream man in the summer months, The Gritterman’s true love is his other seasonal job: to secure the safety of treacherously icy roads at the height of winter. “The turning point comes early in the narrative when the local council writes to tell The Gritterman that his services are no longer required,” the synopsis continues. “After this revelation we follow our hero on his final night of doing the job that he loves.” Weeks will bring the story to life on the stage on December 12 at Union Chapel in London – but for just one night only. The musician will perform the book’s companion album, where he’ll backed by a full band and choir. Actor and Fast Show comedian Paul Whitehouse will narrate the tale on stage, playing the titular character. Tickets for Weeks’ special Gritterman show in London will go on sale at 10am on Friday (October 13) from Dice and Weeks’ own website. |
RIO DE JANEIRO – After a few very public exchanges, it’s no secret that “The Ultimate Fighter” Season 23 coaches Claudia Gadelha and Joanna Jedrzejczyk are not exactly best friends. Title challenger Gadelha (13-1 MMA, 2-1 UFC) and strawweight champ Jedrzejczyk (11-0 MMA, 5-0 UFC) are set to officially settle their differences at the FOX Sports 1-televised The Ultimate Fighter 23 Finale on July 8, the eve of UFC 200, at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. But as UFC President Dana White first revealed, the strawweight rematch almost took place before the scheduled time, in an off-camera moment as taping of the reality series concluded. At a media day in Brazil to promote the upcoming bout, Gadelha elaborated on the “fist fight” White referred to when speaking about the athletes’ escalating tension. “Every time we’d meet in the gym, someone was behind us – but this time it was just me and her,” Gadelha told MMAjunkie. “We crossed each other and she said, ‘What’s up?’ and I said, ‘What do you want?’ And she started saying things, very disrespectful things, and she she did like this to me, showed me the finger, and I said ‘you should put that somewhere else.’ “She got upset and threw a water bottle at me. And she got really mad and ran at me and said ‘Do you want to fight?’ and I said, ‘Yeah, I want to fight!’ She got very close to me but didn’t do anything. So I pushed her and she pushed me back. When she pushed me back I kicked her in the ribs. Then someone held me and held her and the fight stopped there.” This on-screen rivalry, of course, didn’t start at the TUF Gym. It dates back to a UFC on FOX 13 bout in December 2013 that ended with a controversial decision win for the current titleholder. If Gadelha was on the losing end of the judges’ scorecards then, she’s been ahead as a “TUF” coach, leading her team to a current 6-1 score over the champ’s. That winning performance, Gadelha said, was based on good examples, team unity and a solid strategy. “I think I’m amongst amazing coaches: Andre (Pederneiras), Jair (Lourenco), and many other guys who are great at this,” Gadelha said. “Being polished out by them helped me out a lot. “I think I did a great job with my team. We became a family and were very strong together. I was also studying everyone inside the house. I knew everything about everybody, not only from my team, but also from her team. So I was studying everything and paying a lot of attention. And I think I did a better job coaching. And I had the best strategies, also.” Apart from the score, Jedrzejczyk has complained about her on-air portrayal, implying that she’s been unfavorably edited to look like a bully. Gadelha, however, firmly disagrees with that theory. “Everything that happened in the show, they’re airing,” Gadelha said. “She’s upset cause she’s not looking good, but she should have thought of that before. Because everything they’re showing, she did. So she has nothing to be mad about.” As part of her opponent-driven strategic preparation, the Nova Uniao fighter revealed she watches their original bout every week – and still can’t see how the judges scored it on Jedrzejczyk’s favor. While she believes the champ has “loosened up” in the octagon since then, becoming more able to impose her muay Thai efficiently, Gadelha just doesn’t think she’s a complete mixed martial artist yet. “I don’t want to underestimate anyone, but people build up Joanna like she’s this amazing, invincible fighter,” Gadelha said. “She’s simply a muay Thai fighter with good takedown defense. You’ll never see her taking people down, fighting from bottom position, or just doing the whole MMA game. She’s not well-rounded. She’s a limited fighter. “By doing that, I think she gives many chances for her opponents to find holes in her game, and that’s what we’re going to do.” As far as classic grappler vs. striker matchup, Gadelha believes that, the same way the champ “wouldn’t just lie down and ask her to try jiu-jitsu with her,” she can’t play into Jedrzejczyk’s game. But when asked whether she feels capable of striking against her opponent, she was very clear. “I do, I feel I am capable of trading with any girl in my division,” Gadelha said. “And I’m sure if my hand lands on her face, she’ll go down.” For more on Gadelha’s thoughts on TUF and the upcoming rematch against Joanna, check out the video above. And for more on The Ultimate Fighter 23 Finale, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site. |
Special Report: An existential question facing humankind is whom can be trusted to describe the world and its conflicts, especially since mainstream experts have surrendered to careerism, writes Robert Parry. By Robert Parry The looming threat of World War III, a potential extermination event for the human species, is made more likely because the world’s public can’t count on supposedly objective experts to ascertain and evaluate facts. Instead, careerism is the order of the day among journalists, intelligence analysts and international monitors – meaning that almost no one who might normally be relied on to tell the truth can be trusted. The dangerous reality is that this careerism, which often is expressed by a smug certainty about whatever the prevailing groupthink is, pervades not just the political world, where lies seem to be the common currency, but also the worlds of journalism, intelligence and international oversight, including United Nations agencies that are often granted greater credibility because they are perceived as less beholden to specific governments but in reality have become deeply corrupted, too. In other words, many professionals who are counted on for digging out the facts and speaking truth to power have sold themselves to those same powerful interests in order to keep high-paying jobs and to not get tossed out onto the street. Many of these self-aggrandizing professionals – caught up in the many accouterments of success – don’t even seem to recognize how far they’ve drifted from principled professionalism. A good example was Saturday night’s spectacle of national journalists preening in their tuxedos and gowns at the White House Correspondents Dinner, sporting First Amendment pins as if they were some brave victims of persecution. They seemed oblivious to how removed they are from Middle America and how unlikely any of them would risk their careers by challenging one of the Establishment’s favored groupthinks. Instead, these national journalists take easy shots at President Trump’s buffoonish behavior and his serial falsehoods — and count themselves as endangered heroes for the effort. Foils for Trump Ironically, though, these pompous journalists gave Trump what was arguably his best moment in his first 100 days by serving as foils for the President as he traveled to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, on Saturday and basked in the adulation of blue-collar Americans who view the mainstream media as just one more appendage of a corrupt ruling elite. Breaking with tradition by snubbing the annual press gala, Trump delighted the Harrisburg crowd by saying: “A large group of Hollywood celebrities and Washington media are consoling each other in a hotel ballroom” and adding: “I could not possibly be more thrilled than to be more than 100 miles away from [the] Washington swamp … with much, much better people.” The crowd booed references to the elites and cheered Trump’s choice to be with the common folk. Trump’s rejection of the dinner and his frequent criticism of the mainstream media brought a defensive response from Jeff Mason, president of the White House Correspondents’ Association, who complained: “We are not fake news. We are not failing news organizations. And we are not the enemy of the American people.” That brought the black-tie-and-gown gathering to its feet in a standing ovation. Perhaps the assembled media elite had forgotten that it was the mainstream U.S. media – particularly The Washington Post and The New York Times – that popularized the phrase “fake news” and directed it blunderbuss-style not only at the few Web sites that intentionally invent stories to increase their clicks but at independent-minded journalism outlets that have dared question the elite’s groupthinks on issues of war, peace and globalization. The Black List Professional journalistic skepticism toward official claims by the U.S. government — what you should expect from reporters — became conflated with “fake news.” The Post even gave front-page attention to an anonymous group called PropOrNot that published a black list of 200 Internet sites, including Consortiumnews.com and other independent-minded journalism sites, to be shunned. But the mainstream media stars didn’t like it when Trump began throwing the “fake news” slur back at them. Thus, the First Amendment lapel pins and the standing ovation for Jeff Mason’s repudiation of the “fake news” label. Yet, as the glitzy White House Correspondents Dinner demonstrated, mainstream journalists get the goodies of prestige and money while the real truth-tellers are almost always outspent, outgunned and cast out of the mainstream. Indeed, this dwindling band of honest people who are both knowledgeable and in position to expose unpleasant truths is often under mainstream attack, sometimes for unrelated personal failings and other times just for rubbing the powers-that-be the wrong way. Perhaps, the clearest case study of this up-is-down rewards-and-punishments reality was the Iraq War’s WMD rationale. Nearly across the board, the American political/media system – from U.S. intelligence analysts to the deliberative body of the U.S. Senate to the major U.S. news organizations – failed to ascertain the truth and indeed actively helped disseminate the falsehoods about Iraq hiding WMDs and even suggested nuclear weapons development. (Arguably, the “most trusted” U.S. government official at the time, Secretary of State Colin Powell, played a key role in selling the false allegations as “truth.”) Not only did the supposed American “gold standard” for assessing information – the U.S. political, media and intelligence structure – fail miserably in the face of fraudulent claims often from self-interested Iraqi opposition figures and their neoconservative American backers, but there was minimal accountability afterwards for the “professionals” who failed to protect the public from lies and deceptions. Profiting from Failure Indeed, many of the main culprits remain “respected” members of the journalistic establishment. For instance, The New York Times’ Pentagon correspondent Michael R. Gordon, who was the lead writer on the infamous “aluminum tubes for nuclear centrifuges” story which got the ball rolling for the Bush administration’s rollout of its invade-Iraq advertising campaign in September 2002, still covers national security for the Times – and still serves as a conveyor belt for U.S. government propaganda. The Washington Post’s editorial page editor Fred Hiatt, who repeatedly informed the Post’s readers that Iraq’s secret possession of WMD was a “flat-fact,” is still the Post’s editorial page editor, one of the most influential positions in American journalism. Hiatt’s editorial page led a years-long assault on the character of former U.S. Ambassador Joseph Wilson for the offense of debunking one of President George W. Bush’s claims about Iraq seeking yellowcake uranium from Niger. Wilson had alerted the CIA to the bogus claim before the invasion of Iraq and went public with the news afterwards, but the Post treated Wilson as the real culprit, dismissing him as “a blowhard” and trivializing the Bush administration’s destruction of his wife’s CIA career by outing her (Valerie Plame) in order to discredit Wilson’s Niger investigation. At the end of the Post’s savaging of Wilson’s reputation and in the wake of the newspaper’s accessory role in destroying Plame’s career, Wilson and Plame decamped from Washington to New Mexico. Meanwhile, Hiatt never suffered a whit – and remains a “respected” Washington media figure to this day. Careerist Lesson The lesson that any careerist would draw from the Iraq case is that there is almost no downside risk in running with the pack on a national security issue. Even if you’re horrifically wrong — even if you contribute to the deaths of some 4,500 U.S. soldiers and hundreds of thousands of Iraqis — your paycheck is almost surely safe. The same holds true if you work for an international agency that is responsible for monitoring issues like chemical weapons. Again, the Iraq example offers a good case study. In April 2002, as President Bush was clearing away the few obstacles to his Iraq invasion plans, Jose Mauricio Bustani, the head of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons [OPCW], sought to persuade Iraq to join the Chemical Weapons Convention so inspectors could verify Iraq’s claims that it had destroyed its stockpiles. The Bush administration called that idea an “ill-considered initiative” – after all, it could have stripped away the preferred propaganda rationale for the invasion if the OPCW verified that Iraq had destroyed its chemical weapons. So, Bush’s Undersecretary of State for Arms Control John Bolton, a neocon advocate for the invasion of Iraq, pushed to have Bustani deposed. The Bush administration threatened to withhold dues to the OPCW if Bustani, a Brazilian diplomat, remained. It now appears obvious that Bush and Bolton viewed Bustani’s real offense as interfering with their invasion scheme, but Bustani was ultimately taken down over accusations of mismanagement, although he was only a year into a new five-year term after having been reelected unanimously. The OPCW member states chose to sacrifice Bustani to save the organization from the loss of U.S. funds, but – in so doing – they compromised its integrity, making it just another agency that would bend to big-power pressure. “By dismissing me,” Bustani said, “an international precedent will have been established whereby any duly elected head of any international organization would at any point during his or her tenure remain vulnerable to the whims of one or a few major contributors.” He added that if the United States succeeded in removing him, “genuine multilateralism” would succumb to “unilateralism in a multilateral disguise.” The Iran Nuclear Scam Something similar happened regarding the International Atomic Energy Agency in 2009 when Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and the neocons were lusting for another confrontation with Iran over its alleged plans to build a nuclear bomb. According to U.S. embassy cables from Vienna, Austria, the site of IAEA’s headquarters, American diplomats in 2009 were cheering the prospect that Japanese diplomat Yukiya Amano would advance U.S. interests in ways that outgoing IAEA Director General Mohamed ElBaradei wouldn’t; Amano credited his election to U.S. government support; Amano signaled he would side with the United States in its confrontation with Iran; and he stuck out his hand for more U.S. money. In a July 9, 2009, cable, American chargé Geoffrey Pyatt said Amano was thankful for U.S. support of his election. “Amano attributed his election to support from the U.S., Australia and France, and cited U.S. intervention with Argentina as particularly decisive,” the cable said. The appreciative Amano informed Pyatt that as IAEA director-general, he would take a different “approach on Iran from that of ElBaradei” and he “saw his primary role as implementing safeguards and UNSC [United Nations Security Council] Board resolutions,” i.e. U.S.-driven sanctions and demands against Iran. Amano also discussed how to restructure the senior ranks of the IAEA, including elimination of one top official and the retention of another. “We wholly agree with Amano’s assessment of these two advisors and see these decisions as positive first signs,” Pyatt commented. In return, Pyatt made clear that Amano could expect strong U.S. financial assistance, stating that “the United States would do everything possible to support his successful tenure as Director General and, to that end, anticipated that continued U.S. voluntary contributions to the IAEA would be forthcoming. Amano offered that a ‘reasonable increase’ in the regular budget would be helpful.” What Pyatt made clear in his cable was that one IAEA official who was not onboard with U.S. demands had been fired while another who was onboard kept his job. Pandering to Israel Pyatt learned, too, that Amano had consulted with Israeli Ambassador Israel Michaeli “immediately after his appointment” and that Michaeli “was fully confident of the priority Amano accords verification issues.” Michaeli added that he discounted some of Amano’s public remarks about there being “no evidence of Iran pursuing a nuclear weapons capability” as just words that Amano felt he had to say “to persuade those who did not support him about his ‘impartiality.’” In private, Amano agreed to “consultations” with the head of the Israeli Atomic Energy Commission, Pyatt reported. (It is ironic indeed that Amano would have secret contacts with Israeli officials about Iran’s alleged nuclear weapons program, which never yielded a single bomb, when Israel possesses a large and undeclared nuclear arsenal.) In a subsequent cable dated Oct. 16, 2009, the U.S. mission in Vienna said Amano “took pains to emphasize his support for U.S. strategic objectives for the Agency. Amano reminded ambassador [Glyn Davies] on several occasions that he was solidly in the U.S. court on every key strategic decision, from high-level personnel appointments to the handling of Iran’s alleged nuclear weapons program. “More candidly, Amano noted the importance of maintaining a certain ‘constructive ambiguity’ about his plans, at least until he took over for DG ElBaradei in December” 2009. In other words, Amano was a bureaucrat eager to bend in directions favored by the United States and Israel regarding Iran’s nuclear program. Amano’s behavior surely contrasted with how the more independent-minded ElBaradei resisted some of Bush’s key claims about Iraq’s supposed nuclear weapons program, correctly denouncing some documents as forgeries. The world’s public got its insight into the Amano scam only because the U.S. embassy cables were among those given to WikiLeaks by Pvt. Bradley (now Chelsea) Manning, for which Manning received a 35-year prison sentence (which was finally commuted by President Obama before leaving office, with Manning now scheduled to be released in May – having served nearly seven years in prison). It also is significant that Geoffrey Pyatt was rewarded for his work lining up the IAEA behind the anti-Iranian propaganda campaign by being made U.S. ambassador to Ukraine where he helped engineer the Feb. 22, 2014 coup that overthrew elected President Viktor Yanukovych. Pyatt was on the infamous “fuck the E.U.” call with U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for European Affairs Victoria Nuland weeks before the coup as Nuland handpicked Ukraine’s new leaders and Pyatt pondered how “to midwife this thing.” Rewards and Punishments The existing rewards-and-punishments system, which punishes truth-tellers and rewards those who deceive the public, has left behind a thoroughly corrupted information structure in the United States and in the West, in general. Across the mainstream of politics and media, there are no longer the checks and balances that have protected democracy for generations. Those safeguards have been washed away by the flood of careerism. The situation is made even more dangerous because there also exists a rapidly expanding cadre of skilled propagandists and psychological operations practitioners, sometimes operating under the umbrella of “strategic communications.” Under trendy theories of “smart power,” information has become simply another weapon in the geopolitical arsenal, with “strategic communications” sometimes praised as the preferable option to “hard power,” i.e. military force. The thinking goes that if the United States can overthrow a troublesome government by exploiting media/propaganda assets, deploying trained activists and spreading selective stories about “corruption” or other misconduct, isn’t that better than sending in the Marines? While that argument has the superficial appeal of humanitarianism – i.e., the avoidance of armed conflict – it ignores the corrosiveness of lies and smears, hollowing out the foundations of democracy, a structure that rests ultimately on an informed electorate. Plus, the clever use of propaganda to oust disfavored governments often leads to violence and war, as we have seen in targeted countries, such as Iraq, Syria and Ukraine. Wider War Regional conflicts also carry the risk of wider war, a danger compounded by the fact that the American public is fed a steady diet of dubious narratives designed to rile up the population and to give politicians an incentive to “do something.” Since these American narratives often deviate far from a reality that is well known to the people in the targeted countries, the contrasting storylines make the finding of common ground almost impossible. If, for instance, you buy into the Western narrative that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad gleefully gases “beautiful babies,” you would tend to support the “regime change” plans of the neoconservatives and liberal interventionists. If, however, you reject that mainstream narrative – and believe that Al Qaeda and its friendly regional powers may be staging chemical attacks to bring the U.S. military in on their “regime change” project – you might favor a political settlement that leaves Assad’s fate to the later judgment of the Syrian people. Similarly, if you accept the West’s storyline about Russia invading Ukraine and subjugating the people of Crimea by force – while also shooting down Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 for no particular reason – you might support aggressive countermoves against “Russian aggression,” even if that means risking nuclear war. If, on the other hand, you know about the Nuland-Pyatt scheme for ousting Ukraine’s elected president in 2014 and realize that much of the other anti-Russian narrative is propaganda or disinformation – and that MH-17 might well have been shot down by some element of Ukrainian government forces and then blamed on the Russians [see here and here] – you might look for ways to avoid a new and dangerous Cold War. Who to Trust? But the question is: whom to trust? And this is no longer some rhetorical or philosophical point about whether one can ever know the complete truth. It is now a very practical question of life or death, not just for us as individuals but as a species and as a planet. The existential issue before us is whether – blinded by propaganda and disinformation – we will stumble into a nuclear conflict between superpowers that could exterminate all life on earth or perhaps leave behind a radiated hulk of a planet suitable only for cockroaches and other hardy life forms. You might think that with the stakes so high, the people in positions to head off such a catastrophe would behave more responsibly and professionally. But then there are events like Saturday night’s White House Correspondents Dinner with self-important media stars puffing about with their First Amendment pins. And there’s President Trump’s realization that by launching missiles and talking tough he can buy himself some political space from the Establishment (even as he sells out average Americans and kills some innocent foreigners). Those realities show that seriousness is the farthest thing from the minds of Washington’s insiders. It’s just too much fun – and too profitable in the short-term – to keep playing the game and hauling in the goodies. If and when the mushroom clouds appear, these careerists can turn to the cameras and blame someone else. Investigative reporter Robert Parry broke many of the Iran-Contra stories for The Associated Press and Newsweek in the 1980s. You can buy his latest book, America’s Stolen Narrative, either in print here or as an e-book (from Amazon and barnesandnoble.com). |
During a campaign trail town hall at Keene State College, Hillary Clinton said the Australian gun ban was “worth considering” in the U.S. Yet when the NRA highlighted Clinton’s statement, PolitiFact said the NRA’s claim was “mostly false.” Here is a video of Clinton’s Keene State town hall. At the 1:43 mark she follows her own comments on Australia’s gun ban by saying, “I think it worth considering doing it on the national level, if that could be arranged.” PolitiFact admits that “Australia banned semi-automatic and self-loading rifles as well as shotguns. The government offered a one-year grace period during which it would buy back the firearms at fair-market prices.” They also admit that those who refused to turn in their guns during the “grace period” became “subject to strict penalties” if caught with the firearm later. In other words–the buyback was not voluntary. Australians had up to a year to turn in their guns, thereafter those who possessed them were criminalized. Yet even after admitting this, PolitiFact points to the fact that Clinton also mentioned “Cash for Clunkers” while speaking at Keene State–and because “Cash for Clunkers” was a voluntary program, they suggest Clinton was talking about a voluntary national-buyback. They quoted Clinton spokesman Josh Schwerin, who said, “Of course Hillary does not support national mandatory gun buyback programs, including those modeled after Australia’s program. She was discussing voluntary buyback programs, which are drastically different than what occurred in Australia and are regularly run by cities across the America.” But the irony is lost on the NRA and others who watched the Keen State town hall. After all, Clinton’s statement that Australia’s gun ban is “worth considering” came about a minute after “Australia’s a good example, Canada’s a good example, the UK is a good example” of how “stricter gun laws” were implemented following a high profile gun crime. AWR Hawkins is the Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com. |
The principle of enantiadromia says that culminating processes revert into their opposite like a yin-yang. This is a force that's certainly at work in Venezuela today as the Bolivarian Revolution, which promised deepening democracy becomes a dictatorship. At the Turning Point: An Open Letter to my Chavista Friends by Clifton Ross Dear Chavista friends, In 2005 when I was invited to participate in the World Poetry Festival of Venezuela I offered my solidarity with the Bolivarian Revolution and I asked for yours to help us fight the murderous policies of the illegitimate President George W. Bush who had illegally declared war on the people of Iraq just two years before. I stayed on in Venezuela, reporting on the process at my own expense; and out of my own resources and my love for Venezuela and its people, I made a movie in favor of the Bolivarian Revolution to build greater solidarity between Venezuela and the world. Given the changes that have occurred in Venezuela in the intervening years, I have come to reevaluate my loyalties and gradually I have come to make a decision to stand in solidarity with the majority of Venezuelans who now oppose the Bolivarian government. That is to say, I join my energies, my hopes and my aspirations with those who are out in the streets, day after day, fighting what has now become a parody, a caricature of that project I once supported. There are several reasons for my change of heart, and they all concern the very negative turns the Bolivarian government has taken over the past decade, abandoning its own project and betraying its own ideals. They warrant some explanation because, as I see it, I only turned my back on the Bolivarian Revolution when the Bolivarian government turned its back on the Venezuelan people. Do you remember that phrase? It was on everyone’s lips when I lived in Venezuela in 2005-2006, and it was viewed as the core principle of the Bolivarian Revolution. As Venezuelan sociologist Dr. Margarita López Maya later explained to me, “liberal democracy, left to itself, becomes elitist” and the brilliance of Chávez was to try to complement this form of democracy with direct and participatory democracies. What happened to that promise to “deepen democracy”? In 2007, Chávez proposed a referendum that would turn the country towards socialism. The referendum failed, but he refused to obey the will of the Venezuelan people and instead pushed it through with a series of laws , including one that replaced “participatory and protagonistic democracy” with “people’s democracy” or “popular power.” Things have only gotten worse for any form of democracy in Venezuela since, but especially recently under Maduro with the blocking of the referendum and the “postponement” of gubernatorial elections in 2016, and now a rush constitutional convention being pushed through without a consultation of the people. This latter, approved by the Chavista-controlled Supreme Tribunal of Justice in Sentence 378, has divided Chavistas who support democracy and those who are now favoring dictatorship since the ruling “eliminates participatory and protagonistic democracy,” according to Chavista Fiscal General (Attorney General) Luisa Ortega. The lesson should be clear: in large scale democracies, without the framework of a representative democracy, none of the other democracies can be democratic. This should have been the clear lesson of the Socialist-Communist projects of the 20th century. Socialist “people’s democracy” or “popular power” neither represents the people in terms of their individual votes, carried out in secret, much less involves those people “directly” as “protagonists,” nor does it engage them to “participate” in any meaningful sense in the running of their nation. We’ll return to this point later. This was one of the most hopeful ideas that Chávez proposed: building up the internal economy of the country and making it, among other things, more food secure and independent. This would have been the first step toward industrial and then technological development, since this was the progression (agriculture, industry, technology) of development of, not only the United Kingdom and the USA, but also China, Japan, South Korea, India, Brazil and other countries. When Chávez came to power, 65% of what Venezuelans consumed was imported. Today that number is more like 90%. In a twelve-year period until 2012 (the government has virtually quit releasing economic data over the past 5 years or so) imports increased over 300%. And this wasn’t simply a “failure” (although it was that), but the result of policies of Chávez and Maduro with currency and price controls that destroyed national production; the expropriation of productive farms and turning them over to non-productive forces; the irresponsibility, ineptitude, corruption and impunity around the importation of agricultural inputs (seeds, fertilizers, pesticides, etc); and putting control of agricultural production under the government which has proven itself incapable of carrying out its duties with any kind of efficiency whatever. Rather than moving forward with “endogenous development,” Venezuela has destroyed its national industries, both state- and privately owned and this has also forced the government to “double down on imports.” But why? Could it be that currency and price controls offered more opportunities to the Boliburgos and Bolichicos for corruption, embezzlement, “bachaqueo,” currency arbitrage, etc. etc.? From the perspective of this corrupt elite that fattens itself at the top of the national pyramid, “good” policies are those they profit from; what does it matter to them what those policies do to the country and the people lower down the food chain? And this leads us to the next point: Perhaps you’ve read that statement Chávez made in 1992 just a day before his coup attempt when he said that military in the tradition of the Liberating Army of Simon Bolívar “can’t remain indifferent to…the immense level of corruption that plagues all spheres of our country, the great number of privileges that some have, the absence of punishment for those we all know are culpable of having improperly enriched themselves with public money…” and so on. You need to ask yourself if you’ve ever seen such corruption as what exists today in Venezuela. I remember, all those years when Chávez was president all my Chavista friends repeated the same verity: “Chávez is pure: it’s just that all those around him are corrupt.” Now all those who were around him are in control. Have they magically stopped being corrupt? I leave that question with you, but Transparency International ranks the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela under the Bolivarian Revolution among the ten most corrupt countries of the world. According to Chavistas, Chávez undertook an anti-imperialist project—but did he really? Certainly the rhetoric of this government has been anti-imperialist, but the “Empire” remains Venezuela’s number one trading partner as it receives 43% of Venezuela’s exports and supplies 29% of its imports (including refined petroleum which, due to the dire state to which PDVSA has fallen under this government. According to Venezuelan National Assembly member Tamara Adrian, Venezuela no longer is able to produce its high octane gas, and it also imports 60% of its lower octane gas—both from refineries in Louisiana.). But the surrender of its other minerals to Chinese, Russian and Canadian corporations, the relinquishing of a huge swath of ecologically sensitive territory, inhabited by indigenous people, known as the Arco Minero; the turning over control of intelligence and other sensitive military, educational, health and other sectors to Cubans; housing built by Iran and China and so forth, rather than by Venezuelans, all this raises the urgent question: What sort of “anti-imperialism” is this? Certainly there seems to be a stronger argument that Venezuela has never been as indebted to, and dependent on, empires as it has become under the Bolivarian Revolution. I recall when I lived in Mérida, Venezuela in late 2005 watching Chávez on television declaring Venezuela “territory free from illiteracy.” But what do the facts show? Well, probably a lot, but since 2013 the Bolivarian government has not been releasing them, or at least statistical information on economic and social performance. And what it put out before that, as in the case of the 2005 claim Chávez made on illiteracy, was not always reliable. According to a September 14, 2013 article, “Olga Ramos, coordinator of the Venezuelan Education Watch, upon comparing the 2001 and 2011 census outcomes, significantly noted ‘using data of both census, we found that the illiteracy rate remains the same…” Olga isn’t alone in arguing that “the government party, has misrepresented statistics,” in this case, on the literacy rate. Even as early as 2007 the “late researcher Jose Luis Salomon did the math” and came to very interesting conclusions. He said that “"Mission Robinson was launched on July 7, 2003, and by October 28 of that same year, according to [then Minister of Education Aristóbulo] Istúriz, it had already made 1,202,025 Venezuelans literate. In just 15 weeks? 80,135 persons became literate each week? 11,448 per day? 20.2% more than the program's target?” So what has been the real impact of the educational “Missions” in Venezuela? We won’t know until a democratic government that is accountable to the people it represents, one that produces and releases reliable information on its activities, comes to power in Venezuela. What happened to the billions and billions of dollars that came into Chávez’s hands that he claimed to be using to eliminate poverty? We know at least $475 billion dollars—and that’s according to former Chávistas like Hector Navarro, Jorge Giordani, Nicmer Evans and others—was stolen and funneled into private accounts in foreign banks. That’s a very peculiar sort of 21st Century Socialism, don’t you think? One that privatizes the national wealth—and that not even by sales, but by pure robbery. The Missions came and went and were never audited. We don’t know, except from what the government propaganda said, what they actually accomplished, but did they eliminate poverty? Did they eliminate hunger, disease and misery? Before 1998, when oil was under $20 per barrel, did you see Venezuelans eating out of the garbage? Waiting in long lines to buy food? Spending their month’s wages to eat for less than one week—if, that is, they were careful? And this is happening when oil prices are more than double, nearly triple what they were when Chávez came to power. While the government releases no figures on poverty, the ENCOVI (National Poll on the Living Conditions in Venezuela) report, put together by Venezuela’s top three universities, put the poverty rate at 82%. For English readers, an excellent review of the report is found here by economist Frank Muci. It would take more pages and tax your patience to enumerate the other failures such as in healthcare, which even by 2011 was a disaster and today is in collapse; Food supply scandals involving the military and the CLAPS and the use of food as weapon against the opposition; the out-of-control violence that shot up under Chávez and made Caracas the most violent city in the world, and so on and on. The yawning gap between objectives and results, rhetoric and reality, aspirations and the filthy, grimy inhumane outcomes, represent the supreme irony, the most extreme turn of events, so great that it qualifies as an “enantiadromia” (literally, “backwards running course”)—a term dating back to Heraclitus and used by Carl Jung to describe a psychological condition in which a person reaching a culminating point turns into his or her own opposite. The Chinese yin-yang served as a symbol of this process which often occurs in politics where a liberator, on coming to power, attempts to impose himself on a people as a dictator—does that sound familiar? When I was in Venezuela in 2005 the country had just experienced two very undemocratic attempts to overthrow Hugo Chávez: the coup of April 11, 2002 and the oil strike or lockout later that year. That opposition was pulverized in the Referendum of 2004 and even though they renounced those tactics thereafter, they have been qualified as “golpistas” ever since. Strangely enough, Chavistas, who denounce them with that term, celebrate Chávez’s own coup attempt (1992) every February 4th. But the worst coup against democracy has taken place under Maduro, who utterly ignores the will of the people: in December 2015 when Venezuelans chose the Opposition to fill the seats of the National Assembly his government refused to allow the National Assembly to carry out its constitutionally mandated functions; it blocked a referendum on his presidency for all of 2016; it illegally called off the gubernatorial elections of December 2016; it has politically “disabled” (deshabilitó) opposition politicians, or refused to recognize their elections; it has prevented peaceful protests and attacked protestors with tear gas, water cannons, clubs, guns and legal proceedings under military tribunals; and now it has illegally constituted a National Constitutional Assembly to rewrite the constitution without consulting the people in referendum. And these are just the most outrageous violations of the people’s will and their democracy. Meanwhile, who is out in the streets leading these demonstrations for the restoration of democracy? None other than the “golpista” opposition. Clearly, by every measure, indeed, by Chávez’s own stated objectives, the Bolivarian Revolution has failed. Not only has it failed, but it has destroyed everything fifty years of the “Democratic Revolution” of 1958 had built up. The country is in ruins, and yet some still—and this strains credulity—believe that “neoliberalism” could possibly be worse. Yes, that’s the refrain of the Chavistas, that Maduro must be supported or else “neoliberalism” will return. This claim in the context of the most devastated country of Latin America today, approaching a situation comparable only with post-earthquake Haiti, shouldn’t require a response, but it’s so pervasive that I feel required to reply to it. This refrain of “either Maduro or Neoliberalism” fits into the polarized world Chávez made of Venezuela; you know, “you’re either with me or you’re with the opposition, the ‘apátridas,’ the ‘pitiyanquis,’’ etc. What a poor world he created with that discourse. Among all the possible alternatives it came down to nothing more than the “revolution” of a bombastic caudillo whose underlings were robbing the country blind versus the “enemy.” Did he not have any greater imagination than that? Weren’t his followers more capable of greater creativity, to be able to imagine a world that was neither the kleptocracy of the Bolivarians nor the austerity of the neoliberals? Evidently not. But the people fighting in the streets certainly have more imagination and they’re definitely not fighting for “neoliberalism” as they battle the repressive forces of the state. This is one of the many great lies, or I should say, another little lie that is part of the Great Lie of the Bolivarian government. This great lie has been regurgitated recently by none other than Atilio Boron who called on Maduro to “crush” the opposition. Boron, like Maduro and some of his comrades, represents an old, decrepit dinosaur left, like those calling for the “Emergency Days of Action” on Venezuela. But just because they are dinosaurs doesn’t mean their views have become extinct. To the contrary, in Latin America, and in much of the world, they still have extraordinary power to mold opinion and shape views on the left. In their narrative, which cleaves closely to Marxist-Leninist ideology, the CIA is the cause of the current disturbances in Venezuela and the people in the street are “right-wing lackeys of the Empire” who are responsible for the violence as they attempt to overthrow the “revolution.” But this narrative is a cookie-cut story from the Cold War years that reflects nothing of Venezuelan reality, nor any reality, more than a quarter of a century after the collapse of communism. The reality of the present is much simpler and more obvious. The current protests are directed against a corrupt, brutal and repressive kleptocracy that has been starving and indebting its people to maintain itself in power and enrich a “revolutionary” elite—and Wall Street—in the process. The people in the streets are the people, not that collective abstraction of Marxist doctrine, but the students, workers of every stripe and ordinary Venezuelans who simply want decent lives under a decent government. They represent the nearly 80% of Venezuelans who want to see Nicolás Maduro step down from the presidency this year. Those who have been demonstrating now for more than two months are the vast majority and they deserve not only a hearing and our respect, but also they deserve our solidarity. They certainly have mine. * The full quote, in Spanish, is “Nosotros, como militares herederos del Ejército Libertador, no podemos permanecer indiferentes a lo que hoy sucede. El inmenso grado de corrupción que plaga todas las esferas de nuestro país, la gran cantidad de privilegios con que cuentan algunos, la falta de castigo a las personas que todos sabemos culpables de haber tomado indebidamente dineros públicos, las políticas económicas que colocan en posición deplorable a los venezolanos más sencillos, la venta a consorcios extranjeros de nuestras empresas fundamentales, la imposibilidad que tiene la gran mayoría de los venezolanos para satisfacer sus necesidades básicas, la ineficiencia del sistema y de todos los servicios públicos y en fin el desconocimiento de nuestra soberanía en todos los terrenos, nos fuerzan a tomar una acción destinada a reivindicar la democracia.” |
Mountain Projects’ self-build housing program is all about helping those who are willing to help themselves. Since the program started about 14 years ago, Mountain Projects has built 44 homes in Haywood County with hopes of expanding the program to Jackson County soon. The Self-Help Homeownership program is funded through USDA Rural development and can help people with low-to-moderate income overcome financial hurdles associated with purchasing a home. Patsy Davis, executive director of Mountain Projects, said the program not only helped build more affordable houses for people in the community, but also adds to the county’s tax base. “We’ve added several million to the county tax base and we’ve had zero foreclosures,” Davis said. Those who meet the income requirements don’t have to pay a down payment and can get a mortgage payment based on income instead of the value of their new, energy efficient, 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom home. A minimum income of $17,000 is typically required to qualify for a loan. Similar to Habitat requirements, a single person making less than $31,000 can qualify and a family of four must make less than $44,000 to qualify. Mountain Projects is currently working on building five new affordable houses on a 1.5-acre lot on Miami Drive and has plans to construct six more in the next year at a different location. Anna Rogers, self-help housing coordinator with Mountain Projects, said the cost of land is included in the cost to the homeowner. Each house on Miami Drive is on a quarter-acre lot and will be about 1,100 square feet. “We’d love to have all the houses built together, but finding enough land is the most difficult part,” Rogers said. “We would also like to have donated land so we would be able to pass the savings on to the homeowners.” Just like the Habitat for Humanity program, qualified homeowners have to put in so many hours of sweat equity into the project in exchange for a subsidized loan from the USDA. Rogers said the income levels to qualify recently changed as well, making it easier for people to get approved for this program. For example, a couple without kids both working full-time making $9 an hour couldn’t qualify under the old standards, but now they can. Even though low-income residents may apply, they still need to have a good credit score and a good rental history to qualify for the self-help program. “A lot of people are trying to do it, but there’s only a few who qualify,” Rogers said. “Credit is always one of the biggest barriers, but we work with them through it. I’ve worked with some people for two years coaching them through the hurdles and now we have them building a home.” To apply for the self-built program, call Rogers at 828.452.1447. For more information, visit www.mountainprojects.org. |
For those of you who haven’t seen my earlier post(s) I am going through each of the 30 teams and breaking down how they have drafted over the past 15 years. The other teams can be found here: To make this post I went through all of the New York Islanders picks between 2000 and 2012. Many of these players were drafted but traded to other teams where they played most of their careers. Despite playing most of their careers on other teams I still used their full NHL stats for two reasons: 1) The team drafted players they believed to have potential; whether or not they fulfilled their potential on that team doesn’t necessarily matter. The important thing is that the team recognized a players true potential and the players that were selected lived up to it. 2) You could argue that they wouldn’t turn out to be the same players if they stayed on the team, and you’re probably right, but I decided to do it this way so that I could specifically focus on the teams drafting ability and not the player development. TOTAL PICK DISTRIBUTION Position Drafted GP PTS Center 19 1941 1089 LW 23 2632 952 RW 10 927 422 D 40 2142 606 G 11 403 20 Unspecified 6 0 0 Total 109 8045 3089 26 of 109 players drafted since 2000 have played 50+ games in the NHL (24%) 23 of 109 players drafted since 2000 have played 100+ games in the NHL (21%) Draftees (incl. goalies) since 2000 have played a total of 8045 games Skaters (excl. goalies) drafted since 2000 have played a total of 7642 games and accumulated 3069 points (0.40 PPG) Draftees since 2000 have an average of 31 points and 74 games played Best draft year: 2009 – John Tavares (1st), Calvin de Haan (12th), Casey Cizikas (92nd), Anders Lee (152nd) Worst draft year: 2005 – Ryan O’Marra (15th), Dustin Kohn (46th), Shea Guthrie (76th). 56 NHL games, 11 points total by 8 draftees. No draftee played more than 33 games. All Time Best Picks Forward: John Tavares Defenseman: Travis Hamonic Goaltender: Rick DiPietro Most Games Played by a Draftee: Raffi Torres (635) Most Points by a Draftee: John Tavares (401) FIRST ROUND PICKS Position Drafted GP PTS Center 5 989 662 LW 3 1617 658 RW 3 920 422 D 2 125 29 G 1 318 19 Unspecified 0 0 0 Total 14 3969 1790 12 of 14 players drafted in the 1st round have played 100+ games in the NHL (86%) First round picks have played a total of 3969 games and accumulated 1771 points (0.49 PPG) First round picks have an average of 136 points and 284 games played Notable picks: John Tavares (1st, 2009), Kyle Okposo (7th, 2006), Rick DiPietro (1st, 2000), Raffi Torres (5th, 2000), Sean Bergenheim (22nd, 2002), Joshua Bailey (9th, 2008), Nino Niederreiter (5th, 2010), Brock Nelson (30th, 2010), Ryan Strome (5th, 2011), Calvin de Haan (12th, 2009), Petteri Nokelainen (16th, 2004), Robert Nilsson (15th, 2003) SECOND ROUND PICKS Position Drafted GP PTS Center 4 68 7 LW 2 612 219 RW 1 0 0 D 5 379 118 G 1 4 0 Unspecified 0 0 0 Total 13 1063 344 3 of 13 players drafted in the 2nd round have played 100+ games in the NHL (23%) Second round picks have played a total of 1063 games and accumulated 344 points (0.32 PPG) Second round picks have an average of 29 points and 82 games played Notable picks: Blake Comeau (47th, 2004), Travis Hamonic (53rd, 2008), Jesse Joensuu (60th, 2006) THIRD ROUND PICKS Position Drafted GP PTS Center 4 525 297 LW 3 0 0 RW 1 0 0 D 4 11 1 G 1 23 0 Unspecified 1 0 0 Total 14 559 298 1 of 14 players drafted in the 3rd round have played 100+ games in the NHL (7%) Third round picks have played a total of 559 games and accumulated 298 points (0.56 PPG) Third round picks have an average of 23 points and 40 games played Notable picks: Frans Nielsen (87th, 2002) FOURTH TO NINTH ROUND PICKS Position Drafted GP PTS Center 6 359 123 LW 15 403 75 RW 5 7 0 D 29 1627 458 G 8 58 1 Unspecified 5 0 0 Total 68 2454 657 7 of 68 players drafted between the 4th and 9th rounds have played 100+ games in the NHL (10%) Fourth to ninth round picks have played 2454 games and accumulated 656 points (0.27 PPG) Fourth to ninth round picks have an average of 11 points and 36 games played Notable picks: Andrew McDonald (160th, 2006), Casey Cizikas (92nd, 2009), Matt Martin (148th, 2008), Bruno Gervais (182nd, 2003), Jared Spurgeon (156th, 2008), Anders Lee (152nd, 2009), Chris Campoli (227th, 2004) FUN FACT The Islanders drafted Jonathan Toews younger brother, David Toews, in the third round of the 2008 draft. WHAT WE LEARNED Since the 1st overall is very different from 30th overall I used this TSN article, which estimates a player’s probability of playing 100+ NHL games based off their round selection, to determined how well a team drafted in the first round relative to their pick placement. In other words, I determined if a team drafted well or poorly in the first round by comparing their success rate to the historical league average. 1st Round Pick Position # of Picks Probability of Success 1 – 5 6 96% 6 – 10 2 74% 11 – 15 3 54% 16 – 20 1 62% 21 – 30 2 58% Between 2000 and 2012 the Islanders had more picks in the top five than any other team in the league and as a result the expectations for their first round picks are very high. The Islanders success rate of 86 percent not only topped expectations but is also the highest success rate of all teams studied (Nashville is second at 82 percent). Round Expected Success Rate Actual Success Rate 1 73 – 79% 86% 2 26 – 32% 23% 3 21 – 26% 7% 4+ 10 – 15% 10% When you think about successful Islanders first round pick John Tavares likely comes to mind. With 401 points in only 432 games played Tavares leads all draftees (since 2000) in points and points per game. Despite his success, Islanders first round picks have only accumulated 1771 points (ranks 11th) and skated in 3969 games (ranks 9th). A closer look at the data revealed that 12 of their 14 picks have played 100+ NHL games but only 6 have 100+ career points. So what are the numbers saying? On the one hand they imply that the Islanders have been a consistent and excellent at drafting in the first round while other hand suggest they’ve performed fairly poorly considering how many top five picks the Islanders have had. In an attempt to figure out the answer I noticed two things: Picks prior to 2006 have either been busts (Robert Nilsson [2003], Petteri Nokelainen [2004], Ryan O’Marra [2005]) or become third/fourth line guys where they’ve played a lot of games but aren’t known for their point production (Raffi Torres [2000], Sean Bergenheim [2002]). Most picks after 2009 have met the 100 games played mark but haven’t been in the league long enough to accomplish anything beyond that (Bailey [2008], Calvin de Haan [2009], Niederreiter [2010], Nelson [2010], Strome [2011]). What I’ve concluded from the above is that the Islanders didn’t draft particularly well in the first round prior to 2006 but their drafting since then has been excellent every single year. In the second round the Islanders have performed fairly poorly. Their success rate of 23 percent ranks just under the expected range however their average games played of 82 and average points per player of 29 rank 16th and 13th respectively. Blake Comeau and Travis Hamonic are the only two second round picks with more than 100 career points. Frans Nielsen is the only pick selected in the third round that has played more than 25 games in the NHL. Their success rate of 7 percent ranks second worst in the league, their average points of 23 ranks seventh and their average games played ranks 12th. There aren’t many positives to take away from the third round. The Islanders depth round drafting has been on par with the league average, which is a huge improvement over the third round. Their average points per player and average games per player are both the 12th best of the 19 teams studied. The Islanders have drafted a number of bottom six forwards and bottom four defensemen suggesting that they select safer picks who may be more NHL ready with a lower talent ceiling. The following chart shows how the Islanders have drafted as a whole compared to the league average: Category League Avg. Islanders Difference Draftees 106 109 +3 100+ GP 23 23 +0 100+ GP (%) 21% 21% +0% Total GP 8831 8045 -786 Skater PTS 3412 3069 -343 Skater PPG 0.40 0.40 +0.00 AVG PTS 36 31 -5 AVG GP 83 74 -9 Both the Islanders and the league average have 23 players with at least 100 games of NHL experience andthe same points per game of 0.40. The main difference between the Isles and the league average is the number of games played which has in turn resulted in less total points. Analyzing the first round revealed that the Islanders have drafted much better as of late but their recent draftees haven’t had enough time in the league to improve the teams overall average. TL;DR – The Islanders have had the most top five picks since 2000 and still beat expectations with the highest first round success rate of all teams (86%). The Islanders have drafted below average in the second round, very poorly in the third round, and just below average in the depth rounds. After drafting poorly in the early 2000’s the Islanders have improved significantly since 2006 and their recent draftees should help improve the teams overall numbers. The Islanders should be positioned below the middle of the pack but well above the bottom five in my final rankings. Advertisements |
Microsoft, you’ve set a dangerous precedent by allowing EA to operate it’s “Origin” platform through Xbox Live. This needs to stop before it gets out of hand. Let’s take a look at exactly what’s happening: Microsoft charges a subscription fee for Xbox players to take advantage of Xbox Live (XBL) – the multiplayer gaming service which showed the world what console multiplayer gaming could be, before mainstream multiplayer gaming took off. Players have to pay Microsoft for an XBL subscription if they want to be able to play multiplayer games with friends. Origin is like Steam; it’s EA’s attempt at a digital distribution platform, and while it doesn’t currently require a subscription to use, it requires that players have an independent Origin account, and EA can force players to pay in order to play multiplayer games in some circumstances. Origin really launched on consoles when the EA-published Battlefield 3 launched. When you put Battlefield 3 into your console for the first time to play multiplayer, you have to create an Origin account, then login with that account to play any form of multiplayer. What’s more, EA requires that you have a ‘battlepass’ to play. A battlepass is a code that comes inside of a game like Battlefield 3 – it’s one-time-use and console-specific. If I lend Battlefield 3 to a friend (or sell it used to someone), they can’t use the original battlepass; they are required to pay $10 to purchase a new one in order to play Battlefield 3 online. This is completely unacceptable given that players already have to pay a monthly subscription to Microsoft in order to play any multiplayer game. Specifically, we’re paying Microsoft to make the entire multiplayer experience seamless. Being required to either own a battlepass (which means buying a game new, or paying $10 for a new pass) to play certain titles is insane. Being required to create a new account that’s independent of XBL and then login with that account within an XBL title is the opposite of seamless. If EA can charge us for a battlepass to play, why are we paying Microsoft? If Microsoft wants to keep our money, they need to stop this practice before too many people ask this question and turn their heads over to Sony, whose multiplayer platform, Playstation Network, is free to use. Microsoft might not realize it, but if they keep this up, they are slowly ceding power to game publishers (not developers, mind you), and this means slowly losing control of the XBL the platform. As a paying XBL customer and gamer, Origin as a meta-service is incredibly annoying. I mentioned how I’m paying Microsoft an XBL subscription to make multiplayer gaming seamless, but I see no respect for that concept from Microsoft’s decision to let Origin operate as it does inside of XBL. I purchased Battlefield 3 on launch-day. The battlepass was included. I also pay Microsoft monthly for an XBL subscription to let me play the multiplayer portion of the game. Say I want to take Battlefield 3 to a friend’s house to play with him on his Xbox. Even if my friend is a paying XBL member, we cannot play Battlefield 3 multiplayer on an Xbox that does not have a battlepass. Even if I brought my gamertag to my friend’s house on a memory stick and signed in with my own XBL subscription, we will still be barred from playing Battlefield 3 multiplayer because we haven’t payed for an additional battlepass. This is complete bullshit. I bought the game at retail, we both pay for the service, we both own an Xbox, and yet Microsoft is allowing a meta-service to block me from playing a game on the XBL platform. This is like BMW preventing anyone but the owner from driving their cars. No… this goes further than that – this is like BMW preventing anyone but the owner from driving the car AND preventing even the owner from driving the car if a friend payed for the gas. Let’s not also forget that the battlepass will presumably be required for each individual game. So even if I have a Battlfield 3 battlepass, I’ll need to buy a Battlefield: Bad Company 2 battlepass if I buy that game used and want to play it online – and so on for every game that EA publishes with Origin attached. Considering how huge of a publisher EA is, this move is going to hurt the used-games market and take money out of the pockets of already strapped-for-cash gamers. If you ask me, they should be working to eliminate piracy rather than finding ways to get more money out of legitimate customers – after all, each pirated game is worth six battlepasses at full retail price. Of course, all of this is EA’s attempt to stifle 'lost’ profit from games that are sold used. Anyone who buys Battlefield 3 used will have to pay EA $10 for a new battlepass if they want to play online (assuming the battlepass that originally shipped with the game has already been used) in addition to their XBL subscription. As a subscriber to XBL, I expect Microsoft to actively protect me from this sort of annoyance and meta-fees. So far they haven’t lifted a finger. So Microsoft, I’m starting to wonder what I’m paying you for at all if you are allowing this sort of behavior to go on within your own multiplayer service. You’d better do something before people start asking the same question. Your move. |
One Irish good news story from the Olympics will be celebrated with a dinghy flotilla and public reception, as silver medallist Annalise Murphy is welcomed home. One Irish good news story from the Olympics will be celebrated with a dinghy flotilla and public reception, as silver medallist Annalise Murphy is welcomed home. Events are being prepared at Dun Laoghaire's National Yacht Club, which has been Annalise's base for the years of preparation leading up to her silver medal victory. Dun Laoghaire Council is also hosting a public reception in the town's People's Park on Thursday evening after Annalise is 'sailed ashore' by a fleet of young dinghy sailors. National Club commodore Larry Power said yesterday that all the sailors in Dun Laoghaire are "tremendously proud" of the Dublin sailor who brought herself back from a fourth place in the London Olympics to come second to Holland's Marit Bouwmeester at Guanabara Bay in Rio de Janeiro on Tuesday. "Everyone is truly delighted and it was a superb performance. Annalise has the most fantastic focus and concentration. "She has an excellent coach in Rory Fitzpatrick from the Irish Sailing Association. They spent something like 100 days in Brazil preparing. "All the clubs in Dun Laoghaire are coming together and we hope all the young sailors will be out on Thursday to welcome Annalise home. "We all share her view that this is not an elitist sport and the message Annalise wants to get out is that this is a great sport for young people and hopefully many more will follow her." Mr Power said that the boat Annalise sailed was, like all the others in the race, a boat provided by the organisers and will not be coming back with Annalise. "They all are given new boats as it keeps costs down and they are usually sold off afterwards. They did bring out practice boats but they all sail the boats provided on the day." However, some sailors believe that the boat Annalise sailed should be bought and brought back to Ireland to mark the first silver medal by an Irish female sailor, and the first since David Wilkins and James Wilkinson from Dublin won silver in the 1980 Olympics in Russia. Read more: 'People are going to have to wrestle it off me': Annalise Murphy doesn't ever want to take off her silver medal Annalise's mother, Cathy, sailed in the 1988 Olympics. Sailing commentator WM Nixon is calling for the boat Annalise sailed to be acquired and brought to Ireland because of the significance of her achievement. Writing in Afloat magazine, he said: "How about bringing Annalise's Rio Laser home for permanent display in the National Maritime Museum? It could usefully show visitors one of the greatest sailing dinghy designs of all time, and it would commemorate a great Irish sailing success. Then too, it would be very useful to have that little boat around the place when the National Yacht Club (founded 1870) celebrates its Sesquicentennial in 2020, when we can only hope that Irish sailing will be having as good a time at the Tokyo Olympics, seeking fair play for a minority sport from a small country, as they did in Rio." Dun Laoghaire Rathdown Cathaoirleach Cormac Devlin said the council is preparing a "family-friendly event" for Annalise, her family and team at the People's Park at 6pm on Thursday. He said: "It is a great privilege for any sports person to represent their county, but to go on and win a medal must be one of the proudest days of their lives. "On behalf of all the citizens of Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County, I want to congratulate and praise Annalise for her tremendous skill and determination shown in the Laser Radial race in Rio. "Her dedication and passion for sailing has paid off and we are immensely proud of her achievements to date. I believe it is only right and proper that members of the public and members of her sailing club, the National Yacht Club, Dun Laoghaire, will come together to host a celebration in honour of our Olympic hero's homecoming. "Dun Laoghaire, as a coastal town, has a long and illustrious sailing tradition and Annalise's success, the first for Ireland in sailing in 36 years, is one they'll cherish for generations to come." Sunday Independent |
By Chris Hedges Donald Trump’s ideological vacuum, the more he is isolated and attacked, is being filled by the Christian right. This Christianized fascism, with its network of megachurches, schools, universities and law schools and its vast radio and television empire, is a potent ally for a beleaguered White House. The Christian right has been organizing and preparing to take power for decades. If the nation suffers another economic collapse, which is probably inevitable, another catastrophic domestic terrorist attack or a new war, President Trump’s ability to force the Christian right’s agenda on the public and shut down dissent will be dramatically enhanced. In the presidential election, Trump had 81 percent of white evangelicals behind him. Trump’s moves to restrict abortion, defund Planned Parenthood, permit discrimination against LGBT people in the name of “religious liberty” and allow churches to become active in politics by gutting the Johnson Amendment, along with his nominations of judges championed by the Federalist Society and his call for a ban on Muslim immigrants, have endeared him to the Christian right. He has rolled back civil rights legislation and business and environmental regulations. He has elevated several stalwarts of the Christian right into power—Mike Pence to the vice presidency, Jeff Sessions to the Justice Department, Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court, Betsy DeVos to the Department of Education, Tom Price to Health and Human Services and Ben Carson to Housing and Urban Development. He embraces the white supremacy, bigotry, American chauvinism, greed, religious intolerance, anger and racism that define the Christian right. Click here for a 2007 video of Chris Hedges speaking about his book “American Fascists: The Christian Right and the War on America.” More important, Trump’s disdain for facts and his penchant for magical thinking and conspiracy theories mesh well with the worldview of the Christian right, which sees itself as under attack by the satanic forces of secular humanism embodied in the media, academia, the liberal establishment, Hollywood and the Democratic Party. In this worldview, climate change is not real, Barack Obama is a Muslim and millions of people voted illegally in the 2016 election. The followers of the Christian right, like Trump and his brain trust, including Stephen Bannon, are Manicheans. They see the world in black and white, good and evil, them and us. Trump’s call in his speech in Poland for a crusade against the godless hoards of Muslims fleeing from the wars and chaos we created replicates the view of the Christian right. Christian right leaders in a sign of support went to the White House on July 10 to pray over Trump. Two days later Pat Robertson showed up there to interview the president for his Christian Broadcasting Network. If the alliance between these zealots and the government succeeds, it will snuff out the last vestiges of American democracy. On the surface it appears to be incongruous that the Christian right would rally behind a slick New York real estate developer who is a very public serial philanderer and adulterer, has no regard for the truth, is consumed by greed, does not appear to read or know the Bible, routinely defrauds and cheats his investors and contractors, expresses a crude misogyny and an even cruder narcissism and appears to yearn for despotism. In fact, these are the very characteristics that define most of the leaders of the Christian right. Trump has preyed on desperate people through the thousands of slot machines in his casinos, his sham university and his real estate deals. Megachurch pastors prey on their followers by extracting “seed offerings,” “love gifts,” tithes and donations and by selling miracle healings along with “prayer clothes,” self-help books, audio and video recordings and even protein shakes. Pastors have established within their megachurches, as Trump did in his businesses, despotic fiefdoms. They cannot be challenged or questioned any more than an omnipotent Trump could be challenged on the reality television show “The Apprentice.” And they seek to replicate their little tyrannies on a national scale, with white men in charge. The personal piety of most of the ministers who lead the Christian right is a facade. Their private lives are usually marked by hedonistic squalor that includes mansions, private jets, limousines, retinues of bodyguards, personal assistants and servants, shopping sprees, lavish vacations and sexual escapades that rival those carried out by Trump. And because they run “churches,” in many cases church funds pay for their tax-free empires, including their extravagant lifestyles. They also engage in the nepotism found in the Trump organization, elevating family members to prominent or highly paid positions and passing on the businesses to their children. The Christian right’s scandals, which give a glimpse into the sordid lives of these multimillionaire pastors, are legion. Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker’s Praise the Lord Club, for example, raked in as much as $1 million a week before Jim Bakker went to prison for nearly five years. He was convicted of fraud and other charges in 1989 because of a $158 million scheme in which followers paid for vacations that never materialized. As the Bakker empire came apart, there also were accusations of drug use and rape. Tammy Faye died in 2007, and now Jim Bakker is back, peddling survival food for the end days and telling his significantly reduced television audience that anyone who opposes Trump is the Antichrist.Paul and Jan Crouch, who gave the Bakkers their start, founded Trinity Broadcasting, the world’s largest televangelist network, now run by their son Matt and his wife, Laurie. Viewers were encouraged to call prayer counselors at the toll-free number shown at the bottom of the TV screen. It was a short step from talking with a prayer counselor to making a “love gift” and becoming a “partner” in Trinity Broadcasting and then sending in more money during one of the frequent Praise-a-Thons. The Crouches reveled in tasteless kitsch, as does Trump. They sat during their popular nightly program in front of stained glass windows that overlooked Louis XVI-inspired sets awash in gold rococo and red velvet, glittering chandeliers and a gold-painted piano. The network emblem, which Paul Crouch wore on the pocket of his blue double-breasted blazer, featured a crown, a lion, a horse, a white dove, a cross and Latin phrases among other elements. The Crouches would have been at home in Trump Tower, where the president has a faux “Trump crest”—allegedly plagiarized—and has decorated his penthouse as if it was part of Versailles. The Crouches were masters of manipulation. They exhorted viewers to send in checks for $1,000, even if they could not afford it. Write the check anyway, Paul Crouch, who died in 2013, told them, as a “step of faith” and the Lord would repay them many times over. “Do you think God would have any trouble getting $1,000 extra to you somehow?” he asked during one Praise-a-Thon broadcast. Viewers, many of whom struggled with deep despair and believed that miracles and magic alone held them back from the abyss, often found it impossible to resist this emotional pressure. Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN) is home to many of the worst charlatans in the Christian right, including the popular healer Benny Hinn, who says that Adam was a superhero who could fly to the moon and claims that one day the dead will be raised by watching TBN from inside their coffins. Hinn claims his “anointings” have cured cancer, AIDS, deafness, blindness and numerous other ailments and physical injuries. Those who have not been cured, he says, did not send in enough money. These religious hucksters are some of the most accomplished con artists in the country, a trait they share with the current occupant of the Oval Office. I wrote a book on the Christian right in 2007 called “American Fascists: The Christian Right and the War on America.” I did not use the word “fascist” lightly. I spent several hours, at the end of two years of reporting, with two of the country’s foremost scholars on fascism—Fritz Stern and Robert O. Paxton. Did this ideology fit the parameters of classical fascism? Was it virulent enough and organized enough to seize power? Would it go to the ruthless extremes of previous fascist movements to persecute and silence dissent? Has our deindustrialized society replicated the crippling despair, alienation and rage that always feed fascist movements? The evangelicalism promoted by the Christian right is very different from the evangelicalism and fundamentalism of a century ago. The emphasis on personal piety that defined the old movement, the call to avoid the contamination of politics, has been replaced by Christian Reconstructionism, called Dominionism by some. This new ideology is about taking control of all institutions, including the government, to build a “Christian” nation. Rousas John Rushdoony in his 1973 book, “The Institutes of Biblical Law,” first articulated it. Rushdoony argued that God gives the elect, just as he gave Adam and Noah, dominion over the earth to build a Christian society. Their state will come about with the physical eradication of the forces of Satan. It is the duty of the church and the elect to “rescue” the world so Christ can return. This is an ideology of death. It promises that the secular, humanist society will be physically destroyed. The Ten Commandments will form the basis of our legal system. Creationism or “Intelligent Design” will be taught in public schools. People who are considered social deviants, including homosexuals, immigrants, secular humanists, feminists, Jews, Muslims, criminals and those dismissed as “nominal Christians”—meaning Christians who do not embrace the Christian right’s perverted and heretical interpretation of the Bible—will be silenced, imprisoned or killed. The role of the federal government will be reduced to protecting property rights, “homeland” security and waging war. Church organizations will be funded and empowered by the government to run social-welfare agencies. The poor, condemned for sloth, indolence and sinfulness, will be denied government assistance. The death penalty will be expanded to include “moral crimes,” including apostasy, blasphemy, sodomy and witchcraft, as well as abortion, which will be treated as murder. Women will be subordinate to men. Those who practice other faiths will become, at best, second-class citizens and eventually outcasts. The wars in the Middle East will be defined as religious crusades against Muslims. There will be no separation of church and state. The only legitimate voices will be “Christian.” America will become an agent of God. Those who defy the “Christian” authorities will be branded as agents of Satan. Tens of millions of Americans are already hermetically sealed within this bizarre worldview. They are given a steady diet of conspiracy theories and lies on the internet, in their churches, in Christian schools and colleges and on Christian television and radio. Elizabeth Dilling, who wrote “The Red Network” and was a Nazi sympathizer, is required reading. Thomas Jefferson, who favored separation of church and state, is ignored. This Christian propaganda hails the “significant contributions” of the Confederacy. Sen. Joseph McCarthy, who led the anti-communist witch hunts in the 1950s, is rehabilitated as an American hero. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict, along with the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, Yemen, Somalia and Libya, is defined as part of the worldwide battle against satanic Islamic terror. Presently, nearly 40 percent of the U.S. public believes in Creationism or “Intelligent Design.” And nearly a third of the population, 94 million people, consider themselves evangelical.Those who remain in a reality-based universe often dismiss these malcontents as buffoons. They do not take seriously the huge segment of the public, mostly white and working class, who because of economic distress have primal yearnings for vengeance, new glory and moral renewal and are easily seduced by magical thinking. These are the yearnings and emotions Trump has exploited politically. Those who embrace this movement need to feel, even if they are not, that they are victims surrounded by dark and sinister groups bent on their destruction. They need to elevate themselves to the role of holy warriors, infused with a noble calling and purpose. They need to sanctify the rage and hypermasculinity that are the core of fascism. The rigidity and simplicity of their belief, which includes being anointed for a special purpose in life by God, are potent weapons in the fight against their own demons and desire for meaning. “Evil when we are in its power is not felt as evil but as a necessity, or even a duty,” Simone Weil wrote. These believers, like all fascists, detest the reality-based world. They condemn it as contaminated, decayed and immoral. This world took their jobs. It destroyed their future. It ruined their communities. It doomed their children. It flooded their lives with alcohol, opioids, pornography, sexual abuse, jail sentences, domestic violence, deprivation and despair. And then, from the depths of suicidal despair, they suddenly discovered that God has a plan for them. God will save them. God will intervene in their lives to promote and protect them. God has called them to carry out his holy mission in the world and to be rich, powerful and happy. The rational, secular forces, those that speak in the language of fact and evidence, are hated and feared, for they seek to pull believers back into “the culture of death” that nearly destroyed them. The magical belief system, as it was for impoverished German workers who flocked to the Nazi Party, is an emotional life raft. It is all that supports them. The only way to blunt this movement is to reintegrate these people into the economy, to give them economic stability through good wages and benefits, to restore their self-esteem. They need to live in a society that is not predatory but instead provides well-funded public schools, free university education and universal health care, a society in which they and their families can prosper. Let us not stand at the open gates of the city waiting passively for the barbarians. They are coming. They are slouching towards Bethlehem. Let us shake off our complacency and cynicism. Let us openly defy the liberal establishment, which will not save us, to demand and fight for economic reparations for the poor and the working class. Let us give all Americans a reality-based hope for the future. Time is running out. If we do not act, American fascists, clutching Christian crosses, waving American flags and orchestrating mass recitations of the pledge of allegiance, united behind the ludicrous figure of Donald Trump, will ride this rage to power. |
In an ever-growing number of states, if you crave a taco or fried chicken from a fast-food restaurant, you can pay for it with food stamps. Food stamps - known more formally as the USDA’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program - have been in use for grocery staples, such as bread and milk, since 1934, but now, for the first time, they can be used for fast food in four states across the country. The number of businesses – including convenience and discount stores, gas stations and pharmacies – that have been approved to accept food stamps has increased by a third over the course of three years from 2005 to 2010, USA Today reports, and fast-food chains are working hard to get a cut of the federal dollars in Florida, California, Arizona and Michigan. The funds allocated to the food stamp program have increased exponentially, from $28.5 billion to $64.7 billion in that same time frame, according to USA Today, and at a time when people have less money to spend, the bump in federal dollars can mean a lot to the fast-industry. Yum! Brands, based in Louisville, Ky., which operates a string of restaurants that includes Taco Bell, KFC, Long John Silver’s and Pizza Hut, are among those applying for inclusion in the food stamp program, saying that elderly, disabled and homeless people have difficulty preparing meals, ABC affiliate WHAS reported. Here’s a quick list of fast food restaurants in states that already accept food stamps for restaurant meals: Michigan: Church’s Chicken Kentucky Fried Chicken McDonald’s Subway Grandma’s Famous Chicken Eight Mile Pancake House Mr. T’s BBQ Vito’s Pizza California: Jack in the Box Subway El Pollo Loco Papa Murphy’s Pizza Florida KFC Taco Bell Pizza Hut Papa Murphy’s Pizza Arizona Domino’s Pizza Golden Corral Southern Cuisine Rally’s Hamburger |
The last time the St. Louis Blues were in the Stanley Cup Finals in 1970, they were swept away by the Boston Bruins. The knockout punch came on an overtime goal by Bobby Orr in Game 4, creating one of the most iconic images in NHL history, if not sports history. Blues fans know the image: Orr, flying through the air after just scoring the game-winning goal, his arms stretched out in his best Superman impression. Objectively speaking, it truly is an awesome picture. However, for Blues fans, its haunts their dreams at night. Conveniently, as if to rub salt in the wound, Orr will be at TD Garden in Boston on Thursday night to drop the ceremonial opening face-off before the Bruins and Blues do battle. While a Blues victory will not heal the scar of a franchise that has been annually rebuffed by the Stanley Cup since its inception 46 years ago, it will provide a temporary catharsis amidst a season where hopes of achieving the seemingly impossible feat of winning a championship are at an all-time high. If Thursday’s game were to be promoted on a movie poster, the tagline would read: What happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object? This truly does describe the feel surrounding the matchup between the Blues and Bruins on multiple levels. The Blues are off to a franchise-best 14-3-3 start to the season, while the Bruins, winners in six of their last seven games, sit atop the Eastern Conference with 29 points. For those who like to prognosticate on potential Stanley Cup matchups this early in the season, the Bruins and Blues would both be trendy picks at the moment. Hockey players and coaches love to throw the word “heavy” around to describe a physical team. For the Bruins and Blues, “heavy” is probably the most appropriate adjective there is to describe their respective styles of play. T.J. Oshie, one of those players who plays a “heavy” game, is obviously looking forward to the challenge: “I remember in the past, this is probably the most physically checking team that I’ve played,” Oshie said. “It’s not just one guy. It’s everyone and it keeps coming at you, and that’s the style that we like to play. It’s going to be intense and it’s going to be fun. When two teams with similar skills sets and styles of play meet, it is often the individual matchups that will eventually determine a victor. One such matchup that Blues fans should keep an eye on Thursday will be between David Backes and Patrice Bergeron. Backes and Bergeron are two of the top two-way forwards in the National Hockey League. Both were Selke Award finalists in 2012, with Bergeron eventually taking home the trophy. With Boston awarded the last change on home ice, expect the Bruins to match up Bergeron against the Blues top line of Alex Steen, Backes and Oshie. Finally, it looks as if Patrik Berglund will miss his third consecutive game with an upper-body injury on Thursday. Fellow Swede Magnus Paajarvi will once again take his place in the lineup. Paajarvi scored his first goal of the season and as a member of the Blues during Tuesday night’s 4-1 win against the Buffalo Sabres. TONIGHT’S PROJECTED LINEUPs: BLUES: Forwards Alexander Steen–David Backes–T.J. Oshie Brenden Morrow–Derek Roy–Chris Stewart Jaden Schwartz–Vladimir Sobotka–Vladimir Tarasenko Magnus Paajarvi–Maxim Lapierre–Ryan Reaves Defensemen Jay Bouwmeester–Alex Pietrangelo Barret Jackman–Kevin Shattenkirk Ian Cole–Roman Polak Goalie Jaroslav Halak BRUINS: Forwards Milan Lucic–David Krejci–Jarome Iginla Brad Marchand-Patrice Bergeron-Loui Eriksson Carl Soderberg–Chris Kelly–Reilly Smith Daniel Paille–Gregory Campbell–Shawn Thornton Defensemen Zdeno Chara–Dougie Hamilton Matt Bartkowski–Johnny Boychuk Torey Krug-Kevan Miller Goalie Tuukka Rask |
Advertisement Witnesses: Black man posed no threat before officer shot him Share Shares Copy Link Copy An unarmed black man who was fatally shot by a white Oklahoma police officer didn't say or do anything to suggest he posed a threat to the officers at the scene, six witnesses said during the first day of testimony in her manslaughter trial.The testimony on Wednesday contradicted Tulsa officer Betty Jo Shelby's initial account of why she shot Terence Crutcher, whose SUV had stalled in the middle of a city street. Shelby, 43, had said the 40-year-old Crutcher wasn't obeying commands and kept reaching for his pockets, and that she shot him because she thought he was reaching into his vehicle for a gun. Crutcher didn't have a gun on him or in his SUV.Prosecutors argued during their opening statement that Shelby overreacted when she shot Crutcher last September.The shooting was captured on police helicopter and dashcam video, and one of the witnesses who testified Wednesday was officer Michael Richert, who was in the helicopter above the scene. In radio chatter moments before Shelby shot Crutcher, Richert said Crutcher looked "like a bad dude" who "could be on something."Richert's statements outraged Crutcher's family, who said it indicated a racial bias.On Wednesday, Richert was among the six witnesses who testified that they weren't aware of anything Crutcher may have said or did to signal that he was a threat to the officers on the ground. He told prosecutors he "had no idea" if Crutcher was on something as he watched from above and that his comments weren't based on Crutcher's appearance."I was basing those statements on everything in the totality of the circumstances," Richert said.Richert also testified that he watched Crutcher walk away from Shelby with his hands up. He said it was highly unusual for a person to do that while not complying with commands and while an officer has a gun pointed at him, the Tulsa World reported.Shelby's attorneys have said Crutcher refused Shelby's commands to lie down during a two-minute period before police cameras recorded the shooting.Shelby also told police investigators that she believed Crutcher to be high on PCP, a powerful hallucinogenic that can make users combative and unpredictable. An autopsy found the drug in his system, and police said they recovered a vial of it in Crutcher's SUV.Testimony resumed Thursday. |
The situation was tense Thursday as four of the six Minnesotans accused of trying to leave the country and join the group ISIS appeared in federal court. There were angry outbursts and cries for justice as the suspects were ordered jailed until trial. The four men, who were arrested in Minnesota, were in court starting at 9 a.m. The other two defendants, who were arrested in San Diego, will appear in court in California on Friday. The FBI has accused the men of working over the course of 10 months to join ISIS. They said the defendants still looked for new ways to leave Minnesota to fight for the terror group — even when their co-conspirators were caught and charged. FBI agents worked with a confidential informant who told them the group of men talked about and planned to leave the United States for Syria. They said they were able to confirm that through their own investigation, including taped conversations between the informant and suspects. Approximately 200 community members — more than even the overflow area could hold — turned out for the proceedings. Their anger seemed fueled by a revelation early in the day that the friend-turned-confidential informant who has collected the most damaging evidence against the suspects has been paid $12,000 by the government. It appears the informant was close friends with the six men arrested. He has since been relocated for his safety. Though there were no arrests, one man was escorted out the federal courthouse and told not to return. Among those visibly emotional following the judge’s order was Halima, the grandmother of one of the suspects. “We need help, Somali community,” she said. “We need help.” Another observer, Farhai Abdulle, said the government should do more to prevent terror recruiting. The government Thursday argued that the evidence shows that the men were recruiting each other. An FBI agent testified that the conversations taped by the confidential informant show that even after they had been stopped from getting on planes with the intent to get to Syria and join ISIS, they kept trying. An imam explained many in the community believe the young men were set up and are innocent. “The majority of the community was expecting those young people would be released because they did not show any threat to the public safety while they were here,” Hassan Mohamud, of the Somali Dawa Center, said. Even the defense attorneys have argued in court that, before now, their clients had a clean record. The defendants, considering the seriousness of the charges they face, appeared to be in good spirits and could be seen talking and laughing with one another during breaks. |
Subsets and Splits
No community queries yet
The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.