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Ahah! Apple does have different math! From: Tom Christiansen Date: March 17, 2009 01:34 Subject: Ahah! Apple does have different math! Message ID: 26423.1237278850@chthon March 17, 2009 01:34Ahah! Apple does have different math! As some of you know, I've been wrestling with programs giving different numeric output when run on the MacBookPro than they do when run other places, and not understanding why/why-not. Damian managed to dig this up for me: http://www.mail-archive.com/gcc-bugs@gcc.gnu.org/msg208162.html Which seemed pretty familiar to my troubles, but there wasn't any action on it. Well, I've learned some things--much more than ever I wanted to. I figured I'd share this with the lot of you, especially since I can't help but wonder whether this doesn't affect the Perl build and test suites, etc. I was *sure* that MacOS did something different with floats than other x86 processors did, and it *is* so! One need but look at the comments in <float.h> to see that this truly DELIGHTFUL tidbit is true: Note: There are actually two physical floating point environments on x86. There is the one described by the x87 floating point control and status words, which applies primarily to calculations done with long double on MacOS X for Intel. There is the MXCSR which applies primarily to calculations done with scalar float, scalar double and SSE/SSE2/SSE3. The high level interface, which uses FE_ macros as int arguments So I'm not crazy, after all. (Ok, so this is evidence, not proof. :-) It's very hard (next to impossible) to guarantee the same code will do the same thing somewhere else. This is... troubling. Here now is proof positive that something is different on MacOS FP. The same trivial program, compiled with identical options, when run there says: Trying compiler constants first... f is 0.12345, rounded to 0.1235, expanded to 0.12345000356435775756835937500000000000000000000000000 d is 0.12345, rounded to 0.1235, expanded to 0.12345000000000000417443857259058859199285507202148438 ld is 0.12345, rounded to 0.1235, expanded to 0.12345000000000000000026020852139652106416178867220879 Now trying derived values... f is 0.12345, rounded to 0.1234, expanded to 0.12344999611377716064453125000000000000000000000000000 d is 0.12345, rounded to 0.1235, expanded to 0.12345000000000000417443857259058859199285507202148438 ld is 0.12345, rounded to 0.1235, expanded to 0.12345000000000000000026020852139652106416178867220879 While on a non-Apple machine, says this: Trying compiler constants first... f is 0.12345, rounded to 0.1235, expanded to 0.12345000356435775756835937500000000000000000000000000 d is 0.12345, rounded to 0.1235, expanded to 0.12345000000000000417443857259058859199285507202148438 ld is 0.12345, rounded to 0.1235, expanded to 0.12345000000000000417443857259058859199285507202148438 Now trying derived values... f is 0.12345, rounded to 0.1234, expanded to 0.12344999611377716064453125000000000000000000000000000 d is 0.12345, rounded to 0.1235, expanded to 0.12345000000000000417443857259058859199285507202148438 ld is 0.12345, rounded to 0.1235, expanded to 0.12345000000000000417443857259058859199285507202148438 [Program after sig.] Those are different numbers, different behaviors, and different sorts of "rounding". You will (almost) never get the floating point-number 0.12345 (actually, there *is* no such thing: not a reciprocal power of 2, you know) to "round towards even", because of the garbage data far out down the line, the way things get (or don't) get put into registers or coprocessors, and much else. You're at the mercy of very subtle forces largely beyond your control and understanding unless you put a *lot* of time into it. No matter what you think your rounding strategy is, stuff way out in never- never land can put you a little under or a little over what it takes to do whatever you've defined the right thing to be, and therefore, sometimes, you just aren't going to get it. Yes, I know: in double precision, or 8-byte floating point, we have only 15 decimal digits in the significand. That's all there is, and you can't wheedle or whine, weasel or whimper any more out them. That what is all that GUNK? And why are they affecting me? I believe the most polite and gentlemanly way to refer to those digits in excess of what the standard guarantees is to call them "garbage". But I can think of plenty of other words for them, and I'm sure you can, too. It seems like the only way to get reliable behaviour is to pay the big CPU-bucks for cycles and abandon all float ye who enter: $ perl -Mbigrat -le 'print(12345 / 100_000)' 2469/20000 $ perl -Mbignum=p,-65 -le 'print(12345 / 100_000)' 0.12345000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000 Did you realize that there seem to be about 7 floating-point types out there. *SEVEN* And I'm not counting Vax stuff or old stuff, either. Did you EVER have ANY idea? I sure didn't! And it gets better, because *how* these map to a float, a double, and a long double varies *considerably* amongst environments. Digits of C Type Byte Mantissa's Precision Name Size base-10 base-2 short float 2 ~3 11 float 4 6 24 double 8 ~15 53 long double: 80bit ext prec 12 or 16 18 64 binary128 16 ~34 113 Furthermore, many sources concur that long doubles--which could be quite a few different things, as you see--aren't necessarily expected nor guaranteed to behave as doubles do. Some of this is some FP reps have odd numbers of (binary) digits in their mantissa, and others have even numbers of bits. This seems pretty certain to cause otherwise identical values to round differently. For example, regarding the true quad-precision floats that IEEE 754-2008 defines, like on a PowerPC: By default, 1/3 rounds down like double precision, because of the odd number of bits in the significand. So the bits beyond the rounding point are 0101... which is less than 1/2 of a unit in the last place. Apple has plenty of its own quirks, ones you'd never normally notice. A big one seems to be what I started this message says: that MacOS on x86 uses something called x87 floating-point, while everybody else on x86 uses standard x86 FP math. But wait! There's more. On a PowerPC, a long double gets you a quad-precision "binary128" float, with 113 base-2 digits of mantissa, or ~34 decimal digits. But on x86 the same code gets merely the 80-bit "extended precision" type, only 3 decimal digits better than the old 8-byte doubles. (Painfully, these 10-byte floats never take up 10-bytes. they want 12 bytes on a 32-bit addressable system, and 16 bytes on a 64-bit one!) And sometimes these can cost you. Here's a comment from an #include file: fma() *function call* is more costly than equivalent (in-line) multiply and add operations For single and double precision, the cost isn't too bad, because we can fall back on higher precision hardware, with the necessary range to handle infinite precision products. However, expect the long double fma to be at least an order of magnitude slower than a simple multiply and an add. There are other things, too, like hardware registers with a lot more precision than you ask for; eg, imagine if all FP math were done in 80-bit FP registers, no matter what. Usually it is, in fact. Compare, and watch what happens when you try to get double-precision floating-point to produce a longer string of correct answers--and notice the one and only answer of all these which is EXACTLY CORRECT: $ perl -Mbignum=p,-65 -le 'print(8/3)' 2.66666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666667 $ perl -e 'printf("%.15f ", (8/3))' 2.666666666666667 $ perl -e 'printf("%.65f ", (8/3))' 2.66666666666666651863693004997912794351577758789062500000000000000 $ perl -Mbignum=p,-65 -le 'print(3/7)' 0.42857142857142857142857142857142857142857142857142857142857142857 $ perl -e 'printf("%.15f ", (3/7))' 0.428571428571429 $ perl -e 'printf("%.65f ", (3/7))' 0.42857142857142854763807804374664556235074996948242187500000000000 $ perl -Mbigrat -le 'print(3/7 + 5/8 + 8/3)' 625/168 $ perl -Mbignum=p,-65 -le 'print(3/7 + 5/8 + 8/3)' 3.72023809523809523809523809523809523809523809523809523809523809524 $ perl -e 'printf("%.15f ", (3/7 + 5/8 + 8/3))' 3.720238095238095 $ perl -e 'printf("%.65f ", (3/7 + 5/8 + 8/3))' 3.72023809523809489974155439995229244232177734375000000000000000000 I'm amazed that the math tests in Perl's regression test suite pass as well as they do. (Or maybe they aren't so persnickety?) Isn't that just... nifty? --tom PLATFORMS: #1 [Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 CPU 2.53GHz ("GenuineIntel" 686-class) flags : fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mtrr pge mca cmov pat pse36 clflush dts acpi mmx fxsr sse sse2 ss ht tm pbe ] OpenBSD 4.4 GENERIC#0 i386 gcc (GCC) 3.3.5 (propolice) #2 [MacBookPro] Darwin Kernel Version 9.6.0: Mon Nov 24 17:37:00 PST 2008; root:xnu-1228.9.59~1/RELEASE_I386 i386 i686-apple-darwin9-gcc-4.0.1 (GCC) 4.0.1 (Apple Inc. build 5465) BUILD OPTIONS: $ gcc -fsingle-precision-constant -ffast-math -ffloat-store -o nums nums.c && ./nums And yes, you *can* tweak those and get different answers, differently, on different machines. It doesn't change the underlying problem of things not being as they appear, or rather, being different in different places. PROGRAM: nums.c #include <stdlib.h> #include <stdio.h> /* * * 0.12345 is rationally: * * 3 * 5 * 823 * ---------- * 10 ** 5 * * Except, that's no power-of-2 reciprocal, so cannot be * exactly represented in floating-point, nor can you predict * *how* it shall be represented. So HAVE A NICE DAY! * */ main() { float f = 0.12345 ; double d = 0.12345l; long double ld = 0.12345L; printf("Trying compiler constants first... "); printf("f is %.5f, rounded to %.4f, expanded to %.53f ", f, f, f); printf("d is %.5lf, rounded to %.4lf, expanded to %.53lf ", d, d, d); printf("ld is %.5Lf, rounded to %.4Lf, expanded to %.53Lf ", ld, ld, ld); f = 12345.0 / 100000; d = 12345.0l / 100000; ld = 12345.0L / 100000; printf(" Now trying derived values... "); printf("f is %.5f, rounded to %.4f, expanded to %.53f ", f, f, f); printf("d is %.5lf, rounded to %.4lf, expanded to %.53lf ", d, d, d); printf("ld is %.5Lf, rounded to %.4Lf, expanded to %.53Lf ", ld, ld, ld); exit(0); } |
PITTSBURGH -- Sidney Crosby did not practice on Wednesday, at least not in the conventional sense. Crosby, along with Pittsburgh Penguins goalie Marc-Andre Fleury, forwards Nick Spaling and Zach Sill, and defenseman Robert Bortuzzo, surprised 40 children involved with the Little Penguins by taking the ice during a unique practice that took place after the NHL players had their turn. Crosby, the Penguins, Dick's Sporting Goods and Reebok fund the Little Penguins, a youth hockey program that provides free head-to-toe equipment to 1,000 young players each year. The Penguins captain did not participate in Pittsburgh's Wednesday practice because of a maintenance day, Penguins coach Mike Johnston said, but decided to show for the kids. "It's a great program," Crosby said. "Obviously, there are a lot of volunteers who help out, but it's nice to get a few players out here today and these kids were hopefully enjoying themselves, getting the opportunity to play, like all of us did, at the same age. So it was a nice little time here and hopefully they had fun." The 40 children, aged 4-7, received golden tickets that gave them the opportunity to attend the Penguins practice before taking the ice to partake in several drills. When the kids filtered into sections 111 to 113, between the faceoff circles at Consol Energy Center, they did not realize they would soon share the ice with some of the NHL's most skilled players. Shortly after 1 p.m., the Little Penguins, each donning a No. 87 Crosby jersey, participated in a free skate prior to their practice session. About 15 minutes later, the group was called to center ice and told to get into hockey position, down on one knee with their stick blades flat on the surface. Less than one minute after dropping to a knee, the kids raised their sticks and began tapping them down on the ice as they realized they would not be skating with their coaches alone. Crosby took the ice, with a wide grin, followed by Fleury, Bortuzzo, Spaling and Sill. Crosby made his rounds, going from each section of the rink, blocked off by pads separating the activities. An ongoing game of tag with Sill took part in the right corner, next to a skating lesson to the north with Bortuzzo instructing the players to skate, then step over a series of sticks, and two sections at mid-ice with Spaling aiding the children in games of putting that involved using the butt-end of their sticks to collide rings with small tires. "It's fun," Crosby said. "We've all been there, growing up and enjoying the game. The demand on that financially is there too. So the fact that we're able to give back and help kids who might not typically play, just to give them the opportunity. Whether they love it or not, it's an opportunity to explore a little bit and try it out, and that's really the main goal." At the far end, Crosby and Fleury stood in the middle of a mini-rink with a goal along each board. They played a scrimmage with their group before Fleury took part in a shootout. Fleury, who made a few sprawling saves to deny several children, admitted he might have taken it a bit seriously. "I have to work on my shootout, so hopefully it got a little bit better today," Fleury said. "I thought I could do all right against these guys to boost my confidence. I don't know, I got lit up a little bit. So I have to keep working on it." When Crosby was young, he had an opportunity to meet former NHL players Cam Russell and Don McLean and said he remembers his excitement. "Hopefully the kids felt the same way today with [Fleury] and the guys who came out today," Crosby said. "It was nice of them to join and there were a lot of kids out here, so we needed to get through a lot. I think, especially [Fleury] having his gear on, that was a big hit." A whistle blew roughly every 15 minutes in the hour-long practice session for the groups to switch to another activity. Crosby said he enjoys taking the ice with the children involved in the program to see them a given a chance to enjoy hockey in the way he was able to in Nova Scotia 20 years ago. "Basically just to give kids an opportunity who might not typically have the chance to play," Crosby, 27, said. "With gear being so expensive and it not being easy to find gear and ice time and stuff like that, hopefully this gives them a chance, and like I said, it doesn't happen without the volunteers and the people spending the time … but with that, we're able to create a good program here and [give] a lot of kids an opportunity to play." |
Xcel Energy said Tuesday it has shut down two of Minnesota's three nuclear reactors for what it called minor repairs. Neither plant released any radiation or posed any danger to citizens, the company said. The Monticello nuclear plant's single generating unit, which had been operating at 10 percent capacity since last weekend, was shut down because of a leaking pipe inside the plant's concrete containment structure, the company said. One of the two nuclear generators at the Prairie Island plant was shut down because its emergency diesel generators suffered exhaust leaks. "It's unusual for us to shut down both units in [the] same half day, but it's not unheard of," Xcel spokeswoman Mary Sandok said. The company is compensating by buying more electricity from other providers on the Midwest power grid, Sandok said. Although additional electricity costs are passed to ratepayers, the effect is not likely to be large enough for most to notice, she said. The 600-megawatt Monticello generator and the 550-megawatt Prairie Island unit account for 20 percent of the power Xcel generates for the Upper Midwest. Both are expected to be on again in a few days, Sandok said. The Prairie Island Indian Community expressed concern about that plant's age and condition. "Today's unplanned shutdown -- and the unusual white steam clouds released throughout the day during the reactor shutdown -- are ominous reminders of the fact that the 40-year old Prairie Island Nuclear Generating Plant operating a half-mile from our homes relies on aging technology," Tribal Council President Johnny Johnson said in a statement. Johnson wrote that "over the past couple of years, there have been more than 30 reported incidents like failing equipment, security breaches, human performance problems and operating errors." STEVE ALEXANDER |
The commenter Onjibonrenat, on my post How to Draw an Owl, adds a few more steps to the process of achieving mastery: 1. Start 2. Keep going. 3. You think you're starting to get the hang of it. 4. You see someone else's work and feel undeniable misery. 5. Keep going. 6. Keep going. 7. You feel like maybe, possibly, you kinda got it now. 8. You don't. 9. Keep going. 10. You ask for someone else's opinion–their response is standoffish, though polite. 11. Depression. 12. Keep going. 13. Keep going. 14. You ask someone else's opinion–their response is favorable. 15. They have no idea what they're talking about. 16. Keep going. 17. You feel semi-kinda favorable and maybe even a little proud of what you can do now. 18. Self-loathing chastisement. 19. Depression 20. Keep going. 21. You ask someone else's opinion–they respond quite favorably. 22. They're still wrong. 23. Depression. 24. Keep going though you can't possibly imagine why. 25. Become restless. 26. Receive some measure of praise from a trustworthy opinion. 27. They're still fucking wrong (Right?) 28. Keep going just because there's nothing else to do. 29. Mastery arrives, you mistake it for a gust of wind. 30. Keep. Fucking. Going. |
Photo via Project Sports Gaming Oakland Raiders running back Marshawn Lynch is still amongst the Raider headlines. Just recently, he released a star-studded video including George Lopez and Ken Jeong. At this point, it is unclear what the video below is for, but it seems to be for his Beast Mode clothing line. During the video, a man surrounding Lynch exclaims “We’re going to Oakland” and a party then ensues. It seems to encapsulate Lynch’s feeling of returning to play in front of the city he loves so much, Oakland. In addition, it seems to be a savvy business move by the Oakland native. He does not want to lose the spotlight that he has had on himself and his company for the past few months. His return to the Bay Area could be labeled as a win-win-win, for it will help Lynch’s business career, improve the Raiders’ run game drastically and gives the Oakland diehards something to look forward to amidst the relocation drama. Ryan is currently a student at the University of North Carolina. He grew up in the Bay Area and has had Raiders season tickets his entire life fostering his love for the NFL. He has founded his own sports website, thejrreport.com and works at the Sports Desk for the Daily Tar Heel. You can follow Ryan on twitter @rytime98 if you want to discuss anything sports. http://thejrreport.com Advertisements Like this: Like Loading... |
Art by Local Artists Art has been enhanced for pop culture fans! John Champlin has taken a classic still life painting of a vase of flowers and rendered Gizmo from the 1984 film ''Gremlins'' as though part of the original piece. A must-have for anyone who needs a little something extra in their wall art. The framed painting measures 27'' wide by 23'' in height, with the painting itself measuring 24'' wide by 20'' in height. SHIPPING IS NOT INCLUDED on any items in the WXXI Auction. Certificates will be mailed directly to winning bidders at no additional cost. Bidders who have won Merchandise items (items with an 'M' in front of the item number) will be contacted at the conclusion of the Auction to arrange shipping for an additional fee. The WXXI Auction will ship via FedEx Express, if the bidder prefers a different shipping method they must arrange shipping and contact the Auction with the appropriate details. Merchandise items can also be picked-up at WXXI on the publicized open pick-up dates or by appointment. All Merchandise must be picked up by July 31, 2015. The Auction WILL NOT ship safes, furniture, or unusually large or bulky items. For questions regarding shipping call the Auction at 585-258-0357 or email auction@wxxi.org WXXI Public Broadcasting stores data... Your support matters, so WXXI Public Broadcasting would like to use your information to keep in touch about things that may matter to you. If you choose to hear from WXXI Public Broadcasting, we may contact you in the future about our ongoing efforts. Your privacy is important to us, so WXXI Public Broadcasting will keep your personal data secure and WXXI Public Broadcasting will not use it for marketing communications which you have not agreed to receive. At any time, you may withdraw consent by emailing Privacy@frontstream.com or by contacting our Privacy Officer. Please see our Privacy Policy found here PrivacyPolicy. |
The word introverted gets a lot of social media buzz; sometimes declared a positive thing, other times not so much. Judging by the memes, comments, and even the content of some articles on the subject there are many who do not fully grasp its definition. So let’s start off by clarifying what introversion does NOT mean. Shy or socially phobic Having poor interpersonal skills Non-confrontational Anyone, whether possessing an introverted or extroverted personality type can be shy or lack essential communication skills. These characteristics are unrelated to introversion. Many introverted people are outgoing, while many extroverted people are phobic in social situations. A lot of assumptions about introvertedness are based on how people appear in a social settings, and learned through pop psychology. Introverted people by definition are focused more inwardly than outwardly. They are often energized by spending time alone, or with a small group of close friends. Extroverted people are more focused on external stimuli, and are typically energized by spending time in settings with large groups of people such as weddings, nightclubs or sporting events. Neither introverted nor extroverted personality types are superior to the other in work ethic, effectiveness, or productivity. In fact, a healthy team environment has a good mix of personality types with each individual working in the area where they excel best. Here are 7 Effective Work Habits that you can count on highly introverted people to possess. 1. Planning When your office building catches fire you will be thankful for the skilled extroverts who immediately rise up to implement the exit strategy and safely direct people out of the building. On the other hand, when you want to establish a process where nearly every possible scenario has been pondered and thoughtfully addressed ahead of time, this is where the introvert comes to the rescue. In fact, an introvert was probably the one who organized the fire drill schedule so that everyone was prepared to handle this catastrophe in advance. An illustration of how introverts process information: image via: quietrev.com 2. Exhibiting good leadership Introverts make effective leaders, especially for self-starters and already motivated individuals. They will thoroughly train your new hires to get the job done, while also empowering them to work effectively. Independently. While they are quite good at giving constructive feedback and the occasional nudge, boot camp instructors and cheerleaders they are not. 3. Making (very) few social faux pas To make a good impression on new clients, the go to guys are usually the office extroverts. They are sure to show your client a good time, provided they can get through the evening without the contract-killing social gaffe. Though the introvert might not appear as exciting at first glance, he is less likely to say the wrong thing at the wrong time, since they spend so much time planning what they say before they say it. 4. Creating deeper relationships via GIPHY While extroverts best serve as the company welcome wagon, the introverts will be the ones to form the closer friendships that help keep employees engaged and looking forward to coming to work each day. It may have been the extroverts that got the new clients on board after all, but the introverts will likely be the ones to strengthen these connections to keep them coming back for more. 5. Practicing independence “How well do you work independently?” Introverts can answer this common interview question with a resounding, “Excellent!” (should they choose to speak that loudly). Introverted employees excel not only at working independently, but at thinking and feeling independently as well. Whether it’s a wave of excitement or crushing negativity splashing its way through the office, highly introverted individuals are less likely than others to have their internal world influenced by the crowd. They will just keep working away (with their headphones on, of course). 6. Being low maintenance Introverted types don’t require many perks, company events, or contests for contentment. They are actually less likely to participate in them. The inner satisfaction of a completed task or a job well done is usually enough to get them high without all of the hype. Like the rest of us, they still respond favorably to paid time off and cash rewards. 7. Acting as stubborn as a mule (in a good way). In case you mistakenly thought introverts are nonconfrontational by default, try asking one to do something after their resources have been exhausted. Being very aware of their physical and emotional state at any given time, introverted people have no problem expressing their limitations. As a result, they are far less likely to overcommit. happster Check out our employee engagement app & find out why teams love it! Take a Product Tour Subscribe to Aventr Weekly |
LANGLEY, VA: Confirming reports that Khalid Sheikh Mohammed was waterboarded 183 times in one month in 2003, CIA officials officially stated that America had been put in grave peril by the agency stopping just shy of the 'magic number' of 184 waterboarding sessions during that month. "We were really close with KSM -- maybe just a Super Big Gulp of water away from breaking a number of major cases wide open" said officials. "Before we were pulled back. Khalid Sheikh Mohammed was about to tell us who assassinated JFK, why Building 7 collapsed at the World Trade Center and was also about to solve an episode of Cold Case where a closeted gay high school athlete was found dead on the basketball court in 1953." The unnamed officials spoke under the condition that Dick Cheney would "stop hanging around outside their house and pestering their kids." The officials said that the recent reports paint a misleading picture of the interrogation methods used. "When you hear that we waterboarded someone 183 times in a month, it makes sounds like we did some crazy torture thing six times a day. That's not at all true," said officials. "We actually waterboarded KSM 182 times in one day and then we did one wicked long session that lasted 29 days, which isn't the same thing at all." Officials said the procedure was totally "by the book" but refused to release the name of the book in question. It was reportedly published in Germany in the early 1940s. The CIA officials spoke freely, having filled out forms granting them immunity earlier in the day on the Obama administration's new website "IgnoreTheConstitution.GOV". Officials described the website as having a 'slick, clean design and good use of fonts' and spoke highly of the feature that allowed CIA officials and detainees to Twitter during harsh interrogation sessions. "We've already gotten one confession after a terror suspect was forced to exchange tweets with Ashton Kutcher." But the officials were still frustrated over their failure with Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. "He had confessed to several international terror incidents, to cheating on Mrs. Mohammed with a Russian pop singer and to finishing the last of the cake from TGI Fridays that I had left in the fridge," said one visibly hungry official. |
The mayor’s proposal came as a surprise to many at the candidates’ forum, and seemingly to former Mayor Mike McGinn, who in launching his campaign this week had called for an income tax. Seattle Mayor Ed Murray will propose a city income tax on “high-end” households, he said Thursday night during a forum for mayoral candidates. On stage with six challengers in a Lake City church, Murray said he would send a proposal in the “next few weeks” for a City Council vote. He didn’t offer many details. “We all know that Washington state has a regressive tax system,” Murray told a crowd at the forum hosted by the 46th District Democrats. “We can all argue about what we’re going to do about it. Those discussions have been going on since I was a kid in this city. But what I’m going to send to council is a proposal for a high-end income tax.” Thursday’s event was the first such candidates’ forum in the 2017 race for mayor and came two weeks after a 46-year-old Kent man sued Murray for alleged child sexual abuse decades ago. The mayor has adamantly denied the accusation and similar allegations made by two other men, who also claim Murray abused them as teenagers in the 1980s. Murray has vowed to remain in his job and continue running for a second term. This week, former Mayor Mike McGinn and urban planner Cary Moon declared bids. They joined Murray at Thursday’s forum, along with educator and activist Nikkita Oliver, who entered the race earlier. The mayor’s income-tax proposal came as a surprise to many in the crowd and seemingly to McGinn, who in launching his campaign Monday had called for an income tax. For weeks, a coalition of local organizations led by the Transit Riders Union has been drumming up support for a city income tax under the slogan Trump Proof Seattle. When asked about the campaign previously, Murray said he had supported the idea at the state level when he was a lawmaker in Olympia, but stopped short of backing Trump Proof Seattle, describing it as ill-fitted to pay for immediate needs. Washington has long lacked an income tax because of a restrictive state law and voters have said no to statewide proposals before. A 2010 statewide initiative proposing a high-earners tax was defeated. A Seattle tax likely would be challenged in court and could serve as a legal test case with statewide implications. “It’s going to be challenged,” Murray told the crowd Thursday. “It’s too soon to cheer … But if we win in court and we can get that high-end income tax we can shift our regressive taxes on sales tax and on property tax onto that high-end income tax.” Full video of a forum for mayoral candidates held in Lake City on Thursday, April 20, 2017. During the forum, Mayor Ed Murray proposed his idea for an income tax on “high-end” households. (Dan Beekman / The Seattle Times) Asked after the forum to clarify his plan, the mayor said the income tax would be accompanied by reductions in other taxes that hit poorer people harder. During his term as mayor, Murray has backed a number of property- and sales-tax hikes. The income tax wouldn’t be completely revenue neutral because some of the new revenue would be set aside to backfill potential cuts in federal funding by the Trump administration, Murray said. “He didn’t steal it. I think he finally saw the wisdom of the idea,” McGinn said after the forum, reacting to Murray’s proposal. “Elections have a way if doing that sometimes.” Murray said his initial plan is to propose a resolution stating the city’s intent to pass an income tax rather than an actual ordinance putting it into effect. That could potentially leave open the option of asking voters to weigh in later on the ballot. Oliver declined to immediately comment on Murray’s proposal. Moon answered during a lightning round that she would not support a local income tax. Also taking part in the forum were Jason Roberts, Mary Martin and Alex Tsimerman. During the lightning round, every candidate expressed support for allowing more duplexes and triplexes in neighborhoods now zoned for single-family houses, including Murray, who put forward and then quickly withdrew such a change in 2015. |
0 Parents left without refunds after cheerleading competition suddenly canceled ATLANTA - Upset parents told Channel 2 Action News they are out hundreds of dollars because their children's cheerleading competition was suddenly canceled. The parents said the local organizer of the cheerleading competition booked a bad venue and took their money. Some parents even traveled from other states to the downtown Atlanta venue. Channel 2’s Liz Artz was told the organizer was escorted from the hotel by police, but as of yet no criminal charges have been filed. Hundreds of disappointed cheerleaders were sent home and parents said they were sent away without hundreds of dollars they spent to get here. Atlanta police were called to the Melia Hotel Saturday afternoon after a cheer competition involving more than 300 cheerleaders from as far away as Maryland did not happen. Parent Chad Deannelly drove his daughter from Montgomery, Ala. to compete. He said the hotel was not equipped for such competitions and thousands of dollars in fees were gone. "They were protecting the lady in there because other parents were wanting to tear her to pieces," Deannelly said. Channel 2 obtained video from another parent of organizer Halee Yates apologizing to the angry in parents. According to parents, Yates runs Cheer-Nation, an event company out of LaGrange that organizes cheer competitions for gyms around the southeast. The competitions are typically held at convention centers that have high ceilings and floors designed for athletics. Parents said this year’s event changed venues three times. “It's more disappointing for the children who came, got up early to perform work all year long for this,” said Deannelly said. Artz was told each parent paid $25 at the door Saturday, a pre-registration fee of $120, plus travel expenses. "This trip is going to cost us $500 by the time hotel and expenses go into effect,” Deannelly said. The hotel manager if they plan to file criminal charges, they would make that decision on Monday. |
Bitcoin offers a whole host of benefits when compared to traditional fiat currencies, unfortunately enhanced privacy is not one of them. Currently, a handful of cash represents a more private payment option than using Bitcoin’s very public ledger. For the privacy conscious, here are five cryptocurrencies that focus on anonymity. Monero Monero was launched in April 2014 as a fork of ByteCoin and uses its CryptoNote codebase. Monero currently provides some of the highest levels of anonymity and privacy available. The basic framework of Monero’s blockchain and transaction structure are the same as those used by Bitcoin, however, it utilizes ring signatures and address derivation. Monero uses ring signatures and ring confidential transactions to obfuscate all the details relating to transactions. These include the amounts, origins, and destinations of all transactions. When coins are spent, the transaction is signed and time-stamped with a ring signature, this signature is verified against a group of public keys without revealing the actual private key used. The default obfuscation of all the transaction details means transactions on the Monero blockchain cannot be linked to a particular user or real-world identity. Zcash Launched in 2016, Zcash is an open-source cryptocurrency that offers privacy and selective transparency of transactions. Payments made with Zcash are published on a public blockchain, but the sender, recipient, and amount of a transaction remain private. Zcash uses advanced cryptographic techniques called zero-knowledge proofs, to guarantee the validity of transactions without revealing key information about them. Zcash uses a zero-knowledge proof construction called a zk-SNARK (Zero-Knowledge Succinct Non-interactive Argument of Knowledge). These constructions allow the network to maintain a secure ledger without revealing the parties or amounts involved. The process involves encrypting the transaction metadata and zk-SNARKs are used to prove the validity of all transactions. In addition to aiding anonymity, this also helps reduce transaction verification costs compared to smart contracts. Dash While best known for being a cryptocurrency geared for everyday use, Dash is also a viable option for those interested in private transactions. In addition to providing transparent payment options, Dash allows anonymity with its PrivateSend feature that utilizes the concept of CoinJoin. Dash offers a decentralized mixing service within its platform called PrivateSend that allows transactions to be formed by multiple parties and paid out to multiple parties and the merging of funds together means that they cannot be uncoupled afterwards. Here, funds are mixed together and investigators cannot be sure of the sender, amount, or destination. Successfully mixing payments using the PrivateSend feature requires at least three participants. Pivx Launched as a fork of Dash, Pivx is the acronym for Private Instant Verifiable Transaction and the Pivx team pride themselves on providing advanced privacy options. Pivx contains an in wallet mixing mechanism based on CoinJoin. With Pivx, the mixing takes place in a decentralized fashion facilitated by the network of masternodes. This provides an additional layer of privacy as gaining control of 50% of the current masternodes would result in under a 0.5% chance of de-anonymizing an individual transaction that was mixed via eight rounds of obfuscation. Despite being a Dash fork, PIVX has added staking, moved over to the Quark algorithm, and is upgrading the CoinJoin feature to a Zerocoin protocol that will enhance its ability to provide anonymous transactions. Verge Verge came into life on February 15, 2016 after it officially rebranded from its original name of Dogecoindark, which was a fork of Dogecoin. Verge models itself on the original Bitcoin blockchain and operates as a decentralized currency based on an open-source platform. There is no central control over the coin and it is completely untraceable. Verge uses multiple anonymity-centric networks such as Tor and I2P. This keeps user IP addresses obfuscated and transactions private. In addition to using anonymity-centric networks, Verge also utilizes multi-algorithm mining support that improves security and provides the equal distribution of coins to miners. Verge differs from other privacy coins as most other platform log user IP addresses and hide or mask transactions on their network. Verge operates a transparent ledger but protects user identities and locations by using Tor and I2P. |
posted by Darryl on 12 Dec 2014 I ended the previous post by suggesting that a set-based approach to pluralities, as in [[John and Susan lifted the grate]] = lifted({john,susan}, {crate}) would not work well for at least two reasons: Firstly, sentences like "John lifted the crate with Susan" should mean more or less the same thing as "John and Susan lifted the crate" on the collective-lifting reading, but there is no single noun phrase that has both John and Susan, so we would need some really rather fancy way to get that single set from two distinct noun phrases. And secondly, we want to store these predicates — stabbed, spoke, lifted, surrounded — in a database, we would need to have compound data columns, which can be rather nasty since these sets can be arbitrarily large. Logically it's no problem, but computationally it's a bit of a mess to have that. The task is to present an alternative representation that doesn't have these problems. But before I can do that, we need to detour a little bit to discuss adverbial modification, which I will do in this post. In the following brief discussion, I will revert to a set-free framework, since that's where we're headed anyway. Consider the sentence "Stephen drank coffee". We've been assuming that the meaning of this should look something like drank(stephen,coffee) but what if we added an adverbial, such as "today", to produce the sentence "Stephen drank coffee today"? We need a way to express what this means. The simple option is to say there's some kind of propositional operator — some predicate that takes propositions as arguments, such as &. For instance, we might propose this: time(drank(stephen,coffee), today) This option really isn't very good tho: there are inferences we can make that this sentence just doesn't support right now. For instance, if we know "Stephen drank coffee today" then we're allowed to conclude "Stephen drank coffee", but no rule of logic that we're currently using says that if we know time(drank(stephen,coffee), today) then we're allowed to conclude drank(stephen,coffee) If we wanted to make this inference possible, we would need to add a new rule of logic, such as if you know time(X,Y) then you may know X This approach would be some kind of modal logic of time (normally called a temporal logic). Furthermore, there seems to now be some kind of redundancy between the past tense that the predicate is encoding, and the time operator. We can of course factor tense out into a second use of time operator like so: time(time(drink(stephen,coffee), past), today) and then probably also add another rule of logic that lets us permute nested time operators, as in if you know time(time(X,Y), Z) then you may know time(time(X,Z), Y) But this isn't the end of the trouble with that sort of approach to adverbials, because time isn't the only kind of adverbial we have, there's frequency ("Delenn reads Universe Today once a day "), place ("Michael works in Security "), direction ("G'Kar glared at Londo "), manner ("Lennier flew wrecklessly "), plus many many others. As the number of kinds of adverbials grows, the number of new operators and inference rules grows, but not linearly: if there are n adverbial operators, the number of inference rules (primarily for permutations) will be proportional to n!, so we get a combinatorial explosion. The standard solution to this was introduced by Donald Davidson: events! Rather than assuming "Stephen drank coffee" means something like drank(stephen,coffee) We introduce a new argument, called an event, like so: drank(e,stephen,coffee) This can be viewed as nothing more than a formal trick, but a better attitude is to view events as the name suggests: the event or action that takes place. If Stephen drank coffee twice, there would be two events of coffee drinking, and so different arguments for each event: drank(e0,stephen,coffee) & drank(e1,stephen,coffee) [[Stephen drank coffee today]] = drank(e,stephen,coffee) & time(e,today) (or even with tense split off:) [[Stephen drank coffee today]] = drink(e,stephen,coffee) & time(e,past) & time(e,today) Once you make this change, the inferences that we were worried about come for free from the inference rules of conjunction. From the meaning of "Stephen drank coffee today" we can easy conclude "Stephen drank coffee", because from drink(e,stephen,coffee) & time(e,past) & time(e,today) we can easily conclude drink(e,stephen,coffee) & time(e,past) When it doubt, try using a new argument, and conjunction! In the next post in this series, we'll take this approach even further, and in doing so, come up with a way to account for the properties of plural noun phrases that were so puzzling before. If you have comments or questions, get it touch. I'm @psygnisfive on Twitter, augur on freenode (in #languagengine and #haskell). Here's the HN thread if you prefer that mode, and also the Reddit threads. Notes drink(e,stephen,coffee) & time(e,t) & past(t) & today(t) This inclination would be exactly the right thing to do. Aside from the weirdness of having "past" and "today" as arguments to a time predicate, there're also good empirical reason to do this. Sentences such as "Stephen drank coffee before he went to Medlab" demonstrate that we can order events by time, and simply having a time predicate like before is insufficient. What we'd really like is to have two events, with two times, which are ordered: drink(e0,stephen,coffee) & time(e0,t0) & past(t0) & goto(e1,stephen,medlab) & time(e1,t1) & past(t1) & t0 < t1 |
Jabari Parker—selected No. 2 overall by the Milwaukee Bucks in the 2014 NBA draft—made headlines this week for two reasons, neither of them good: 1) He suffered a season-ending knee injury, and 2) he became the seventh of the top 11 draft picks to be seriously injured. It’s hard to overlook those numbers. Seven of the top 11 already injured? Jabari Parker. Joel Embiid. Aaron Gordon. Marcus Smart. Julius Randle. Noah Vonleh. Doug McDermott. At least four of those probably gone for the rest of the season. Coincidence? Curse? The theories began flying: The players are more explosive, the game is faster, the competition is greater, too many games, too much travel. And while many asked, Why so many injuries to young superstars?, a better question might be: Why aren’t there more? Jabari Parker Glenn James/NBAE via Getty Images Here’s my theory, and I’m pretty sure I’m correct: Players aren't sustaining these injuries because of the games they’re playing; they’re getting injured because of the number of practices and games they’ve already played. Hundreds of games, thousands of hours, since they were old enough to pick up a ball. Peewee. Youth leagues. Summer camps. Travel teams. AAU. High school. College. A relentless schedule of games, practice, travel, and training, sometimes for multiple teams and leagues, with multiple trainers and programs. No time for rest or recovery. No time to play or train for other sports. End result: The same muscles, ligaments, tendons, and joints are used over and over again, in the same direction, the same angles, the same motions. What piece of machinery doesn’t eventually give out from repeated use over many years? At some point, the human body just says, “Enough.” While many parents believe intensified training and competition will accelerate their child’s athletic career, they may actually be shortening it. At the earliest ages, a child’s undeveloped body isn’t prepared for the punishing physical demands of intense athletic activity. Kids are designed to be active, to play, to use their entire bodies—not to work on the same move over and over and over. Yet the competition to be the best—to get above the rim, to throw a complete game, to lift the most weight—has created a generation of young athletes with chronic injuries and pain that they’ll deal with for the rest of their lives. And while most young athletes finish their careers by the end of high school or maybe college, those elite few who continue into professional sports already have more than a decade of wear and tear on their bodies. So by the time they turn pro, there’s a good chance they’re already dealing with the early stages of injuries, some of which will be serious, even career-ending. All these rookies with injuries... they’re still kids. Julius Randle Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE via Getty Images Athletic success for these young pros shouldn't just mean training for a good Combine score, it should also mean developing a healthy, strong, balanced body that can withstand the rigors of sustained elite competition, under the supervision of a professional trainer or coach who understands the different needs and stages of the developing body. Not all kids develop at the same rate; what works for one athlete may not work for the rest of the team. Everyone is searching for the trendy new workout, but the foundation of an effective training program has always been—and will always be—power and strength. By the time you’re 16—and usually not before—you have to move the iron. If your program does not address power and strength, through an overload principle, you’re skipping the most fundamental element of training and injury prevention for athletic performance. Yoga and balancing on a ball and lying on a table can only get you so far. Most likely, it can also get you injured if that’s all you’re doing. Also overlooked: the ability to stop. Everyone wants to go fast and hard, but without the ability to decelerate, what happens? Eventually you crash. Any racecar driver can go at top speed, but elite drivers know when to speed up, when to slow down, when to stop. Explosiveness without the ability to decelerate will almost always result in injury. To me, it’s one of the most critical elements of effective training. But how many athletes want to learn to slow down and stop? It’s not sexy. But it’s essential. If your training program doesn’t teach you to decelerate in a lift or a movement, you’re only doing half the work. But the most critical—and overlooked—element of training for longevity is simple: rest and recovery. I’m not talking about lying on the couch playing video games, I’m talking about actively healing your body: stretching, sleeping, foam rolling, compression, ice, nutrition…everything that allows the body to recover and prepare itself for whatever is next. Most coaches don’t work those critical elements into their program because there’s just not enough time. So it’s on you to take responsibility. It’s not a weakness to take time off for that, it’s a weakness to fear that time off equals failure. You can’t push-push-push without also pulling back. For every action there is a reaction. Without rest, there can be no recovery. Without recovery, there is zero chance for long-term success. Parents: By living your athletic dreams through your kids, you may be damaging theirs. NBA coaches rest their players. Shouldn't you? Just as we teach kids to have good study habits, we also have a responsibility to teach them good training habits. Not just working hard, but working smart. You don’t achieve that by training more and more to beat out the other kids, you achieve it by allowing kids to rest and recover the mind and body, so they can continue to develop and come back stronger and smarter. Instead of pushing them harder, pull them in and let them physically exhale. What happens outside the gym and training facility is as important to long-term success as what happens inside. Tim S. Grover is the CEO of ATTACK Athletics, world-renowned for his work with championship and Hall of Fame athletes. An international authority on sports performance and motivation, he trains elite athletes around the world, appears as a keynote speaker for corporations and sports organizations, and is the best-selling author of Relentless: From Good to Great to Unstoppable and Jump Attack. Follow Tim @ATTACKATHLETICS on Twitter, and visit www.attackathletics.com for more. |
THERE IS CHANGE on the way for rugby as governing body World Rugby gets set to copper-fasten a change to the residency law, bringing the requirement up from three years to five years. The residency law has been a controversial topic in recent seasons, with the likes of Jared Payne, CJ Stander, Richardt Strauss, Quinn Roux and others qualifying to play for Ireland after living here for three years. CJ Stander qualified to play for Ireland after living here for three years. Source: Dan Sheridan/INPHO Most nations in Test rugby have been benefiting from the law, which is detailed in Regulation 8 of the World Rugby Handbook, and there has been much criticism of its perceived exploitation. The likes of the Scottish Rugby Union and the IRFU have previously expressed a contentment to maintain the status quo, but the last year or so has seen the issue come to a head and a majority of unions across the world have expressed desire for change. Last year saw World Rugby put in place a working group in order to determine whether the current regulation is fit for purpose, and it’s understood that their recommendation is that Regulation 8 needs to be tweaked. Tying in with tomorrow’s 2019 World Cup pool draw, the World Rugby Council are meeting in Kyoto, Japan this week to discuss rugby’s eligibility regulation in further detail. This week we will consider the game’s eligibility framework following a detailed review of the criteria governing international representation,” said World Rugby chairman Bill Beaumont on Monday. “As rugby grows, we need to ensure that it continues to be relevant and inspiring to the next generation of players and fans. Everyone has a say and everyone has a role to play in our future.” It’s understood that the plans to move the regulation from a three-year residency period to a five-year period will essentially be rubber-stamped at these meetings. Any confirmation of a shift to five years is likely to be greeted warmly by rugby fans, some of whom have been turned off the international game by the perception that unions are luring players to their nations with the carrot of Test rugby. Bundee Aki qualifies for Ireland this year, and won't be affected. Source: Ryan Byrne/INPHO And yet, there have been many questions marks about players who are nearing the residency requirements under the current regulation, with Connacht man Bundee Aki a fine example. The New Zealand native will have spent three years living in Ireland in October of this year, therefore qualifying him to play for Joe Schmidt’s national side under the current regulation. It’s understood that players like Aki who are already in the system will not be affected by the proposed change in regulation, with the new five-year law applying only to players who first move after any change has been officially passed into World Rugby law. Therefore, the likes of Munster man Tyler Bleyendaal, Ulster’s Wiehahn Herbst, Leinster’s Jamison Gibson-Park and Tom McCartney of Connacht will also qualify for Ireland after living here for three years. Naturally, any players who have already served three-year periods and been capped for their new nation will not be prevented from continuing to play for that new nation at Test level. It’s not clear yet exactly when the change in law would be enacted, but the council meetings this week in Kyoto should clarify those details. The shift to five years would certainly not end players qualifying to play for new nations under the terms of residency, but it will be fascinating to note what effect it would have on the international transfer market. Jared Payne qualified under Regulation 8 and is now a Lion. Source: Dan Sheridan/INPHO Professional rugby players might be less inclined to move away from their native lands without the lure of possibly playing Test rugby after three years in their new home, though it might simply mean ambitious young players move earlier in their careers. Either way, any confirmation of a shift to a five-year residency regulation would likely be met happily by the world of rugby, with so many supporters, players and coaches having expressed their unease with the current three-year period. A change would also put increased onus on unions to produce players who have been brought through their own academy systems or qualify through ancestry. The likes of Stander and Payne have made big impacts for Ireland after serving their three-year qualifying periods, but we may see fewer examples of this in the future as World Rugby gets set for change. The42 is on Instagram! Tap the button below on your phone to follow us! |
Globalization makes it easy to send goods around the world. The cost for shipping goods has never been as low as now. However, the choice of the means of transportation does severely influence the amount of CO2 emitted for the transportation of goods. The following table shows the amount of CO2 (in grams) emitted per metric ton of freight and per km of transportation: Air plane (air cargo), average Cargo B747 500 g Modern lorry or truck 60 to 150 g Modern train 30 to 100 g Modern ship (sea freight) 10 to 40 g Airship (Zeppelin, Cargolifter ) as planned 55 g The values for air cargo has been taken from Lufthansa Air cargo, who operates a modern fleet. The world-wide average is probably higher because of the use of older plaines for air shipment. The effect of the CO2 emissions of airplanes are 2 to 3 times higher compared to the emissions on the ground, because airplanes release the CO2 in high altitudes into the atmosphere, where they do much more harm. Conclusion: If you avoid air transportation, you help reducing the CO2 emissions! |
I received some beautiful fantasy stickers that somehow included most of my likes :-) they are beautiful fairies, dolphins, lighthouses, mermaids & a unicorn. They are very unique & are ones I would never have found on my own but if I had I would have wanted them. The artist who makes them is named Nikki Burnette. I have been trying to get a good photo to post but they keep coming out too dark or blurry ( my hands shake too much ) which is what took me too long in posting I'm really sorry I can't share the photos. I really love them & am trying to find a good place to use them so I can enjoy them for a long time! I'm not sure if I can post the name on the invoice since I don't know if that is her reddit name. But I hope she knows that I'm thrilled with them. Thank you! I have found two great long term locations for these great stickers. I will post pics as I find places for the others. I'm trying to find places that will be used regularly & for a long time so they dont get wasted. So far one is on my nook & one on my walker ... these stickers are awesome. If I had known they existed I would have bought them myself. Thank you Santa for finding & sending them to Me. Again I want to point out that it was guard to stalk me ( creepy way or not) online since I didn't have widhlidts yet & I font have much of an online presence but you found stickers that each had another thing I like...lighthouse, dolphin, fairy & UNIcorn & even mermaids which I never mentioned. Thank you & know that the fact I haven't used them all actually shows how much I love them! |
Extell Development UPDATE (11:20 on July 3): We've heard from a spokesperson at Extell Development (which is behind One57) who tells us that the PM of Qatar did not buy the penthouse. Additionally, Gary Barnett, president of Extell, told the Wall Street Journal that the rumor is false. But as Morgan Brennan at Forbes points out, it's possible that parties involved in the sale signed non-disclosure agreements requiring them to keep mum about the buyer's identity, as is often the case in high-profile deals. ORIGINAL: The billionaire Prime Minister of Qatar will pay $100 million for the most expensive apartment in New York City, the New York Post is reporting. According to the Post, the Prime Minister, Sheik Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber al-Thani, has agreed to buy the two-story penthouse atop the still-under-construction One57 condominium where news brok that the penthouse apartment had sold for a record-breaking $90 million in May. The mega-apartment isn't the only property the PM is picking up at One57, either. According to the Post, he's also planning to buy four other full-floor apartments in the building, bringing his total spend to around $250 million. The Sheik, who has two wives and 16 children, made waves in the New York real estate world when he tried to buy property here earlier this year. He reportedly went after the Fifth Avenue apartment of late heiress Huguette Clark, but was turned away for having "too many kids." He met similar resistance when he tried to buy pricey pads in two of New York's other exclusive buildings. |
Advertisement Most scuba divers want to stay as far away from the gaping jaws of crocodiles as possible, but a pair of British photographers got close enough to one beast's teeth to be its dentists. Nick Robertson-Brown, 62, and his wife Caroline, 41, took close-up pictures of Niño the crocodile in December 2014 at Jardines de la Reina, Cuba. Taken just inches from the jaws of the reptile, the photographs show the stunning beauty of the three-metre deadly predator, whose name means little boy in Spanish. Scroll down for video Nick and Caroline Robertson-Brown took close-up pictures of Niño, an American crocodile, on a trip to Jardines de la Reina, Cuba The photographers, from Manchester, were careful not to startle the animal when getting close enough to capture the details of its teeth The pair, from Manchester, England, were accompanied on their journey by guide Gustavo, who made calls to Niño on a trip through the government-protected mangrove forest. The American crocodile then swam out of the trees to see them - allowing the Robertson-Browns to capture the extraordinary pictures. Avalon Cuban Diving Centers' guides have been working with Niño since he was very small, so he is now quite used to photographers getting close. The photographers, who were outfitted in scuba gear, were able to stand in shallow water during the encounter as they shot photos of the animal as it waded among the sea plants of its natural habitat. The husband and wife team, who have been working together for 12 years as dive instructors and underwater photographers, said that the shallow water proved a challenging environment. 'The sediment very easy to stir up, so it was hard to get into position to get shots, without disturbing the croc,' the pair said on their Facebook page. Avalon Cuban Diving Centers regularly take trips out to the mangrove swamps to see crocodiles, who have been exposed to photographers since an early age Only 700 divers per year are allowed to go to Jardines de la Reina, which is seven hours by bus and a six-hour boat ride from capital Havana While the water was in danger of becoming murky, the stunning images show detailed images of Niño's snout as it cut through the swamp. Mr Robertson-Brown said: 'We got into the water with the croc and got so close his teeth were almost touching our camera housings. Though Niño is used to attention, the British snappers were wary of being snapped at suddenly by the scaly swimmer. 'It is a wild animal, so you have to be very careful, moving slowly and smoothly in the water so as not to startle or scare the croc.' The Robertson-Browns were worried that the sediment in the shallow water would make their pictures murky and limit the detail of the croc Guide Gustavo helped lure the crocodile over to the photographers in scuba gear so that they could capture the amazing images of Niño 'Whilst we never felt in danger, as the croc was moving in a very easy going way, it is still an amazing, adrenalin-filled experience,' Mr Robertson-Brown said. Only 700 divers are permitted to go each year to Jardines de la Reina, a national park that is a seven-hour bus ride and additional six-hour boat ride from Havana. Mr Robertson-Brown, who has also photographed fish, sharks and manatees, called the experience was 'well worth it' because of the 'pristine reefs and amazing animal encounters.' The pair said the Cuban expedition, during which they met Argentinean footballing legend Diego Maradona and photographed giant feral rats called jutías, was 'one of our most productive trips ever'. Mr Robertson-Brown said that he and his wife never felt in danger during the crocodile shoot, but added that it was 'still an amazing, adrenalin filled experience' The Robertson-Browns said the trip, during which they also photographed giant rats called jutías and met Diego Maradona, was one of their most productive The Jardines de la Reina, is home to a wide variety of marine vegetation and wildlife, including sharks and giant groupers that can weigh up to 400 pounds Jardines de la Reina, which means Gardens of the Queen in Spanish and were named by Christopher Columbus, is a roughly 675 square mile coral reef system about 60 miles off of Cuba's southern coast, according to Diver Magazine. The 250-island archipelago includes portions of reef and mangrove swamp that house animals including sharks, goliath groupers that can weigh up to 400 pounds, loggerhead turtles and American crocodiles such as Niño. American crocodiles, which live in the Caribbean from southern Florida to the north coast of South America, are listed as vulnerable by Red List. While the animal's skin is legally traded from some farms in Cuba, illegal hunters also target the crocodile for its hide. The American crocodile, which is labeled as vulnerable by conservationist group Red List, is illegally hunted for its thick scaly hide The Robertson-Browns rode around the mangrove swamp in a small boat driven by guide Gustavo, allowing them to capture images both in and out of the water |
A Maine man has been charged in federal court after officials say he bought and sold American eels between Virginia and New York. Richard D. Austin, of Waldoboro, Maine, is charged with one count of Lacey Act Trafficking, a felony offense. The Lacey Act bans the illegal trafficking of animals and plants in the United States. Officials believe that on March 23, 2015 Austin bought and sold juvenile American eels between Virginia and New York. The market value of the eels was more than $350, according to documents filed in the Eastern District of Virginia. Officials first began looking into Austin around April 29, 2015, when he was the subject of a financial affidavit. That document is sealed and was not entered into record until Feb. 14. This story is breaking. Check back at southsidedaily.com for more details. Mayfield can be reached at adrienne.m@southsidedaily.com. |
Freshman Nathan Ponwith's singles match win on Sunday delivered the championship while Freshman Robert Loeb won his 4th singles match in a row. ATHENS, Ga. - For only the second time in school history, the University of Georgia men's tennis program has clinched at least a share of the Southeastern Conference Championship in five-straight seasons with the Bulldogs' 4-3 victory against No. 20 South Carolina on Sunday. No. 13 Georgia (15-6, 11-0 SEC) joins the 1971-75 Bulldogs as the only group to win five consecutive SEC crowns. Head coach Manuel Diaz was a member of four of those squads, lettering from 1972-75. Georgia's conference supremacy now includes 40 combined SEC regular season (31) and tournament championships (9). Under Diaz, the Bulldogs have won 27 combined (18 regular season and nine tournament) in his 29 seasons as head coach. "All the credit goes to the players and what they're willing to buy into and what they're willing to work for," Diaz said. "It's great to see our freshmen fitting into the culture of the program. Our veteran players know what needs to be done, and they've come a long way. We have a big match against Texas A&M on Saturday, and we have to get plenty of rest and get ready to play." In doubles, Georgia's third-ranked pair of Jan Zielinski and Robert Loeb dropped the first match 6-3, but the Bulldogs evened the score with a 6-2 score on court No. 2 from the No. 53rd-ranked tandem of Emil Reinberg and Nathan Ponwith. On court three, Georgia's duo of Wayne Montgomery and Walker Duncan broke South Carolina's serve at 5-5 to take the lead 6-5, and then hung on for a 7-5 win to put the Bulldogs up, 1-0. Georgia cruised into singles, led by Loeb on court six, whose 6-2, 6-1 win marked his fourth straight singles win. At the second position, No. 25 Montgomery fell to No. 47 Gabriel Friedrich 2-6, 1-6, but Duncan swiftly lifted the Bulldogs to a 3-1 lead with his ninth consecutive singles victory, 6-1, 6-4, at No. 5. To clinch his sixth match of the season, four-time SEC Freshman of the Week Ponwith overtook No. 69 Harrison O'Keefe 6-3, 6-4 on court one to record his fifth win against a ranked opponent. Reinberg and Zielinski completed their matches, falling in three sets in each one to put the final score at 4-3 in the Bulldogs' favor. Georgia now travels to Texas A&M this Saturday for a chance to win the SEC Championship outright. Tennis Match Results South Carolina vs Georgia April 9, 2017 at Athens, Ga. (Dan Magill Tennis Complex) #13 Georgia 4, #20 South Carolina 3 Singles Results 1. #64 Nathan Ponwith (UGA) def. #69 Harrison O'Keefe (SC) 6-3, 6-4 2. #47 Gabriel Friedrich (SC) def. #25 Wayne Montgomery (UGA) 6-2, 6-1 3. Andrew Schafer (SC) def. #68 Emil Reinberg (UGA) 6-2, 1-6, 6-3 4. Yancy Dennis (SC) def. Jan Zielinski (UGA) 6-3, 4-6, 6-2 5. Walker Duncan (UGA) def. Alex Fennell (SC) 6-1, 6-4 6. Robert Loeb (UGA) def. Paul Jubb (SC) 6-2, 6-1 Doubles Results 1. #31 Yancy Dennis/Harrison O'Keefe (SC) def. #3 Jan Zielinski / Robert Loeb (UGA) 6-3 2. #53 Nathan Ponwith / Emil Reinberg (UGA) def. Sam Swank/Alex Fennell (SC) 6-2 3. Wayne Montgomery / Walker Duncan (UGA) def. Gabriel Friedrich/Andrew Schafer (SC) 7-5 Match Notes: South Carolina 18-5, 7-3 SEC; National ranking #20 Georgia 15-6, 11-0 SEC; National ranking #13 Order of finish: Doubles (1,2,3); Singles (6,2,5,1,3,4) Official: Clark Weaver; Attendance 1248 |
Game of Thrones is a force unto itself. Much has been written on the way HBO’s oft controversial show has transformed the landscape not only for fantasy (by proving it can be a genre with mainstream appeal) but for television at large. With its lavish, high-budget sets, Game of Thrones, like Lord of the Rings before it, has inspired a whole new generation of nature-based tourism. In honor of the premiere on April 24th, we’ve compiled our favorite gardens and outdoor spaces featured on Game of Thrones thus far, as we look forward to being amazed by all that the new season has in store. Tollymore Forest Park, Beyond The Wall & The Wolfswood In the opening scene of Game of Thrones, a group of brothers from the Night’s Watch is murdered by White Walkers while scouting beyond the Wall, setting the dark, often gruesome tone of the fantasy series. The eerie horror is a far cry from the scene’s cheerfully named location in Tollymore Forest Park, situated in Northern Ireland. Later in the episode, the Stark children discover a dead direwolf and her six, still living pups in the Wolfswood (also filmed in Tollymore Forest Park). In addition to its association with Game of Thrones, Tollymore is known for its “garden follies” and as the source of oak used for the interiors of the Titanic. Dark Hedges, The King’s Road In the first episode of season two (“The North Remembers”), we watch as Arya Stark is carried away from King’s Landing towards the Wall. Disguised as a recruit for Night’s Watch, she hopes to eventually reunite with Jon Snow. But with the craggy branches along the King’s Road looming overhead, viewers realize such a happy resolution will never pan out. The real life location for this particularly solemn stretch of the King’s Road is aptly named Dark Hedges and is located in Northern Ireland. The trees were originally planted in the 18th century to line the entrance of Gracehill House, a Georgian mansion turned golf and event space. Lokrum Island, Qarth Just off the coast of Dubrovnik in Croatia is Lokrum Island, a forested refuge of holm oaks, black ash, pines, and olive trees. On Game of Thrones, the island stands in for parts of the sinister city of Qarth throughout the second season. Lokrum’s mystic, legendary Benedictine monastery appears in Season 2, Episode 5 (“The Ghost of Harrenhal”) as the gardens of Xaro Xhoan Daxos. The island is also home to a botanical garden and free roaming peacocks, whose showy opulence is in keeping with Qarth’s. Trsteno Arboretum, The Gardens At King’s Landing The Trsteno Arboretum, located in Croatia along the coast of Adriatic sea, is featured in a number of episodes as the gardens of King’s Landing, a favorite spot for plotting and secrets. In Episode 2, Season 3 (“Dark Wings, Dark Words”), Sansa reveals to Lady Olenna and Margaery the depths of Joffrey’s malice and cruelty. Varys, Master of Whispers, also takes advantage of the gardens, conspiring with Lady Olenna against Little Finger in Episode 4, Season 3 (“And Now His Watch Has Ended”). The arboretum itself has probably seen a great many secrets in its time– while its exact age is unknown, the arboretum has been around since at least 1492. Gradac Park, The Purple Wedding Located in Dubrovnik, Croatia (the setting for a number of other King’s Landing scenes, including Cersei’s walk of shame), Gradac Park is the venue for Season 4, Episode 2’s gratifying Purple Wedding. On the show, the space is filled to the brim with illustrious performers, influential guests, and plenty of wine to honor Joffrey Lannister and Margaery Tyrell’s marriage– though the union is most memorable for its brevity. Fortress of Klis, Meereen The real-life Fortress of Klis is the venue for Daenerys’s epic victory in Meereen during the closing scene of Episode 4, Season 3 (“Breaker of Chains”). In the next episode, “Oathkeeper,” the medieval fortress becomes a site of divisive morals, as Daenerys exacts her punishment on the Great Masters by crucifying them along the fortress’s defenses. The real life location, situated in the vast countryside near Split, Croatia, dates back to the 7th century and is now overgrown with plants. Thingvellir National Park, The Bloody Gate & The Riverlands A site of historic importance to Iceland, Thingvellir National Park is also the location for one of the most agonizing moments in season four. In the eighth episode (“The Mountain and the Viper”), Arya and the Hound arrive at the guarded entrance to the Vale of Arryn seeking Arya’s only presumed living family, Lady Arryn. The two discover, however, she has died three days earlier. Arya and the Hound leave again, unaware that Sansa is living in the Vale’s castle on the other side of the gate. The two sisters have been separated since before their father’s death in first season; each assumes the other is dead. After leaving, the Hound and Arya make their way across the Riverlands, much of which was also filmed in Thingvellir. Villa Sheherezade, Illyrio’s Mansion Villa Sheherezade is a private seafront palace located in Dubrovnik, Croatia, and on Game of Thrones stands in for the lavish home of merchant-prince and devoted Targaryen supporter Illyrio Mopatis. In Season 5’s premiere (“The Wars To Come”), Varys and Tyrion Lannister discuss the future of the Seven Kingdoms on the villa’s balcony overlooking the Adriatic Sea (on the show, the Narrow Sea), as the plots of Westeros and Essos become more and more entwined, and new alliances form. Alcázar de Sevilla, Water Palaces of Dorne In the fifth season, viewers are finally introduced to Dorne, the southern most lands of Westeros and the most independent of the Seven Kingdoms. Prince Doran Martell, bound to a wheelchair by gout, spends most of his day looking out onto his beloved water gardens, taking in their beauty and observing the pleasure of those who enjoy it. As the setting for the Martells’ private home and seat of power, Alcázar de Sevilla provides a lavish backdrop, ideal for all the family drama, ill-fated love, and vengeful conspiring that unfolds there. St. Dominic Monastery, Garden At The Red Keep The garden at St. Dominic Monastery in Rabat, Malta is the setting for Cersei Lannister and Eddard Stark’s iconic confrontation in Episode 7, Season 1. Cersei famously drops the title of the show when she cooly reminds Eddard, “In the game of thrones, you win or you die. There is no middle ground.” The scene marks the beginning of Eddard’s fall from grace, which culminates in his public execution a few episodes later at the hand of Joffrey– the first death of a major character, but (as has become the Game of Thrones signature) certainly not the last. |
You might forgive Stephen Poloz if he has a lot on his mind. As governor of the Bank of Canada, he has to worry about the state of our economy, and how things like the NAFTA renegotiations might affect it, how technological change might impact inflation, and how the housing market will react to new mortgage rules. But those aren't the only things that Poloz says keeps him up at night. In a lunchtime speech Thursday to the Canadian Club in Toronto, he laid out several things that give him pause, including cyber threats, household debt levels, the struggle of young people to find work, and the rise of bitcoin. Cyber risks On the topic of connectivity, Poloz called the infrastructure that supports the Canadian financial system "a public good, every bit as a important to the health of Canada's economy as our roads, bridges and airports." He said the process that moves billions of dollars each day looks risk-free, but it is not. Our connectivity creates a vulnerability, Poloz said. "It means that a problem in one institution may spread to others and be amplified," he said. "As such, a successful cyber attack on one institution can become a successful attack on many." Despite the lengths gone to keep the system secure, we cannot assume the financial system is secure, he said. "We need to be prepared to recover our systems should a cyber attack succeed." Household debt and house prices The central bank governor also said that "vulnerabilities" in Canada's housing market, and our associated level of household debt, are elevated, and likely to stay that way for a long time. With the arrival of new mortgage rule changes that will see each new mortgage stress-tested to make sure the borrower can handle a higher interest rate, the financial system will build up resilience over time, Poloz said. The Bank of Canada expects consumers will look for cheaper houses with a smaller mortgage so they qualify under the new rules, but Poloz said some people might also seek out lenders not covered by new federal rules so they can avoid the stress test. "To those people who hope to avoid the rules, I offer this advice: testing yourself to make sure you can handle your mortgage payments if interest rates were higher at renewal is a very good idea, whether it is a rule or not," he said. Jobs for young people Poloz said the economy has created about 350,000 jobs this year, but only about 50,000 of them have gone to young workers, adding that the percentage of people aged 15 to 24 who are in the workforce has slumped to its lowest point in almost 20 years. With more than 250,000 job vacancies in the economy — the highest figure on record — and businesses saying they can't find people with the right skills, Poloz suggested more must to be done to address this gap. "There surely is room for more ambitious on-the-job training programs in this picture," he said. Digital cash and bitcoin The governor saved his last point for the topic of bitcoin and other digital currencies, which have seen booming interest lately. "What their true value is may be anyone's guess — perhaps the most one can says is that buying these things means buying risk, which makes it closer to gambling than investing," Poloz said. That said, Poloz acknowledged that with transactions using electronic payments growing it is possible that demand for electronic cash could grow over time. He added there could be strong reason for the central bank to provide a form of digital currency "Bank staff are exploring the circumstances under which it might be appropriate for the central bank to issue its own digital currency for retail transactions," he said. |
GLENDALE, Ariz. — The Glendale City Council will hold a special voting meeting Friday at 9 a.m. on an amended version of its arena-lease agreement with the Coyotes. It posted the amended agreement on its website Thursday morning. If the council approves the amendments, the city and team will reach a settlement that will keep the Coyotes at Gila River Arena for at least the next two seasons while ending the legal battle between the two sides. "This decision will bring much-needed certainty to our fans and sponsors about our near-term future and an end to the uncertainty brought about through this legal action. We know that hockey works in the Valley and we are committed to Arizona for the long term. We thank Coyotes fans and sponsors for their incredible support throughout this process. They have proven that they are among the most loyal and ardent in the NHL." The City Council voted 5-2 in June to void its 15-year agreement with the team. The Coyotes then filed suit against the city, and a Maricopa County Superior Court judge granted the team’s request for a temporary restraining order to keep the agreement in place while ordering the city to make its final $3.75 million quarterly payment to the team. The first evidentiary hearing between the Coyotes and Glendale was scheduled for July 31. Glendale’s case rested on an Arizona Statute’s application to former city communications director Julie Frisoni, who did consulting work for the Coyotes after she left the city, and former city attorney Craig Tindall, who now serves as general counsel for the team. Arizona Revised Statute 38-511 allows a government entity to end a contract with another party if an employee who was "significantly involved in initiating, negotiating, securing, drafting or creating the contract" goes to work for the other party in the agreement. Multiple legal analysts told FOX Sports Arizona they believed the Coyotes had the stronger case, but that assessment is now in question. As part of the settlement, Tindall is no longer employed by the Coyotes and neither he nor Frisoni is allowed to work for the Coyotes in any capacity for the duration of the agreement. Glendale Mayor Jerry Weiers, councilman Gary Sherwood and LeBlanc all insisted that decision was merely a concession in the settlement to ease tensions, and not a reflection of either side’s view of the strength of its respective case, but one source familiar with the situation said there was legitimate concern on the Coyotes’ part that they would lose the case. The Coyotes have admitted that the uncertainty the legal battle created was having a significant impact on the their offseason business. It was difficult to attract sponsors, difficult to sell suites, difficult to secure season tickets and general manager Don Maloney admitted he had lost out on free agents he had hoped to sign. The team was only able to sign restricted free agent forward Mikkel Boedker, a key piece of its future, to a one-year deal. Boedker’s agent, Jarrett Bousquet, admitted the team’s hazy future was a factor. Follow Craig Morgan on Twitter |
Jim March Senior Member Join Date: February 14, 1999 Location: Pittsburg, CA, USA Posts: 7,413 Just for fun: my ranking and notes on the strongest 357s out there. On this scale, the FA353 is at the very top, while a really crappy critter like the EAA Windicator in 357 is at the bottom. Freedom Arms 353: This was a five-shot built on their large frame, same as the 454Casull. "Insanely strong" doesn't even begin. Loading data specific to this gun exists, and must NOT ever be used in any other 357Magnum gun, period, end of discussion...with the *possible* exception of our second place gun (see below). See also: Blowup Resistance Strength: 10 Action Strength: 10 Ruger Redhawk in 357: Approximately 5,000 of these beasts ever shipped. As with the FA353, loading data to take advantage of the over-strength exists. Warning: trying to handload a particular cartridge for use in an abnormally strong gun is dangerous and is for experienced handloaders only! What happens is, you get to a point where tiny increases in powder can cause significant "spikes" in pressure. Blowup Resistance Strength: 9 Action Strength: 9.5, possibly 10. Ruger Large-Frame Single Actions in 357 (Old Vaquero, post-1972 Blackhawk): Still built on the 44Magnum-class frames, the cylinder is slightly shorter than the Redhawk357 and the cylinder is fractionally less beefy. These are still very stout guns and some people goose their 357 loads in these safely. As with the warning above in red, this is not very safe unless you really know what you're doing. Blowup Resistance Strength: 8.5 Action Strength: 10 Vintage S&W N-Frame six-shot 357s (Registered Magnum, Models 27 and 28): Here we see a serious disparity between the two types of strength. Shooting these rapid-fire with low-powered 38Spl will batter the action parts flat as they try to start and stop that big cylinder quickly. Blowup Resistance Strength: 8.5 Action Strength: 4 Ruger Mid-Frame 357s (Pre-1973 Blackhawks in 357, New Vaquero and Montado in 357, 50th Anniversary Blackhawk Flattop in 357 from 2005): Action parts are all basically the same as the large-frame types (including parts interchangeability) so here we see a gun with a strong action but a slightly smaller cylinder. Blowup Resistance Strength: 7 Action Strength: 10 Ruger GP100, S&W 686, Colt Trooper Mk4/Cobra, Dan Wesson 715: These guns are about the same strength class. The GP100 may have a slight edge but to me, I'd rather have a GP100 of all of these because of the easy takedown, alteration and maintenance. Blowup Resistance Strength: 6 Action Strength: 8 (S&W arguably 7 or so) Ruger Service/Security/Speed Six series, Ruger SP101: I put these in roughly the same category, and they're the "weakest" guns here that I would feel comfortable shooting large diets of stout ammo in (assuming my wrists held out!). Blowup Resistance Strength: 5 Action Strength: 7 or 8 Colt SAA, post-WW2, most of the better-quality clones such as Uberties and Piettas post-2001: Take a gun originally meant as a 45 and set it up as a 357, and you get a beefy cylinder same as the NewVaq357. (USFA doesn't chamber their SAA-class guns in 357 due to issues with the firing pin and a desire to cater to the SASS crowd with 38Spl.) Blowup Resistance Strength: 7 (slightly less for the Italians but it's not much less...pre-2001, drop it half a point...) Action Strength: 5 (NOTE: this is due to weaker flat-springs, but they're easy to fix. The rest of the action is otherwise pretty robust, so this number is in some ways "unfairly low". Also, very high quality Wolff springs or the like can help, and there's some aftermarket partial coil-spring conversions available.) Colt Python: Another case of "strong gun, somewhat delicate action". Blowup Resistance Strength: 6 Action Strength: 4 S&W K-Frame 357s (Model 19, 66, etc.): Here's an odd case: they have a weakness at the base of the barrel, where they can crack at high round counts or after too many very hot 125gr or less loads. The numbers below assume no such abuse...and given the availability of quality 158gr loads, such abuse isn't necessary. Blowup Resistance Strength: 5 Action Strength: 5 S&W steel J-Frame 357s (Model 60, etc.): Surprisingly tough little critters... Blowup Resistance Strength: 4.5? Action Strength: 5 Ruger LCR357: This is basically guesswork on my part, and here's why: first, they haven't been out long enough for solid reports at high round counts and because they're only 17oz, few people are going to shoot them enough to track such! I suspect that with their steel primary frame and cylinder, they're tougher than an S&W Scandium snubby. Blowup Resistance Strength: 3 to 4? Action Strength: 5? EAA Windicator in 357, "Comanche" from Argentina: two of the worst "357s" I know of. I've seen credible reports of the Windicators falling apart rapidly due to basic metallurgy problems, and I've handled "Comanches" that were just beyond ghastly at one of the NRA convention halls - you'd think they'd bring their best stuff there but if they did, dear God, I don't even want to think about what their version of a "bad monday gun" looks like!!! Blowup Resistance Strength: 1 Action Strength: 1 --- This should generate some discussion . I basically stopped at the LCR357 as it's the "weakest" 357Magnum gun I could see myself ever owning. This is about which 357Mag revolvers are the "strongest". "Strength" is divided into two categories: "blowup resistance" and "action strength". The latter is about how well the gun resists going out of time, or suffering damage to the bolt stop, sear surfaces, springs, pawl/hand, cylinder ratchet or the like.On this scale, the FA353 is at the very top, while a really crappy critter like the EAA Windicator in 357 is at the bottom.This was a five-shot built on their large frame, same as the 454Casull. "Insanely strong" doesn't even begin. Loading data specific to this gun exists, and must NOT ever be used in any other 357Magnum gun, period, end of discussion...with the *possible* exception of our second place gun (see below). See also: http://www.sixguns.com/range/fa353.htm Blowup Resistance Strength: 10Action Strength: 10: Approximately 5,000 of these beasts ever shipped. As with the FA353, loading data to take advantage of the over-strength exists.Blowup Resistance Strength: 9Action Strength: 9.5, possibly 10.(Old Vaquero, post-1972 Blackhawk):Still built on the 44Magnum-class frames, the cylinder is slightly shorter than the Redhawk357 and the cylinder is fractionally less beefy. These are still very stout guns and some people goose their 357 loads in these safely. As with the warning above in red, this is not very safe unless you really know what you're doing.Blowup Resistance Strength: 8.5Action Strength: 10(Registered Magnum, Models 27 and 28): Here we see a serious disparity between the two types of strength. Shooting these rapid-fire with low-powered 38Spl will batter the action parts flat as they try to start and stop that big cylinder quickly.Blowup Resistance Strength: 8.5Action Strength: 4(Pre-1973 Blackhawks in 357, New Vaquero and Montado in 357, 50th Anniversary Blackhawk Flattop in 357 from 2005): Action parts are all basically the same as the large-frame types (including parts interchangeability) so here we see a gun with a strong action but a slightly smaller cylinder.Blowup Resistance Strength: 7Action Strength: 10: These guns are about the same strength class. The GP100 may have a slight edge but to me, I'd rather have a GP100 of all of these because of the easy takedown, alteration and maintenance.Blowup Resistance Strength: 6Action Strength: 8 (S&W arguably 7 or so): I put these in roughly the same category, and they're the "weakest" guns here that I would feel comfortable shooting large diets of stout ammo in (assuming my wrists held out!).Blowup Resistance Strength: 5Action Strength: 7 or 8: Take a gun originally meant as a 45 and set it up as a 357, and you get a beefy cylinder same as the NewVaq357.(USFA doesn't chamber their SAA-class guns in 357 due to issues with the firing pin and a desire to cater to the SASS crowd with 38Spl.)Blowup Resistance Strength: 7 (slightly less for the Italians but it's not much less...pre-2001, drop it half a point...)Action Strength: 5 (NOTE: this is due to weaker flat-springs, but they're easy to fix. The rest of the action is otherwise pretty robust, so this number is in some ways "unfairly low". Also, very high quality Wolff springs or the like can help, and there's some aftermarket partial coil-spring conversions available.): Another case of "strong gun, somewhat delicate action".Blowup Resistance Strength: 6Action Strength: 4: Here's an odd case: they have a weakness at the base of the barrel, where they can crack at high round counts or after too many very hot 125gr or less loads. The numbers below assume no such abuse...and given the availability of quality 158gr loads, such abuse isn't necessary.Blowup Resistance Strength: 5Action Strength: 5: Surprisingly tough little critters...Blowup Resistance Strength: 4.5?Action Strength: 5: This is basically guesswork on my part, and here's why: first, they haven't been out long enough for solid reports at high round counts and because they're only 17oz, few people are going to shoot them enough to track such!Blowup Resistance Strength: 3 to 4?Action Strength: 5?: two of the worst "357s" I know of. I've seen credible reports of the Windicators falling apart rapidly due to basic metallurgy problems, and I've handled "Comanches" that were just beyond ghastly at one of the NRA convention halls - you'd think they'd bring their best stuff there but if they did, dear God, I don't even want to think about what their version of a "bad monday gun" looks like!!!Blowup Resistance Strength: 1Action Strength: 1---This should generate some discussion. I basically stopped at the LCR357 as it's the "weakest" 357Magnum gun I could see myself ever owning. __________________ Jim March |
Rory MacDonald made it no secret that he was going to be testing free agency after his fight with Stephen Thompson at UFC Fight Night 89. His fight with 'Wonderboy', which marked MacDonald's second consecutive loss, was the last fight on his UFC contract and the Canadian announced in March that he wanted 'to make the most money' he could. According to Chamatkar Sandhu of MMA Junkie, MacDonald has backed up his claims and begun discussing options with Bellator. Bellator President Scott Coker told me they have begun a line of communication with Rory MacDonald in the hopes of signing the free agent. — Chamatkar Sandhu (@SandhuMMA) July 14, 2016 Bloody Elbow's Nick Baldwin says that Bellator declined his request for comment. Since the UFC's partnership with Reebok in 2014, which has resulted in criticisms of fighter pay, several athletes have jumped ship to Scott Coker's Bellator in hopes of a more lucrative future. Benson Henderson, Matt Mitrione, and Phil Davis are amongst those who recently joined the promotion. UFC Fight Night 89 marked the first time MacDonald had ever dropped two consecutive losses and it's unlikely that the 26-year-old will challenge for the title in the foreseeable future. MacDonald is considered one of the most talented fighters on the UFC roster and is currently ranked as the No. 2 welterweight in the world. |
The days of the Arctic being a remote and frozen wilderness appear to be coming to an end, but precisely what the rapidly changing region will develop into is only just beginning to be addressed. Two competing visions for the region clashed this week when President Obama and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced new restrictions on offshore drilling in their respective jurisdictions of the Arctic Ocean. In the eyes of these two progressive-minded leaders – one cementing his environmental legacy on the way out the door, the other beginning to establish his – the melting Arctic represents an opportunity to develop the increasingly accessible region in a cleaner and more diverse and sustainable fashion that protects its fragile ecosystems while helping the two countries reduce their carbon emissions. On the other side, critics say the new restrictions will simply boost fossil fuel development in other Arctic regions, namely in Russian and Norwegian territory, while forcing Arctic communities to abandon industries that have, literally and financially, fueled their development to date. The restrictions on drilling could see the countries follow in the footsteps of other Arctic nations that have moved away from oil and gas toward the tourism and shipping industries, according to Mia Bennett, a PhD candidate at the University of California, Los Angeles, who is researching Arctic development. “Outside of Norway and Russia, there has already been a shift away from developing infrastructure for [oil and gas] in the Arctic and a move towards building maritime infrastructure, namely for the cruise and shipping industries,” she says by email. The new limits on Arctic drilling are potentially indefinite in the US, but will be reviewed every five years in Canada. Tourism rising Even prior to this week’s announcement, the fossil fuel industry in the North American Arctic was slumping while tourism has been enjoying slow but steady growth. Low oil prices combined with the hazardous conditions have made Arctic oil exploration a financial nonstarter for companies for now. Royal Dutch Shell, perhaps the most aggressive company in the region, has sunk over £5 million in Arctic fuel exploration with no meaningful return. The thawing of the Northwest Passage, meanwhile, has enabled the slow-but-steady growth of the tourism industry. The Passage’s southern route has been navigable every summer since 2007, while the northern route has been navigable for six summers since then. Cruise ships have been making increasingly lengthy transits, beginning in 2011 and culminating this past summer in the first larger-size cruise ship, the Crystal Serenity, traversing the entire passage. The industry is still in its infancy, however, and far from accessible to the typical traveler. Tickets for the Crystal Serenity ranged from $22,000 to $120,000, plus required insurance coverage costing $50,000. And the shipping industry still has some way to go. Ships have managed fewer than 240 complete transits of the Northwest Passage since Roald Amundsen first did it 110 years ago, and without oil and gas development there may be precious little for ships to transport in and out anyway. “The shipping industry's bread and butter is transporting resources out of the Arctic and importing in supplies for extraction (including oil and gas),” writes Ms. Bennett. “Without the latter, I'm not sure how lucrative the former will be.” Indeed, the fossil fuel industry has long sustained Arctic communities by providing jobs, resources, and infrastructure to places few other industries are willing to go. And this was among the arguments made by critics of the new restrictions. Decision 'will inhibit our ... communities' “This decision will not stop our climate from changing, but it will inhibit our North Slope communities from developing the infrastructure, communications capability and technology necessary for growth," said Rex Rock, Sr., president of the Arctic Slope Regional Corporation, according to KTUU News in Alaska. "It’s a move which was made without any consultation from the largest private land owners in the U.S. Arctic and yet we will be the ones forced to live with the consequences.” Despite the lack of exploration activity in the region, some politicians in both countries bemoaned the potential lost revenue, which they believe will be soon captured by competing nations like Norway and Russia. “The Arctic is going to be developed. We know that,” said Sen. David Sullivan (R) of Alaska, according to KTUU. “So now what we’re going to see is companies taking their resources and their capital to countries that don’t have the high standards that we do.” Bob McLeod, premier of the Northwest Territories, criticized Mr. Trudeau for leaving untapped 7 billion barrels of oil and 92 trillion cubic feet of natural gas in a territory that has the third-lowest per-capita GDP in the country. “The Russian Arctic is already the frontier of Arctic [oil and gas] exploration, and now with these restrictions, it looks poised to remain that way,” writes Bennett. “A frontier, sacrifice zone, or vulnerable testing ground, depending on how you look at it.” For now at least, the North American Arctic will take a slightly different path. A different kind of power Clean-energy technology is beginning to enter the conversation, with companies interested in taking advantage of the region’s immense hydropower potential. One company, Ocean Renewable Power Company of Portland, Maine, has been testing small-scale tidal and river power generators in remote Alaskan villages, training locals to install and operate the systems. “These communities have the potential to grow,” says Chris Sauer, the company’s president and CEO. “Being able to provide them with affordable energy that doesn’t damage the environment could be a huge catalyst in the growth of these communities.” Meanwhile, tourists can arrive by air as well as ship. And more development is coming by land, name in the form of a $300-million, 150-kilometer highway being built between Inuvik in the Northwest Territories and the Arctic coastal town of Tuktoyaktuk. Get the Monitor Stories you care about delivered to your inbox. By signing up, you agree to our Privacy Policy While the road may bring more development, particularly tourism, Bennett is concerned that projects like this – which may only have a 40- or 50-year lifespan – will become more common. “I think there’s a general unwillingness to think about longer-term development past, say, 2050,” she says. “We have at this moment in the Arctic a strong desire to put in infrastructure and money and investment, but the future landscape is becoming harder and harder to predict.” |
Image caption Tens of thousands of demonstrators rallied at the state capitol to protest against the new law A US judge in Wisconsin has issued a temporary restraining order blocking the state's new collective bargaining law from taking effect. Public-sector unions' bargaining rights would be affected by the law, if it is published later this month. Judge Maryann Sumi issued the order, which is being seen as a setback to Republican Governor Scott Walker. Tens of thousands of people rallied at the state capitol in recent weeks in protest against the anti-union measure. Dane County District Attorney Ismael Ozanne filed a lawsuit contending that a legislative committee which broke a stalemate that had kept the bill in limbo for weeks met without the 24-hour notice required by Wisconsin's open meetings law. Last month, US state's 14 Democratic senators had sought to prevent the bill moving forward by fleeing the state, leaving the chamber short of the number needed for a vote. But Republicans used a procedural move last week to allow them to pass the measure in committee instead. Mr Walker signed it into law shortly afterwards. The state's justice department argued that it had given enough notice of the committee meeting when it posted a memo on a bulletin board two hours beforehand. The law was to be published on 25 March, but the new restraining order will now prevent that from happening. Remaining 'confident' Cullen Werwie, a spokesman for Mr Walker, said he was confident the law would still be published in the near future. "This legislation is still working through the legal process," Mr Werwie said. But Democrats were hopeful Republicans in the state would come back to the negotiating table. "I would hope the Republicans would take this as an opportunity to sit down with Democrats and negotiate a proposal we could all get behind," said Democratic Senator Jon Erpenbach. The state faces a $3.6bn (£2.23bn) budget deficit in the coming two-year period. Mr Walker and Republicans say the law on labour unions is needed to help the state balance that deficit. If implemented, the legislation would affect rubbish collectors, teachers, nurses, prison guards and other public workers. |
The US charge against Syria is being driven by Damascus’ alleged use of chemical weapons against civilians. While Washington is quick to intervene on moral grounds, its own checkered past regarding WMDs may put the world’s policeman under the spotlight. “Nobody disputes – or hardly anybody disputes – that chemical weapons were used on a large scale in Syria against civilian populations,” US President Barack Obama told a briefing Wednesday. “We have looked at all the evidence, and we do not believe the opposition possessed … chemical weapons of that sort.” It is this charge, so far unsubstantiated by UN inspectors, that underpins Western attempts to intervene militarily in Syria. "If we are saying in a clear and decisive but very limited way, we send a shot across the bow saying, 'Stop doing this,' this can have a positive impact on our national security over the long term," Obama said. On Monday, US Secretary of State John Kerry was more emphatic in stressing the ethical basis for intervention. “Let me be clear: The indiscriminate slaughter of civilians, the killing of women and children and innocent bystanders, by chemical weapons is a moral obscenity.” The obscenity of such attacks is a reality Kerry is all too familiar with, as the decorated war veteran served at a time when the US was engaged in a decade of chemical warfare in Vietnam. From 1962 to 1971, the US military sprayed an estimated 20 million gallons of defoliants and herbicides over Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia in a bid to deprive the Vietcong of food and cover. The Vietnamese government estimates that 400,000 people were killed or maimed and 500,000 children born with birth defects as a result of the so-called 'rainbow herbicides.' Christopher Busby, an expert on the health effects of ionizing radiation and Scientific Secretary of the European Committee on Radiation Risk, said it was important to make the distinction that defoliants such as Agent Orange are not anti-personnel weapons designed to kill or deform people, and are thus “not quite the same as using a nerve gas or something that is intended against personnel.” “But nevertheless, it had a very serious effect, and they shouldn’t have used it because they must have known that it would have these side-effects,” Busby said. “At least, when they were using it they must have learned that there would be these side-effects, and they should have stopped using them at this or that point. But they didn’t.” A similar legacy was left by the deployment of white phosphorous and depleted uranium following the US-led 2003 invasion of Iraq. Busby said that while the genotoxic effects of white phosphorous were debatable, the deadliness of depleted uranium was beyond question. “All of the genetic damage effects that we see in Iraq, in my opinion, were caused by… depleted uranium weapons. And also [non]-depleted uranium weapons of a new type. And these are really terrible weapons. These are weapons whic have absolutely destroyed the genetic integrity of the population of Iraq,” he said. The people of Fallujah, where some of the most intense fighting during the Iraq war took place, have since suffered a veritable health crisis. Four studies on the health crisis in the city were published in 2012. Busby, an author and co-author of two of them, described Fallujah as having "the highest rate of genetic damage in any population ever studied." There is a case to be made that in terms of Agent Orange, White Phosphorous and depleted uranium, the often deadly consequences have been a side-effect rather than the goal of their deployment. While Washington currently argues that the use of chemical weapons is a “red line” that requires a swift and immediate military response to deter future crimes against humanity, the US has a checkered record on the issue, said former CIA analyst Ray McGovern, citing the time when then-US ally Saddam Hussein deployed chemical weapons against Iran during the Iran-Iraq War – with US knowledge. “We had the famous picture of Donald Rumsfeld shaking hands with Saddam Hussein,” McGovern told RT. “That happened the day after the first public announcement that the Iraqis had used mustard gas against the Iranians. So [turning a] blind eye, yeah, in spades.” “The problem is that we knew what was going on, and there is a Geneva Convention against the use of chemical warfare. Our top leaders knew it," McGovern continued. “The question is: had they no conscience, had they no shame?” For more, watch Marina Portnaya’s full report |
WASHINGTON -- As Donald Trump makes his bid for the White House, he's also talked up his new hotel opening this fall on Pennsylvania Avenue in the District of Columbia, bragging that the hotel will open its doors two years ahead of schedule. The accelerated schedule has been picked up by several outlets. It's standard bravado from the presumptive Republican nominee, meant to add to the mythology that he is a successful executive who can get things done efficiently when his business record actually includes a number of failures. But Trump's boasts about his hotel opening ahead of schedule simply aren't true. A June 2013 press release posted on the Trump Organization's website announced that the redevelopment of the old post office was "expected to start in 2014 with the hotel opening scheduled in 2016." A few months later, the Trump Organization announced the expected grand opening of the hotel would happen at the end of 2015. The Trump Organization said in a third statement in 2013 the hotel had completion was expected in late 2015. In 2014, the Trump Organization went back to announcing the hotel would open in mid-2016. In February, in the midst of Trump's presidential campaign, the organization shifted and announced the hotel was planned to open in September, "almost two years ahead of schedule, which is unheard of for a project of this size and complexity," Ivanka Trump is quoted as saying. And during a March visit to the site, Donald Trump said, "We’re two years ahead of schedule. We’re going to be opening in September." Asked for clarification on the different opening dates, Allie Huddleston, a spokeswoman for the hotel, maintained it is ahead of schedule. "The hotel is opening more than one year in advance this September," she said. |
With the album “Sleep Well Beast” by indie-rock favorites The National due out in September, fans of the group’s moody, melancholic sound will get their first full dose of new songs in four years. The Brooklyn-based, Grammy Award-nominated outfit’s last album, “Trouble Will Find Me,” came out in 2013. In pop music, that’s the equivalent of a generation, time enough for trends to come and go and for older bands to be eclipsed by newer ones. The National, however, has an ardent following, and the quintet comprising two sets of brothers plus a singer-lyricist — all of whom hail originally from Cincinnati — hasn’t been just sitting around. The band has spent plenty of time touring, well, nationally, as well as globally, and has treated fans to live renditions of many of the new songs that will appear on “Sleep Well Beast.” The individual members of the National have also been plenty busy with other musical projects. Vocalist Matt Berninger recorded and toured as a duo with an old friend as EL VY. The Dessner brothers – Aaron and Bryce, identical twins who make up the compositional core of the group – have been involved in various projects alone and together, including running their record label Brassland, writing for TV and film, producing recordings by other artists and curating “Day of the Dead,” a 59-track, multiple artist tribute to the Grateful Dead, the proceeds of which benefited AIDS/ HIV and related health issues through the Red Hot Organization. Perhaps the most surprising yet little-known extra-National work has been that of Yale University-trained composer Bryce Dessner, whose new-classical, minimalist, and avant-garde compositions have been recorded and performed by Kronos Quartet, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and new-music collectives So Percussion, eighth blackbird, and Bang on a Can, among others. Dessner has also collaborated with a who’s who of contemporary music, including Philip Glass, Steve Reich, David Lang and Radiohead’s Jonny Greenwood, who like Dessner also straddles the worlds of new-music, cutting-edge rock and film scores. Dessner’s best-known contemporary works are those commissioned by Kronos Quartet, collected on the 2013 album, “Aheym,” which takes its title – Yiddish for “homeward” – from one of the album’s four compositions. In his program notes, Dessner explains that the piece was inspired by the stories of his Jewish immigrant grandparents who settled near Prospect Park – where the work received its world premiere performance by Kronos Quartet in 2009 – when they first arrived in the U.S. (It shouldn’t escape notice that it was from hipster-transformed Brooklyn where their Cincinnati-bred grandsons would make their musical impression upon the world.) Bryce Dessner wrote, “As little boys, my brother [Aaron] and I used to spend hours with my grandmother, asking her about the details of how she came to America. (My father’s family were Jewish immigrants from Poland and Russia). She could only give us a smattering of details, but they all found their way into our collective imagination, eventually becoming a part of our own cultural identity and connection to the past. In her poem ‘Di rayze aheym,’ the American-Yiddish poet Irena Klepfisz, a professor at Barnard in New York and one of the few child survivors of the Warsaw Ghetto, writes: ‘Among strangers is her home. Here right here she must live. Her memories will become monuments.’” Indeed, in “Aheym” as well as in “Tenebre,” another piece on that Kronos album, one can hear the influence of Yiddish modes recognizable in synagogue music and klezmer. Bryce’s brother Aaron told the London Jewish Chronicle, “My brother and I have always been fascinated by liturgical religious melodies in Judaism…. I don’t like major chords. I like the meditative patterns in certain prayers, and I like music that repeats itself.” Aaron has emphasized his strong connection to his Jewish roots. He told the Chronicle, “What I’m most interested in is literature, art and film that focus on catastrophic Jewish history — the pogroms and the Holocaust and those horrible things. When I was at Yale I was working in the Holocaust Archive, which was an amazing experience.” “When we [the National] played a festival in Katowice [Poland]…, I woke everybody up early, hired a van and took them to Auschwitz. I’ve been there more than once. It’s really powerful, and it’s beautiful to have that kind of emotional experience with everybody, although it did bum us out for the concert…. We also played in Dachau, in the town, so we got to go to the camp there too. I know so much about the Holocaust, almost everywhere we go in Europe I’m haunted by knowing there’s a place nearby where a lot of people died.” How much of the Dessner brothers’ attachment to their Jewish ancestry in particular and to Jewish culture in general makes its way into the music of the National is up for debate, although the composers favor dark, minor-key arrangements and odd time signatures – neither of which is your standard rock fare. While the Biblical Abel, Anna Freud, and Franz Kafka show up in the group’s lyrics, those are written by non-Jewish vocalist Matt Berninger. But Bryce Dessner insists that the Jewish connection runs deep in his work. “History, within families especially, lives on in the memories of children,” he told Relix magazine. “In America, people feel the need to internalize where they’re from, in their own personal way. I’ll always have this piece, and I’ll always think of my grandmother.” As in Klepfisz’s poem, channeled through the music of Bryce Dessner and The National, those memories become monuments. Seth Rogovoy is a contributing editor at the Forward who often explores Jewish themes in popular culture. He is the author of “Bob Dylan: Prophet Mystic Poet” (Scribner, 2009) and “The Essential Klezmer” (Algonquin, 2000). This story "The Secret Jewish History of The National" was written by Seth Rogovoy. |
Weezy says the new generation doesn't even try to grab the title he once claimed - is he right? There was a time when Lil Wayne could call himself the greatest rapper alive and he had a legitimate argument. Around 2007 and 2008 he was putting out an astounding quantity of music that was often breathtakingly creative. But beyond Wayne, the response to his claim, the arguments, the debates, proved just how much the idea of the "greatest rapper alive" mattered at the time. Now? It doesn't feel like that title matters as much as it did even a few years ago, and Lil Wayne agrees. As he said in a recent interview with DJ Drama: ADVERTISEMENT Thanks for watching! Visit Website They [new rappers] settle for what works. It's works for them. That's why you don't hear me knocking them, you don't hear me hating. I'm just a part of a different culture, a different wave of music. That wave was Jay Z, Nas, Biggie, at that time it was all about being the best. I'm quoted for saying I'm the best rapper alive. Now a days they're not trying to be the best rapper, or the best at anything. They're just trying to do what other people say is ok, and I'm not a part of that culture." ADVERTISEMENT Thanks for watching! Visit Website ADVERTISEMENT Thanks for watching! Visit Website It's interesting that I heard that quote at the same time I was talking to Yoh about if T.I. is still the King of the South. Similarly, it feels like no one's really trying to be a "King" anymore. With some notable exceptions - Drake, Kendrick - it seems like younger artists aren't trying to build empires the way artists of the previous decade were, not competing to the "best." For the most part they seem content to get their slice of the pie and keep it. Is Wayne right? If people even care enough to answer that question will say a lot about if the Best Rapper Alive crown has died. By Nathan S, the managing editor of DJBooth and a hip-hop writer. His beard is awesome. This is his Twitter. Image via Offbeat Magazine. |
Oppression Mutant Deity, Machining Despot (RR) [ACT] [VG] [1/turn]: CB 1 and Flip up a G unit. If you have a “Machining” heart card, stand as many units as the number of face up “Machining” in you G zone. For each unit stood by this effect, the opponent choose two units to stun. I”m already happy with the Zoo booster and they decided to spoil me some more. Although this guy is a better version of Machining Destroyer, you should still run Destroyer. Despot is one of those cards that get better as the game progresses. This bug makes it better to use cards such as Cricket, Dive Beetle, and Stag Beetle (even though you should already be using two out of those three). Please do not use Dive Beetle just because Machining Despot exists. Despot is here because of Stag Beetle’s call skill and Cricket’s stunning skill. The reason this guy is better than Destroyer is because it can flip cards up from the G zone (Preferably Destroyer), which accelerates you toward Zeroth Dragon or GB8. The only reason you’ll go into Destroyer is because your opponent have a full field and you can’t stun everything or enough field that he/she won’t choose his/her VG to stun. On that note, please know that Vanguard can be stun with Despot’s skill due to it saying “unit(s)”. This also work well against Aqua Force, which have a lot of resist unit so the opponent will have to choose their Vanguard. Mirage decks also get hurt by Despot. Lastly, Despot doesn’t need as much field presence as Destroyer does. Arguably, near the late game it will but early game, not so much. Losing Rear-guard won’t be as detrimental. Other confirmed cards for Machining/Megacolony are Machining triggers: (Machining Killer Ant) (Machining Visaliness) (Machining Tree Hooper) At the moment, these triggers are assumed vanilla but since the Tree Hooper is a 4k, I will guess that it’s the “into soul, +3k” crit. Well, that’s all for today Swarm Infestations. This is the first of many I will post. Hope you all have a nice day. Peace out! By the way, I hope everyone enjoy play Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon. I’m loving that game. |
Imagine you've recruited an employee who, for all intents and purposes, seemed competent enough. At least, that's what you thought when you hired him. But over the last few months, you've noticed that he is just not performing up to the standard you were expecting. Maybe he's missing deadlines, turning in incomplete reports, or just isn't "getting it," despite multiple attempts to help him succeed. You need to do something. You don't have time to babysit, and constant errors are affecting your team's credibility. You see nothing else to do but let him go. But terminating an employee on a whim can be a risky move for your business. You need a practical and fair process help reduce your liability. Moreover, it's best to give employees plenty of time to improve, and give them the tools needed to get there. After all, recruiting, hiring, onboarding and training a new employee can be very costly. But when all else fails, termination may be necessary. To conduct performance-based terminations the right way, it's best to follow a progressive discipline process, which generally includes a series of increasingly severe penalties for repeated offenses. Here are a few tips to protect your business. Write down everything Documentation is key. If you don't write something down, it can be argued that it didn't happen. Even informal conversations written in a notebook can be helpful and considered documentation. While it may seem time-consuming to write down exchanges, times, dates, and other details, doing so can be important should you have to defend your decision. Be clear about expectations For every job, you should have a job description. Even if you don't have anything formalized, you should have documentation that relays a solid overview of the functions and responsibilities of each role on your team . You should also know what it takes for employees to be successful in each role, and it's essential that your employees know this, too. Don't assume that people understand what you need. People come with their own perspectives that don't always match their boss's. Each role should be clearly defined. This makes it easier to pinpoint and correct problems. Additionally, your progressive discipline policy should be established and transparent, outlining how corrective action and termination should take place should you need to go there. This helps ensure every issue is handled consistently and fairly. Be a good coach Both new and existing employees should be coached. This is informal feedback and consists of what's right as well as what's wrong. Think of a football coach. He gives praise for a good pass or a solid tackle, but also points out the missed catches and holes in the defense. Your employees need this feedback to understand how they are doing well before you get to the point of considering disciplinary action or termination. Initiate a performance improvement plan (PIP) So, let's say you've provided ongoing coaching, but you're seeing some major concerns with performance that the coaching hasn't affected. This would be a good time to develop a performance improvement plan (PIP). The PIP should explain specifically what the problem areas are and establish detailed goals for corrective action. In some cases, one-on-one counseling might better help the employee, while other cases might need a written plan. This method can be helpful in addressing issues like attendance, communication and other behavioral issues. For example, if someone is routinely missing work, you might have a conversation about exactly when the employee is expected to arrive at and leave work, as well as the fact that you expect to see immediate improvement. Explain that continued punctuality issues could result in termination. If you have more skills-based issues, a PIP might be more appropriate. For example, you might explain: Sally Brown has been submitting reports with numerous grammatical, spelling and technical errors. Within the next 30 days, Sally needs to complete Business Writing 101, as well as use grammar and spell checking tools prior to submitting reports. Technical data should be reviewed by the Engineering group. We will meet again on next Tuesday to review progress. In any case, the timeline given to improve should be reasonable. Some deficiencies are quicker to fix than others. Keep this in mind. Document the conversation and plan . Have your employees sign an acknowledgement form to confirm that they understand. If you do a verbal counseling, send a follow-up email to your employees. Hold regular follow-up meetings. Make sure you capture the details of these conversations in writing and have employees sign documentation confirming that they attended the meeting. Give them specific feedback on how they're doing. If results are mixed, share with them what they're doing right as well as what they're doing wrong. Now-;this part is important-;if you don't see improvement, employees are still making similar errors, address them immediately. Don't wait until your next follow-up meeting. And keep notes on what you've addressed and when. Conduct a written counseling If things are getting really egregious, you may need to move to a written counseling. A written counseling is somewhat similar to the PIP. It should outline areas that employees need to correct. Again, in writing, detail specifically what needs to improve and how this should be accomplished. The counseling form should also express that improvement needs to be immediate, marked (noticeable) and sustained. Employees should sign this form after you've discussed it with them. This doesn't mean they have to agree with what you've documented. Their signature simply indicates that they have received the counseling. When all else fails, terminate employment Despite all of your efforts, you still may not see the type or quality of improvement needed, and the only option left is to sever the relationship. However, by now, you should have clearly documented what you did to help the under-performing employee improve. Performance-based terminations should never come as a surprise to your employees. Prior to terminating your employee, be sure to review all associated documentation. Also, contact your legal counsel or HR representative to ensure your case is supported, justified and sound. Confirm that you're following all state-specific wage and hour regulations. And if you use employment contracts or non-compete/non-solicitation agreements, you should ask your legal counsel to provide you with validity and enforcement guidance. In releasing employees, honesty is the best policy. While your goal is not to make anyone feel bad, you should also not disguise a performance-based termination as a "layoff" or request the person to resign. For example, you can say, "John, as you know, we've talked a few times about your attendance, and we haven't seen this improve as we would have liked. That said, we have made the decision to terminate your employment effective immediately." So, when is the best day or time to have this kind of conversation? Honestly, there really is no "good" time. It's never an easy conversation. However, there are some times that are less desirable than others. For example, Friday afternoons are typically not ideal because the released employees have the weekend to dwell on their new reality. Opinions on when to terminate can vary widely, but ultimately, earlier in the week is preferable, as well as earlier in the day. The only thing worse for you than a bad employee is bad documentation. Make sure you're not making other common HR errors. Download our free e-book, 7 Most Frequent HR Mistakes and How to Avoid Them. |
The Arab League on Wednesday condemned Israel's new law requiring a referendum on land concession as "illustrating the aggressive character" of the Israeli government and its "disregard for international law." Israel "continues to place obstacle after obstacle to harm efforts to renew the peace process," Deputy Arab League chief Ahmed Hali said. Arab foreign ministers and delegations attending a meeting of the Arab League in Cairo on July 29, 2010. AP Every step Israel takes in that direction amplifies the tension and instability in the Middle East, added Hali. He called on the global community to intervene and force Israel to abide by international law. The Arab League issued its response to the new law a day after Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas warned that the move "puts obstacles in the way of the political process." "The Israelis want to tell the whole world that they will not withdraw from Jerusalem or the Golan," Abbas told reporters on Tuesday at the opening of the new headquarters of the Palestine Liberation Organization in Ramallah. The Knesset on Monday approved that law, which stipulates a two-thirds parliamentary majority to cede land in east Jerusalem to the Palestinians or in the Golan Heights to Syria. Failing that, either withdrawal would become subject to a referendum. While noting that he did not object to Israel putting the final peace deal to a referendum, Abbas said a referendum "on this part or that" meant "obstructions on the way to peace." Keep updated: Sign up to our newsletter Email * Please enter a valid email address Sign up Please wait… Thank you for signing up. We've got more newsletters we think you'll find interesting. Click here Oops. Something went wrong. Please try again later. Try again Thank you, The email address you have provided is already registered. Close Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat told a news conference that the Israeli parliament vote "is a violation of international law," which considers Jerusalem and the Golan Heights occupied territories. The two Arab leaders were not the only ones to criticize the bill; Defense Minister Ehud Barak said it would likely be used by Israel's enemies as proof that it is averse to advancing the Middle East peace process. "A Palestinian state is in Israel's clear interest," Barak said. "This [law] won't do anybody any good. We must get pass the obstacle of settlement freeze, because is a weak point for Israel that cannot be explained to the world." Syria also condemned the bill, saying it was further proof that the Israeli government was not interested in peace. A Syrian Foreign Ministry official said Tuesday the bill makes a mockery of international laws and UN Security Council resolutions. Syria lost the Golan Heights to Israel in the 1967 Mideast war and wants it all back as the price for peace. |
Ubuntu 15.04's new features and changes We're not far from the final release of Ubuntu 15.04. So it's a good time to take a peek at the changes and new features in Canonical's latest version of Ubuntu. Unfortunately, Ubuntu 15.04 might be somewhat underwhelming for those expecting tons of new features. There are some important changes, but most of them won't be apparent to desktop users. Silviu Stahie reports for Softpedia: Ubuntu 15.04 is not an exciting release, but that it's only a surface impression. The truth is that it's an important upgrade because some very important changes have been made, including the adoption of systemd. Users will notice that not too many visual changes have been implemented in Ubuntu 15.04, but that was to be expected. The team is transitioning to a new Unity version that is still not ready for general use, so it's easy to understand why Ubuntu 15.04 is not all that different from Ubuntu 14.10. 1. Changes galore, but most of them under the hood. 2. Systemd replaces Upstart. 3. The Linux kernel has been upgraded to 3.19.3. 4. Unity and Compiz get minor upgrades. 5. Locally Integrated Menus are now default. 6. A new wallpaper has been implemented. 7. All the major apps have been upgraded. More at Softpedia You can check out some of the new features and changes in Ubuntu 15.04 in this YouTube video: Ubuntu redditors chimed in with their thoughts in a thread about Ubuntu 15.04: |
The purpose of Garrison is to defend an outpost from attacking beastmen with up to an alliance of adventurers. The beastmen will attack in 4 waves; each wave consists of a variety of jobs including melee, mages, and ranged attackers. The final wave will include a beastman boss. To start a Garrison quest, you need to find a unique rare/ex item in the region to participate in its respective Garrison, and then trade that item to the Conquest Overseer (Outpost Guard) at the region's outpost (see below). Only one item is required for each Garrison run. Anyone can participate in a Garrison, but only Rank 2 or higher citizens of the nation controlling the region can trade the item to the outpost guard and initiate the event. After trading the item to the guard, he will inform you about an attack on the outpost; your job will be to wipe out the invading force while keeping as many NPCs alive as possible: the more NPCs that survive, the more treasure earned. Participating Upon initiating the Garrison, one NPC will spawn for every party or alliance member participating. A wave of enemy mobs will then spawn and proceed to attack the NPCs (who will also fight back). After defeating all of the mobs, there will be a short delay before the next wave spawns. The number of beastmen in each wave depends on the number of parties in your alliance: # of Parties 1st Wave 2nd Wave 3rd Wave 4th Wave 1 2 4 6 6+NM 2 4 6 8 8+NM 3 6 8 10 10+NM After defeating all of the waves, the person who initiated the Garrison can talk to the outpost guard to end the event and for the rewards to be placed in the treasure pool. However, this will not remove the level cap of all participating members---each member will need to speak to the outpost guard to have their level cap removed. Restrictions If a party member is KO'd during the Garrison, they're out. Any players that are KO'd lose their level restriction and will be unable to help afterward. Passing characters cannot affect the Garrison alliance at all - they can't cure you, or attack the mobs. However, should someone get KO'd, it can be very helpful to have someone who is not participating in the event help with raises after the event is finished. Garrison cannot occur in an area where Ballista is occurring. This includes the day for entry, the actual match, and closing (3 game days). A player can only trade the item to start a Garrison once per Conquest Tally regardless of zone. There is a cool-down period between Garrisons in the same zone. Another Garrison can be initiated exactly 30 minutes after the initiation of the previous Garrison in the same area. You have 30 minutes to complete a Garrison or it will end in failure and mobs will depop. Enemy mobs will spawn aggressive to the NPCs, and if all NPCs die the Garrison automatically ends in failure. Hence, keeping NPCs alive and holding enmity on all mobs is a priority! Any summoned Trusts will be dismissed as soon as the Garrison is initiated and cannot be re-summoned whilst under the level cap. Similarly, you may not make use of your Adventuring Fellow. However, any buffs you have will not wear off when the Garrison commences. Locations Strategy See Strategies. All items (16) |
Clippers stars score big on the promotional front Blake Griffin and Chris Paul are tapped to be the faces of TV advertising campaigns. Their value as pitchmen has increased as the Clippers have racked up wins. Later, today's Blake tells his younger self: "Stop wearing jean shorts. Just trust me." The implication: While jean shorts are not cool, sleek Kia automobiles are very cool. Young Blake starts off by asking himself, "Who are you?" The reply: "I'm you in the future." Griffin's current Kia commercial is called "Back to the Future." In it, he sternly lectures his younger self. The other is the Clippers, whose highflying Lob City act has made them among the most entertaining teams in the league, and who are winning at a franchise-record pace for a second consecutive season. Two NBA teams have more than one player featured in national television advertisements promoting something other than sports coverage or sneakers. One is the defending champion Miami Heat, with reigning MVP LeBron James and nine-time All-Star Dwyane Wade. To the victors go the spoils, and in professional sports that includes promotional opportunities. Chris Paul and Blake Griffin are both the stars of national ad campaigns… (Omar Vega / Invision for…) Paul's State Farm commercial is titled "Born to assist" and features a character introduced as Paul's twin brother, Cliff. Paul dishes assists to basketball teammates while Cliff — also played by Paul, wearing thick black glasses — assists State Farm customers when tragedy strikes. "When assisting is in your blood, find a State Farm agent born to get you to a better state," the narrator says. The players earned the advertising gigs having scored promotional power in what's called a Q rating. The scores are said to measure name recognition and the public's perception of a particular person. Griffin's and Paul's numbers have risen along with the Clippers' winning percentage. Last year about this time, Griffin had an awareness rating of 55% and a positive likability rating, or Q rating, of 18. Paul had 58% awareness and a 14 Q score. To compare, the average NBA player got a 52 awareness rating and a 13 Q score, according to Henry Shafer, president of the Q Scores Co., which crunches the numbers for interested companies. This year, Griffin's Q score rose to 19, Paul's to 18 — better than most non-athlete celebrities, who average 16. "Winning is a huge help," Shafer said. Indeed, some of the biggest winners in sports are also among the most popular pitchmen. Olympic swim champion Michael Phelps endorsed Subway, among other products. New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady has done commercials for Uggs footwear, Stetson cologne and Dodge Dart. Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers has his own State Farm ad. And Denver Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning has earned as much tube time as many actors. Part of the reason Manning is popular, says Jim Riswold, who wrote the Spike Lee-Michael Jordan commercials, is that the quarterback is almost as adept operating in front of a camera as he is calling plays at the line of scrimmage. David Schwab, who, as an executive for Octagon, helps brands figure out their celebrity strategies, says what separates Manning from the rest is his "fantastic natural timing" — which also helps in his day job. But not all athletes are as smooth on set as they are on a playing field or court. "I've always approached a spot with an athlete with the idea that they are athletes first and actors 10th," writer Riswold said. "So, the less acting the better chance of success." The Kia and State Farm campaigns were designed after conversations between the athletes and advertising executives revealed potential approaches that might work. |
Get the biggest daily stories by email Subscribe Thank you for subscribing See our privacy notice Could not subscribe, try again later Invalid Email Residents of Gorey, Co. Wexford were treated to a bizarre sight over the weekend as they witnessed extraterrestrial life finally make contact with the local Gardai. A tiny UFO took it upon itself to travel down the streets of Gorey and it wasn't long before it caught the attention of the Gardai. After an incredibly low-speed chase, Gardai soon caught up with the unidentified driving vehicle and found that it was very much terrestial. Local artist Ali Kemal Ali created the UFO as part of an art collective called the Third Space Pop Up Art Show which took place on July 29 at Gorey Park. He also shot the video and took many photos of the Gardai interacting with his creation. Once the Gardai deemed the vehicle as harmless, they soon sent it off on its merry way. |
OMAHA (FWAA) – Six semifinalists for the 2017 Outland Trophy – five offensive linemen and one defensive tackle – were announced on Thursday night during a reception hosted by the Greater Omaha Sports Committee. The Football Writers Association of America (FWAA), in a call of its 2017 All-America Committee, has determined the following six players as semifinalists for the award, in alphabetical order: Oklahoma offensive tackle Orlando Brown, Notre Dame offensive tackle Mike McGlinchey, Notre Dame offensive guard Quenton Nelson, Western Michigan offensive tackle Chukwuma Okorafor, Houston defensive tackle Ed Oliver and Ohio State center Billy Price. The field for the Outland Trophy, which is awarded to the best interior lineman in college football on offense or defense, will be reduced to three in the next week. Those finalists will be announced at 6:30 p.m. ET on Tues., Nov. 21, on The Home Depot College Football Awards Nomination Special on ESPNU. The winner of the 72nd Outland Trophy will be revealed on Thurs., Dec. 7, on ESPN during The Home Depot College Football Awards from the College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta. Here is a closer look at each of the semifinalists: Orlando Brown, OT, Oklahoma (6-8, 345, Jr., Duluth, Ga.): The Sooners' team captain is a mainstay on the line, which triggers an explosive attack that leads the FBS in total offense (600.7 yards per game). The Sooners (9-1) are tops in the country in passing offense (388.8 yards) and No. 4 in the country in scoring (44.3 points per game). Brown was a second-team FWAA All-American last season and has started in all 36 games at left tackle since the beginning of the 2015 season. Mike McGlinchey, OT, Notre Dame (6-8, 315, Sr., Philadelphia, Pa.): Already with a degree at Notre Dame, McGlinchey is a stalwart on a Notre Dame line that produces 303.2 yards per game rushing (sixth-best in the country). The Fighting Irish (8-2) have scored 34 rushing touchdowns, third in the FBS. He has been the starting left tackle all 10 games this season for a Notre Dame team that has produced 12 100-yard individual rushing performances. Quenton Nelson, G, Notre Dame (6-5, 330, Sr., Holmdel, N.J.): Captain of the Fighting Irish, the starting left guard has been one of the top linemen for an offense that has rushed for 300 or more yards in seven of 10 games this season. His performance at guard has been ranked tops in the country by Pro Football Focus. Notre Dame averages 6.72 yards a rush, second-best in the FBS. Ed Oliver, DT, Houston (6-3, 290, So., Houston, Texas): Oliver was a second-team FWAA All-American last year as a freshman and was named to the FWAA's 2016 Freshman All-America Team. Despite drawing constant double- and triple-teams, he has an unusually high number of tackles for an interior lineman with 53 in just nine games. He has 10 tackles for 39 yards in losses (2.5 sacks for 13 yards in losses), three passes broken up, seven quarterback hurries, one fumble recovery, two forced fumbles and one blocked kick for the Cougars (6-3). Oliver is also a finalist for the FWAA's Bronko Nagurski Trophy, presented to the national defensive player of the year. Chukwuma Okorafor, OT, Western Michigan (6-6, 330, Sr., Southfield, Mich.): A three-year starter for the Broncos (6-4) who has been ranked as the No. 4 offensive tackle by Mel Kiper Jr. going into the 2018 NFL Draft. He played right tackle his first two seasons then moved to left tackle at the beginning of the 2016 season and has been a fixture there since. He has started every game the last three seasons for a productive offense. Billy Price, C, Ohio State (6-4, 312, Sr., Austintown, Ohio): Already in graduate school, Price has made a school-record 51 consecutive starts along the line for an offense that leads the country in first downs (281), is fifth in scoring offense (44.2 points per game) and third in total offense (546.5 yards per game). He has started every game (10) at center this season for the Buckeyes (8-2). He was a Distinguished Scholar during last spring semester with a perfect 4.0 grade-point average. The Outland Trophy, which has been awarded annually by the FWAA since 1946, is named after the late John Outland, an All-America lineman at the University of Pennsylvania in the late 1800s. The Outland Trophy is the third-oldest award in major college football behind the Heisman Trophy and Maxwell Award. For the 21st consecutive year, the Outland Trophy Presentation Banquet will occur in Omaha and will be sponsored by the Greater Omaha Sports Committee. At the same banquet, the fourth annual Tom Osborne Legacy Award, sponsored by the Rotary Club of Omaha-Downtown, will be presented to Florida State coaching legend Bobby Bowden. The Outland Trophy Award Dinner will be held on Wed., Jan. 10, in Omaha at the DoubleTree Hotel Downtown. Also appearing at the dinner for the 20th straight year will be the winners of Nebraska's football senior awards – the Tom Novak Trophy, the Guy Chamberlin Trophy and the Cletus Fischer Native Son Award. The Outland Trophy is a member of the National College Football Awards Association (NCFAA), which encompasses the most prestigious awards in college football. Founded in 1997, the NCFAA and its 24 awards now boast over 800 recipients, dating to 1935. Visit ncfaa.org to learn more about our story. The Football Writers Association of America, a non-profit organization founded in 1941, consists of more than 1,300 men and women who cover college football. The membership includes journalists, broadcasters and publicists, as well as key executives in all the areas that involve the game. The FWAA works to govern areas that include game day operations, major awards and its annual All-America team. For more information about the FWAA and its award programs, contact Steve Richardson at tiger@fwaa.com or call 214-870-6516. The Greater Omaha Sports Committee, founded in 1977, is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization, consisting of more than 900 men and women from the City of Omaha, the State of Nebraska, and others. The membership serves to communicate, develop, initiate and promote sports activities in the Greater Omaha sports area. In addition to the Outland Trophy Presentation Banquet, the Greater Omaha Sports Committee promotes high school, college, and professional sports in the Greater Omaha area and the Midwest. Related link: • All-time Outland Trophy winners, finalists |
Lending support to the idea that high-calorie diets, sedentariness and other aspects of the contemporary American lifestyle may be driving the obesity epidemic, UC San Francisco researchers have found that people who carry greater genetic risk for obesity were more likely to have a higher body mass index if they were born later in the 20th century. The study, published Tuesday, July 5 in JAMA, looked at 7,482 white and 1,306 black participants in the U.S. nationwide Health and Retirement Study who were born between 1900 and 1958. Researchers calculated a genetic risk score for each participant, based on whether they had any of 29 genetic variants that are associated with obesity, and looked to see how this score compared with their BMI. The number of variants each person had did not increase in the population over time, while their effects on people did, pointing to environmental influences. The average effect of the genetic variants that the researchers measured was small, for example accounting for only about 1 percent of the variation in BMI among whites and about 1.4 percent for blacks. The analysis found that average BMI increased over time for everyone in the study, even those with quite low genetic risk for obesity. But people with high genetic risk were affected the most. “The influence of genetic factors depends on the environment in which we live, and these results show that our environment has changed so that genes that in the past that had little or no effect on body weight now increase risk of obesity,” said Maria Glymour, ScD, associate professor of epidemiology and biostatistics at UC San Francisco and the study’s senior author. “We think this is because the genes that we know are associated with obesity simply have larger effects in obesogenic environments,” she said. Glymour said most previous studies have focused on just one aspect of the environment when looking at how it could enhance a person’s genetic predisposition to obesity. Her group used birth cohort instead as an umbrella marker for the many factors that could be promoting the obesity epidemic, which began in the late 1970s. Glymour said researchers were surprised to discover the overall pattern was similar for blacks and whites, because most of the research identifying genes linked to obesity has been conducted in whites. Despite this, the genetic score that predicts BMI in whites also predicted it in blacks. And blacks who were born more recently experienced greater effects than those born earlier in the century. Other authors include Stefan Walter, PhD, of UCSF, Ivan Mejia-Guevara, PhD, and Sze Y. Liu, PhD, of Harvard University, and Karol Estrada, PhD, of the Broad Institute. UC San Francisco (UCSF) is a leading university dedicated to promoting health worldwide through advanced biomedical research, graduate-level education in the life sciences and health professions, and excellence in patient care. It includes top-ranked graduate schools of dentistry, medicine, nursing and pharmacy; a graduate division with nationally renowned programs in basic, biomedical, translational and population sciences; and a preeminent biomedical research enterprise. It also includes UCSF Health, which comprises top-ranked hospitals, UCSF Medical Center and UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospitals in San Francisco and Oakland – and other partner and affiliated hospitals and healthcare providers throughout the Bay Area. |
The Swedish hitman is on loan at Scotland's champions and has made a big impression. As a result of that, Celtic have contacted City about a permanent deal. Guidetti, 22 is out of contract at the end of the season but the Glasgow giants want to agree an early deal to head off competition in the summer. City are also keen to do a deal in the New Year and a £3m switch is likely. Meanwhile, the Premier League champs are eyeing another Porto player, having already signed Eliaquim Mangala and Fernando. City scouts have been checking on Mexico midfielder Hector Herrera, 24. A potential stumbling block to a deal, though, is Porto's valuation of a player known as Zorro - The Fox. Porto rate him at £35m. |
It looks like autumn is officially here and this week I saw a couple of autumn themed origami models as well as a lot of great dinosaurs. If this is your first time here This Week in Origami is where we feature the best new origami models that were uploaded to the Internet during the past week. Let’s get started. Robin Scholz is an expert at origami tessellations and this week he made probably the smallest one I’ve ever seen her make which is pretty impressive. Small Swarm, Designed and Folded by Robin Scholz Crease pattern available here Tetsuya Gotani folded a beautiful Stegosaurus. Stegosaurus, Designed and Folded by Tetsuya Gotani Crease pattern available here Francisco J. González folded another awesome looking dinosaur. Tyrannosaurus Rex, Designed by Fernando Gilgado and Folded by Francisco J. González Diagrams available in Papirolandia 3 Victor J. Quintero folded this cute little bat which would be perfect for Halloween Eared Bat, Designed and Folded by Victor J. Quintero Instructions not available Joseph Wu has been experimenting all week with origami cats and here he has several of them all folded from the same basic structure but with a different look for each based on how they’re folded. Cats, Designed and Folded by Joseph Wu Instructions not available Ekaterina Lukasheva has a new book out called Modern Kusudama Origami: Designs for Modular Origami Lovers. It’s available from Amazon.com and it looks like it’s a must have for kusudama lovers. Below is a sample of some of the models in the book from the table of contents. Beth Johnson designed this excellent Dromedary camel as part of a challenge with her friends. Dromedary, Designed and Folded by Beth Johnson Instructions not available Hiroaki Kobayashi folded this cute little saber tooth tiger. Saber Tooth Tiger, Designed by Ryan Dong and Folded by Hiroaki Kobayashi Diagrams available in the 21st Origami Tanteidan Convention Artur Biernacki folded this very realistic looking wasp. Wasp, Designed by Kaede Nakamura and folded by Artur Biernacki Crease pattern available here Sebastien Limet folded this adorable puffin and used a pretty neat trick where he used two sheets of paper to get 4 different colours in the model. The model itself only requires one square of paper. Not Alone, Designed and Folded by Sebastien Limet Instructions not available Shu Sugamata continues to design awesome Star Wars models with this new TIE Bomber prototype. TIE Bomber Prototype, Designed and Folded by Shu Sugamata Instructions not available Keeping with the theme of dinosaurs and fall 戴璐 folded this awesome Stegosaurus out of some very nice autumn red coloured paper. Stegosaurus, Designed and Folded by 戴璐 Instructions not available Ivan Svatko folded this beautiful Flying Hercules Beetle. Flying Hercules Beetle, Designed by Shuki Kato and Folded by Ivan Svatko Diagrams available in Origami Masters Bugs: How the Bug Wars Changed the Art of Origami P. Colman folded this beautiful display of butterflies and an awesome looking flying carp. Butterflies, Designed by Michael LaFosse and Folded by P. Colman Diagrams available in Michael LaFosse’s Origami Butterflies: Elegant Designs from a Master Folder Flying Carp, Designed by Brian Chan and Folded by P. Colman Crease pattern available in AEP Pajarita 2011 Mariano folded this cute little spectacled bear. Spectacled Bear, Designed by Nguyen Hung Cuong and Folded by Mariano Diagrams available in #5 VOG: 50 hours of Origami + Shuki Kato folded a beautiful pair of bisons and another beautiful pair of Stegosauruses? Stegosauri? Bison, Designed and Folded by Shuki Kato Crease pattern available here Stegosaurus 1995 and 2015, Designed by Fumiaki Kawahata and Folded by Shuki Kato Instructions not available Gonzalo uploaded this beautiful photo of an origami crane he folded. Dancing Crane, Designed by Robert J. Lang and Folded by Gonzalo Diagrams available in Origami Design Secrets Second Edition Also in the spirit of autumn Peter Keller folded these beautiful autumn leaves. Autumn Now, Designed and Folded by Peter Keller Instructions not available Finally we have this amazing Tenontosaurus and small Deinonychus pack from the master of origami dinosaurs Tran Trung Hieu. Hunting Ground, Designed and folded by Tran Trung Hieu Deinonychus crease pattern available here, Tenontosarus instructions not available Follow Tran Trung Hieu on Flickr or Facebook That’s it for another week. Be sure to visit all of these artists and follow them if you like their work. Also if you enjoy origami kusudamas check out Ekaterina Lukasheva’s new book. Based on the photos she posted on her Flickr it looks like it’s going to be quite good. See you all next week! |
WASHINGTON – Federal investigators have identified the man they believe is responsible for the burning of a CVS Pharmacy during riots that broke out following the death of Freddie Gray in Baltimore this spring. Agents… WASHINGTON – Federal investigators have identified the man they believe is responsible for the burning of a CVS Pharmacy during riots that broke out following the death of Freddie Gray in Baltimore this spring. Agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives are looking for Raymon Carter, 24, and have obtained a warrant for his arrest. Carter faces a federal arson charge for intentionally setting a fire at the CVS at Pennsylvania and North avenues in Baltimore. Investigators released surveillance images of Carter in May hoping that the public could help identify him along with other responsible for setting fires at other locations. Multiple phone calls to the ATF’s tip line identified the man in the photos from the CVS at 2509 Pennsylvania Avenue as Carter, says Special Agent David Cheplak with the Baltimore field office. If Carter is convicted he could face five to 20 years in prison, Cheplak says. Carter is described as 5-foot-8 and weighs about 180 pounds Investigators would not say where Carter lives, according to the ATF. Investigators have not yet arrested Carter and are asking for the public’s help locating him. Anyone with information about Carter’s whereabouts is asked to call 1-888-ATF-FIRE (283-3473). Investigations continue into multiple other arson fires set during the riots. Cheplak says no arrests have been made in connection with those fires. Follow @WTOP on Twitter and WTOP on Facebook. © 2015 WTOP. All Rights Reserved. |
Journalist Alex Thomson reports that Syrian rebels set him and his crew up to be killed by Syrian troops in a bid to show Damascus in a negative light. Thomson, a chief correspondent for Channel 4 news, says he and his group were deliberately given incorrect directions by a group of Syrian rebels. As a result, their car entered a free-fire zone, where the road ahead was blocked off, and started receiving shots presumably fired by the Syrian army, who thought the vehicle belonged to rebels. “Suddenly four men in a black car beckon us to follow,” he wrote on the channel’s website. “We move out behind. We are led another route. Led in fact, straight into a free-fire zone. Told by the Free Syrian Army to follow a road that was blocked off in the middle of no-man’s land." They then tried to escape the attack by driving onto a nearby side-street, but it turned out to be dead end. Eventually, they returned to the road where the group of rebels had seen them off. “Predictably the black car was there which had led us to the trap. They roared off as soon as we re-appeared,” Thomson noted. Thomson said he was sure the rebels were eager to get him and his crew killed in order to have the international community blame Damascus for the death of Western reporters. “I’m quite clear the rebels deliberately set us up to be shot by the Syrian army. Dead journos are bad for Damascus,” he stated. Thomson’s mission to Syria was unique in a way, as he was reporting on both sides of the conflict, interviewing both Assad loyalists and rebels. In fact, he was in the country on a legal visa, issued by the Syrian government. The reported incident comes just days after as many as 78 people were killed in the village of Mazraat al-Qubair in the Hama province. UN monitors that tried to asses the massacre were shot at. ‘Both sides involved in very dirty tactics’ RT did an extensive interview with Thomson on the details of his ordeal, and the situation in the country in general. RT: What you are basically saying is that rebel forces set you up to be shot at by the Syrian army? Alex Thomson: I have no doubt in my mind what happened, nor independently, does the very experienced cameraman I was with, and, perhaps more importantly than that, neither does the driver or the translator we were working with have any doubt at all that we were deliberately led out of that town, which the rebels knew was dangerous. We were led there in a car with four men. Two or three of them were armed. They told us to go down a route which looked dangerous to us, but we trusted them, we said we would go down the route and turn. We turned and found it was blocked. That was a roadblock which they had to have known was there. There was nobody around and at that point we were forced to turn the vehicle around in a free-fire zone and were duly fired upon. We were definitely exposed to a dangerous situation. And I have absolutely no doubt they did it deliberately. When we reappeared, still alive, the car full of men saw us, turned round and drove off at speed. RT: So the car you were in, the Syrian army had no way to tell that you were foreign journalists? AT: We did have a small sign in the windscreen saying press. We did not mark the car up with large letters saying TV or anything like that. There were very few journalists in this area. We were the only ones, so I think we were moving under conditions of reasonable safety. RT: Why did you trust the rebel forces in the first place? AT: We had no reason not to trust the rebel forces any more than we had any reason not to trust the Syrian army. By and large, when we spoke to Syrian people on both sides of the war, they were pretty honest and pretty straightforward in their assessments of the situation. That was the situation in places like Homs, on both sides, in Houla, on both sides. It was certainly the case on one side in al-Qubair. But when we got to the rebel side of al-Qubair, there was something different and for the first time, we encountered a degree of hostility and suspicion about us, because they had never seen foreign journalists who had a visa from Damascus, who were in the country legally, not illegally. And that immediately aroused suspicion on their part. RT: So most foreign journalists are there illegally? AT: That’s a fact. Most foreign, Western journalists who cover the war from the rebel side are smuggled in from Lebanon and so forth illegally to the country. It is very unusual, almost unheard of, to do the kind of things that we were doing, which is to go from Damascus, cross the lines with the Red Cross and Red Crescent, and talk to both sides. RT: So can it be that your willingness to talk to both sides was the reason why the rebels wanted to set you up? AT: That’s certainly possibly the case. There was another journalist in al-Qubair, an American freelance photographer, who had been there for some weeks; I don’t imagine that he would have been treated in that kind of way because they would have had a great deal more trust. To be fair to the rebels, you’re not looking at a credible and well-organized army with a very well-organized command and control structure. It was almost like there were groups of different men in the town who controlled different areas, different streets. There was a lot of rivalry. And I think, as much as anything else, we got involved in their turf war, with different groups of soldiers fighting with each other, jostling with each other around our car, not sure what to do with us, not sure how to treat us, not sure quite what we were doing there. We caused a lot of confusion to that extent and they weren’t used to that. RT: Are there any grounds to believe that the Shabbiha were impersonating the rebels that misled you? AT: No, I didn’t make a mistake on that. You can argue we made a mistake listening to what these guys were telling us. You can argue we made a mistake leaving site of the UN, although later these guys forced their car between us and the UN, and the UN drove off and left us as they said they would do, I have no problem with that. There is no way that these were some extremist Shabbiha. We were inside the town, in the streets, in areas completely controlled by the Free Syrian Army. They were all FSA people there. The idea that some bizarre could have wandered in to this situation unnoticed is ludicrous. RT: Couldn’t rebels just kill you themselves and make it look as it was Assad’s forces? AT: Yeah, of course they could. But in order to do that, the guys who actually did this would have had to physically taken us, probably in another vehicle, in order to do that, because they would have probably not been able to do that with other guys watching. Don’t forget, most of the people who were in that town were very welcoming to us, very helpful, giving interviews. A lot of them were very cool and very relaxed with us. It was just this one group who suddenly decided to do what they did. RT: So the rebels are not united? Are there different groups doing different things, basically? AT: Not exactly. What I mean is, you have the regular Free Syrian Army who are organized as you would expect a national army to be organized. They have a coherent command and control structure. They know who is in charge of their unit. That unit knows who is in charge of the area. The area knows who is in charge of the region, and they know who the boss man is. It works. They’re pushed, they’re under stress, they’re losing men, as this is a civil war. It is not the same when you cross to the other side. Clearly you are dealing with a much less coherent force. The only arms I saw them have were sniper rifles, AK-47s, and the very occasional rocket-propelled grenades, so they are not heavily armed. They are deeply motivated. They are prepared to die for their cause, and they are quite clearly giving the Syrian army a run for their money, but in no sense are they organized like a conventional army. 'Dead journalists are bad for Damascus' RT: Can you elaborate on your statement that dead journalists are bad for Damascus? AT: My point is, dead journalists are bad for Damascus. When Marie Colvin, the British journalist got killed because she was in a building which was shelled by the Syrian army in Homs, that was an appalling propaganda blow for the Damascus regime. You don’t have to be very clever to work out that the deaths of any journalist at the hands of the Syrian army are going to be an appalling blow, again, for President Assad. That’s going to reflect all the way to Moscow and all the way to Beijing. Clearly that is going to be a bad thing in terms of propaganda. So the motivation for the rebels to pull a stunt like that seems to be very obvious. I’m not angry about it, I’m not upset about it, this is a war and these things will be done. Both sides are involved in very dirty tactics in this war. This is a nasty and dirty war on both sides. RT: How much violence have you actually seen personally? AT: I’ve seen dead bodies in Houla which the UN didn’t know about. I’ve seen mass graves of men involved in a fairly extensive firefight close up in the south of Houla. I’ve watched the Syrian army at various distances shelling Homs every single day, shelling Houla almost every single day. RT: So are Assad’s troops mostly responsible for this violence? AT: No, it’s a war. Both sides are responsible. I think the Western media is rather naïve because they constantly blame the Syrian army for killing civilians. That’s true because the Syrian army are to blame for shelling civilians, but it’s equally true that the Free Syrian Army is very largely fighting its war in built-up, populated, civilian areas. They're not exactly using civilians as human shields but if you fight in those areas, civilians are going to be killed, and that is a question which is not put to the leaders of the Free Syrian Army with the frequency that it should be, in my opinion. RT: Is it really possible to investigate who commits atrocities such as the latest Hama massacre? AT: It’s extremely difficult. For the UN, the answer is probably, no, not really. They don’t have the means to conduct a forensics investigation; they have no equipment, they have no training, they have no expertise to cordon off the area, to treat it as a crime scene. They haven’t the personnel or the time or the resources to make extensive inquiries. For example, when we were in Houla, everybody in Houla says that the militia who came and conducted the massacre in which 108 people died, most of them women and children, came from villages to the west of the town, which are Alawite villages. When we went to those villages, we very quickly realized that nobody had come to those people. Neither the Syrian army in the framework of their investigation that they carried out, nor the United Nations, because the Syrian army and the Syrian government isn’t that interested, but equally, I know the UN do not have the capacity to do it. So the answer to that is no. RT: So what’s the point of the UN observer mission? AT: I’m not sure what the point is. But the other thing I should add to that is that blame lies also with the Syrian government, which has denied access to human rights groups who would have a capacity to do an investigation into these things. But equally, they would be going into a war zone where their safety would not be guaranteed by any means. As for the purpose of the United Nations mission, it’s very easy to say that these things are pointless, but I’ve personally witnessed, for instance, the UN setting up local ceasefires. They did one at al-Rastan, for instance, which worked, which made a difference on the ground. A lot of people say that their intervention has made a difference. A lot of people say there is never any shelling when the UN are there, that the shelling only begins when they leave town. Their effect is marginal, but it’s not true to say that their mission is entirely pointless. When you look at Houla, even with the resources at their disposal, the UN did produce a very swift, interim report about what happened there. RT:You said the UN observers didn’t protect you. Why is that? AT: Why should they? It’s not their job. It’s not part of their mission. When you follow the UN convoy, the UN make it very clear, they’re not there to protect you. They can’t protect you. They have no weapons. If you get into trouble, you’re on your own. That’s a perfectly reasonable arrangement. I have no problems with that. I have no problems with them observing that we were in trouble, and driving off and leaving us. That’s entirely fair enough. RT: So you have no protection while you are there? AT: No, I have no protection. |
This is Peter Hitchens's Mail on Sunday column It is grimly funny to listen to leaders and supporters of a supposedly ‘Conservative’ party using the word ‘unelected’ as a form of abuse. I know the Chancellor is peeved that he failed in his dismally planned and badly executed attempt to make a lot of poorly paid people worse off. But I think that he and his media toadies speak from the heart when they rage against the House of Lords. I suspect that David Cameron and George Osborne are thoughtless and fashionable republicans, who can think of no good reason to keep the Queen – though at the moment they dare not admit this. It’s not that they actively want to set up a guillotine in Trafalgar Square. It’s just that they wouldn’t waste any tears if the Crown were abolished. Knowing little and caring little about the past, they see no merit in it. Real conservatives are in favour of all kinds of unelected power and authority. As well as the Monarchy, there’s the Church, the judges, not to mention the chiefs of the Armed Forces, parents, privately owned media companies, the BBC, school heads – and the thousands of strivers who have won the freedom to hire and fire through hard work and business success. Democracy plays little part in these things, and a good thing too. To say that you are an elected politician in modern Britain isn’t much of a boast. It means mainly that you have been picked by a narrow selection committee of politically active careerists and fixers to stand in a safe seat. Backstairs-crawlers, flatterers and obedient conformists naturally do well in this process. These days it also means that you have been approved by some secretive group of whisperers clustered round the party leadership, who can also remove you if you show any signs of independence. And we see the results in the Commons every Wednesday, when the backbenchers of both main parties show all the wit and independence of football hooligans, braying mindless applause for their own leaders, and equally mindless abuse for the other side. And then they humiliate themselves by asking tame, planted questions handed to them by the whips. These whips have power over them because they, not the voters, are their real employers. They can give them well-paid jobs if they are obedient and get them deselected if they cause too much trouble. That is why the House of Commons was so useless over the tax-credit row, and why the Lords, for all their faults, spoke for the people. Any proper conservative would have known that all along. No blood, no gore... but truly terrifying So often I want to watch a film or a TV series, and hesitate to do so because of the violence. I expect I will eventually go to see the new Bond movie, though I shall hide behind something during the eyeball-squeezing bit. And I’m not sure I can face the new Jekyll And Hyde. Above: Deborah Kerr in the 1961 film 'The Innocents' I suspect there are millions like me, who’d watch more willingly if we were spared grisly scenes. I enjoy being frightened by films, but not by explicit gore. The most terrifying thing I ever saw in a cinema, thanks to the carefully built-up drama, was in the ancient black-and-white film The Innocents, based on Henry James’s The Turn Of The Screw. My skin actually crawled with horror. But it was just a woman in black, her pale face filled with despair and grief, glimpsed across a lake in broad daylight. Fighting to get into my own country As our population climbs towards 70 million thanks to unrestricted immigration, it gets steadily harder and nastier to get back into my own country. I sometimes think the ‘Border Force’ work on the principle that if normal British people want strict frontier controls, then they can jolly well have them, hot and strong, and serve them right. While alleged Syrians (whose passports have somehow vanished) leap unhindered from the backs of lorries all over the Home Counties, and vanish promptly into the low-wage workforce, actual documented British citizens must queue for ages to pass through poorly manned passport control. There, we have no more right to enter the country than a Lithuanian retired secret policeman. And we are treated with unjustified suspicion. On Thursday a ‘Border Force’ person wearing pseudo-military shoulder insignia glowered at my wholly valid passport before asking me where I had come from, which is my business, not theirs. Above, migrants moving north in Denmark I have a Chinese friend who bravely resists his own country’s arrogant authorities by challenging such officiousness. And in tribute to him, I replied politely that I was not obliged to answer such questions. My decision to behave like a free Englishman rather than a potential suspect caused a startling amount of shock, tooth-sucking and frowning, and led to the appearance of a supervisor who told me I should learn the law (as it happens, I have done, and the question was not justified). I said he could detain me if he liked, but he didn’t. I wonder how many illegal migrants fanned out across the country while I and others were subjected to the stone-faced, suspicious inefficiency of the Border Force? Should I take my holidays by lorry in future, if I want to be treated with respect and courtesy by officials whose salaries are paid by my taxes and yours? At last, the clocks of Britain are telling the truth again. Noon is at noon, dusk falls at the proper time and I can see my garden in daylight before I leave for work. Enjoy it while it lasts. The Eurofanatics still want us on Berlin Time all year round. The Chief Constable of Gloucestershire, Suzette Davenport, says she wouldn’t ride a bicycle in London because the roads are too dangerous Police put us on the road to ruin The Chief Constable of Gloucestershire, Suzette Davenport, says she wouldn’t ride a bicycle in London because the roads are too dangerous. Ms Davenport is the National Police Chiefs’ Council spokesman on roads. I ride a bike in London (and in many other places, too) so I feel justified in assuring her the danger to cyclists is real, and largely the fault of the police. My readers will know that the police long ago abandoned foot patrols (despite repeatedly claiming that this non-existent ‘beat’ is threatened by cuts). But my observations as a cyclist all over the country suggest to me that they have also stopped patrolling the roads by car. Since cameras became common, police patrols have become a rarity. The result is plain to see – much more risky driving, many more lights jumped, zebra crossings ignored, blatant speeding on suburban roads, far more generally rude and inconsiderate behaviour, and a return of the drink-driving that had been greatly reduced by the breathalyser. It’s all made even worse by the growing number of drivers who have taken illegal drugs, whose possession Ms Davenport and her colleagues do so little to discourage. If she and her fellow officers did their job, it would be safe for her – and millions of others – to ride a bike. And this healthy, clean and quiet form of transport would become normal, as it is in Holland, rather than the choice of eccentrics like me, or of self-righteous, lawless fanatics in Lycra. |
The Lord of Lard, our Mighty Swine is finally back. Having disappeared for a bit and then bounce around musically pushing out a few EPs with Primitive Race (Long in the Tooth EP) and Marc Heal (Compound Eye EP), PIG itself is finally back with a new album. Let us all bow to The Gospel. For the uninitiated PIG is the sexy music brainchild of Raymond Watts. Watts has worked closely with acts such as KMFDM, Chemlab and even fashion man Alexander McQueen. PIG though has been around for a long time with the first album coming out around 1988. PIG as band has always centered itself around sexuality, an orchestral tone with dark lyrics and industrial rock. PIG has always been amazing. However this is not an exposé. This article is about the latest PIG release, The Gospel. Of which, PIG and Raymond Watts does not disappoint. Joining up with fellow ex-KMFDM members En Esch and the amazing guitarist Günter Schultz, PIG cranks out some fantastic and catchy Industrial Rock with “The Gospel”. Holding on to the preacher style aspect PIG is known for, we have the amazing tracks of “The Diamond Sinners” and “Toleration or Truth”. Tracks with stunning guitar work, catchy beats and Watts’ amazing vocal style that combine story teller and rock singer. Also on the album are tracks like “Saturated” that slow things down a bit, get a little more old school Industrial Rock (and very preacher like) with some great beats and slow rhythms. All I am left to say is; if you aren’t familiar with PIG and/or Raymond Watts, shame on you. Educate yourself. If you know or don’t know of PIG, check out The Gospel. Watts has done it once again with some amazing Industrial Rock that will titilate and excite while also making you feel dirty. You will love it none the less. Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pigindustries/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/raymondwatts Web: http://pigindustries.com/ |
Frequently Asked Questions Why can't my address be checked? Your address may be invalid, or it contains too many transactions. At this stage we do not support checking addresses containing more than 50 transactions. If the address does not contain that many transactions, try searching less addresses at once. Redeeming risk is high, why? This means that you currently have Bitcoin at that same address, on the original chain. In order to redeem the coins on forked chains, you will have to share your private key, doing so will expose your original coins. More on this here. Redeeming risk is mitigated, why? Your original address does not contain Bitcoin any more, so redeeming your coins would not expose those coins, however you could still lose your forked coins when exposing your private keys. More on the risks of redeeming coins here. What risks come with forked coins? In order to redeem coins on a forked chain you must share your private key. This key works on both the original chain (Bitcoin) and the forked chain, and as a result funds on either chain can be compromised. You must never redeem forked coins if there are Bitcoins at that address, and you must never reuse that address. Always transfer your coins to another address prior to redeeming forked coins. If you must share your Bitcoin wallet seed, empty that wallet first and never reuse it again. When a fork does not implement replay-protection, you are vulnerable to replay attacks when you transfer coins on either chain. A replay attack causes the transaction to be effective on both chains, even if it was only intended for one. So if you were sending 1 BTC to Alice, an attacker could force you to send 1 Forked Bitcoin to someone's Forked Bitcoin address, and vice-versa, causing funds to be lost on the other chain. When such a fork occur, you should not transact on either chain until replay transaction is effective. Lastly, if the fork uses an identical address format, users are susceptible to send coins to an address that isn't on the intended chain, resulting in permanent loss. Always double check that you are sending coins from and to the same chain. How to claim forked coins? The most common method to claim forked coins is to use your private key to send the forked coins to a new address on the forked chain. To obtain a new address you will either use a wallet compatible with this fork, or use an address provided by an exchange. Do not install the first wallet you find, document yourself and seek advice from the community to avoid installing a misbehaving wallet. Also, remember that claiming comes with risks! If you feel comfortable enough claiming the coins by yourself, you can make use of Ymgve's or Ayms' scripts. After searching for coins on our site, open the Advanced report to find the transaction IDs and indexes needed to claim the forks. If that's a bit too complicated, we suggest that you get in touch with Walleting Services as they offer an automated coin claiming service for a fee. Note that this also comes with some risks. Alternatively, some apps have been known to be used to redeen forked coins, namely Coinomi and Bitpie. What risks come with redeeming services? Redeeming services will generally ask you for your private keys or mnemonic seed. Sharing this information compromises an address or your entire wallet. It is crucial that you move all your funds out of said wallet, or address prior to redeeming your coins. And then you must never reuse said address or wallet, ever. Doing so ensures that your original funds are safe, and thus you only trust the 3rd party not to run away with all your forked coins. I have Bitcoins but not a Bitcoin address This probably means that your coins are handled and managed by a 3rd party. As you do not have access to the private keys yourself, you will have to rely on that 3rd party to give you access to your forked coins. Can I give you my 12-words mnemonic seed instead? No. You should never give your mnemonic seed to anyone. However, in the future we may add support for extended public keys in order to automatically derive your addresses. It says I can redeem coins but there isn't any It is possible that you have already redeemed the coins on the forked chain. Our results display the balance at the time of the fork, what happened after this is unknown. Use a block explorer of the forked chain to check the balance of your addresses. |
BUZZARDS BAY, Mass. — A Loya Jirga, or grand council, gathered in Kabul Thursday to debate Afghanistan’s future, notably the document that could keep thousands of United States soldiers — and billions of dollars — in the country indefinitely. But as President Hamid Karzai addressed the more than 2,000 invited delegates, he dropped a bombshell that again could torpedo the entire deal. “If you approve this agreement, I want this agreement to be signed after the presidential elections,” he said. Afghans go to the polls in April, and Karzai is constitutionally barred from running again. It was not clear whether he meant that he himself would sign the accord, or leave it to his successor. In any case, the US is not likely to be willing to wait that long. Washington had wanted the deal set by the end of October. So even if the council does approve the document, there's no guarantee anything will come of it. The draft would then have to go to the Afghan parliament for approval. The Loya Jirga is enshrined in Afghanistan's constitution, but it's regarded as a purely consultative body, with no legal teeth. Critics argue that President Karzai convened the assembly to give an illusion of popular support to what is all but a done deal: the bilateral security agreement (BSA) that would, in effect, turn Afghanistan into a US protectorate for the foreseeable future. On Wednesday, hours before the council’s opening, US Secretary of State John Kerry said he and Karzai had finalized the draft to be reviewed by the Loya Jirga. The details have been painstakingly worked out over months, with plenty of sound and fury on both sides. Afghanistan has demanded that its sovereignty be respected; Washington has insisted it is ready to walk away from Afghanistan completely if it does not have freedom to maneuver. But, as the draft agreement makes clear, both sides see few alternatives to continuing this close, if troubled, relationship. Without US money and military support, experts warn, Afghanistan will almost certainly descend into war and chaos following the withdrawal of international troops scheduled for the end of 2014. This, in turn, could have dire consequences for a volatile region. For the US, abandoning Afghanistan now would also be tantamount to an acknowledgement that the past 12 years have been an exercise in futility, which seems to be the general consensus among political analysts specializing in Afghanistan. Still, that would be a difficult admission for a president in search of a legacy. More GlobalPost analysis: The rise of an Afghan narco state A preliminary version of the “Security and Defense Cooperation Agreement,” dated July 25, was given to the media on Tuesday, and makes for instructive reading. It commits the US “to seek funds on a yearly basis to support the training, equipping, advising and sustaining of the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF), so that Afghanistan can independently secure and defend itself against internal and external threats, and help ensure that terrorists never again encroach on Afghan soil and threaten Afghanistan, the region, and the world.” The “training, equipping, advising, and sustaining” bit will require extensive financial support for years, if not decades, to come. According to the independent Afghan Study Group, the costs for maintaining the Afghan security could run to more than $4 billion per year. The Afghan government cannot afford the price tag, and, the policy group adds, “Afghanistan’s ability to close the gap between domestic revenue and spending is becoming a more distant goal, likely to be reached only after 2032.” Keeping Afghanistan together will also mean thousands of US troops — exactly how many is still under discussion. The former NATO commander in Afghanistan, Gen. John Allen, has submitted plans for 6,000, 10,000 or 20,000 soldiers, with different risk factors associated with each level. Current NATO commander Gen. Joseph Dunford says, despite some progress, the Afghan National Security Forces’ “capabilities are not yet sustainable.” While both sides may realize they are locked together, neither Afghanistan nor the US wants to appear too eager to give away the store. President Karzai is already under attack at home as an American puppet. This has prompted him at various times to stage elaborate tantrums in which he alternately threatens to run off and join the Taliban, accuses the international community of colluding with Afghanistan’s enemies, or predicts that Afghans will rise up and throw off their NATO oppressors. With the BSA, it has meant digging in his heels on a point he could not possibly win: immunity for US troops. As it stands now, the agreement gives the US legal jurisdiction over its soldiers and government civilians in Afghanistan. Karzai had demanded that those accused of crimes in Afghanistan be tried under Afghan law by Afghan courts. More GlobalPost analysis: More US aid to Afghanistan? It's complicated Karzai then insisted that US forces be barred from entering Afghan homes, a requirement that would put an end to the controversial night raids that have so angered Afghans. This week Karzai agreed to concede this point, provided that he receive a letter from Washington admitting to past mistakes and promising to avoid future ones, The New York Times reported. Announcing the accord Wednesday, Kerry reportedly denied an apology had been made or requested. National Security Adviser Susan Rice bristled at the notion that Washington owed Afghanistan any sort of apology. “Quite the contrary, we have sacrificed and supported them in their democratic progress and in tackling the insurgents and Al Qaeda. So that [letter of apology] is not on the table,” she told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer Tuesday evening. Some would disagree. Over the past 12 years, there have been many occasions in which US troops have been accused or implicated in the killing of Afghan civilians during botched night raids. One such incident, in Paktia province, resulted in the deaths of two pregnant women and a teenaged girl. Throughout the war there have been cases where US generals and officials have expressed regret over civilian casualties; there are many others where any wrongdoing was denied. Karzai is now pushing for a more general US apology at the Loya Jirga. Secretary of State John Kerry declined Karzai’s invitation to Kabul this week to address the council, according to The Washington Post. Karzai had also invited the Taliban to come to the gathering to have their say on the onward security arrangements. Their answer came last Saturday, in the form of a suicide attack near the Loya Jirga tent that killed 13 people, including several children, and injured at least 29 more. Former Loya Jirgas have also been marred by violence. In 2010, a rocket and mortar attack on the assembly resulted in the dismissal of Afghanistan’s two top security officials. Afghanistan’s parliament is cool to the idea of a Jirga; it maintains that the constitution gives the legislature the power to approve international treaties. Many lawmakers are boycotting the gathering. “We don’t need it — it’s pointless,” Fawzia Koofi, a female parliamentarian, told the Los Angeles Times. “The president is putting the decision in the wrong hands and the wrong mouths. He should just sign the agreement and send it to parliament.” Even the head of the Jirga, Sebghatullah Mojadeddi, does not think it all that necessary. “There was no need for holding the Advisory Loya Jirga for signing the bilateral security agreement,” Mojadeddi told an Afghan news outlet. “This could have been solved through discussions with the United States.” The Loya Jirga, which will most likely paralyze the capital for close to a week and will take about $1.3 million out of the national budget, is a costly and dangerous exercise, critics say, providing the illusion of democracy without any of the substance. The hundreds of provincial and district council chiefs who will attend, most of them appointed directly by Karzai, will most likely do whatever the president tells them to. “The president should consult experts on the law, politics, economics and military affairs, as well as political parties and civil society institutions … not people who know nothing of such matters,” political analyst Atiqullah Amarkhel told the Institute for War and Peace Reporting in Kabul. “These people can’t do anything except raise and lower their hands when it comes to a vote.” Journalist Jean MacKenzie worked as a reporter in Afghanistan from October 2004 to December 2011, first as the head of the Institute for War and Peace Reporting, then as a senior correspondent for GlobalPost. |
Nutrition is the base of all performance. Make sure yours is on point by bringing these 10 Superfoods into your diet & improve all round wellbeing & Crossfit performances. ARE YOU GETTING THE MOST OUT OF YOUR DIET? At some point, it simply won’t matter how talented you are, how much time and effort you put into sweating at the gym, programming your workouts and analyzing the weaknesses in your training if you don’t have the nutritional side covered as well. FOOD IS THE FUNDAMENTAL FUEL FOR ANY PERFORMANCE It gives your body the necessary tools to grow stronger, replenish itself and go the extra mile in all of your daily tasks. So once you’ve got the basics of your Crossfit nutrition and clean eating covered, let’s talk about the benefits you can reap from adding so-called superfoods, meaning foods with an unusually high amount of important nutrients. Nutrients you, as an athlete, need in abundance. ‘Fancy name and hype aside, superfoods don’t have to be exotic or expensive – you’ll be surprised how many of these multi-talents you’re already eating.’ So here’s a list of the Superfoods that have the most benefits for Crossfitters: 10. COCONUT WATER This beverage isn’t only good for hydration levels (and making you feel like you’re on a miniature vacation). Coconut water is the perfect solution to get back on track after a tough WOD: Like a primal, healthy version of Gatorade, it will give back the electrolytes you lost sweating. The natural coconut sugar is a great way to quickly replenish the glycogen (= energy) deposits in your muscles, paving the way for efficient muscle recovery and growth. |
This most recent artist's rendering shows NASA's Orbiting Carbon Observatory (OCO)-2, one of five new NASA Earth science missions set to launch in 2014, and one of three managed by JPL. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech. › Full image and caption NASA will hold a media teleconference at 11 a.m. PDT (2 p.m. EDT) Thursday, Oct. 12, to discuss new research to be published this week on changing global levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. The research is based on data from NASA's Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2 (OCO-2) mission and other satellites. NASA launched OCO-2 in 2014 to gather global measurements of atmospheric carbon dioxide with the resolution, precision and coverage needed to understand how this important greenhouse gas moves through the Earth system and how it changes over time. The teleconference panelists will be: Michael Freilich, director, Earth Science Division, NASA Headquarters, Washington Annmarie Eldering, OCO-2 deputy project scientist, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California Junjie Liu, research scientist, JPL Scott Denning, professor of atmospheric science, Colorado State University, Fort Collins Visuals to accompany the telecon will be available shortly before it starts at: https://www.nasa.gov/oco2telecon The public may ask questions during the briefing on Twitter using the hashtag #askNASA. Audio of the briefing, as well as supporting graphics, will stream live at: https://www.nasa.gov/live It will also be streamed at: http://www.youtube.com/nasajpl/live For more information on NASA's Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2 mission, visit: https://www.nasa.gov/oco2 and https://oco2.jpl.nasa.gov Media contacts Alan Buis Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. 818-354-0474 alan.buis@jpl.nasa.gov Dwayne Brown NASA Headquarters, Washington 202-358-1726 dwayne.c.brown@nasa.gov |
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