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There’s so much to learn about architecture, yet so little time. The smart architect knows to have a variety of sources for their architectural knowledge, and that's why we’ve put together a shortlist of our Top 12 Architecture Channels on Youtube, and picked some of their best videos for you to see. Read more to find out the best architecture videos, from sketching and rendering tutorials to architecture documentaries. If you are interested in urban planning and the development of housing in major cities, this one’s for you. The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) looks for innovative design and construction strategies and organizes conferences, as well as monthly interviews with leading architects - most recently, Bjarke Ingels! The Chicago Architecture Foundation shares short stories on Chicago’s most iconic buildings. With historical photographs and research material as well as interesting commentaries, the foundation puts the great history of Chicago’s architecture at your fingertips. Like travelling with your architecture-geek friends? In #donotsettle, two young graduates from TU Delft experiment with architectural vlogging, showing you around cities, exploring their urban environment, and visiting newly built projects. A fun and refreshing break. Harvard GSD is well-known for its prestigious guest lecturers, including Zaha Hadid, Herzog & DeMeuron, and Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa. And you can see them online. Here is a sneak peak at Toyo Ito’s recent lecture "Tomorrow's Architecture." Presented by Polish architecture historian Radosław Gajda, this videoblog looks at the iconography of buildings and the way contemporary architecture can reinterpret architectural traditions. Don’t miss his video on the Mies van der Rohe Award-winning Szczecin Philharmonic Hall. If you want to improve your sketching skills, check out TheModmin’s tutorials, and learn about perspective, lineweight, shadows, people, trees and ink texturing among others. Arbuckle Industries is a mixed-media video production company run by Ian Harris and David Krantz. Their first documentary, Archiculture (2013), received its worldwide premiere on ArchDaily and takes a critical look at the architectural studio. Through a collection of interviews conducted for the documentary and other initiatives since, Arbuckle's videos feature the likes of Pritzker Prize winners Thom Mayne, Zaha Hadid, Richard Meier and Shigeru Ban, alongside many others. If you wish to master renderings, look no further. This channel can teach you how to realistically portray grass, water reflections, and night scenes. Photoshop will have no more secrets for you. The software company offers the most complete tutorials on its programs (AutoCAD, 3ds Max, Revit, Maya). Nick Senske shares tutorials from his courses at Iowa State University, covering a wide range of IT skills. It includes the use of smart layout on InDesign, Rhino, Maxwell texture mapping, and Photoshop Digital Renderings. His series of lectures on Collage Sections and Elevations are particularly worth seeing. How to Architect is all about facts. Each video covers 7 subjects about construction elements, architectural history, and iconic buildings: a didactic and straightforward way to learn (again). Last but not least, don't forget ArchDaily’s own Youtube channel! Here you will find interviews with our favorite architects and coverage of major architectural events, such as this year’s Moscow Urban Forum and Venice Architecture Biennale. Which YouTube Channels do you look to for inspiration or education? Let us know in the comments! And if you're looking for more helpful architecture tutorials, check out our crowdsourced list at the article below. The Best Software Tutorials on the Web (According to ArchDaily Readers) |
Disclaimer: 1) This tier list is NOT my opinion, it is based of 20 games from the NA Dreamhack Qualifiers and the champions position on the list is based on how many times they were picked/banned. There may be some champions that were played in the qualifiers that aren't on the list, I didn't find the info on every game, sorry. I also didn't include the champions that were only played once. 2) All of these games were 5v5 tournament games with (obviously) premade teams. This is not a solo queue tier list. However, champions that are high up on this list will probably perform better in solo queue than ones that are not. 3) Though I analyzed 20 games, many of them were of the same teams. Because of this some champions are on the list because they were played by a specific player(i.e. Nidalee, Lee Sin). However, all of the tier 1 champions were generally popular and played by almost every team. Tier 1- Twisted Fate, Vlad, Vayne, Corki, Amumu, Taric, Nunu, Alistar, Zilean, Malzahar, Jarvan, Warwick Tier 2- Annie, Ashe, Nidalee, Soraka, Karthus, Caitlyn, Nocture, Lee Sin, Miss Fortune, Tier 3- Janna, Swain, Sona, Anivia, Cho'Gath, Blitzcrank, Akali, Eve,Garen, Poppy, Irelia, Singed Addtional Information: 1)There is a total of 33 champions on this list. 2) Of the games I analyzed, Twisted Fate and Vlad were either banned or picked in every one. EDIT: People are asking how they were ordered. Each champion was given a point if they were picked or banned, I don't see why a pick is worth more then a ban or visa versa. The tier were separated by significant gaps in the amount of points the champions had. The actual Tiers have no concrete value, but if you read the list top to bottom it will be in order from most points to least points. |
What is the most pernicious influence in Britain? In the past, you might have answered the banking industry, phone-hacking journalists or MPs who fiddled their expenses. But look closely at British society over the last two decades – at such varied developments as the decline of town centres, the increasing wealth divide, binge drinking, obesity and the problems with the environment and British agriculture – and you may find the word supermarkets springs to your lips. It seems absurd to think of large grocery and hardware shops as the cause, or the facilitator, of so many avoidable ills, but barely a week goes by when the actions of supermarkets are not held responsible for some kind of harm, whether it's to overweight teenagers, the pub trade or the farming industry. The evidence of a malign trend, or at least a kind of ruthless Victorian opportunism, is nowhere more obvious than in the area of pay. Last week, Tesco was forced to offer payment to those they had taken on for work experience. Now, this was certainly no crime because the government encouraged Tesco and many others to join the scheme. But place this in the context of the recent Fair Pay Network report, which in January briefly inconvenienced Tesco and the other members of the Big Four – Sainsbury's, Asda and Morrisons – and you see they all benefit from paying hourly rates that are well below a living wage, which means the taxpayer is forced to make up the rest in tax credits. Because the government is desperate to keep people in work, it is prepared to overlook the profits these companies are making. In the last financial year, Tesco made £3.8bn, Asda £803m, Sainsbury's £827m and Morrisons £874m. Cheap – even free – labour and big profits mean handsome rewards at the top. Recent figures put Sainsbury's chief executive, Justin King, on £3.2m and Tesco's Philip Clarke on £6.9m. The fact is that the wealthiest companies in the land are being subsidised by the taxpayer and workers are being kept in poverty. This is why a formal investigation into the power of an industry that employs nearly one million people is long overdue. Supermarkets are rarely challenged, least of all on the myth that they create jobs. Last year, the Daily Mail exposed such boasts by Sainsbury's and Tesco as lies. Figures from their own annual reports reveal that the number of full-time jobs offered by Tesco and Sainsbury's has actually fallen over the past two years, the paper said. The net effect of killing off smaller shops has actually resulted in a fall in employment, according to the Association of Convenience Stores. Nothing matters more to the Big Four than market share; driving bookshops, pubs and grocery shops into oblivion is their business. A handful of Gradgrind retailers is on a mission to make every little market town bow to their power and the standards of grim conformity. They promise jobs and pay peanuts, and just when every business in town is on its knees, or has gone bust, they replace people with automatic checkout machines that ask for your Nectar card. The lovely town of Hay-on-Wye, on the English-Welsh border, would be advised to consider very carefully plans by Powys council to sell a school to a developer who wants to build a supermarket on the site and a new school elsewhere. At present, Hay is a delight to visit; apart from hosting the world's greatest literature festival, its streets are filled with variety, animation and a sense of community. The business of shopping in Hay, whether for books, antiques or groceries, is a pleasure, but this plan will kill the town. Campaigners estimate that a supermarket would reduce trade for local shops by between 20% and 75%. Traders in Hay's open-air market will be snuffed out and the town will fill with To Let signs, charity and gift shops. The attractions of the plan are obvious to a hard-pressed council and those who believe they will have access to cheaper food. But it's fool's gold and Hay will be worse off if this scheme goes ahead. Those fighting the plan should perhaps organise a trip to Stow-on-the-Wold in the Cotswolds, where a relatively new Tesco supermarket sits on the edge of town, draining what was once Stow's vitality into its dismal aisles of over-packaged goods and sugary treats. These days, the public needs to be able to shop where they can find the best deals, but low-cost highly processed foods, loaded with sugar, salt and fat, are what supermarkets sell best and these are contributing to a huge increase in diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular disease and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. The Danish health authorities are so concerned about the effects of sugar they are considering taxing it, but in Britain the supermarkets push products drenched in fructose and sucrose without qualm. Apart from selling value packs of loo paper, just about every aspect of the supermarket business has the potential to be corrosive to a community. For example, cheap alcohol deals in supermarkets (soon to be outlawed) caused an epidemic of binge drinking and closed thousands of pubs where drinking was better regulated. Supermarkets now account for about 20% of all book sales in Britain, following the suicidal decision by publishers to cut cover prices for supermarkets in order to gain market share. Bookshops, already pressed by Amazon and ebooks, are becoming a pleasure of the past, but the important story is that publishers now find they have to pay the supermarkets to become "preferred suppliers", as well as obey the supermarkets' philistine strictures about the sort of books they should publish. Result – conformity and a narrowing of the culture. But it is the supermarkets' oppressive behaviour with British farmers that makes you wonder at the complacency of our legislators. According to the Competition Commission report in 2000, the buying power of the supermarkets means "that the burden of cost increases in the supply chain has fallen disproportionately heavily on small suppliers". Farmers are going out of business in what the National Farmers Union says is "a climate of fear". The supermarkets protest that savings are passed on to the consumer. Nonsense. Look at their profits. Look at their claims about employment. This is a racket to screw suppliers down and boost the profits, shareholder dividends and remuneration of a few fast-talking hucksters at the top. Across the political divide, there is awareness that supermarkets are abusing their power. Now we need action – a Leveson inquiry for supermarkets that looks at the total impact on jobs, suppliers, the nation's diet, the environment, diversity and planning. This should be followed by the creation of a tough regulator and legislation compelling supermarkets to meet the standards of a fairer, healthier, sustainable, more modern and enlightened society. |
Last night The Daily Show weighed in on a plan to sanitize Mark Twain’s Huckleberry Finn. NewSouth Books recently announced that it would release a version of Twain’s classic novel that replaces 219 instances of the word “nigger” with the word “slave.” “Well, congratulations on the promotion, Jim,” Comedy Central’s “Senior Black Correspondent” Larry Wilmore said of Twain’s fictional slave “Jim” character. “Wow, this is a huge upgrade, from nigger to slave. Yeah, that’s like a show going from WB to UPN.” After Wilmore tried to entice Jon Stewart into saying the word, The Daily Show host finally admitted, “It’s uncomfortable.” “It should be,” Wilmore replied. “Mark Twain put that word in for a reason. The n-word speaks to a society that casually dehumanized black people. Slave was just a job description.” “Jim is no longer a slave. He ran away. Twain’s saying he can’t run away from being a nigger,” he added. “Look, using that word doesn’t make the book offensive to today’s kids. They are accustomed to it,” Wilmore continued. “If you want kids to pick up a book, emphasize that word!” “Say it’s written by Lil’ Twain,” he joked. “It will be a young adult best seller. Leave Jim alone.” The decision to sanitize the book has been met with outrage from students and scholars alike. “[I]s it really that adolescents can’t comprehend the layers inherent in the word and its usage?” John McWhorter, contributor to The Root, asked readers. “[I]t’s hard not to notice that the typical black view regarding NewSouth’s action is that it would be a whitewashing of history. Black people want their kids to see the real Huckleberry Finn.” “We’ve come a long way indeed when there are cases in which white people are more offended by the n-word than the people it refers to,” he added. “‘Slave’ may suit the whims of today’s public, but it compromises the story’s tone and historical context,” 12th-grade student Sarah Gittens opined. “After all, if we republish Huck Finn, we will have to republish every single classic for one reason or another,” she wrote. “Once censorship begins, it will see no end.” This video is from Comedy Central’s The Daily Show, broadcast Jan. 11, 2010. |
Kerala’s long list of tourist attractions just got longer and taller, with the opening of the Jatayu Adventure Centre. The 65-acre park boasts of a 200ft-long sculpture of Jatayu, the mythical vulture from the Ramayan who was slain while trying to rescue Sita from Ravana. The park sits on a 1,000-ft tall hill in the village of Chadayamangalam (Kollam district). Some believe that it is here that Jatayu died and the hill even has Lord Ram’s footprint etched in stone. Adventure central While the Jatayu sculpture atop the hill is the star attraction, it is the range of adventure activities that will keep you busy. The adventure centre offers more than 20 adventures including rock climbing, ziplining, bouldering, rappelling, archery, paintball and laser tag. The Jatayu Adventure Centre also has a ‘6D theatre’ that will show the tense battle between Jatayu and Ravana, and a viewing deck with a telescope that looks over the lush rainforests and hills around. To calm you nerves, you can check in to the Siddha Healing Cave. Getting in and out is fun too. You can trek uphill or take the ropeway. Up on the hill, book yourself a stunning view of the Jatayu sculpture and the hills nearby through the heli-taxi. The adventure park is currently open for groups of 10-100 persons, for a fee of Rs3,500 per head, which includes up to 15 of the 20 activities. Parts of the park are still under construction and the complete experience zone will be ready by April next year. The Jatayu Adventure Centre is an hour’s drive away from Thiruvananthapuram and four hours from Kochi. |
The Cubs visited Washington on Monday to celebrate their World Series win and were greeted downtown by a guy from Chicago. Just four days before he leaves office, President Barack Obama welcomed the 2016 Cubs team for a ceremony at the White House. The Cubs’ epic seven-game, extra-innings comeback victory over the Cleveland Indians last year ended the longest World Series drought in baseball history. “They said this day would never come,” Obama said to laughter as he took the podium. “Here is something none of my predecessors ever got to say: Welcome to the White House, the World Series champion Chicago Cubs.” Major sports champions are regularly feted at the White House by the sitting president, but this meeting was notable for the outgoing president’s Chicago roots. Obama acknowledged that he may not feel the “visceral joy” of a Cubs victory like some of his staffers ― he is, in fact, a White Sox fan ― though he noted how momentous an occasion it was for anyone to host the Cubs in the White House. “It took you long enough,” Obama joked, noting that the team last won the series when Teddy Roosevelt was president. “And I’ve only got four days left.” Many people in the Cubs organization apparently wanted to make the White House meeting happen before Obama packed up his things on Friday. The Chicago Tribune reported Monday that Cubs co-owner Laura Ricketts, an Obama supporter, was “the key to getting the deal done” after Obama initially extended the invitation. (Her brother, Tom Ricketts, has been plucked by President-elect Donald Trump for a post in the Commerce Department.) Like a kid in a candy store. So cool pic.twitter.com/ZSUIZtbMja — Anthony Rizzo (@ARizzo44) January 16, 2017 In a loose ceremony punctuated with a lot of laughter, Obama praised much of the Cubs roster, the Ricketts family, manager Joe Maddon, who he called “masterful,” and Theo Epstein, the Cubs’ president for baseball operations and former Red Sox general manager. Obama joked about Epstein’s ability to end brutal baseball droughts. “He takes an organization that’s been wandering in the wilderness and delivers them to the promised land. I’ve talked to him about being DNC chair,” Obama deadpanned. “But he’s decided wisely to stick to baseball.” Alluding to Obama’s White Sox allegiance, Epstein offered the president “a midnight pardon for all your indiscretions as a baseball fan. We welcome you with open arms today into the Cubs family.” Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo, who wears number 44, presented Obama with a personalized Obama 44 Cubs jersey. |
AMD has just confirmed Radeon VEGA Frontier Edition. AMD Radeon Vega Frontier arrives late June with 16GB HBM2 This is Radeon PRO product, not Radeon RX for gaming. Frontier Edition is a VEGA-based product with 16GB HBM2 on board. Raja Koduri confirmed that Vega Frontier Edition will be available late June. It’s a massive step forward from Fiji design with 13 TFLOPs of single precision performance (this means Frontier has a boost clock of 1586 MHz). This card looks almost identical to the card from leaked teaser video, which leads us to believe that this is just one form of Vega. by WhyCry Tweet Previous Post AMD announces THREADRIPPER Ryzen HEDT platform with up to 16 cores Next Post AMD unveils watercooled RADEON VEGA Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus. |
Thank you for posting this video. This is a real devil's advocate take on it all, but please take a look at the news story that came out about the incident and about the girl, Ahed Tamimi . She is reportedly featured in quite a few of these public incidents that are seemingly always covered by the press. I do realize that the blog is heavily pro-Israel, but I implore you to understand that there are multiple sides to every story. This does not mean that the actions seen were not real nor that the incident didn't happen, but that there may be other motives behind making sure the world sees this. We don't get to see the thousands of other much more horrific events that take place between Palestine/Israel (in fact, they really love to hide this stuff), but this one sure made it to the headlines. It feels the same as the black/white race (Hegelian) dialectic that the media pushes here in the U.S. It's all simply continuing and fueling the hatred, which is pretty obvious in this thread Israelis are the biggest pussy cry wolf's the world has seen. When the wolf comes, I hope their "God" will save them. Coward wearing a [balaclava] and was ripped from his faced and thrown out by women and children. Jews you better wake the fuck up, people are sick of your shit. When you start expressing apathy toward people being eaten by wolves, even figuratively, you're on the road to becoming like those you supposedly can't stand. I've seen numerous posts and comments from people who literally want to see all Israelis killed. Their comments never give room for the innocents...you know, the people like you and me who are stuck over there wondering how everything became so awful. There is dehumanization of both sides going on, but in /r/conspiracy , we are lately seeing more of the Israel-directed kind. I fully understand that many Israelis are despicable people, but do not let them turn you all into ANIMALS begging for violence and war out of some necessity to purge a certain evil. Edit: From a comment below: The world has awakened to jew victim narratives and have had enough. We no longer fall for it. jews are the problem. This is an all-encompassing statement made that, again, does not leave room for any innocents. It might be said in response to this that there are no innocents in Israel, that all are complicit in the crimes against Palestine. However, if you really truly believe that, then we are just one step closer to naming Netanyahu's Israel the new Hitler's Germany and calling on the world to invade the country just as we did Germany in WWII. I've seen people in this subreddit (and others) likening Netanyahu to Hitler and Israel to Germany, so this really isn't a far stretch. This is not to claim that Netanyahu is not worthy of being taken out of power, but this kind of rhetoric leads down the same roads. If we're all trying to prevent WWIII, we need to realize that TPTB are playing multiple narratives to confuse and dismay us, breeding hatred and antipathy on both sides. Stories like this only deepen that schism between the two sides, encouraging misunderstandings and generalizations, instead of realizing our world is made of many gray areas that beg to be understood and reasoned out. We need to stop making everything so black and white. We play right into their hands when we spew this vitriol. 2nd Edit: For balance, and for those who haven't seen it, please take some time to watch Defamation by Yoav Shamir . This documentary makes an effort to understand the concept behind anti-semitism. It's very enlightening and constantly removed from YouTube due, most likely, to the Anti-Defamation League Israel is a plague on the planet. This is disgusting language. It would be just as abhorrent if you replaced Israel with Palestine, or with Iran, or with the U.S. Please stop doing this. Generalizations breed hatred. Those who partake in this kind of language turn into loathsome beings when they can't hold back their opinions (use self-control) in order to discuss important and inflammatory topics like this. You're allowed to be angry, but...even the title of OP's post is incredibly hateful for no reason. Why didn't he name the post, "Palestinian women and children force Israeli soldier to release boy?" It seems like he was trying to make people angry. |
It's a rule of thumb: Let people create things, and you're definitely going to see dick drawings. You might even see Nazi doodles, too. But Battlefield 4 is fighting that. Like Call of Duty before it, Battlefield 4 gives players an emblem creation tool. And like Call of Duty before it, BF4 also has a feature that will allow players to report images they find unsavoury. The game is currently in beta, but there are already Nazi emblems popping up in the game (see above). Yes, that's rather icky! However, not everyone is using the emblem tool to create unsettling flags for their helicopters, vehicles and clans. As documented on Reddit's BF4 page and its BF4 emblems page, beta players are creating their country's flags, pop culture images and more. It's much nicer to see people using the emblem tool to create stuff like this. Racist Emblems Already Appear in Battlefield 4 [BF4 Central — Thanks James!] |
Verizon Says It Has Moved On From Cable Merger Plans Verizon CEO Lowell McAdam says the company has moved on from its plan to acquire or merge with a major cable company. Verizon spent months denying rumors that it was interested in acquiring Comcast or Charter. It's an approach that confused many, who wondered why Verizon wanted to saddle itself with cable broadband customers after spending the last decade offloading millions of unwanted residential broadband subscribers to focus on wireless and pitching advertisements to Millennials. But then reports emerged that Charter had turned down a $100 billion acquisition offer from Verizon , who was primarily interested in using Charter's fiber backbone to help fuel its fifth generation (5G) wireless ambitions. But speaking this week at an investor conference, Verizon CEO Lowell McAdam stated that the company was moving on from its failed flirtations with major cable company acquisitions, and would seek out the fiber it needs for 5G services through smaller, regional deals -- much like the one it recently struck to acquire Wide Open West's fiber assets in Chicago. “We’ve moved on,” the CEO said this week at the Goldman Sachs Annual Communacopia Conference. “For the future that we see, you’re going to have to have deep fiber into the network…I’d rather just put in the fiber.” Whether that results in the company wiring more areas for FiOS as it works to drive fiber backhaul to more towers isn't clear, though early indications out of Boston -- where the company announced a major $300 million wireless-centric expansion -- indicates that FiOS will remain a distant afterthought. At the forefront of Verizon executives minds is competing with Google in advertising, delivered via video services of every variety. “We’re building the network that doesn’t care,” the CEO says. “I don’t care whether the customer goes over the top or buys a linear package. We’ll sell either one to them….We want to have the network that people can provide whatever service they want on it.” |
Roll Callers! My Morning Jacket is proud to announce two new dates at the famous Red Rocks Amphitheatre on May 28 & 29. Ticket for these dates will go on sale to the public starting December 18, but Roll Call members will get exclusive first access to concert tickets and VIP packages TOMORROW! Starting Tuesday, December 15, Roll Call members can purchase pre-sale concert tickets and VIP packages for the following dates: May 28, 2016 - Morrison, CO - Red Rocks Amphitheatre May 29, 2016 - Morrison, CO - Red Rocks Amphitheatre PRE-SALE TIMES Deluxe Members: Tuesday, December 15 at 10am MST. Digital Members: Tuesday, December 15 at 10:30am MST. CONCERT TICKETS Members can purchase concert ticket by visiting the desired event listing above. No password necessary. VIP PACKAGES A password will be required to purchase VIP packages for these shows. Members will find the password in their ACCOUNT DASHBOARD. Deluxe member passwords will be available starting at 9:55am MST. Digital members password will be available starting at 10:30am MST. VIP & TRAVEL PACKAGES Want to make your Red Rocks experience extra special? Need help making travel and lodging arrangements for the show? We got you covered!! Both VIP and Travel Packages will be available for these special Red Rocks events, and Roll Call members will get an exclusive chance to purchase them before they are available to the public. 'Golden' VIP Experience (1-day & 2-day packages available) - One (1) General Admission ticket to My Morning Jacket on May 28 and/or 29 - Access to exclusive soundboard viewing area - One (1) autographed My Morning Jacket event poster - Early Entry into the venue - On-site event host 2 Night 'Golden' VIP Travel Package for 2 - Two (2) nights stay at the Hotel Monaco in downtown Denver (check in 5/28; check out 5/30) - Two (2) "Golden" VIP tickets to My Morning Jacket at Red Rocks on May 28 and 29, inclusive of all VIP amenities - Roundtrip shuttle transportation to the venue each night - On-site event host 2 Night GA Travel Package for 2 - Two (2) nights stay at the Hotel Monaco in downtown Denver (check in 5/28; check out 5/30) - Two (2) General Admission tickets to My Morning Jacket at Red Rocks on May 28 and 29 - Two (2) My Morning Jacket at Red Rocks event posters - Roundtrip shuttle transportation to the venue each night - On-site event host VIP and travel packages will open to the general public starting Wednesday, December 16 at 10am MT. For questions regarding the VIP/Travel packages, please contact CID Entertainment or call (888) 805-8930. |
Atiq Nazri/Flickr The latest installment in Susan Veness' "Hidden Magic of Walt Disney World" series will definitely test you. Even if you're a Disney freak, chances are you'll learn a thing or two from Vaness, who has been writing Disney guidebooks since 2009. Her trivia book asks multiple choice questions like, "What was the original nickname given to Walt Disney World?" Answer: The Vacation Kingdom of the World. Here are some more little-known facts from the book about Walt Disney World (Yes, that's the one in Florida): 1. A military veteran takes part in a flag-lowering ceremony every day at 5 p.m. on Main Street, U.S.A. in Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom. Main Street U.S.A., Disney World Darren Wittko/Flickr 2. The Prince Charming Regal Carousel was first installed in Detroit, Mich., in 1917, then moved to Maplewood, N.J., before finding a permanent home in the Magic Kingdom. 3. If you hang out in the library for a few minutes after the Enchanted Tales with Belle show ends, the crew will explain some of their technical tricks, like bringing the character of Lumiere to life. 4. Fantasyland's concert hall assigns music performances based on puns; i.e. Genie sings the blues because he's blue and Ariel has a choral group as a play on coral under the sea. 5. Guests often throw coins into the water along the walkway of the It's A Small World attraction. Disney donates that money to Give Kids the World, an organization that makes wishes come true for children with life-threatening illnesses. 6. Abraham Lincoln was Walt Disney's favorite president. To accurately represent him in the Hall of Presidents, the park made Lincoln's face from a copy of a life mask created by the sculptor Leonard Volk in 1860. Disney's Hall of Presidents Wikimedia Commons 7. The Pirates of the Caribbean ride almost wasn't built because Disney thought guests wouldn't be interested in a fantasy recreation of a place that was a short cruise away from where they already were in Florida. 8. The image of Jasmine's tiger Rajah is hidden in the front and back sections of the flying carpet in the Magic Carpets of Aladdin attraction. 9. In The Seas with Nemo & Friends pavilion, Nigel, the pelican hero from Finding Nemo, is the only main character not depicted. 10. Disney developed a signature scent for Norway in Epcot. It's called Laila and smells like airy mountains. The perfume is sprayed throughout the day in the pavilion. 11. Sometimes in the red phone booth across from the Hotel du Canada in Epcot, the phone rings and it's a Disney character calling that you can have a conversation with. 12. The Rock 'n' Roller Coaster was supposed to feature music by the Rolling Stones, but the band proved too expensive for Disney's tastes. Instead, the park paid Aerosmith to use their music on the roller coaster. Disney's Rock 'n' Roller Coaster HarshLight/Flickr 13. In The Voyage of the Little Mermaid ride, Disney adds helium to the bubble makers to create bubbles that float up instead of down. 14. Some Spoonbills in the Oasis section of Animal Kingdom are given fake eggs to sit on. This helps prevent over population because it tricks the birds into thinking they've fulfilled their reproductive obligation. 15. Even though they're talked about in Animal Kingdom, there are no actual hyenas in the park. They're considered too vicious to be kept safely in Animal Kingdom. You can pick up your own copy of "The Hidden Magic Of Disney World" here. |
Since its first beginnings Romanticism has been actively engaged with revising established models and establishing its own models for understanding culture, thought, and subjectivity. Romanticism emerged as an exciting form of remodelling which reinvented and redescribed models of selfhood, cultural, and literary identity. Those changes wrought by Romantic notions of the self gave rise to an attendant new and complex sense of aesthetic and imaginative freedom. Unsurprisingly, then, these innovative Romantic models of subjectivity and cultural identity were susceptible to remodelling by Post-Romantic philosophers and artists. Reflecting on the responses of philosophers, creative writers, and cultural critics to Romanticism, as a form of cultural remodelling, is instructive about which literary and theoretical models have been most influential or illuminating in shaping and reshaping our contemporary perceptions of the remodelling of subjectivity and cultural identity from the Romantic period to the present. The essays collected in this Special Issue of Romanticism and Victorianism on the Net gauge the subtle complexity and immense scope of British, Irish and American literary and philosophical reshaping and re-visioning of those liberating Romantic models of subjectivity, culture, and thought for a Post-Romantic era. All eight of the essays were originally delivered as lectures in the “Modelling the Self: Subjectivity and Identity in Romantic and Post-Romantic Thought and Culture” public lecture series at Durham University between October 2007 and April 2008, under the auspices of Durham English Department’s “Romantic Dialogues and Legacies” Research Group. This recent set of lectures was a follow-up to a very successful inaugural lecture series organised by the Research Group on “Romanticism and Its Legacies” held in 2006-07. The “Romantic Dialogues and Legacies” group was established to bring together individual research expertise at Durham within this area and focus on the ways in which Romantic writers interacted with one another and writers of later periods responded to the Romantics. The “Romantic Dialogues and Legacies” Research Group gratefully acknowledges assistance from Durham University’s Institute of Advanced Study, and financial support from the Faculty of Arts and Humanities and the English Department, without which the “Modelling the Self” lecture series would not have been possible. |
IBM, KlickEx, and Stellar Set Out to Speed up International Finance On October 16, IBM announced that it would be collaborating with KlickEx and Stellar in order to accelerate the speed of banking transactions. The platform will be built on IBM’s Blockchain and seeks to help consumers achieve faster settlement times as well as reduce the cost of global payments. The goal of IBM’s platform is to ultimately give equal access to banking institutions, even to those living in the remotest portions of the world. Senior Vice President of IBM Industry Platforms, Bridget van Kralingen added that,“With the guidance of some of the world’s leading financial institutions, IBM is working to explore new ways to make payment networks more efficient and transparent so that banking can happen in real-time, even in the most remote parts of the world.” The list of financial institutions that would be participating are primarily located in the Pacific Islands, Australia, and New Zealand. Rizwan Khalfan, EVP and Chief Digital and Payments Officer of TD Bank spoke positively about the ways that this technology will help the region: “We’re focused on innovation that adds value for our customers and our business, and blockchain presents a tremendous opportunity to transform and enhance payment systems, enabling us to continue to evolve the products and services we can offer.” Other institutions that will be invited to participate in the exchange process include; Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, Bank Danamon Indonesia, Bank Mandiri, Bank Negara Indonesia, Bank Permata, Bank Rakyat Indonesia, Kasikornbank Thailand, Mizuho Financial Group, National Australia Bank, Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. (RCBC) Philippines, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, TD Bank, and Wizdraw (HK) of WorldCom Finance. Collaboration with KickEx and Stellar As KlickEx has been responsible for working with underdeveloped payment corridors, most notably those in Oceania, they will bring a wealth of experience to this growing market. Robert Bell, the founder of KlickEx Group, created his company for this exact purpose and only sees the integration of Stellar’s blockchain technology as a revolutionary development in the remittance business. Bell confirmed that “Through KlickEx, the Pacific has had relatively low-cost, real-time, multi-currency payments for most of the past decade, and this project was a natural next step following our work to create seamless and borderless payments across the Pacific. We look forward to the results with using IBM Blockchain as we continue to push forward with our mission to remove payment friction across borders.” Outside of blockchain initiatives, the UN-funded group has also been working to empower communities through lowering the barrier for accessing institutional grade banking products. Thus they have been named as having a considerable effect on economic stability and domestic digital inclusion by Central Banks in the Pacific. Naturally, the expertise of Stellar also fills a supplementary function to the greater project. The silicon valley startup developed a free, open-source network that connects diverse financial systems while allowing every agent access to mainstream financial services. Through the Stellar network, businesses, banks, and consumers all benefit from lower costs. Following the collaboration with IBM and KickEx, these lower costs will also be augmented with higher speeds. The co-founder of Stellar, Jed McCaleb, explains that this innovation will send the entire industry further the changing landscape of remittance markets. McCaleb reported that: “For the first time, public blockchain technology is being used in production to facilitate cross-border payments in multiple integrated currency corridors. Currently, cross-border payments take up to several days to clear. This new implementation is poised to affect a profound change in the South Pacific region, and once fully scaled by IBM and its banking partners, could potentially change the way money is moved around the world, helping to improve existing international transactions and advancing financial inclusion in developing nations.” Stellar’s cryptocurrency Lumens spiked massively on the announcement and has held its head above water, maintaining its pirce level around $0.04 (shown below). The promise is certainly appealing, but many critics have already spoken out against lack of market need in remittances. In a piece written on October 17, SaveOnSend countered sensationalized arguments for applying blockchain technologies to international money transfers. The main counter-argument being that unbanked individuals are not actually in desperate need of an affordable solution. The article identifies the successful market share that Western Union already achieves by pointing out that, “On the receiving end of remittances, being unbanked is not a significant inconvenience or cost issue. With around 550,000 Western Union’s agent locations, money could be easily picked up by the great majority of such unbanked recipients (30 percent of those locations see NO remittance activity).” However, a large portion of remittance startups lacked the fundamental experience of international money exchanges. In 2015, while these same startups touted the advantages of aiding the unbanked, the target audience was typically a digitally fluent and well-off market slice. Therefore, the proposal by IBM, KlickEx, and Stellar may be a more accurate and experienced response. The three companies combine regional experience, affordability, low barriers to entry, and perhaps the most important, a global scalability. From this light, the Blockchain from 2015 looks a lot different than the Blockchain in 2017. |
Good space planning will help you develop the best layout for your kitchen. When considering the layout of your new kitchen, most experts agree upon the triangle principle of design or the ‘golden triangle’ theory. Broken down, this basically involves grouping together the equipment and work areas that are most important to you, creating a friendly working environment. The secret behind successful kitchen designs can be broken down into a series of simple steps, but kitchen design is by no means a straightforward process. There are many important decisions to make and kitchen design ideas aren’t always easy to come by. If you’re trying to design a kitchen with sleek styling that doesn’t compromise on functionality and you still need to come up with some good kitchen designing ideas for your kitchen layout, kitchen furniture and kitchen appliances. Here we have listed some of the modern kitchen designs for your inspiration. Source: http://temi.repubblica.it/casa |
ALFRED, Maine — Prosecutors in the first of two major trials in the high-profile Kennebunk prostitution case blunted defense efforts to pursue contentions of police retaliation Friday, loudly objecting to several questions directed at the top local investigator in the case. The objections triggered sharp exchanges between attorneys in the trial, and ratcheted up tension in the courtroom, but largely succeeded in derailing talk of defendant Mark Strong Sr.’s alleged investigation into past misconduct by members of the Kennebunk police department. Strong, a Thomaston insurance broker and part-time private investigator, faces 12 counts of promotion of prostitution and one count of conspiracy to promote prostitution for his role in an alleged prostitution business run by fitness instructor Alexis Wright from her Kennebunk Zumba studio. Wright faces a separate trial scheduled to begin this spring. Patrol Officer Audra Presby, who led the local investigation into the alleged prostitution business, took the witness stand for the first time Thursday afternoon for what has been perhaps the most highly anticipated testimony of the trial. Presby returned to the stand on Friday for continued questioning. Strong and his attorney, Daniel Lilley, have in the past argued that Presby focused her investigation on the Thomaston man unfairly as payback for research he had been doing into alleged past misconduct on her part. But Lilley was not able to directly question Presby on the the topic Friday. York County Deputy District Attorney Justina McGettigan objected repeatedly — and increasingly loudly — as Lilley attempted several times to ask Presby if she had been told about Strong’s alleged research into her past. On one occasion, McGettigan shouted “objection” three times over Lilley’s ongoing question before the defense attorney stopped to await Superior Court Justice Nancy Mills’ ruling on the interruption. “Let’s just keep it down,” Lilley responded to the prosecutor. “You don’t have to have volume. I can hear you.” “Well, you keep asking the same question,” McGettigan shot back. McGettigan’s objections were largely sustained by Mills, who agreed that Presby’s testimony on what another person may have told her about Strong’s ongoing investigation would legally qualify as hearsay and be inadmissible in court. During a brief session with attorneys before the jury returned to the courtroom from its midday lunch break, Mills told Lilley that, even though she had ruled in an earlier pretrial motion he would be allowed to pursue the police retaliation argument, he would need to produce evidence to support the angle. “I want an offer of proof of admissible evidence that this defendant was conducting an investigation,” Mills told Lilley before the afternoon session got under way. Lilley showed the judge a printout of an email Strong allegedly sent the Kennebunk Police Department in early 2012 alerting the force that he was doing the research, a correspondence that took place before Strong was included as a suspect in the investigation. Strong has long maintained that he was investigating alleged misconduct by members of the Kennebunk Police Department, most significantly Presby, at the time of his July 2012 arrest. Strong has argued he was researching Presby’s 2009 affair with her married then-supervisor Nicholas Higgins, as well as subsequent allegations by Higgins’ former wife that Presby had inappropriate sexual contact with the former couple’s 5-year-old child. Kennebunk police Lt. Daniel Jones testified earlier in the trial that he served Presby with protection from abuse papers from Melissa Higgins regarding the alleged contact, and that a Maine State Police investigation into the accusations determined there was “no criminal action” by the Kennebunk officer. Regarding the affair, Kennebunk police Lt. Anthony Bean Burpee told media representatives in an October 2012 news release that Presby had received a written reprimand for the affair with Higgins, and that Higgins resigned from the department. Bean Burpee denied that the past misconduct had any bearing on the prostitution investigation. During the last portion of the day, Lilley explored the affair during his cross-examination of Presby. She acknowledged finding notebooks during the search of Strong’s Thomaston properties in which she was referenced, along with Higgins, her ex-husband and former brother-in-law. Under questioning, Presby admitted to the affair and the fallout, including the reprimand, and resignation and divorce of Higgins. She also acknowledged knowing an Arundel man named Charlie Neville who was referenced in Strong’s notes as well. “I believe he’s made a complaint to the Kennebunk Police Department,” she acknowledged. “Do you agree that it involved you? Let’s leave it at that,” Lilley followed up, but before Presby could answer, McGettigan objected. Mills then subsequently sustained McGettigan’s objection to a 2008 post Presby admitted making on the social networking website MySpace. The post was never read in court, and was not allowed to be introduced as evidence. “I don’t think what she said in 2008 is relevant, and I think it’s extremely prejudicial,” Mills later explained. Before Lilley could pursue that or any other matter further, court was adjourned for the day. Presby is expected to return for continued questioning on Monday. During previous prosecution questioning Friday morning, Presby identified several pieces of evidence as having been seized from Wright’s High Street office, York Street Zumba studio and Wells residence. Among the evidence Presby identified were a digital camera, several computer hard drives, a laptop, a weekly/monthly planner, what she described as an “assortment of condoms,” checkbooks, four bottles of baby oil and a bottle of Astroglide. Presby added that she watched numerous videos depicting Wright exchanging sex for money with various men found by investigators on the fitness instructor’s computer equipment. “I remember keeping the logs of the hours [spent watching sexually explicit evidence],” Presby told McGettigan. “I know at one point I was well over 80 hours, and by the end, I was closer to 120 hours.” Presby told the court Thursday afternoon that during online research she found a website advertising “sensual body rubs by Lydia,” as well as additional sites showing pornographic videos depicting “Lydia.” Presby said she contacted Agent Kyle Moody of the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency to call the “Lydia” listed on the body rubs website and arrange to pay the woman for sex. Presby then testified she later met Alexis Wright, and determined that she was the same woman who appeared in the images on the websites as “Lydia.” |
25 Must-Have Photography Apps for Your Smartphone If you think your smartphone is for phone calls only, think again. Beyond using your smartphone as a portable office, you can also detail and archive the world around you with the photography features built into these phones. The complaint has been the lack of professional detail in the photographs, but that has changed, too — if you understand your native smartphone camera and apply a few photography apps to your shots, you can end up with some award-winning shots. The following list of 25 must-have photography apps is divided into tools specifically created for Androids and iPhones. Android Photo Apps Action Snap: Choose a time interval from 0.1s to 5s and start capturing photos by one click only, or you can use the custom mode to take photos one by one. Camera ZOOM FX: This app contains a circular zoom wheel (4x digital), Iris animation with free skin packs, save, delete, share, and fullscreen shutter. Rotate zoom wheel to zoom, tap to shoot. Night Vision Camera: This application maximizes your device camera in the dark. Use the automatic adjustment of image parts to improve visibility in low light conditions. Paper Camera: See the world through a new, original, stylish and captivating lens, have a wonder in your own home and discover how cool your world is in cartoon. Photaf Panorama: Create amazing panoramas from your Android phone up to 360 degrees. When done, you can move your phone around to see the complete panoramic view by using the phone’s compass or the touch screen. Photo Art — Color Effects: Thirty effects, including sepia, grayscale, tint, etc., and 12 brush types included in this app. Sharing capabilities, too. Photo Tools: This app contains a collection of photography tools for professionals and ambitious amateurs, including distance calculator, graycard, color wheel, and field of view calculator. Photobucket Mobile: The Free Photobucket Mobile app helps you access your Photobucket account, find whatever you want, or take pictures and videos and share them with everyone in your network from any location. PhotoFunia: Put your face on a billboard, a stamp, or in a Warhol-like work of pop-art. Become the Mona Lisa or a bodybuilder. You get over 150 scenes to play with. You’re not cutting and pasting; instead, the app “finds” the face in your photo and integrates it with the scene of your choice. Photoshop Express for Android: Fix photos fast with crop, straighten, rotate, flip, and adjust color, and make eye-catching enhancements with filters and effects. Email photos to family, friends, Facebook, and Twitpic. PicSay Pro Photo Editor: Sharpen, remove red eye, crop and straighten, distort, insert cutouts of other pictures, paint, make color splash out of black-and-white pictures, add text, word balloons, apply effects like Cross Process, Lomo, Vignette, faux HDR, Tilt-shift, Pencil Sketch, and much more with this tool. Pudding Camera: This free app provides a timer feature, Triplex camera, and easy sharing to Twitter, Facebook, and Tumblr. Vignette: Vignette adds 76 film and camera effects and 57 frames to photos using an Android smartphone, including retro and vintage styles. iPhone Photo Apps |
Watch Test matches, ODIs, T20s, the Big Bash League and the 2017-18 Ashes on BT Sport. Live streaming of every match will also be available via the acclaimed enhanced video player right here on BTSport.com and the stunning BT Sport app. Live cricket has arrived on BT Sport and here's what's coming up in the days and weeks ahead, including all the key dates for the 2017/18 Ashes. Please note that all the events listed below will be available for live streaming here on BTSport.com and the BT Sport app with the enhanced video player, as well as on TV. For more information and all the latest news and video, head to btsport.com/cricket or consult our detailed seven-day TV Guide. And if you're not yet a subscriber, we can get you live with BT Sport in just 15 minutes here. The Ashes Australia v England Tests 1st Test: November 23rd-27th - The Gabba, Brisbane 2nd Test: December 2nd-6th - Adelaide Oval, Adelaide 3rd Test: December 14th-18th - WACA, Perth 4th Test: December 26th-30th - MCG, Melbourne 5th Test: January 4th-8th - SCG, Sydney ODIs 1st ODI: January 14th - MCG, Melbourne 2nd ODI: January 19th - The Gabba, Brisbane 3rd ODI: January 21st - SCG, Sydney 4th ODI: January 26th - Adelaide Oval, Adelaide 5th ODI: January 28th - WACA, Perth Full TV listings will appear here when they are available Women's Ashes Australia v England 1st ODI: October 22nd – Brisbane 2nd ODI: October 26th – Coffs Harbour 3rd ODI: October 29th – Coffs Harbour Test: November 9th-12th – Sydney 1st T20: November 17th – Sydney 2nd T20: November 19th – Canberra 3rd T20: November 21st - Canberra Full listings will appear here when they are available Domestic Big Bash League December 19th, 2017 - February 4th, 2017 Full listings will appear here when they are available Women's Big Bash League December 9th, 2017 - February 4th, 2017 Full listings will appear here when they are available |
The Bed Bug (Cimex lectularius ) Introduction Cimex lectularius, the common bed bug, is in the family of Cimicidae and is known for feeding on human blood which makes it parasitic Other species (within the Cimicidae family) specialize in other animals such as bat bugs, and they can cause many body reactions which can bring concern t o the public. Adverse effects such as allergic reactions, skin rashes, and major itching are some of the irritations to those who have become host to the bed bugs. Bed bugs are not known to transmit diseases. Taxonomy ranking: Insects (Insecta) »True Bugs, Cicadas, Hoppers, Aphids and Allies (Hemiptera) » True Bugs (Heteroptera) » Cimicomorpha » Cimicoidea »Bed Bugs (Cimicidae) » Cimicinae » Cimex » Common Bed Bug (Cimex lectularius) Physical Description They are reddish brown at mature stage (they get darker red as they come closer to maturity) and lighter yellow at larvae stage. The body structure is flat when starved but become more round as they consume human blood. Bed bugs have lines that go horizontally across their abdomen area. Adults grow to 5–7 mm long and 1.5–3 mm (0.059–0.118 in) wide. They are about as long as the word “LIBERTY” on a penny in mature stage[ 1 ]. Average home owners confuse them with fleas sometimes times due to being unfamiliar, but bed bugs are much larger. How many legs does a bed bug have? Bed bugs are insects and therefore have six legs which is good to know when trying to do insect identification . Many people also confuse the bed bug for a tick and can easily be distinguished by counting the legs alone. Ticks are Class Arachnida and therefore will have eight legs. Do bed bugs infest? Yes, and they can infest rather quickly. You can find them just about anywhere you can find the human body for several hours. Places such as the couch, mattress, a chair, the baseboard, electrical switchplates, wallpaper, inside your vehicle, a headboard to your bed, recliner etc. are the main places to find them when infested. They aggregate in bunches and come really close together when they infest within furniture. How quick do they reproduce? Known for reproducing quickly, bed bugs have become one of worst pest due to reproducing just inches from your body in bed. An infestation from a single pregnant female can raise up to 5,000 bed bugs within six months [ 2 ]. Once they grow in number they can be easily be found within weeks of introduction to home. Eggs can be hard to find at first due to it’s size (being the size of the head on a pin). Life Cycle And Growth: Source: Host Searching The life of a bed bug is to find a host. Once it finds a host though it may not look again for another 5-7 days. Once it becomes hungry again, then it will search once more for the host to begin it’s feeding. Once it finds the host, it feeds for about 10-15 minutes. [3] No matter what the situation though, it goes back to shelter before the photophase (period of light during a day-night cycle). If no food is found, survial rate is 6 months to 12 months without food [4] Bed Bug Predators Enemies of bed bugs include cockroaches, ants, the masked hunter insect, the Thanatus flavidus (spider), and centipedes (particularly the house centipede). Never consider this option as a way of pest control. Many times the predators are worse than the bed bug when it comes to human interaction. How do you get bed bugs? There’s no definite answer to this besides coming into contact with the host. You do this by sleeping in beds where they live, or rubbing against someone who might be carrying them, sitting in a chair (like in a theatre), or by bringing in furniture that has them already infested within it. By not washing clothes, before they find harborage, is how infestations begin. Also not inspecting travel bags from a hotel room could increase chances of transferring bed bugs to your home. How to detect bed bugs? At first you may notice bites on your body, and then you may notice blood marks on your bed. Black markings on mattress (or wherever you may find them at first) are also close by when bed bugs have infested. You may see their exoskeleton on the floor when performing your own inspection, and these are signs of bed bugs. There’s no denying you have them once you find them, because their known to crawl when searching for a host. Where there’s an abundance of bed bugs there comes an odor that many say smells like coriander How professionals perform inspection If you have them at an early stage, it won’t be as evident. If you feel like you may have them due to small signs such as bites or blood marks, contact a professional pest control. Many use their own training as a way to detect bed bugs or even bed bug dogs . With a sense of smell stronger than humans, they’re trained to detect the odor that only bed bugs make. If you have lots of them, a professional can find them without the help of a canine. Due to resistance bed bugs have, we do not recommend anyone trying to take on bed bugs without a professional. How to prevent bed bugs? Bed bug prevention chemical wise doesn’t exist, but there is ways to prevent bed bugs if you follow certain procedure. Things like never buying used beds, couches and etc. helps decrease chances of having a infestation. Also be careful where you sleep such as hotels, motels or places beyond your home. Bed bugs breed at highest degree in these areas due to people of all types coming together under one roof. Knowing who your kid’s friends are helps also. Your kid could be sleeping on a couch at a friends house not knowing what he’s bringing home the next day. It happens a lot this way. If you suspect bed bugs in your home, automatically start washing all your clothes. Clothes is #1 way bed bugs find their way within a home. Also wash bed linens if you suspect bed bugs also. Are bed bugs dangerous? The worst thing bed bugs can do to the human body is bring skin infection due to excessive scratching. [ ] Allergic reactions can happen at this point and therefore would attention medically speaking. Biggest problem with bed bugs is that many find them to be annoyance. Other Terms For "Bed bug" The term “bed bug” may also be spelled “bedbug” or “bed-bug”, though most published sources use the unhyphenated two-word name bed bug more consistently. They have been known by other other names such as mahogany flat wall louse, crimson rambler, and chilly billies. References: [ 1 ] Bed Bugs Appearance and Life Cycle , EPA [ 2 ] Bed Bug Reproduction and Lifecycle [ 3 ] Bed Bug Biology and Behavior , Department of Entomology, Virginia Tech [ ] What are bedbugs? Are they dangerous? , Scientific American (2009) Links: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bed_bug http://www2.epa.gov/bedbugs http://www2.epa.gov/bedbugs/bed-bugs-appearance-and-life-cycle https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exoskeleton http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/parasitic http://bugguide.net/node/view/52 http://bedbugcentral.com/bedbugs101/canine-scent-detection https://www.aspca.org/pet-care/dog-care/fleas http://www.vdacs.virginia.gov/pesticides/pdffiles/bb-biology1.pdf It's hard to see them when they're young (they're the size of the head of the pen) due to being so small and the color white They turn red the moment they consume human blood. |
Image copyright Alan Cleaver Image caption Alan Cleaver from Whitehaven sent this picture of his grandparents to BBC Radio Cumbria - could it be the first photo taken with a 'selfie stick'? There's a new gadget to help you with those tricky self-photography angles - but is the "selfie stick" really a modern phenomenon? Earlier BBC Trending told the story of the rise of this year's hot trend - the selfie stick. It prompted freelance journalist Alan Cleaver to send in the above picture in which his grandparents are taking a photo of themselves with the aid of, yes, a long pole. In fact, you might even call it a stick. Cleaver says the photo was taken in Rugby, in Warwickshire (central England) in 1925 just after his grandparents Arnold and Helen Hogg got married. Fortunately for us, Arnold Hogg committed the rookie error of accidently including the pole in shot, preserving the evidence of his selfie stick for posterity. "It's always been a favourite photo of the family," Cleaver says. Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption BBC Trending reports on the rise of the 'selfie stick'. Just ignore the bit where we say they've been around for about two years. Cleaver says his grandfather was a renowned entertainer and a musician who played piano in a local cinema until his professional career was cut short by another technological innovation - the talking film. But he says Arnold Hogg, who died in 1972, wouldn't have been sore about missing out on any potential selfie-stick royalties. "He'd have loved the attention the photo is getting now, more than 100 years after his birth, because he was that sort of guy - very off the wall, very entertaining," Cleaver says. "It's wonderful that the rest of the world is delighting in the humour of this situation." Selfies themselves are as old as photography, but until today we thought the selfie stick was a more recent - and, for some, slightly pernicious - phenomenon. Michael Pritchard, the director-general of the Royal Photographic Society and an expert in the history of photography, says that he's not aware of selfie sticks being commercially available until very recently. "That said, amateur photographers have always been an incredibly inventive bunch of people," he says. "There are lots and lots of examples over the years of amateurs devising all sorts of clever contraptions." Amateur box cameras of the 1920s would not have been able to capture an in-focus self-photo when held at arms length, he says, so selfie photographers then would have had to use a remote shutter device such as a cable, or else - as Arnold Hogg apparently did - build their own device. Of course, it's difficult to definitively prove that Hogg's homemade contraption the world's first selfie stick, but we reckon it's a got a pretty good shot at the title. If you happen to come across an older one - please do get in touch. Reporting by Mike Wendling h/t Douglas Marshall and BBC Radio Cumbria You can follow BBC Trending on Twitter @BBCtrending All our stories are at bbc.com/trending |
On Wednesday, a federal judge sentenced former California state senator Leland Yee, 67, to five years in prison after Yee accepted a plea deal over charges of weapons trafficking. Senior District Court Judge Charles Breyer said he could not understand how Yee, a supposed gun control advocate, aided an undercover FBI agent in obtaining automatic weapons from the Philippines to be exported to the U.S. Breyer asserted, “I don’t feel I should be lenient. The crimes that you committed have resulted in essentially an attack on democratic institutions,” according to KCRA. In 2006, the Brady Campaign named Yee to its Gun Violence Prevention Honor Roll for co-authoring a first-in-the-nation bill to require new semiautomatic handguns to be micro-stamped. Prosecutors had wanted an eight-year sentence, while Yee’s attorneys, citing Yee’s years of public service and his wife’s illness, requested a sentence less than five years and three months behind bars. During the hearing, Yee acknowledged his guilt and his responsibility, allowing, “Nothing will ever take away those crimes and those actions. Nothing that I will ever do will take away the pain that I have caused to my family friends, constituents, supporters.” He had pled guilty in July to one count of conspiracy to engage in racketeering. The charge against Yee derived from an organized crime investigation that also wound up nabbing Raymond “Shrimp Boy” Chow, the leader of the Ghee Kung Tong. Keith Jackson, a friend of Chow’s, raised money for Yee’s campaigns for San Francisco mayor in 2011 and secretary of state in 2012. |
Donations of candy are needed to meet the high demand of trick-or-treaters in the North End. The annual Safe Halloween event at the Indian and Métis Friendship Centre doesn't have enough treats for the number of kids expected to come to the party. Candy donations are badly needed in the North End to meet the high demand of trick or treaters for Halloween this year. 1:32 "We're still short candy for about 1,200 kids," said executive director Rick Lavallee. They had long lineups last year and had to turn kids away because they ran out of candy, he said. "It was about 2,200 kids that we had come in last year, so that's quite a bit and it increases annually, so we definitely need those donations," said Lavallee. To help meet the increasing demand, staff will only hand out candy to kids age two to 12 this year. "Well, last year we had a whole lot of teens coming in here, so we're going to focus on the younger kids this time," Lavallee said, adding teenagers tried a little trickery to get free goodies. "There were things like [teenagers] trying to go out the back door, and then they switch jackets and come back in the front door again, so things like that, but you know, we have more volunteer staff this time, so they can't fool us," Lavallee said. This year, they will also have extra security and candy packaged in bags that kids can pick up easily when they go through the doors, instead of staff handing out individual candies to every child or parent, he said. Winnipeg Harvest will donate healthy snacks as they do every year, but more donations are needed because of the increase in new Canadians who have moved into the area over the past year, he said. Donations are needed to meet the high demand of trick-or-treaters in the North End. The Indian and Métis Friendship Centre says candy donations are down for their annual Safe Halloween event this year. 1:00 "There's a whole lot of new landed immigrants and they're welcome to our Friendship Centre," Lavallee said. "It's going to be nice for a lot of those kids to experience Halloween, and some for the first time. "We also have a Harvest food bank here on Wednesdays and Thursdays, and I would say that about 25 per cent of the folks that use our services are new Canadians," Lavallee said. The annual Safe Halloween event began after a triple shooting in Winnipeg's North End in 2010. The goal was to help bring families together and help kids feel safe in their community. "It is a high crime area, and it's paramount that the kids are safe at Halloween." Donation letters have been mailed to businesses in the community and the centre is also accepting cash donations from the public. Donations can be dropped off at the Indian and Métis Friendship Centre at 45 Robinson St. between 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., Monday to Friday. |
Emanuel’s lobbying comes as gun control advocates seek new leverage. Emanuel presses banks on guns Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, moving to take a lead role in the gun control debate, is turning up the pressure on banks that do business with firearms manufacturers. Emanuel is sending letters to two major financial institutions, TD Bank and Bank of America, which offer lines of credit to gun makers suggesting that they stop lending money to the manufacturers if they don’t come out for new gun restrictions. Story Continued Below ( PHOTOS: Politicians speak out on gun control) “TD Bank currently aids the gun manufacturing industry through a $60 million revolving line of credit with Smith & Wesson, a gun manufacturer that produces the AR-15 — an assault weapon that was used by James Holmes to kill 12 people and wound 58 in a crowded movie theatre in Aurora,” Emanuel’s missive to TD CEO Bharat Masrani states. “I ask you to use your influence to push this company to find common ground with the vast majority of Americans who support a military weapons and ammunition ban and comprehensive background checks.” Noting that Chicago’s municipal employees and teachers had already divested money in pension funds from gun makers that are opposing new gun laws, the White House chief of staff-turned-mayor wrote: “Now we need you and other commercial banks to join this fight for safer streets. Collectively we can send a clear and unambiguous message to the entire gun industry that investors will no longer financially support companies that profit from gun violence.” ( PHOTOS: Will these guns be banned again?) Emanuel sent a similarly worded letter to Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan, a bank that does business with Sturm, Ruger & Co. Emanuel’s lobbying comes as gun control advocates seek new ways of leverage to restrict firearms. Such creativity could be imperative with the NRA preparing a stout lobbying campaign and a wall of opposition from most congressional Republicans and some Democrats. Emanuel, President Obama’s first chief of staff, did a stint in finance in between political jobs and has deep connections to the banking world thanks to his background in fundraising as a campaign staffer and time as head of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee when he was in Congress. ( Also on POLITICO: Rahm hits pension funds going to guns) Now he’s talking tough to the industry. “Doing business with gun manufacturers might benefit the banks’ bottom line, but they put our police officers, our children and our communities at risk,” said the mayor. Emanuel’s volley comes as the National Conference of Democratic Mayors has issued a warning of their own to gun makers. The mayors, who collectively purchase millions in firearms and ammunition for their police departments, said they’ll begin grading manufacturers on their compliance with public safety goals and reward those they rate the best and limit purchases with those who oppose regulations. |
Zoning commission OKs downtown H-E-B gas station An H-E-B official says that originally, the Arsenal property wasn't bisected by Main Avenue. An H-E-B official says that originally, the Arsenal property wasn't bisected by Main Avenue. Photo: Bob Owen / San Antonio Express-News Photo: Bob Owen / San Antonio Express-News Image 1 of / 27 Caption Close Zoning commission OKs downtown H-E-B gas station 1 / 27 Back to Gallery SAN ANTONIO — The city's zoning commission Tuesday tipped the scales a little more in favor of H-E-B's downtown expansion plans, with members voting unanimously to support a key component of the project — even though several members sympathized with opponents. Many of those fighting the city's effort to close part of South Main Avenue, a move sought by H-E-B, admit their work this week might prove futile, though they aren't willing to give up just yet. The zoning commission's decision didn't touch on the proposed closure — it was in favor of rezoning property to allow H-E-B to build a gas station next to its planned downtown grocery. Still, it was another setback for the opposition in the run-up to City Council votes on Thursday to close Main and enter an agreement with the locally based company to build the grocery. Opponents' first defeat came last week when the San Antonio Conservation Society and King William Association withdrew their opposition to the controversial closure. Some King William residents have raised more than $10,000 for a potential legal challenge to the proposal, which they fully expect the City Council to approve. And in a city with relatively meager competition among groceries, other critics Wednesday will announce they will begin boycotting H-E-B. Even as they raise the stakes, one thing virtually all of the opponents agree on is the need for more time. “It would be nice if everyone took a breath,” said Charlotte Luongo, a King William resident who plans to join the boycott. She helped organize Main Access, a grass-roots group that plans to file suit if the City Council grants H-E-B's requests. The organization includes several residents of the King William neighborhood, though about 2,000 residents from across the city have signed a petition on the Main Access website opposing the closure. On Wednesday, members of the group will address the city's planning commission in hopes of persuading commissioners against recommending the closure of Main between César E. Chávez Boulevard and East Arsenal Street. H-E-B has pursued that closure as part of a $100 million expansion plan to its Arsenal campus. “Do I think that we have a good chance of delaying any of these votes? No,” Luongo said. “But I do think it's important that we certainly try.” On Tuesday, she and her neighbors tried but failed to convince any of the city's zoning commissioners to oppose H-E-B's plan. Before a vote, commissioners appeared to sympathize with the critics and their goals of killing or delaying the grocer's proposal to build a gas station at Chávez and South Flores Street. But all nine commissioners present voted in support of rezoning the corner to allow for a gas station. Seven opponents spoke out against the gas station, citing environmental and public health concerns, potential impact on traffic in the area and the loss of an intersection that they said could house residential or other mixed-use projects. With the exception of H-E-B and city officials, no one spoke in favor of the gas station. Commissioner Francine Romero specifically applauded the opponents for suggesting that opening a gas station there might contradict portions of the city's downtown development goals. She encouraged the critics to raise those concerns before the City Council on Thursday, but just moments later voted in support of the gas station. “Nobody likes gas stations in their neighborhood, but everybody has them,” Romero said. “I'm just never going to be convinced that any place is just not the right place for a gas station.” Other commissioners, including Chairman Orlando Salazar, doubted whether the Chavez-Flores intersection could handle its current traffic load and added lines of cars waiting to fill up at the proposed gas station. “It is going to be a challenging decision for some of us,” he said, before adding, “I love H-E-B.” He asked whether H-E-B could spend more time working with the community on the project, but a company representative rejected that suggestion. The representative also said its 10,000-square-foot grocery store planned for the intersection couldn't succeed without a gas station. Salazar said that was the overriding reason for his support. “If it's going to help make the grocery store successful — which we desperately need downtown — then I'm going to end up being in favor,” he said. nmorton@express-news.net |
"Everything is on the table when it comes to [Rex Tillerson] testifying under oath," a Senate Democratic aide told POLITICO | Getty Dems vow to turn Tillerson hearing into Exxon referendum Democrats and their progressive allies see a tiny upside to the possibility that President-elect Donald Trump will nominate Exxon Mobil CEO Rex Tillerson as secretary of State. They’d finally get their chance to grill the oil executive under oath. Story Continued Below Liberal hopes of forcing Tillerson to testify before Congress were dashed Nov. 8 when Republicans maintained control of the Senate and easily held onto the House. But they're already eyeing Tillerson's potential confirmation hearing as an opportunity to quiz him on whether the oil giant suppressed decades-old internal research about the threat of climate change, as the company's critics have charged. Democrats might not have the clout to kill his nomination, but they could use the hearing to spotlight the Trump administration’s denial of climate change — and ambush Tillerson on questions that he and Exxon have managed to avoid until now. "Everything is on the table when it comes to [Tillerson] testifying under oath," a Senate Democratic aide told POLITICO, adding that he'd "absolutely get those questions. The fact that they’re not cognizant of that being an issue ... shows a kind of tone deafness to what they’re facing here.” Exxon, one of the biggest companies in the world, is facing a barrage of criticism from progressives related to a series of investigative reports that allege the company has known for decades that fossil fuels exacerbate climate change. Two state attorneys general — New York's Eric Schneiderman and Massachusetts' Maura Healey — have launched fraud investigations into whether Exxon downplayed the threat of climate change to its business. Exxon has aggressively fought the allegations in court, calling the investigations politically motivated and a violation of the company's free speech. An Exxon spokesman declined to comment for this story. Environmental activists believe they could also use the confirmation hearings to rally support for tackling climate change and to bash Tillerson, who has long been their No. 1 enemy in the fight against fossil fuels. "[Trump] is handing us campaign opportunities," said Jamie Henn, the co-founder of the environmental group 350.org. And they warn of severe backlash to the pick. "There are plenty of other candidates for secretary of State who don’t bring that kind of baggage to the table and would not engender that kind of firestorm at confirmation hearings," said Peter Frumhoff, director of science and policy at the Union of Concerned Scientists. "Of the candidates I’ve seen, none would fare worse than Rex Tillerson.” Potential confirmation hearings could also make for an awkward contrast between Trump and Exxon, which has sought to highlight its environmental credentials in recent years. The company says it supports a tax on carbon emissions and has praised the Paris climate agreement. Trump, in contrast, has called climate change a hoax perpetrated by the Chinese and has promised to pull out of the Paris deal. Tillerson became Exxon's CEO in 2006 after decades with the company. He is expected to step down in coming months because he'll reach Exxon's mandatory retirement age of 65 in March. Exxon veteran Darren Woods is expected to replace him. He has a long history in the oil industry that Democrats and environmentalists would be certain to mine ahead of any confirmation hearing. Tillerson, for example, has worked extensively in Russia and the company has long done business in that country. But so far, Trump's transition team has barely vetted Tillerson. Oil industry officials said they aren't worried about the prospect of Tillerson being tapped for secretary of State, arguing the massive company would soldier on without him. And many in the industry view his nomination as a long shot. "Exxon is a machine so I doubt it would create a hole for the industry, or the company," one industry official said. It's unlikely that Tillerson's nomination would face major roadblocks in the Senate. But the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, which would approve the nomination, is expected to have 10 Republicans and nine Democrats come January, a breakdown that could complicate Tillerson's nomination if any Republicans announce their opposition. Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), a member of the committee, has flexed his muscle in recent weeks, signaling his opposition to former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani and John Bolton, the former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. A Paul spokesman did not respond to a request for comment about Tillerson. Democrats on the committee like Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) are expected to focus on Exxon' record on climate change during the potential hearings. Markey and Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), who is not on the committee, have made Exxon a regular fixture in floor speeches and press conferences. Markey's spokesman did not respond to a request for comment and Whitehouse's spokesman declined to comment. A spokesman for Sen. Ben Cardin, the top Democrat on the panel, also declined to comment. Tillerson's nomination would likely win approval unless there was a swell of opposition from Republicans, thanks to a 2013 rules change that allows senators to approve most nominations with a simple majority vote. One lobbyist put it this way: "No doubt that Whitehouse and Markey would be in full battle dress for this one but thanks to the rules change they voted for, [there's] not much they could do — even if the nominee was Donald Duck." |
Conor McGregor may be taking the next 10 months off from fighting in the UFC but that doesn’t mean the current lightweight champion isn’t keeping busy. Rumors first surfaced last week that McGregor was being considered for a small role on "Game of Thrones", which films part of the show in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Now UFC president Dana White has confirmed that "Game of Thrones" has cast McGregor for the show, which is currently filming season 7 in several locations around the world ahead of a summer 2017 debut on HBO. Article continues below ... "I did hear that and I knew that a few months ago that they were interested in putting him in the show. I’m glad he did it. It will be great," White told FOX Sports Live this week. "The show’s huge, it’s awesome and I’m excited for him." Now according to the "Game of Thrones" site Watchers on the Wall, McGregor’s role has also been revealed for the show. According to the report, McGregor is set to play a soldier on a vessel called "Silence" that is captained by King of the Iron Islands, Euron Greyjoy. Greyjoy is a rather notorious villain on "Game of Thrones", who is expected to play a major role in the upcoming season. Now before you get too excited about McGregor’s first major acting role on a series as big as "Game of Thrones", if the TV show follows the original source material from creator George R.R. Martin, the Irishman won’t have much to say. In fact he probably won’t have anything to say. The "Silence" is manned by a pirate crew that have all had their tongues cut out by Euron Greyjoy, effectively making soldiers mute and unable to voice an opinion against their captain. From the sound of things — no pun intended — McGregor will only be making a cameo appearance on "Game of Thrones" similar to bands like Sigur Ros, who have also briefly appeared on the show in past seasons. McGregor’s casting shouldn’t come as a surprise, however, considering "Game of Thrones" show runners David Benioff and Dan Weiss are both huge UFC fans. During an appearance on "UFC Unfiltered" from the summer, Benioff mentioned how the cast and crew on "Game of Thrones" routinely stays up all night to watch UFC fights involving McGregor. "I stayed up with a bunch of the actors and crew members in Belfast, Northern Ireland, which is where we shoot the show, till six in the morning watching the McGregor-(Jose) Aldo fight this past December," Benioff said. "We talk more about MMA than we do ‘Game of Thrones’." "Game of Thrones" is expected to stay in production through early 2017 with the seven-episode seventh season debuting in the summer on HBO. |
Researchers have acquired what may be the first video of the remarkable Bornean tufted ground squirrel (Rheithrosciurus macrotis). Last year, scientists reported that the species has the fluffiest tail of all mammals. In stark contrast to that cuddly appearance, local folklore has it that the 35-centimeter-long squirrel will attack forest deer and drink their blood. The squirrel is elusive and mysterious with much of its basic biology unknown. Although researchers have caught fleeting glimpses and snapped a few photographs, no videos existed. The new video comes from an effort to study the ecology of Gunung Palung National Park in the Indonesian province of West Kalimantan. Researchers set up 35 motion-triggered video cameras throughout the reserve’s diversity of forest ecosystems. Within the first few weeks, they spotted the squirrel foraging through leaves on the ground. “I was sitting at the bar in Jakarta waiting to come home, looking through the pictures, and this popped up,” says Andrew Marshall, a conservation biologist at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, who works with researchers from the park staff and Victoria University of Wellington in New Zealand. Although the cameras will shoot in color, they switch to infrared in low light, yielding these black-and-white images of the squirrel as it forages in the shady tropical forest. If they get more footage, the team hopes to learn about the ecology of the animal, such as exactly what kind of habitat it prefers and its mating behavior. Future videos, for example, might reveal whether the fluffy tail has any role in attracting mates. “The video is a good reminder of how little we still know about most species on Borneo and how much we can learn,” says Erik Meijaard, a conservation scientist with Borneo Futures in Jakarta, who is not involved in the work. The squirrel has one of the most specialized diets in the forest, preferring the rock-hard nuts of the canarium tree—exactly how it manages to gnaw through them is another mystery—so the researchers have set up more cameras around one of the trees that now has fruit. As for the legend of the animal’s vampirelike tendencies, it’s possible that the video might capture the animal drinking the blood of a deer, but Marshall thinks it’s highly unlikely. “I would be very surprised if it were true.” (Video credit: U. Michigan/Victoria University/Gunung Palung National Park Bureau) |
To ‘regular people’ that we come across every day – your teachers, bosses, heck, even a bunch of our friends, us snowboarders must be seen to do some pretty strange stuff. The thing is that to us, the behaviours that some might find peculiar are totally normal. Some might even say they’re what define us. It all boils down to that age old saying that snowboarding isn’t just a sport that you do when you feel like it and then toss aside for another year. It’s cliche as shit to say but it’s like, a lifestyle bro. We thought we’d try and illustrate a few of these things using the hugely hyped, yet rapidly fading medium that is Vine. We hope you enjoy them, and look out for part two dropping in a week or so’s time: Vine Animations by Mike Brindley |
How’s this for disruption? Silicon Valley’s private shuttle buses, which ferry around employees of large tech companies like Google and Facebook, have been clogging the streets of San Francisco and getting in the way of public transportation. They’ve been illegally using around 250 city bus stops, oftentimes forcing regular commuters to get on and off public buses in the middle of the street. Now the city’s Municipal Transportation Agency, known as Muni, wants to hold hands and make things work. On weekdays, private busses shuttle roughly 35,000 workers from San Francisco to tech companies across Silicon Valley. They’re often outfitted with Wi-Fi and other amenities you would never imagine on public transit. But in response to the chaos that these shuttles are bringing to public bus stops, Muni has proposed an 18-month test period during which it and the private operators will share 100 stops. The proposal is basically asking the shuttles to play nice: Use these specific 100 stops, don’t sit there for too long and do your best to stay out of the way. There will be a still-undetermined fee, according to the San Francisco Chronicle, which seems like a step in the right direction. There’s been a lot of handwringing about these shuttle buses. Disruption and free market enthusiasts will tell you they’re good for the economy. I think they’re creating gated systems of transportation. But if there is some sort of permit and fee involved, as the proposal calls for, it could at least help these shuttle busses shoulder some of the load for the Muni stops they use. As it stands now, they’re just posting up at busy stops and waiting for employees to board. They’re using public infrastructure for private business. I understand that the purpose of a private business like, say, a shuttle bus, isn’t to broker social peace. Tech companies want to provide this service for their employees, and can afford that luxury. But income inequality is raging in the Bay Area, and I can’t imagine it’s much fun to see some fancy Google bus roll through the neighborhood while you have to board in the middle of the street. The optics aren’t good for the tech companies or the city. (Not that the tech companies actually care.) Last August, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed a bill for a permit system for intercity curbside bus service, like Megabus and the infamous Chinatown buses. Each vehicle has to get a permit through the Department of Transportation that will cost up to $275 each year. Bus companies have to provide the city with their schedules and other info, like where buses are parked when they’re not in use. Any company that breaks rules faces fines up to $2,500. While curbside bus service is a different beast than the Silicon Valley shuttles — it saves ordinary people money by offering cheaper travel, rather than providing exclusive service for a select number of techies — the permit system for rogue buses isn’t anything new. If I were running Muni in San Francisco, I’d put a big, fat price tag on those permits. It’s a safe bet that tech companies won’t say no. They’ve got the cash, make them pay. |
On Friday's edition of "Real Time With Bill Maher," Maher interviewed anti-Muslim activist Ayaan Hirsi Ali about radical Islam and liberalism. "How do I get liberals to understand that we are the liberals in this debate?" Maher said, referring to his opinion that Islam is a scourge that must be expunged from society. "I say to them," Hirsi Ali responded, "that the cancer of Islamic extremism is an assault on liberalism and liberal ideas. It's an attack on the freedom of the human beings, the equality of the human beings." Advertisement: On Monday, Palestinian-Italian journalist Rula Jebreal condemned their comments as racist and ill-informed in an interview with Salon. Jebreal has spoken extensively about American Islamophobia after she engaged in a heated debate with Maher on his show. People like Maher and Hirsi Ali, Jebreal argued, "selectively care about human rights abuses" when it comes to injustices in the Arab world. Instead of addressing the "delicate realities" of destructive policies, they would largely rather blame Islam as a whole. "Bill Maher and Ayaan and I would include Sam Harris, they all do one thing intentionally-- and I’m saying intentionally in big letters -- they don’t connect radicalization process with policies," Jebreal continued. "They are literalists devoid of history. There’s no connection to policies, whether it’s local policies, regional policies or international policies. This is one of their biggest flaws." Jebreal explained that radical Islamist sects generally arise from bad policies -- notably the U.S. invasion of Iraq during the Iraq War. "These people not only don’t see the connection, they are endorsing these kinds of policies," she said. "Invasions, occupations, torture. Sam Harris said he doesn't mind that the West would torture in order to extract information. I am horrified by that. Which liberal in the world would endorse torture? I’ve never heard of a liberal that endorsed torture. He thinks that because he’s white and he was born in the West, he is liberal? Then he takes the moral high ground when it comes to Islamist abuse and Islamist killing. I don’t understand." "A liberal person is somebody that challenges policies and sees the connection between policies and radicalization. You can’t endorse invasion, you can’t endorse tyrant like [Egyptian president Abdel Fattah el-Sisi], you can’t endorse torture or occupation, like Bill Maher does and we saw last summer with Gaza and what happened. He would cheer up the killing. Either these people are delusional at a certain point, or they have a washed up version of what liberal means." "He's a tyrant when it comes to this... don't agree with me, you're shunned aside and you're the enemy. I find that horrifying," Jebreal continued. "It's not personal because his ideology is becoming as extremist as ever. And it's so disappointing because he inspired many of us around the world during Iraq because we understood that that war was based on a lie before everybody else and there's no weapons of mass destruction. We understood that they will destroy Iraq and absolutely the destruction of today is the byproduct of the lies, the deception, manipulation of the media, but above all, of the incompetence that they left behind. Bill understood that and he was an inspiration during that. He was one of the few voices absolutely speaking truth. I don't know what happened to him. I really don't know." Jebreal argued that by supporting dictators like Sisi, Hirsi Ali and Harris implicitly support the sentiment that people in the Arab world don't deserve the same basic freedoms as Americans. Advertisement: "I find it racist," she said. "As if the Middle East doesn’t deserve an opportunity and a chance, as if people in the Middle East are inferior." "I think Americans, when they read these comments of Bill or Ayaan or Sam Harris, don’t understand the impact of these comments on the world. We live in an aquarium where everything is visible. Every comment is known," Jebreal continued. By exclusively featuring anti-Muslim viewpoints, the rest of the world will begin (or continue) to think that those are the only views valued by the American media. "This will increase anti-Americanism in the region, and the distance between East and West will become wider." "For a liberal and somebody who considers himself a reformist, he is not willing to listen to real reformists to point to the real issues and to the root causes. He's inviting on the show who? People that absolutely would repeat what he wants to hear which is this monologue that they keep telling themselves about trying to find proof here and there. The world is proving you wrong, my friends. The Iraq War, every invasion that took place." "You know what is a litmus test of a reformist? And this is terrible to say but when the overwhelming majority of your followers don't belong to the community of those who want to reform but that are actually non-Muslim or anti-Muslim, what does that tell you about your message? I mean, the overwhelming majority of Sam Harris or even Ayaan's [supporters] are non-Muslim," Jebreal concluded. "How can you reform a community when the majority of your followers are non-Muslim? I see that the over-majority of who follow her are actually the ones who endorse invasions and occupations and torture and dictators. They are in the same mindset that the only way to reform Islam is to crush it. You lost the debate even before you started." |
Perhaps the last place you would expect to find a thriving experiment in direct democracy is Syria. But something radical is happening, little noticed, in the eastern reaches of that fractured country, in the isolated region known to the Kurds as Rojava. Just as remarkable, perhaps, is that the philosophy that inspired self-government here was originated by a little-known American political thinker and one-time “eco-activist” whose ideas found their way to Syria through a Kurdish leader imprisoned upon an island in the Sea of Marmara. It’s a story that bizarrely connects a war-torn Middle East with New York’s Lower East Side. I visited Rojava last month while filming a documentary about the failings of the western model of democracy. The region covers a substantial “corner” of north-east Syria and has a population of approximately 3m, yet it is not easy to get to. The only passage is by small boat or a creaky pontoon bridge across the Tigris from Iraq. Turkey has closed its borders with Rojava, preventing all movement from the north, including humanitarian supplies to Kurdish-controlled areas. To the south, in Iraq, the Kurdistan Regional Government does not make access easy; permits for journalists are not straightforward and, we were told, repeat visits are discouraged. The isolation is not only physical. Turkey regards the Syrian Kurd YPG militia that is fighting the jihadi organisation Isis in Rojava as synonymous with the Kurdistan Workers’ party (PKK), a longstanding enemy inside Turkey. The YPG’s advance against Isis along Syria’s northern border has been halted by the declaration by Turkey of a so-called “safe zone” to the west of the Euphrates between the front line and the Kurdish-controlled canton of Afrin in the north-west. For the Kurds, the motive seems transparently clear: to prevent the formation of a contiguous area of Kurdish control along Turkey’s southern border. The KRG, which collaborates with Turkey against the PKK, has also been reluctant to support the YPG, even though they share a common enemy in the shape of Isis. Turkey has likewise pressured the US to eschew the Syrian Kurds, although in the past few days Washington has come out in more open support, including delivering arms supplies to the YPG. Meanwhile, the Kurds maintain an uneasy truce with the Syrian regime, which keeps two small bases in Rojava but otherwise has no military presence here — a tacit deal whereby the Kurds control the territory in return for not fighting the regime. Those journalists that do get here naturally gravitate to the front lines like the devastated city of Kobani; similarly, images of the photogenic young women who make up the female Kurdish militia, the YPJ, are more eye-catching than the village hall meetings that comprise the reality of an innovative grassroots democracy. But it is in those dusty assemblies across Rojava that a democratic revolution is taking place. The onset of the Syrian revolution in 2012 saw the collapse of the Assad regime’s authority across much of Syria. When this vacuum opened in Rojava, the Kurdish Democratic Union party (PYD) sought to fill it by building a new form of democracy from the bottom up. In this radical new dispensation, authority is vested primarily in the communal level — the village. At one assembly I attended, villagers gathered in a spartan town hall to debate their affairs. An old man began by retailing all the decisions of the previous meeting. The audience grew restive with boredom until a very young co-chair gently stopped him. Then, others took turns to voice their concerns. These were the stuff of day-to-day village life: anxiety about deliveries of medical supplies; celebration following the announcement of the opening of a small new factory for laundry powder. But the rocketing prices of bread and other basics were lamented at length. The prosaic found its voice, too: someone complained about children riding their bikes too fast around the village. Not all decisions can be made at the most local level. Those that need broader discussion go to district or cantonal assemblies (Rojava is comprised of three cantons). Here, as in the villages, care is taken to give non-Arab minorities and women prominence. Every assembly I encountered was co-chaired by a woman. In one town, a very young Kurdish woman enthused to me that never before had people like her — “the youth” — been included in actual government. At meetings across the region I was struck by the sense of a population trying to get used to methods of self-government that were entirely unfamiliar after generations of dictatorship. I was repeatedly told that special efforts were made to include the Arab, Assyrian and Turkmen minorities. Some Arabs confirmed this to me directly, with something resembling bewilderment. In Jazira canton, the two co-chairs of the district’s “institutions of self-government”, as this collective system is awkwardly named, consisted of an aged Arab sheikh and another young Kurdish woman. Accustomed to the traditional hierarchies of the Middle East at such gatherings, I unthinkingly addressed the senior-looking man. Without speaking, he turned to the young woman to speak for the group. She then spoke Arabic for the benefit of non-Kurdish participants. The Arab sheikh’s guards wore black uniforms and long beards, a resemblance to Isis that suggested sympathies that may have only been conditionally suspended. Indeed, I learnt later that the sheikh had been on the Isis side until the extremists massacred members of his tribe. Inevitably, in a country where ethnic groups and allegiances are thoroughly scrambled together, the front lines are not always well defined. A report released by Amnesty International recently claimed that the YPG has forcibly removed some Arab families from towns captured from Isis. The YPG’s response was that these examples are very few among the mass displacement of tens of thousands, and inevitable in areas of extended combat with Isis, which routinely conceals its fighters among the civilian population. Perhaps the most remarkable feature of the democratic experiment in Rojava is the justice system that has been established alongside self-government. In Jazira, one chair of the justice committee (again a young woman) explained that since courts and punishment represented the coercive dominance of the state, such institutions had been replaced by a kind of community justice, where “social peace”, and not punishment, was the objective. Qamishli cemetery in Rojava, northern Syria Intrigued, though a little baffled by these slogans, I asked to see what this meant in practice. The next day, I attended a mass lunch where one family hosted another. A member of the first family had killed a man from the second: lunch marked the families’ reconciliation, the culmination of a collective process of compensation, apology and forgiveness, where the perpetrator, briefly imprisoned, publicly acknowledged his crime. In turn, this act of contrition, supported by his family by means including the ceremonial meal, was accepted by the victim’s relations. I asked the brother of the murdered man why he didn’t want the killer to face further punishment. His eyes moist with grief, he replied, no: “social peace” was more important than punishment. This was a better way, he argued: what good would be served by a long punishment of the perpetrator? I was staggered and moved. I thought of the barbarity of Rikers Island prison, which I would fly over on my way home to the US. No one in that country would claim that a system premised on punishment over reconciliation has achieved “social peace”. Throughout the visit I met officials and ordinary citizens who enthused about the virtues of participatory, non-hierarchical self-government. I was amazed to find such a widespread consciousness of political ideas barely discussed in the rest of the world. In one town, I found myself debating the finer distinctions of anarchist philosophers — Kropotkin, Bakunin — with a youth organiser who was fluent in the discourse of people power. Where on earth had these ideas sprung from? The answer is New York City. On the frontline in war-torn northern Syria The reason for the strange emergence of communal self-government in Rojava became clear during my visit. Abdullah Öcalan, leader of the banned PKK party, is seen by Kurds in Syria, as well as those in Turkey, as the leader of Kurdish liberation. This despite — or in defiance of — the fact that, for the past 16 years, he has been held in a Turkish prison on an island in the Sea of Marmara. Öcalan, 67, was once a devotee of Marxism-Leninism but came to believe that, like capitalism, communism perforce relied upon coercion (in capitalism’s case, coercion is necessary inter alia to enforce the exploitative contract between capital and labour). By chance, one book passed to him in jail was the masterwork of a New York political thinker named Murray Bookchin. Like Öcalan, Bookchin rejected communism when he became disillusioned with Stalinism’s authoritarian bent. A passionate believer in equality and freedom, he spent years teaching and arguing about anarchist philosophy in the bars and radical political groups of the city’s Lower East Side. Bookchin believed that true democracy could only prosper when decision-making belonged to the local community and was not monopolised by distant and unaccountable elites. In books such as The Ecology of Freedom (1982), he looked back to democracy’s origins in ancient Greece, where all citizens — although not, he noted, women or slaves — took turns to make political decisions. Flags at Qamishli cemetery in northern Syria Outside of the radical and bohemian circles of 1970s New York, Bookchin’s ideas have remained obscure, despite their pertinence today. Bookchin married what we now call environmentalism with anarchism. He believed that anarchism’s fundamental precept, the rejection of power of one over another, should apply to mankind’s relationship with the natural world. Entrapped in concrete cities, people were alienated from themselves and nature. The disasters of pollution and pillaged resources would persist as long as the false hierarchy of mankind over nature endured. Bookchin ultimately eschewed the term “anarchist”, which he saw tainted by those who vaunted mere selfish individualism, “lifestyle anarchism”. Some kind of organised administration was, he believed, necessary to make collective decisions, as long as it included everyone: government can only be for the people when it is truly by the people. Bookchin called it “communalism”. On his prison island, Öcalan saw that Bookchin’s concept of government without the state was ideal for the Kurds — a people who had been denied their own state. In pamphlets and books, he interpreted Bookchin’s communalism for the Kurdish context and termed it “democratic confederalism”. If you wanted a society freed of coercion, you must abolish the ultimate practitioner of coercion, including violence: the state itself. In 2004, Öcalan wrote to Bookchin and invited him to Kurdistan, but Bookchin was by then too unwell to undertake such a journey. He died two years later. Öcalan’s new ideas were distributed across the PKK and, through them, to the Syrian Kurdish PYD. His influence in propagating a system of democracy without hierarchy presents one of the ironies of the situation in Rojava: a system that emphatically rejects all authority was inspired by a singular leader who has in the past used harsh methods to enforce organisational discipline. Rojava's deputy foreign minister (on left) In meeting after meeting I attended in Rojava, one issue generated particular emotion: emigration. My visit coincided with the tragic drowning of Aylan Kurdi, the little boy whose picture is now the symbol of the refugee crisis. That child came from Kobani, a city levelled by fighting. In the assemblies I attended, by far the loudest sentiment was frustration that people were leaving because of the desperate economic circumstances. There were many complaints that the Turkish “embargo”, as it is universally termed in Rojava, has made life impossibly difficult. Reconstruction of devastated towns recaptured from Isis, like Kobani, was all but impossible. There was no choice but to leave. Local democracy can only fix so much when the international constraints are intractable. To these people, the west’s acquiescence in the treatment of Rojava by Turkey and the KRG, both western allies, is bewildering. For them, these radical ideas on self-government offer a democratic model for all of Syria. One man argued to me that the centralised state, which he named the “ziggurat”, had been a catastrophe for Syria and Iraq in recent generations, an argument hard to dispute. It was self-evident, he contended, that a decentralised and inclusive structure of democracy had a better chance of producing stability — woven from the bottom up rather than imposed from the top down. Murray Bookchin, American anarchist/political writer If and when there is ever a political deal to end Syria’s hideous war, this option must surely be on the table. Recent examples of Middle Eastern “state-building”, after the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, however, are not encouraging. Outside states continue to prefer to construct other states that resemble themselves: the model of top-down government with its illusory offer of control is deeply ingrained. Decentralisation, particularly in the fullest sense advocated by Bookchin, threatens those used to authority — and particularly those who wield it. One irony of Rojava’s democratic experiment is it was only made possible by the rupture of war and the effective collapse of state authority. What is happening in the west is less dramatic, but is a crisis nonetheless. The model of supposedly “representative” but hierarchical democracy as manifested in western capitals is seen as less and less representative by the people it is supposed to answer to. The fissure between the power of the wealthy and connected and everyone else is painfully evident. The desire to take power back is growing. Rojava may seem exotic and its democratic experiment radical, but that word means a return to the root, and that is exactly what is happening in this remote corner of Syria: rule by the people; democracy returning to its roots. Carne Ross is a former British diplomat and author. He visited Syria for the documentary film, ‘The Accidental Anarchist’, produced by Hopscotch Films and Mentorn Media with support from the Sundance Institute for release in 2016 Photographs: Carne Ross; Janet Biehl |
On Wednesday, Forbes released its annual “The Business of Baseball” report, which illustrates how well—or, in some cases, how poorly—the 30 Major League Baseball teams performed financially in 2011. There’s a lot to absorb within the piece, but for Indians fans there’s one thing that is sure to stand out first and foremost above all others. On their MLB valuations table, you can see that the Indians currently rank as the 26th-most valuable franchise in Major League Baseball. This isn’t all that surprising given the current landscape of the game. As expected the big market franchises rank near the top of the list led by the Yankees, Dodgers, Red Sox, Cubs, and Phillies in that order. The surprise comes is when you sort the list according to operating income, highest to lowest. The Indians soar to the top of the food chain, ultimately leaving fans with one and only one question on their minds: “Huh?” The gut reaction for many Tribe fans is probably to question how a team that earned an MLB-high $30.1 million in 2011 can operate on such a shoestring budget. Well, before everyone gets all up in arms over this, I can assure you that there is a reasonable explanation. Allow me to put my M.B.A. in Finance to use for the first time in four years to explain what’s going on. Warning: It’s about to get super nerdy up in here. Yes, the Indians earned $30.1 million in 2011 through their operations, more than anyone else in baseball. However, that doesn’t mean they turned in a profit of $30.1 million. And it definitely doesn’t mean they had $30.1 million free to spend this offseason. Firstly, the Indians probably didn’t expect to earn $30.1 million in operating income last year. That figure is inflated by the jump in attendance from the Tribe being a surprise contender and the acquisition of Jim Thome for the late-season push. More butts in the seats means more ticket revenue as well as higher concessions and merchandise sales, more sponsorship, etc. Also, given Cleveland’s recent fluctuations from contender to pretender on an almost yearly basis, the team can’t afford to go nuts when it comes to spending. Just because the Indians did well last season doesn’t necessarily mean they’ll be successful in 2012. They lack the sort of consistency we’ve seen from the Yankees, Red Sox, and Phillies and there is no guarentee of a repeat financial performance in 2012. They could fall out of contention by mid-May and suffer huge financial losses. The Yankees, Dodgers, Red Sox, Cubs and Phillies can be more frivolous because their attendance numbers and revenue streams probably don’t fluctuate as much year-to-year. They also have greater overall franchise values to fall back on or they can adjust operating expenses in order to improve their net incomes. (As you can see from Forbes‘ list, the Indians ranked near the bottom in both value and revenue in 2011, despite showing a 16 percent improvement from 2010). But regardless of the Dolans’ original plans the Indians now have $30.1 million to spend on players, right? Not so fast. Operating income is not profit. I repeat: operating income is not profit. The $30.1 million figure does not represent the team’s true net income (profit) once everything is said and done. All this really means is that the Indians made more money than anyone once you remove their operating expenses from their sales revenue. That’s the first step towards calculating profit, but we still need to take it a few steps further before we can really see how well the Indians are doing financially. A good example of what I am talking about can be seen in the statement of operations in the 1998 annual report for the Cleveland Indians.* In the statement of operations you can see that the operating income, denoted by the red arrow, does not equal the net income for each given time period. In 1996 and 1997 net income was substantially higher than operating income. In the first half of 1998, the team suffered a net loss of -$9,658,000. During the second half of 1998, its operating income ($22,152,000) was almost $15 million higher than its net income ($7,158,000). *Dick Jacobs decided to take the team public in 1998 and issued 4 million shares of stock at $15 per share. This was revolutionary at the time. The Indians became the first publicly traded team in Major League Baseball and it netted them an additional $60 million dollars from doing nothing but issuing some collectable stock certificates. It also meant they had to follow strict guidelines set forth by the Securities and Exchange Commission and the National Association of Securities Dealers since they would be listed on NASDAQ. Among these guidelines was releasing quarterly and annual reports to shareholders and the public just like any other publicly traded company. In 2000, the team was sold to a private investor (Larry Dolan) and shareholders tendered their shares back to the team at a price of $22.61 per share in a structured cash out merger. Where does the discrepancy come from? First, any non-operating income and expenses need to be added in. These include things like interest income from investments and gains or losses accumulated during player transactions. Once those are taken into account, you have the earnings before interest and taxes, or EBIT. Once EBIT is calculated, the net difference of interest expenses versus interest income is added or subtracted. This final figure provides you with what is considered “net income.” A positive net income is profit, whereas a negative net income would be a loss. Depending on how well the Indians performed with their investments and the amount of taxes paid, their net income for 2011 could be higher than the $30.1 million figure reported by Forbes or it could be significantly lower. We don’t know. The 1998 annual report illustrates this quite well. During the Dick Jacobs era, the Indians had years where they generated a rather large profit and years where things didn’t go so well. Keep in mind that was also more than a decade ago. The economic climate for both the United States and Major League Baseball has changed substantially over that period of time. In addition, ownership of the Indians has also changed since this report was released. The current ownership goes about things differently, and I’m sure that includes accounting practices, investment strategies, and other financial decisions. In other words, the fact that the Indians had the highest operating income in baseball does not mean that fans should jump all over the Dolans for their perceived lack of spending. We don’t know the state of the team’s current investments and we don’t know how much they had to pay in federal and state taxes. They also make their home in Ohio, one of the least tax-friendly states for big businesses. Simply put, there are a lot of variable factors in play here about which the Indians—a privately owned company—have no obligation to divulge details. Building a strong and reputable brand off the field is essential for MLB teams, just like it is in any other industry. This is something the Indians haven’t been able to do in recent years, but they are showing signs of improvement. Just don’t think Forbes‘ numbers mean that the Dolans pocketed $30 million. Don’t forget to subscribe to our RSS feed, Like us on Facebook, and follow us on Twitter! |
here we are, the over 65s, clogging up the buses and the NHS, popping our free pills and spending our winter fuel supplements on Spanish breaks …. ……reprobates. Meanwhile, the millennial generation are facing a future of uncertainty, of limited opportunity and cannot afford to buy their own homes. After 50 plus years of slow improvement in living standards and working conditions, it now appears that much of it is being taken away by a succession of governments which are neglecting their first duty to their citizens. The things my parents and grandparents endured and then fought to improve, are being eroded and withheld. My generation came from impoverished antecedents, scarred by two world wars. My grandfather was brought back from his new life as an emigrant farmer in Australia to serve on the Somme during WW1. He survived and, more remarkably, a bout of the murderous influenza didn’t kill him either. In the twenties and thirties, a lot of people were in poor, overcrowded housing, damp and unsanitary. Many were undernourished and often unable to buy medicines. My mother’s father, in the west of Scotland, always kept a dog, not as a pet, but to catch rabbits in the nearby fields. Rabbits were a staple part of their diet, well into the fifties. Their generations had little protection. Often, women and babies died in childbirth. Almost every family had lost children to preventable diseases. It’s all recorded in census and death certificates. My mother contracted rheumatic fever as a young girl, before the NHS came into being. She was sent to an isolation hospital, but then sent back home, with weeks to live. Somehow, her own mother cared for her, slowly encouraged her and she survived – with permanent damage to her heart. My father survived POW camp in Italy and internment in Switzerland in WW2. When he came back, he weighed six stones. He was six foot four. My parents married at the end of the war. They were told they could never have children, as it would be too dangerous for my mother. Nature had other ideas, otherwise I wouldn’t be writing this. I was born in an NHS hospital, by Caesarian section. My grandparents didn’t have access to this kind of care until the very end of their lives. But I’m a baby boomer, born after WW2 at the end of the forties, when the National Health Service was introduced and ordinary people, for the first time, benefited from the care given them by the Welfare State, in return for their taxes. After the war, people set about rebuilding their lives. They put all their energies into raising a new generation of healthy active children, with access to a good, if very limited, diet and the protection of health care, dentistry and vaccination, through taxation and National Insurance contributions. That was their contract with the state. The sixties brought apprenticeships, college and university or the workplace. Most young people moved out of their parental homes to access further education or work. The expectation was that after school you looked out for yourself. Many of us were the first in our family to go to university. There were, however, student grants in those days, provided by the state. A very small amount of means tested, subsistence money to live on in term time. It was supplemented by working through all the holidays, to pay your share at home. But no credit cards, no holidays, cars or nice stuff, but no debt either. And we didn’t have to catch and eat rabbits. And there was no conscription to the armed forces by then, thank god. By the end of the sixties, we were getting married and in the seventies, having families. Most of us were still renting accommodation that was better than our student digs, but still too draughty to heat. The money barely went round the necessities, we had no savings and the only holidays were back with our parents. By the eighties, our kids were moving on and needing financial support as the student grants shrank. In my case, we were 40 before we could afford a mortgage. Interest rates inflated almost immediately, making budgeting a science.. Over the next decades, we boomers paid our taxes and our bills and did the diy on our homes. Then we retired. And we helped our own ageing parents in their last years. Already care for them was costing them their homes and lifetime savings. So now, boomers have become pensioners. The majority of us are ordinary folk. Some of us have final salary pensions, paid into over our lifetimes, others have much less. Those superannuation schemes weren’t free. A large chunk of monthly wages built the funds over a lifetime and our families still need help from time to time, financial and otherwise. We continue to pay our taxes, to carry out diy, plug the childcare gaps in the system and in many cases, volunteer our time to local groups. There’s a long standing sentiment of “giving something back to society”. But the current UK government has other uses for taxpayers money, and it is attempting to remove the most basic of those hard won rights. The National Health Service is under intense pressure in England and Wales. The reason given daily in the newspapers and on television, is that there is a problem with an ageing population, living longer. Everyone is ageing – all the time. The “problem” is not the ageing or the numbers of old people. The real problem is a government and a state that walks away from the contract made with its citizens. All of us have paid our contributions and kept the terms of the contract throughout our lives – and we still are. Government has not. UK Governments over the last 30 plus years have chosen to spend taxpayers money on foreign wars, a nuclear deterrent, and exorbitantly high value spending on infrastructure in the south east of England. They have also used taxpayers money to bail out the banks which almost ruined the country through greed, risky gambling and self serving practices. And they have borrowed billions to top up these adventures, while making sure the rich stay rich. What they have not done, is invest their citizens money in apprenticeships, student grants, workplace opportunities and affordable housing. They have cheated the young of a better future for themselves and their children. But they blame an ageing population, most of whom do not have personal debt. Most of whom had what little they had saved, halved or lost in the banking crash. Most of whom still pay tax, and most of whom are living longer because they got a good start in life and were cared for by the NHS they and their parents paid for. Do we really want to turn the clock back to the thirties? We will still be paying tax to the state, but we will also be paying huge sums on medical insurance – if we can afford them. For many, many people, that is a non starter. The inevitable result is poorer health and yes, shorter lives. Look around you. We are the midwives who brought you into the world; the nurses, doctors and dentists who cared for you, the teachers and lecturers who taught you; the farmers and fishermen who fed you; the civil servants who looked after the smooth running of all the state functions; the scientists and engineers who designed and created the technology you use every day; the ones who drove the buses, trains and lorries; the cooks, the cleaners, the artists, musicians and writers, people just like you. The men and women with their free bus passes haven’t stolen your future. The neo-liberal crony governments are the problem. If you are old, or disabled, or the wrong colour, or the wrong religion, or not from here, or unable to find work, then you are not wanted. And now, my own family is back to square one. My grandchildren live 6000 miles away, economic migrants; just like their great great great grandfather, they had to leave Scotland and start again in Australia. Bad government damages people’s lives. It’s a warning that should be on every ballot paper. Choose those who value society, in all its dimensions. Age comes to everyone. |
Tyson Summers said lots of things at his opening press conference, and none were more important than his statements on the Georgia Southern Eagles offense. The triple option will stay, and it will be run out of the shotgun. Summers added that he does feel passing is important, but the basic identity will remain. While the rest of us continue to eat Christmas leftovers and enjoy our new goodies, Summers, who was hired Dec. 20, said he will immediately hit the recruiting trail to try and keep current recruits and get new ones to the program. Not that he's complaining: Summers called Georgia Southern his long-time dream job. That probably beats sipping out of a new Yeti. Elsewhere, it became even more obvious that Summers really, really looks like a young Erk Russell. Does that mean anything? Not really, but it'll be fun to talk about. As he also told the assembled crowd, what really matters to the fan base is the wins and losses, but a charming Georgia-born coach with a Southern accent doesn't hurt. Other highlights included Summers saying his defense better look like "11 guys running to the ball angry." His contract is for four years and salary will increase based on success. Let us know your thoughts on the new coach in the comments section. Hail Southern. |
We explore the evolution of astronomy, from Persian astronomer al-Tusi to Copernicus and the space scientists of today. Imagine trying to make sense of the universe before telescopes were even invented. Nasir al-Din al-Tusi •13th century Persian scientist Nasir al-Din al-Tusi is mostly renowned for his innovation in mathematics and astronomy. •His tables of planetary movements in his book Zij-i ilkhani (Ilkhanic Tables) shaped our understanding for calculating the positions of the planets. •Tusi's model for the planetary system played a crucial role in navigation. •Al-Tusi invented the Tusi-couple, a geometrical device in which a small circle rotates inside a large fixed circle, reforming Ptolemy's theory of planetary motion. •His findings influenced later astronomers including Copernicus, who's best known for the theory that the sun is at the centre of the universe. Jim al-Khalili reveals how scholars from the Islamic world played a crucial role in astronomy and navigation, influencing later astronomers in the renaissance. In this episode of Science in the Golden Age, we examine ancient maps dating back to the 9th century at Istanbul's Museum of the History of Science and Technology in Islam. In the Qatari desert, Ali Sultan al-Hajri, a businessman and Bedouin, shows how the moon and stars have played a crucial role in navigation and timekeeping for centuries. Going through an extensive collection of astrolabes - versatile scientific instruments that could be considered as the 'computers of their day,' we get a rare chance to see the inner workings of this complex device as one of the most elaborate astrolabes at the Museum of Islamic Art in Doha is taken apart. Moving from ancient astronomy to the most cutting edge developments in space science, we examine the life of Nasir al-Din al-Tusi, a great astronomer whose work influenced later astronomers including Copernicus, the renaissance scientist who formulated the model of the universe that placed the sun at the centre and the planets rotating around it. In this episode we also discover how the Persian astronomer al-Biruni devised an ingenious method for calculating the circumference of the earth, which allowed him to come up with an incredibly accurate estimate, within one percent of the accurate value we know today. Source: Al Jazeera |
Looking for news you can trust? Subscribe to our free newsletters. Hours after President Donald Trump tweeted that he’d launch a “major investigation” into massive voter fraud, of which there’s no evidence, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer on Wednesday laid out a few details of what such an investigation might look like. As reporters and experts immediately pointed out, Trump’s belief that 3 million to 5 million people voted illegally in November is at odds with what his own lawyers said in court when they challenged the recount petitions of Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein. “All available evidence suggests that the 2016 general election was not tainted by fraud or mistake,” Trump’s legal team argued in a brief. But on Wednesday, Spicer claimed that the legal team had actually only been discussing the three states where Stein pushed for recounts, not the entire country. “I think there’s a lot of states that we didn’t compete in where that’s not necessarily the case,” he said, mentioning California and New York. “I think that if you look at where a lot of potential—a lot of these issues could have occurred in bigger states. That’s where I think we’re going to look.” Spicer says there could be potential voter fraud examined in “a lot of states that we didn’t compete in… bigger states” – mentions CA and NY pic.twitter.com/GFGjRKKmjQ — Bradd Jaffy (@BraddJaffy) January 25, 2017 Spicer also floated the idea that voter ID laws, which serve to suppress voter participation among minorities, young people, and the elderly, could be a solution to problems the investigation may find. Spicer’s comments led reporters and other observers to question why a massive voter fraud scheme would be carried out in reliably blue states, instead of swing states where the election is decided. Must have been a weird Soros meeting. “Should we do the fraud in swing states?” “No! California!” https://t.co/BrOXqAjIQG — Dave Weigel (@daveweigel) January 25, 2017 It’s not just Trump’s legal team that sees no evidence of fraud. Secretaries of state, governors, and even Republican members of Congress have come forward to say they have no evidence to back up Trump’s allegations. On Tuesday, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) warned that Trump’s voter fraud claims will “erode his ability to govern this country if he does not stop it” and urged him to “knock this off.” If Wednesday is any indication, Trump is not taking Graham’s advice. |
My life as a freelancer In the summer of 2006 a work buddy, George, has told me that I could make some extra money programming on a site named Rent A Coder. I’ve signed up the same day. After losing some time on a project that never started, I lost my interest in “coding for money”. I almost forgot about RAC. Fast-forward two years, I was a PhD student at a small North American University with a student visa and … nothing else in my pockets. For a few months I was able to make a living from a scholarship until they forgot to pay me for about two months. Oh, the delights of eating only rice for one month and a half … it was terrible and exciting at the same time. At end of this “dark” period of my life, I decided that I needed to do something to ensure my living for times like these. I’ve always enjoyed programming, my PhD was all about coding numerical methods for CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics). My problem? I was only knowledgeable of one programming language, Fortran, and only a beginner in C programming. Of course, I was well versed in writing small Bash and awk scripts for processing my numerical data files, but that was all. I’ve reactivated my Rent A Coder account and I started hunting small programming jobs. My first “job” was a lousy five bucks C project, 5$ for which I’ve worked one week with a demanding client (this is always a good thing for a beginner, a demanding client will make you better by pushing you to implement a robust application). At the end of this week, I was able to deliver my code (some Statistical calculations on huge numerical inputs, a typical input file was about 10-100MB numerical records) and to finish all the exercises from the K&R book :). I started my C project as a beginner, able to write some simple “Hello World” applications and I ended the week knowing C and being able to deal with large data sets. Of course my C code was basically Fortran translated to C and I did similar work for my PhD project. I was really proficient coding Fortran since 1999 when I took my first programming course. After this first C project, my client has started to send me C projects on a weekly basis. I was able to charge more and more as each project was slightly more complex (parallel programming on Linux using system libraries) than the anterior one. At the same time I’ve started to tackle a bit of C++. I’ve learned quickly that my biggest advantage over the other competitors was that I knew my Math well and I was able to combine this knowledge with a capacity to learn a new programming language in a few days. Also I was really motivated to find new projects and I’ve worked really hard for the first year. At the end of my first year of active working on Rent A Coder, I was charging about 100$ for a new project. I’ve never refused a new client in my first two years: Flash and ActionScript for an interactive graphical application? No problem, I could learn this in a few days … Processing? What was that? Aha … a kind of sugar Java with OpenGL, sure I can do it. Python, Ruby, JavaScript, C#, Matlab. It was a thrilling period for me. The other face of the coin is that, as a beginner, you will compete with coders from different economies that will keep the prices down so you won’t be able to make a living from these projects, at least not for a year or so. The competition is fierce at the entry level. Expect picky clients that will ask you to work hard for 10$ and will always ask more than they’ve mentioned in the project description. In my second year as a freelancer, I wasn’t able anymore to accept all the work that was send to me, and I’ve started to filter my clients asking for at least 500$ per project. It was a good deal for me, 4-5 projects in a month was a medium salary in Canada. Also, I’ve started to select only interesting projects. No more crappy jobs for me, thanks! So in 2-3 years I’ve jumped from 5$ per project to about 30-40K per year, I boosted my knowledge of programming languages and I learned my data structures lessons. Also I was up in the first 500 coders (from about 200.000) on RAC. It wasn’t easy, I’ve worked sometimes 8-12 hours per day to finish some project or to learn a new framework. Now, I have a few private clients for which I work directly and I have plenty of time for following a few projects on my own, like creating a programming blog, writing a Scheme interpreter and coding for Apple Store. I work sporadically on RAC (now vWorker) and only on interesting projects (usually parallel programming and computer graphics). I don’t need to hunt for new projects, usually it suffice to bid on an interesting project and I can start the work. Once you are in the first 100 coders, you basically compete with yourself, with how much you can or you are willing to work. But most importantly do not forget that freelancing should be only a step in your career as a developer, your target should be to make money from passive incomes (like software that you will sell through Apple Store or directly to your clients) and not to work your entire life for other people’s dreams. |
My wife and I have had a Premier investment account with HSBC since 2010. We decided to transfer to another provider. Having completed the necessary forms, the initial notification to HSBC was sent three months ago. Since then we have had letters from HSBC telling us the Isas were transferred when they haven't been; that the transfer would be completed within eight weeks and, when it wasn't, that the investigation will take another four weeks. We are desperate to get all our money out of HSBC as we are retired and it is our source of income. Regarding two stocks and shares Isas, which it had taken three months to transfer, HSBC has now paid £175 to you both. >> Isa transfer errors: ‘My £19,500 Isa is lost’ Apropos of an investigation, which further delayed completion, into how to retrieve stock in the taxable portfolio, which had apparently been sent by another party to the wrong nominee, HSBC has paid an extra £175. The transfer was finally tied up after I got in touch. • If you want to contact Jessica, click here |
In an exclusive interview to Sky Italia, Clarence Seedorf revealed details of his relationship with key figures at Milan, as well as his opinion on the recent development of Mario Balotelli. Speaking about his relationship with the Vice-President, Seedorf stated “I have a relationship with Mr. Galliani that goes beyond football. We have known each other for 10 years, even when I was in Brazil we were in contact often.” When asked whether rumours that he was after Galliani’s job were true, Seedorf said “I don’t want to be president of Milan or General Director, I just want to be the manager. That is what he asked me to be, and this is what I am doing. Therefore, all these rumors, are not coming from me. I have great respect for Mr. Galliani, he has confidence in me otherwise I would not be here.” During the interview Seedorf also spoke about the backing he has from Milan President, Silvio Berlusconi “I heard from Berlusconi at Easter, we have a relationship that isn’t just professional. I do not need his confirmation every day or week about my job, I have a contract for another 2 years; I was brought here because of my ability, otherwise he would not have given me the contract that he did. His silence does not mean anything for my situation.” Balotelli, who has recently come under discussion for his reaction at being substituted during Fridays loss at Roma, was also defended by the Milan manager, “His development is clear to see, only those who do not want to see it, can’t see it. The numbers are clear. The media have not helped with his development; I have been giving him constructive criticism, but I have been doing it in private and not to the press. It is not fair to ignore his progress, we can’t just say negative things about him, but we must also note the positives. This has been the season he has scored the most goals for us in the league.” Seedorf ended his interview by reaffirming his belief in Balotelli’s season, stating that “Balotelli is doing his job well.” |
Cricket Score Indicator is an AppIndicator which displays live cricket scores from ESPNcricinfo on the panel. The indicator displays both international and domestic live cricket scores in the AppIndicator menu and allows you to set any match as the label (so the live score shows up directly on the panel). Scorecards are available as submenus but they aren't displayed initially to reduce network usage. To enable scorecards, simply click on the "scorecard" submenu for any cricket match from the indicator and it should load the scorecard: shows current score as indicator label; updated as soon as espncricinfo is updated; submenu shows the scorecard of corresponding match; categories for International and Domestic matches; option to set a particular match score as indicator label; adds new match as it is available and deletes the unavailable ones; Icon shows the runs scored on the last delivery of the corresponding match; Initially all submenus (scorecards) are hidden to reduce network usage. Install Cricket Score Indicator in Ubuntu Cricket Score Indicator has a PPA (available for Ubuntu 14.04, 15.04 and 15.10) which you can use to install the app and stay up to date with the latest app versions. To add the PPA and install Cricket Score Indicator, use the following commands: sudo add-apt-repository ppa:rawcoder/cricket-score-indicator sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get install cricket-score-indicator For other Linux distributions, you can install Cricket Score Indicator via Python PIP: pip install -i https://pypi.python.org/pypi cricket_score_indicator seen @ AskUbuntu Or grab the source from HERE Report any bugs you may find @ GitHub |
The words kept coming out of Rick Pitino’s mouth, but it had gotten to the point that they were indiscernible to Mike Balado. Louisville’s head coach was recalling a story back in the day when he was Boston University’s head coach and was passed over for the Penn State job. It was an attempt to put what Balado had endured over the previous couple of weeks in perspective, to make the now-unemployed assistant coach feel at peace with his current situation. “I had no idea where he was going with it,” Balado said. “It was a great story, but I had no idea how it related.” Balado was all set to go to Minnesota with Richard Pitino after spending last season on his staff at Florida International. Balado wasn’t certain of his role, but the 37-year-old had a standing offer to join the Gophers in some capacity -- most likely as the director of basketball operations. Balado even went to Minnesota for nearly a week, but he was still being pursued by FIU athletic director Pete Garcia to remain in the program with new coach Anthony Evans. Then came a late-night meeting with Evans the night before his introductory news conference. Balado was under the impression that he had a job offer to remain at FIU as a full-time assistant, and he even informed Pitino that he would be returning to FIU and the Miami area, where he’d spent the majority of his life, and therefore wouldn’t need to uproot his family. However, after failing to hear anything from Evans for a couple of days, he became concerned and called the younger Pitino in hopes he could still have the director of basketball operations spot. The only issue was that Pitino had moved quickly and already filled the opening with Steve Goodson, a holdover from the Tubby Smith regime. That’s when Balado had to tell his wife, Alicia, that he was in limbo without a D-I job. “I was kicking myself for not staying at Minnesota,” Balado said. “A coach's life is a roller-coaster ride,” Alicia Balado said. “You know what you sign up for, and it’s not always fun. It’s crazy, but I believe in Mike and knew that whatever happened, we’d be fine.” Balado and his wife have 4-year-old twins. He’s been in the business for about 15 years, with stops at Nova Southeastern, Miami Dade Junior College, Florida Atlantic, High Point and, most recently, FIU. However, now he was on the verge of taking an assistant job at Division II Barry University in Miami for $18,000 a year and also having to supplement his income as a personal trainer at the local YMCA. Rick Pitino (left) came through for a friend of his son Richard, who's now head coach at Minnesota. Andy Lyons/Getty Images Rick Pitino was aware of Balado's situation after hearing of the turn of events from his son. He had heard all about Balado's work ethic, high character and, most of all, unwavering loyalty. “I was distraught,” Richard said. “It was the most difficult thing I’ve gone through since I’ve gotten into the business.” So Rick Pitino called Balado and asked him to make the drive to Pitino's Miami home early one April morning. “I knew what was going to happen,” Richard said. “I just know my dad.” But Balado and his wife had no clue. That’s when Pitino began reciting the story, the one in which former Penn State football coach Joe Paterno wooed a young Pitino way back in the early 1980s -- only to be disappointed when he didn’t get the job. Finally, Pitino got to the point, telling Balado how it all worked out, and how shortly after being spurned by Penn State, Pitino was brought into the NBA by Hubie Brown as an assistant with the New York Knicks. “Some things happen for a reason,” Pitino told Balado. “Good things sometimes come from misfortune.” Then he pulled out a trio of $100 bills from his wallet and handed them to Balado, insisting he take his wife out for a nice dinner after the brutal few weeks the couple had recently endured. Balado politely declined, having too much pride to take charity. “You can afford it now,” Pitino said. “You’re an assistant coach at Louisville.” Balado still couldn’t process what Pitino was saying. Here he was on the verge of having to struggle to make ends meet -- and now he was being hired as a full-time assistant with the defending national champions, earning a salary in excess of $200,000. Balado broke down in tears before calling his wife, a high school teacher. “I don’t think he thought it was real,” Alicia Balado said. “He was crying like a baby,” Richard Pitino recalled. “He went from Barry University to Louisville.” “It was great to be able to do it for someone,” Rick Pitino said. “But I did it because he was the type of person I wanted to hire. I like Mike a lot and know he’s going to be a very good coach at Louisville.” So instead of spending the July recruiting period trying to identify and persuade Division II players to sign, Balado went on the road to watch high school stars who could help keep Louisville in national title contention. “I feel like the luckiest guy in the world,” he said. “I’m not naive. I know a lot of people are a lot more qualified than me. “But I’m going to prove to Coach Pitino every single day that he made the right choice to hire me." |
Image copyright Lisa Bradley Image caption The little starling makes a big impact on the US economy and ecosystem Birds feature prominently in Shakespeare's plays and poetry. But one of the bard's birds has become a major nuisance in the US. Choughs, wrens, cormorants, owls, nightingales, larks and some 60 other species all have their place in the playwright's canon. Such references have inspired bird lovers for centuries. So much so that in 1890, a German immigrant named Eugene Schieffelin decided it would be a great idea to introduce as many of Shakespeare's birds as possible to North America. One cold winter's day he released 60 starlings into New York's Central Park in the hope they would start breeding. Unfortunately, they did. The US is now home to an estimated 200 million European starlings. Thickset and pugnacious, starlings are the bruisers of the avian world. And they are now such a nuisance they are one of the few bird species unprotected by law. "Starlings are lean and mean. In the industry they're often called feathered bullets," says Michael Begier, National Coordinator for the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Airports Wildlife Hazards Program. "They're a particular problem at airports because they flock in very large numbers, and compared to other birds their bodies are very dense. They are about 27% more dense than a herring gull which is a much larger bird." When a flock of starlings strikes a plane the effects can be devastating. In 1960 they caused the most deadly bird strike in US aviation history. The Bard and his birds Image copyright Alamy "When the wind is southerly I can tell a hawk from a handsaw." Hamlet in Hamlet, Act 2 Sc 2 "Wilt thou be gone? It is not yet near day. / It was the nightingale, and not the lark, / That pierced the fearful hollow of thine ear. / Nightly she sings on yon pomegranate tree. / Believe me, love, it was the nightingale. Juliet in Romeo and Juliet, Act 3, Sc 5 "I myself could make / A chough of as deep chat" Antonio in The Tempest, Act 2, Sc 1 Hark! Peace! It was the owl that shrieked, the fatal bellman, / Which gives the stern'st good-night. Lady Macbeth, Macbeth Act 2, Sc 2 The birds flew into the engines of a plane as it took off from Boston's Logan Airport, and it crashed into the harbour, killing 62 people on board. Starlings also cost US agriculture an estimated $1bn (£595m) a year in damage to crops - particularly fruit trees. They can even cause milk production to drop at dairy farms because they steal the grain being fed to cows. "What makes the starlings particularly insidious is that they pick out the finest quality grain, which causes a reduction in dairy output because the cows aren't getting the nutrition they need," says George Linz, a research wildlife biologist at the USDA National Wildlife Research Center. "Very often farmers don't realise what's happening." Ironically, starlings are only mentioned once by Shakespeare - in Henry IV Part I. Hotspur is in rebellion against the King and is thinking of ways to torment him. In Act 1 Scene III he fantasizes about teaching a starling to say "Mortimer" - one of the king's enemies. "Nay, I'll have a starling shall be taught to speak nothing but Mortimer, and give it to him to keep his anger still in motion," Shakespeare wrote. "As with everything, Shakespeare's imagination seems to know no boundaries," says Drew Lichtenberg, literary associate for the Shakespeare Theater Company, which is currently staging Henry IV Parts I and II. "He uses birds to express the depth of romantic feeling in Romeo and Juliet. He uses them to express the screech of night owls in the Scottish Play [Macbeth] and King Lear. He uses them for every dramatic purpose." Image copyright Thinkstock Image caption Clockwise from left: a nightingale, chough, wren, skylark and cormorant - a few of Shakespeare's birds Lichtenberg says people tend to impose their own views on Shakespeare's works, which may be one reason why Victorian bird enthusiasts wanted to use his texts to justify releasing non-native species. A bird enthusiast would find what they want to hear in Shakespeare, "and a bird hater would find just as much grist for the mill", he says. One can make a case that they really shouldn't be here - but starlings are really cool birds Dr Kevin McGowan, Laboratory of Ornithology at Cornell University Eugene Schieffelin was a member of the American Acclimatization Society, which aimed to introduce plants and birds from the old world of Europe to create comfort and familiarity in the new nation of America. "Most of the introductions that were made by these societies failed miserably," says Kevin McGowan of the Laboratory of Ornithology at Cornell University. "But some of them stuck and were very successful - the most obvious being the house sparrow and the European starling." Starlings nest in holes, which offer one of the safest environments to lay eggs because they are generally inaccessible to predators. "But there aren't that many holes out there so the competition is intense," says McGowan. "And European starlings are really good competitors. They're smallish birds, about half the size of a fist. But they weigh half as much again relative to other birds - and it seems to be all muscle. "And that's the single biggest problem. They out-compete all the native hole-nesters." The starling: a European in the US Image copyright Thinkstock After their introduction in 1890, starlings made their way westward across the US By 1929, they were spotted in Oklahoma People tried scaring them off with water and noise makers In 1946, a woman asked a government officer who had killed 6,000 starlings to save some for her pie Scientists say there's a correlation between the increased numbers of starlings and a decline in native species such as the red headed woodpecker, purple martin and bluebird. But they're not entirely certain that starlings are the cause, and starling numbers are also declining slightly - although not significantly enough to make a difference in the impact they have on the environment. In 2012 - the latest figures available - the USDA killed almost 1.5 million starlings by shooting and trapping. "But I would say we've had zero effect on the overall population," says Linz. So does anybody other than Shakespeare and misguided 19th Century bird lovers have any liking of starlings? "One can make a case that they really shouldn't be here - but starlings are really cool birds," says McGowan. "They are these beautiful iridescent creatures with purple and green across the chest and throat. And they have really cool songs because they throw in mimicry of other species." Indeed, Mozart had a pet starling which he purchased in 1784 and reportedly buried with great ceremony three years later. At least somebody was sad to see one go. Follow @BBCNewsMagazine on Twitter and on Facebook |
We’ve heard plenty of chatter over the last few months about the Astros’ interest in adding at the back of their pen. It appears from the latest notes that the club is still casting a wide net: Houston recently discussed power righty Ken Giles with the Phillies , Jerry Crasnick of ESPN.com reports on Twitter. Philadelphia “brought up” young starters Lance McCullers Jr. and Vince Velasquez in the talks, per the report. That obviously indicates what kind of return Philadelphia seeks. From my perspective, it would be somewhat surprising to see the ’Stros part with controllable, MLB-level arms such as those, given that they not only have the possibility of being long-term rotation pieces but might be expected to be dominant relievers themselves if shifted to such a role. with the , Jerry Crasnick of ESPN.com reports on Twitter. Philadelphia “brought up” young starters and in the talks, per the report. That obviously indicates what kind of return Philadelphia seeks. From my perspective, it would be somewhat surprising to see the ’Stros part with controllable, MLB-level arms such as those, given that they not only have the possibility of being long-term rotation pieces but might be expected to be dominant relievers themselves if shifted to such a role. The Astros have also “been engaged” with the Rays on their high-leverage arms, Brad Boxberger and Jake McGee , Crasnick tweets. It appears that GM Jeff Luhnow is looking for ways to add controllable pieces at the back of the pen, Crasnick suggests. on their high-leverage arms, and , Crasnick tweets. It appears that GM Jeff Luhnow is looking for ways to add controllable pieces at the back of the pen, Crasnick suggests. Having a preference for long-term control, though, doesn’t appear to mean that the club isn’t seriously interested in otherworldly Reds closer Aroldis Chapman, as Bob Nightengale of USA Today tweets that he sits “on top of the list” for Houston. Interestingly, Crasnick notes on Twitter that Astros owner Jim Crane is reputedly a “big fan” of the Cuban sensation. |
ALAMEDA — Sensing that he might be ignored in the 2013 draft, quarterback Matt McGloin wrote an open letter to the NFL community. This was no diplomatic plea, no polite request from a plucky dreamer. Instead, McGloin’s street-tough message landed somewhere between a warning and a veiled threat. “To those saying to me now ‘You’ll never make it,’ all I have to say is this: ‘Watch me,”’ wrote McGloin, who went undrafted anyway. “You’re damn right I live my life and play football with a chip on my shoulder, because there is honor and worthy achievement in proving wrong the myth of ‘impossibility.”’ McGloin, now 27, might as well dust off his laptop and thesaurus again. There’s a whole new audience waiting for him to fail. When star quarterback Derek Carr sustained a broken fibula during a Christmas Eve game, that sickening snap could just as well have applied to the Raiders’ hopes of winning a championship. Las Vegas oddsmaker Bovada listed Oakland as 12-to-1 shots to win the Super Bowl before Carr’s injury. The mere idea of McGloin as the main man sent the stock tumbling to 28-to-1. It’s easy to see the logic: The Raiders are losing not only their talented MVP candidate but also their emotional leader. And they’re replacing him with … well, what, exactly? Even the quarterback’s father, Paul McGloin, felt briefly overwhelmed in the aftermath of Carr’s injury. Paul, who lives in Scranton, Pennsylvania, calls his three sons each night to tell them that he loves them. But during a conversation with Matt last week, Paul let his guard down. “I’m nervous,” the father said. “Why?” the son replied evenly. And with that one-word answer, Paul McGloin snapped back to his senses. It was as if he’d forgotten that Matt has spent his lifetime taking your worries and sticking them in your ear. “People are saying, ‘Oh, the Raiders are doomed now,”’ Paul said in phone interview Monday. “I know my son. He just never quits. Never gives up. The bigger the game, the greater the chances he’ll succeed.” Related Articles Former NFL GM on Matt McGloin: ‘Guy is capable of winning games’ From bench to Super Bowl champ: Jeff Hostetler’s advice to Raiders QB Matt McGloin Raiders’ Matt McGloin: There ‘aren’t any throws he can’t make’ Predicting Raiders vs. Broncos: Can Matt McGloin deliver the AFC West? Raiders QB Matt McGloin shows confidence stepping into starting job Raiders’ Matt McGloin on his Twitter blocking policy Ten things to know about Raiders QB Matt McGloin Vegas and other outsiders might view this as a tumultuous time for the Raiders. But those who know the quarterback best say McGloin is living his life to the letter. “When the world crashed down on Penn State in an ugly, horrifying cloud, the world around our team seemed to panic. ‘Penn State football will never be the same,’ is what everyone outside our locker room said. No way. Not as long as I was wearing the blue and white uniform.” — Matt McGloin in his pre-draft letter to StateCollege.Com on March 11, 2013 McGloin was Penn State’s first quarterback in the wake of the Joe Paterno scandal. He was also the most unlikely passer there in more than a half-century. The Nittany Lions had no interest in recruiting the kid from West Scranton High. McGloin’s best offer out of high school came from Lehigh University, a Division I-AA school. As McGloin’s college decision neared, dad tried to give him a reality check. Paul McGloin never doubted his son’s ability or resolve, but he spelled out the equation: Matt could go to Lehigh and dominate or to Penn State, where he could vanish into obscurity. “He said, ‘I don’t care. I’ll compete. I want to play on the big stage,”’ his dad said. McGloin chose Penn State, where, he would later write, Paterno “handed me nothing but expected everything. He made me work, scratch and claw for anything I ever achieved.” McGloin pushed his way into the conversation and became the first walk-on to start at quarterback for the Nittany Lions in over 60 years. As the full-fledged starter under new head coach Bill O’Brien in 2012, McGloin had a passer rating of at least 100.0 in all 12 games. He left as Penn State’s all-time leader in touchdown passes. Reading this on your iPhone or iPad? Check out our new Apple News app channel here and click the + at the top of the page to save to your Apple News favorites. By the time he was done, Rep. Marty Flynn honored the quarterback on the floor of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, citing McGloin’s “daily demonstration of grit and tenacity.” Reached by phone this week, Flynn doubled down on his endorsement. A former professional boxer (he went 10-2, five knockouts), Flynn said he has an affinity for “scrappers.” “This is one of the great sports stories of all time,” Flynn said. “He wasn’t supposed to see the field at Penn State, but he becomes the starter and sets all kinds of records. They made a movie after ‘Rudy’ — and he was only on the field for one play! “He wasn’t supposed to make the NFL, either, but he works his way into the league and he’s still there. “This (starting Raiders job) is a huge, huge weight. Nine out of 10 guys would fold. But this guy is made for these moments. He lives for it.” “My parents own a small business — a flower shop in Scranton. Life isn’t easy for them, either. I watched how they dealt with challenges, and every time the world set them back, they just worked a little harder. In struggle, failure and setback, I learned strength, honor and determination. Just like everyone else in my town.” Paul and Catherine McGloin are florists. But they’re not delicate flowers. They put in ridiculous hours to establish their mom-and-pop business as a local institution, sometimes leaning on their three sons (Paul, John and Matt) to pitch in. The client list for McGloin’s Florist includes Hillary Clinton. Her father, Hugh Rodham, died shortly after Bill Clinton took office in 1993 and Paul McGloin has tended to the gravesite since. Notable actors Martin Sheen and Richard Harris have also placed an order. Mostly, though, the McGloins’ clients are their fellow working stiffs. Michael DeAntona, still the coach at West Scranton High, said Matt’s upbringing is part of the reason the quarterback blossomed. “We believe in getting your butt out of bed in the morning and going out and earning a living,” DeAntona said. “That’s kind of what’s being instilled in our kids, after our parents instilled it in us. The way we go about our daily life in Northeastern Pennsylvania.” DeAntona loves to tell the story of McGloin’s first big game: West Scranton High had a returning senior in line to start at quarterback, but McGloin came in as a sophomore and won an open competition. Then, in his first varsity start, McGloin threw three touchdown passes, including the game-winner in overtime, to knock off one of Pennsylvania’s top high school teams. “Matt doesn’t feel pressure,” DeAntona said. “And I mean that as a very positive thing. Because in any kind of sport, when you work hard and you prepare yourself, there really isn’t pressure: You’re ready.” So McGloin’s been trying to buck the odds since high school? “He’s been doing it since midget football,” DeAntona said. “Apparently, none of this was good enough to receive an invitation to the NFL Combine, the most important showcase before the draft. The conventional wisdom is that I don’t have the ‘measurables.’ … I’m not blind to the fact that history hasn’t been kind to quarterbacks my size in the NFL draft. Who cares? That’s been true my entire life.” People talk about McGloin (6-foot-1, 210 pounds) playing with a chip on his shoulder so often he ought to get an endorsement from Pringles. But grit can’t elude a pass rush. Heart can’t rifle a throw into double coverage. That’s why, with the notable exceptions of players like Tom Brady (sixth-round) and Kurt Warner (undrafted), the NFL playoffs tend to be the province of first-rounders and future Hall of Famers. (Consider that the most recent Super Bowl featured a showdown between two former No. 1 overall picks: Peyton Manning and Cam Newton.) So amid all this talk about McGloin’s resolve, it must also be asked: Can he play? Or is he chum for the postseason sharks? McGloin’s coaches point out that for all the talk about his guile, it was his arm that got him this job in the first place. After the draft, where 254 players went, including 11 quarterbacks, McGloin got a tryout with the Raiders. Working out in front of General Manager Reggie McKenzie, Director of Player Personnel Joey Clinkscales and then-offensive coordinator Greg Olson, the quarterback impressed with his accuracy and arm strength. By the time he was done, all three men were in unison. “It was an easy decision on the day we brought him in, just on his ability to throw from Point A to Point B. Extremely accurate player,” Olson said in a Sports Illustrated podcast this week. “It was arm talent, No. 1. You can have the most intelligent player in the world, but if you can’t put the ball into tight windows, you’re not going to have an opportunity to play.” Join the conversation on Reddit Pressed into starting duty late in his rookie season of 2013, McGloin held his own over six games. He had 8 touchdown passes, 8 interceptions, and a 76.1 passer-rating. He went 1-5 as the starter for a crummy team en route to a 4-12 season. He hasn’t started since. Now, McGloin inherits a 12-3 juggernaut that can clinch the AFC West division title and a first-round bye with a victory Sunday against the Denver Broncos. This time, he’ll be playing behind an offensive line that has allowed an NFL-low 16 sacks and with a receiving duo of Amari Cooper and Michael Crabtree that averages 10.8 catches and 137.7 yards per game. Though this is McGloin’s first start in years, Raiders quarterbacks coach Todd Downing has no plans to use training wheels. “He has the arm talent to attack all parts of the field. People don’t realize that about him,” Downing said. “He has a very strong arm. There aren’t any throws that he can’t make that Derek can make. “I tell you, those receivers better have their gloves on, cause it’s coming in hot.” While the Raiders coaches have full confidence in McGloin, they have little company these days. Skeptics have them outnumbered. That’s fine with the quarterback. He’s so accustomed to being written off that he eventually wrote back. “My entire life has been defined by the words, ‘You’ll never make it.’ … Some people play football with a ‘chip on their shoulder’ — I live life that way because I have to.” Staff writers Jimmy Durkin and Jerry McDonald contributed to this report. |
Ford is not taking new applications; the new workers have already been identified. Buy Photo Assembly workers install 3.5 EcoBoost engines in final assembly at the Dearborn Truck Plant in Dearborn. (Photo: Detroit Free Press )Buy Photo Story Highlights About 500 of the jobs will be at the Dearborn Truck Plant that assembles the pickup on three shifts. Nearly 300 workers are for Dearborn Stamping and more than 50 will work at Dearborn Diversified which also does stamping. Total employment at the Rouge complex will be more than 5,500 with the latest hires. Ford is not taking new applications. The new workers have already been identified and some will start work next month, the rest by year end. More workers are needed to build the more complex 2015 F-150. Ford announced today it will add 850 new jobs in Dearborn to build the all-new 2015 F-150 pickup that is the automaker's most advanced pickup in 66 years. The new hires will be sprinkled among the various facilities that make up the Ford Rouge Center in Dearborn. About 500 of the jobs will be at the Dearborn Truck Plant that assembles the pickup with three crews rotating over two shifts each day. Nearly 300 workers are for Dearborn Stamping and more than 50 will work at Dearborn Diversified, which also does stamping. Total employment at the Rouge complex will be more than 5,500 with the latest hires and almost 5,000 will be hourly workers. Ford is not taking new applications. The automaker has identified the new hires from its large pile of applications, and some have already begun training. All will be clocking in over the next couple months. "This is one of the proudest moments I have had in my life," said Jimmy Settles, head of the Ford department of the UAW, and a third-generation Rouge complex worker. The $2 billion spent to revitalize the Rouge complex that consists of five plants makes it possible to do things never before done in the auto industry, said Bruce Hettle, vice president of North America manufacturing, at an event this morning announcing the additional employees. The Dearborn Truck Plant just finished gutting and rebuilding its body shop to make the 2015 model with an aluminum body instead of the steel bodies used since 1948. Pre-production models are running through the body shop now and are scheduled to run down the full line starting Oct. 20, but that date might be moved up to this week. The carefully orchestrated launch is on track, said Joe Hinrichs, Ford president of the Americas. Production vehicles will start "in a matter of weeks," but Hinrichs would not say when Job One will be. Trucks will start arriving in showrooms by the end of the year. The plant runs with three crews but more workers are needed because this next-generation pickup has more features and technology. And building a body from aluminum instead of steel requires all new processes — such as adhesives instead of welding — as well as new manufacturing equipment. Additionally, some of the stamping work has been brought to the complex, work that had been done by suppliers or other Ford facilities, said Bernie Ricke, president of UAW Local 600, who is pleased with the additional jobs. Ford has pledged to quickly get production up to full speed because of the sheer volume and importance of the truck. Ford sold 763,400 F-Series last year and analyst Adam Jonas of Morgan Stanley estimates Ford's trucks generate more than 90% of the automaker's global auto profits. Ford built up its inventory of outgoing 2014 models to bridge the gap until there are enough 2015 models to satisfy dealers. That will take a while because just as Dearborn Truck hits its production stride, the Kansas City plant in Claycomo, Mo., will go down for six weeks in the first quarter of 2015 to rebuild its body shop to switch to the new truck. Jonas has written a number of reports expressing concern about the impact of the changeover on Ford's profitability, but Hinrichs said today the launch is going according to plan, processes are being validated and people are being trained. In the end, Wall Street will be won over by the vehicle itself, he said of the truck that sheds 700 pounds, which will improve its fuel economy. As part of the national contract negotiated with the UAW in 2011, Ford pledged to create 12,000 hourly jobs in the U.S. by 2015. The automaker has already exceeded that commitment: Last month's announcement of a second shift of 1,200 workers at the Kansas City plant to make the Transit commercial van brought the total to more than 14,000. More than 3,000 have been added in 2014. Factoring in salaried workers as well, Ford has hired more than 23,000 employees since 2011. The signs of health are not going unnoticed by the UAW, which has a new contract to negotiate next year. "It's always nicer negotiating with a company making lots of money than a company in distress," Ricke said. Priorities for a new contract in 2015 include economic gains, looking after retirees and continued investment in jobs, he said. "Ford's announcement is more positive news for the citizens of Michigan and a further sign of the comeback of Michigan, manufacturing and the auto industry," said Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder in a release. Contact Alisa Priddle: 313-222-5394 or apriddle@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @AlisaPriddle Ford will have added almost 5,000 jobs in southeastern Michigan since 2011 including: ■ 850 at Ford Rouge Center including the Dearborn Truck Plant ■ 1,800 at Michigan Assembly Plant ■ 1,700 at Flat Rock Assembly Plant ■ 250 at Rawsonville Plant ■ 240 at Van Dyke Transmission Plant ■ 150 at Livonia Transmission Plant Read or Share this story: http://on.freep.com/1w3muQR |
Upton Sinclair once wrote, “It is difficult to get a man to understand something if his salary depends upon him not understanding it.” If your business objectives aren’t linked to employee compensation, it sends a strong message that they aren’t a real priority, and motivation is adversely affected. The flip-side, however, isn’t true. When business objectives are linked to compensation, motivation to drive for results is rarely meaningfully enhanced. The reason for this is as practical as it is psychological in nature. Most executives’ annual compensation plans are so full of key performance indicators that the weighting of any one objective becomes largely meaningless in the grand scheme of things. Furthermore, variables in most compensation plans typically emphasize financial metrics whose results depend on a myriad of variables — many of which are uncontrollable. Finally, most companies don’t have deep enough pockets to significantly increase overall compensation for employees to the extent it will make them take significant notice. Given all of this, the reality is that in the vast majority of companies are unable to depend upon compensation as a significant motivator. So if financial incentives aren’t a big lever, where can leaders look to increase motivation? In our research for Beyond Performance we found there is a simple one that is often overlooked: Moving beyond the ‘market contract’ with employees and forging a stronger ‘social contract’. Those of you who have read Dan Ariely’s Predictably Irrational will recall the difference between a market and social contract being illustrated by imagining you are invited to your mother-in-law’s house for a special dinner. She has spent weeks planning the meal, and all day cooking. After dinner you say thank you and ask how much you owe her. How would she react? Chances are she’d be mortified. The offer of money changes the experience from a social interaction built around a reciprocal long-term relationship to a market transaction that is financially based, shallow, and short-lived. But what if you had brought your mother-in-law a bottle of wine as a contribution to the feast? She’d probably have accepted it graciously. The offer of a gift rather than payment indicates that social and not market norms are in play. Consider another example made famous in Levitt and Dubner’s Freakonomics. A daycare center decided to impose a $3 fine when parents were late picking up their children. Instead of encouraging them to be punctual, it had the opposite effect. Late pickups went through the roof. Why? Before the fine was imposed, there was a social contract between daycare staff and parents, who tried hard to be prompt and felt guilty if they weren’t. By imposing a fine, the center had inadvertently replaced social norms with market norms. Freed from feelings of guilt, parents frequently chose to be late and pay the fine — which was certainly not what the center had intended. When it comes to creating motivation in the workplace, leaders consistently underuse social norms to shape behavior. Social norms are not only cheaper and more practical but often more effective. The American Association of Retired Persons once asked some lawyers if they would offer their services to needy retirees at a cut-rate price of around $30 an hour. The lawyers declined. Then the AARP asked if they would offer their services for free. Most of the lawyers agreed. When compensation was mentioned, the lawyers applied market norms and found the offer lacking. When no compensation was mentioned, they used social norms and were willing to volunteer their time. In the workplace there are many ways to invoke social versus market norms in order to more deeply connect to employees’ sense of meaning. The CEO of Wells Fargo, John Stumpf, marked the first anniversary of its change program by sending out personal thank-you notes to all the employees who had been involved. Indra Nooyi, CEO of PepsiCo, goes so far as to send the spouses of her top team handwritten thank-you letters. After seeing the impact of her success on her mother during a visit to India, she began sending letters to the parents of her top team as well. John McFarlane of ANZ Bank sent a bottle of champagne to every employee for Christmas with a card thanking them for their work on the company’s “Perform, Grow and Breakout” change program. Some managers might dismiss these as token gestures with at best a limited impact. In keeping with the significant body of evidence from the social sciences, employees on the receiving end would beg to differ. They say that the resulting boost in motivation and connection to the leader and the company can last for months if not years. In its simplest form, social contracts are invoked by recognition by peers and superiors. When Infosys Technologies hands out awards to recognize exceptional performance, it invites the nominees to present their work to a big audience that includes management council members and employees from all locations. This not only gives the award winners senior exposure and peer recognition, but serves as a role-modeling exercise and a demonstration of the value placed on behaviors such as collaboration and teamwork. Perhaps the most simple application is to not forget that words can be the most persuasive motivators of all. As Sam Walton, founder of Walmart, put it, “Nothing else can quite substitute for a few well-chosen, well-timed, sincere words of praise. They’re absolutely free — and worth a fortune.” |
This is Naked Capitalism fundraising week. 503 donors have already invested in our efforts to combat corruption and predatory conduct, particularly in financial realm. Please join us and participate via our Tip Jar, which shows how to give via check, credit card, debit card, or PayPal. Read about why we’re doing this fundraiser, what we’ve accomplished in the last year, and our third target, funding our guest bloggers. Yves here. We’ve posted on Zucman’s important work in estimating how much wealth is hidden in tax havens, and it’s great to see him using his academic work as the basis for a book aimed at policymakers and laypeople. By Gabriel Zucman, assistant professor of economics at the University of California, Berkeley. Excerpted from his new book, The Hidden Wealth of Nations: The Scourge of Tax Havens. Cross posted from Alternet Tax havens are at the heart of financial, budgetary, and democratic crises. Let’s take a look: In the course of the last five years alone in Ireland and Cyprus—two offshore centers with hypertrophic financial systems—banks have gone almost bankrupt, plunging thousands of people into poverty. In the United States, Congress has revealed that one of the largest companies on the planet, Apple, avoided tens of billions in taxes by manipulating the location of its profits. In France, the budget minister had to resign because he had cheated on his taxes for twenty years through hidden accounts. In Spain, the former treasurer of the party in power went to jail after having revealed a hidden system of financing through accounts in Switzerland. Accepting the status quo seems irresponsible. Each country has the right to choose its forms of taxation.But when Luxembourg offers tailored tax deals to multi-national companies, when the British Virgin Islands enables money launderers to create anonymous companies for a penny, when Switzerland keeps the wealth of corrupt elites out of sight in its coffers, they all steal the revenue of foreign nations. And they all win—fees, domestic activity, sometimes great influence on the international stage—while the rest of us lose. Inthe end, the taxes that are evaded have to be compensated for by higher taxes on the law-abiding, often middle-class households in the United States, Europe, and developing countries. Nothing in the logic of free exchange justifies this theft. For some, the battle against tax havens has been viewed as lost from the start. From London to Delaware, from Hong Kong to Zurich, offshore banking centers are essential cogs in the financial machine of capitalism, used by the rich and powerful throughout the world. We can’t do anything about them, we’re told: some countries will always impose less tax and fewer rules than their neighbors. Money will always find a safe haven: strike here, it will go over there. Capitalism without tax havens is a utopia, and a progressive taxation of income and fortunes is destined to fail, unless we choose the path of protectionism. For others, the battle has almost been won. Thanks to the determination of governments and to multiple scandals and revelations, tax havens will soon die out. From the harsh words of large countries seeking new solutions ever since the financial crisis, they have all promised to abandon banking secrecy, and multinationals will finally be forced to open their books and pay what they owe. This is the triumph of virtue.What is missing in this debate is data. Tax evasion by the wealthiest individuals and large corporations can be stopped, but only if we have statistics to measure it, to implement proportional penalties against the countries that facilitate it, and to monitor progress. It is with this goal in mind that I wrote this book, an economic study of tax havens. I gathered the available sources on the international investments of countries, the balances of payments, the on- and off-balance sheet positions of banks, the wealth and income of nations, the accounts of multinational companies, and the archives of Swiss banks. Some of these statistics had never been used before, and this is the first time that all this information has been collected, confronted, and analyzed with a single objective: to expose the true activities of tax havens and their costs to foreign nations. Let’s say it from the outset: These statistics have many imperfections, and the results of my study are thus in no way definitive. Our system for measuring world financial activity has many weaknesses. But this is no reason not to use it. In spite of any limitations, the available data shed an irrefutable light on the activity of tax havens; and there is no foreseeable progress in ending tax evasion without a quantitative picture of the extent of this fraud. Only on the basis of such an evaluation, however imperfect, will it be possible to impose sanctions and follow any progress in the fight against the scourge of tax havens. The main conclusion of my investigation is that, despite some progress in curtailing it in recent years, tax evasion is doing just fine. There has, in fact, never been as much wealth in tax havens as today. On a global scale, 8% of the financial wealth of households is held in tax havens. According to the latest available information, in the spring of 2015 foreign wealth held in Switzerland reached $2.3 trillion. Since April 2009, when countries of the G20 held a summit in London and decreed the “end of banking secrecy,” the amount of money in Switzerland has increased by 18%. For all the world’s tax havens combined, the increase is even higher, close to 25%. And we are only talking about individuals here.Corporations also use tax havens. Corporate filings show that US companies are shifting profits to Bermuda, Luxembourg, and similar countries on a massive and growing scale. Fifty-five percent of all the foreign profits of US firms are now kept in such havens. Since multinationals usually try to operate within the letter—if not the spirit—of the law, this profit shifting is better described as “tax avoidance” rather than outright fraud. But its cost is enormous—$130 billion a year for US firms alone—and since equity ownership is very concentrated, it essentially benefits only the wealthiest among us. An Action Plan To effectively fight offshore tax avoidance and evasion, I willoutline a set of coherent and focused measures. The first is to create a worldwide register of financial wealth, recording who owns which stocks and bonds. Financial registries already exist, but they are fragmentary and maintained by private companies such as the Depository Trust Company in the United States and the Luxembourg bank Clearstream. The goal would be simply to combine them,to enlarge the field of data, and to transfer ownership of the data to the public. Combined with an automatic exchange of information between the banks of all tax havens and foreign tax authorities, a financial register would deal a fatal blow to financial secrecy. But how can all tax havens be compelled to cooperate? It is not enough to politely ask them to abandon the financial opacity that allows them to prosper. The second dimension of the plan of action I propose is to levy sanctions proportional to the costs that tax havens impose on other countries. Calls for transparency, new laws, or more bureaucrats are insufficient. Only combined international pressure can truly have an effect, by shifting the incentives of tax havens. One type of possible sanction is trade tariffs. France, Germany, and Italy would be able to force Switzerland to disclose all the assets held there by their residents by jointly imposing customs duties of 30% on the goods that they import from Switzerland, because the costs for Switzerland would then be more than the income derived from its banks involved in tax evasion. Third, we need to rethink the taxation of companies. The fixes recently proposed by the Organisation for Economic Co- operation and Development (OECD) are unlikely to enable much progress. Looking forward, the taxation of multinational firms should derive from their worldwide consolidated profits, and not, as is true today, from their country-by-country profits, because those are routinely manipulated by armies of accountants. A tax on consolidated profits would increase corporate tax revenue by about 20%; this would essentially benefit the large countries of Europe as well as the United States, where the kings of tax dodging—the Googles, Apples, and Amazons—produce and sell the most but often pay little in taxes. The Symbolic Power of Finance If we believe most of the commentators, the financial arrangements among tax havens rival one another in their complexity. In the face of such virtuosity, citizens are helpless, nation-states are powerless, even the experts are overpowered. So the general conclusion is that any approach to change is impossible. In reality, the arrangements made by bankers and accountants, shown in the pages that follow, are often quite simple. Some have been functioning unchanged for close to a century. There have of course been innovations, sometimes esoteric. And we can’t deny that there are still aspects of the functioning of tax havens that no one really understands. But, we know more than enough to be able to act against the fraud they perpetuate. Economists share some of the responsibility for the sense of mystery that still surrounds tax havens. Academics have for too long shown little interest in the subject, with some notable exceptions. But progress has been made within the past ten years, and we may rightfully hope for important advances in the near future. The fact remains that most of the progress in understanding tax havens achieved up to now—remarkable progress in many respects—can be credited not to economists, but to a certain number of pioneering nongovernmental organizations, journalists, political scientists, historians, jurists, and sociologists. |
750,000 Marchers strong here in LA! Thank you for being with us! LAPD has asked us to move to the second stage at 6th and Broadway! — Women's March LA (@wmnsmarchla) January 21, 2017 EMBED >More News Videos A see of Women's March Los Angeles activists cover the streets of downtown on Saturday. Citizens concerned about corrosion of Civil, 🏳️🌈LGBTQ, & Reproductive Rghts show others not alone in fight #WomensMarch pic.twitter.com/yObdf7lBGE — Jade Hernandez (@abc7jade) January 21, 2017 The streets were flooded with crowds of people attending the Women's March in downtown Los Angeles Saturday.Activists and event organizers said they joined the Women's March on Washington movement to make a stand for equality.The local march, considered one of the largest women's marches in the country, started from Pershing Square at 10 a.m. to City Hall. Thousands, however, stayed in place, flooding downtown streets as activists and celebrities rallied.The Los Angeles police and fire departments said well over 100,000 people were part of the demonstration. While organizers for the event said about 750,000 people attended the march.The mission statement for the march reads in part, "We stand together in solidarity for the protection of our rights, our safety, our health and our families -- recognizing that our vibrant and diverse communities are the strength of our country."Although organizers stress it is not a protest, the demonstration in L.A., as well as around the nation, was deliberately planned to be held on President Donald Trump's first full day as commander in chief.Several people participating in the march say they stand in opposition of Trump's views on women and inequality, as well as his efforts to push policies such as immigration."I have to do something. I can't just sit back and just let all of this happen around me, with all of the changes I'm seeing, all the lack of tolerance. So, if all I can do is stand up and physically be here and say 'I don't support this, and I'm going to keep supporting tolerance and rights for every American' then, I'm going to be here," shared marcher Alice Dryden.Joining the L.A. crowds are dozens of celebrities, including Barbra Streisand, Jane Fonda, Natalie Portman, Kerry Washington, Alfre Woodard, Ariana Grande, Demi Lovato, Jamie Lee Curtis and Laverne Cox, organizers said.Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, City Councilmen Paul Koretz and Mike Bonin and former mayor Antonio Villaraigosa also spoke to show support at the event.Metro officials have added service and beefed up security to accommodate the large crowds expected at City Hall and throughout the march route, but the overwhelming amount of activists proved to be too much and led to Metro reaching capacity The gathering ended around 4 p.m. |
By Jesse Reed The NFL is loaded with high-powered offenses, but there are a few that stand above the rest as particularly intimidating to opposing defenses. When preparing for these units, defensive coordinators cannot pinpoint one area to attack. For instance, if they attempt so shut down the run, then they leave their secondaries exposed to abuse on the back end. And dropping eight defenders to protect against the pass would open up massive running lanes inside. As the old saying goes, you can’t stop them, you can only hope to contain these upcoming offenses. From No. 5 to No. 1, here are the most explosive, most terrifying offenses in the NFL. 5. Seattle Seahawks Though not a prolific passing offense, Seattle’s passing game still scares opposing defenses silly. Russell Wilson is the slipperiest quarterback in the league. He has eyes in the back of his head and has a crazy knack for keeping plays alive with his legs and then burning teams deep. Now, with the addition of tight end Jimmy Graham, this passing offense will be even more dangerous. But it’s all predicated off Marshawn Lynch and the running game. Lynch is the most dangerous running back in the league. Not only can he shrug off the best efforts of opposing inside linebackers with ease, but he still has the speed to romp for 60 yards. Defenses get tired of being abused, leading to the inevitable eight- and nine-man boxes, which then leaves the door wide open for Wilson to torch a depleted secondary deep down the field. 4. New Orleans Saints Sean Payton is the league’s best in-game play-caller. He has the ability to diagnose what opposing defenses are doing with frightening accuracy and then knows how to combat it to devastating effect. Quarterback Drew Brees is his perfect trigger man, and the two of them are in lock-step with one another better perhaps than any other coach/quarterback combo in the league. And even though Graham is no longer available for Brees in the passing game, the Saints will be electric. Second-year man Brandin Cooks is expected to be a primary option, and he rivals Spiller as the most dynamic player on the team. Larry Holder of NOLA.com recently wrote this: “Cooks possesses the speed, quickness, route-running ability and hands to eventually become a Antonio Brown-like threat.” The Saints feature an underrated running game that went for over 113 yards per game last year. Now, with C.J. Spiller added to the mix to complement Mark Ingram, this rushing attack will be even more potent. 3. Dallas Cowboys With the most talented and most dominating offensive line in the NFL leading the way, Dallas is going to present a brutal challenge for opposing defenses every week. Though league-leading rusher DeMarco Murray is gone to Philadelphia, the Cowboys still have talent at the running back position with Darren McFadden and Joseph Randle leading the way—2,000 yards of rushing offense isn’t out of the question. Dallas also features one of the league’s most devastating aerial assaults, led by Tony Romo and Dez Bryant. Tight end Jason Witten is still a viable threat—especially in the red zone—and his eventual replacement Gavin Escobar is ready to break out in his own right. Throw in Terrance Williams and Wes Welker clone Cole Beasley, and you have an offense that is capable of winning in a multitude of ways. 2. Indianapolis Colts Andrew Luck has the same kind of mentality that made Brett Favre so great throughout his amazing career. He plays the quarterback position like a linebacker and isn’t afraid to fit the ball into the tightest of windows. Luck’s receiving corps this year is phenomenal. In addition to T.Y. Hilton, the Colts added veteran Andre Johnson, who is still a terrific possession receiver, and rookie Phillip Dorsett. Dorsett will likely push Donte Moncrief down the depth chart and is expected to be the third receiver. Tight end Dwayne Allen has lost 13 pounds since last year and is in the best shape of his career, and Coby Fleener is one of the most fleet-footed tight ends in the league. The biggest weakness for Indy on offense the past couple of years has been a flagging running game. However, the arrival of veteran Frank Gore should turn things around. In addition to his rushing prowess, Gore is one of he best pass-blocking backs in the league. 1. Pittsburgh Steelers It seems like ages ago that the Steelers let Mike Wallace walk in free agency. Since that time, Pittsburgh has loaded up on high-powered offensive weapons for quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, who continues to blossom every year. Joining all-world receiver Antonio Brown this year is ascending superstar Martavis Bryant, Markus Wheaton and rookie Sammy Coates. What you see here is a quartet of world-class athletes who can stretch defenses to their limits down the field. Though running back Le’Veon Bell is suspended for the first three games of the year, Pittsburgh’s running game isn’t going to suffer long term. If anything, he’ll stay fresher as the weeks wear on, making this offense even more dangerous into the months of December and January. Consider these numbers from last year, courtesy of John Buccigross, via Elias: |
The Answer: Your Health For more than 40 industrialized nations -- including countries such as Australia, Brazil, China, Russia, and Spain -- the question of whether or not to identify and label GMOs is a no-brainer. When asked how Europeans handle GMO labeling, a European colleague of mine -- not surprisingly -- laughed as she wisely said, "You Americans can make such a big deal out of nothing. In Europe, this is a very easy question to answer: Research has consistently shown that it is bad for you, so we stopped using it." What she meant is that GMO labeling is a requirement in Europe. Because well-informed Europeans do not want to eat GMOs, they simply stopped buying them. The same food companies -- such as Nestle, Kraft and Hershey, the ones pouring millions of dollars into defeating the ballot in California -- Do not use GMOs in the European food market. Period. The Link Between GMOs and Disease In 2008, I read a report on NaturalNews.com -- an online magazine -- about a condition called Morgellons disease. The symptoms of this "unknown" disease included: crawling, stinging, biting, and crawling sensations; threads or black speck-like materials on or beneath the skin; and granules or lesions. Some patients reported fatigue, short-term memory loss, mental confusion, joint pain, and changes in vision. The condition was initially dismissed, but the disease was later reported as being "possibly" real and a link to genetically-modified food was suggested; however, the CDC classified Morgellons disease as being of unknown origin and left the patients suffering from it and the surrounding community wondering what to do. A research study was finally run on fiber samples taken from Morgellons patients. [7] It was discovered that, although the fiber samples of all the patients looked remarkably similar, they did not seem to match any common environmental fiber. But when the fiber was broken down and its DNA extracted, it became apparent that it belonged to a fungus. The fibers were found to contain Agrobacterium: a genus gram-negative bacteria with the capacity to transform plant, animal, and even human cells. Morgellons disease is not the only condition associated with genetically-modified foods. Allergies, liver problems, sterility and overall immune-compromising disorders have all been linked to GMO foods. [2] Experiments conducted on genetically-modified food show that genetic material in genetically-modified food product can transfer into the DNA of intestinal bacteria and still continue to thrive. [1] Even Monsanto Scientists Won't Touch That Stuff! A few months ago, I read an article by best-selling writer and filmmaker Jeffrey Smith. Mr. Smith is the executive director of the Institute for Responsible Technology. In his article entitled "Just Say No to GMOs: Sowing the Seeds of Deception," Smith writes that an ex-Monsanto scientist revealed to him that, due to the results of tests on milk from cows injected with genetically engineered bovine growth hormone (rbGH), three of his colleagues refused to drink milk again unless it was organic. [1] Why? Because Insulin-like Growth Factor (IGF-1) is well-known for causing cancer and the scientists were well aware that IGF-1 was found on rbGH: The very hormone they inject into the milk-producing cows. According to Smith, the scientists also disclosed that Monsanto employees discovered adverse reactions in rodents that were fed genetically-modified corn. It was further revealed that instead of withdrawing the dangerous crops, the study was written to omit the problem. [1] Won't labeling cost the consumer a lot of money? The state's most recent data on the cost of GMO food labeling showed that the cost would be up to $1 million, less than 3 cents per person in California. [6] On the other hand, as Smith wrote in his article, "If food companies [who manufacture food containing GMOs] were to simply eliminate GMOs rather than admit they use them, the measure would cost Monsanto plenty." Isn't it clear why companies like Monsanto have spent more than $44 million on the fight against Prop 37, according to www.maplight.org? [6] But It Is Expensive to Eat Organic... In most cases, organic food is still more expensive than "conventionally grown" food that is sprayed with all kinds of pesticides. So what do those who cannot afford to eat an all-organic diet do? Become familiarized with which foods are the most common GMO crops and do their best to either avoid them altogether -- like Europe did -- or buy them at the local farmers' market. There are essentially 10-12 GMO crops plus their derivatives: corn, rice, some tomatoes, soy, white potatoes, cottonseed oil, peas, Canola oil, papaya (mostly Hawaiian), crook neck squash, some Zucchini, and alfalfa hay for animal feed. Unfortunately, the derivatives or so-called "offspring" of these foods, especially corn and soy, are included in so many processed foods that finding out precisely which ones they are in is a daunting task. [3] The website www.nonGMOshoppingguide.com can help. It lists GMO-free products by category and all are verified by the Non-GMO Project. So, What Does the Future for GMOs Look Like in the U.S.? I strongly believe that the future of GMO labeling lies in education, full disclosure, and a decision on the part of the consumer that says NO to the food companies that insist on lying to us. How do we do that? By following the European model: If there is no demand, there is no fabrication. The American Academy of Environmental Medicine (AAEM) has warned that genetically-modified food poses a serious threat to human health. The AAEM advises doctors to tell their patients to avoid GMOs, explaining that the introduction of GMOs into the current food supply has correlated with an alarming rise in chronic disease and food allergies. [2] To brush off precaution on the convenient argument that there is not enough evidence to prove that GM food is indeed harmful is sheer irresponsibility. It certainly is a lame excuse to offer in the event that GM foods are indeed proven to contain health hazards. [2] What can we as citizens do? Use the most powerful and effective way to make your voice and opinion known: Become as educated as you can about the dangers of GMO and avoid buying it. Spread the word about what you discover. Then demand change through whatever means are available at your local and state governments. Your voice in demanding that the food you buy is labeled GMO is your right as a citizen, a consumer, a parent. Dr. Edison de Mello is the founder and CEO of the Akasha Center for Integrative Medicine (www.akashacenter.com) and Akasha Naturals (www.akashanaturals.com). Both companies were founded with the mission of advancing the cause of integrative healthcare while aligning our wellbeing with that of the environment. References: 1. Smith, J. (2012). Just Say No to GMOs: Sowing the Seeds of Deception. Transform your Health. November 1st, 2012 2. Geib, A. (2012). GMO alert: top 10 genetically modified food to avoid eating. Natural News. October 31st, 2012 3. Wines, M. (2013). Genetically Altered Wheat in Oregon Comes as No Surprise. New York Times, June 6, 2013 4. Hoang, L. (2013): Agent GMO: Monsanto, the Chemical Company that Brought Agent Orange to Vietnam During the War, Is Now Offering to Bring Engineered Crops. New York Times, March 26, 2013 5. Harrison, B. (2012) Shedding Light on Genetically Engineered Food. (November, 2007) 6. Shapherd-Baily, J (2012) Economic Assessment: Proposed Right to know in California is likely to cause no change in Food Prices, Minor Litigation and Negligible Administrative Costs. (April, 2012) 7. CDC study of an unexplained dermopathy: Questions and answers. http://www.cdc.gov/unexplaineddermopathy/qa.html. |
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