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A celebration of roguelike games The Roguelike Celebration is happening on Saturday and Sunday October 6th and 7th, 2018 at the GitHub office in San Francisco. Buy a ticket! View schedule Watch the stream! The Roguelike Celebration is a community-generated weekend of talks, games, and conversations about roguelikes and related topics, including procedural generation and game design. It's for fans, players, developers, scholars, and everyone else, including people new to this type of game! If you or your company would like to sponsor this event, please send us a message at contact@roguelike.club (see sponsorship levels). 2018 Speakers This year's speakers include: We have more speakers and other exciting activites to announce, so keep checking this page for updates! A few photos from 2017: Sign up for occasional email updates about upcoming Roguelike Celebration events. Why? Roguelike games have been part of gaming culture for over 30 years! They have a deep and special place in our hearts. There are so many fans across age groups and around the world that there should be a place for all of them to get together and celebrate these unique games. We were inspired to do this by the International Roguelike Development Conference — and instead of a focus on development, this was for all of us — the players! ADOM is supporting Roguelike Celebration 2018, including sponsoring our arcade party. GitHub donated use of their office event space for Roguelike Celebration 2017 and 2018, including sponsoring food and recording video and audio for the talks. Eventbrite donated use of their office event space for Roguelike Celebration 2016. Noisebridge is a hackerspace for technical-creative projects, doocratically run by its members. It is a non-profit educational institution intended for public benefit. We're grateful they serve as our fiscal sponsor. Our guidelines Roguelike Celebration is a friendly and respectful celebration that welcomes players of all levels of experience (including no experience) and of all ages (people with kids welcome). We have a code of conduct for all participants, since we're dedicated to a harassment-free conference experience for everyone. Our code of conduct. We also recommend Recurse Center style social rules. |
Io is the closest thing we have to hell in our Solar System, a Jovian moon that features hundreds of active volcanoes and expansive lakes filled with lava. New observations suggests that the largest of these lakes, Loki Patera, produces enormous waves that repeatedly flow around the molten surface. Thanks to a rare orbital alignment between Europa and Io, an international team of researchers has identified and tracked a pair of lava waves as they coursed around Loki Patera, which is larger than Lake Ontario, and with a surface area of 8,300 square miles (21,500 square km). The most likely explanation for this apparently periodic wave action is an overturning circulation pattern, in which cool surface crust slowly thickens and sinks, pulling nearby crust along with it in a wave that spreads across the surface. These findings are set to appear in the May 11 edition of Nature. Advertisement Back in the 1970s, scientists began to suspect that Io—Jupiter’s fourth largest moon—featured a tumultuous and dynamic surface. When the Voyager 1 and 2 space probes visited the Jovian system in the late 1970s, these suspicions were confirmed, revealing Io as the most volcanically active object in the Solar System. This tortured moon is embroiled in a gravitational tug-of-war between Jupiter and other Jovian satellites, causing intense tidal heating within its interior. One of the most curious things to come out of our observations of Io is the periodic brightening seen at Loki Patera every 400 to 600 days. The two prevailing theories include eruptions, which spread lava flows over a large area, or overturning waves of lava. The new study, led by researchers from UC Berkeley, would seem to suggest it’s the latter. Advertisement On March 8, 2015, Europa passed in front of Io from the perspective of Earth, gradually blocking out light from the volcanic moon. In stark contrast to Io, Europa is covered in ice, which reflects very little sunlight when viewed through infrared wavelengths. This rare event was not lost on the researchers, who were hoping to track this eclipse and measure the heat emanating from volcanos on Io’s surface. To do so, they used the twin 8.4-meter (27.6-foot) mirrors of the Large Binocular Telescope Observatory (LBTO) in the mountains of southeast Arizona. As Europa eclipsed Io, LBTO captured the incoming infrared light. Your browser does not support HTML5 video tag.Click here to view original GIF Advertisement “This took a while, so the heat radiating from the large expanse of Loki Patera was gradually reduced as the patera was covered by Europa, and then gradually revealed as Europa moved on,” said co-author Ashley Davies of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena in an interview with Gizmodo. “The subtle variations in thermal emission as Loki Patera was covered and then revealed allowed us to map the temperatures on the surface.” This data was sliced into one-eighth-second intervals as the limb, or edge, of Europa slowly advanced across Io. The researchers compiled a two-dimensional thermal map showing the temperature distribution along the patera, and at a resolution better than 6.25 miles (10 km). Analysis of the data showed that the surface temperature of Loki Patera steadily increased from one end to the other, suggesting that lava had overturned in two waves that swept from east to west at a rate of 3,300 feet (1 km) per day. Observations also showed that the overturning was initiated at different times on the two sides of the cool island at the center of the patera, hinting at complex geological process beneath the surface. In this video, the lower panels show the intensity of Loki Patera over time as it’s covered and uncovered by Europa. The animation shows Europa sweeping across the patera and obscuring different portions of its floor. (Credit: Katherine de Kleer/UC Berkeley) Advertisement “The velocity of overturn is also different on the two sides of the island, which may have something to do with the composition of the magma or the amount of dissolved gas in bubbles in the magma,” lead study author Katharine de Kleer said. “There must be differences in the magma supply to the two halves of the patera, and whatever is triggering the start of overturn manages to trigger both halves at nearly the same time but not exactly.” “The ‘overturning lava waves’ phrase needs some explanation,” said Davies. “These aren’t (as far as we know) waves as found in the oceans of Earth (that is, think of ships bobbing up and down). Rather we have a crust forming on a lava lake...which, as it cools, thickens. Eventually, the crust density causes the crust to sink, and this systematic crust sinking propagates in a ‘wave’ across the entire lava lake.” Advertisement Fascinatingly, as the crust breaks apart, it’s possible that magma spurts upward in fire mountains, similar to what’s seen on a much smaller scale in lava lakes here on Earth. Looking ahead, the researchers are hoping to make more observations to confirm the patera is indeed a lava-filled lake, to confirm the cyclical nature of its overturning waves, and to possibly capture similar events in other pateras. Thankfully, the researchers won’t have to wait terribly long. The next occultation event between Europa and Io is scheduled for 2021. “It will be fascinating to see what is happening then, and if our model explains any new results,” Davies told Gizmodo. “Also, there are other hot spots (active volcanic centers) in the LBT dataset still awaiting analysis.” Advertisement Still, Davies said, in the long run “what we really need is a spacecraft mission dedicated to examining Io’s volcanism, to look at Loki Patera up close, to establish without any doubt what is happening there.” [Nature] |
Other than getting hit by a car, the biggest fear for the urban cyclist may be getting their bike stolen. Luckily, as this viral video shows, at least one fortunate bike owner is riding off on their faithful two-wheeler, thanks to a speed burst from one woman at a San Francisco office complex. (SCROLL DOWN FOR VIDEO) Watch carefully, as the thief enters the frame around 25 seconds in, only to be thwarted in his attempted getaway. The brave, bike-saving samaritan is identified in the YouTube description as Kristen of communications firm WCG. If only this bike thief were a little more patient and slightly better informed, he would know that bike sharing in San Francisco is just around the corner. On Tuesday, the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency announced that the city will soon introduce 500 rentable bicycles to its streets, following the likes of Paris and Montreal in creating public bike rental programs. Then again, with roughly 4 out of 5 rental bikes in Paris reported vandalized or stolen, you might be better off keeping folks like Kristen around to protect your ride. |
The new version of our Ratio app is now available, with a thrilling new feature. You can create your own custom ratios. For instance, while the 5-to-3 flour-to-water ratio, or 60% water, is the standard baker’s percentage for bread, many prefer a wetter dough, as high as 86% for the no-knead doughs. Now you can create and save your own ratios. You can devise your own specific recipes and save them to your recipe library. And of course the app still functions as an all-purpose recipe calculator for 32 fundamental preparations. Simply type in the amount of one ingredient and the app automatically tabulates the amounts of all the ingredients. Scale recipes up or down as needed. Want pancakes but have only one egg? Type that in to tabulate the correct amount of flour and milk. Want to triple the amount of dough for pizzas? It’s a tap of a button. Have an irregular amount of ground meat and want to tabulate the right amount of salt? Type in the weight of the meat and the amount of salt for perfectly seasoned sausage appears. Want to reduce the amount of your favorite turkey brine for a small chicken? Type in the amount of water you want to use, and Ratio calculates the brine strength. I’ve added a couple new ratios (for an all-yolk pasta, for instance). And Donna’s lovely black and white photographs at last get a proper display. Cooking is not about following recipes (though recipes are important). Cooking is really about proportions of one ingredient relative to others and how those proportions work. A ratio is a starting point, the basis for infinite variations and preparations, whether for cakes, doughs, sauces, brines, stocks, thickeners, or custards. I wrote a book devoted to the idea, called Ratio. When Will Turnage, VP of Technology and Invention at R/GA, emailed me to ask if we might collaborate on an app based on the book, I was thrilled—a perfect union of cooking and our new technology. The new design is by David and Joleen Hughes, of Level, based in Calistoga, California. That’s the new logo they’ve created for this site, the R with the quill and the knife, which will launch soon. If you already own the app, simply update it. Let me know if you have any problems. If you don’t own it, we’re keeping the $4.99 price the same for at least the next few months while Will works on the final innovation to follow his make-your-own-ratio functionality. Will’s and my biggest hopes are that this app encourages more people to cook and will make cooking for everyone easier and more fun. Happy cooking, all! The new layout features photos and still divides the ratios by category. All ratios come with basic preparation instructions. The coolest part of the Ratio 2.0 app is the ability to create your own ratios and recipes. Related links: © 2014 Michael Ruhlman. Photo © 2014 Donna Turner Ruhlman. All rights reserved. |
“I am gratified to learn that the U.S. Attorney’s Office is closing its investigation,” Armstrong said in a statement. “It is the right decision and I commend them for reaching it. I look forward to continuing my life as a father, a competitor, and an advocate in the fight against cancer without this distraction.” Photo John Keker, Armstrong’s lead lawyer in the case, said in an interview Friday that he learned of the United States Attorney’s Office’s decision earlier in the day, about the time it was announced publicly. He declined to comment on why the investigation was dropped but praised prosecutors’ decision to step away from the inquiry. “I’m pleased,” he said. “They made the right decision, and they made it on their own.” Jeff Novitzky, a special agent for the Food and Drug Administration, was principally involved with the Armstrong investigation. As an agent for the Internal Revenue Service, he helped bring down the Bay Area Laboratory Co-operative doping lab. Novitzky did not respond to requests for comment. Although Armstrong no longer faces the prospect of criminal prosecution, Travis T. Tygart, the chief executive of the United States Anti-Doping Agency, said that his organization would continue to investigate him. Photo “Unlike the U.S. Attorney, Usada’s job is to protect clean sport rather than enforce specific criminal laws,” Tygart said in a statement. “Our investigation into doping in the sport of cycling is continuing and we look forward to obtaining the information developed during the federal investigation.” Tygart declined to comment on what information his agency had received. Several former teammates, friends and associates of Armstrong were brought before the grand jury, but that testimony is under seal. The names of those witnesses, however, became so widely known that Armstrong’s lawyers asked a federal judge to determine the source of the leaks. Any finding against Armstrong by Usada would be primarily symbolic now that he is retired. Whether it could mean the removal of any of his race titles is unclear. After Bjarne Riis confessed in 2007 to winning the 1996 Tour de France by doping, the race organizer ultimately decided to place an asterisk beside his name in its official records after concluding that it could not change results after more than 10 years. Novitzky initially began looking into doping related to Rock Racing, a now-defunct minor professional team based in the Los Angeles. But he turned his attention to Armstrong after Floyd Landis, a former teammate, claimed in 2010 that Armstrong and other riders on the Postal Service team engaged in systematic doping. Landis won the 2006 Tour de France only to have the title stripped after he tested positive for testosterone. Advertisement Continue reading the main story Because the doping allegations involved activities outside the United States, the investigation focused on secondary events like the source of the money on possible drug purchases and whether Armstrong and the team defrauded the Postal Service when they promised to adhere to antidoping rules as part of the sponsorship agreement. |
Long before parenthood was a noun, let alone a TV show, it was still, and always, the subject of debate and the source of drama. Rules versus instincts; permissiveness versus prohibitions: it's never mattered the decade; there have always been passionate conflicts, opposing advice, and bizarre approaches. One of them seemed so bizarre that I felt compelled to write a novel about it. (The novel's just out, and it's called "The Irresistible Henry House.") Starting in the early 20th century, home economics programs around the country used real babies to teach mothering skills to college students. The students were called "practice mothers," and the babies were called "practice babies." They were usually provided by local orphanages and loaned to the home-ec programs for a year or more. At Cornell, for example, starting in 1919, Practice, 126 was a required course for a Bachelor of Science in Home Economics. Half a dozen or more students worked rotating shifts of five weeks each, weighing and measuring, feeding and changing, taking the baby out for walks, and losing sleep when he cried at night. Supplied by state child welfare groups and leased by contract, babies arrived at the campus as infants, and were eventually returned to their orphanages for adoption. Like any other proud parents, the practice mothers filled scrapbooks with photographs of the baby's milestones. But the pages might be labeled in a half-dozen different handwriting styles. No one mother could hold the pen, or the baby, most of the time. I found pages from some of those scrapbooks online a few years ago while I was doing research for a book of women's letters. I had surfed my way to a Cornell Website called "What Was Home Economics?", and I discovered this face: Wouldn't you have clicked on the link? I did, and when I did, I learned that the baby was called Bobby Domecon (pronounced "Dough-me-con," a mash-up of "Domestic" and "Economics"). Bobby was only the second infant to come to the Cornell practice house. Like others who would follow him, he lived in a strange, artificial world: a nondescript apartment in which there were no favorite books on the bookshelves and no favorite clothes in the closet, and a baby in the nursery who could not have a favorite grown-up. There seem to have been no objections. The early part of the century was a time when virtually anything could be was ratified by research. If transportation, communication, and health could all be improved by science, why couldn't motherhood? According to one 1952 estimate, there were 41 practice-baby programs around the country, including those at Eastern Illinois State Teacher's College, Oregon State University, Iowa State University, East Tennessee State University, and Montana State College. Often given up because of societal or economic pressures, orphans frequently came to the practice house ill, and invariably left healthy. It took quite a while before anyone wondered what damage, perhaps less physical than psychological, might be inflicted by this system of being passed around like a cheese plate. In 1954, officials of the Child Welfare services department at the Illinois Department of Public Welfare became concerned. At Eastern Illinois State College, a woman named Ruth Schmalhausen insisted that the program she ran, which at her college involved a dozen women taking 10-day stints as mother, was good for both the students and their tiny, diapered teacher. But the superintendent of the Child Welfare Department would have none of that. According to a story in Time Magazine: Superintendent Harenski . . .thinks otherwise. 'It is not a normal setting,' said he. 'There are just too many persons involved in the handling of that child.' Other officials seemed to agree. 'Imagine,' cried Mrs. Babette Penner, director of the Women's Services Division of United Charities, "what anxieties there are in a child who is given a bottle in twelve or more pairs of arms. |
Share. SEGA ramps up its mobile division. SEGA ramps up its mobile division. SEGA has acquired development studio Demiurge, and invested in two others, Ignited Artists and Space Ape Games. The move, according to SEGA, is to bolster “its foothold in the Western market.” Exit Theatre Mode While SEGA has outright acquired Demiurge, the company now owns a majority share in the San Francisco-based gaming start-up, Ignited Artists. No specifics were given regarding the Space Ape Games deal other than SEGA has made a “strategic investment” in the UK-based studio. “A top five publisher in Japan, SEGA Networks is investing heavily in the West and with its latest acquisitions and investments, the publisher is further leveraging its global footprint,” says SEGA Networks CEO Haruki Satomi. “Demiurge underscores our commitment to investing in the West and complements our current roster of US and European mobile studios, including Three Rings and Hardlight. In addition, our strategic investments in Ignited Artists and Space Ape Games solidifies our commitment to publishing quality games across the globe.” Exit Theatre Mode Demiurge has several AAA titles under its belt – including the PC version of Mass Effect and Borderlands – before making the jump to mobile in 2008. Since then, the company has seen success from the likes of Marvel Puzzle Quest, Arena Kings, and Shoot Many Robots. "Demiurge and SEGA share a vision for the future of mobile gaming: putting gamers first," says Albert Reed, GM of Demiurge Studios and VP of Product Management at SEGA Networks. Ignited Artists is currently working on its debut title. At the helm is Danielle Diebler, former Activision vice president Alessandro Tento, and designer Scott Foe. Between them, the three bring four decades of experience to the table, having worked previously at companies like EA, Blizzard, Microsoft Game Studios, and Nokia. As for Space Ape Games, the partnership sees SEGA bringing the studio’s games to the Japanese market. Exit Theatre Mode The news comes as SEGA continues to restructure the company. In January, SEGA revealed that 300 members of its Japanese workforce will be offered voluntary retirement, and in the US, SEGA of America explained that the company is moving shop from its San Francisco base to Southern California. “Voluntary retirement will be solicited in the aforementioned businesses to be withdrawn or consolidated and downsized,” said SEGA “while at the same time personnel will be repositioned in Digital Games and growth areas of Group mainly as development personnel, in order to establish a structure which can constantly generate profits. The purpose of these measures is to improve the business efficiency of the Group.” Wesley Copeland is a freelance news writer, but you probably already guessed that. For more obvious statements, you should probably follow him on Twitter. |
Scotland's Really Big Vote: Can Women Join St. Andrews Golf Club? Enlarge this image toggle caption Doug Tribou/NPR Doug Tribou/NPR Not long after the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews was founded in 1754, the members trimmed the local course from 22 holes to 18, setting the modern standard. During the 20th century, the club was one of two groups that set the game's rules. Golf has changed a lot in the past 260 years, but one thing is the same: All of the Royal and Ancient's members are men. "How would you feel if the rule were no blacks could be a member of the R&A? Refusal to allow women to be members of the R&A is precisely the same. And as such, it's unacceptable," says Louise Richardson. She is the first female leader of this seaside community's other influential institution, the University of St. Andrews. "Golf and the university have dominated this town since the 15th century," she adds. Richardson doesn't golf, but this is a clubhouse issue. All of the courses in town are open to the public — both men and women. But some of Richardson's male predecessors as head of the university have received honorary memberships at the Royal and Ancient; Richardson wasn't offered one. Women can't even enter as guests. She says that creates some professional problems for her. "It regularly happens that a [university] donor will ask to have lunch at the R&A," she says. "Well, of course, I can't take them to have lunch in the R&A because women aren't allowed in." Enlarge this image toggle caption Doug Tribou/NPR Doug Tribou/NPR Women tee off right in front of the iconic Royal and Ancient clubhouse all the time. The Old Course, as it's known, is indeed one of the oldest in the world and attracts golfers from all over, like Donna Forrest, who's from Sydney, Australia. "I just think that in this day and age, they need to move with the times," she says. "I like tradition, as well. I'm quite a traditional person, but when it comes to being female, I don't think anyone should stop you to go anywhere." There are female golfers who disagree. Sheena Willoughby and her husband own the Dunvegan Hotel. Their slogan: "Only a 9-iron from the Old Course." Willoughby is an avid golfer and a member of a ladies club. But since everyone can golf at all the courses in St. Andrews, she thinks the Royal and Ancient's social aspects are just fine. "There's 100 other places to go for lunch. I mean, it's a men's golf club. That's what it is," she says. "Some people, you just have to accept some things in life. I don't see what the fixation is about going into the R&A, personally." The Royal and Ancient vote comes as St. Andrews is preparing to host the 2015 British Open. The club turned down NPR's multiple requests for an interview. But in a written statement, it said if the measure to admit women passes, it would take immediate effect, adding that the first female members "would be likely to have made a significant contribution to the development of our sport." There are single-sex clubs — male and female — all over Great Britain. Golf historian and lifelong town resident David Joy is an honorary member of another historic local club, the St. Andrew's Golf Club, which began admitting women a few years ago. "Nobody's going to be aghast if women are suddenly in the R&A," Joy says. "I mean, the St. Andrew's Club is very much a working man's club, but the idea of letting women in socially was like, 'Oh, you'll open the floodgates in this place. It'll never be the same! Women in this club?! Your father would turn in his grave!' And within four months, we didn't notice them coming in." Two-thirds of the 2,500 Royal and Ancient members must vote to admit women for the motion to pass. University of St. Andrews Principal Louise Richardson says she's confident it will. Either way, the final count will be examined much more closely than the average scorecard. |
Six years in opposition, the last 3 of which Tony Abbott believes should have been spent in government, have left the Liberal party far better prepared for office than their critics would have you believe. They may have arrived in an apparently erratic scorched earth frame of mind but their hasty dismantling of Labor’s legacy is just the precursor to the main game: raising the GST. Following his historic defeat of a hollowed out Labor party, Abbott took office last September with as much political capital as any new Prime Minister before him. Clever politicians, and Abbott is among the most clever, understand the perishability of capital. Clever politicians know to spend their capital while they have it because its value can disappear very quickly. This new government’s style is hardline, churlish and reactionary and their indictment of Labor for all that is wrong in the world has been impressively audacious. But it is plainly obvious the party leadership knows two things: they have a lot of political capital in the bank; and they know how to spend it. The hit they’ve taken in recent polls is evidence of the rate at which they’re burning popular support but it would be naive to think they are blind to this. Despite some early poor diplomatic performance, Abbott and his senior ministers are not new at this and they have real business to get done over the next six years. Their first order of business has been to tear down much of the previous administration’s work as early as possible in the election cycle. By the next election the voting public will have forgotten much of what happened in Abbott’s first one hundred days, especially with such impotent opponents in the ALP. Right now is the best opportunity the Liberals will have to cleanse the country of the bureaucratic burden, wasteful spending and bleeding heart ideology they say was left behind by the previous government. But an exorcism of the Labor party is just a fortunate corollary to the broader Liberal agenda. A key challenge facing government in the medium term is correcting the structural problems built into the budget, while transitioning out of the mining investment boom. As the stimulus of mining investment passes, government revenues will decline until and unless other sectors of the economy can pick up the shortfall. With the RBA running out of room to move on interest rates, and with economic activity slow to react to earlier rate cuts, the government has plenty of work to do if they are to begin delivering the budget surpluses they covet so dearly. The income tax cuts and flawed GST of the Howard government have locked Australia into a structural deficit, made tax receipts heavily reliant on company profits, and left revenue excessively exposed to cyclical volatility. Neither a Liberal or Labor government can now guarantee budget surpluses without one-off revenue raising, especially during economic down-cycles. A significant shift in the tax revenue mix is required if governments are to reduce dependence on borrowing and return a dependable stability to the tax base. The Liberals know there is insufficient scope in spending cuts alone to deliver a regular budget surplus and Hockey’s austerity rhetoric of a year ago has thankfully been replaced by a focus on growth. To get the budget back in the black they have to increase government revenue beyond its current levels. Raising personal taxes could quickly help restore budget balance but would be a very tough sell for any Liberal government. Broadening or raising the rate of GST would deliver a reliable and substantial increase in government revenue and pave the way for returning the budget to structural surplus. This term, however, is not the time for Abbott and Hockey to risk changes to the GST. By the time they have a friendly Senate and a full set of Liberal State governments it would be too close to 2016 to overhaul the GST and risk an election loss. No, GST reform can and will wait for Abbott’s second term and he and Joe Hockey telegraphed as much in the lead up to last September when they explicitly ruled out changes to the GST in their first term. They must position themselves in the electorate to take the GST to the next election from a winning position. Their first step has been to unravel as much Labor spending as they can, limiting the amount by which they will need to raise tax later. Hockey’s next step has been to use downgraded forecasts to create an artificially dire economic outlook. The Treasurer couldn’t have painted a more bleak economic picture at his MYEFO this week but by 2015 expect him to have begun using more favourable assumptions in his forecasts. Rather than talking down the economy, expect to hear how his tough decisions and masterful economic management have miraculously turned the economy around. Playing us for fools, Joe will tell us he has cleaned up Labor’s mess and set the country on the path to the type of prosperity only a Liberal government can apparently deliver. Abbott and Hockey’s strategy at this point is writ large for all to see. They will emerge as our economic saviours in time for the next election with sufficient political capital to win on a platform of GST reform. But make no mistake, they will be correcting structural problems in the budget left behind by John Howard’s flawed GST and excessive tax cuts so just how they manage to blame Labor for that should make for entertaining viewing. When he’s not here helping fill the gaps left by Australia’s Olde Worlde media, Damien Walker writes about that which amuses and bemuses him at The Underwhelming Blog. |
Measure 97 could mean the end for Powell's Books Business Tribune Emily Powell, President and Owner of Powells Books, says the proposed Gross Receipts Sales tax affecting companies in Oregon with more than $25 million in annual sales would apply to Powells and would ruin the company. Answers were edited for clarity and brevity. How would the proposal affect the Powells Books tax bill? Were challenged every year already to figure out how were going to be viable for the next year, and this is about a fifty times increase on our current tax bill. We dont know how were going to pay it. Were relatively low above the $25 million mark. If youre over 25 you are all the same. Are there any other costs? The challenge for all of us, and for the small businesses too, its not just the bill for the 2.5 percent tax, I fully expect our power bill will go up, many of our utilities will go up, and probably some of our cost of goods will be impacted. I fully expect our margins will go down from some of our suppliers because theyll be impacted as well its going to hit us in a lot of places. Pacific Power have already said theyll be passing this increase along as a price increase. Were not sure yet but some of our publishers and wholesalers will be impacted, and they may now say, instead of offering us a previous discount, they may say were going to have to cut that. Random House sells a lot of books in Oregon, and they, or our main distributor, Ingram Content Group, will be impacted, and if nothing else they will be impacted by these other costs, power and utility increases etcetera. Have any other states enacted similar legislation? We dont have enough of a volume in any other state to be impacted. My understanding, from a report by the Oregon Legislative Revenue Office, is other states gross receipts taxes are dramatically smaller, like much less than one percent. This is the most massive gross receipts tax I believe nationwide. So while we may be involved in other states where that tax is present, we havent felt the impact. What can you do? Lobby politicians? Were not being quiet about the fact that this could have a devastating impact for us. Frankly, Im equally concerned about the rest of the community, and Im equally concerned about where this money is going. Its a shocking remedy, and I dont think it is a remedy. As a businessperson I would never say We have a problem in this certain area, and just write a blank check for $1,000. Wed stop, work on it, analyze it, and figure out what might cost to solve this problem, and then figure out how to make do with a little less. This is the total opposite approach, its Heres $6 billion, go spend it. But theres absolutely no accountability, it just goes into the general fund. To me its shocking, its a huge price tag and I dont anticipate that its going to be successful. We are working with the campaign, talking to our employees so they understand what were facing. We dont typically get involved in politics as a business because we want to feel we are an open institution for everyone, but this one feels so important we have to pull ourselves off the sidelines. Were still figuring out how we are going to use our voice. Can you survive? We havent yet been able to answer that yet. There arent many places to cut money. Itll have to come out of services, meaning will we have to decrease hours, customer service, inventory? Or personnel, because thats everyones biggest bill. Its an area were going to have to consider. And thats the other concern, what kinds of job cuts will Oregon see? Can you just put the price of books up? Other businesses may be able to, but we cant. Our new books, the prices are set by the publisher, the prices are printed on the outside of the book. And were already challenged to be competitive against national companies. Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Costco, Walmart all sell books. So to say theres this tax in Oregon that requires us to raise prices dramatically makes us dramatically uncompetitive. Im going to be suffering even if I do raise my prices, I dont know by how much. And then Im going to see a steep sales decline because people dont want to buy my books. So Im in a whole lot of trouble. How about raising the prices of used books? Theyre less expensive, so to make up the that gap Id have to raise them, might not be 20 percent higher, it might be 200 percent higher, I dont know. For us, the price increase isnt going to work. Its not even remotely possible. I say this without trying to be dramatic, I dont know how we are going to pay this bill. Yes, we could shrink the company but wed still owe 2.5 percent, you have to pay this bill. We want to provide the same service to our customers we always have, to be competitive. I dont have an answer. How is your father (Powells Books former boss Michael Powell) taking this? He is equally scared, we are not sleeping very well over here. How does this jibe with your personal politics? Im not sure how we define whats a big company or a small company, a good company or a bad company. Were all providing jobs, were all providing benefits, were all trying to be good corporate citizens and good citizens. I think there are a lot of Oregon family businesses that dont yet get the implications of this bill. I think the fallout will be much large than anticipated. We wont understand it until its explained. What can you do about it between now and November? Im not giving upon any avenues, politicians are campaigning right now, so I am talking to everyone I can. Weve met with (Governor) Kate Brown and her representatives. Shes considering it. We have to talk to the community and voters and help them understand that a bad idea never helped a good cause. We all agree the tax system is in trouble and needs fixing, and our schools are in trouble and need revenue, but this measure isnt the solution. This money is just going to the general fund, so how do we know who its helping? I want to solve education in this state, but I dont have any guarantees that this money is going to do anything remotely helpful. And I dont have it anyway! If I did have it Id still be concerned. Were expecting that the average family would see $600 a year out of their pockets every year just in price increases: groceries and utilities. Thats a lot of money. Ill probably see a sales decline from that impact alone. Any other specifics about the way Measure 97 is worded? I dont see a lot of upside. Theres nothing in the bill that says this money goes to schools. We have to have more than a conversation, we have to get down to work on solving the problems that this bill is interested in addressing, but we have to find another solution. A lot of voters out there want to make a difference, they see the problems and say this is at least something, I dont think it is. I think its a big, potential injury to consumers and businesses without solving the problem. What is Measure 97? Measure 97 (formerly Initiative Petition 28), a looming ballot measure that, if passed in November, would represent the largest tax increase in Oregons history. It would bring in an estimated $2.65 billion in new money each year. Measure 97 is being backed by public employee unions and others, including education and social service advocates. Businesses and others caution that placing such a large sales tax on C-corporations will hurt the economy by raising the costs of consumer goods, including essentials such as food and electricity, and driving some companies out of Oregon. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. |
Spotter cards: What they look like and how they work This kind of highly confidential document – pictured above – is rarely seen by the public. These so-called "spotter cards" are issued by police to identify individuals they consider to be potential troublemakers because they have appeared at a number of demonstrations. The photographs are drawn from police intelligence files. This card was apparently dropped at a demonstration against Britain's largest arms fair in 2005. H is Mark Thomas, the comedian and political activist. Asked why it was justifiable to put Thomas, who has no criminal record, on this card, the Metropolitan police replied: "We do not discuss intelligence we may hold in relation to individuals." Thomas had been acquitted of criminal damage after attaching himself to a bus containing arms traders at a previous fair. The Met said: "This is an appropriate tactic used by police to help them identify people at specific events … who may instigate offences or disorder." The arms fair "is a biannual event that is specifically targeted by known protest groups, who in the past have stated their intention was to shut down or disrupt the event." As the cards are "strictly controlled", the officers who lost it were "dealt with". On Comment is Free today Thomas writes: "Protesters – or, as the police call them, 'domestic extremists' – are the new 'reds under the bed'." • Are you featured on the card? How do you feel about it? Let us know by emailing news.desk@theguardian.com |
Responding to a criticism about diversity, a Warren County mayor boasted: "We have a negro woman on our governing body." The statement, in an email from Mayor Scott McDonald, was meant to highlight diversity in Washington Borough government but instead is an example of the varying reactions race and language can invoke, observers said. "That's shocking, that that term's still used," said Lance Wheeler, president of the NAACP chapter in Easton, when told of the email dialogue. Not only did it distract from the intended message, Wheeler said, but it gave the impression that "we have one (black person on council) so that's good enough." However, Councilwoman Ethel Conry, to whom the mayor's statement referred, said she took no offense. "I don't think he meant it to be offensive," she said. "I really don't." "She is a negro woman," said McDonald, a Democrat, adding that he meant no offense with the term. When asked why he didn't refer to her simply as a black woman, he said: "This isn't something that I gave any thought to. Negro is a word I believe is used commonly." "It's not the preferred word, but I don't consider it offensive," said Charles Boddy, president of the Warren/Sussex chapter of the NAACP, of which McDonald is a member. "It certainly doesn't bear someone being called a racist." Jim Smith, who was at the other end of the email chain with the mayor, told lehighvalleylive.com that he found it "offensive, inappropriate and completely unacceptable that the mayor of anywhere would refer to someone as a negro." "I am African American and have no problem being referred to as black or a black male but find it offensive and disrespectful for someone, especially the mayor, to call someone a negro (and) then claim to be a NAACP member," Smith said. "I firmly believe it's indicative of the larger problem we are trying to address." Smith, of nearby Mansfield Township, is a volunteer with a website and Facebook page critical of Warren County government, including the lack of diversity within. The site, warrencountynj.org -- not to be confused with the official county website www.co.warren.nj.us -- encourages "freeholder reform" by voting out incumbents and increasing the three-person board's size. Smith said emails about diversity have been sent to government officials around the county. The emails -- provided to lehighvalleylive.com -- started Tuesday night when Smith, using an address affiliated with the website, sent a flier about diversity within county government to McDonald's official email address. The mayor the next day said the address is not for political campaigns. Smith responded, in part: "The lack of diversity in your administration and roster of public personnel is relevant because just as on the county level, the township is lacking sufficient levels of minority employees ... As mayor it is your duty to strive for change and implement such and as citizens ours (is) to continue to contact you to voice our grievances!" Specifically, he criticized the racial makeup of the Washington Township Police Department, which covers the borough. The mayor wrote back: "Apparently, you do not know how our form of government works. ... The police department is overseen by Washington Township, not Washington Borough. All hirings are done by them. The Borough of Washington does employ minorities. We have many females working for us. Our library director is a women whose roots are from the middle east. We have a negro women on our governing body. As a member of the NAACP who regularly attends local meetings, I find your accusations out of line. A dialog has started between the local NAACP and the police department, a dialog that I facilitated. ... I would strongly suggest that you do more research in the future before you make such unfounded accusations." |
Evolution: Comics - Darth Vader And The Ghost Prison (2012)! By The Senate on 2016-10-25 19:00:00 How have the characters of Star Wars changed from film to film? Find out with the newest cards to land in Card Trader! Set: 7 Cards + 1 Award card These Inserts are available in 9 Variants Purple - Open Edition Teal - Open Edition Pink - Open Edition Orange Blue Green Gold limited to 10 Card Count Bronze limited to 50 Card Count Red limited to 99 Card Count Evolution: Base Comics Pack contains: Teal at 1:5 Odds Pink at 1:3 Odds Evolution: Base Comics Master Pack contains: Purple at 1:8 Odds Teal at 1:5 Odds Pink at 1:3 Odds Pulling a Purple variant gives access to the Orange Pack which contains the Orange variant at 1:15 Pulling a Teal variant gives access to the Blue Pack which contains the Blue variant at 1:12 Pulling a Pink variant gives access to the Green Pack which contains the Green variant at 1:10 Pulling an Orange card will provide access to the Evolution Comics Gold Pack with ONE chance at 1:30 Odds pulling Gold Card (limited to 10 card count). Pulling a Blue card will provide access to the Evolution Comics Bronze Pack with ONE chance at 1:15 Odds pulling Bronze Card (limited to 50 card count) Pulling a Green card will provide access to the Evolution Comics Red Pack with ONE chance at 1:12 Odds pulling Red Card (limited to 99 card count) Evolution Comics Bundle is also available which will give a GUARANTEED Orange card Blue card OR Green card ALSO the bundle pack has a 1:15 chance to pull ALL THREE Variants (Orange, Blue, AND Green cards). NOTE: Packs do NOT stack, Pulling 2 Orange, Blue, OR Green cards will only provide access to 1 Pack of the associated color. Remember to refresh your store after pulling any inserts to see the corresponding packs. Packs do not stack for the same color insert. Example is pulling 2 oranges will still only give you access to One Gold pack to open. Tap on the "Market" icon on your home screen to find the Evolution Store. There, you'll find the packs that contain the Steel, Blue and Red Evolution Base Cards! Head to the Evolution Store today! Head to the Evolution Store! |
BOURBONNAIS — As Mike Glennon’s pass down the right sideline hung in the air, it became obvious that Kevin White was going to have to go up and make a play on the ball. It was thrown well, in a place where White could use his size and athleticism to catch the ball over the much smaller defensive backs around him. White rose up aggressively and pulled down the pass. Wide receivers coach Zach Azzanni quickly ran over with some words of encouragement, as it was the highlight of White’s training camp so far. Just two days ago, Azzanni told reporters that he had watched White’s West Virginia tape with him Monday morning because he “wanted (White) to see how he used to go up and just grab the ball out of the air.” After Tuesday’s off day, White did exactly that on his first opportunity of Wednesday’s practice. It appeared the “college tape tactic” had worked. Except the “college tape tactic” may have been overblown. Meeting with reporters after Wednesday’s practice, White refuted Azzanni’s story. “That was amongst players: me, Kendall Wright and Victor Cruz. It was actually Kendall’s idea to watch each other’s college film since we had a little time off,” White said. “(We) watched mine, then watched Kendall’s, then watched Victor Cruz, when he was with the Giants. As far as that goes, that’s all I know.” In other words, either Azzanni took credit for an idea that wasn’t his or White didn’t want his position coach to get the credit. That’s not exactly the kind of public dispute the Bears need just one week into Azzanni’s first training camp with the team. But — for context — let’s rewind two days, because White does have a reason to be upset with how the story unfolded. Locally, it was written up the way it was told, with Azzanni having an honest discussion about White’s confidence and the coach’s efforts to keep him positive. “We’ve just got to block out the noise for him,” Azzanni said. “I can’t let him read papers and media. I just can’t let him because there’s going to be some negative in there that gets into his head and he can’t let that happen. He’s got to be positive and we’ve got to go in our bunker in there and I’ve got to tell him how great he is all the time because he is.” That quote, in conjunction with the nugget about the West Virginia tape, unfortunately turned into this headline from Pro Football Talk: “Bears trying to remind Kevin White he was once good at football” Whether Azzanni embellished the West Virginia tape idea or not, it turned into an unfair national headline, and thus, a distraction two days later. And even though Azzanni has yet to coach in a single game with the Bears, this isn’t the first time he has mentioned White’s sensitivity with words written or said about him. “He doesn’t like things written about him — is he a bust, or all that,” Azzanni said back in May, the only other time he has spoken with reporters since taking the job. Again, it was just an honest response, but it led to a line of questioning from a reporter to White about being a “bust” that the wide receiver clearly did not appreciate at the time. So fast forward back to Wednesday, which started with White tweeting: “Believe none of what you hear and half of what you see..” Believe none of what you hear and half of what you see.. — Kevin White (@mrkevinwhite) August 2, 2017 And the meaning behind the tweet? “It was just a quote. I think some people may take a story and run with it. It wasn’t true so that’s just how I feel about some things, some people,” White said. “Like if I would tell you a secret and by the time it got across through everybody and got to me it wouldn’t be the same. So that’s really it.” Asked later if it was “true or not true” that Azzanni showed him the West Virginia tape, White said: “Like I said. It was me, Kendall Wright, Victor Cruz. Watched mine, watched Kendall’s, then watched Victor Cruz with the Giants.” Of course, the more important issue here is whether or not there’s a strain in the relationship between White and Azzanni. That’s why this exchange during White’s press conference Wednesday seemed notable: Reporter: “What is Coach Azzanni doing for you?” White: “Coaching me like everyone else.” Reporter: “Do you feel like he’s given you a boost at all?” White: “As far as?” Reporter: “Just helping you get better. Are there some specific areas that he’s dialing in on with you that are pushing you forward?” White: “Yeah, I think everyone as a staff is helping me and everyone else get better.” The irony, of course, is that this whole issue with Azzanni actually did make White better Monday. He practiced with urgency and was as aggressive as we’ve seen him. It was easily his best practice of training camp. In fact, no one would blame head coach John Fox if he gave Azzanni a raise for pushing the right buttons with one of the team’s most important players. West Virginia tape aside, it actually seems like Azzanni has a good pulse for what White needs. “I constantly hear that you can’t coach like this. You can’t coach like college in the NFL. I mean I don’t know. I don’t think that’s true. I think you can,” Azzanni said Monday. “I think they want it. I think they want that tight-knit brotherhood, that ‘Coach stay on me.’ I think they all want to be pushed and be good.” Before this year, Azzanni had spent his entire 18-year coaching career in college football, so time will tell if his methods will work in the NFL, but there’s evidence — even with White — that they are working. Azzanni admits it’s corny, but he gives out little Green Army Men each evening to the “Soldier of the Day.” And while White may have taken exception to Azzanni’s involvement with the West Virginia tape, his eyes lit up when he was asked about the Green Army Men. “It’s a competition. I’m trying to win that,” he said with conviction. White came into Wednesday with one Green Army Man. Something tells me he had two by the end of the day. Adam Hoge covers the Chicago Bears for WGN Radio and WGNRadio.com. He also co-hosts The Beat, weekends on 720 WGN. Follow him on Twitter at @AdamHoge. |
Life has found ways to overcome, and even thrive, in many extreme situations — from super saline pools to the high temperatures of hydrothermal vents. A new experiment has shown that the microgravity found in space is also an environment in which life can adapt. Researchers at the University of Houston used two nearly identical strains of non-pathogenic E. coli, a common bacteria found in animal guts, and put them to a test. One strain, NCM520, was grown in a flask under normal Earth-gravity conditions, while the other, MG1655, was placed in a special chamber on loan from the Johnson Space Center that simulates microgravity. Small enough to fit in the palms of your hands, the High Aspect Ratio Vessel (HARV) rotates slowly (approximately 25 rpm) on its side, so that the microbes growing in the liquid media inside are in free-fall. After growing for a thousand generations in the HARV — far longer than any previous experiments involving bacteria— the MG1655 strain had outgrown the gravity-controlled strain, NCM520, by a factor of three to one. The researchers inferred that the stress of being in a microgravity environment had instigated an adaptation that increased the competitiveness of the MG1655 strain. “Conducting these studies on Earth by simulating microgravity is extremely important if we are to get a more comprehensive picture of microbial survival in space,”says Madhan Tirumalai, the lead researcher and a microbiologist at the University of Houston. At the genetic level Tirumalai’s team wanted to know whether this adaptation occurred at the genetic level, or whether it was a physiological response to the change in gravity. As an analogy, if a person moves from a cold location to the equator, how does he or she adapt to the change in temperature, and would returning home erase those adaptations? Erasure would mean the adaptations are physiological, not genetic. The researchers found that 72 percent of the MG1655 strain’s adaptive advantage was retained following its return to normal gravity and subsequent growth for another 10 or 20 generations. The researchers concluded that while some of the changes were physiological, those that remained when returned to Earth gravity took place at the genetic level and gave the microgravity-adapted strain an advantage over the unadapted strain. Closer scrutiny showed that 16 genes had mutated in MG1655, including five genes linked to the formation of biofilm — the surA, fimH, trkH, fhuA and ygfK genes. Biofilms are thin collections of cells that link together to allow better distribution of resources and adherence to surfaces. An enhanced rate of biofilm formation is advantageous for bacterial survival and this adaptation to microgravity would seemingly improve bacteria’s ability to colonize surfaces in space environments. Although Tirumalai’s research has implications for bacterial ability to colonize the International Space Station, other researchers might now start asking whether similar adaptation studies could help explore the possibility that bacteria might survive extraterrestrial settings, such as asteroids, comets or small moons. “Put a microbial organism under any stress conditions or in a new kind of environment and over a period of time it will start undergoing mutations in a direction that will help it gain some kind of growth advantage to survive,” says Tirumalai. The findings represent a form of “experimental evolution,” in which a bacterial strain’s evolution is manipulated by the experimental environments and stresses in which the bacteria is placed, says microbiologist Robert McLean, a biologist at Texas State University who was not involved in Tirumalai’s research. “From my perspective, the significance of these findings is that some previously unknown mutations occurred in the strain of E. coli exposed to microgravity,” says McLean. “These represent long-term changes, which experimental evolution can test for.” Health risks There’s also a potential connection between the growth of biofilms and the virulence of the bacteria. Although the strains of E. coli that were used in the experiment were not pathogenic, the set of genes responsible for biofilm formation in pathogenic strains are closely linked to the genes involved in pathogenicity. Changes in one set of genes would incur changes in the other set. “There is a probability that the virulent genes would undergo mutations and selection to make strains become more virulent,” says Tirumalai. Further evidence of this is the case of the pathogenic strain Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium. Previous experiments led by the geneticist James Wilson of Villanova University showed that this strain of salmonella grew more virulent after exposure to microgravity. “Biofilm formation is critical not only for bacterial colonization but it is also linked to bacterial virulence,” says Tirumalai. Aside from the astrobiological implications, the findings could also reveal problems for astronauts on the International Space Station or deep space voyages. Biofilms can contaminate water recycling systems, while increased virulence could pose a health risk to astronauts. However, it remains to be confirmed whether bacteria such as E. coli or Salmonella do, indeed, behave in this fashion in a real space environment, or whether microgravity affects other bacteria in this way. “Other bacteria and organisms may do something completely different,” warns McLean. Surviving in space Assuming that other bacteria do act like E. coli in microgravity, this could potentially have important consequences for astrobiology. The panspermia theory suggests biological material could be transferred between planetary bodies via asteroids and space debris, but would require microbes to flourish during long periods in space. It is possible that life could have swapped Earth for Mars and vice versa following huge impacts that sent rocky debris packed with microbes into space. McLean suggests that for life to survive such a journey, it must first withstand the heat and energy of the initial impact that blasted it into space, then the extreme conditions of interplanetary space, and finally the heat and energy of entering the atmosphere and impacting the ground on a new planet. McLean points out that his research shows bacteria can survive re-entry and impact. His group conducted a microbial experiment to test if biofilms could form in space onboard the space shuttle Columbia’s final flight in 2003 and found that, miraculously, the bacteria survived the destruction of the space shuttle. It is currently unknown, however, whether increased biofilm formation in space would strengthen the likelihood that microbes could survive space conditions. “I don’t know whether biofilm growth would make a difference or not,” says McLean, “but it would be interesting to test.” Further experiments could take place in HARVs on Earth, but to confirm that bacteria really do behave in similar fashion in space, Tirumalai believes it is crucial that we take these tests into orbit. “It’s now very important to conduct these experiments on the International Space Station and see how these organisms respond to real space conditions,” says Tirumalai. Given the costs and difficulties in setting up experiments on the space station, he accepts that this may not happen anytime soon. The research was funded, in part, by the NASA University Research Center at Texas Southern University. |
Let the games begin! Arie Luyendyk Jr. returned to the Bachelor mansion on Wednesday, September 20, to begin filming season 22 of the ABC reality dating series. Biggest 'Bachelor' and 'Bachelorette' Villains Franchise creator Mike Fleiss gave fans a first glimpse of the professional race car driver, 35, looking dapper in a classic black suit during his first night on set. “Guess who’s back? Back again. Arie’s back. Tell a friend. #TheBachelor #JanuArie,” the producer tweeted alongside a photo of Bachelor host Chris Harrison, Luyendyk Jr., ABC executive Robert Mills and himself. In a follow-up tweet, Fleiss promised that the upcoming season includes a “fantastic group of women,” adding that Luyendyk Jr. “has got some tough choices to make” during the first rose ceremony. Fantastic group of women. @ariejr has got some tough choices to make tonite… #thebachelor — Mike Fleiss (@fleissmeister) September 21, 2017 Fans of Bachelorette season 13 runner-up Peter Kraus, who was rumored to be in the running to lead season 22 of The Bachelor, continued to voice their divided opinions in response to Fleiss’ tweets. “I bet the girls were pissed to find Not Peter as the bachelor,” one disappointed viewer wrote. Another quipped, “What’s the return policy?” However, Kraus, 32, doesn’t have any hard feelings toward ABC or Luyendyk Jr. He thanked the network for treating him “with such love and kindness” in a recent Instagram post, which he concluded with a valuable lesson he learned during his time on The Bachelorette: “When you let uncertainty or fear guide your decisions, you risk missing out on what could potentially be the greatest opportunity of a life time. So live dangerously, live without the fear of the unknown, and continue to live and love with a heart that is truly open to anything.” The Bachelor returns to ABC in January 2018. Sign up now for the Us Weekly newsletter to get breaking celebrity news, hot pics and more delivered straight to your inbox! Want stories like these delivered straight to your phone? Download the Us Weekly iPhone app now! |
There were 1,788 recorded incidents of disability hate crime in England and Wales in 2011, an increase of more than 18% on the total for 2010 and the highest since this data was first recorded in April 2010. Data obtained under the Freedom of Information Act shows the number of recorded incidents grew by almost 50% between 2009 and 2011. While almost 1,800 reports were made to the police last year, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) made just 523 convictions for disability hate crime over the same period. 152 crimes were reported in Suffolk, more than in any other police force area in 2011. South Yorkshire and Cambridgeshire had the lowest totals, with seven reports each. Suffolk's total marked a 54% increase on the previous year, when 99 disability hate crimes were reported. While South Wales accounted for the tenth highest number of reports in 2011, this represented a 32% drop from 2010. Figures published by the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) show a rapid increase in the number of reported disability hate crimes since records began. In 2009 - the first full calendar year for which such data exists - 1,211 crimes were reported. This figure rose by 24.8% in 2010, and a further 18.3% the following year. It is unclear whether these rises are caused primarily by an increase in the number of disability hate crimes that are committed, or higher rates or their reporting. The number of convictions made in 2011 is equivalent to 29.3% of reported incidents in the same year, but due to the length of time required for a prosecution to run its course this figure should not be read as a direct proportion of the total number of crimes reported in 2011. The data table below includes a number of police force areas whose total numbers of prosecutions are greater than the numbers of incidents reported. These cases typically arise where crimes reported in previous years have been concluded in 2011. While the total number of reported incidents rose substantially between 2010 and 2011, the proportion of prosecutions ending in conviction simultaneously increased according to the latest figures from the CPS. In 2009/10 three out of four disability hate crime cases taken on by the CPS were successful. In 2010/11 this figure rose to almost four out of five. • Figures for the total number of reported disability hate crimes in 2011 and for the police forces with the highest number of reports in 2011 have been amended to reflect a revised total of 15 reported crimes for the Hertfordshire Constabulary. Data summary Disability hate crime data broken down by police force area Click heading to sort table. Download this data Police force area Recorded disability hate crime (ACPO) 2009 Recorded disability hate crime (ACPO) 2010 Recorded disability hate crime (FOI to regional police forces) 2011 Convictions for disability hate crime (FOI to CPS) 2011 Suffolk 98 99 152 4 West Yorkshire 25 55 147 18 Norfolk 75 116 136 11 London 99 116 133 41 Merseyside 17 59 121 22 Leicestershire 35 87 105 7 Avon & Somerset 78 72 97 18 South Wales 22 103 70 7 Greater Manchester 74 55 69 56 West Midlands 96 33 51 32 Surrey 77 62 51 5 Lancashire 70 55 46 33 Staffordshire 20 41 43 8 Northamptonshire 47 25 41 6 Thames Valley 102 88 41 11 Nottinghamshire 50 36 40 12 Hampshire & Isle of Wight 17 47 36 13 Kent 21 51 35 27 West Mercia 33 76 33 11 North Wales 6 13 32 14 Essex 16 18 28 11 Dyfed-Powys 3 7 27 5 Lincolnshire 6 9 23 0 Warwickshire 8 5 21 0 Northumbria 3 1 20 31 Cumbria 10 18 16 3 Hertfordshire 30 24 15 10 Humberside 7 19 15 9 Bedfordshire 1 2 13 3 Wiltshire 4 4 13 2 Sussex 4 10 13 16 Cleveland 0 4 12 11 Devon & Cornwall 14 6 12 6 Dorset 3 9 11 1 Durham 0 26 11 11 Gwent 9 15 10 4 Derbyshire 2 7 9 14 North Yorkshire 9 8 9 3 Gloucestershire 13 13 9 4 Cheshire 2 3 8 14 South Yorkshire 4 7 7 3 Cambridgeshire 1 8 7 6 TOTAL 1211 1512 1788 523 • DATA: download the full spreadsheet NEW! Buy our book • Facts are Sacred: the power of data (on Kindle) More open data Data journalism and data visualisations from the Guardian World government data • Search the world's government data with our gateway Development and aid data • Search the world's global development data with our gateway Can you do something with this data? • Flickr Please post your visualisations and mash-ups on our Flickr group • Contact us at data@guardian.co.uk • Get the A-Z of data • More at the Datastore directory • Follow us on Twitter • Like us on Facebook |
Writing for PinkNews.co.uk, Chris Ward says equal marriage campaigners should focus on convincing neighbours and their local MPs to support the measure with traditional lobbying methods – rather than relying on online activism. Being an LGBT campaigner is quite fashionable these days. Don a suit, speak at a conference, write the occasional article for a national gay news outlet (yes, I’m aware of the mild hypocrisy) and voila: you’re billed with the same title they once gave people who risked their lives speaking out. Campaign after campaign has been unveiled on equal marriage and various individuals clamber over each other to achieve recognition and credit for their part in it. As noble as the intentions are, even if they do involve a bit of self-publicity, those we are still to convince on equal marriage are not going to find their progressive revelation in the midst of a Twitter debate between politicos. In fact, social media discussions on the subject show that a lot of those who engage with the issue online have already made up their minds. Why preach to the converted or waste energy on those who won’t be moved? Self-billed (or otherwise) LGBT campaigners could take a few hours of their time to do something devastatingly effective on equal marriage. You could write a letter to your neighbours telling them what this change would mean to you, print it, sign each one personally and deliver it to your entire street. Time after time, evidence has shown that once “the gays” becomes “my neighbour Tom”, “my son Dan”, “my friend Sarah”, prejudice is challenged in the most effective way. Harvey Milk wasn’t lying when he said that if every lesbian, gay or bisexual person came out, there’d be no more homophobia. People fear the unknown. Helping those who oppose equal marriage or, as likely, those who are apathetic to put a face to the legislation is undoubtedly the most powerful means of persuasion. In my own small way of contributing to the equal marriage campaign, I’ve done what I believe to be just that. I had wedding invitations printed and sent to my family when the consultation was live (Date: Possibly never. RSVP: To the Home Office Consultation); I went to confront my new MP face-to-face at her surgery with my partner to ask her why she hadn’t yet come out for equal marriage. I created the first petition ever in Guildford that gathered enough signatures to trigger a council debate on supporting equal marriage; I printed 170 postcards which I got signed by Guildford residents (from all walks of society) imploring the local MP to vote for equal marriage. The latter was probably the most important thing I did. Before I decided to have the postcards printed, I had coffee with Guildford’s MP in Parliament. One of the things she told me left a distinct and alarming impression – she couldn’t understand why she had heard from those who opposed equal marriage, but not that many from those that supported it. There is no starker reminder of that old adage that it takes merely good men to do nothing for evil to succeed. Mildly hyperbolic perhaps, but an important point. After I handed those 170 signed postcards to Anne Milton, she attended the debate, wrestled with the issues and abstained. She got a lot of unfair stick for that from both sides – but I know full well that she spent the time and effort to speak to me and other campaigners in coming to that decision. I’m hopeful that, in the third reading, we’ll convince her to walk into the Aye lobby. So stop trying to convince 650 MPs and just concentrate on one. Reaching out to the average person in your neighbourhood will give you surprising results. One of the most moving postcards returned to me was from a straight man who simply wrote to Anne that he wanted to be best man at his brother’s wedding. Instead of chasing retweets or any other WWW currency, stir something up in your local community. Your MP needs to realise that it’s not just LGBT people who support this and it takes so little to lure those individuals out of silence. 400 MPs supported us in February. If you have the inclination to do the simple things I’ve outlined above, please do. Either way, opponents of equal marriage certainly will be. Chris Ward is an LGBT campaigner and a member of the Labour Party. He blogs here The views expressed in the article are his own and not that of PinkNews.co.uk |
Survival of the Flashest Tonight on "Survival Dudes:" Brody and Raider take on their darkest challenge yet. Raider Steel is a military super soldier who has served in every war since Korea and recorded over 900 confirmed kills. He once lived inside the wall of a Colombian drug lord's house for three weeks before killing him just to prove he could. Brody Thunder is…well, he's not HOMELESS per se, he just sort of lives a different lifestyle. Like, he's not into wearing shoes and he eats out of dumpsters. Okay, so technically he IS homeless, but he's not like hanging around your office panhandling or anything; he lives out in the desert. That makes it okay. Together, they are: SURVIVAL DUDES. Tonight, the dudes face a new and challenging challenge. Dropped into a forest at night, they must navigate the darkening darkness quickly if they are to survive. Since obviously they could do this blindfolded if they really wanted to, we've given them only what an incredibly stupid hiker would bring along: two bags of peanut butter M&M's, a copy of L. Ron Hubbard's Dianetics, a woman's thong panty, size XL, and an ICON Link Carabiner Flashlight. "Wow, okay first up in any survival situation is to take stock of what you have. We have some pretty useless equipment here, aside from the Carabiner Flashlight. Oh, and the camera crew fully supplied with food and water along with two or three stunt coordinators to make sure we don't actually hurt ourselves." "This is Mother Nature, Raider. And you have to respect her. Are you gonna eat those M&M's?" "I was gonna save 'em, but I guess you can have them. Okay, time to find our way out. Obviously if you're in a survival situation you'll be lost and confused, but for the purposes of the show we're just gonna start blindly walking this way because I'm pretty sure there's a road over here." "Groovy, man. Can you tell by the shadows or the moss growing on the trees or something?" "No, remember the cast meeting?" "Ixnay on the oductionpray eetingmay." "Oh, right. Sorry. Super Secret Army Training. And moss." "Now using this power-regulated LED light we'll have maximum output and runtime and the only concern we're likely to have is replacing the single AA battery from time to time. It's sealed with O-rings and waterproof to one meter for up to 30 minutes, so even if we stumble into the river we should be okay." "Time for one of my patented 'Brody's Bible for Building Survival' tips: obviously we'll use this light to navigate the wilderness. Now you, as an untrained civilian whose only survival experience consists of sitting on your ass eating Fritos while watching people run around in the woods, your best bet will be to clip this carabiner to your belt loop, turn the light on, then lay down and die. Your only hope is that the light will make your corpse easy to find for search and rescue workers." Tune in next week when the dudes are dropped into truly hospitable territory: "Sir, I'm sorry sir I must insist you at least wear sandals or something!" Back to top |
Prices of solar panels are falling so fast that by 2013 they will be half of what they cost in 2009, according to a report from Ernst & Young that argues solar electricity could play "an important role" in meeting the UK's renewable energy targets. The average one-off installation cost of solar photovoltaic (PV) panels has already dropped from more than $2 (£1.23) per unit of generating capacity in 2009 to about $1.50 in 2011. Based on broker reports and industry analysis, the report forecasts that those rates of decline will continue, with prices falling close to the $1 mark in 2013. At present, solar PV is economically viable in the UK for homeowners, businesses and investors only because of government subsidies given out via feed-in tariffs (Fits). But the new analysis suggests that falling PV panel prices and rising fossil fuel prices could together make large-scale solar installations cost-competitive without government support within a decade – sooner than is usually assumed. The report was commissioned by the Solar Trade Association (STA) from Ernst & Young's energy and environmental infrastructure advisory unit in response to the recent shake-up of Fits, which saw government support for large solar systems significantly reduced. This was a result of the government's decision to cap the total that could be spent via Fits and weight the limited budget in favour of domestic and other small-scale installations. The chairman of the STA, Howard Johns, said the new analysis backed up the industry line that government support for all types of solar systems in the next few years made good economic sense as it would build capacity and enable unsubsidised solar to be as widely deployed as possible as prices come down. "This reinforces the case we have laid out in our Solar Revolution strategy," he said, "and it comes from an independent consultancy." The report coincides with new data from Bloomberg New Energy Finance that show a drastic 28% month-on-month drop in the spot price of high-grade silicon, the raw material used in most PV panels. The conclusions of the Ernst and Young report contrast with the view of the government's advisers, the Committee on Climate Change (CCC), which recently argued that solar remained too expensive to warrant serious consideration in the short term and that Britain should instead "buy in from overseas later". The lead author of the Ernst & Young report, Ben Warren, said the CCC's view failed to consider the wider economic benefits of solar. "Being a laggard has never been very successful in terms of capturing the greater share of the value added for the economy … if you create a sustainable market, you will achieve cost savings and drive economic benefits in terms of tax income and job creation." To compare the relative cost of solar – usually described in terms of the dollar price of each watt of peak capacity – and other energy sources, analysts consider factors such as upfront expenditure, fuel prices, maintenance and discount rates to calculate the "levelised" cost of each unit of energy. The report predicts that, with continued support in the short term, the levellised cost of large-scale solar will be no higher than retail energy prices by 2016-19. This suggests that within 10 years companies with large electricity demands will find it cheaper to install unsubsidised solar than to buy energy via the grid in the traditional way. In the meantime, a full assessment of the costs and benefits of supporting solar should recognise that generous subsidies help unlock new sources of capital that can speed up decarbonisation of the energy supply, according to Warren. "The energy market is starved of capital – and it won't all come from utilities and banks," Warren said. "There's a desperate need to engage with institutional investors." In the runup to the announcement of the Fits cuts, climate minister Greg Barker told the Guardian that Britain had underestimated the potential of solar energy and in light of falling prices he hoped to find "new pathways" for supporting large-scale solar developments. |
FiveThirtyEight generally takes an inclusive attitude towards polls. Our forecast models include polls from pollsters who use traditional methods, i.e., live interviewers. And we include surveys conducted with less tested techniques, such as interactive voice response (or “robopolls”) and online panels. We don’t treat all polls equally — our models account for the methodological quality and past accuracy of each pollster — but we’ll take all the data we can get. This split, however, between live-interview polls and everything else, is something we keep our eye on. When we launched our general election forecasts in late June, there wasn’t a big difference in the results we were getting from polls using traditional methodologies and polls using newer techniques. Now, it’s pretty clear that Hillary Clinton’s lead over Donald Trump is wider in live-telephone surveys than it is in nonlive surveys. We don’t know exactly why live-interview polls are getting different results than other types of surveys; there are a lot of potential causes and it’s something we’ll be digging into. But it’s harder to measure this gap in the first place than you might think; pollsters make a lot of choices — whether to use a registered or likely voter sample, for example, or whether to poll Gary Johnson and Jill Stein — that could account for the differences between live and nonlive surveys. But one method to get at the difference is to use our forecast models, which account for these things. As of Tuesday morning, Clinton led Trump by 6 percentage points and had a 79 percent chance of winning, according to our polls-only forecast. But running our polls-only model using only live-interview surveys, Clinton leads Trump by 7 points and has an 86 percent chance of winning. Running it with only nonlive-interview polls, Clinton leads Trump by 5 points and has a 71 percent chance of winning. CLINTON’S POLLS-ONLY FORECAST PROJECTION POLL TYPE CHANCE OF WINNING POPULAR VOTE MARGIN ELECTORAL VOTES Live 86.0% +7.1 354.1 Nonlive 70.5 +4.8 315.0 Clinton does better in a forecast based only on live-interview polls All numbers rounded. Numbers as of the morning of Aug. 30. Source: Fivethirtyeight polls-only forecast That’s a pretty big gap. Interestingly, about half that gap comes from the model’s trend line adjustment, which looks for how the race is changing by comparing surveys to previous editions of the same poll (e.g.., Monmouth’s August poll to its July poll.) In other words, there’s little evidence in live-interview polls that Clinton has regressed much from her post-convention high. The forecast based on nonlive surveys, by contrast, shows her convention bounce fading by a few percentage points. The live-interview polls are much kinder to Johnson, too. His projected share of the vote jumps from 6.4 percent in the nonlive forecast to 9.1 percent in the live-interview-only forecast. Part of that gap may have to do with how some online pollsters — such as YouGov, which had Johnson at only 6 percent last week — include third-party candidates, giving respondents the option to choose “someone else.” The live-interview/everything else gap varies a bit by state: CLINTON’S PROJECTED VOTE MARGIN OVER TRUMP STATE ONLY LIVE POLLS ONLY NONLIVE POLLS DIFFERENCE Massachusetts +24.5 +16.0 -8.5 Maryland +30.6 +22.2 -8.3 Indiana -6.8 -15.1 -8.3 Wisconsin +12.0 +4.0 -8.0 Mississippi -5.1 -12.9 -7.8 Michigan +11.7 +4.9 -6.7 Colorado +10.0 +4.6 -5.4 Missouri -0.1 -5.4 -5.3 Maine CD-1 +17.2 +12.0 -5.2 Georgia +1.9 -3.2 -5.0 North Carolina +4.5 0.0 -4.5 Rhode Island +22.5 18.1 -4.4 Tennessee -9.4 -13.8 -4.4 Texas -6.0 -10.4 -4.3 Minnesota +9.7 +5.7 -3.9 Maine +10.6 +6.7 -3.9 South Dakota -9.1 -12.9 -3.8 Pennsylvania +7.4 +3.6 -3.8 New Mexico +13.1 +9.8 -3.3 South Carolina -1.2 -4.5 -3.2 Alabama -14.1 -17.3 -3.2 Virginia +9.9 +6.9 -3.0 North Dakota -10.8 -13.3 -2.5 Iowa +3.9 +1.4 -2.5 Nevada +6.6 +4.1 -2.5 Maine CD-2 +3.3 +0.9 -2.3 Louisiana -11.4 -13.7 -2.2 District of Columbia +77.0 +74.8 -2.2 Washington +16.5 +14.3 -2.2 Oklahoma -23.4 -25.5 -2.2 New Hampshire +6.0 +3.9 -2.1 Ohio +4.3 +2.2 -2.0 New York +20.9 +19.0 -1.8 Connecticut +13.1 +11.5 -1.6 Florida +4.8 +3.3 -1.5 Hawaii +41.2 +40.6 -0.6 Illinois +18.5 +18.3 -0.2 Oregon +11.1 +11.0 -0.1 Alaska -11.2 -11.3 0.0 New Jersey +12.0 +12.0 0.0 Vermont +25.3 +25.8 +0.5 Kentucky -12.3 -10.8 +1.5 Arkansas -14.1 -12.6 +1.5 Arizona -3.8 -2.2 +1.6 Delaware +15.4 +17.3 +1.9 Nebraska CD-2 -0.4 +1.4 +1.9 Kansas -13.7 -10.9 +2.9 California +22.5 +25.7 +3.2 Idaho -23.1 -19.7 +3.4 Nebraska -14.7 -11.2 +3.5 Nebraska CD-1 -10.5 -6.9 +3.5 West Virginia -20.8 -16.9 +3.9 Montana -9.6 -4.6 +5.0 Nebraska CD-3 -33.6 -28.1 +5.5 Wyoming -31.3 -25.4 +6.0 Utah -29.2 -12.1 +17.1 Clinton does better in live interview polls in most states All numbers rounded. Numbers as of the morning of Aug. 30. Source: Fivethirtyeight polls-only forecast Clinton is forecast to win 354 electoral votes in the live-telephone-only forecast compared to 315 in the nonlive forecast. There’s not a super clear pattern in where the gap is and where it isn’t, but generally Clinton is doing better in live-interview polls in blue states and better in nonlive polls in red states. Overall, the median state in the nonlive forecast is 2 percentage points more favorable to Trump than in the live-telephone forecast. That, of course, matches what we see in the overall forecast. But it didn’t used to be this way. On July 1, Clinton held a clear advantage over Trump no matter the mode of the poll. CLINTON’S POLLS-ONLY FORECAST PROJECTION POLL TYPE CHANCE OF WINNING POPULAR VOTE MARGIN ELECTORAL VOTES Live 80.1% +6.3 343.0 Nonlive 77.5 +6.3 346.2 Poll type didn’t affect Clinton’s lead in early July All numbers are rounded. Source: FiveThirtyEight Polls-only forecast on july 1 She had a 78 percent chance of winning the election, according to our real polls-only forecast. And when we rerun the polls-only forecast for July 1 with only live-interview surveys, Clinton had an 80 percent chance of winning. She was expected to win 343 electoral votes and the popular vote by 6.5 percentage points. Using only nonlive interview polls on July 1, we get Clinton winning 78 percent of the time and a 6.3 percentage vote popular vote margin with 346 electoral votes. One interesting note: Nonlive polls may have presented a false signal of competitiveness in some red states. You probably remember hearing about how Kansas and Utah might be in play? That was mostly based on nonlive telephone interview polls. A forecast of just nonlive polls had Clinton within 5 percentage points of Trump in both states on July 1. The live-interview-only forecast, in contrast, had her down double-digits in both states. Since that time, the nonlive polls have come more in line with the live-interview polls — Trump’s regained a double-digit lead in both states even in the nonlive interview forecast. As the cases of Utah and Kansas suggest, I’d put more faith in the live-interview polls than in other types of surveys, all else being equal. Indeed, our forecast models do just that. If the gap between live-interview polls and everything else persists, though, we’ll need to explore what might be causing the split and which is more likely to be right. |
It was suggested in the previous post that the notion of ‘value of the currency’ adopted in Modern Monetary Theory (MMT) seems compatible with Marx’s theoretical framework, provided it is acceptable in that framework to consider a state currency, and not only gold or some other commodity, as “true” money. As was explained in the post, currency value in MMT can be defined as the amount of labor time a worker must perform in order to obtain a unit of the currency. An advantage of this definition, if applied in Marx’s framework, is that it offers an explanation for the value of fiat currency that can be expressed in terms of socially necessary labor time. Before proceeding, it perhaps should be spelt out that value of the currency is a separate concept from other macroeconomic concepts such as the general price level, inflation and productivity. (This is obvious to those with a background in Marx, but not necessarily to others.) It is also separate from the concept of the ‘monetary expression of labor time’ (MELT). But, although separate, value of the currency is connected to all these other measures in clear ways. Some basic connections between currency value, inflation, productivity and distribution (see here) and between currency value and the MELT (see here) were discussed in earlier posts. For present purposes, one simple distinction is perhaps worth noting. If we are told that a typical house currently goes for X “Fiats” and that this price has risen over the past decade by π percent per year, we know the price of a typical house and the rate of inflation in its price. But until we know what it takes to obtain a Fiat, we don’t know whether a typical house is easy or difficult to come by and whether it is getting easier or more difficult. Value of the currency, when defined in the MMT way, relates to this question. By specifying what is required to obtain a Fiat, and how this requirement changes over time, we have context in which to size up prices and the rate of inflation. Price on its own is not enough. Nor, conversely, is value of the currency enough on its own. When currency value is expressed in terms of labor time, the MMT definition gets to the crux of the capitalist social relation and also seems to fit with Marx’s theory of value in general, even if Modern Monetary Theorists themselves have not necessarily adopted this theory of value.* In particular, the definition of currency value captures two sides of the wage labor relation in a way that can be summed up very simply. Viewed from one side, the side of workers, the MMT definition of currency value is saying that to obtain a unit of the currency, workers need to perform x amount of socially necessary labor time. Currency value, under this definition, is therefore a measure of difficulty in accessing what in a monetary economy is essential to workers’ survival, and, together with the general price level, is an indication of the degree of coercion that is being exerted on them to sell their labor power to an employer. Viewed from the other side, that of capitalists, the MMT definition of currency value measures capitalists’ command over socially necessary labor time. The value of the currency indicates how much labor time a unit of the currency enables them to purchase. Their accumulated money capital commands a certain amount of socially necessary labor with which they can undertake further exploitation of labor, appropriation of surplus labor as profit and ongoing accumulation. —– * Although Modern Monetary Theorists do not appear to make explicit use of Marx’s theory of value, other than in relation to their approach to value of the currency, prominent Modern Monetary Theorist Randall Wray has in fact argued in the past for the necessity of both a ‘labor theory of value’ and a ‘liquidity preference theory of value’. See this paper. Hat tip to Tom Hickey who provided the link in comments to the previous post. |
A new mold species discovered on salami Our world is full of organisms that scientists have yet to discover and officially describe as a species. You may have heard in the news about a new species of amphibian discovered in a remote rainforest or new species of fish discovered at the bottom of the sea. But you don’t have to travel to far flung places to find new species. Sometimes they are right under our noses…. growing on salami. In a recent paper published in the International Journal of Food Microbiology, a group of scientists from Italy, the Netherlands, Denmark, and Slovenia describe a new species of the fungus Penicillium from an Italian salami. Penicillium species are molds that colonize the surfaces of cheeses, salami, and other naturally aged fermented foods. The fungus that most commonly colonizes salami is Penicillium nalgiovense, a mold that makes the white fluffiness we associated with salami. Spores of mold are applied to the surface of the salami right after the meat has been fermented. The fungus rapidly colonizes the surface and prevents contaminating molds from growing and spoiling the salami. When this group of scientists was conducting a biodiversity survey of molds in a salami plant in Calabria, Italy, they noticed something surprising. They found the typical Penicillium nalgiovense, but they also noticed another type of Penicillium species that looked different. While Penicillium nalgiovense is almost always white, some molds were green in color. They isolated these green molds and then sequenced several regions of DNA of these molds to compare them to Penicillium nalgiovense and other Penicillium species. The DNA sequences showed that this fungus is distinct from other existing described species, but identical to undescribed Penicillium strains that scientists had isolated from cured meats in Denmark and Slovenia. The scientists have aptly named this new species Penicillium salamii and suspect that it is quite widespread in cured meats made around the world. Some Penicillium species can produce mycotoxins, toxic substances that can have harmful effects on human health. The scientists checked to see if Penicillium salamii produced these chemicals, but fortunately they couldn’t detect any. So it seems like this mold is safe for cured meat production. What might be the implications of this research for fermented meat products and microbial foods in general? First, it demonstrates that we still have a lot to learn about these traditional foods that we’ve been making for hundreds of years. New DNA-sequencing technologies and increased efforts have allowed us to better characterize the diversity of the microbes present in these foods. Along the way, we are bound to discover more microbes that are new to science as this study demonstrates. Second, we may be able to use these new microbes in food production. The authors of this study note at the end of their paper that they’ve begun trials with this new species and it seems to be performing nicely. The different color (light green) will create a different salami aesthetic which could be appealing for setting a product apart in a shop. The scientists didn’t characterize the sensory qualities of this mold, but it may produce different flavors than Penicillium nalgiovense. The next time you eat a salami or any microbial food, keep your eyes open. A new species may be right under your nose! For more details on this study, please check out the full article here: Perrone, G. et al. “Penicillium salamii, a new species occurring during seasoning of dry-cured meat.” International Journal of Food Microbiology 16 (2015): 91-98. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25462928 Post written by Benjamin Wolfe. |
A trade group representing giants of Internet business from Facebook to Microsoft has just endorsed a “compromise” version of the Stop Enabling Sex Traffickers Act (SESTA), a bill that would be disastrous for free speech and online communities. Just a few hours after Senator Thune’s amended version of SESTA surfaced online, the Internet Association rushed to praise the bill’s sponsors for their “careful work and bipartisan collaboration.” The compromise bill has all of the same fundamental flaws as the original. Like the original, it does nothing to fight sex traffickers, but it would silence legitimate speech online. It shouldn’t really come as a surprise that the Internet Association has fallen in line to endorse SESTA. The Internet Association doesn’t represent the Internet—it represents the few companies that profit the most off of Internet activity. It’s shameful that a small group of lobbyists with an agenda of censorship have presented themselves to lawmakers as the unanimous experts in sex trafficking. It’s embarrassing that it’s worked so well. Amazon and eBay would be able to absorb the increased legal risk under SESTA. They would likely be able to afford the high-powered lawyers to survive the wave in lawsuits against them. Small startups, including would-be competitors, would not. It shouldn’t pass our attention that the Internet giants are now endorsing a bill that will make it much more difficult for newcomers ever to compete with them. IA also doesn’t represent Internet users. It doesn’t represent the marginalized voices who’ll be silenced as platforms begin to over-rely on automated filters (filters that will doubtless be offered as a licensed service by large Internet companies). It doesn’t represent the LGBTQ teenager in South Dakota who depends every day on the safety of his online community. It doesn’t represent the sex worker who will be forced off of the Internet and onto a dangerous street. The Internet Association can tell itself and its members whatever it wants—that it held its ground for as long as it could despite overwhelming political opposition, that the law will motivate its members to make amazing strides in filtering technologies—but there is one thing that it simply cannot say: that it has done something to fight sex trafficking. Again and again and again, experts in sex trafficking have spoken out to say that SESTA is the wrong solution, that it will put trafficking victims in more danger, that it will remove the very tools that law enforcement uses to rescue victims. It’s shameful that a small group of lobbyists with an agenda of censorship have presented themselves to lawmakers as the unanimous experts in sex trafficking. It’s embarrassing that it’s worked so well. A serious problem calls for serious solutions, and SESTA is not a serious solution. At the heart of the sex trafficking problem lies a complex set of economic, social, and legal issues. A broken immigration system and a torn safety net. A law enforcement regime that puts trafficking victims at risk for reporting their traffickers. Officers who aren’t adequately trained to use the online tools at their disposal, or use them against victims. And yes, if there are cases where online platforms themselves directly contribute to unlawful activity, it’s a problem that the Department of Justice won’t use the powers Congress has already given it. These are the factors that deserve intense deliberation and debate by lawmakers, not a hamfisted attempt to punish online communities. The Internet Association let the Internet down today. Congress should not make the same mistake. Stop SESTA Tell Congress: The Internet Association Does Not Speak for The Internet |
Bees prefer nectar from plants that appear to add small doses of nicotine and caffeine to the sugary liquid to entice the insects into pollinating them, according to researchers in Israel. Prof. Ido Izhaki and colleagues from the University of Haifa offered bees artificial nectar with various levels of the two stimulants, along with offerings of just nectar, to see how much of the additives they preferred. Izhaki says the results showed the bees clearly had a preference for nectar containing nicotine and caffeine at levels found in nature over the “clean” nectar. But if offered nectar with higher concentrations of nicotine, the bees clearly demonstrated a preference for the drug-free version. Results also suggested that while the sugars in nectar are there to give bees the energy to pollinate, the stimulants may have resulted from evolutionary processes to make the pollination more efficient. Further research was needed to determine if the insects actually become addicted to the drugs, Izhaki said. Photo: Stock |
By Published: April 29, 2011 Posted in: Interviews, News . . The 2011 edition of Texas Frightmare Weekend starts today, April 29, and we’ve got a special treat for you guys. I had the chance to do a rather candid interview with one of the show’s very special guests, the one and only Robert Englund. The man who defined a horror icon with Freddy Krueger in the A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET film series discusses his upcoming horror project INKUBUS, which sounds and looks really creepy, and even touches upon the long-running rumor that he tested for Luke Skywalker in the original STAR WARS. The word was that he not only read for Luke, but suggested Mark Hamill for the role when he wasn’t chosen. Robert’s explanation of the real story is actually even more interesting, and clarifies exactly how things went down. I’ve had the pleasure of hanging out with Robert before, back when FREDDY VS. JASON came out, and I can honestly tell you that Mr. Englund is one of the nicest celebrities you’re likely to ever meet. He’s generous with fans and honest and open with the press. I’m very excited to see him again this weekend, and hear his Q&A, which will undoubtedly be epic. For more information on Texas Frightmare Weekend, check out the official show website. To listen to the full 14-minute interview, CLICK HERE to open your selected media player, or right-click HERE and download the MP3 to your computer. While I highly recommend you listen to the interview to hear Robert’s story, if you’re just dying to know the STAR WARS bit and either can’t hear the audio or flat out refuse to listen to it, here’s the skinny – Robert notes he was actually reading for the role in a surfer movie, which he didn’t get, but the casting director suggested he walk across the hall to read for another film… STAR WARS. He mentions he was dressed (oddly enough) similar to Han Solo, and the role he read for was in fact Han Solo, which he also didn’t get. At the time Robert was living with Mark Hamill in an apartment, and suggested Mark go read for STAR WARS, and Mark ended up getting Luke Skywalker. So there ya go, if it wasn’t for Robert Englund, Mark Hamill wouldn’t have become Luke, and the beloved space classic wouldn’t be the film we know so well today. Be sure to tell everyone where ya heard this! |
Press Release Germany tops world energy efficiency ranking German (energy) efficiency combatting climate change Berlin (gtai) - Germany has knocked the UK off the top spot to take first place in the 2014 International Energy Efficiency Scorecard, the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE) revealed today. The only report of its kind identifies best practices across 31 key metrics in the world's largest economies. China tied with France for fourth place, the UK and Japan tied for sixth, and the USA came thirteenth. The study praised Germany's comprehensive energy strategy and awarded the country maximum points for its building codes, retrofit policies, and tax credit and loan programs. "Germany's commitment to creating a framework that encourages investment in energy efficiency has made it a world-leading market in the field," says Henning Ellermann, energy efficiency industry expert at Germany Trade & Invest. For example, Germany's state development bank's building renovation loan program stimulated private investments of over EUR 34 billion (USD 46 billion) in 2013, government figures show. Germany also offers SMEs subsidies of up to 30% for improvements to the efficiency of their manufacturing processes made by upgrading technology and equipment The ACEEE report lauded Germany's target of a 20% reduction in primary energy consumption by 2020 and 50% by 2050, compared to 2008 levels, and awarded the country first place for energy efficiency in the industrial sector. "We are doing well but there are still a lot of untapped business opportunities in the German energy efficiency sector that make great economic sense even without subsidies," says Ellermann, who assists companies looking to establish a presence in Germany. The report comes just days after Fraunhofer ISE reported that Germany produced around 31 percent of its electricity from renewables in the first half of 2014. |
The Philadelphia Flyers, in conjunction with the National Hockey League, announced their list of PROTECTED players for the 2017 Expansion Draft. FORWARDS (7) Sean Couturier Valtteri Filppula Claude Giroux Scott Laughton Brayden Schenn Wayne Simmonds Jakub Voracek DEFENSEMEN (3) Shayne Gostisbehere Radko Gudas Brandon Manning GOALTENDER (1) Anthony Stolarz Per the NHL Press Release, the following is the list of AVAILABLE players from the Philadelphia Flyers for the 2017 Expansion Draft: FORWARDS (13) Pierre-Edouard Bellemare Greg Carey Chris Conner Boyd Gordon Taylor Leier Colin McDonald Andy Miele Michael Raffl Matt Read Chris VandeVelde Jordan Weal Dale Weise Eric Wellwood DEFENSEMEN (7) Mark Alt TJ Brennan Michael Del Zotto Andrew MacDonald Will O'Neill Jesper Pettersson Nick Schultz GOALTENDERS (2) Steve Mason Michal Neuvirth The Vegas Golden Knights have 72 hours to simultaneously submit its Expansion Draft Selections to the NHL's Central Registry and the NHLPA with 10 a.m. ET on Wednesday, June 21 being the deadline. Official distribution and announcement of the Expansion Club's Selections will occur in conjunction with the 2017 NHL Awards presented by T-Mobile beginning at 8 p.m. ET on Wednesday, June 21. |
We have done a lot of performance testing of OVN over time, but one major thing missing has been an apples-to-apples comparison with the current OVS-based OpenStack Neutron backend (ML2+OVS). I’ve been working with a group of people to compare the two OpenStack Neutron backends. This is the first piece of those results: the control plane. Later posts will discuss data plane performance. Control Plane Differences The ML2+OVS control plane is based on a pattern seen throughout OpenStack. There is a series of agents written in Python. The Neutron server communicates with these agents using an rpc mechanism built on top of AMQP (RabbitMQ in most deployments, including our tests). OVN takes a distributed database-driven approach. Configuration and state is managed through two databases: the OVN northbound and southbound databases. These databases are currently based on OVSDB. Instead of receiving updates via RPC, components are watching relevant portions of the database for changes and applying them locally. More detail about these components can be found in my post about the first release of OVN, or even more detail is in the ovn-architecture document. OVN does not make use of any of the Neutron agents. Instead, all required functionality is implemented by ovn-controller and OVS flows. This includes things like security groups, DHCP, L3 routing, and NAT. Hardware and Software Our testing was done in a lab using 13 machines which were allocated to the following functions: 1 OpenStack TripleO Undercloud for provisioning 3 Controllers (OpenStack and OVN control plane services) 9 Compute Nodes (Hypervisors) The hardware had the following specs: 2x E5-2620 v2 (12 total cores, 24 total threads) 64GB RAM 4 x 1TB SATA 1 x Intel X520 Dual Port 10G Software: CentOS 7.2 OpenStack, OVS, and OVN from their master branches (early December, 2016) Neutron configuration notes (OVN) 6 API workers, 1 RPC worker (since rpc is not used and neutron requires at least 1) for neutron-server on each controller (x3) (ML2+OVS) 6 API workers, 6 RPC workers for neutron-server on each controller (x3) (ML2+OVS) DVR was enabled Test Configuration The tests were run using OpenStack Rally. We used the Browbeat project to easily set up, configure, and run the tests, as well as store, analyze, and compare results. The rally portion of the browbeat configuration was: rerun: 3 ... rally: enabled: true sleep_before: 5 sleep_after: 5 venv: /home/stack/rally-venv/bin/activate plugins: - netcreate-boot: rally/rally-plugins/netcreate-boot - subnet-router-create: rally/rally-plugins/subnet-router-create - neutron-securitygroup-port: rally/rally-plugins/neutron-securitygroup-port benchmarks: - name: neutron enabled: true concurrency: - 8 - 16 - 32 times: 500 scenarios: - name: create-list-network enabled: true file: rally/neutron/neutron-create-list-network-cc.yml - name: create-list-port enabled: true file: rally/neutron/neutron-create-list-port-cc.yml - name: create-list-router enabled: true file: rally/neutron/neutron-create-list-router-cc.yml - name: create-list-security-group enabled: true file: rally/neutron/neutron-create-list-security-group-cc.yml - name: create-list-subnet enabled: true file: rally/neutron/neutron-create-list-subnet-cc.yml - name: plugins enabled: true concurrency: - 8 - 16 - 32 times: 500 scenarios: - name: netcreate-boot enabled: true image_name: cirros flavor_name: m1.xtiny file: rally/rally-plugins/netcreate-boot/netcreate_boot.yml - name: subnet-router-create enabled: true num_networks: 10 file: rally/rally-plugins/subnet-router-create/subnet-router-create.yml - name: neutron-securitygroup-port enabled: true file: rally/rally-plugins/neutron-securitygroup-port/neutron-securitygroup-port.yml This configuration defines several scenarios to run. Each one is set to run 500 times, at three different concurrency levels. Finally, “rerun: 3” at the beginning says we run the entire configuration 3 times. This is a bit confusing, so let’s look at one example. The “netcreate-boot” scenario is to create a network and boot a VM on that network. The configuration results in the following execution: Run 1 Create 500 VMs, each on their own network, 8 at a time, and then clean up Create 500 VMs, each on their own network, 16 at a time, and then clean up Create 500 VMs, each on their own network, 32 at a time, and then clean up Run 2 Create 500 VMs, each on their own network, 8 at a time, and then clean up Create 500 VMs, each on their own network, 16 at a time, and then clean up Create 500 VMs, each on their own network, 32 at a time, and then clean up Run 3 Create 500 VMs, each on their own network, 8 at a time, and then clean up Create 500 VMs, each on their own network, 16 at a time, and then clean up Create 500 VMs, each on their own network, 32 at a time, and then clean up In total, we will have created 4500 VMs. Results Browbeat includes the ability to store all rally test results in elastic search and then display them using Kibana. A live dashboard of these results is on elk.browbeatproject.org. The following tables show the results for the average times, 95th percentile, Maximum, and minimum times for all APIs executed throughout the test scenarios. API ML2+OVS Average OVN Average % improvement nova.boot_server 80.672 23.45 70.93% neutron.list_ports 6.296 6.478 -2.89% neutron.list_subnets 5.129 3.826 25.40% neutron.add_interface_router 4.156 3.509 15.57% neutron.list_routers 4.292 3.089 28.03% neutron.list_networks 2.596 2.628 -1.23% neutron.list_security_groups 2.518 2.518 0.00% neutron.remove_interface_router 3.679 2.353 36.04% neutron.create_port 2.096 2.136 -1.91% neutron.create_subnet 1.775 1.543 13.07% neutron.delete_port 1.592 1.517 4.71% neutron.create_security_group 1.287 1.372 -6.60% neutron.create_network 1.352 1.285 4.96% neutron.create_router 1.181 0.845 28.45% neutron.delete_security_group 0.763 0.793 -3.93% API ML2+OVS 95% OVN 95% % improvement nova.boot_server 163.2 35.336 78.35% neutron.list_ports 11.038 11.401 -3.29% neutron.list_subnets 10.064 6.886 31.58% neutron.add_interface_router 7.908 6.367 19.49% neutron.list_routers 8.374 5.321 36.46% neutron.list_networks 5.343 5.171 3.22% neutron.list_security_groups 5.648 5.556 1.63% neutron.remove_interface_router 6.917 4.078 41.04% neutron.create_port 5.521 4.968 10.02% neutron.create_subnet 4.041 3.091 23.51% neutron.delete_port 2.865 2.598 9.32% neutron.create_security_group 3.245 3.547 -9.31% neutron.create_network 3.089 2.917 5.57% neutron.create_router 2.893 1.92 33.63% neutron.delete_security_group 1.776 1.72 3.15% API ML2+OVS Maximum OVN Maximum % improvement nova.boot_server 221.877 47.827 78.44% neutron.list_ports 29.233 32.279 -10.42% neutron.list_subnets 35.996 17.54 51.27% neutron.add_interface_router 29.591 22.951 22.44% neutron.list_routers 19.332 13.975 27.71% neutron.list_networks 12.516 13.765 -9.98% neutron.list_security_groups 14.577 13.092 10.19% neutron.remove_interface_router 35.546 9.391 73.58% neutron.create_port 53.663 40.059 25.35% neutron.create_subnet 46.058 26.472 42.52% neutron.delete_port 5.121 5.149 -0.55% neutron.create_security_group 14.243 13.206 7.28% neutron.create_network 32.804 32.566 0.73% neutron.create_router 14.594 6.452 55.79% neutron.delete_security_group 4.249 3.746 11.84% API ML2+OVS Minimum OVN Minimum % improvement nova.boot_server 18.665 3.761 79.85% neutron.list_ports 0.195 0.22 -12.82% neutron.list_subnets 0.252 0.187 25.79% neutron.add_interface_router 1.698 1.556 8.36% neutron.list_routers 0.185 0.147 20.54% neutron.list_networks 0.21 0.174 17.14% neutron.list_security_groups 0.132 0.184 -39.39% neutron.remove_interface_router 1.557 1.057 32.11% neutron.create_port 0.58 0.614 -5.86% neutron.create_subnet 0.42 0.416 0.95% neutron.delete_port 0.464 0.46 0.86% neutron.create_security_group 0.081 0.094 -16.05% neutron.create_network 0.113 0.179 -58.41% neutron.create_router 0.077 0.053 31.17% neutron.delete_security_group 0.092 0.104 -13.04% Analysis The most drastic difference in results is for “nova.boot_server”. This is also the one piece of these tests that actually measures the time it takes to provision the network, and not just loading Neutron with configuration. When Nova boots a server, it blocks waiting for an event from Neutron indicating that a port is ready before it sets the server state to ACTIVE and powers on the VM. Both ML2+OVS and OVN implement this mechanism. Our test scenario measured the time it took for servers to become ACTIVE. Further tests were done on ML2+OVS and we were able to confirm that disabling this synchronization between Nova and Neutron brought the results back to being on par with the OVN results. This confirmed that the extra time was indeed spent waiting for Neutron to report that ports were ready. To be clear, you should not disable this synchronization. The only reason you can disable it is because not all Neutron backends support it (ML2+OVS and OVN both do). It was put in place to avoid a race condition. It ensures that the network is actually ready for use before booting a VM. The issue is how long it’s taking Neutron to provision the network for use. Further analysis is needed to break down where Neutron (ML2+OVS) is spending most of its time in the provisioning process. |
The independent senator, who is a former soldier, asked the defence minister at Senate estimates on Wednesday whether she'd support a push to excuse Australian soldiers from elements of international law. "Does the minister agree," Lambie said, "with my call for her government to draft, support, and place a law before this parliament which pre-emptively pardons and absolves any serving or former ADF member accused of war crimes or breaches of the Geneva convention during their service in the fight against the Taliban and other Islamic extremists in the Middle East?" Lambie went on to explain her reasoning, suggesting Islamic extremists "do not follow Geneva conventions or any rules of war", and said the parliament could show its "extraordinary debt of gratitude" to Australian soldiers by exempting them from international law. It was revealed this week that Australian special forces were part of the Iraqi military's offensive to retake the city of Mosul from ISIS. Last week Australian commando sergeant Kevin Frost told ABC News he was ready to be "punished" for his role in an alleged unlawful execution in Afghanistan. The ABC News story revealed the Inspector General of the Australian Defence Force was conducting a "secretive and sweeping inquiry" into the conduct of Australian commandos in Afghanistan, including into possible breaches of Geneva conventions. Defence minister Marise Payne said the government would not entertain Lambie's idea for pre-exemptions for Australians soldiers. "Your proposition is not one I’d be agreeing with, in the context of this estimates hearing this morning," said Payne. |
smithter Profile Joined May 2011 Australia 34 Posts Last Edited: 2012-09-19 05:58:08 #1 Australian professional Starcraft II player, Jared "TtPiG" Krensel is moving to Korea for one month from the 7th of October 2012! TtPiG will be attending the IeSF 2012 World Championship, playing against some of the best players around the globe for a slice of the $4,300 AUD on offer. For more information on the competition and competitors, please go After the competition is over, TtPiG will be heading over to Bucheon, South Korea to live with Team PRIME in their gaming house. This will allow him to train as effectively as possible with some Starcraft II legends like MarineKing (Two time MLG winner) and Creator (WCS Korea Champion). Jared "TtPiG" Krensel commented: Australian professional Starcraft II player, Jared "TtPiG" Krensel is moving to Korea for one month from the 7th of October 2012!TtPiG will be attending the IeSF 2012 World Championship, playing against some of the best players around the globe for a slice of the $4,300 AUD on offer.For more information on the competition and competitors, please go here After the competition is over, TtPiG will be heading over to Bucheon, South Korea to live with Team PRIME in their gaming house.This will allow him to train as effectively as possible with some Starcraft II legends like MarineKing (Two time MLG winner) and Creator (WCS Korea Champion).Jared "TtPiG" Krensel commented: "I've had my eyes set on travelling to Korea for a while now. I've been eager to experience the evolved metagame and serious training environment. With so many big tournaments such as ACL, WCS and IEM taking place this year I hadn't been able to fulfil this goal, but now with qualifying as the Australian representative for IeSF in South Korea I've decided to extend my stay for 1 month after the tournament to train with Prime! Prime are one of the hardest working teams in Korea and I look forward to experiencing the skill of these players and their hard training regimen. I plan to adapt as quickly as possible to the Korean culture and with Primes method of training I believe I'll be able to take my play to a new level when I return. His manager and sponsor, Mayo had this to say: His manager and sponsor, Mayo had this to say: We have been discussing the idea of training in Korea for a while now and with the possibility of IeSF presented to us, we pounced on the opportunity to extend the visit and make the most of his travel. Alongside this, training in the PRIME house makes perfect sense. Not only are they also supported by Tt eSPORTS, but they have some of the best and hardest training players in the game. It's coming up to almost a year since we signed on TtPiG and since then he has proven a drive to succeed that we have not seen from any other gamer, we are happy to provide continued support to him in the future! During TtPiG's time in the PRIME house, you can expect to see multiple written and video blogs and possible streaming sessions whilst he trains. To keep updated on everything he is doing, please check out his social media below. And as always, thanks to all of his sponsors for making this trip a possibility: Tt eSPORTS, Facebook ~ Twitter ~ Stream ~ Fan Club During TtPiG's time in the PRIME house, you can expect to see multiple written and video blogs and possible streaming sessions whilst he trains. To keep updated on everything he is doing, please check out his social media below.And as always, thanks to all of his sponsors for making this trip a possibility: Tt eSPORTS, GIGABYTE Notebooks AVeRMedia and MWave.com.auFacebook ~ www.facebook.com/TtPiG Twitter ~ www.twitter.com/ttpig_sc2 Stream ~ www.twitch.tv/ttpig Ruscour Profile Blog Joined April 2011 5116 Posts #2 Awesome awesome awesome. JaYbOc Profile Blog Joined August 2010 Australia 96 Posts #3 SIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIICK GL pig! Can't wait to hear from you once you're over there. treeoo Profile Blog Joined December 2009 Australia 73 Posts #4 WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOT life is life ions Profile Joined July 2011 Australia 3 Posts #5 fuck yeah! good to see another aussie off to Korea. RPR_Tempest Profile Blog Joined February 2011 Australia 7627 Posts #6 Good luck! Soundwave, Zerg player from Canberra, Australia. @SoundwaveSC smithter Profile Joined May 2011 Australia 34 Posts #7 A quote from TtPiG on what it's going to be like in the house: The difference for me will be a few things. I will be able to play with sub ~30ms ping, which will allow me to develop my micro and multitasking. I will also have the help of much more experienced players then myself who are playing in a more evolved metagame with a higher understanding. Playing with these players, watching them play, and using basic communication (I'm learning some basic Korean vocab such as unit names) + english with the players that speak english, I will be able to gain a much higher understanding. The rate of learning is hugely accelerated in this environment because when I'm confused or lost about why I'm losing or why certain strategies aren't working I will have many fellow GSL level players to observe and ask for help. Even growing up playing sport I was never particularly good at learning techniques for martial arts, tennis or football by having them explained to me. I've always had much more success simply watching players better than myself and emulating and adapting upon their play. Lastly, I will have most of my meals prepared by the house, and I will have zero distractions. I won't need to worry about any of my responsibilities back home and will be surrounded by players practicing 12 hours a day. I envision my time there as an intensely focused period of training, training, exercise, training, and finally, more training. This is something it's hard to do at home where it's hard to find ways to improve your play. But will be my only option when immersed in this Korean progaming culture. Benjilol Profile Joined October 2010 Australia 244 Posts #8 gl Pig :D | Manager of Xeria Gaming | www.xeriagaming.com | inFeZa Profile Blog Joined June 2009 Australia 551 Posts #9 Awesome news! GL PIG! Starcraft 2 in-game Observer. Follow me twitter.com/infeza opterown Profile Blog Joined August 2011 Australia 42225 Posts #10 WOW nice gogo pig, hope you improve much! Moderator Retired LR Bonjwa StarStruck Profile Joined April 2010 24047 Posts Last Edited: 2012-09-19 06:58:38 #11 And... 1 month is like vacation time. You won't even get a chance to settle down. X_XAnd... During TtPiG's time in the PRIME house, you can expect to see multiple written and video blogs and possible streaming sessions whilst he trains. To keep updated on everything he is doing, please check out his social media below. during makes it even worse. If you want to write a blog perhaps you should do it after your stay because let's face it 1 month in Korea is nothing. You will get to know some of the players a little bit, but as for training and coming to grips to what they do and why they do it is a different story. At least you get to take in some of the culture. If any other guys want to check it out I recommend jumping in instead of checking how hot or cold the water is. You should go into it with the idea that you're going to try, stay and train there for as long as it takes and progress to the point where you reach your peak. during makes it even worse.If you want to write a blog perhaps you should do it after your stay because let's face it 1 month in Korea is nothing.You will get to know some of the players a little bit, but as for training and coming to grips to what they do and why they do it is a different story.At least you get to take in some of the culture.If any other guys want to check it out I recommend jumping in instead of checking how hot or cold the water is.You should go into it with the idea that you're going to try, stay and train there for as long as it takes and progress to the point where you reach your peak. naggerNZ Profile Joined December 2010 New Zealand 704 Posts #12 sub 30ms ping... LIVING THE DREAM! GLHF PiG Jetaap Profile Blog Joined November 2010 France 3251 Posts #13 Really nice and smart guy from what I've seen in interviews, good luck to you! MastaKilla Profile Joined May 2011 Scotland 23 Posts #14 Best of luck in korea! Opportunities multiply as they are seized. -Sun Tzu playLoud Profile Joined April 2012 United States 113 Posts #15 nice hipster glasses PiGStarcraft Profile Blog Joined December 2010 Australia 941 Posts #16 On September 19 2012 17:05 playLoud wrote: nice hipster glasses I had them before they were hipster :O I had them before they were hipster :O Progamer www.twitch.tv/x5_pig | pigrandom88@gmail.com | @x5_PiG | www.facebook.com/pigSC2 ManicMarine Profile Joined April 2011 Australia 388 Posts #17 PiG hwaiting! Manic by name, Manic by nature. KawaiiRice Profile Blog Joined May 2007 United States 2908 Posts #18 pig fighting more people need to know who this badass is @KawaiiRiceLighT playLoud Profile Joined April 2012 United States 113 Posts #19 On September 19 2012 18:04 ManicMarine wrote: PiG hwaiting! so you're a hipster of hipster glasses? so you're a hipster of hipster glasses? Jetaap Profile Blog Joined November 2010 France 3251 Posts #20 On September 19 2012 18:35 playLoud wrote: Show nested quote + On September 19 2012 18:04 ManicMarine wrote: PiG hwaiting! so you're a hipster of hipster glasses? so you're a hipster of hipster glasses? Oh you are so funny and orignal. Oh you are so funny and orignal. 1 2 3 Next All |
The video of the alleged scuffle between Indian and Chinese soldiers on the banks of Pangong lake in eastern Ladakh, posted online by Lt Gen Prakash Katoch (retd) on August 19, was visual confirmation of what had been reported about the incident that took place on Independence Day morning. Advertising A day before the video surfaced, the spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs had confirmed “an incident”, without going into details. The video, which the Army is yet to officially authenticate, shows unprecedented physical violence between the two sides — including kicking and punching, the throwing of stones, and the use of sticks and steel rods, leading to severe injuries. In normal course, the two patrols, after coming face to face, would have engaged in a “banner drill”, displaying a banner asking the other side to vacate its territory. This drill could last a few minutes to an hour — but barring some occasional jostling, the two sides would disengage quietly. That the Chinese chose to initiate violence against the Indians this time, can be linked to the state of heightened tensions between the two armies due to the two month-old standoff at Doklam on the Sikkim border. But why did this incident take place at Pangong Tso, 1,300-odd km west of Sikkim? What is Pangong Tso, and why is it important to the two sides? *** Advertising In the Ladakhi language, Pangong means extensive concavity, and Tso is lake in Tibetan. Pangong Tso is a long narrow, deep, endorheic (landlocked) lake situated at a height of more than 14,000 ft in the Ladakh Himalayas. The western end of Pangong Tso lies 54 km to the southeast of Leh. The 135 km-long lake sprawls over 604 sq km in the shape of a boomerang, and is 6 km wide at its broadest point. The brackish water lake freezes over in winter, and becomes ideal for ice skating and polo. The legendary 19th century Dogra general Zorawar Singh is said to have trained his soldiers and horses on the frozen Pangong lake before invading Tibet. The Line of Actual Control (LAC) cuts through the lake, but India and China do not agree on its exact location. As things stand, a 45 km-long western portion of the lake is in Indian control, while the rest is under China’s control. Most of the clashes between the two armies occur in the disputed portion of the lake. By itself, the lake does not have major tactical significance. But it lies in the path of the Chushul approach, one of the main approaches that China can use for an offensive into Indian-held territory. Indian assessments show that a major Chinese offensive, if it comes, will flow across both the north and south of the lake. During the 1962 war, this was where China launched its main offensive — the Indian Army fought heroically at Rezang La, the mountain pass on the southeastern approach to Chushul valley, where the Ahir Company of 13 Kumaon led by Maj. Shaitan Singh made its last stand. This was made memorable in Chetan Anand’s 1964 war film, Haqeeqat, starring Balraj Sahni and Dharmendra. Not far away, to the north of the lake, is the Army’s Dhan Singh Thapa post, named after Maj. Dhan Singh Thapa who was awarded the country’s highest gallantry award, the Param Vir Chakra. Maj. Thapa and his platoon were manning Sirijap-1 outpost which was essential for the defence of Chushul airfield. The award was announced posthumously for Maj. Thapa, as reflected in the citation, but he was subsequently discovered to have been taken prisoner by the Chinese. He rejoined his unit after being released from the PoW camp. Over the years, the Chinese have built motorable roads along their banks of the Pangong Tso. At the People’s Liberation Army’s Huangyangtan base at Minningzhen, southwest of Yinchuan, the capital of China’s Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, stands a massive to-scale model of this disputed area in Aksai Chin. It points to the importance accorded by the Chinese to the area. *** Even during peacetime, the difference in perception over where the LAC lies on the northern bank of the lake, makes this contested terrain. In 1999, when the Army unit from the area was moved to Kargil for Operation Vijay, China took the opportunity to build 5 km of road inside Indian territory along the lake’s bank. Last Tuesday’s skirmish took place in this area. The 1999 road added to the extensive network of roads built by the Chinese in the area, which connect with each other and to the G219 Karakoram Highway. From one of these roads, Chinese positions physically overlook Indian positions on the northern tip of the Pangong lake. The mountains on the lake’s northern bank jut forward in major spurs, which the Army calls “fingers”. India claims that the LAC is coterminous with Finger 8, but it physically controls area only up to Finger 4. Chinese border posts are at Finger 8, while Indian border posts are located close to Finger 3. On the water, the Chinese had a major advantage until a few years ago — their superior boats could literally run circles around the Indian boats. But India purchased better boats some five years ago, leading to a quicker and more aggressive response. Although there are well-established drills for disengagement of patrol boats of both sides, the confrontations on the waters have led to tense situations in the past few years. The induction of high speed boats has ostensibly provoked the Chinese, who have responded by increasing the number of transgressions in this area in recent years. *** Finally, if you go as a tourist to see the lake that the climax scene of Aamir Khan’s 3 Idiots made famous, will you be able to travel up to the Chinese border? Advertising No, because tourists are only allowed up to Spangmik village, around 7 km into the lake. In fact, tourists were not allowed at all at Pangong Tso until 1999, and even today, you need to obtain an Inner Line Permit from the office of the Deputy Commissioner at Leh. Scenes of Indian and Chinese soldiers allegedly clashing on the lake or on its banks will per force have to be limited to videos posted by retired generals. |
The political scientists Charles Franklin and Joshua Tucker have pushed back against my finding that the Ames Straw Poll, which was won by Representative Michele Bachmann on Saturday, is a good early indicator of success in the Republican primaries. Mr. Tucker notes that only two of the six candidates to have won the straw poll have gone on to win the Republican nomination (George W. Bush and Bob Dole, who tied for first with Phil Gramm in 1995). I have a couple of issues with this argument, versions of which are also common in the mainstream press. The most superficial point is that these statistics are meaningless in the absence of a control group. It’s true that just 33 percent of Republicans who won the straw poll went on to win the nomination. It’s also true that 9 percent of Republicans who did not win the straw poll won the nomination, a far lower success rate. But this doesn’t get at the heart of what these political scientists, particularly Mr. Franklin, are saying. We have plenty of other information about the standing of the candidates — for instance, statewide and national polls. Mr. Franklin’s argument is that once you’ve accounted for the candidates’ standing in national polls, also accounting for the winner of the straw poll won’t help you to make better predictions about the winner of the Republican nomination: The simple conclusion then is that there is no evidence that straw poll success increases the likelihood of winning the G.O.P. presidential nomination. Strong polling among Republicans nationally is far more powerful, even if certainly not a guarantee. Note that Mr. Franklin and I are talking about two different things. My point was that accounting for the straw poll helps you to predict the winner of the Iowa caucus. Mr. Franklin’s point is that it does not help you to predict the winner of the Republican nomination. These are essentially two ways in which these hypotheses might be reconciled with each other. The first is if what happens after Iowa introduces too much noise into the problem to provide for meaningful analysis. Here’s something to ponder, for instance. Does having a good batting average help a baseball team win the World Series? Well, sure it does. But suppose I told you that the last five teams to lead the major leagues in batting average have not won the World Series. (Which is true; the last counter-example was the Anaheim Angels in 2002). Would it then be correct to conclude that batting average is irrelevant? Of course not. It’s easy to demonstrate that batting average correlates with run scoring, that run scoring correlates with winning baseball games, and that winning baseball games correlates with winning the World Series. Therefore, batting average matters, Q.E.D. But each of those steps introduces a lot of noise. Maybe a team hits for a high batting average, but doesn’t have a lot of power. Maybe they have a good offense, but not a good pitching staff. Maybe they have both, and win 100 games during the regular season, but their closer gets the yips and blows a lead in Game 7. There is plenty of evidence that batting average matters — but it’s not the only thing that matters, and if you set up a study that demands to see proof of how this one little thing affects a much bigger and more complicated thing like winning the World Series, you’re liable to miss it. Likewise, if it’s true that winning the straw poll makes you more likely to win the Iowa caucus, that ought to mean, in the long run, that it makes you more likely to win the Republican nomination. Unless … winning the Iowa caucus is also irrelevant to winning the Republican nomination. Wait, could that really be? In fact, if Mr. Franklin had applied his methodology to the actual results of the Iowa caucus instead of to the straw poll, he’d have come to exactly the same conclusion. He could have written something like this: The simple conclusion then is that there is no evidence that success in the Iowa caucus increases the likelihood of winning the G.O.P. presidential nomination. Strong polling among Republicans nationally is far more powerful, even if certainly not a guarantee. This is a highly interesting and controversial hypothesis — much more interesting than anything having to do with the straw poll itself — so let’s take a couple of different approaches toward it. First, we can simply look at which candidates have won the Iowa caucus and which candidates led in national polls before the caucus, and compare their success rates in winning their party’s nomination. For Republicans, the national polls have been the better predictor, having called six out of the seven competitive nominations in the modern primary era correctly. By comparison, the Iowa caucus winner has taken four out of the seven nominations. The only time the leader in the national polls before the Iowa caucus failed to win the nomination was in 2007, when Rudy Giuliani flopped. But the caucus, won by Mike Huckabee that year, also got the nomination wrong. For Democrats, by contrast, there have been four occasions (1976, 1992, 2004 and 2008) in which the winner of the Iowa caucus differed from the leader in the national polls before the caucus. In three of those four cases, the Iowa caucus winner — not the leader in the national polls — went on to win the nomination, the exception being 1992, when the other Democratic candidates essentially conceded Iowa to a native son, Senator Tom Harkin. So our first cut is that the Iowa caucus is extremely important for Democrats, but not very important — maybe even unimportant — for Republicans. A better way to study this is to set up a research design like Mr. Franklin’s. In fact, we’ll look at several different variations on it. There are different ways to measure success in the primaries. One is to simply ask which candidate became the nominee. There’s nothing wrong with that — this is the point of the primary campaign, after all. But this throws away a lot of potentially valuable information: Hillary Rodham Clinton came quite close to winning the Democratic nomination in 2008, for example, while Mike Gravel did not. Particularly given the small sample sizes, our analysis may be more robust if we’re able to assign “partial credit” in these cases. So in addition to looking at the winners and losers, we’ll also look at two alternative measures of primary success: the share of the national popular vote each candidate received, and the number of state nominating contests they won. Likewise, in addition to looking at who won Iowa, we can also look at the share of the vote that each candidate received in the state. This gives us a total of six different model specifications: two combinations of inputs (an all-or-nothing variable indicating whether the candidate won Iowa or a continuous variable indicating how much of the vote they got) multiplied by three different ways to measure primary success. In each model, we’ll also include the candidate’s standing in the average of national polls conducted in the month prior to Iowa. Thus, the question that we’re asking is the same as Mr. Franklin’s: does performing well in Iowa matter above and beyond what the national polls tell us about the race? The chart that follows below is a bit technical, but consists of the t-statistic associated with the Iowa variable in a set of linear regression analyses using each of these six model specifications. If the t-statistic has a value close to zero, that means that Iowa doesn’t have a statistically significant effect (above and beyond what we already know from the national polls). If the t-statistic is highly positive (or highly negative), that means that it does. For Democrats, all of the t-statistics are large and positive, indicating high degrees of statistical significance. In other words, Iowa matters and provides us with salient information that is not available from the national polls. This holds even if you include (as I do) the unusual case of 1992. But for Republicans, there is no statistically significant effect from Iowa. In some of the models, the effect of Iowa is positive but not quite statistically significant. In others, it’s actually negative (although also not to a statistically significant degree). This stands in contrast to New Hampshire. If we perform the same series of tests on the New Hampshire primary (using national polls conducted between Iowa and New Hampshire where they are available, or all polls in the month prior to New Hampshire where they aren’t), we find high degrees of statistical significance in all but one of the Republican models, as well as in all cases for the Democrats. So is Iowa just a sideshow for Republicans? Does the real action not start until New Hampshire? Certainly, journalists should keep in mind that the classic examples where a candidate used Iowa as a springboard to win the nomination all come from the Democratic side of the ledger: Jimmy Carter in 1976, John Kerry in 2004, and Barack Obama in 2008. And they should know that if Ms. Bachmann wins the Iowa caucus next year, it would hardly be unprecedented if that proved to be the high point of her campaign. But I think it’s sophomoric to conclude, as a narrow reading of this evidence might, that Iowa does not matter at all for Republicans. First, that the effects of Iowa are so strongly statistically significant for Democrats may be of some meaning. Yes, the parties are quite different from each other, but the sum of the structural factors that give Iowa its meaning (for instance, that performing well there leads to favorable news media coverage) are common to both parties. Second, if you exclude the case of the 1992 campaign (in which the elder George Bush won the Iowa caucus uncontested), a Republican’s share of the vote in Iowa is a statistically significant predictor of their vote in New Hampshire, even if national polls are also accounted for. And, as we’ve found, New Hampshire does matter for Republicans. Third and relatedly, there is some evidence of a bounce in national polls for Republican candidates after winning Iowa. Unfortunately, we only have four years’ worth of data to look at for this (1976, 1980, 2000, 2008) because I can’t find any national polls conducted between Iowa and New Hampshire in the other years. But in those cases, the Republican candidates that won Iowa saw their standing in national polls improve by an average of 8 percentage points. Although there is a lot of variance from year to year — the elder Bush and John Kerry got huge Iowa bounces, for instance, while other candidates got almost none — the 8-point bounce for Republicans is similar to the 7-point average bounce that Democratic winners of Iowa have achieved on average. But there is one important factor that makes Iowa a problem state for Republican candidates — and perhaps does greatly reduce its importance. The state’s caucus electorate is extraordinarily conservative, an outlier even by the standards of a conservative party. Just 12 percent of Republican caucusgoers in 2008 identified themselves as moderate or liberal, by far the lowest percentage of any state in which exit polling was conducted. By contrast, 45 percent of Republican voters in New Hampshire identified as moderate or liberal, one of the highest shares. So ordinarily, it’s going to be very difficult for the same Republican to win both Iowa and New Hampshire. In fact, this has only happened twice in the modern primary era: in 1976 and in 1992, when a Republican incumbent president was receiving a primary challenge and carried both states. But every time that the nomination has been open, there have been different winners. Often it hasn’t been close: the Iowa winner was well behind in the running for New Hampshire and vice versa. That doesn’t mean that there isn’t a bounce from Iowa — but it may not be enough to put the candidate over the top. Perhaps if Ms. Bachmann wins Iowa, she’ll finish in third place with 17 percent of the vote in New Hampshire, whereas if she loses Iowa, she’ll finish in fourth place with 10 percent. Neither of those results are likely to help her sustain her momentum. She could regroup with a win in South Carolina (hardly a bad strategy: it worked for George W. Bush in 2000 and Barack Obama in 2008). But Iowa is more of a threshold test for a conservative candidate — performing there is necessary but not sufficient to win the Republican nomination — than a leading indicator of success elsewhere. The candidate who might have had the most to gain by winning Iowa was Tim Pawlenty — both because up-and-coming candidates tend to get larger Iowa bounces than familiar names, and because Mr. Pawlenty was a more plausible winner of New Hampshire than someone like Ms. Bachmann. But Mr. Pawlenty, evidently, was not sufficiently conservative to win Iowa: in a straw poll in which the two relatively moderate G.O.P. candidates (Mitt Romney and Jon M. Huntsman Jr.) were barely participating, he could manage just 14 percent of the vote. This was the lesson of Ames. |
If you hang around native people long enough, you’ll probably hear references to white paper, and it might have you scratching your head. The trick is to capitalise the words. They’re talking about THE White Paper. Now, that still won’t clarify much for you. A White Paper is essentially a federal government policy document, presented by a Minister. It is intended to “state and explain the government’s policy on a certain issue.” (there are Green papers and Blue books too btw.) White papers are often persuasive in nature, intended to mark a shift in policy before any legislation is actually enacted. They are put out to literally stir the waters, and to see what public reaction is likely to be, though the planning stages have already been fleshed out fairly thoroughly. Unsurprisingly, the notorious document being discussed is a very specific one. The White Paper of 1969, officially titled, “Statement of the Government on Indian Policy”. It was put out by then Minister of Indian Affairs, Jean Chrétien. Okay, so why the grim faces when anyone mentions the White Paper? Well look. There are a lot of places you can go to read a quick synopsis of what the White Paper was suggesting. I don’t intend to rewrite all that, though I will excerpt its main points from the UBC page (good links in there too!): “…the white paper proposed to: Eliminate Indian status Dissolve the Department of Indian Affairs within five years Abolish the Indian Act Convert reserve land to private property that can be sold by the band or its members Transfer responsibility for Indian affairs from the federal government to the province and integrate these services into those provided to other Canadian citizens Provide funding for economic development Appoint a commissioner to address outstanding land claims and gradually terminate existing treaties It causes grim looks, because it was grim business. Couched in terms of ‘equality’ and ‘dignity’, it proposed to pave over the colonial history of Canada and pretend none of it happened, or mattered. It would be the final assimilationist move of a government intent on doing away once and for all what Duncan Campbell Scott called the “Indian Problem“. In response, Harold Cardinal and the Indian Chiefs of Alberta published what was dubbed the Red Paper (ha, get it?) in opposition, also known as “Citizens Plus“. Again, I don’t want to go into exhaustive details as to what it had to say, when there are excellent summaries and even classroom worksheets to explore these two Papers. The White Paper was scrapped. The reason I don’t want to get into it further than this, is that it’s ancient history, right? That was 1969, and this is now. Things have completely changed! We’ve got Constitutional rights now, there’s been an apology for Residential Schools and the High Arctic Relocation, and all sorts of things. The 60s and 70s were different times, friends. Let bygones be bygones. Wait a minute, that doesn’t sound like you at all… You’re right, and I’m sorry. Sometimes I let my sarcasm get the better of me. Okay, I’ll be up front about this. The reason I’m talking about the White Paper right now, is because of the proposed First Nations Property Ownership Act (FNPOA) discussed recently by Pam Palmater. I think that people need to take another look at the 1969 White Paper and ask themselves whether there has actually been change in the rhetoric being used. Take a look at this stirring speech used to introduce the FNPOA: To be a First Nations person is to be a human, with all a human’s needs and abilities. To be a First Nations person is also to be different. It is to speak different languages, draw different pictures, tell different tales and to rely on a set of values developed in a different world. Canada is richer for its Aboriginal component, although there have been times when diversity seemed of little value to many Canadians. But to be a First Nations person today is to be someone different in another way. It is to be someone apart – apart in law, apart in the provision of government services and, too often, part in social contacts. To be a First Nations person is to lack power – the power to act as owner of your lands, the power to spend your own money and, too often, the power to change your own condition. Not always, but too often, to be a First Nations person is to be without – without a job, a good house, or running water; without knowledge, training or technical skill and, above all, without those feelings of dignity and self-confidence that a man must have if he is to walk with his head held high. All these conditions of First Nations people are the product of history and have nothing to do with their abilities and capacities. Aboriginal relations with other Canadians began with special treatment by government and society, and special treatment has been the rule since Europeans first settled in Canada. Special treatment has made of First Nations people a community disadvantaged and apart. Obviously, the course of history must be changed. To be a First Nations person must be to be free – free to develop Aboriginal cultures in an environment of legal, social and economic equality with other Canadians. Now wait a damn minute, I actually clicked on the link to the 1969 White Paper, and that quote is from the introduction to it! Oops, caught me. You’re right, I copied and pasted the opening statement from the White Paper, changing some of the terminology from “Indian” to more politically accepted terms like “First Nations” and “Aboriginal”. I admit it. I also apologise if it seemed as though I was suggesting Thomas Flanagan spoke those words. What he actually said was: Call it assimilation, call it integration, call it adaptation, call it whatever you want: it has to happen. Much less elegant. Now that you’ve read it though, does it sound terribly different from present-day rhetoric? Well the White Paper dealt with much more than the privitisation of reserve land, so perhaps we should narrow the comparison somewhat. What you should really do is compare the “Indian Lands” portion of the White Paper with what the FNPO Initiative has to say. The two proposals are essentially the same. Now, it’s true that just because the wording is very similar in 2012 as it was in 1969, this does not mean that the FNPOA is about full on assimilation the way that the White Paper was. On the other hand, what lends credibility to the idea that this is exactly what it intends, is the fact that it is being championed and promoted by people who support exactly that. Remember Tom Flanagan? In that lovely book, “First Nations? Second Thoughts” he tells us what he really thinks in Chapter 1: indigenous peoples are just prior immigrants with no real rights (to the land or otherwise) ; European colonisation was inevitable and justifiable because of the “tremendous gap in civilization” between aboriginal peoples and Europeans; aboriginal peoples in Canada can’t have sovereignty because they didn’t achieve statehood recognisable to Europeans prior to contact; aboriginal peoples cannot have nations because they are just tribal communities and must remain subordinate; aboriginal government in practice “produces wasteful, destructive, familistic factions”; aboriginal title as currently defined is impossible to use in a modern economy; the historic treaties must not be re-evaluated; aboriginal people can only find prosperity by integrating into the economy “which means, among other things, a willingness to move”. There are plenty of refutations to all of these claims, but the point of this is to sketch out Flanagan’s approach to First Nations issues. Why am I harping on Flanagan? Well this fine fellow co-authored another book called, “Beyond the Indian Act: Restoring Aboriginal Property Rights” that Manny Jules (Chief Commissioner of the FNPO Initiative) wrote a forward to, and both men are great supporters (and co-architects perhaps?) of the FNPOA. That book reads a heck of a lot like both the White Paper and the discussion of the FNPOA…both of which basically assert that the only rights indigenous people should have…are private property rights. So pardon me if I’m skeptical in the extreme of a plan that was virulently opposed by First Nations when it was first proposed in 1969, a plan couched in western liberal notions of human dignity and freedom of choice just like it is today, 43 years later. Just because they found a First Nation face to slap on top of the FNPOA makes no difference when the attitudes are exactly the same. So let’s call this property rights-specific proposal what it really is: The White Paper Lite. A shorter version of this article was published on rabble.ca and HuffPo. |
A 21-year-old student from the UK has designed a cardboard bicycle that he has dubbed "the ultimate green machine." Supporting anyone up to 168 pounds, the frame, which costs around $6 to make, is made from the cardboard used in industrial packaging, whilst the wheels and chain are standard bike issue, and will cost around $24. Phil Bridge, who is studying Industrial Design, came up with the idea as he was researching reasons why people don't use pedal power to get around town. "A typical round town bike can cost several hundred pounds," says Mr Bridge. "That's a large investment for people who aren't sure whether they will use it. The idea of cardboard is to completely devalue the bike". Advertisement The bike is still at prototype stage, and Mr Bridge says he still needs to finalize the design. "The prototype does work but it is still quite limited and there are a few problems," he says. Rain, however, is not one of them, he claims. |
So how does a new coach fill the shoes of his legendary predecessor? He simply spends the next four decades building a legacy of his own. Phil Shultie, who will retire at the end of the season, capped his tremendous coaching career with a shocking upset of favored Smyrna Feb. 14 in the DIAA Dual Meet State Championship. It was Shultie’s second championship and a storybook ending to an incredible career. Sussex Central has only known two wrestling coaches in the program’s history, which dates back to Georgetown High School in the pre-consolidation era. Herm Bastianelli introduced wrestling at Georgetown High School in 1960 and continued his career through the consolidation of Georgetown and Millsboro high schools until retirement in 1976. Bastianelli won 156 in matches in that span, and he was named to the Delaware Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2000 and to the Delaware Sports Hall of Fame in 2003. A young Shultie was a wrestler on Bastianelli’s team from 1968 to 1971. After attending Appalachian State University, Shultie returned home and became the head coach of district rival Indian River. Joe Booth was a senior on the Sussex Central team in 1976, and he recalls the match with Indian River. “Herm Bastianelli took so much pride in seeing a former wrestler of his become a head coach of a program,” Booth said. After Shultie’s season as head coach at IR, Bastianelli passed the torch to Shultie. After four decades, Shultie ends his career where it began, as he coached his final home meet Feb. 8 versus Indian River. “I never really thought about it, but it was kind of neat to have my last home meet be against Indian River,” Shultie said. Shultie is Delaware’s all-time coaching leader with 432 victories. Shultie and his longtime assistant Chip Illian, who is also retiring, were honored Feb. 8. Sussex Central Principal Bradley Layfield, a former wrestler of Shultie’s, told the crowd, “Phil has outlasted 15 principals and nine athletic directors. When Phil started his coaching career, the price of a loaf of bread was 25 cents.” Illian has been Shultie’s assistant for 29 years. “It really hasn’t sunk in yet. It probably will in a couple of weeks, but it has been a wonderful ride,” Illian said. “I have been blessed with the kids that have come up through the program and the parents that trusted me to coach those kids.” An emotional Illian, standing in a hallway between the Golden Knights locker room and the gym, talked about how many people he has encountered as an assistant coach at Sussex Central. He said he is looking forward to the school hosting his final Henlopen Conference tournament in a couple of weeks. “I hope I have touched all of the people that I have had the privilege to meet during this ride as much as they have touched my life,” Illian said. Kevin Charles, a former wrestling official who also recently retired as the executive director of the Delaware Interscholastic Athletic Association, was on hand to bid Shultie and Illian farewell. “Forty years, now there is a lot of endurance there, and I can only think of a handful of coaches in Delaware that have lasted that long,” Charles said. Charles discussed his officiating days when he had many matside discussions with Shultie. The thing he respected about him was that it ended there. “One thing I can say about Phil is when the discussion was over, it was over. He didn’t carry it from match to match,” Charles said. Charles was equally as impressed with Illian’s longevity as an assistant coach. “The combination of Phil and Chip, 40 years and 29 years, is a sign of a great leader,” he said. “They surround themselves with good people, and that is what Phil has done, especially so with Chip.” The bleachers were full, with many of Shultie’s former wrestlers donning shirts with the slogan, “I wrestled for Shultie 1976-2017.” “It was really nice that so many people turned out to honor Chip and I,” Shultie said. “It is touching that they took the time to come out. The bleachers were full, and that was nice to see.” Standing at the edge of the mat where he has stood for 40 years, Shultie looked on as his team rolled up the blue and gold mat one last time. “This is it; I’m out of here. It is time for new blood to come in,” Shultie said. Shultie smiled and blew a kiss as the mats were removed from the gym floor. |
Donald Trump admires Vladimir Putin’s “strength” and “great control over his country.” So naturally, conservative supporters like Dinesh Dsouza, and many others, felt compelled to praise the effectiveness of the Russian strongman — especially when compared to Barack Obama. First of all, remember: when Trump’s con game is over, you’ll still be one of the people who defended an authoritarian thug. Then again, this growing Putin admiration among conservatives probably reflects two dynamics. The first, one we’ve seen on numerous fronts in this election, is the corrosive effect this Republican nominee has on the principles and long-held beliefs of conservatives, in general. Rationalizing your nominees’ inconsistencies isn’t unique. It’s conventional behavior from partisans in every election in every political party. What makes 2016 different is, 1) Conservatives outside find themselves outside their comfort zone, sometimes taking positions that contradict 40 years of philosophical positioning. 2) Trump’s stances don’t oscillate, they thrust in unknowable directions all the time — oftentimes more than once a day. Keeping up can make a partisan look more like a shady apparatchik. The second, far more concerning aspect of this trend is that Putin-love likely reflects a genuine (once-latent) shift among Republican voters. There’s a lot of talk about how “elites” and the ruling class have led the nation to a candidate like Trump. It seems to me that in many ways, Trump’s fans pine for their own muscular ruling class. Well, if you’re a fan of an unaccountable plutocrats, you’ll love Putin’s Russia. What @realDonaldTrump admires about Putin is the way Putin–unlike someone else we know–LOVES his country & FIGHTS for its interests — Dinesh D’Souza (@DineshDSouza) September 14, 2016 Some conservatives try to couch their appreciation of Putin’s potency in relativistic terms. You know: “He does what’s right for his country,” etc. Who are we to judge? But why would any allegedly freedom-loving conservative allow a dictatorial ruler to define what “love of country” means anywhere? Wouldn’t a conservative maintain that the genuine interests of any people is universal – to be freer and more prosperous, which in turn makes them safer and less bellicose? It’s also worth pointing out that Trump praised Putin’s “control” of his country, not his foreign policy. That’s something his defenders seem to ignore. Trump is helping normalize the idea that we need a strong president who gets things done — regardless of how he goes about it — rather than one who navigates through the messy, slow-moving swamp of republican governance. He’s not alone, of course. It’s basically a coarser version of Obama’s contention (no, I’m not saying Putin and Obama are the same) that he has a moral duty to circumvent the legislative process on issues he finds particularly important; or Tom Friedman’s notion (others share it) that the Chinese state should be praised for its commitment on climate change, no matter how it gets that done. Like a anyone else, there are Americans willing to embrace authoritian methods if it means forwarding their cause. Especially in the case of a national emergency — which is always. Putin’s an evil man. POTUS a good but incompetent man. Putin has served his country’s national interest better. https://t.co/6R2N0dajHM — Hugh Hewitt (@hughhewitt) September 9, 2016 Russia has a lot of order, but little freedom. No one has more “control” over his nation than Kim Jong-un. Crime rates as super-low, I hear. Things get done. There’s no political “obstructionism.” No doubt, other tyrants love their people and country deeply, too. No one has ever pursued the geopolitical goals of Moscow with more vigor and “strength” than Stalin. You know who else showed a lot of strength? Would we praise them as effective leaders or patriots? Or should Obama invade Canada to show how much he cares about American interests? Lots of expats up there, you know. Now, if you don’t believe Obama has pursued the right foreign policy (and I don’t), it’s not a violation of the Logan Act. That’s why we have elections. But was Obama was unable to conduct foreign policy because he lacked the “strength?” Because then we should celebrate. Obama abuses power enough. I’d hate to see what he or any other president would do with even more control. For example, Putin would never have to worry about asking the Senate to sign a self-destructive climate deal with China. Obama, despite all the fanfare, couldn’t get it done. Would conservatives admire him more if he found a way to make the climate deal binding and projected power and effectiveness? One hopes not. The oligarchs Putin has empowered to run Russia don’t help their people. Despite its wealth of natural resources, Russia’s per capita GDP sits right under that of Malaysia and right above that of Mexico. The Russian state feeds perpetual conflict that only benefits the powerful and is one of the hallmarks of fascism. We have to live with Russia, and we may even have to partner with Russia on occasion, but once we start praising human-rights-violating thugs, we risk becoming accessories to his power, and worse, even adopting some ugly ideas. |
Image caption There have been calls for more vocational training - but the report casts doubt on the apprenticeship policy The government's target to rapidly increase the number of apprentices risks being "poor value for money", says the Institute for Fiscal Studies. The think tank warns that it could devalue the "brand" of apprenticeships by turning it into "just another term for training". The government has a target of three million apprenticeships and is imposing a levy on employers to fund it. The Department for Education says standards are "rigorously checked". Report co-author Neil Amin-Smith says there is a "desperate need" for better vocational training - and the government's industrial strategy has emphasised the need to improve technical education. 'Wildly optimistic' But the report warns the government has "failed to make a convincing case for such a large and rapid expansion in apprenticeships" and warns of "wildly optimistic" claims for how much extra earnings could be generated by the investment in apprentices. The analysis from the IFS casts doubt on the use of public money in the apprenticeships drive, funded by an employers' levy being introduced this spring which is expected to raise £2.8bn by 2019-20. Image caption The apprenticeship levy will raise £2.8bn per year from employers The think tank warns that spending on apprenticeships will only increase by £640m, suggesting that most of the revenue raised will be spent elsewhere. The targets require an extra 600,000 apprentices per year, but the report says the incentives to hire apprentices could have the unintended consequence of deterring employers from paying to train their own employees. This could create "considerable risks to the efficient use of public money", says the study. There are also serious doubts about the wider impact. The study warns about the dilution of quality if other types of training are re-badged as apprenticeships. There is also a forecast that the cost of the employers' levy could push down wages for other workers. And the beneficiaries will not all be young school leavers - with the IFS report saying that almost half of the new apprentices are going to be over the age of 25. It also warns of a "cavalier use of statistics" in how the apprenticeships policy has been developed, which could undermine an otherwise "perfectly sensible case for a gradual expansion of apprenticeships". Labour's shadow skills minister Gordon Marsden said: "Rushing to hit a three million target without sorting out the quality or increasing the proportion of apprenticeships under the age of 25 means they risk failing to deliver the long-term skills strategy we need." A Department for Education spokeswoman said: "Quality is at the heart of all of our apprenticeship reforms. "We have introduced new apprenticeship standards which are developed by employers themselves and rigorously checked and taken steps to protect the term apprenticeship from misuse helping us to achieve our target of three million apprenticeship starts by 2020 and providing excellent value for money." |
WASHINGTON – Texas politicians on the Potomac and on the presidential trail reacted along anticipated partisan lines to Friday's U.S. Supreme Court's ruling legalizing gay marriage. Republicans generally denigrated the court's ruling that gay marriage is constitutional, while Democrats incorporated the word "love" into their official statements. Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry , a presidential contender, said he was "disappointed" with the ruling and "as president, I would appoint strict constitutional conservatives who will apply the law as written." U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz , the first candidate for the GOP nomination for president, said the gay marriage ruling puts religious liberty "front and center in the target of the federal government." He called it the "very definition of lawlessness. It is naked and unadulterated judicial activism." Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, a Texas native who's also running for the White House, said he believed "in traditional marriage" and that the court " should have allowed the states to make this decision." But, he added, "I also believe that we should love our neighbor and respect others, including those making lifetime commitments." San Antonio Democratic U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro said, "Today, love prevailed." His fellow House Democrat and former state House colleague U.S. Rep. Marc Veasey concurred, stating, " Though the fight for full LGBT equality in this country is far from over, today we celebrate that we are one giant step closer. Because love is love. |
It is a popular view these days. Many people have the impression that the Bible is simply an outdated book of fairytales and contradictions. “You can’t trust the Bible! It’s full of contradictions!” It is a popular view these days. Many people have the impression that the Bible is simply an outdated book of fairytales and contradictions. We are told that biblical stories are fine for children, and perhaps they even contain some moral value. “But, surely” says the critic, “such stories cannot be taken seriously in our modern age of science and technology.” The claim of contradictions is a serious allegation against the Christian worldview, and we must be prepared to defend the Bible against such claims. After all, the Bible speaks of floating ax-heads, the sun apparently going backwards, a universe created in six days, an earth that has pillars and corners, people walking on water, light before the sun, a talking snake, a talking donkey, dragons, and a senior citizen taking two of every animal on a big boat! On the surface, these things may seem absurd, particularly to those unfamiliar with the Christian worldview. But to make matters even worse, it is alleged that the Bible contains contradictions. That is, the Bible seems to say one thing in one place, and then the opposite in another. Which are we to believe? Obviously, two contradictory statements cannot both be true. While we might come to accept many of the peculiar claims of Scripture, a genuine contradiction cannot be true even in principle. It is not possible to have a sunny night, a married bachelor, dry water, a true falsehood, and so on. Thus, the claim that the Bible contains contradictions is a serious challenge indeed. For if the Bible has even one real contradiction, then it cannot be completely true. Yet the Christian asserts that the Bible is the Word of God and without error. The claim of contradictions is a serious allegation against the Christian worldview, and we must be prepared to defend the Bible against such claims. Logical vs. Psychological Problems Aside from the claim of contradictions, most objections to the Bible are not actually problems at all from a logical perspective. For example, suppose that someone claims, “The Bible can’t be trusted because it contains accounts of miracles, and miracles are clearly impossible.” This argument is not rationally sound because it begs the question. Clearly, an all-powerful God as described in the Bible would be capable of doing miracles. Thus, by merely assuming that miracles are impossible, the critic has already dismissed the possibility that the Bible is true. His argument is circular. The critic is essentially arguing that the Bible is false because the Bible is false. But if the Bible is true, then certainly it is not a problem for an all-powerful God to make the sun go backwards, to walk on water, to make a donkey talk, or to raise the dead. These things may seem counter-intuitive, but they are not illogical. They are merely a psychological problem for some. So, someone may subjectively feel that it is impossible for the sun to go backwards as suggested in 2 Kings 20:11 , but there is nothing illogical about an all-powerful God doing just that. To argue that something is impossible because it “seems” counter-intuitive is not rational. Just imagine a lawyer arguing that his client is innocent by saying, “Your Honor, I just really, really believe in my heart that he is innocent. I just don’t feel that he could have done it.” This is nothing more than a mere opinion; it is not evidence at all and would be a silly argument. Yet, people apply this same kind of thinking to the Bible. They essentially argue that the Bible cannot be true because it doesn’t “feel” right to them. Whenever someone asserts that miracles are impossible or that some biblical claim doesn’t “seem” plausible to him, he is essentially just assuming that the Bible is false. These kinds of assertions need no refutation because they are not logical objections, merely psychological opinions. They simply tell us about the emotional state of the critic rather than presenting a genuine challenge to the Christian worldview. The Challenge of Contradictions But contradictions are different. If the Bible asserts a particular claim and also asserts a contrary claim, clearly they cannot both be true at the same time. If the Bible contains genuinely contradictory information, then it cannot really be completely true, since one of the two claims would have to be false. Thus, unlike mere subjective opinions about what is plausible, the claim that the Bible contains contradictions is a real challenge—one that Christians should take seriously. But what constitutes a contradiction? Most alleged biblical contradictions are not even “apparent” contradictions because there is no necessary conflict between the two propositions. For example, the statements, “Jesus is descended from Adam” and “Jesus is descended from Noah” are not contradictory since both are true. A contradiction is a proposition and its negation (symbolically written, “A and not A”) at the same time and in the same relationship. The law of non-contradiction states that a contradiction cannot be true: “It is impossible to have A and not A at the same time and in the same relationship.” The last part of this definition is crucially important. Obviously, A and not A could each be true at different times. And this resolves a number of alleged biblical contradictions. They could even be true at the same time if the relationship is different. Difference of Sense or Relationship Since words can be used in different senses, it is possible to have A and not A at the same time as long as the relationship or sense of the word is different. A man can be a bachelor and also married, in the sense that he is “married to his job.” This does not conflict with the fact that the bachelor is unmarried in the sense of not having a wife. There is no contradiction if the sense of the word differs. Some of the alleged Bible contradictions fall under this category. For example, it is claimed that James contradicts Romans on the topic of justification: It may seem counterintuitive that God is one in nature and three in persons, but there is no contradiction here. Romans 4:2–3 teaches that Abraham was justified by faith alone, not by works. However, James 2:21, 24 teaches that Abraham was justified by works and not by faith alone. Do we have a contradiction here? We do have A and not A at the same time, but the relationship differs. Romans 4 is teaching about justification before God; by faith alone Abraham was considered righteous before God. But James 2 is teaching about justification before men ( James 2:18 ); by works (as a result of faith) Abraham was considered righteous before men. There is no contradiction here. Along the same lines, the Trinity is sometimes alleged to be a contradictory concept: “How can God be both one and three?” But upon inspection we can see that there is no contradiction because the relationship differs. The Bible teaches that God is one in one sense, and three in a different sense. Specifically, there is one God ( Isaiah 45:5–6, 18, 22 ), and yet there are three persons who are God: the Father ( Galatians 1:1 ), the Son ( John 20:31 ), and the Holy Spirit ( Acts 5:3–4 ). It may seem counterintuitive that God is one in nature and three in persons, but there is no contradiction here. The Trinity may be a psychological problem for some people, but it is not a logical problem. False Dilemma Some alleged contradictions of the Bible are presented as a dilemma: “Was the Bible given by inspiration of God as indicated in 2 Timothy 3:16 or was it written by men as indicated in other passages ( Luke 1:3; John 21:24 )?” The implication is that only one of these can be true, and so, the Bible must contain errors. But this is the fallacy of the false dilemma because there is no reason why the Bible cannot be both inspired by God and also written by men. God used men to write His Word ( 2 Peter 1:21 ). Another example of a false dilemma is when two words or names are synonymous: Is Reuben the son of Jacob ( Genesis 35:22–23 ), or the son of Israel ( Genesis 46:8 )? Both are true because Israel is Jacob. Contextual Considerations Some examples of alleged contradictions commit the fallacy of taking the text out of context. For example, Genesis 1:1 indicates that God exists and has made everything. Suppose someone argued that this contradicts Psalm 14:1 in which we read “there is no God.” But to suppose that this is a contradiction would be absurd, since the excerpt from the Psalms is out of context. In context, Psalm 14:1 teaches that “The fool has said in his heart, ‘There is no God.’” When the context is considered, there is no contradiction at all. We must remember that the Bible records statements and events that it does not endorse. Clearly, we must endeavor to honor the author’s intentions whenever we study any work of literature. The Bible is no exception. Historical narrations should be taken in the normal (literal) way. Poetic passages in the Bible should not be pressed beyond their intention. Prophetic sections that use a lot of verbal imagery should be taken as such. Figures of speech in the Bible should not be taken as anything other than figures of speech. No, the earth does not literally have pillars, or corners, but it does figuratively. Even today a person may be considered a “pillar of the community,” and we still sometimes use the “four corners of the earth” as a reference to the cardinal directions. To suggest that such passages are teaching a flat earth is unwarranted, and commits the fallacy of taking the text out of context. There are places where the Bible uses language of appearance, where something is described as it appears from a human perspective. Obvious examples are where the Bible mentions sunrise and sunset. When we examine the context of such verses it is clear that the authors are not advancing an astronomical model; they are talking about sunrise and sunset (or the direction thereof: east and west respectively) in the same sense that we do today. It would be fallacious to pull such verses out of context to argue that the Bible is teaching that the sun goes around the earth in a Newtonian physics sense. Fallacy of Sweeping Generalization There are a number of places where the Bible speaks in terms of generalizations—things that are usually (but not universally) true. The book of Proverbs contains many of these. It is not a contradiction to have some instances where the general rule does not apply. Therefore, we must be careful not to commit the fallacy of a sweeping generalization—applying a general principle as if it were a universal rule. The Proverbs are not intended to be taken as universal rules, but rather as general principles that work most of the time. Moreover, the Bible also contains things that are indeed rules, but that have acceptable exemptions. Clearly, the Bible teaches that it is wrong to kill, and yet understandably makes exceptions for self-defense, punishment for certain extreme crimes, and during battle. Exceptions to a general principle or exemptions to a rule are not contradictions and thus pose no challenge to the Christian worldview. Translational Issues Another difficulty arises due to the fact that most of us read the Bible in a different language than the original. This allows for the possibility of translational issues. One example of confusion that can arise due to translation is found in John 21:15–17 . Here Jesus asks Peter three times, “Do you love me?” Peter replies three times that he does love Jesus. In English translations, one word is used for love in all instances, and so, the conversation seems strange. However, in Greek, two words for love are used. When Jesus asks if Peter loves Him, He uses the word agape—intending a selfless, Godly love. However, when Peter answers he uses the word phileo—intending brotherly love. Although love is a perfectly correct way to translate both of these words, some of the subtlety of the original is lost in English versions. It is often helpful to consult several different versions of the Bible to see the range of possible interpretations. In some instances the correct English translation of a word is disputed. In such cases, it is often helpful to consult several different versions of the Bible to see the range of possible interpretations, or to consult a Hebrew/Greek lexicon. Recall that we should always attempt to honor the intentions of the author, and in many cases this entails a careful study of the word or phrase in question. It would be disingenuous to accuse the Bible of a contradiction in an English translation when there is no contradiction in the original language. Additionally, there are very slight variations in ancient manuscripts of the Bible. Although none of the ancient variants differ in any essential way, some do contain differences of numbers, spelling, and an occasional word or phrase. In most cases, it is easy to tell from context which variant is the original. Variations in ancient manuscripts that are clearly copyist errors should not be taken as the intention of the author, since the author is not responsible for transmission errors. The consistent Christian does not claim that a miscopying of scripture contains no errors—only that the original manuscripts contained none, since they were divinely inspired. Therefore, an alleged contradiction can be dismissed if the ancient manuscripts do not contain the error. Contradictions of Inference Nor are contradictions of inference a genuine problem for the Christian worldview. A contradiction of inference is where we merely infer a contradiction that the text does not actually state. As one example, we might ask, “Where did Mary and Joseph take Jesus after Bethlehem?” Matthew 2:13–15 indicates that they went to Egypt to be safe from King Herod. However, Luke 2:22, 39 indicates that they took the child to Jerusalem (only a few miles from Bethlehem) and then to Nazareth after that. There is no mention of Egypt in Luke’s account. Is this a contradiction? Although we might infer that both Matthew and Luke are describing the same time period and the same visit to the Bethlehem region, the text does not actually state this. Perhaps Matthew is describing a second journey to Bethlehem (or possibly one of the surrounding regions); in fact the visit of the wise men may have been as much as two years after the birth of Christ according to Matthew 2:16 . So, it may be that Joseph and his family went to Nazareth a few months after the birth of Christ in Bethlehem and then to Egypt after their second trip to the Bethlehem region. Although this is only one possibility, the point is that there is no necessary contradiction between Matthew 2 and Luke 2 . Any apparent conflict exists only in the mind, not in the text. Another contradiction of inference is what we might call the X and only X fallacy. This occurs when a reader erroneously assumes that a number stated in the Bible (X) indicates only X and not more. As an example, consider the account of the demon-possessed man recorded in Mark 5:2–16 and Luke 8:26–37 . According to Matthew 8:28–34 , there were two men who were demon-possessed. Does this conflict with Mark and Luke? We might be inclined to infer from Mark and Luke that there was only one man, but the text does not actually say this. So, to call this a contradiction is to commit the X and only X fallacy. After all, if there were two men, then it must also be true that there was one man (as well as one other man)! The fact that Mark and Luke do not mention the other man is interesting. Perhaps one man was much more violent or otherwise noteworthy than the other; we can only speculate. In any case, Mark and Luke do not say that there was only one man; therefore, there is no contradiction here. Contradictions of inference tell us that we have incorrectly imagined the details that were not provided by the text. They are not problems with the Bible because such contradictions exist only in our speculations, not in the biblical text. We must always be careful about drawing dogmatic conclusions from things the Bible does not actually state. Factual Contradictions and Begging the Question Another type of criticism might be called an apparent factual contradiction. In this case, rather than claiming that the Bible contradicts itself, the critic alleges that the Bible contradicts a well-established fact. There are two types of alleged factual contradictions, and both turn out to be fallacious. The first type comes from a misreading of the text. This could stem from any of the fallacies already listed. A word could be taken in the wrong sense; a verse could be taken out of context; there could be a translational or manuscript dispute; or something could be assumed to be a teaching of scripture when in fact it is only an inference by the reader. An example of this type of alleged factual contradiction is the claim that the Bible teaches that the earth is stationary, which contradicts the fact that the earth moves around the sun. In this case, the biblical passages (such as Psalm 93:1, 96:10 ) have been taken out of context. These are poetic passages indicating the world has been established by God and will not deviate from His plan. These poems are not attempting to develop an astronomical model, and say nothing about physical motion. In fact, the Psalmist also says, “I shall not be moved.” ( Psalm 16:8 ). Clearly the author does not intend that he will be physically stationary—rather he means that he will not deviate from the path God has created for him. In the second kind of alleged factual contradiction, the critic has understood the biblical text properly, but is confused about what the external facts actually are. In this case, secular beliefs are assumed to be facts that are beyond question. Examples include: the big bang, evolution, a billions-of-years timescale, naturalism, and the secular order of events. The Bible does indeed contradict all of these things, but the critic merely assumes that it is the Bible that is wrong. He then argues that since the Bible contradicts these “facts,” it must be wrong. But this is the fallacy of begging the question. The critic has simply assumed that the Bible is wrong (by assuming the secular claims are true), and then uses this to argue that the Bible is wrong. This is nothing more than a vicious circular argument. The Law of Non-contradiction—a Problem for the Non-Christian The critic asserts that the Bible is false because it contains contradictions. Perhaps the most intriguing aspect of this claim is that it actually backfires on the critic. The reason is this: only if the Bible is true, would contradictions be unacceptable! Most people simply assume the law of non-contradiction; they take it for granted that a contradiction cannot be true. But have you ever stopped to think about why a contradiction cannot be true? According to the Bible, all truth is in God ( Colossians 2:3; Proverbs 1:7 ), and God cannot deny (go against) Himself ( 2 Timothy 2:13 ). So, it makes sense that truth cannot go against itself. Since the sovereign, eternal God is constantly upholding the entire universe by His power ( Hebrews 1:3 ), the Christian expects that no contradiction could possibly happen anywhere in the universe at any time. The universal, unchanging law of non-contradiction stems from God’s self-consistent nature. But, apart from the Bible, how could we know that contradictions are always false? We could only say that they have been false in our experience. But our experiences are very limited, and no one has experienced the future. So, if someone claimed that he or she has finally discovered a true contradiction, the non-Christian has no basis for dismissing such a claim. Only in a biblical worldview can we know that contradictions are always false; only the Christian has a basis for the law of non-contradiction. The Bible tells us that all knowledge comes from God ( Colossians 2:3 ), and when we reject biblical principles, we are reduced to foolishness ( Proverbs 1:7 ). We see this demonstrated in the critic who tries to use God’s laws of logic to disprove the Bible. Such an attempt can only fail. The law of non-contradiction is a biblical principle. Therefore, whenever anyone uses that law as a basis for what is possible, they are tacitly assuming that the Bible is true. The critic of the Bible must use biblical principles in order to argue against the Bible. In order for his argument to be meaningful, it would have to be wrong. Summary and Conclusions In this article, we’ve seen that many criticisms of the Bible are not even alleged contradictions, but mere opinions about what is possible. These are not logical problems for the Bible; they are simply psychological problems for the critic. A contradiction would be “A and not A at the same time and in the same relationship.” Many alleged biblical contradictions have been asserted. But, in most cases, we find that A and not A are not at the same time, or are used in a different sense or relationship and are thus not contradictions at all. The critic sometimes presents a pair of biblical principles as if they were two mutually exclusive options, when, in fact, this is not the case—a false dilemma. In other instances, we find that the words or phrases have been taken out of context: poetic passages taken hyper-literally, figures of speech not taken as such, or language of appearance taken as a Newtonian physics. Sometimes critics commit the fallacy of sweeping generalization: taking a general principle as if it were universally true, or taking a rule as if it had no exceptions. Some alleged contradictions are nothing more than a translational or manuscript issue; the original text contains no contradiction at all. Additionally, a number of contradictions are merely erroneous inferences: they exist only in the mind of the critic, not in the biblical text. One in particular that occurs frequently is when the critic assumes that a number (X) means “only X” when the Bible does not state this. Also, the Bible is sometimes alleged to conflict with an external “fact.” A number of these claims stem from a misreading of Scripture. In other cases, the critic has simply assumed that the Bible is in error when it contradicts a particular belief. In doing so, the critic has committed the fallacy of begging the question. Perhaps most significantly, we have shown that any claim of alleged contradiction actually confirms that the Bible is true. This is because the law of non-contradiction is based on the biblical worldview. When the critic accepts that a contradiction cannot possibly be true, he has implicitly presumed that the Bible must be true. So, when someone alleges that the Bible cannot be trusted because it contains contradictions, we might turn the question around and simply ask him, “If the Bible is not true, then why would contradictions be wrong?” If the Bible were not true, there would be no basis for saying that contradictions are always false; thus, the critic could not argue that the Bible must be false for allegedly containing them. But if the Bible is true, then it cannot have contradictions. Thus, alleged contradictions really cannot possibly be a problem for the Bible—even in principle. Nonetheless, it is appropriate to be aware of some of the most frequently cited claims of contradictions and to understand the details of why such claims fail when we understand the context. This will serve to confirm that the Bible does not contain contradictions; it is true in its entirety. Alleged contradictions turn out to be nothing more than fallacious reasoning of the critic. Essentially, all of the claims addressed in this web series fall under one of the categories listed above; but it is helpful to see each one fleshed-out, lest we be accused of skirting the hard questions. |
We're teaming up with the Vancouver Humane Society to bring you a holiday potluck opportunity. Fear not! We will follow all fire safety regulations regarding proper egress. We'll be relaxed and comfortable, with plenty of room to move around and socialize! To ensure this, only those registered here will get in. Therefore, your name must be on the list if we have 120 registered in order to be safe. We ask that you come with good cheer and a dish to share that can allow 8 people to take a big serving spoon sized scoop. Please ensure your dish has no animal products so that everyone from omnivore to vegan can partake. Please do not bring any dishes with eggs or cheese or fish or gelatin. If that sounds challenging to you, Whole Foods or Choices have many ready made options to choose from. Please bring an ingredient list so people can see what is in your food. There will be prizes for the best appetizer, best entree, best dessert and best raw dish. We require many volunteers to make this event go off in a well organized smooth manner. Please indicate in your RSVP if you would like to volunteer and if so, for which area: 1. Entrance table 2. Ushering and mingling and welcoming 3. Food tables 4. Set up 5. Decorating 6. Clean up |
A village in the Chilaw district of western Sri Lanka experienced a bizarre meteorological event when 110 pounds of small fish rained down from the heavens during a storm. On average, the fish were between three and five inches long and, to the delight of some villagers, edible. Many of the fish were still alive after their brief airborne adventure as opportunistic locals gathered them off the streets and tossed them into water buckets for eventual consumption. Although the raining fish phenomenon sounds like something from the imagination of Gabriel Garcia Marquez or Paul Thomas Anderson, there's a scientific explanation for what occurred. As Steve Cleaton, a forecaster at BBC Weather Centre, explains, "In the Sri Lankan storm, a tornado probably formed over land, drifted over river systems or coastal waters, and sucked up light fish that were lifted all the way into the base of the storm cloud. Later, the fish were rained out of the cloud." Reports have noted that this isn't the first time such events have occurred in Sri Lanka; 2012 saw a "prawn rain" in the south of the country. |
NSA Boss Pretends He Doesn't Know Anything About Wikileaks from the yeah,-right dept STEPHANOPOULOS: The final point that Pierre made, the question about some government officials are asking whether WikiLeaks is a legitimate journalistic organization or an enemy of the state, where do you come down on that? ALEXANDER: I have no opinion on WikiLeaks. I really don’t track them. I don’t know — I really don’t know who WikiLeaks are, other than this Assange person. Here's a tip to the NSA: if you're going to, at least make those lies sound somewhat believable. The latest is that General Keith Alexander, the director of the NSA, was asked a question about Wikileaks while on TV, leading to the following exchange Of course, this comes out at about the same time as the federal government confirmed that several government agencies are still investigating Wikileaks . To think that the NSA would not be a part of that is somewhat unbelievable, especially given their mandate forsurveillance and anything that might lead to terrorism. While I think it's ridiculous that people think Wikileaks helped terrorists in any way, that has been the position stated by many in the government, so it's almost certain that the NSA is involved in any such investigation. Filed Under: keith alexander, nsa, wikileaks |
ACT Government audits toilet paper stock for fear of theft, estimates reveal Posted The ACT Government has revealed it counts exactly how much toilet paper is being used in public bathrooms and by some of its staff amid concerns it is being stolen. The odd details were explained during a budget estimates hearing after a member of the committee raised concerns public servants were stealing millions of dollars worth of Territory assets. The director of City Services, Fleur Flanery, told the hearing it was something the directorate watched for. "Quite recently I was quite concerned that toilet paper was going missing and so we do regularly audit down to how much is bought, how much is consumed both in public toilets and also all the depots," Ms Flanery said. It followed allegations raised by Liberal MLA Alistair Coe about the large-scale theft of Government property from the Territory and Municipal Services (TAMS) directorate. "I think it's well known across TAMS that a lot of people call TAMS 'Bunnings' because stuff goes missing," Mr Coe said. "People have told us that perhaps millions of dollars of portable and attractive assets have gone missing in recent years and especially items that may not be deemed to be portable and attractive but are small scale all the same." The Government describes portable and attractive assets as those under $5,000 in value, but susceptible to theft for personal use or resale, including computers, mobile phones, hardware and stationery. Mr Coe offered no evidence for the claims, but denied he was attempting to attack the Government. Ms Flanery said while no specific concerns had been raised with her, she conceded it was of ongoing interest. "There has been an internal audit into small and attractive items. It is something that has been a matter of long-standing concern when you're managing lots of items," Ms Flanery said. The Municipal Services Minister, Meegan Fitzharris, also was not aware of any issues, but said her directorate would check its register to ensure all items were accounted for. "I have confidence they will be," Ms Fitzharris said. Topics: local-government, government-and-politics, canberra-2600, act |
Syrian Opposition Twitter Accounts MENA Observer Blocked Unblock Follow Following Apr 11, 2017 Many opposition groups provide a link to their Twitter accounts in their media — for example, Sham Legion. Twitter is a key social media platform for opposition groups, along with Telegram, Facebook and Youtube. Most groups have a presence on the platform posting battlefield updates and news, in addition to many opposition leaders, fighters, civil organizations and activists. These accounts are often a valuable source of information regarding developments on the ground and behind the scenes. The majority of official opposition group accounts post in Arabic. However, larger groups may have counterparts publishing in different languages. For example, Jaysh al-Islam operate accounts posting in over 10 different languages, including Japanese and Indonesian. This list is, of course, a work in progress. Feel free to contact me if you think something is missing. Islamist Opposition Groups Jihadist groups Free Syrian Army Euphrates Shield The narrow strip of land controlled by Turkish-backed forces as part of the now ended Euphrates Shield operation is a safe haven for FSA groups (credit: @FSAPlatform) Free Syrian Army groups in the SDF Operation Rooms/Coalitions Local councils, humanitarian organizations and civil bodies and media Syria Civil Defense, more commonly known as the White Helmets, is one civil organization well-established in Twitter, with over 102,000 followers on their main account. Independent Faction-affiliated Local media Activists/Activist Groups and Journalists Activists from Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently have previously been caught and executed by the so-called Islamic State. Opposition News Networks/Media Centres Official Opposition Bodies |
As promised, representatives of Education Voters of Idaho complied with a judge's order Wednesday afternoon by disclosing campaign finance reports with the Idaho Secretary of State's Office. Until now, the group's donors remained anonymous despite spending more than $200,000 on a statewide advertising campaign advocating the controversial Students Come First package, better known as the Luna Laws. Top contributors to the pro-Luna Laws effort include $200,000 from New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, and $250,000 from Joseph B. Scott, chairman of the board of the J.A. and Kathryn Albertson Foundation. Also included on list was $5,000 from Simplot (through the report doesn't indicate whether the donation was from the Simplot family or the J.R. Simplot Company), $25,000 from Wyoming anti-tax activist Foster Friess, $10,000 each from Intermountain Gas Company and Idaho Forest Group, $5,000 from 13D Research (listing a Virgin Islands address), $2,500 from Blackfoot-based engineering company Premier Technology, $2,500 from Boise-based radioactive waste service provider US Ecology Inc. and $1,000 from Boise-based firearms distributor GSA Direct. A full list of donations and expenditures was submitted to Secretary of State Ben Ysursa (see the full report below). The Students Come First initiatives face voter approval or rejection on the Tuesday, Nov. 6, election ballot in the form of Propositions 1, 2 and 3. educationsvotersidaho2.pdf educationvotersidaho.pdf educationvotersidaho3.pdf |
The best thing about Sunday's midseason finale of "The Walking Dead," the series' last new episode until February: While it leaves you wanting more, it also provides some satisfying, if heartbreaking, closure on a couple of season two's big plots. Specifics on which storylines would be to spoil what is a great viewing event, so, given the holiday season, far be it from us to play Grinch on your TV fun. But it's spoiling nothing to say that the tension between Dale and Shane, Rick and Hershel, Glenn and Maggie and Shane and Lori bubbles up — and over in a couple of cases. Read more: 'The Walking Dead': Is Shane a Hero or a Villain? — and an Episode 4 Preview (Video) Add in the dilemma of the walkers in Hershel's barn and the continuing search for MIA kiddie Sophia, and the episode ends with a bang. Literally. "The Walking Dead" airs Sunday at 9/8c p.m. on AMC. Related Articles: 'The Walking Dead' A to Z: From Andrew Lincoln to, Duh, Zombies 'The Walking Dead': Sex and Drugs and Barn Zombies — and a Preview (Video) |
As an LDS missionary in South America, I once knocked on the door of a staunch catholic. At least that is how he described himself as he hurriedly explained why he wasn’t interested in our message. I had heard this same excuse from others many times before. But this particular man sticks out in my memory because of something else he said. Just before slamming the door shut, he blurted: “Look, I don’t believe in the Virgin; I don’t believe in the Saints; I don’t believe in the Pope; I don’t even believe in Jesus or God! But I was born Catholic and I will die Catholic!” In recent years, a number of Mormon intellectuals have been spreading the meme that what matters in the church is not correct belief (orthodoxy) but correct practice (orthopraxy). In other words, like the Catholic contact I met years ago, they believe that it doesn’t really matter if you believe in the principles and doctrines that the leaders of the church teach. So long as you conform to the practices that the church can easily measure, such as paying tithes, obeying the dietary restrictions of the Word of Wisdom, attending church meetings, and holding regular family night, then you are a good, faithful Mormon and beyond reproach, even if you spend your time on the internet, and elsewhere, trying to convince others to adopt unorthodox beliefs that are clearly contrary to church teachings and leaders. Let’s call this “Orthopraxy” meme what it is: Pharisaism. Those who practice Mormonism after this fashion are modern Mormon Pharisees. Despite the fact that it is the conservative members of the church who are more often labelled “Pharisees” for their perceived rigid insistence on conformity to church teachings, it is this liberal cafeteria mode of Mormonism that matches more closely to the doctrine of the Pharisees. Contrary to popular modern assumptions, in many respects the Pharisees were not the conservative, entrenched church hierarchy we often envision. It was the conservative Sadducees who were the wealthy, aristocratic, and priestly class that clung stubbornly to scriptural literalism. Politically the Pharisees were by comparison the more liberal populists, receiving more support from the common people and having a more democratic sentiment. The Pharisees were the intellectuals and scholars. Unlike the Sadducees, they believed in a continuously expanding understanding of the scriptures based on ongoing intellectual debate between rabbis and continual analysis and arguments, as well as “oral Torah” traditions and the precedents of previous debates. The Talmud’s Pharisaical declaration that “”A learned mamzer takes precedence over an ignorant High Priest” is echoed by their modern intellectual heirs who insist, contrary to President Packer, that the intellect is far, far greater than the mantle. Were there righteous Pharisees? Yes, of course. Jesus condemned the Pharisees of his time not for being intellectuals but for being hypocrites. The word hypocrisy comes from Greek roots related to “stage acting”. Hypocrisy is about putting on a show; it is “feigned belief.” The Pharisees were not condemned for their rigid insistence on conformity to church teachings, as common modern accusations against faithful Mormons would imply. All of the competing contemporary groups of the time were also legalistic and rigid regarding following the law, including the followers of John the Baptist who earned Jesus’ approbation. It was the fact that the Pharisees insisted on conforming rigidly to the open, visible religious practices while in secret rejecting the Lawgiver himself and conspiring to have him unjustly put to death that made them truly hypocritical. In practice they had a form of godliness (orthopraxy) but they didn’t actually believe in the power thereof (orthodoxy). We all fall into the kind of hypocrisy where our private actions conflict with our public statements. This is often a hypocrisy of weakness, where our actions do not always conform to our verbal statements of belief; not because our belief is not sincere, but because in our imperfection we fall short of that sincere belief. The Pharisees were clearly guilty of this kind of hypocrisy, and in that sense we are all Pharisaical. But those who advocate “orthopraxy” as a mask for unbelief are endorsing a systematic hypocrisy in which they knowingly go through the motions of belief before men, to give the appearance of belief, when they do not in fact believe. That is truly Pharisaical in a way that true believers can never achieve. And like their ancient spiritual progenitors, modern Pharisees often try to justify themselves using legalistic technicalities: technically, they believe the Book of Mormon is “inspired” because “inspired” means something more nuanced than what most believers mean…; technically they believe Joseph Smith is a prophet, because a prophet is something more broad than most believers understand; technically they believe the church is “true” in the sense that…. Even in their “orthopraxy” they use technicalities to claim belief: they gave about 10% directly to a charity of their choosing instead of the church, so technically they are a “full tithe payer”; since the Word of Wisdom says people should eat meat sparingly, and people who eat a lot of meat answer the temple recommend question about obeying the Word of Wisdom in the affirmative even though they clearly don’t obey all of what it says, they also technically can say they obey the Word of Wisdom, even though they regularly drink coffee or alcohol; technically, Faith is the same thing as Doubt because Faith means that you don’t know for sure, and not knowing is technically doubting…. This is the same technicality-game played by bright children and rebellious teens with their parents in which they conveniently vacillate between ambiguity and an absurd degree of literalness to achieve a technical win: “You said I couldn’t GO play with my friends, you didn’t say that THEY couldn’t COME HERE to play with me!” “I didn’t bite her, I pinched her with my teeth!” They aren’t really fooling anyone. Getting off on a technicality isn’t the same as being innocent, and they know it. To make these kinds of pettifogging justifications, they employ a Reductionist approach in which they try to break Faith down into oversimplified, singular, analyzable steps and definitions; linear hoops through which they can jump, the sum of which supposedly amount to “Faith.” But Faith is more than the sum of its apparent parts. It is not reducible. This is the exact error that the Pharisees made. They tried to reduce Faith into orthopraxy; a multitude of strict hoops through which they jumped as an alternative to real Faith. And just as faith without works is dead, works without faith are dead. Modern revelation makes this concept of “dead works” explicit. If you show me your faith by your works when you don’t actually have faith, then you are being Pharisaical. Where does this leave those who do not yet believe, but are trying to get a testimony through action? Clearly even Jesus taught that if you want to know if the doctrine is of God, you have to do it to find out. And Alma taught that you plant the seed in order to see if it grows. In fact, all our beliefs almost always come about through action. The confirmation comes through action. What if a person does not believe in God and so they attempt to pray to find out if God exists? Isn’t this also “orthopraxy” without “orthodoxy”? Why isn’t this also hypocritical? The difference lies in the fact that the Pharisee is going through the motions in order to maintain an appearance of belief to other people, or at least certain other people. The Pharisee’s goal isn’t to increase his belief, but to legitimize and maintain his unbelief while reaping some kind of benefit associated with belief. The searcher, on the other hand, does not claim to believe, but is honestly seeking belief through action. It’s the difference between dishonestly pretending to be what you are not and honestly attempting to become more than you are. The seeker isn’t going to feign belief or quibble about technical belief in order to get a calling, or receive a temple recommend, or keep family peace. The seeker isn’t looking to influence the Church into changing to match her views, she is attempting to change her views to match those of the church by putting into practice what the church teaches. In his interview with PBS, Elder Holland made it clear that we aren’t going to kick people out of the church just because they do not believe in the historicity of the Book of Mormon. But he also warned that if they try to convert others to that view then they have crossed a line. Even then, he says, the church tries to be patient, but that patience is an act of charity, not acceptance. It’s still apostasy. And the church is exhibiting patience with apostasy motivated by love, not tolerance for a different kind of acceptable faithfulness. “But, they have fervent testimonies of the Atonement of Jesus!” I hear some remonstrate. “They are good people.” These things are equally true of many Catholics and Protestants I know and it doesn’t make them Mormons. I have no problem with my Catholic and Protestant friends who want to hang with us Mormons, come to church, participate in activities, and basically participate to the full extent any non-member can. They may even come to hold Joseph Smith in a favorable light, and consider the Book of Mormon to be inspired after a fashion. But that doesn’t make them Mormons either. So let’s resist this new Mormon Pharisaism and aspire to real faith; to be real, believing Latter-day Saints and not Mormons in Practice Only. And to those who do not yet believe: aspire to believe; yearn to receive a personal witness and act upon that yearning with integrity. Let us strive to have not only the form of godliness but also the power thereof. UPDATE: Please see my comments in the conversation below where I address some of the immediate criticisms of this post, as well as some of the more common criticisms I have seen elsewhere. My comments are here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here. |
President Donald Trump may be doing his darnedest to undermine an investigation of his campaign's alleged ties to the Russian government, but his Department of Justice isn't backing off its pursuit of a Kremlin-backed Ukrainian oligarch. Billionaire Dmitry Firtash — linked to former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort — is fighting his extradition to Chicago on racketeering charges. Firtash has long argued that his 2014 arrest for allegedly running an international titanium racket involving Chicago-based Boeing was politically-motivated, claiming that the Obama administration was using him to punish Russian President Vladimir Putin for annexing Crimea from Ukraine. Currently free on bail in Austria after posting a $174 million bond, Firtash assembled an all-star team of U.S. lawyers including Clinton White House counsel Lanny Davis, former Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff and former U.S. Attorney Dan Webb. Webb in May urged U.S. District Court Judge Rebecca Pallmeyer to toss the case before Firtash is even brought to Chicago. Politicos in D.C. and Chicago are closely watching the case to see how aggressively it is prosecuted under the Trump administration. Firtash's business dealings with Manafort — outlined in a separate civil case in New York — may be of interest to federal investigators probing ties between Russia and the Trump campaign. So far, prosecutors in Chicago aren't backing off. They filed a whopping 115-page brief this week arguing that Firtash should be made to face justice in a Loop courtroom before he can try to have the case thrown out. Comparing Firtash's racket to the Mafia, prosecutors wrote, "Firtash and (his co-defendant Andras) Knopp have been identified by United States law enforcement as two upper-echelon associates of Russian organized crime; their prosecution will disrupt this organized crime group and prevent it from taking further criminal acts within the United States. They added, "this prosecution also takes aim at the corruption of foreign public officials, a concern that the Congress has identified as a threat to global security." The case, if it survives Firtash's challenge next month, promises to be a political hot potato for Trump's preferred next U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, John Lausch. kjanssen@chicagotribune.com Twitter @kimjnews |
Florida Pastor Forced to Flee Naked After Parishioner Finds Him in Bed With Wife Email Print Whatsapp Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin The Rev. O. Jermaine Simmons Sr., pastor of the popular Jacob Chapel Baptist Church in Tallahassee, Florida, who recently authored a book focused on issues of godly manhood, was sent running for his life last Tuesday after one of his parishioners found him in bed with his wife. A report from the Tallahassee Police Department acquired by The Christian Post said Simmons, 37, who is married with one child according to his church's website, was caught in bed with Claynisha Stephens, 34, by the woman's husband, Benjamin Stephens III. Both Claynisha and Benjamin are his parishioners. The pastor, according to the police report, declined to press charges against Claynisha's husband, but Claynisha has indicated in a sworn statement that she will be pressing charges against her husband. It was unclear on Monday afternoon if she had acted on that statement. Claynisha, who has been married for seven years, told police that she first met Simmons in 2014, but "they have been establishing a relationship" as of October 2016. Last Tuesday, she said, Simmons came over to the home she shares with her husband and their children so they could "talk over starting a business, patents and trademarks, and providing less fortunate kids with clothes and shoes." During the meeting, she said they started having sex. While they were engaged, her 6-year-old son's school was trying to get in touch with her to pick him up. Since she did not answer, the school reached out to the boy's father. Benjamin picked up their son and headed home only to discover his wife engaged with Simmons in their oldest daughter's bedroom. Benjamin reportedly screamed "I'm gonna kill him," and went to the couple's bedroom to retrieve a small handgun. On hearing the threat, the frightened pastor fled the couple's home naked without waiting to see what would happen. The enraged husband attempted to chase after the pastor but his wife stepped in front of him and begged him not to kill her lover in front of their son. She told police that her husband decided against shooting her because her son was present. She explained that she tried to gather the pastor's clothes to return them to him but her husband took the clothes and said he would drop them off at the church. Claynisha said her husband stated that he "should have shot Simmons and expose him." He also threatened to expose him on Facebook and show up at church on Sunday to "make a statement." She said she pleaded with her husband not to make a statement to the church because it would make their pastor "look bad." Her husband allegedly told her to "shut up" while still waving the handgun around but not directly at her. The frightened pastor had one of his other parishioners pick him up from where he was hiding and indicated that along with all his clothes, Claynisha's husband had taken his car keys, wallet, business keys and other personal effects. Police were eventually able to arrange for the return of the pastor's belongings. The Christian Post reached out to Jacob Chapel on Monday and was told that Simmons remained the pastor of the church. When asked if any action had been taken against him regarding the incident, an official who did not identify herself declined to comment. A former parishioner, who wished to remain anonymous, told CP that Simmons and his church had done a lot of good in the community prior to the incident. "Before this incident and that pastor — that church has done a lot of good throughout that community. [The church] helped people with bills, helped people find jobs, helped people get off drugs. There has been a lot of positive things done in this church," he said. According to the church's website, Simmons is the ninth pastor of the more than 80-year-old Jacob Chapel and he is also a fourth generation pastor and former public school teacher. Since his arrival at the church in 2005, more than "4,000 souls have been added to the Body of Christ and the local church." "Under Pastor Simmons' leadership, Jacob Chapel has literally fed the hungry, clothed the naked, ministered to those in prisons, and built houses for those without shelter. It is the message of the Cross, the death, the burial, and the resurrection of Christ from the grave which continues to fuel the fire that burns within this passionate preacher and teacher," the church said. In his new book I Need a Man published in 2016, Simmons offers a fresh, down-to-Earth perspective on the issues of godly manhood, mentoring, and identity. "You cannot know who you are, nor can you discover what you were called to do in this world outside of the context of your Creator — attempting to define mankind outside of a biblical context is like trying to understand an iPhone without Steve Jobs' input," he said. |
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