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Signup to receive a daily roundup of the top LGBT+ news stories from around the world Broadcasting watchdog Ofcom will not intervene over complaints at a BBC News interview with an anti-gay extremist who has supported the execution of HIV-positive gay men. Ofcom said today that its remit meant it was not able to assess the BBC’s decision to invite Stephen Green for an interview as broadcasters have editorial freedom. The news broadcast concerned gay singer Elton John’s decision to have a baby boy by surrogate mother. Mr Green’s interview appeared to be heavily edited. The watchdog may asses the content of programmes but said Mr Green’s segment did not contain “aggressive incitement or derogatory language” and was clearly marked as his own opinion. Mr Green said: “This isn’t just a designer baby for Sir Elton John, this is a designer accessory… [cut] Now it seems like money can buy him anything, and so he has entered into this peculiar arrangement…[cut] The baby is a product of it. A baby needs a mother and it seems an act of pure selfishness to deprive a baby of a mother.” Viewers have also complained directly to the BBC who has also rejected the complaints. But it is possible to complain directly to the BBC’s governing body, the BBC Trust. Unlike Ofcom, the BBC Trust has oversight of all editorial decisions made at the corporation and may assess not only what was broadcast, but why. In 2009, the BBC Trust upheld complaints by PinkNews.co.uk readers over homophobia during a programme broadcast in December 2008, while Ofcom did not. Almost 100 people complained to Ofcom about the BBC News interview with Mr Green last week. Those who complained were told by the body today: “Ofcom has no creative input into programmes. Broadcasters have editorial freedom in deciding who to invite to participate in programmes including news items such as this. We are therefore unable to comment on the BBC’s decision to include the brief interview with Mr Green in this segment. We can therefore only assess the actual content of the item. “We assessed the news report against Rule 2.3 of the Ofcom Broadcasting Code which requires broadcasters to ensure material that has the potential to offend to be justified in view of the context.” Ofcom said that the news article had a ” celebratory tone which was briefly countered by Mr Green”. It concluded: “Whilst we fully recognise that many consider Mr Green’s view to be naïve and archaic, we must acknowledge that he is entitled to hold it and these remarks (which were clearly signalled to reflect his own opinion and not the broadcaster) did not contain any aggressive incitement or derogatory language. “Consequently, we will not be recording a breach of Rule 2.3 of the Code on this occasion.” The BBC confirmed yesterday that viewers had made complaints directly to it, but has refused to release the number, citing “evidence of a lobby”. PinkNews.co.uk is asking those who complained to the BBC over the broadcast to email [email protected] with ‘BBC’ in the subject line. For details of how to complain to the BBC Trust, click here. Last night, BBC Newsnight broadcast an interview in which a guest used the word ‘poofter’. |
Corporate offshore outsourcing lobbyists are on a roll, going on talk shows and writing propaganda plants as articles. White papers are falling like snow where even labor economics equations are manipulated. Every day we hear pure statistical fiction and politicians tout corporate lobbyist provided talking points, even in GOP debates. Why? Corporations are demanding more immigration and foreign guest worker Visas to displace Americans, repress wages, technology transfer and offshore outsource further. There is No Labor Shortage in the United States. None, and that includes high skilled labor. In 2010, there were 3,531,000 computer & mathematical related occupation workers. Yet in 2008, there were 3,676,000. In just this occupational category alone, the United States is down 145,000 jobs, or -4%. The same is true for engineers and architects. In 2010 there were 2,619,000 people employed in these occupations, yet magically, in 2008, average, there were 2,931,000, another drop of 312,000 jobs, or -10.6%! The above numbers are yearly averages, from the BLS. By 2008, the great jobs slaughter was well underway. Realize the unemployment rate for professionals, those with college degrees in specialized areas should be below 2.2% for full employment. Clearly the above shows not only is there no worker shortage in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics, there are U.S. citizens needing a job. Below is the unemployment rate for all with Bachelor's degrees or better. You can see it's double what it should be. Then, below are some unemployment rates in STEM related careers for Q4 2010, the last data available. What we see are some unemployment rates for STEM professionals approaching the general population, including construction and fast food workers. Make no mistake, this latest "skilled" worker importation agenda is not about talent and rare skills. Corporations already have an unlimited amount of Visas, the O-1 type Visa, to bring in talent. The problem with this Visa is sponsors must prove the person actually has rare skills. That's why corporations do not mention it. A new Economic Policy Institute study spells it out, the J-1 and H-2B Visas are used to displace U.S. workers, in particular, young workers. There is no labor shortage in these occupations. In fact, quite the opposite – there are hundreds of thousands of unemployed construction, hotel, and landscape workers who are desperate to get back to work. And there are plenty of unemployed young workers who could be trained quickly to do these jobs. Allowing companies to bring in 200,000 guest workers through the J-1 Summer Work Travel and the H-2B programs to fill jobs that young unemployed U.S. workers need and are qualified to do, in the face of 17 percent youth unemployment, is absurd, and offensive. These programs should be abolished or suspended until the economy recovers. On H-1B Visas it's also business as usual with Americans fired, not hired and imported foreign guest workers, in the thousands, used instead. While the H-1B cap is reached for 2012, even the Business Insider can recognize most of these Visas are going to labor arbitraging body shops, who also, by the way, hire foreign guest workers instead of American workers. The lies about worker shortage are coming in fast and furious. Like most things bought and paid for in D.C., the few Congress representatives trying to do something for the U.S. worker come in all political flavors. While the house passed a backdoor green card increase, Senator Chuck Grassley put a hold on the bill in the Senate. Why? Because Americans are being displaced by foreign workers and there still are no protections for Americans. Longtime H-1B visa reformer Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) is blocking Senate action on a bill to eliminate per-country caps on employment-sponsored green cards because "it does nothing to better protect Americans." The bill, the "Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act" (H.R. 3012), which sailed through the U.S. House late last month on a 389-to-15 vote, eliminated per-country caps on employment-sponsored green cards. But Grassley, who has been fighting for major changes in the H-1B rules, didn't specify what changes he is seeking to the House bill. It's possible that he may be using the legislation to seek broader concessions in the use of all employer-sponsored visas, including H-1B. Grassley, the ranking Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, last week placed a "hold" on the bill, putting it in a procedural limbo that may sink this effort. College graduates cannot get jobs: "I'm frustrated," said Sergey Savrasov, 21. Savrasov recently graduated from UC Santa Cruz with degrees in computational mathematics and business management economics. He now works for a Davis moving company. Since the start of the recession, the number of new college graduates in California working as cashiers, office clerks, retail salespersons, bartenders, secretaries, child care workers, tellers and customer service representatives has jumped by 40 percent, or 12,000, according to a Bee review of census data. Make no mistake, corporate lobbyists run think tanks are spewing out economic fiction daily and they have gotten to almost all Presidential candidates to parrot their nonsense. No folks, increased immigration does not help the economy. It does line the pockets of multinationals and especially Indian offshore outsourcers. Infosys, a notorious Indian body shopper and user of H-1B Visas got the whistle blown on them and now they are coming under the eye of the Fed. Yes, this huge Indian body shopper is under criminal investigation for Visa fraud. Some displaced Americans got a spine and sued for discrimination after being displaced by H-1B foreign guest workers: Eighteen IT workers in California have filed a lawsuit against their former employer claiming they were replaced by H-1B workers from India and then laid off in violation of the state's anti-discrimination laws. In the lawsuit, the 18 workers say that IT managers at Molina Healthcare Inc. increasingly catered to the Indian workers while leaving U.S. workers, mostly security analysts and programmers who earned at least $75,000 a year, feeling excluded prior getting laid off last year. The lawsuit, filed in April in Los Angeles Superior Court against Molina, its CIO at the time, and Molina's outsourcer, Cognizant Technology Solutions, contends that over a period of several years the U.S. workers were marginalized as the IT department became dominated by Indian nationals. If you think immigrants bring money into the U.S., think again. There already exists a EB-5 Visa which doesn't contribute much, in fact for every $100 of increased foreign investment that year, the EB-5 program contributed about one penny. Additionally, there is a class action lawsuit against major high tech companies trying to fix wages of high tech workers. Seems they are in collusion on salaries, wages for techies. Our Senators are of course into the act to repress wages in STEM and introduced a bill in Congress to deny tech workers overtime pay. You'll hear campaign rhetoric about stabling a green card to the forehead of every foreign student. Well, that does sound like a disaster since college recruiters are flooding U.S. universities with foreign students, simply because it's profitable. Not a grand idea to turn our educational system into a green card machine. But when profits are on the line clearly policy makers could give a rats ass about what happens to U.S. students and their educational and career opportunities. Worse, when some of these body shops commit fraud, they simply go back to their home country. No justice involved. Reddy and Padma Allen owned a computer consulting firm that pulled in $450 million in city contracts since 2005. Earlier this month they walked away with $90 million of it. Their company, TechnoDyne, was named the number two minority owned firm by NJBiz, and Ernst & Young honored Padma Allen as last years entrepreneur of the year, according tro the New York Post. Two weeks ago the couple were called to appear before a grand jury to face questions about kickbacks to get CityTime contracts, and money laundering. In response, the pair boarded a jet for India and haven't been heard from since. If you hope there is a difference between Democratic and Republican political leadership on this issue, think again. Literally the two parties copy each others legislation. Or more accurately, they both introduce the exact same legislation written by the exact same corporate lobbyists behind the scenes demanding legislators flood the U.S. labor market in exchange for campaign cash. One of the ways lobbyists spin the great corporate controlled migration agenda is to claim either immigrants innovate or somehow create jobs. Let's just list some of the tricks used to come up with such spin. First, they refuse to acknowledge U.S. STEM workers are being displaced. Period. They literally set their worker substitution variables to zero in labor economics modeling equations, all to make things come out looking rosy. Since when one can just throw away part of a mathematical model to make it say whatever your corporate sponsors want it too is not only invalid, it's a brazen violation of scientific objectivity. Another spin technique is to claim people who came to the U.S. as infants are immigrants or equal to imported H-1B foreign guest workers on corporate controlled Visas. Sorry, for all practical purposes someone who has been living in the United States since childhood is a de facto American. Trying to make a jump from infants as a rationalization to import more foreign labor on guest worker Visas is truly fiction. One of my favorite disgusting bad science spin tricks is going through the U.S. patent database, looking at an inventor's last name, and deciding since that name looks kind a foreign, that inventor must be an immigrant. We cannot tell you how proud Yen Wang is to be misclassified as a foreigner when his great, great grandparents slaved away on the U.S. railroads. Finally, these same biased lobbyists, those with philosophies, trying to put their agendas and opinion into research spin, refuse to acknowledge the missed opportunities for U.S. workers. For example, if a U.S. woman engineer is discriminated against, pushed into sales and marketing fluff jobs instead of leading an R&D team, she won't have patents. If an American over the age of 35 is pushed out of his job, odds are he won't have patents. Filing patents costs huge money and usually only large corporations sponsor and pay for patents. On your own, you're just not going to whip out $50k of your own money every day to file a patent. What's the bottom line? There are plenty of opportunities for international talent in the United States, more than enough. But turning immigration into a slave trader's profit center is eroding not only U.S. worker's opportunities and careers, it's also hurting that very international talent. When Indian offshore outsourcing body shops grab the Visa applications, or slots to graduate school are filled up by foreigners, found by unscrupulous, for profit recruiters, not only does that deny opportunity to the real talented innovator who happens to be foreign, it also denied opportunity to that talented American who would have been a future inventor. How many Teslas are unemployed right now who could be innovating the next great technological shift and economic growth? We'll never know with corporate lobbyists and their paid biased spin machine drowning out all reason. |
[JURIST] Washington state legislators on Tuesday approved a bill to make college students who were brought to the US illegally by their parents eligible for need-based college financial aid. The legislation, called the Real Hope Act [text, PDF], was passed in the state’s House of Representatives by 75 to 22 votes with strong bipartisan support after nearly six years of campaigning. The new legislation includes $5 million in additional State Need Grant funding to help cover the approximately 1,000 undocumented immigrant students in Washington. The bill has been sent to Governor Jay Islee [official website], who has promised [statement] to sign it into law: “This is a landmark achievement for the 2014 session,” said the Governor in a statement. I appreciate the hard work of the legislators and students who have been working on this for so long and who helped pass this bill. I look forward to signing this bill and celebrating a big step forward for thousands of young Washingtonians.” Immigration laws [JURIST backgrounder] have became a hot button issue over the past few years when many states, Arizona being the first, passed laws giving their state and local officials more power to crack down on illegal immigration. In December New Jersey Governor Chris Christie [official website] signed a bill [JURIST report] that will allow undocumented students to be eligible for in-state tuition rates to attend state colleges. In April Oregon’s governor signed a bill [JURIST report] allowing undocumented immigrants to attend public universities at the same tuition rate as in-state residents. In March a judge for the US District Court for the Northern District of Georgia permanently blocked [JURIST report] a key provision in Georgia’s immigration law that criminalized knowingly transporting or harboring an undocumented immigrant during the course of any other crime. Last year Alabama Attorney General Luther Strange asked [JURIST report] the US Supreme Court to overturn a recent decision striking down provisions of Alabama’s controversial immigration law [HB 56, PDF]. In December 2012, Thrash lifted a preliminary injunction [JURIST report] blocking part of a Georgia immigration law that allows law enforcement officers to ask about immigration status when questioning suspects in criminal investigations. Thrash’s order was in line with an August ruling by the US Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, which upheld [JURIST report] that provision of the law, but it remains to be seen how police will enforce the provision. |
Reviews "Whether you are looking for a game for yourself, or something for the whole family, Squid Hero will appeal to everyone." - Press A 2 Join "For most players, I strongly recommend you pick up Squid Hero for Kinect." - ICXM.net "Once every thousand years when the 7 planets of a Alderon align, a decent Kinect game emerges from the darkness to shine a light of hope for Kinect owners."" - What's Your Tag "with Squid Hero for Kinect I feel the company has really gotten the whole hand gestures movement down perfectly." - Gamer Headquarters "... we can imagine kids having hours of fun without it being too hard to play or understand." - Xbox Exposed "When can your child enjoy a Kinect game? I'll tell you, with an enjoyable simple to explain experience with a funny recognizable character. Dear reader, that's Squid Hero for Kinect." - Life Is Xbox "2 player co-op but also competitive fun is where the game shines most." - Xbox: Game ON! "The Kinect controls were perfect and smooth, and it's definitely a solid Kinect game that deserves being checked out." - LaidBack Gaming "Squid Hero for Kinect merece cada uno de los céntimos que paguemos por él, es divertido y adictivo y eso sin duda es un elemento clave en este tipo de juegos." - Solo Xbox One |
A US man allegedly filmed himself having sex with his step daughter's corpse moments after shooting her in the head. Prosecutors say video confirms that Gregory R Graf, 53, murdered Jessica Padgett last month so he could have sex with her body, Philly.com reports. Authorities claim Graf, from Allen Township, Philadelphia, told officers that he was driven by desire when he allegedly shot 33-year-old Ms Padgett in the back of the head on November 21. Graf is also suspected of hiding Ms Padgett's body on his property, where he allegedly ran a marijuana-growing operation, while family and friends frantically searched for her. Northampton County District Attorney John Morganelli declined to detail the contents of the video, but reportedly confirmed it showed Graf committing a variety of sexual acts on the corpse. Mr Morganelli said he had allowed an "abuse-of-corpse" charge to be filed against Graf. However, as Ms Padgett was deceased at the time of the alleged sexual abuse, he cannot pursue the death penalty. Desecration of a corpse is not an aggravating factor in Pennsylvania, as opposed to sexual assault while a victim is alive. Jessica Padgett. (Supplied/Facebook) () © Nine Digital Pty Ltd 2019 |
Santi Mina's second-half goal gives Celta Vigo a slender advantage in their Copa del Rey last-32 tie against Athletic Bilbao. Celta Vigo have registered a 1-0 victory over Athletic Bilbao in the first leg of their Copa del Rey round-of-32 tie. The hosts were under pressure for much of the first half at the Balaidos, but stepped up their game after the restart, with Manuel Nolito going close twice in the opening 15 minutes of the second period. Bilbao then created two chances of their own after the hour mark but Iker Muniain was first thwarted by goalkeeper Alvarez Sergio Fernandez and then failed to hit the target. Celta eventually broke the deadlock on 71 minutes through Santi Mina, who collected a loose back-pass and made no mistake in slotting home from close range. The visitors could have restored parity in the final minute of normal time when Mikel Rico tried his luck with a long-range effort, but Fernandez made a good save. |
The poll comes after Bloomberg ordered the demonstrators removed from Zucotti Park. Poll: No to Bloomberg on Occupy A majority of New York City voters disapprove of the way Mayor Michael Bloomberg handled the Occupy Wall Street protesters. Fifty-one percent of New Yorkers said they disapprove of Bloomberg’s handling of the protests, while 42 percent approved, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released on Wednesday. Story Continued Below The poll comes several weeks after Bloomberg ordered the demonstrators removed from their encampment at Zucotti Park in downtown Manhattan. Bloomberg, who is still being mentioned as a potential third-party presidential candidate in 2012, has a steady general job approval rating, as New York City voters approve of him 49 percent to 42 percent, virtually unchanged from his rating in October. “New Yorkers like Mayor Mike personally and they sort of like his policies, but his job approval meanders far below those heady days late in his second term. Voters continue to think that he’s lost his focus in this third term,” said Maurice Carroll, director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute. On the Occupy movement, Republicans approved of Bloomberg’s conduct 50 percent to 48 percent, while Democrats disapproved 53 percent to 40 percent. Among independent voters, 51 percent disapproved and 41 percent approved. Men were more likely to disapprove of the mayor’s actions during the protests than women were. Men disapproved of the mayor 55 percent to 40 percent, while women disapproved of the mayor 47 percent to 44 percent. Meanwhile, the Police Department got a 50 percent to 46 percent approval to disapproval rating for its conduct during those protests. The poll was conducted Dec. 7-12 with a sample of 1,242 adults and a margin of error of plus or minus 2.8 percentage points. |
Dubai: In the latest scam targeting Dubai residents, con artists are now duping Internet users into believing that the Emirates National Oil Company (Enoc) is handing out a cash prize worth over Dh600,000. The scam, which was sent via e-mail, claims that it is a free lucky draw, as part of its international annual promotion in the fight against HIV/Aids awareness campaigns. The letter further states that eight lucky winners in this year’s draw won US$170,000. When contacted by Gulf News, Enoc confirmed that no such raffle draw exists. In the event when Enoc does offer promotions, the cash prize has always been in the currency of UAE dirhams. Dubai Police continuously carry out awareness campaigns to educate the public against scams, which includes the poplar line of “winning a cash prize.” Lt Col Omar Bin Hammad, Deputy Director of the Anti-Economic Crime Department, previously said that in most instances of fraud, the common practice is to swindle victims through email, SMS and social media. He said that anyone told they had won a prize should directly call the company who are allegedly giving it away. “Dubai is a transient city and many new people go in and out of the city and are not aware of this trick and so they become victims and lose money,” he said. How to keep safe online: Avail of your bank’s or cardholder’s fraud-protection services: 1. For Visa holders, cardholders are not held liable if their cards are lost or stolen. Make sure you have a Visa anti-fraud systems, such as Verified by Visa, a password that confirms customer identity while making online payments. Take note of Visa transaction alerts and never brush off any suspicious activity even if the transaction is Dh1. 2. Do business with reputable vendors. 3. Make sure your information is being encrypted. Secure sites usually have URLs that begin with “https:” and a padlock icon. 4. Be wary of emails requesting information. 5. Check your shopping app settings and privacy policies of websites before giving your information. 6. Check your statements, keep receipts of your purchases and compare them to your bank statements. Source: Visa, US Computer Emergency Readiness Team |
JERUSALEM — The United Nations special rapporteur for human rights in the Palestinian territories, Makarim Wibisono, submitted his resignation to the president of the Human Rights Council on Monday, citing Israel’s refusal to grant him access to the West Bank and Gaza. Mr. Wibisono assumed the post in June 2014, and his resignation will take effect on March 31. “I took up this mandate with the understanding that Israel would grant me access, as an impartial and objective observer,” Mr. Wibisono said in a statement, adding that he had made repeated written and verbal requests for access. Israel, which has long regarded the Human Rights Council as biased and deeply hostile to its interests, has refused to cooperate with some other council envoys, including those investigating the recent conflicts in Gaza. Emmanuel Nahshon, the spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said that Israel admired Mr. Wibisono’s personal integrity, but that “a lack of balance characterizes not only the mandate of the rapporteur but the conduct of the Human Rights Council as a whole.” |
The Carolina Panthers are in Dallas for a Thanksgiving Day game against the Cowboys. A win on Thursday afternoon would help give Cam Newton and Co. something else besides an 11-0 record to be thankful for: it's the first step toward clinching a playoff spot this weekend. The Patriots are in a similar situation, but they're not playing until Sunday night against the Broncos in Denver. New England can clinch both a playoff spot and the AFC East crown, which would be their 12th division title in the last 13 years. Let's start with a look at Carolina's situation. It's not entirely up to the Panthers. They need a little help elsewhere in the NFC. If the Buccaneers lose or tie the Colts and the Seahawks lose or tie to the Steelers, that would do it for the Panthers, guaranteeing them a playoff spot. Another potential scenario involves three other teams. A Vikings loss, a Cardinals loss and a Bucs loss or tie combined with a win for the Panthers would do it as well. Here are the scenarios for the Panthers this week: CAR win + SEA loss or tie + TB loss or tie OR CAR win + SEA loss or tie + ATL loss or tie OR CAR win + TB loss or tie + MIN loss + ARI loss OR CAR win + TB loss or tie + MIN loss + GB loss + ARI tie OR CAR win + TB loss or tie + MIN tie + GB loss + ARI loss OR CAR tie + TB loss + SEA loss OR CAR tie + TB tie + SEA loss + ATL loss If you're looking for the most likely scenario, it's probably one of the first two. The Cardinals are favored by 9.5 points against the lowly 49ers this week, so any scenario involving an Arizona loss is probably a stretch. The Colts are favored by 3 points over the Bucs, but Seattle is a 3.5-point favorite over the Steelers at the CLink. The Patriots can clinch the AFC East with a win over the Broncos this week and a Jets loss or tie against the Dolphins (New York is favored by 4.5 points). If New England ties, they'll need the Jets and the Bills to both lose or tie. If both the Jets and the Bills lose, that would be enough to give the Patriots yet another AFC East title. New England can still clinch a playoff spot even if they don't wrap up the division this weekend. If they beat the Broncos and the Chiefs lose or tie the Bills (Kansas City is favored by 3.5 points), they'll have it. They can also clinch with a Steelers loss and a Bengals loss. Here's the list of scenarios for New England to clinch: NE win + KC loss or tie OR NE win + PIT loss + CIN loss OR NE tie + NYJ loss or tie OR NE tie + KC loss + PIT loss OR NE tie + KC loss + HOU loss or tie OR NE tie + KC loss + IND loss or tie And here's what the Patriots need to clinch the AFC East: NE win + NYJ loss or tie OR NE tie + NYJ loss or tie + BUF loss or tie OR NYJ loss + BUF loss |
One of the more intriguing mysteries in the Apple ecosystem has been the question over what process the company would use for the A10X SoC, which is being used in the newly launched 2017 iPad Pro family. Whereas the A10 used in the iPhone was much too early to use anything but 16nm/14nm, the iPad Pro and A10X is coming in the middle of the transition point for high-end SoCs. 16nm is still a high performance process, but if a company pushes the envelope, 10nm is available. So what would Apple do? The answer, as it turns out, is that they’ve opted to push the envelope. The intrepid crew over at TechInsights has finally dissected an A10X and posted their findings, giving us our first in-depth look at the SoC. Most importantly then, TechInsights is confirming that the chip has been fabbed on TSMC’s new 10nm FinFET process. In fact, the A10X is the first TSMC 10nm chip to show up in a consumer device, a very interesting turn of events since that wasn’t what various production roadmaps called for (that honor would have gone to MediaTek’s Helio X30) Image Courtesy TechInsights Apple is of course known for pushing the envelope on chip design and fabrication; they have the resources to take risks, and the profit margins to cover them should they not pan out. Still, that the A10X is the first 10nm SoC is an especially interesting development because it’s such a high-end part. Traditionally, smaller and cheaper parts are the first out the door as these are less impacted by the inevitable yield and capacity challenges of an early manufacturing node. Instead, Apple seems to have gone relatively big with what amounts to their 10nm pipecleaner part. I say “relatively big” here because while the A10X is a powerful part, and big for a 10nm SoC, in terms of absolute die size it’s not all that big of a chip. In fact by Apple X-series SoC standards, it’s downright small: just 96.4mm2. This is 24% smaller than the 16nm A10 SoC (125mm2), and in fact is even 9% smaller than the A9 SoC (104.5mm2). So not only is it smaller than any of Apple’s 16nm SoCs, but it’s also about 20% smaller than the next-smaller X-series SoC, the A6X. Or, if you want to compare it to the previous A9X, Apple’s achieved a 34% reduction in die size. In other words, Apple has never made an iPad SoC this small before. One key difference here however is that the X-series SoCs have never before been the leading part for a new process node. It has always been iPhone SoCs that have lead the charge – A9 at 16nm, A8 at 20nm, A7 at 28nm, etc. This does mean that as a pipecleaner part, Apple does need to be especially mindful of the risks. If an X-series SoC is to lead the charge for the 10nm generation, then it can’t be allowed to be too big. Not that this has stopped Apple from packing in three CPU cores and a 12-cluster GPU design. Speaking of size, TechInsights’ estimates for area scaling are quite interesting. Based on their accounting, they believe that Apple has achieved a 45% reduction in feature size versus 16nm, which is consistent with a full node’s improvement. This is consistent with TSMC’s earlier statements, but given the challenges involved in bringing newer processes to market, it’s none the less exciting to actually see it happening. For chip vendors designing products against 10nm and its 7nm sibling, this is good news, as small die sizes are the rule for pretty much everyone besides Apple. A10X Architecture: A10 Enlarged Diving a bit deeper, perhaps the biggest reason that A10X is as small as it is, is that Apple seems to have opted to be conservative with its design. Which again, for a pipecleaner part, is what you’d want to do. Apple SoC Comparison A10X A9X A8X A6X CPU 3x Fusion (Hurricane + Zephyr) 2x Twister 3x Typhoon 2x Swift CPU Clockspeed ~2.36GHz 2.26GHz 1.5GHz 1.3GHz GPU 12 Cluster GPU PVR 12 Cluster Series7 Apple/PVR GXA6850 PVR SGX554 MP4 Typical RAM 4GB LPDDR4 4GB LPDDR4 2GB LPDDR3 1GB LPDDR2 Memory Bus Width 128-bit 128-bit 128-bit 128-bit Memory Bandwidth TBD 51.2GB/sec 25.6GB/sec 17.1GB/sec L2 Cache 8MB 3MB 2MB 1MB L3 Cache None None 4MB N/A Manufacturing Process TSMC 10nm FinFET TSMC 16nm FinFET TSMC 20nm Samsung 32nm We know from Apple’s official specifications that the A10X has 3 Fusion CPU core pairs, up from 2 pairs on A10, and 2 Twister CPU cores on A9X, all with 8MB of L2 cache tied to the CPU. Meanwhile the GPU in A10X is relatively unchanged; A9X shipped with a 12 cluster GPU design, and so does A10X. This means that Apple hasn’t invested their die space gains from 10nm in much of the way of additional hardware. To be sure, it’s not just a smaller A9X, but it’s also not the same kind of generational leap that we saw from A8X to A9X or similar iterations. Unfortunately TechInsights’ public die shot release isn’t quite big enough or clean enough to draw a detailed floorplan from, but at a very high level we can make out the 12 GPU clusters on the left, along with the CPU cores to the right. Significantly, there aren’t any real surprises here. TechInsights heavily compares it to the A9X and there’s good reason to do so. IP blocks have been updated, but the only major change is the CPU cores, and those don’t take up a lot of die space relative to the GPU cores. This is what allows A10X to be more powerful than A9X while enjoying such a significant die size decrease. As for the GPU in particular, Apple these days is no longer officially specifying whether they’re using Imagination’s PowerVR architecture in their chips. Furthermore we know that Apple is developing their own GPU, independent from Imagination’s designs, and that it will be rolled out sooner than later. With that said, even prior to today’s die shot release it’s been rather clear that A10X is not that GPU, and the die shot further proves that. Apple’s developer documentation has lumped in the A10X’s GPU with the rest of the iOS GPU Family 3, which comprises all of the A9 and A10 family SoCs. So from a feature-set perspective, A10X’s GPU isn’t bringing anything new to the table. As for the die shot, as TechInsights correctly notes, the GPU clusters in the A10X look almost exactly like the A9X’s clusters (and the A10’s, for that matter), further indicating it’s the same base design. Image Courtesy TechInsights Ultimately what this means is that in terms of design and features, A10X is relatively straightforward. It’s a proper pipecleaner product for a new process, and one that is geared to take full advantage of the die space savings as opposed to spending those savings on new features/transistors. Otherwise I am very curious as to just what this means for power consumption – is Apple gaining much there, or is it all area gains? A10X's CPU clockspeed is only marginally higher than A9X's, and pretty much identical to A10, so we can see that Apple hasn't gained much in the way of clockspeeds. So does that mean that Apple instead invested any process-related gains in reducing power consumption, or, as some theories go, has 10nm not significantly improved on power consumption versus 16nm? But the answer to that will have to wait for another day. |
Cybersecurity degree approved for Kennesaw State New program will help meet workforce need in rapidly growing field KENNESAW, Ga. (Feb 14, 2017) — The Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia on Tuesday approved an online Bachelor of Science in Cybersecurity at Kennesaw State University. The new undergraduate degree adds to Kennesaw State’s portfolio of technology and security programs, which include a Bachelor of Science in Information Technology and a Bachelor of Business Administration in Information Security and Assurance. The cybersecurity major includes elements of information technology, information security and assurance, and criminal justice, giving students a combination of technical knowledge and information security management skills. “The Bachelor of Science in Cybersecurity is an opportunity to offer something unique, by building on past excellence and delivering a one-of-a-kind experience for students,” Kennesaw State President Sam Olens said. “By combining the strengths from each program, this interdisciplinary degree will solidify the University as a leader in producing cybersecurity professionals who are much-needed in the Southeast and across the country.” Georgia’s High Demand Career Initiative (HDCI) identified cybersecurity as a key field in which businesses in Georgia, nationally and globally need a well-trained and reliable workforce. The cybersecurity field will need an additional 1.5 million workers by the year 2020, according to the 2015 Cybersecurity Education Workforce Demand Report. Students pursuing Kennesaw State’s Bachelor of Science in Cybersecurity will concentrate on one of three tracks – systems security, network security or cyber crime. “The exciting thing about this degree is that it will produce graduates with the skills companies need immediately to address their cybersecurity challenges,” said Dr. Traci Carte, chair of Kennesaw State’s Department of Information Systems. “It makes huge sense for the cybersecurity field. This is an exciting place to be, in terms of having a plan and having some amazing faculty, to be part of the solution to meet workforce demand.” The B.S. in Cybersecurity, set to begin in fall 2017, is the first major initiative of Kennesaw State’s Institute for Cybersecurity Workforce Development. The Cybersecurity Institute is a combined effort of three of KSU’s largest colleges: the Coles College of Business, College of Computing and Software Engineering, and College of Humanities and Social Sciences. Kennesaw State University has been a Center of Academic Excellence in Cybersecurity Education since 2004, as designated by the National Security Agency and Department of Homeland Security. The University’s online information technology and information security programs each are among the 10 best in the country, according to the 2017 rankings of America’s Best Online Colleges by BestColleges.com. A leader in innovative teaching and learning, Kennesaw State University offers more than 150 undergraduate, graduate and doctoral degrees to its more than 35,000 students. With 13 colleges on two metro Atlanta campuses, Kennesaw State is a member of the University System of Georgia and the third-largest university in the state. The university's vibrant campus culture, diverse population, strong global ties and entrepreneurial spirit draw students from throughout the region and from 92 countries across the globe. A Carnegie-designated doctoral institution, it is one of the 50 largest public institutions in the country. For more information, visit kennesaw.edu. |
An Instagram picture is a relatively easy way to share what’s going on in your life with friends and family. Instagram is quickly becoming one of the most popular and fastest growing social networks in the world. In this day and age of self-promotion, more internet users are flocking to Instagram where they can share images and videos of themselves or their products. One of the most common complaints about Instagram is that you cannot easily save pics posted by other users. Typically, screenshots are used to capture the image. This is not ideal because you must then crop the image and it could lose quality. So is there a way to save this media without having to take screenshots? There is a relatively simple way to save any Instagram image from a computer which I will outline for you here. (Note: this tutorial works for desktop only, not mobile. This method has been tested in both Chrome and Firefox). The first thing you will need to do is locate is the URL of the image. If you are viewing Instagram from a profile page, you can click on any image on the profile and it will take you to the direct URL. If you are viewing your Instagram timeline, you can click on the time-stamp of any image and that will also take you to the direct URL (see the time-stamp circled in the example below). Once you have gone directly to the URL of the image you want to save, the next thing you will want to do is to find the image file by viewing the page source. This can easily be done by right-clicking the image itself and then clicking “View Page Source”. Now that you have selected “View Page Source” you will be taken to a new tab that shows the source code for the Instagram photo you want to save. It should look something like this: The next thing you’ll want to do is find the URL inside of the source code for the image file you wish to save. This can easily be done by pressing Ctrl+F and searching for “jpg”. The search will return multiple results for “jpg”, you will only need to locate the first result. It will be a URL located under the username and caption text for the image: Once you have located the URL for the Instagram picture you want to save, highlight the URL and paste it into the address bar of a new browser tab. You will then have access to the image file you wanted to save. Right click the image and click “Save Image As”. You can now save the photo to your hard drive. That’s it! Pretty easy right? Now you know how to easily save photos in high quality from Instagram without having to take a screenshot. One thing to note: photos taken by the original poster are copyright of the owner. Please be sure not to republish any copyright photos without permission. Thank you to “Toro” for being our Instagram picture example today! Share this... Google+ Linkedin Pinterest Reddit |
Nationality of American Indians: the Tohono O'odham Nation case Note: the press articles reproduced here are - except for the Washington Post's - no longer available on the local papers sites, I scrupulously mentioned the sources and the internet sites of the related papers in order to respect the copyrights while making the articles available for scholars, students and activists Albuquerque Journal Sunday, May 27, 2001 Tribe Wants U.S. Citizenship for Members in Mexico By Guillermo Contreras Journal Staff Writer Members of the Tohono O'odham tribe say they are tired of being treated as noncitizens. A tribal delegation stopped in Albuquerque on Friday, en route to Washington, D.C., to petition Congress to change immigration law so that all members of the tribe are recognized as U.S. citizens. Tribal members say they are falling victim to consequences of immigration policy because their traditional lands span the U.S.-Mexico border in Arizona and Sonora. Many say they are treated as illegal immigrants by the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service and Border Patrol, detained and deported. At a news conference hosted by First Nations North to South, an Albuquerque nonprofit group that works to unite native people regardless of borders, the tribe said it plans to ask Congress to amend the Immigration and Nationality Act so that tribal credentials are treated as the equivalent of federally issued certificates of citizenship or state-issued birth certificates. Their crusade is known as the "Make it Right" campaign. Rene Noriega, a spokesman for the Border Patrol's Tucson sector, which encompasses the Tohono O'odham Nation, said a packet of administrative proposals was drafted earlier this year in conjunction with the tribe and sent to INS headquarters in Washington. Part of the packet contains a proposal to grant citizenship to members of the nation on either side of the border "by birth," Noriega said. But the tribe seeks a permanent resolution, not just an administrative fix. The Tohono O'odham, once known as the Papago tribe, have lived along what is now the U.S.-Mexico border since long before the United States and Mexico existed as nations, the tribe said. With the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo that ended the Mexican-American War and with the Gadsden Purchase of 1853, O'odham land was divided between the United States and Mexico. The majority of Tohono O'odham remained in the United States, but a significant number remain in Sonora, along with important villages, planting fields, ceremonial centers and sacred sites. Of the 24,000 registered members of the Tohono O'odham tribe, 7,000 have no birth certificates. About 1,400 live south of the border and are not recognized as U.S. citizens, the Tohono O'odham said. "We Tohono O'odham are no longer able to move freely on our own lands," said a news release read at the news conference by Christine Zuni Cruz of Isleta Pueblo, whose husband is Tohono O'odham and part of the delegation. For fear of arrest, prosecution and deportation, members in the United States don't visit relatives on the Mexican side and those in Sonora are prevented by the Border Patrol from entering the United States or are deported, according to Tohono O'odham vice chairman Henry Ramon, who made the statements on a video played at the news conference. The delegation is scheduled to arrive in Washington on June 2. The Arizona Daily Star Wednesday May 30, 2001 Tohono O'odham: Nation divided By Carmen Duarte, Arizona Daily Star A delegation of Tohono O'odham is leaving Saturday for Washington, D.C., to seek U.S. citizenship for 8,400 tribal members. Tribal officials want the U.S. government to amend the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 to make all enrolled tribal members U.S. citizens. Under the amended act, the tribal membership card would serve as proof of citizenship or a birth certificate. "The federal government needs to right a wrong committed in 1853, when our traditional lands were divided between Mexico and the United States," Tribal Vice Chairman Henry Ramon said. American Indians who live along the U.S.-Canadian border were given dual citizenship through treaties hundreds of years ago and have not faced separation from their people. They travel freely between both countries. This was not done for the Tohono O'odham, Ramon said. "I am very confident that the politicians will listen to us and make it right." The border, tribal officials say, is causing hardship for 8,400 members on both sides of it - most of them with no birth certificates to prove citizenship. The tribe has 24,000 enrolled members. It's an ongoing problem that began intensifying in 1986 with changes in U.S. immigration laws and with beefed-up drug enforcement along 75 miles of Tohono O'odham land that abuts the border in remote desert. For decades, with the blessing of the U.S. government, Tohono O'odham members in both countries were allowed to cross the border freely to work, participate in religious ceremonies, keep medical appointments in Sells and visit relatives. As the border crossings became more difficult, families stopped making their routine trips. For some, health or family emergencies were worth the risk of dealing with U.S. Border Patrol agents, jail time and the confiscation of their vehicles. In 1999, a pilot program between Mexico and U.S. immigration officials led to Mexican passports and U.S. border-crossing cards for 100 enrolled tribal members in Mexico. That led the tribe's Legislative Council last year to allocate $102,310 to pay for the remaining 1,238 Mexican passports and U.S. border-crossing cards for Tohono O'odham in Mexico. Immigration officials on both sides of the border worked together to make this happen -waiving certain documents, and using tribal rolls to meet requirements. But this did not solve the problems in three situations: O'odham living in the United States who are Mexican-born; O'odham born in the United States who cannot prove it; and O'odham children who qualify for dual citizenship but don't have it. "I am very confident that the politicians will listen to us and make it right," Ramon says. Arizona Democratic U.S. Rep. Ed Pastor (news - bio - voting record) welcomes Ramon and the delegation to the Capitol. "I think something needs to be done, but I think it will be a difficult road," said Pastor, adding that some politicians think U.S. immigration laws are already too lax. "I will work with them to try to help them achieve their goal," Pastor said. For centuries, said Ramon, Tohono O'odham, which means "desert people," lived on their traditional lands - lands that stretched from Phoenix south to Hermosillo, Sonora, and west to the Gulf of California. The Tohono O'odham Nation's capital is Sells, which is about 60 miles west of Tucson. The reservation is about the size of Connecticut and includes 11 districts. The Tohono O'odham lived there long before it was part of New Spain, and later, Mexico, after its independence was won in 1821. The Gila River was the boundary between Mexico and the United States in 1848, when Mexico ceded the land north of it. The river remained the international boundary until Congress ratified the Gadsden Purchase of the southern portions of New Mexico and Arizona in 1854. Politicians did not take the Tohono O'odham into consideration when lines were drawn in 1853, dividing the tribe's traditional lands, said Ramon, 66, who was born in the Hickiwan District, where he grew up farming. He later became an auto mechanic, served in the Korean War, studied at the University of Utah, worked as an alcoholism counselor and entered politics in 1972. He said the Tohono O'odham should have been guaranteed U.S. citizenship when their lands were cut in half, such as what happened with American Indians who live along the U.S.-Canadian border. Ramon said another historical oversight in extending citizenship to members occurred in 1937, when Congress formally recognized the Tohono O'odham Nation as an indigenous sovereign government. It was then the U.S. government took a census on both sides of the border and enrolled members based on O'odham blood, not on country of residency, birth or citizenship. This census was the basis for tribal recognition. Ramon and 66-year-old Maria Jesus Romo-Robles, an enrolled member who was born in and lives in Sonoyta, Sonora, are among the delegation's members, who will share stories with Capitol Hill politicians. Romo-Robles and Ramon remember as children an open border with families crossing freely - no visas or birth certificates required. Ramon remembers as a young boy stories about federal U.S. buses traveling into Mexico and picking up and bringing O'odham children to schools in Arizona. "My father used to cross and work as a laborer at the mine in Ajo," said Romo-Robles. "He also was a vendor and would bring and sell fruit, cheese and wine to families." Today, Romo-Robles has seven children - all tribal members - living in Eloy and the Phoenix area, working in construction, agriculture, a clothing factory and a restaurant. One son works for the tribe in the San Lucy District, where he irrigates cotton, melon and wheat fields. They are all living in the United States illegally. For years, Romo-Robles could not cross and see her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren because she feared prosecution. When she was sick with gallbladder and bladder disease, she crossed through an opening in the barbed-wire fence to go to the Sells hospital. Romo-Robles spent many holidays alone, because her children moved north for a better life. "They say this land is ours, but they don't treat us like it is ours," she said. "I want Congress to help my people," said Romo-Robles who left for the federal capital last week - a first in leaving her traditional O'odham lands. "I'm ready to stand up for my nation and my children. They are my treasures. I love them dearly," she said. The Arizona Republic May 31, 2001 Tribe pushes for citizenship Tohono O'odham want amendment to 1952 U.S. act Associated Press May 31, 2001 TUCSON - Tohono O'odham representatives are traveling Saturday to Washington, D.C., to seek U.S. citizenship for 8,400 tribal members. Tribal officials want the U.S. government to amend the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 to make all enrolled tribal members U.S. citizens. Under the amended act, the tribal membership card or a birth certificate would serve as proof of citizenship. "The federal government needs to right a wrong committed in 1853, when our traditional lands were divided between Mexico and the United States," Tribal Vice Chairman Henry Ramon told the Arizona Daily Star. Indians who live along the U.S.-Canada border were given dual citizenship through treaties hundreds of years ago and have not faced separation from their people. They travel freely between both countries. This was not done for the Tohono O'odham. For decades, with the blessing of the U.S. government, Tohono O'odham members in both countries were allowed to cross the border freely to work, participate in religious ceremonies, keep medical appointments in Sells and visit relatives. But increased border enforcement, tribal officials say, is causing hardship for 8,400 members on both sides of it - most of them with no birth certificates to prove citizenship. The tribe has 24,000 enrolled members. In 1999, a pilot program between Mexico and U.S. immigration officials led to Mexican passports and U.S. border-crossing cards for 100 enrolled tribal members in Mexico. Last year the tribe's Legislative Council bought the remaining 1,238 Mexican passports and U.S. border-crossing cards for Tohono O'odham in Mexico. But this did not solve the problems in three situations: O'odham living in the United States who are Mexican-born; O'odham born in the United States who cannot prove it; and O'odham children who qualify for dual citizenship but don't have it. Rep. Ed Pastor, D-Ariz., welcomes Ramon and the delegation to the Capitol. "I think something needs to be done, but I think it will be a difficult road," said Pastor, adding that some politicians think U.S. immigration laws are already too lax. A Nation Divided, Indians Want to Traverse Freely By Ellen Nakashima Washington Post Staff Writer Washington Post, Sunday, June 3, 2001; Page A03 SAN MIGUEL GATE,on the U.S.-Mexico border - Mary Narcho stopped her white minivan just shy of the barbed-wire fence several days ago. For thousands of years, her ancestors, members of the Tohono O'odham Indian nation, traversed this very spot. But in recent years, the U.S. Border Patrol has stepped up its presence, and on this day, Narcho, 58, was edgy. Though she considers herself a U.S. citizen, lives on the O'odham reservation and is retired from the federal government after 31 years, she was born at home and has no proof of her citizenship. "I'm scared to go across," she said, unwilling to move forward at this traditional Indian crossing among the mesquite and saguaro cactus of the Sonoran Desert. The imposition of the U.S.-Mexico border in 1853 cleaved the O'odham nation in two. But it was only in the past five years, with the doubling of patrols along the Arizona frontier to crack down on illegal immigration and drug-smuggling, that the once-irrelevant border has confronted the 24,000-member O'odham nation with a series of challenges and anomalies -- none of their own making. For generations, they trekked back and forth across the border, which seemed little more than the whim of government cartographers. They visited relatives and made religious pilgrimages to Magdalena, Mexico, for the feast of Saint Francis Xavier. About 7,000 O'odham who live north of the border but were Mexican-born, or born in the United States but cannot prove it, find themselves aliens on their own land. They are unable to visit family and make pilgrimages to the south and return freely. Some cannot obtain Social Security or veterans' benefits or apply for jobs as teachers or police officers. They live in fear that they might be deported. An additional 1,400 O'odham who live in Mexico find it difficult to come north to the reservation to receive health benefits to which they're entitled, a prime concern to a people who suffer one of the highest rates of diabetes in the world. "We have lived here from time immemorial," said Edward D. Manuel, 54, chairman of the Tohono O'odham (pronounced Toh-noh-AH-thum), sitting at a conference table in the nation's Sells, Ariz., headquarters. "And now we have to prove that we're from one side or the other. Why should we do that? This is our land, regardless which side it is. Why prove that we're visitors of our own land?" In an effort to make it easier to cross at official entry points, the Immigration and Naturalization Service and the Mexican government allowed more than 1,300 tribal members in Mexico who are not U.S. citizens to receive border-crossing cards and Mexican passports. But that is good for only 10 years, the Indians say. And it does not help those living in the United States without documentation. On Monday, the O'odham will take their case to Washington, where they will hold a demonstration on the Capitol steps and then begin lobbying lawmakers. They want Congress to pass a law that will give them the right to pass freely across the border by making their tribal identification card the equivalent of a federally issued citizenship certificate. "We want a permanent solution," Manuel said. "Our intention is to allow them to stay as long as they want to stay and to go back when they're ready to go back." Mark S. Krikorian of the Center for Immigration Studies, an independent, nonprofit research organization, said such a law would be dangerous. "People who don't have American citizenship will be able to claim it because the tribal ID card will now become evidence of American citizenship, which it manifestly is not," he said. In 1983, the Kickapoo, whose members live in Texas and Mexico, won U.S. citizenship and border-crossing rights for all members for five years, but the initiative was time-limited, and the tribal roll was prepared by the interior secretary, not the tribe. The Jay Treaty of 1794 granted the Indians on the Canadian border the right to cross freely. The O'odham are unique among Indians in the Southwest. In 1937, when Congress recognized them as a sovereign government, they became the only nation to enroll members on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border and to have land contiguous to the border (75 miles between Sonoyta and Nogales, Mexico). They view their proposed Citizenship Initiative as a first step toward a consistent immigration policy. "Immigration law is discretionary, and so how it's applied depends on who stops you," said Lupe Castillo, a member of Derechos Humanos, a pro-immigration human rights group in Tucson who is helping the O'odham with their lobbying effort. "What is policy today is not policy tomorrow. . . . The Tohono O'odham are collateral damage of history." A Patrol Stop The red and blue lights of the Border Patrol all-terrain vehicle illuminated David Manuel's rattletrap Chevy pickup in the dark of the Sonoran Desert in southern Arizona on a recent Saturday night. Apague su motor! Kill the engine! A young U.S. Border Patrol agent trained his flashlight on Manuel's weathered face. Give me your keys. Show me your papers, the agent said in Spanish. A few miles back, Manuel had entered his nation's land -- a reservation the size of Connecticut, second in size only to the Navajo -- at a traditional crossing called Managers' Dam, nosing through a gap in a barbed-wire fence. Manuel, 63, was born in Ajo, Ariz., but like many O'odham elders, he was born at home and no official recorded his birth. He has a tribal ID card and a laminated letter from the tribe attesting to his status -- but that did not impress the border patrol agent. After checking with a superior, the agent let Manuel proceed, though he made clear he should have crossed at a designated entry, such as Sonoyta, about an hour away. Border Patrol officials in the region say that a law providing the O'odham with better documentation would help the border police in Arizona, who face the greatest numbers of undocumented immigrants and drug smugglers. "If legislation is passed that helps us establish what their identity is, so we're able to do our job and not impede their lifestyle, that would make our life a lot easier, too," said Lisa McClellan, Tucson sector border patrol spokeswoman. 'Make It Right' Narcho, like all other O'odham, has a tribal ID. But that alone, she fears, will not protect her if she runs up against an unsympathetic U.S. patrol agent or Mexican federale. She crossed San Miguel Gate, entering Pozo Verde, a sparsely settled O'odham community set amid the yucca and mesquite. A trio of baby-faced federales were waiting near a couple of vendors selling tortillas and cheese. This time, they gave her no trouble. Narcho proceeded along the desert path, revisiting the places of her youth. This is where, she recalled, her grandmother used to hold all-night wakes for the dead, chanting prayers in O'odham until the sun rose and it was time to bury the body. "I remember laying beside her on the blanket during the night as she prayed," Narcho said. "It was safe. You wouldn't even think of doing that now." Narcho was accompanied by Art Wilson, 42, a U.S. citizen born on the reservation and raised in Pozo Verde. He pointed out the spot near a tree where his father was born and the church he attended, then directed Narcho to the adobe home of Alicia Bustamante, Wilson's aunt. Bustamante is the last traditional potter among the Tohono O'odham. She uses clay collected from the Cedagi Wahia mountain, which, when fired in her earthen kiln, develops distinctive gold specks. Wilson talked about the importance of being able to share this with his children, about being able to cross into Pozo Verde. "I was raised in the south, and I've always recognized the south as my home," he said, referring to the Mexican community. "I bring my children here to Pozo Verde and tell them our stories. I show them our ceremonial ground, how we are connected to the land, how we acknowledge our relationships." Soon, Wilson will be in Washington, where he will ask Congress to "make it right." "I will ask them," he said, "to make our land to the north and the land to the south all O'odham land again." © 2001 The Washington Post Company The Arizona Republic June 05, 2001 Tohono O'odhams seek U.S. rights By Sergio Bustos Gannett News Service June 05, 2001 WASHINGTON - Alicia Chuhuhua, a member of the Tohono O'odham Nation, ventured to Capitol Hill on Monday, hoping Congress will allow her and thousands of other tribal members to freely travel on the land of their ancestors. In the eyes of the U.S. government, Chuhuhua is considered an illegal immigrant whenever she heads to the northern end of her reservation, which straddles the U.S.-Mexico border in southern Arizona. "The United States treats me like a foreigner when, in fact, my family has lived here for centuries," said Chuhuhua, 63, who lives in Pozo Prieto, a community on the Mexican side of the reservation. The vast reservation, about the size of the state of Connecticut, is home to 24,000 Tohono O'odham members. About 1,400 who live on the Mexican side and another approximately 7,000 members on the U.S. side cannot prove their citizenship because they were born at home and their births were not officially documented. The problem prompted several dozen tribal members to travel to Washington, D.C., to lobby lawmakers to pass a bill that would allow official Tohono O'odham Nation members to be granted U.S. citizenship rights. Other tribes, including the Kickapoo in Texas and tribes along the U.S.-Canadian border, have received such permission for a limited number of members to travel back and forth. The citizenship issue dates back to the Gadsden Purchase in 1853 when the United States bought nearly 30,000 square miles of land from Mexico. The deal between the two countries did not include any provisions dealing with citizenship for Tohono O'odham members. The issue again was overlooked in 1937 when the tribe was officially recognized as a sovereign Indian nation by the federal government, according to tribal leaders. But the issue didn't emerge as a problem until the 1990s, when Congress began spending millions of dollars to stem the flow of illegal immigrants along the U.S-Mexico border. Before then, tribal members crossed the bleak and barren border by simply flashing tribal identification cards. The increased vigilance, however, has brought large numbers of U.S. Border Patrol agents, turning the reservation into a "war zone," said Henry Ramon, the tribe's vice chairman. He said appointments with doctors, visits with family members and regular pilgrimages to burial sites and other sacred places have become dangerous and difficult because tribal members now routinely are questioned about their legal status by U.S. Border Patrol agents. Since many Mexican members speak their native language or Spanish, they often get deported or hassled when confronted by federal authorities, he said. The Immigration and Naturalization Service tried to resolve the problem in 1999 when it issued temporary border crossing cards to Mexican tribal members. But tribal leaders want a permanent solution. "We have become 'aliens' on our own lands," Ramon said. "This is not right." For Chuhuhua, who has children and grandchildren on both sides, the tension along the border has kept her close-knit family divided and separated. "The border is just a wooden fence with barbed wire," she said. "The land belongs to all of our people." Sergio Bustos is a reporter for The Republic and Gannett News Service. Reach him at sbustos@gns.gannett.com or (703) 276-5812. The Tucson Citizen July 2, 2001 Legislation would make all O'odham U.S. citizens The measure, introduced in the House, seeks to cut red tape for tribal members who regularly cross the border. SERGIO BUSTOS Citizen Washington Bureau July 2, 2001 WASHINGTON - Members of the Tohono O'odham Nation came to Capitol Hill earlier this month and approached every member of Congress, telling them how the federal crackdown on illegal immigration along the U.S.-Mexico border had unraveled their lives. They told them the land they had called their home for generations had turned into a "war zone" because tribal members were constantly being questioned about their legal status by U.S. Border Patrol agents. Last week, tribal members cleared their first congressional hurdle. U.S. Rep. Ed Pastor, a Phoenix Democrat whose district includes the Indian nation, introduced a bill to give all recognized O'odham tribal members full U.S. citizenship. The border splits the tribe's traditional lands, and the 8,400 O'odham living in Mexico could benefit from passage of the bill. "The tribe was here long before the boundary between Mexico and the United States was drawn," Pastor said. "This bill is a solution to a historic injustice." The bill still has a long way to go. The House Judiciary Committee must approve before it can be brought to a vote in the House. It would then need majority support in the Senate and President Bush's signature. But Pastor, who already has two Democratic co-sponsors, said the strong grassroots effort of tribal members will boost the bill's prospects of passage. During the past month, O'odham have not been strangers on Capitol Hill. They have staged a demonstration on the Capitol steps, visited the offices of each member of Congress twice with slick "briefing books" in hand, and conducted a media blitz that has spawned articles in the Washington Post and the Los Angeles Times. Margo Cowan, an attorney leading the tribe's lobbying effort, said she is confident the tribe can garner majority support in Congress, even though some lawmakers insist the matter should be resolved through the Immigration and Naturalization Service. "We keep reminding lawmakers that members of the Tohono O'odham Nation are not immigrants and should not be treated as immigrants," she said. "They are indigenous." If the legislation is approved, it would end a problem that tribal leaders say began in 1853 when the United States bought nearly 30,000 square miles from Mexico in the Gadsden Purchase. At the time, the two countries did not include provisions for dealing with citizenship for tribal members who lived in Mexico. It was again overlooked in 1937 when the tribe was officially recognized as a sovereign Indian nation by the U.S. government, according to tribal leaders. But it didn't become a serious problem until the 1990s, when the federal government began fortifying the border. Before the arrival of hundreds of Border Patrol agents in the region, tribal members would routinely cross the bleak and barren border area by simply flashing tribal identification cards. Today, doctor appointments, family visits and pilgrimages to burial sites and other sacred places have become dangerous and difficult because of the presence of scores of agents. "We know Congress never intended that our people would not be United States citizens," said Henry A. Ramon, the tribe's vice chairman. "We're now calling on Congress to make it right." Copyright © 2001 Tucson Citizen The Tucson Citizen Aug. 8, 2001 Locals back O'odham push for citizenship GARRY DUFFY Citizen Staff Writer Aug. 8, 2001 Efforts by the Tohono O'odham Nation to obtain citizenship rights for almost a third of its tribal members in the United States got a boost from Pima County Supervisors yesterday. About a third of the nation's 24,000 enrolled members born in this country don't have the paperwork needed to prove citizenship. A bill sponsored by U.S. Rep. Ed Pastor of the second congressional district would grant citizenship to approximately 7,000 members of the nation. Board members voted 4-0 yesterday to support citizenship for all Tohono O'odham enrolled on tribal membership rolls. "It's high time to rectify what appears to be a mistake of over 50 years ago," Supervisor Ray Carroll said. Supervisor Sharon Bronson, in whose District 3 much of the Tohono O'odham Nation in Pima County is located, called on state leaders to support the issue. "This is a reality that exists," Bronson said. "The nation straddles the border." Tribal leaders have sought to convince members of Congress to support U.S. citizenship for all enrolled members of the nation. Their main argument is that the nation's presence in the Sonoran Desert predates the creation of international boundaries by the United States and Mexico. In recent times, cross-border trips by tribal members have increasingly been subject to stops, searches and arrests under tougher U.S. immigration enforcement policies. Citizenship for the Tohono O'odham living in the United States was supported by a majority of Arizonans in a recent poll. A Rocky Mountain Poll conducted by the Behavior Research Center in Phoenix showed state residents support the Tohono O'odham in their citizenship fight by a 61 percent to 28 percent margin, said pollster Earl de Berge. Democrats and independents appear most sympathetic, with 70 percent of those asked saying they support citizenship. Republican support for full tribal citizenship was 38 percent. Pima County residents and those in rural areas were most supportive, de Berge said. The poll surveyed 702 adults across the state from July 5 to July 11, de Berge said. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.7 percentage points. The Tucson Citizen Nov. 23, 2001 O'odham citizenship bid wins 100 backers The bill, introduced by Rep. Ed Pastor, would ease border flow for tribal members. SUSAN CARROLL Citizen Staff Writer After months of lobbying in Washington, D.C., the Tohono O'odham Nation has 100 members of Congress ready to co-sponsor a bill that would grant U.S. citizenship to tribal members in the United States. U.S. Rep. Chaka Fattah, a Philadelphia Democrat, was the most recent to formally support the Tohono O'odham Citizenship Act of 2001. U.S. Rep. Ed Pastor, D-Ariz., whose district includes the O'odham Nation, introduced the bill. "This is very significant because 100 members of Congress have indicated that the legislation under consideration is being taken very seriously," said Margo Cowan, general counsel for the tribe. A delegation of tribal members has been in Washington since June, trying to gather support for the bill, which would affect about 8,400 O'odham. The nation is planning on the bill going before the full House early next year. About a third of the nation's 24,000 enrolled members born in the United States don't have paperwork needed to prove citizenship. Henry Ramón, vice chair of the nation, urged members of Congress to "correct a historical oversight and make all enrolled members of the Tohono O'odham nation citizens." With the Border Patrol buildup along the border in the mid-'90s, the 1,400 tribal members who live in traditional communities south of the border are subject to arrest and deportation for traveling north to Sells, the tribe's headquarters. Until the mid-1980s, most tribal members were born at home. In O'odham tradition, births were not recorded in writing, but were remembered by elders, who related them to significant moments such as droughts or rains. Without birth certificates, some cannot obtain Social Security numbers, work, receive retirement or veterans benefits, cash checks, travel or obtain a drivers license, tribal leaders say. "It is simply wrong that our people, who have lived in our sacred desert since time immemorial, are treated like illegal aliens in our own land," Ramón said. Etats-Unis - nationalité, citoyenneté United States - nationality, citizenship SUFFRAGE UNIVERSEL - UNIVERSAL SUFFRAGE citoyenneté, démocratie, ethnicité, nationalité - citizenship, democracy, ethnicity, nationality |
New Delhi: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) has approved a proposal to provide constitutional backing to the National Commission for Socially and Educationally Backward Classes (NSEBC). It will replace the existing National Commission for Backward Classes (NCBC), created in response to a Supreme Court ruling in 1992; it examines and recommends requests for inclusion and exclusion in the list of Other Backward Classes or OBCs. The decision, though long in the works, comes within weeks of a landslide win for the BJP in the Uttar Pradesh polls—in which OBCs played a key role for the party. It is, therefore, being viewed as a tacit acknowledgement of this social formation by the BJP. “The Union cabinet...has approved setting up of a National Commission for Socially and Educationally Backward Classes as a constitutional body by making an amendment to the Constitution, mainly by insertion of Article 338B. The bill will be introduced in Parliament," a senior government official said, requesting anonymity. A constitutional amendment requires two-thirds approval of both houses of Parliament and subsequent ratification by 50% of the state assemblies. Senior advocate and human rights lawyer Indira Jaising said the proposed change was significant. “First, making it a constitutional amendment means that it cannot be amended by a simple majority in Parliament. Secondly and more significantly, the earlier provision says ‘The President may appoint’ whereas I am presuming there is no choice here and it will be a permanent commission in place, similar to the SC and ST (Commission)," she said. Like the NCBC, the new body too will comprise of a chairperson, a vice-chairperson and three other members. According to a former member of the NCBC, the demand for giving it a constitutional authority has been pending for years. “We did not have powers to hear complaints from OBC members like the SC/ST commissions did, and in that sense, a constitutional authority will ensure it has more power. The government has opted for a new body altogether instead of giving NCBC more powers; more details will emerge once the bill is tabled in Parliament," the former member said requesting anonymity. Interestingly, the government’s move comes at a time when the Jat agitation is demanding OBC status for the community. The commission has powers to examine requests for inclusion of any community in the list of backward classes and hear complaints of over-inclusion or under-inclusion, following which it advises the Union government. In its new form, the constitutional authority could give it more teeth. According to Jaising, the new body is likely to be similar to the National Commission for Scheduled Castes under Article 338 and the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes under Section 338A which were introduced in the Constitution by way of two constitutional amendments in 1990 and 2003. In the case of Indra Sawhney versus Union of India, the Supreme Court in 1992 found that it was not invalid to identify a group by any criteria like occupation, social, educational or economic situations. However, it noted that social and educationally backward class under Article 340 had to be construed in a limited sense and did not have the wide sweep as under the fundamental right guaranteed to backward classes in Article 16(4). This provision empowers the government to make reservations in appointments in favour of “any backward class of citizens". |
Russia's central bank is trying to resist a brutal assault on the ruble, but any respite is bound to be short-lived. The Central Bank of Russia waded into currency markets Monday as the ruble plunged to levels not seen since the 1998 financial crisis that triggered a devaluation and government debt default. Like the Canadian dollar and the Norwegian krone, the Russian currency has been under extreme pressure amid the collapse in oil prices. Story continues below advertisement The ruble plunged as much as 6.5 per cent Monday, hitting a record low against the U.S. dollar before retracing some its lost ground to close down 4 per cent, which traders attributed to central bank intervention. The ruble has lost close to 60 per cent of its value against the greenback so far this year. But if there's any relief in Russia's case, it promises to be temporary as a combination of falling oil prices, Western sanctions, capital flight and a string of policy mistakes threaten to drive an already stumbling economy off a cliff, carrying the currency with it. "What we are seeing is a perfect storm," said Anders Aslund, a senior fellow with the Peterson Institute for International Economics in Washington. On Tuesday, the ruble sank for a sixth day, as crude resumed declines and the Economy Ministry said Russia may enter its first recession since 2009 next year. Gross domestic product may shrink 0.8 per cent next year, compared with an earlier estimate of 1.2 per cent growth, Deputy Economy Minister Alexei Vedev said in Moscow. Despite the Kremlin's best efforts to deride Western sanctions as little more than an irritant, they are taking a heavy toll on Russia's financial sector and other parts of the economy. Gazprom axed a $40-billion (U.S.) pipeline project on Monday that would have carried natural gas to southern Europe while bypassing Ukraine. As for the ruble, the central bank had largely maintained a hands-off policy in recent weeks while hoping in vain that tighter monetary policy – four rate hikes so far this year, topped by a stunning 150-basis-point jump to 9.5 per cent in October – would do the trick. But the currency continued weakening. Story continues below advertisement Story continues below advertisement Analysts expect the central bank to raise its key rate again by 100 basis points at its next meeting Dec. 11, despite pressure from lawmakers to loosen policy in response to worsening economic conditions. Several have called for an investigation of the bank's manoeuvres and are urging more aggressive use of foreign-exchange reserves to prop up the ruble. But those reserves are eroding more rapidly than many observers realize, Mr. Aslund said, warning that Russia will face a serious financial squeeze in 2015. "The situation is far worse than the Kremlin says." Central bank reserves total what appear to be a comfortable $420-billion. But that's down more than $100-billion in just one year and will probably shrink by a similar amount in the coming year. What's more, $172-billion of the total is controlled by the Finance Ministry, another $45-billion or so sits in gold and $12-billion is parked with the International Monetary Fund. Another $150-billion is likely to be needed to cover foreign debt repayments over the next year, because the country has been cut off from normal U.S.-dollar refinancing channels by the sanctions. So actual liquid reserves available to defend the ruble are rapidly shrinking. And the government takes a direct hit from a narrowing oil revenue stream, because of its heavy reliance on its take from high marginal tax rates on the industry to finance its budget. Still, for all its self-inflicted woes, there are no signs that the Russian economy is mirroring the steep drop in the ruble or facing a rerun of the 1998 collapse, said Neil Shearing, chief emerging markets economist with Capital Economics in London. "The economy's stagnating, but it's certainly not collapsing." And there may even be a silver lining to the oil slide, if it shakes policy makers out of their complacency and forces them to tackle the structural problems weighing down the economy. Low oil prices were the trigger for previous reform efforts, Mr. Shearing notes. But he acknowledges that the Putin government has shown no inclination to pursue major economic changes. Story continues below advertisement His forecast puts Russia in recession territory for most of the coming year with a contraction of 1 to 1.5 per cent, which is in line with Moscow-based predictions. "Clearly, the risks lie to the downside." Mr. Aslund does not do such crystal-ball gazing, but suspects the slump could be much greater, perhaps as deep as 4 to 6 per cent. Mr. Putin, he said, "has made every economic mistake in the book. We are reaching a tipping point." |
It was an invigorated and in-control Trump that took the stage in front of a cheering crowd — a stark contrast to the Trump that’s stumbled during his first few weeks as president back in Washington. He delivered a largely standard stump speech, to a typically adoring crowd, and was introduced, unexpectedly, by his wife before taking the podium. Trump promised: “When the media lies to the people I will never ever let them get away with it,” and warned the media “have their own agenda.” “They’ve become a big part of the problem. They’re part of the corrupt system,” he said. Speaking in a muggy airplane hangar in front of a crowd local officials pegged at 9,000-strong, Trump said he wanted to speak “without the filter of the fake news.” MELBOURNE, Fla. — Twenty-nine days after being sworn in, President Donald Trump kicked off his reelection campaign with a rally where he called the crowd his “friends” and framed the press as his enemy. Read more MELBOURNE, Fla. — Twenty-nine days after being sworn in, President Donald Trump kicked off his reelection campaign with a rally where he called the crowd his “friends” and framed the press as his enemy. Speaking in a muggy airplane hangar in front of a crowd local officials pegged at 9,000-strong, Trump said he wanted to speak “without the filter of the fake news.” “They’ve become a big part of the problem. They’re part of the corrupt system,” he said. Trump promised: “When the media lies to the people I will never ever let them get away with it,” and warned the media “have their own agenda.” It was an invigorated and in-control Trump that took the stage in front of a cheering crowd — a stark contrast to the Trump that’s stumbled during his first few weeks as president back in Washington. He delivered a largely standard stump speech, to a typically adoring crowd, and was introduced, unexpectedly, by his wife before taking the podium. Trump used the speech to paper over what’s been by all accounts a rocky start to his tenure, marred by major policy defeats, the recent resignation of his National Security Adviser, nationwide protests and continued questions over his advisers’ relationships with Russia. “The White House is running so smoothly,” he told the crowd. The president listed a litany of accomplishments — moving towards approval of the Keystone XL and Dakota Access Pipelines; reducing regulations — and some he hasn’t yet achieved, like taking “decisive action to keep radical Islamic terrorists the hell out of our country.” His one move in that direction — banning immigration from some majority-Muslim nations — was blocked in the courts. Trump took particular ire with that court decision, calling it “unbelievable” and “so unfair,” and reading a statute he said defended his right as president to establish the ban, which judges ruled was too sweeping. But he promised a new travel ban would come next week: “I think you’ll be impressed; we’ve got to keep our country safe,” he said. He also promised action on Obamacare and rolling back environmental regulations, which he said were “clogging up the veins of our country.” However surreal the campaign-style rally was so early into his tenure, it still marked the use of a more traditional presidential tactic: Speaking from the bully pulpit to move national sentiment in his favor. Trump told the crowd to “tell Democrats to stop their tactics of delay and obstruction and destruction,” lamenting the slow pace of confirmation for his cabinet nominees. With Trump’s approval rating underwater in every recent poll, it’s unclear whether the president will have the same ability to use the bully pulpit to regain control of the news cycle or turn it in his favor. But rallies were always both Trump’s strength and his source of energy during the campaign, and indeed he told reporters on Air Force One before descending onto the stage that it’s bigger than just a rally for him — “Life is a campaign.” “Making our country great again is a campaign. For me, it’s a campaign. To make America great again is absolutely a campaign,” he said. “It’s not easy, especially when we’re also fighting the press.” |
Deep Submergence Vessel Trieste II. In 1972 the Trieste II successfully recovered a lost film-return vehicle from the first KH-9 HEXAGON reconnaissance satellite. The frame visible at the front of the vehicle at left was used for towing the submersible, but also could carry equipment down to the ocean floor, such as the claw-like device used to recover the sunken spysat bucket. (credit: US Navy) Deep ops In April 1972 the Deep Submergence Vehicle Trieste II, operating on a secret mission, recovered a film-return capsule from the first, top-secret mission of a KH-9 HEXAGON reconnaissance satellite from 16,400 feet (5,000 meters) below the Pacific Ocean. The HEXAGON was a massive spacecraft, as big as a bus. (See “A paler shade of black” The Space Review, September 20, 2010; and “Black Fire: De-orbiting spysats during the Cold War” The Space Review, October 25, 2010.) When it launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base atop a Titan III rocket in June 1971, it carried four of the large Satellite Recovery Vehicles (SRV), each the size of the cabin of a Volkswagen Beetle. The SRVs collected the film after it had run through the cameras at high speed. Each SRV had takeup wheels for film from the two main cameras as big as truck tires. Something went wrong with one of the reentry vehicles from this first KH-9 mission. It is unclear which of the vehicles it was, and what exactly went wrong, but the capsule plummeted to the ocean. When an SRV was full, the film was cut and the SRV sealed up. It then ejected off the spacecraft in low Earth orbit and retrorockets slowed it down enough so that it reentered the atmosphere over the northern Pacific. The vehicles used an ablative heat shield and after getting through the hottest part of the reentry, they ejected the heat shield and deployed a parachute. Behind the heat shield was a rounded, kettle-shaped container called a “bucket” that held the actual film. The bucket was heavy—at least several hundred pounds for the early missions and possibly up to 2,000 pounds (900 kilograms) for later missions—and it swung under a large parachute. As all of this was happening a fleet of aircraft launched out of Hickham Field on Oahu was heading into position over the Pacific, northwest of the Hawaiian island chain. What happened next was like an idea out of a James Bond movie: an Air Force C-130, trailing a cable between two poles sticking out of the back of the airplane, flew over the top of the parachute. Because the parachutes were so big, they could not be captured between the two poles, so they were equipped with what looked like a nipple at the top that was small enough to fit between the poles, and it was snagged by the steel cable behind the airplane. The parachute collapsed, and the heavy capsule trailed hundreds of feet behind the plane. Pilots have said that when they caught the really big ones, the buckets that were full of film, their C-130 Hercules aircraft jerked with the weight. A sergeant in the noisy open cargo bay of the plane would then start winching in the cable, and the very heavy bucket with its precious cargo. But something went wrong with one of the reentry vehicles from this first KH-9 mission. It is unclear which of the vehicles it was, and what exactly went wrong, but the capsule plummeted to the ocean. Perhaps the parachute never properly deployed, or perhaps the plane hit it and collapsed the chute. It seems unlikely that the problem was a simple miss, since the Air Force deployed multiple planes in just such an eventuality. No matter what the cause, the bucket ended up in the water. And it sank. It finally hit bottom over three miles (five kilometers) down. What followed was a secret mission involving the Trieste II and her two support vessels, the floating dry dock White Sands and the fleet tug Apache. In November 1971 the Apache towed the White Sands with Trieste II to a location approximately 300 nautical miles (550 kilometers) from Oahu, smack dab in the middle of the SRV reentry footprint, 25 degrees North by 167 degrees West. The White Sands flooded her dock and partially submerged into the ocean. This allowed the Trieste II to float out and then submerge. The Trieste II was the world’s deepest-diving submersible, daughter of the Trieste, which had descended into the deepest spot on Earth, the Mariana Trench, in 1960. She was not really much of a submarine, because she lacked the ability to maneuver very much. For the most part she went up and down, and that was it. But during this dive the Trieste II apparently went down to the bottom and located the KH-9’s bucket. How exactly she did this is still unknown, but it is possible that the bucket was equipped with an underwater noisemaker similar to that used on aircraft data recorders—also known as “black boxes”—so they can be located at sea. But Trieste II returned to the surface without the bucket and its load of precious film. A few months later the ships received a Meritorious Unit Commendation from the Secretary of the Navy for “the deepest navigation, search and recovery operation in the world.” In April 1972 Apache, White Sands, and Trieste II returned to the same location, using what the Navy referred to as “sophisticated surface navigation equipment” that put them in the exact same spot as before. They had to be right on top of it, because Trieste II could not exactly travel very far to locate it. This time, though, they brought with them an additional device, a large mechanical claw, with four prongs. It was about the size and shape of the kinds of claws used in automobile junkyards to pick up old cars by their tops, except it was intended for a much more delicate mission. The Trieste II submerged and went to the bottom 16,400 feet down. At the front of the Trieste II was a special frame that held the claw in place. The claw was attached to a short cable and above the cable were flotation bladders. Trieste II maneuvered the claw over the bucket and closed it, trapping it. Then the submersible let it go, and the bladders started to rise up, towing the bucket below them, all the way to the surface, where a crane from the White Sands lifted the bucket onto deck. A few months later the Trieste II, White Sands, and USS Apache received a Meritorious Unit Commendation from the Secretary of the Navy for “the deepest navigation, search and recovery operation in the world.” It stated that they had “recovered a research instrument from the ocean floor at a greater depth than previously recorded.” The commendation stated that the officers and men “upheld the highest tradition of the United States Naval Service.” A few of the facts of this effort are reported in Project Azorian, by Norman Polmar and Michael White, a fascinating book which is mostly focused on the story of the Glomar Explorer and the recovery of part of the Soviet submarine K-129. But there are many more details that will hopefully emerge from the depths of secrecy if the KH-9 program is declassified in the coming year. Home |
Unfortunately, Masonic membership in autonomous evangelical churches is widespread. The sin of Masonic association often goes unnoticed or unconsidered in many local churches. For those Christians who are convicted by the Holy Spirit to address the sin of Freemasonry in their churches, the following letter is provided as a resource. It can be tailored and addressed to members of the Masonic religion who are members of any local church. Dear (Name of Mason), It has come to my attention that you are a member of (Name of Masonic Lodge). I have come to conclude, along with the North American Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention and a number of other Christian denominations, that Freemasonry is not compatible with Christianity. I was distraught when I learned that you, a member of my own church, were involved in Freemasonry. I am obligated by scripture to take the uncomfortable step of showing you, (Name of Mason), your sin. I ask that you repent of the sin of being involved in Freemasonry and immediately renounce your membership in (Name of Masonic Lodge). As a faithful Christian, I can do no other thing. The Lord Jesus said, “If your brother sins, go and show him his fault in private; if he listens to you, you have won your brother.” I understand that you may be taken aback by my actions. Perhaps no other church member has ever approached you asking you to renounce Freemasonry. It could be the case that the other members of our church are,ignorant of the unbiblical nature of Freemasonry. Having researched the matter myself, I can no longer say that I am unaware. The Apostle James wrote, “to one who knows the right thing to do and does not do it, to him it is sin.” I am in the position of knowing about the nature of Freemasonry. So are you. Thus, we both must do the right thing. There is a sentiment among some that many Freemasons simply see the craft as a harmless fraternal organization and have not fully considered its spiritual claims ramifications. I do not share this sentiment. The unbiblical claims are simply too harmful to Christian witness Freemasonry requires that oaths be taken to be initiated into the Entered Apprentice, Fellowcraft, and Master Mason degrees. These oaths are fairly described as barbaric and involve binding oneself under the penalty of having one’s throat cut “ear to ear” and having one’s “tongue torn out by its roots”. These oaths violate the command of the Lord Jesus who stated: “make no oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, or by the earth, for it is the footstool of His feet, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. Nor shall you make an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. But let your statement be, ‘Yes, yes’ or ‘No, no’; anything beyond these is of evil.” To even enter the most basic degrees of Freemasonry, one must disobey Christ. This is not an acceptable action for a member of the body of Christ. It is sin. This oath swearing in itself puts Masonry at odds with Christianity. That’s to say nothing of the extrabiblical story of the death and raising of Hiram Abiff. The secrecy of Freemasonry is inherently antithetical to Christianity. The Lord Jesus told his followers that they are “the light of the world. “ Jesus said, “A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.” Freemasons claims to have the “light” of Masonry, yet they keep it secret from outsiders, even members of their own churches. Freemasonry claims that it “makes good men better.” This can’t be so. Scripture teaches that there are no good men. Jesus Christ said: “There is only One who is good; No one is good except God alone.” Scripture, through the Apostle Paul and the prophet Isaiah, teaches that “there is none righteous, not even one.” It is the policy of Freemasonry that no particular religion or faith is required or excluded. Thus, Freemasonry as an institution teaches non-Chrisitans that they are good and can get better through Masonry (and outside of faith in Christ). This both denies the effects of the Edenic fall and power of the gospel. If there is any remaining doubt the Freemasonry denies the scripture then consider the words from Akin’s Lodge Manual and Masonic Law Digest which are meant to be addressed to new Freemasons: “As you are now introduced into the first principles of Masonry, I congratulate you on being accepted into this ancient an honorable Order: ancient, as having subsisted from time immemorial; and honorable, as tending in every particular, so to render all men who will conformable to its precepts. No institution was ever raised on a better principle, or more solid foundation. Nor were ever more excellent rules and useful maxims laid down that are inculcated in the several Masonic lectures. The greatest and best of man, in all ages, have been encouragers and promoters of the art, and have never deemed it derogatory to their dignity to level themselves with the fraternity, extend their privileges, and patronize their assemblies.” The Church of Jesus Christ was raised on the Solid Rock, Jesus Christ. He is the chief cornerstone of the church. This is the most solid foundation of any institution. The Bible is God’s Holy word and contains better maxims than any man-based teachings. The statement above from Akin’s manual is antithetical to Christianity and no Christian should be able to say it good conscience. None should believe it. No prophet or apostle has ever been a Freemason (from time immemorial). Nor was the Lord Jesus Christ. It is not true, then, that “the greatest and best of man, in all ages” have encouraged and promoted Freemasonry. Akin’s manual also implies, through its funeral service language, that non Christians can make it to Heaven through their virtuous living. This is denial of what the Apostle Paul wrote to the the Ephesians: “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.” It is also a denial of the clear words of Jesus, no one gets to the Father except through Him. The verdict is clear. The Craft is antithetical to Christianity and an affront to our local church. Jesus Christ said, “nothing is hidden that will not become evident, nor anything secret that will not be known and come to light.” The secret things of Masonry have been brought to light. Please renounce Freemasonry and repent of your sin. Sincerely, (Your Name) *Please note that the preceding is my personal opinion. It is not necessarily the opinion of any entity by which I am employed, any church at which I am a member, any church which I attend, or the educational institution at which I am enrolled. Any copyrighted material displayed or referenced is done under the doctrine of fair use. |
Blizzard Cup '12 - Ro4 Recap Text by TeamLiquid ESPORTS Graphics by GSL, HawaiianPig Blizzard Cup 2012 Semi-Finals Recap PartinG vs. Sniper Leenock vs. Life GSL Blizzard Cup 2012 brackets and results at PartinG vs. SniperLeenock vs. LifeGSL Blizzard Cup 2012 brackets and results at Liquipedia Ro4 Recap by: Waxangel Results from Live Report Thread by opterown. + Show Spoiler [Results] + Leenock vs. Life Leenock <Antiga Shipyard> Life Leenock <Abyssal City> Life Leenock <Bel'Shir Vestige> Life Leenock <Whirlwind> Life Leenock <Daybreak> Life wins 3-1! Life wins 3-1! Sniper vs. PartinG Sniper <Entombed Valley> PartinG Sniper <Cloud Kingdom> PartinG Sniper <Abyssal City> PartinG Sniper <Daybreak> PartinG Sniper <Antiga Shipyard> PartinG wins 3-0! PartinG wins 3-0! The Train has Left the Station - PartinG shuts out Sniper with three "Soul" all-ins. After defeating viOLet in the round of six, indirectly compared himself to the anime character Son Goku, a master martial artist who saved the Earth on multiple occasions. On Thursday night, PartinG looked every bit the superhero as he protected a different kind of world - the StarCraft II scene - from its own unique threat. With yet another Zerg vs. Zerg final looming like a spectre over the Blizzard Cup, PartinG made sure fans and the GSL would be spared such a disaster by powering his way through the semi-finals. was the perfect antagonist, the champion of the Zerg dominated Code S Season Five. With Life and Leenock in the other semi-final, even fans with no qualms about balance did not relish the prospect of Sniper bringing about the third ZvZ final in as many weeks. And for those who did happen to believe there was a lack of parity in StarCraft II, Sniper might as well have been the all-devouring Majin-buu. However, seemingly tired of having gone through all the usual tropes of hidden depths, secret tactics, and comeback victories against viOLet in the Ro6, PartinG decided he'd cut the drama and bulldoze Sniper straight up with his best tactics. The famous soul-powered immortal-sentry all-in came three times in a row, and Sniper was utterly powerless to defend in its wake. It wasn't so much Dragonball as it was Superman, only if Superman decided to just melt Lex Luthor with his eye-lasers instead of put up with his bulls***. Game one on Entombed Valley saw Sniper try for some tricks of his own, opening with a nydus-build that aimed to catch PartinG off guard. Unfortunately for Sniper, PartinG had perfect vision over his main and natural in case of such an attempt. Sniper vainly tried to Nydus in plain vision, hoping for a monumental blunder from PartinG, but he would have no such fortune. PartinG destroyed the Nydus, assembled his push, and crushed Sniper to take the first game. Games two and three ended up being the typical PartinG games many viewers have come to expect, with Zerg attempting to stop the immortal-sentry all-in with full knowledge, and yet getting annihilated due to PartinG's mastery of force-fields and warp-prism micro. PartinG traded resources at ratios of one-to-five or better at some points, using force-fields to tie off and amputate large chunks of the Zerg army. Reaching the finals was surely sweet for PartinG, but he had the added bonus of getting some revenge as well. Sniper had previous defeated PartinG's immortal-sentry all-in in the previous season of Code S, leaving many to believe it had been figured out. In fact, even PartinG himself allowed that belief to propagate, mentioning in his interview after defeating viOLet that he felt the build had run its course. It may have been one of the more devious mind-games in recent memory, as PartinG showed that the build was not only very much alive, but championship quality as well. - Life Goes On PartinG wasn't the only Startale player to win a great victory on the night, as overcame his rival to book an all-Startale final. Like his victory over DRG, Life's triumph over Leenock was dulled somewhat due to ZvZ overexposure, but it was a meaningful victory nonetheless. Life's stature in ZvZ had fallen significantly since being its guru in the first half of 2012, and two strong victories over top Zergs in Leenock and DongRaeGu helped reestablish Life as the flawless prodigy. Life seemed to have figured something out inside a day, as his victory over Leenock looked far easier than the one over DongRaeGu. His overall sense of management seemed better, inching ahead on economy and tech while applying pressure, and most critically, he took far better roach-infestor engagements. If Life needed poor engagements from DRG to win on Tuesday, the victory against Leenock came on his own terms. Leenock did take one good victory on Bel'Shir vestige, a game where Life tried to pile on the pressure with roaches and lings, with Leenock just barely holding out against multiple waves of attacks until his mutalisks could win him the game. After looking as even as could be, the rivalry between new generation Zergs has tilted towards Life once more. With a slightly less impressive resume, Leenock's better head to head record against Life was all that was keeping him abreast. Should Life triumph in the grand finals of the Blizzard Cup, Leenock will be in danger of falling irrevocably behind. After defeating viOLet in the round of six, ST_PartinG indirectly compared himself to the anime character Son Goku, a master martial artist who saved the Earth on multiple occasions. On Thursday night, PartinG looked every bit the superhero as he protected a different kind of world - the StarCraft II scene - from its own unique threat. With yet another Zerg vs. Zerg final looming like a spectre over the Blizzard Cup, PartinG made sure fans and the GSL would be spared such a disaster by powering his way through the semi-finals. MVP.Sniper was the perfect antagonist, the champion of the Zerg dominated Code S Season Five. With Life and Leenock in the other semi-final, even fans with no qualms about balance did not relish the prospect of Sniper bringing about the third ZvZ final in as many weeks. And for those who did happen to believe there was a lack of parity in StarCraft II, Sniper might as well have been the all-devouring Majin-buu. However, seemingly tired of having gone through all the usual tropes of hidden depths, secret tactics, and comeback victories against viOLet in the Ro6, PartinG decided he'd cut the drama and bulldoze Sniper straight up with his best tactics. The famous soul-powered immortal-sentry all-in came three times in a row, and Sniper was utterly powerless to defend in its wake. It wasn't so much Dragonball as it was Superman, only if Superman decided to just melt Lex Luthor with his eye-lasers instead of put up with his bulls***.Game one on Entombed Valley saw Sniper try for some tricks of his own, opening with a nydus-build that aimed to catch PartinG off guard. Unfortunately for Sniper, PartinG had perfect vision over his main and natural in case of such an attempt. Sniper vainly tried to Nydus in plain vision, hoping for a monumental blunder from PartinG, but he would have no such fortune. PartinG destroyed the Nydus, assembled his push, and crushed Sniper to take the first game. Games two and three ended up being the typical PartinG games many viewers have come to expect, with Zerg attempting to stop the immortal-sentry all-in with full knowledge, and yet getting annihilated due to PartinG's mastery of force-fields and warp-prism micro. PartinG traded resources at ratios of one-to-five or better at some points, using force-fields to tie off and amputate large chunks of the Zerg army.Reaching the finals was surely sweet for PartinG, but he had the added bonus of getting some revenge as well. Sniper had previous defeated PartinG's immortal-sentry all-in in the previous season of Code S, leaving many to believe it had been figured out. In fact, even PartinG himself allowed that belief to propagate, mentioning in his interview after defeating viOLet that he felt the build had run its course. It may have been one of the more devious mind-games in recent memory, as PartinG showed that the build was not only very much alive, but championship quality as well.PartinG wasn't the only Startale player to win a great victory on the night, as ST_Life overcame his rival FXO.Leenock to book an all-Startale final. Like his victory over DRG, Life's triumph over Leenock was dulled somewhat due to ZvZ overexposure, but it was a meaningful victory nonetheless. Life's stature in ZvZ had fallen significantly since being its guru in the first half of 2012, and two strong victories over top Zergs in Leenock and DongRaeGu helped reestablish Life as the flawless prodigy.Life seemed to have figured something out inside a day, as his victory over Leenock looked far easier than the one over DongRaeGu. His overall sense of management seemed better, inching ahead on economy and tech while applying pressure, and most critically, he took far better roach-infestor engagements. If Life needed poor engagements from DRG to win on Tuesday, the victory against Leenock came on his own terms. Leenock did take one good victory on Bel'Shir vestige, a game where Life tried to pile on the pressure with roaches and lings, with Leenock just barely holding out against multiple waves of attacks until his mutalisks could win him the game.After looking as even as could be, the rivalry between new generation Zergs has tilted towards Life once more. With a slightly less impressive resume, Leenock's better head to head record against Life was all that was keeping him abreast. Should Life triumph in the grand finals of the Blizzard Cup, Leenock will be in danger of falling irrevocably behind. |
We Will Write Like Second Graders! My students need the writing center, composition books, and journals to become authors who follow the writing process to produce final drafts they are proud of. My Students I want my students to be joyful about their ability to express their ideas and thoughts. They will see how much they've grown over the year and know they are ready for second grade. Most importantly they will be proud of the work they accomplished in first grade. Have you ever been engaged in a conversation with a six year old only for them to suddenly get very excited about something completely off topic that happened yesterday? Last week? Last year? My students are excitable. My goal is to harness that excitement and use it to develop a passion for learning to read and write like second graders. I want to give them a space for all those thrilling tales that pop into their head and encourage them to use their work time to draft, revise, edit and publish their stories. Located in a high poverty area my students face many obstacles which could prevent them from becoming anything they want to be. Education will give my students the tools to improve themselves and their community. And the best way to insure my students reach their academic potential is to invest them in and help them fall in love with learning. That is what this project will help us do. My Project During our daily five literacy time my students will have the choice to "work on writing". Our composition books will hold our rough drafts and revisions, while our journals will be used for final drafts. In order to enjoy writing and feel successful at it word work will be part of our daily choices, the cart will help keep this center organized and insure our time is spent actively learning sight words and practicing our phonics. Not all my students have a safe space for their thoughts. This will provide that for them, it will give them a place to express themselves and be proud of it. A visual representation of how much they've learned throughout the year will help instill the value of education in my students. |
By Deepika Sarma Two days ago, investment banker-turned-author Lavanya Sankaran wrote an opinion piece for the Sunday Review in the New York Times, trying to tell the world that not all Indian men are rapists. (Good for you. I think so too.) Then she decided to go a few steps further: invent two brand new classifications of Indian men, muddle everyday oppression with rape, wax eloquent and fuel everybody’s weekend social media rage. Meet Sankaran’s Common Indian Male. He’s a man who is [C]ommitted, concerned, cautious; intellectually curious, linguistically witty; socially gregarious, endearingly awkward; quick to laugh, slow to anger. Frequently spotted in domestic circles, traveling in a family herd. He has been sighted in sari shops and handbag stores, engaged in debating his spouse’s selection with the sons and daughters who trail behind. There is, apparently, no domestic decision that is not worthy of his involvement. Now, ain’t that cute? Sometimes you meet a guy and you think, where have you met him before? Then it struck me. Sankaran’s man is a lot like Hrundi V. Bakshi. Could be his brother. His unfunny brother. Now, meet Sankaran’s other variety of Indian male. This dude Sankaran doesn’t baptize. He is the kind Hrundi wouldn’t deign to say ‘Howdy Patiner’ to: [F]eral men, untethered from their distant villages, divorced from family and social structure, fighting poverty, exhausted, denied access to regular female companionship, adrift on powerful tides of alcohol and violent pornography, newly exposed to the smart young women of the cities, with their glistening jobs and clothes and casual independence — and not able to respond to any of it in a safe, civilized manner. Faced with her twin desires to say that not all Indian men rape and to account for the number of rapes, Sankaran decided to explain away rape as a viral flu that takes over the minds of working class male immigrants. Rape is what happens when you leave home. Like plaque is what happens when you don’t floss. It’s hard to say which is more harmful: the class prejudice behind her characterization of the animalistic migrant villain, or her portrayal of the innocuous, well-meaning Common Indian Male, the supportive man on which “female success” relies. Sankaran’s writing is easy to dismiss, because I finished doing that in 2005 when I bought a copy of The Red Carpet and Other Stories, her first book which hit headlines for the six-figure dollar deal it attracted. When I read that the Common Indian Male has to be “among the kindest in the world” while his working class migrant brother belongs to “the medieval world of the walking undead, the rise of the zombies”, the literary experience that was The Red Carpet came back to me in an unfortunate flash. Sankaran is a writer who delights in wonderful contrasts (Bangalore, for instance is “a potpourri of beggars and billionaires”, India is “terribly modern, terribly ancient”). The Red Carpet wasn’t the worst thing I read in 2005, but Sankaran sounds most tinny and flat when she attempts to channel people from other classes. Mary, the domestic help in ‘Two Four Six Eight’, is seen by the story’s female narrator as thieving, lying, manipulative and vengeful. Tharikere Ranganatha Gavirangappa, the driver from ‘The Red Carpet’, a conservative family man, loves his kind employer Mrs Choudhary, his “May-dum”. This, even though he cannot approve of her clothes or visits to nightclubs, she will only call him Raju (because that is the name of all drivers), and the gap between their social strata is insurmountable. In The Red Carpet, I also see the origins of the Common Indian Male. His name is Ramu. In ‘Bombay This’, he’s a typical Bangalorean (i.e. cool, yo. He doesn’t need to try): “Different, one-tharah types. Not so hard-and-fast. A chill crowd, like. Doing ultra-cool things chumma, simply, for no reason other than to do it.” And now, at thirty, he’s looking for love; he feels the urge to settle down, “the true Call of the Patriarchy began to make itself felt: the urge to father, to provide, to pay bills for More Than One.” Peekaboo, I see you, baby. Shaking your nurturing behind. As much as Sankaran has betrayed the tenets of Class Consciousness 101 she has also betrayed her own literary ambitions. How do I know this? I am that person who read her interviews and (I’m going to deny this shortly) watched her interviews on YouTube. In an interview with Tehelka, Sankaran said she tries to move away from the “Indian trope of sentimentality” in her writing, but in her ode to the Common Indian Male, it’s evident that she made no effort to do so at all: There is a telling phrase that best captures the Indian man in a relationship — whether as lover, parent or friend: not ‘I love you’ but ‘Main hoon na.’ It translates to ‘I’m here for you’ but is better explained as a hug of commitment — ‘Never fear, I’m here.’ These are men for whom commitment is a joy, a duty and a deep moral anchor. At its excessive worst, this sensibility can produce annoyances: a sentimentalized addiction to Mummy; concern that becomes judgmental and stifling; and a proud or oversensitive emotional landscape. At its excessive worst, this sensibility can produce more than just annoyances. It produces patriarchy. And since I watched it so you didn’t have to, I need to add this. Sankaran’s compassionate view of oppressive structures also extends to the caste system, a subject she has written on – again – for the New York Times. In an interview, she once described India’s excellence in the IT industry as the result of a cultural affinity for mathematics and science. “India’s the only place where you had the Brahmins on top – who were the academics and the priests. So you had the students on top, then you had the kings[…]India’s the only place in the world where knowledge is ranked higher than the military.” After all those years of study, she said, India had its “moment of destiny” with the IT boom, a “validation” of all the years of “worship” of maths and science. There are two more videos in the same vein, with the author holding forth on the challenges facing modern Indian society. Sankaran’s Common Indian Male is about as innocuous as Peter Sellers in blackface. But – to misquote Mr. Bakshi himself – ‘that is not what his name is called‘. His name is patriarchy and he doesn’t need to rape anyone to make his life peachy. |
Poor Best Rate it Introduction This is a short chapter revealed in Mecca and found towards the end of the Quran. It has twenty six verses; the first 7 serve as a warning to the disbelievers. The dire warning is then contrasted by a description of the pleasures and delights the believers will attain in Paradise. Next God asks us to consider the creation. That is followed by Prophet Muhammad, may the mercy and blessings of God be upon him, being absolved from responsibility for those who will not listen to the warning and heed his message. The title, Al-Ghashiyah, or in the English language, The Overwhelming Event, comes from the first verse. The Overwhelming Event is another name used for the Day of Judgement. The Arabic word ghashiyah means something that covers entirely. Thus this overwhelming event will both overwhelm and cover the entire earth. As with many of the chapters in the last part of the Quran the themes are the Oneness of God and the Hereafter. Verses 1 – 7 On that Day God asks, "Has the news of the Overwhelming Event reached you?" This is a rhetorical question and it is directed to everyone who hears or reads these words. It is a reminder and yet another way to describe the events on the Day of Judgment and the reward or punishment that awaits all humans in the Hereafter. Thoughts and descriptions of the event arouse fear. On that Day there will be downcast faces. These are people who believed they toiled hard in this world but now see no good result for their actions. There deeds were not accompanied by faith or done for the sake of God. Thus their works have been rendered worthless. Once they have entered Hell, thirsty and exhausted, they are given nothing to appease that thirst except water from a boiling spring. Their food is no better. It consists of bitter dry thorns that do not nourish them or satisfy their hunger. It is an ultimate affliction whose true and terrible nature is almost incomprehensible except to those who will experience it. Verses 8 – 16 Gardens of Paradise In stark contrast to this, other faces on this Day will show pleasure and happiness. Some people will be radiant with bliss and they will be well pleased with their efforts. These people will be shown into an elevated Garden. They are happy, reassured and enjoying the feeling of both spiritual and physical satisfaction. In this Garden they will hear no vain or evil talk. They will not use nor will they hear any unsuitable speech whatsoever. Within this lofty Garden will be a flowing spring and the description of water flowing implies fresh clean water. They will recline on raised couches. Filled goblets will be placed before them and comfortable cushions will be arranged with beautiful carpets underfoot and spread around. The descriptions of Paradise are both sublime and brilliant. The senses are satisfied. They will have their thirst appeased. The décor is luxurious and appeals to the eye. However, once again the true nature of this reward is incomprehensible except to those who will experience it firsthand. These descriptions help us to imagine the ultimate reward for those who strove for the Hereafter. Verses 17 - 20 The Wonders of nature When the warning and description of the Hereafter comes to a close, the chapter goes on to refer to the present world. We proceed to a reminder of the perfect planning and power of God. Do they not look at how the camels are created? Or look at the sky and how it was raised high? What about the perfection of the mountains firmly set in place or the earth spread out? We are given a scene from the universe of an elevated heaven and an outstretched earth and asked to ponder. Consider this. If God is able to create these wonders of the universe why would the Hereafter not be real? Consider the opening verse. Has the news of the Overwhelming Event reached you? Verses 21 – 26 Admonition and accountability God says to Prophet Muhammad, "Warn them". He is told his only task is to warn the people; he is not able to control them. Prophet Muhammad is the admonisher who reminds them of the future and of the consequences of their actions, but he is not the enforcer. There is no compulsion in religion; to heed the warning or not or to believe or not to believe is a choice given to humankind. However they are accountable for their deeds and those who turn away in disbelief will be punished. In other words Prophet Muhammad is told that once his obligation to warn is complete God will take it from there and punish those who have knowingly turned away. Finally God says, "Indeed to Us is their return and then indeed upon Us is their account". To God is the final return and a final accounting or reckoning will take place. |
(CNN) With a single tweet on Sunday evening, Melania Trump made it official: the White House is no longer operating with a first lady in absentia. FLOTUS has moved in. "Looking forward to the memories we'll make in our new home! #Movingday," read the tweet, which featured a picture from inside the Executive Residence, past the Truman Balcony, overlooking the South Lawn. On what appeared to be a set dining room table, two tall, tapered candles in silver holders were lit. Looking forward to the memories we'll make in our new home! #Movingday pic.twitter.com/R5DtdV1Hnv Trump, who has performed duties as she can, when she can, during her brief visits to Washington over the past five months, has been far from a regular presence at the White House. The most consecutive days the public has seen the first lady were in May abroad, when she accompanied President Donald Trump on his first international trip. Her choice to remain in the couple's New York City penthouse until their son, Barron, 11, finished the school year, while unprecedented, was certainly her prerogative as a parent, as disruptions impact children. However, her communications director Stephanie Grisham tells CNN that Trump is now more than ready to be a Washington resident. "The first lady is very excited about this chapter in their lives. She recognizes this as the true honor that it is, and looks forward to their years ahead in the White House." JUST WATCHED Melania Trump's role on first foreign trip Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Melania Trump's role on first foreign trip 02:30 How it works In February, Trump announced she had selected an interior designer, Tham Kannalikham, to decorate the family's private living quarters in the White House -- more than a dozen rooms -- a job that presumably is now complete. Kannalikham did not return a request for comment. "The first family's move-in must be flawlessly executed," said Rear Admiral Stephen Rochon, who served as director of the executive residence and chief usher at the White House under both Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama, until 2011. "Very importantly, décor of the rooms for Mrs. Trump and her son must be closely coordinated with the first lady's interior decorator. Hopefully, many of these things were done before President Trump moved in more than 100 days ago," Rochon said. "She is no longer employed here at the White House," deputy press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said at the time. "We left on very good terms and wish her the very best and certainly hope for great things for her in the future." When he the White House in 2011 for a position at the Department of Homeland Security, Rochon made sure Reid was prepped for the arrival of the next President and his or her family. "I left a detailed list, and met with (Reid) to answer any questions," said Rochon. "I understand that Mrs. Trump's son's comfort is her top priority, so the chief usher must do everything possible not to disappoint her. (Moving to the White House) can, indeed, be organized chaos." But by the time the rest of the Trump family arrives, they should have everything they need at their fingertips. Clothes will be unpacked in the closets, settled in the bureaus; toys and books and personal items will already be set up per the first lady's selection, the fridge stocked with favorite snacks preferred by the first lady and the littlest Trump. A list of personal care products and brands used by the first family would likely already have been submitted for the East Wing staff to collect and have on hand. "It's definitely a '10' on the scale of exciting moves that we have handled," says Chuck Kuhn, president and CEO of JK Moving Services, a Virginia-based moving company that has both moved presidents into -- and out of -- the White House, including both Bushes and the Clintons. Kuhn said he hasn't been involved with the Trump moves, but that he'd "welcome the opportunity" if asked. The movers go through background checks, and the trucks are inspected before going onto the grounds, said Kuhn. But from the driveway into the house, moving is handled by residence staff. It's up to the chief usher, or now the deputy usher, in the absence of a replacement for Reid, to oversee everyone -- and take care of, well, everything. "When I was there, we had 95 full-time staff members to include the ushers' office, operations staff, who move furniture, rugs, et cetera," said Rochon. "And then the executive chefs and pastry chefs, housekeepers, electricians, carpenters, engineers, plumbers, painters, florists and very importantly, the butlers, whom the first family sees, first and last, every day." In sum, it's a lot. Melania Trump will rely heavily on the head usher, said Rochon, whose job it is to navigate requests on her behalf. "The chief usher is the first lady's primary contact in the executive residence to get anything done there," he said, adding he suspects at this point the painters, carpenters and movers have already completed décor tasks. JUST WATCHED What issues will the First Lady embrace? Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH What issues will the First Lady embrace? 03:07 How life changes "It's the little things you miss," said Michelle Obama to Oprah Winfrey at a women's summit in Washington last June. She was talking about life inside the White House, and how just walking out the front door "without discussing it with anyone" becomes a big deal. "Sasha opened her window once (in the White House) and there were calls. It never opened again," Obama said. The same restrictions and rules will be in place once Trump is a full-time resident as well. "Even though FLOTUS and Barron are moving to the '18 Acres,' as the White House and its grounds are nicknamed, over time, all occupants inevitably feel trapped," said Jonathan Wackrow, a CNN law enforcement analyst and former Secret Service Agent, who spent time on a first lady detail. "In New York City, both of them basically hide in plain sight, blending into the fabric of the city is an easier task," he said. Living at the White House, Trump will become a focal point of the city of Washington itself, with every move watched by staff, press and the public. "Privacy becomes the most craved desire, but it can be hard to come by," said Wackrow, adding it falls to Melania Trump, as it did to Michelle Obama, to help her family adjust. The addition of Secret Service, motorcades, sirens and armed guards is a jolt, said Wackrow, although it is likely helpful that Trump has had a significant taste of what that's like for the past several months. "The DC pressure is a new normal for the family. All of them, the President included, will need to find a tempo that works for them to create an environment that is their own," Wachrow said. For example, President Barack Obama often said it was helpful that he "lived above the store" so he could eat dinner with his family, before working later into the night. "He and Mrs. Obama would also workout together in the mornings a good deal," Wackrow said. And while perhaps a morning bout of couples' exercise won't be on the Trump's agenda, they will presumably find a way to co-habit inside the bubble of the Residence. "They'll do what works for them," said Wackrow. JUST WATCHED How Melania Trump met the 45th President Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH How Melania Trump met the 45th President 00:54 What's next? For Melania Trump, now is when the real work could begin. A platform of initiatives is still in the works, although the first lady has publicly stated women and children's issues are of importance. "It took Michelle Obama a year to announce 'Let's Move,' so there is time," said Kate Andersen Brower, a CNN contributor and author of "First Women: The Grace and Power of America's Modern First Ladies" and "The Residence: Inside the Private World of the White House." "It was also one of the more stressful parts of those first few months for Obama, trying to zero in on a campaign that she felt strongly about and that wouldn't offend (too) many people. I don't know what Melania is considering but with all the turmoil in her husband's administration this doesn't seem like a priority," Brower said. So far, in Washington, Trump has visited a children's hospital and a couple of schools. She's hosted one official "ball" (February's Governors Ball), presided over her first White House Easter Egg Roll and given a speech on female heroes at the State Department, to name a handful of her most notable Washington experiences to date. Last week, she and the President stepped out on the town for the first time, well, not counting a few steak dinners at the Trump International Hotel. The couple attended the Ford's Theatre Gala, Trump dressed in a Champagne-colored, flowing $2,595 silk frock by designer Monique Lhuillier. The next night, they hosted a reception at the White House for Gold Star families. Melania Trump is also expected to fill out her staffing needs, building teams for communications, platform and events. The job of first lady isn't salaried, nor is it outlined with any formal description, but tradition and history, which Trump appears to relish, dictate the wife of the President be a present, photographed, quoted and relevant member of the administration. It's now up to Trump to establish just what kind of first lady she will be. "The first first lady to popularize having a campaign was Lady Bird Johnson with the highway beautification act," said Brower. "Rosalynn Carter took on mental health; from then on, having a message has been really an expected part of the job." On Friday, Trump got in on the fundraising part of the gig, putting her name to a letter asking supporters to sign a birthday card for her husband, who turns 71 on June 14 -- signing requires a donation to the Trump Make America Great Again Committee. "I need your help to make it a birthday my husband will never forget," said the letter. "Our celebrations always include family and close friends." This year, that celebration could likely take place at the White House, with the entire Trump clan in attendance, herself included. |
D’Angelo Russell and Damian Lillard aren’t on the best of terms. Twice the point guards have faced off in the last seven days, and both times Lillard and the Trail Blazers have walked away with wins over a very talented but young Lakers squad with a penchant for short-circuiting in the second half. Emotions came to a head at the Staples Center on Tuesday night after Russell fouled Lillard on his way to the basket in the third quarter of Portland’s 108-87 win over Los Angeles. Article continues below ... Lillard told reporters after the game that Russell was elbowing him. Damian Lillard speaks re: scuffle with D'Angelo Russell: "Im from Oakland … he poked the bear, you saw what happened rest of the game" pic.twitter.com/73lYZY3mXp — Rob Perez (@World_Wide_Wob) January 11, 2017 After initially refusing to speak on the incident, Russell took a sideways approach to Lillard’s comments about his play after the kerfuffle. Per ESPN’s Baxter Holmes, Russell was asked about the “extra gear” guys like Lillard and Golden State’s Stephen Curry can engage in late-game situations, or, say, after feeling like they’ve been slighted by a 20-year-old. Russell’s response: D’Angelo Russell has that gear, but doesn’t know if those guys do. “I don’t know,” Russell said. “I have it. I don’t know about them.” He also said Lillard’s extra gear, or whatever, wasn’t exactly an incendiary revelation or change-of-pace—he was just shooting more. “[Lillard] just shot the ball more,” Russell said. “We didn’t clean up rebounds. The ball bounced to him, he shot it, made shots. Got to the free throw line. The same thing he was trying to do the whole game.” Russell also seemed disappointed in the team’s reaction after the non-dustup. “I think we ran away from everything we did. After the [incident], we just deferred. We didn’t throw any punches and go forward and compete more. We turned down a little bit.” Moving past the Curry/Lillard sour apples, Russell makes some not-wrong points here. Lillard did shoot more after The Incident, but he didn’t exactly blow up the game, going 7-for-21 from the floor (albeit with eight rebounds and a healthy six assists). Moreover, the Lakers did turn down as the game went on, which is a bad thing to do in a basketball game. Always turn up on the hardwood. Always. Dan is on Twitter. Did America turn down after the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor? NO. |
With the world’s attention focused on Syria, another human rights catastrophe unfolds unnoticed, in a forgotten corner of the world called Central African Republic (CAR). A ruthless rebel coalition called the Seleka has engaged in the arbitrary and rampant murder of civilians, including women, children and the elderly. Countless people there, particularly in rural areas, have fled their homes and are camped out in the bush, living in constant fear of attack by Seleka fighters. Little known outside France, its former coloniser, CAR has been bedeviled by the twin curses of poverty and misrule. Its former strongman president, François Bozizé, who took power in a coup in 2003, was overthrown by the Seleka in March this year. Emerging from the remote and impoverished northeast, the Seleka, or “alliance” in the national language, has engaged in widespread abuses. When I travelled to CAR earlier this year, I expected chaos, but not the sheer human suffering endured by the people I met. Villagers, hidden in bushes, would speak to me only after I gently convinced them that I was not part of the Seleka. When I finally earned their trust, they told me about the looting of their homes, the terrifying attacks they endured, their hunger and sickness. One victim told me how he had to flee the village with his sick father. He tried to care for his ailing father in the bush, but hopelessly watched him die, because the local clinic had been looted by Seleka fighters and the roads were too dangerous for travel. Another man described how the Seleka rounded up five men from his village, tied them up, and then gunned them down. A local official, he said, “went door to door in the village to ask people to leave their homes and come to a meeting to talk with the Seleka. The first few left their homes, five of them, and were grouped under a tree…their arms were attached to each other. They were then shot down one by one.” During the Seleka’s assault on the Boy-Rabe neighbourhood of Bangui, the capital, in April, I spoke with fleeing victims who told more tragic tales: a man who frantically called his son to warn him not to go outside, only to hear a few hours later that he’d been killed; another man who watched as his wife and infant were murdered in front of him on his doorstep; a resident who watched his neighbour shot down after he tried to hide women fleeing the shooting; and parents who were forced to the floor at gunpoint while their daughter was raped by a Seleka fighter. Human Rights Watch’s new report, 'I Can Still Smell the Dead: The Forgotten Human Rights Crisis in the Central African Republic' details these killings between March and June, both in Bangui and in the provinces, and confirms the deliberate destruction of more than 1,000 homes. Since Human Rights Watch left CAR in June, the situation has worsened. From July to September we have received credible reports of Seleka attacks on civilians throughout the country. The humanitarian situation teeters on the verge of disaster, with growing numbers of internally displaced people and refugees fleeing to neighbouring countries. Transitional president and Seleka leader Michel Djotodia announced the dissolution of the rebel coalition earlier this month, but it remains unclear what will happen with its armed fighters. When I was in CAR, many of the people I spoke to showed signs of deep trauma, and begged both for assistance and the world’s attention. Aid workers are trying to address basic needs, but are themselves targeted. On 7 September, two employees of the French charity ACTED were killed. Media reports implicate Seleka fighters in the deaths. This July, Lynne Featherstone, the parliamentary under-secretary of state for international development, announced that the UK would give £5 million to the International Committee of the Red Cross and the UN Humanitarian Air Service, to enable them to continue to deliver critical support to CAR. This is a good first step and deserves recognition. But more needs to be done to stop the violence. The UK should help the African Union peacekeeping mission in CAR ensure civilian protection by providing much-needed and requested logistical and financial support. Through its seat on the UN Security Council, the UK should push for targeted sanctions on those responsible for human rights abuses, including Seleka leaders. Finally, the UK should support efforts to bring to account, including by the International Criminal Court, perpetrators of human rights crimes in the country, both past and present. The phrase I heard most often in CAR was “don’t forget us.” I doubt I’ll be able to, given the terrible things I saw. Central Africans urgently need humanitarian assistance, security, and justice. If only more people could find them on a map. Lewis Mudge is a researcher in the Africa division at Human Rights Watch. |
Breaking News Emails Get breaking news alerts and special reports. The news and stories that matter, delivered weekday mornings. Feb. 17, 2017, 2:26 AM GMT / Updated Feb. 17, 2017, 2:26 AM GMT By Phil McCausland On the eve of Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt's confirmation vote to be head of the Environmental Protection Agency, a judge from the Sooner State ordered the release of thousands of emails between his office and fossil fuel companies. Oklahoma County District Judge Aletia Haynes Timmons told Pruitt's office that it would have to hand over the emails to the Center for Media and Democracy, or CMD, which requested the first batch of documents in 2014, or to the court. Scott Pruitt testifies before the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee last month in Washington, D.C., on his nomination to head the Environmental Protection Agency. Michael Reynolds / EPA According to the court filing, the CMD alleged that Pruitt and his office continued "to deny access to specific requested public records in violation of the Oklahoma Open Records Act" after it had filed more than eight requests. Timmons agreed, finding that "there was an abject failure to provide prompt and reasonable access to documents requested." The liberal watchdog group had asked for the correspondence between Pruitt's office and Koch Industries, mining and drill companies and the Republican Attorneys General Association, according to the CMD's general counsel, Arn Pearson. "Those are the types of things we're looking for that go toward his conflicts of interest and whether he'll be carrying out the agenda of fossil fuel companies and not carrying out the EPA's mandate," Pearson said. At the time of the hearing on Thursday, the attorney general's office had provided only 411 of the more than 3,000 emails the CMD had requested. The office turned over the 411 emails earlier this week, although the group filed its first request two years ago. "They said they had a first-come, first-served system and kept saying they had a huge request ahead of ours," Pearson said. "We were stonewalled for a little over two years and decided to file suit on February 7." Pruitt's office maintained that it had committed no wrongdoing and was only following the "first-come, first-served system." "The Office of Attorney General remains committed to following the letter and spirit of the Open Records Act," said Pruitt's press secretary, Lincoln Ferguson. "In light of that, we are reviewing all of our options in order to ensure fairness to all requestors rather than elevating the importance of some requests over others." But the CMD and Pearson said Pruitt's office intentionally withheld documents. Of the 411 emails it received for its initial request, the investigative group identified 27 that had been provided to The New York Times in a 2014 Pulitzer Prize-winning investigation that revealed that Pruitt had taken fracking rules drafted by Devon Energy, an Oklahoma oil company, and passed them as his own. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-Rhode Island, brought up the more than 50 unresolved Open Records Act requests given to Pruitt's office during his EPA confirmation hearings. Whitehouse said the lack of transparency was one of the reasons that Democrats opposed Pruitt's nomination. Nevertheless — regardless of the judge's ruling, the substance of the emails or Democratic opposition — Pruitt is expected to sail through the confirmation vote on Friday. Democrats are a minority in the Senate, 48-52, and only one Republican, Susan Collins of Maine, has said she will not support Pruitt's candidacy. Related: Senate Panel Approves EPA Critic Scott Pruitt to Head Agency Even so, Democrats said the judge's ruling is a good enough reason for the vote to be postponed until they are able to read the emails. "This development really requires a delay in this vote," Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Connecticut, said Thursday on the Senate floor. "We have an obligation in advising and consenting to be as fully informed as possible." Environmental organizations agreed with the senators. "Scott Pruitt and Senate Republicans have made a mockery of the confirmation process, permitting the nominee to escape scrutiny and hide his deep ties to the fossil fuel industry," Sierra Club Legislative Director Melinda Pierce said in a statement. "What is he hiding in all of these emails? "The vote to confirm Pruitt must now be delayed until every senator can see just who Pruitt is and what he will do if permitted to run the EPA," Pierce said. |
PORTLAND, Maine (NEWS CENTER) - - Gary Johnson and his VP pick Bill Weld will appear in Portland for brunch on Friday morning, according to the candidate's website. Reports show that 'Brunch with the Governors' will be held at the Portland Regency Hotel & Spa on Friday, August 26, 2016, at 11:30 a.m. Both running mates were Republican governors -- Johnson in New Mexico, Weld in Massachusetts. Maine's Republican Senator Susan Collins said last week that she was considering voting libertarian this November. Johnson's official website states that the candidate and his running mate will hold a rally in Lewiston at the Gendron Franco Heritage Center on Friday evening at 6 p.m. Tonight's rally is free and open to the public. “We need to make America sane again.” – Governor Gary Johnson Copyright 2016 WCSH |
Police in Sydney’s Sutherland Shire have been called to a most unusual type of break-in and forced to put their best animal skills to the test to remove the intruder. Officers were called to a home in Engadine late on Saturday night after a woman found a koala on her window ledge. She brought the curious marsupial inside and when she couldn’t work out what to do with it and wasn’t able to get onto animals services, she called the police. Fortunately, one of the attending officers is a WIRES volunteer and helped move the koala outside. NSW Police media posted the case on its Facebook page, where it’s attracted more than four thousand comments and been shared close to one thousand times. “Sutherland Police recently responded to reports of a rare tree doggo inside a local home,” the post read. “Luckily for the resident, one of the officers was a koalified WIRES volunteer who was able to remove the intruder.” The koala was found by the owner of the Engadine home. (Twitter) () © Nine Digital Pty Ltd 2019 |
All you hear about in tech today is entrepreneurs and VCs and money changing the world. I was an entrepreneur and I met a lot of VCs and I asked for some of their money. Changing the world is not the business that you think it is. At the turn of the century I spent about a year raising money from VCs for a dot-com company I'd co-founded. Popula was like a mini-eBay, but for vintage and rare goods, and for rare books. In early 2001, after four years building the business, we finally managed to wrestle down a term sheet from a small venture firm for $8 million. Alas (or maybe not, as we shall see), the crash of April 2001 arrived before the money did. But during that year, I learned a lot about VCs and how they think. The erstwhile homepage of Popula The memories of that period will forever boggle. The darting eyes of hundreds or thousands of hungry/crazy opportunists. The horror of hearing the phrase "monetizing eyeballs" for the first time, and the well-nigh uncontrollable desire to leap across the table and plunge my fork into the speaker's chest. Taking a seat in the opulent offices of a "Biz Dev" VP at a dot-com entertainment company funded to the tune of $60 million, and finding myself across from a squirt so young that I couldn't help blurting out, "Um, can I talk to your dad?" Seizure-inducingly horrible, ostentatiously expensive furniture and artwork by the truckload, a never-ending cascade of floor-to-ceiling glass walls, a blur of huge, self-important conference tables. Also: the thrill of watching our beloved project come to life. The shared pleasure and excitement of colleagues, programmers and customers, experiencing this extraordinary moment together. Knowing that you were watching the birth of a medium that was about to change the world. That you were part of it. We learned that they liked to be taken to lunch at the movie studios, the VCs, because that is one of the few places you can't just buy your way in. They could be a lot of fun, loved to party, loved good food, good wine. Also, loved Ayn Rand (both Atlas Shrugged and The Fountainhead) but no other novels at all. They said the most unbelievable things. "We won't look at a company without a potential market of at least $100 billion." "We're not looking at profits, we're looking at revenues." To be fair, the development side was just as surreal. One afternoon I found myself in the galley of this podgy network guy's boat, this bizarre guy who ran a gang of Oracle geniuses, when suddenly he emerged from the cabin in his underwear. In Florida, a network security specialist met me while brandishing a lightsaber of his own design. He turned out to be totally useless: Our servers were decimated by a virus that was nothing by today's standards, a tiny little bug that anyone could clear up in five minutes on his own nowadays. So why even invest all this time and effort in trying to raise outside money? In those days eBay, our principal competitor, did not dominate to the extent it does now. We'd put a lot of our own money in, hundreds of thousands by the end, but that was no match for the avalanche of money being spent by eBay and their top-tier competitors, Amazon and Yahoo, both of which had launched competing auction sites in an attempt to wrestle that explosively-growing business away from eBay. In order for us to establish a permanent foothold, even to make ourselves heard above the din of our half-dozen or so competitors in the second tier — most of whom were venture funded — it would be necessary to spend at comparable levels on development, advertising and marketing. So: Pitching, pitching, pitching. Lots of airplanes, lots of talking. There was a truly scarring event put on by the Forum for Women Entrepreneurs, at which it was suddenly announced that the first five to reach the podium would get to pitch. A physical race between women in business gear. Those in heels were courting trouble. Many were like myself, transfixed with fifty kinds of horror and dread and rooted to the spot. Finally, we signed a deal. Champagne all around. One of our VCs arrived at our ramshackle Hollywood Boulevard warehouse offices in a huge white stretch limousine. "Jesus who have you got in there, Van Halen?" I exclaimed, injudiciously. We showed her inside. "Wow," she said as she examined the musty, book-stuffed interior. We trembled inwardly. "Some of our companies have paid, like, hundreds of thousands of dollars to look like this." It had seemed like heaven, that $8 million term sheet, in exchange for a quite reasonable hunk of our company. Enough for our programmers to revamp our product with every feature we (and our customers) had dreamed about, enough to mount a complete guerrilla marketing and ad campaign, enough to hire everyone we needed, enough to — hang on a minute — enough to pay a bunch of consultants about $200,000 (consultants that our investors had also invested in via a portfolio company), our new partners suddenly informed us. Enough, also, to pay the interim CTO these consultants had chosen for us $40,000. Per month. "You should be thrilled to have this guy for a CTO," one of them insisted. Quite commonly VCs will fund a startup and then they will commence to spend the money themselves at a furious rate. That way you will need more and more, and be forever beholden as your equity melts down to nothing. Very few startups have made it through that gantlet unscathed. In an ideal startup, every bit of equity would stay in ironclad hands. (Even Craig Newmark, one of the smartest and best Internet entrepreneurs in history, ran into trouble when a partner insisted on selling out his stake to the dreaded eBay, resulting in a poisonous relationship that is still being litigated to this day.) Very soon after the deal closed, we were told to meet with the top dog at another of our VCs' portfolio companies. They had this Java-based method of creating storefronts. I test-drove their clumsy, bug-ridden, terrible-results-producing monstrosity of a product. These programmers had no earthly idea how to design a consumer interface. Most of their applets spawned those little grey boxes, the ones you had to give all these permissions to, constantly. So we obediently had a meeting with their CEO. Which was a catastrophe. "Look, this is very simple," I explained to him. "There are three elements in this game. A chick, a wallet and a Visa card. You have to get the chick to remove the Visa card from the wallet in order to win. And if she leaves the site because she is confused by your little grey boxes —" How pityingly he looked at me. "Well you have to understand, Maria —" "Actually no, I don't. My customer won't, so I don't have to. She's the one we need to be worrying about." Mr. Head VC phoned me up and gave me a rocket about how they'd only invested in Popula on account of the Synergy with Java Boy. "Well you know, S., their thing does not work, is the problem," I explained, over the sound of my grinding molars. At our last meeting, we sat around their over-designed conference table in a chilly near-silence. It emerged that Java Boy and his troupe of clowns had their own ideas about how our product ought to be built, complete with inane acronyms. We proposed a few compromises, based on what we had learned from actual paying human beings, and were summarily shot down. We were small potatoes, and we were expected to do what we were told. We were weighing our options when the crash came, and blew the deal off the table. So here is the question: what are the ultimate goals of investment in our tech future? Are they being served by those currently in charge of that future? I did meet one angel back in those days, a very rich entrepreneur, who articulated something of the problem we were facing then, and are now facing for the second time. "If you're doing this mainly so you can get rich," he said, "that's a huge red flag for me. The people who are going to succeed aren't the ones who just want to get rich." An especially striking remark, because this guy's own impulse was manifestly, obviously, to get rich(er) and yet he framed the question of whether or not to invest in other terms entirely. Those in the investment community often pay lip service to the romantic idea of themselves as "innovators" and "creators" and what have you, but aside from the mere self-congratulation, there are a few who understand that even if you are inclined to equate "success" and "wealth," you'll need more than just greed in order to get there. The billionaire angel investor Ron Conway demonstrated this reasoning in an email to his colleagues leaked during the Angelgate scandal of 2010: The world of startups would be a better place if you spent less time complaining about deal structures, terms, vc’s, and valuations etc and the cars you drive, and just helped entrepenuers [sic] build their companies. [...] In my opinion your motives are driven by self serving factors around ego satisfaction and 'making a buck. |
On October 28, the Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) Judicial Board released an interim order suspending the General Assembly’s motion to split the vote on the ratification of the Board of Directors until further evaluation. The order comes following a contentious motion moved by SSMU VP Internal Maya Koparkar at the General Assembly to vote on each Director individually. Noah Lew, Alex Scheffel, and Josephine Wright O’Manique failed to receive the votes necessary to serve on the Board. While Lew and Scheffel have sat on the Board since the summer, Wright O’Manique has only recently been nominated by the Legislative Council to serve as a Director for the upcoming year. Director Jonathan Glustein filed the petition, naming Maya Koparkar and then-Speaker Jad El Tal as respondents in the case. El Tal resigned from his position on Friday morning. In an email to The Bull & Bear, Director Glustein referenced both the legality of the motion in terms of the Board being under its twelve person capacity, and the nature of how the vote was conducted: “At the Fall 2017 General Assembly, 105 people voted against Noah Lew. Alexander Scheffel and Josephine Wright O’Manique were also voted down by just over 100 people. Already, over 450 people have signed an open letter that calls for all three Directors to be put to an online referendum vote. The spirit of the SSMU Constitution affords power to the members to make decisions. A vote of 0.4% of the student body to choose the Directors who will serve on our highest governing body is simply undemocratic and at odds with the SSMU Constitution.” He maintained that “the Constitution clearly states that the Board shall be composed of twelve voting members. In this case, by dividing the question, only 9 members were ratified, meaning that if this were to proceed we would have a Board with a composition in violation of SSMU’s Constitution for a full year, opening SSMU up to both legal challenge and violation of its Memorandum of Agreement with McGill University.” The petition called into question the constitutionality of Koparkar’s motion to split the question and ratify each director separately at the General Assembly. It also claimed that by allowing the motion to be heard and voted on, the Speaker violated the SSMU Constitution. Director Glustein filed the petition “seeking an interim order to be made by October 28, 2017 that all 12 Directors’ names, as they are listed in the motion to ratify the SSMU Board of Directors…be submitted for ratification by means of an online referendum during the Fall 2017 Referenda period.” When asked for comment on being named in the petition, Koparkar wrote to The Bull & Bear: “When all of those conflicts were going on regarding the constitutionality of the Board back in September, when we discussed as a Board, someone alluded to the fact that the Board wasn’t democratic because it wasn’t composed of elected members to which someone else said that they were democratically elected via GA approval […] we had talked about this later and someone suggested dividing the question as a way of adding legitimacy to this process, which I felt was fair especially given that we voted on the councillors for the [Board] in this manner at [Legislative Council] a couple weeks ago, but then during the GA when it became clear that it was procedurally going to be an issue I stopped pursuing it.” Koparkar was surprised at the outcome of her motion to split the vote. She stated, “For the record, I think the result was unfair – I didn’t think people would vote in the capacity that they did and although I am named in the [Judicial] Board motion, I will cooperate in terms of the outcome the petitioner is seeking out.” The Judicial Board unanimously ruled to suspend the GA motion until it could conduct an official hearing to evaluate the constitutionality of splitting the vote. The suspension maintains that the Directors who failed ratification but have already served – Noah Lew and Alex Scheffel – will not be demoted of their functions until a ruling is issued regarding the constitutionality of the vote. All motions passed at the General Assembly must be ratified online. However, the Judicial Board found it could not simply add the three individuals who failed ratification to the existing ballot. Because Lew, Scheffel, and Wright O’Manique were not approved at the General Assembly, they cannot be retroactively included in the General Assembly motion regarding the Board of Directors that will be sent to referendum. Until the Judicial Board makes a ruling, the interim order issued “preserves the status quo prior to the General Assembly and maintains the 12 Directors’ status.” |
A modern web page does a lot of things, hence the term web application has become more commonly used over the last year. A consequence of this is that we are crafting widgets and entire modules using JavaScript, or at least in some language that eventually ends up being “compiled” to JavaScript. Where there is code there should also be tests. And the tests need to go green every time the code is changed. You are testing your client side code, right? JavaScript testing As with everything else, there has been an evolution of testing frameworks for JavaScript. From tests that run in a static HTML page like QUnit, to the innovative js-test-driver that captures (multiple) browsers and runs tests on them using a server component, and finally to the newest kid on the block, Buster.js, that does everything and more. Using Buster, you can have your tests run very quickly on PhantomJS, a headless WebKit browser based on the V8 JavaScript engine. (It uses JavaScriptCore with JIT compiler). It is also easy to capture multiple browsers, and thus run the tests on multiple platforms at once. We have recently set up our Continuous Integration server, Jenkins, to run our tests written in Buster. In addition, we added linting and checkstyle reports using JSHint. Configuring Jenkins CI To accomplish this, go configure your project in Jenkins, find the Build section, and add the following build steps (in order) using Execute Shell: 1. Start the Buster server, and make the Phantom browser connect to it. (The buster_phantom.sh script is included at the end of this post.) 2. Run the tests, and make Buster output xUnit formatted XML. 3. Cleanup by stopping Buster and Phantom. 4. Run JSHint with the —jslint-reporter flag. 5. Run JSHint with the –checkstyle-reporter flag. Finally, under Post-build Actions, add these steps: 1. Publish Checkstyle analysis results and Publish JUnit test result report. 2. To mark the build as unstable when one of the JSHint checks fail, add Report Violations. 3. If you have not done so already, you should add email notifications when the build goes unstable. The script used to start Buster and Phantom, are embedded below from https://gist.github.com/4285257: Final thoughts It should be quite easy™ to run the tests on more platforms, perhaps even using a browser provider such as Browserstack or Testling. If you have an Open Source project going on, you can run the tests using Travis CI, see this guide by QMetric. And the result? Beautiful graphs on the project page, sure, but more importantly, the tests are run every time your code changes, and you get feedback when something is wrong. How do you run your JavaScript tests? Let us know in the comments! |
GANDHINAGAR: Patel quota agitation leader Hardik Patel on Saturday questioned the much talked about ' Gujarat Model ' of development and said he will "expose the reality behind it."While making announcements here about the next round of agitations, Hardik, who leads a faction of Patel groups' campaigning to get reservation under OBC quota, cited several examples to prove his point."This government claims that farmers are very happy in Gujarat. Then why two farmers committed suicide in last one week? What is the reason that people involved in recruitment rackets are not punished? Why innocent women are beaten up and sent to jail by police? Is this the Gujarat Model?" Hardik said at a press conference.He alleged that Patels are being subjected to violence by police and the state government delayed the local body polls for its benefit."Patels are being singled out by police and mercilessly thrashed. BJP-led Gujarat government brought an ordinance to delay the local body polls, for their benefit. Is this Gujarat Model? What will happen when such a model, for which our PM takes credit all the time, will be implemented across India?" asked Hardik.The 22-year-old convener of Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS) termed the Gujarat model as a "myth" and said he will "expose" the reality behind it."When such wrong and misleading notions about Gujarat Model is being spread by our leaders, which is totally against the reality here, we have decided to expose the well-propagated myth," he said.Hardik, who is also president of Patidar Navnirman Sena (PNS), claimed that the outfit has presence in 16 states and its members will hold various programs across India, including Bihar, to educate their community through public gatherings."As of now, more than 56 lakh members have registered with PNS. Not just Bihar, we will organise programs in various parts of country to tell people about the atrocities police have committed on us in Gujarat," he said.Hardik rejected state government's Rs 1,000 crore package announced recently for the students of economically backward class (EBC) sections of non-reserved category."We don't want such package. We want only reservation. If government claims that reservation can't be given as per the present laws, then I want the government to explain to us, under which laws it cannot give us reservation," said Hardik.Hardik apprised PAAS will organise a maha-panchayat of Patels at Ratlam in Madhya Pradesh on Sunsay.A mega rally is being planned in Rajkot in coming days while many other gatherings and rallies are in the pipeline at various places of Gujarat. |
statistics, vaccines, and viral evolution Researchers recommend a flu shot even in years when it's not very effective. Why? Because it slows the spread of the virus. How many times have you heard people tell you that flu vaccines are a waste of time because they still end up getting the flu anyways? And considering that about 5% to 20% of people in the U.S. could get the flu every year, depending on the severity of the strain, the number of vaccinations and exposure to the contagion in large and concentrated populations, flu shots do seem like a relatively fruitless effort at first. However, there’s a caveat to the anecdotal tales of people getting their annual vaccinations, then coming down with the flu anyway. Rather then getting the full blown flu, they’re much more likely to get a really bad cold or a respiratory virus for which a flu shot provides no defense, self-diagnose themselves as having the flu, then refuse a flu shot and really get lab-confirmed influenza during the next season, which only further reinforces their conclusions about the shot. Now, it’s well known that there are plenty of people who really do get a flu shot and still come down with a fully legitimate case of influenza. According to the CDC, the vaccine is about 86% effective in healthy adults under 65 and is obviously less effective for people with compromised immune systems. The referenced study in the fact sheet isn’t just a survey of who got the shot and whether they got the disease or not. It actually tests how well a vaccine does against the virus itself and concluded that when there’s a good match between the strain of influenza in force and the strain in the vaccine, healthy adults stand an almost 9 in 10 chance of not getting sick. If you start including other influenza-like infections and airborne viruses that produce similar symptoms, but are not caused by the influenza virus itself, the efficacy rates plummet but you end up measuring viruses outside the vaccine’s scope and skewing your results. It’s true that there are years where major mismatches between the vaccine and wild strains do occur, but even then, you’re looking at a 60% effectiveness rate, which means you’ll be able to fight the virus 6 times out of 10. So even in a bad year, you get a measurable benefit from the flu shot. The problem is that it might not feel like it because many respiratory viruses have very similar symptoms. Rhinoviruses are so often confused for fully fledged influenza without a laboratory test that even doctors can frequently get the diagnosis wrong and there are symptom guides to help determine which one you may have. Unfortunately, real diseases don’t follow any of those guides and severe colds can feel just as bad as the flu. The point however, is that you’ve been able to help prevent yourself from contracting full blown influenza infections and just because you feel terrible doesn’t mean that you have the flu and your shot was worthless. You simply wouldn’t know that without a lab test. Another interesting bit of science is a recent experiment done by NIH scientists which shows that vaccines can actually help steer influenza’s evolution in a direction favorable for us. Our immune systems recognize the proteins of the virion’s capsid (the part of the virus that contains its genetic material) and attack. Mutations that change the way the proteins are arranged can confuse our immune cells and let the infection take place and when our immune cells have been tempered with a vaccine, the selective pressures in our body change how the protein coat of the influenza virus is shaped. And while it sounds as if we’re making it more potent, it’s not really what’s happening. Instead, the virus becomes harder to transmit. It’s less infections. When the mutated virions were injected back into unvaccinated mice used by the researchers, they quickly evolved back to more spreadable forms. The only variable between the groups of mice being studied was the vaccine. In a write-up for Discovery News, lead researcher Jonathan Yewdell summed up his results thusly… ‘We want to box flu in as much as we can. With more antibody pressure from vaccinated people, it’s got to bind tighter, and the virus is not so happy.’ So now the big question. If the vaccines really do help against influenza, why not create one for colds and end the respiratory misery of flu and cold season? Well, unfortunately for us, there are so many rhinovirus variants, a vaccine for the common cold would be highly inefficient. Sadly, suffering from bad colds is going to continue for the foreseeable future. And while on the surface of things, you may wonder what’s the point if you may still have to endure misery anyway, keep in mind that influenza can trigger pneumonia and pose a lethal threat to people with compromised or weak immune systems while worsening existing heart conditions. That’s what you’re really defending against when you get a flu shot, not from having a lousy week or two every winter. And, of course, to make the virus less of a menace over the long term with selective pressure from our trained and tempered immune systems primed with vaccine induced antibodies. See: Hensley, S., et. al, (2009). Hemagglutinin Receptor Binding Avidity Drives Influenza A Virus Antigenic Drift Science, 326 (5953), 734–736 DOI: 10.1126/science.1178258 |
“Our problem, basically, is that we have a very distorted economy in the sense that there has been a significant recovery in a limited area of the economy amongst high-income individuals who have just had $800 billion added to their 401(k)s and are spending it and are carrying what consumption there is. Large banks, who are doing much better, and large corporations, whom you point out and the–and everyone’s pointing out, are in excellent shape. The rest of the economy, small business, small banks, and a very significant amount of the labor force, which is in tragic unemployment, long-term unemployment, that is pulling the economy apart. The average of those two is what we are looking at, but they are fundamentally two separate types of economy.” -former Fed Chair Alan Greenspan, Meet the Press > Fascinating quote from Easy Al on Meet the Press via Bloomberg. It has 3 subtexts that might not be readily apparent — until we break it down: 1) Extend the Bush tax cuts on highest bracket earners: Since its the 401(k) crowd that are carrying the recovery, Greenspan suggests, then we best not crimp the income of these big spenders 2) Two Americas: Greenspan seems to be channeling John Edwards when he discusses two economies. The bailouts reduced competition. They extended the life of badly structured financial firms, and forced smaller firms to scramble. 3) Greenspan’s Legacy: It seems that Easy Al can figure out precisely what he has wrought. The secret to getting such candor out of the former Fed chief is to trick him into discussing the broader economy. That way, he does not realize that he is discussing the effects of his tenure as FOMC chair. Of course, Greenspan is still wrong on Housing. Recall that he failed to recognize the impending housing correction (collapse more accurately) and made claims that the worst was behind us — just as housing was accelerating downwards: “If home prices stay stable, then I think we will skirt the worst of the housing problem. But right under this current price level, maybe 5, 7 or 8 percent below is a very large block of mortgages which are underwater, so to speak, or could be underwater, and that would induce a major increase in foreclosures. Foreclosures would feed on the weakness in prices, and it would create a problem. So that–it’s touch and go.” One last thing: I have to give Greenspan credit for this touch of tax cut honesty: “Look, I’m very much in favor of tax cuts, but not with borrowed money. And the problem that we’ve gotten into in recent years is spending programs with borrowed money, tax cuts with borrowed money, and at the end of the day, that proves disastrous.” For once, I agree with him . . . > Previously: Greenspan sounds optimistic note on housing: report (Oct. 7, 2006) Greenspan on Housing Bottoms (April 10, 2008) Yet Another Greenspan Housing Bottom Call (May 13, 2009) Sources: Meet the Press transcript for August 1, 2010 Mike Bloomberg, Alan Greenspan, Ed Rendell, Doris Kearns Goodwin, Mark Halperin MSNBC, 8/1/2010 1:12:55 PM ET http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38487969/ns/meet_the_press-transcripts Greenspan Says Drop in Home Prices Might Bring Back Recession Joshua Zumbrun Bloomberg, Aug. 2 2010 http://noir.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601010&sid=aUb4ukA88agU |
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — As the nation’s opioid epidemic intensified, Indiana cracked down on over-prescribing doctors and “pill mills” catering to people with addictions. The state also took aim at doctor-shopping — the practice of visiting multiple physicians to score more painkillers. The measures had an impact, but not what officials hoped for. While making opioid prescriptions harder to get, the crackdown also helped spur a twofold increase in robberies of pharmacies that exacerbated the state’s standing as No. 1 in the nation for those crimes. Between 2009 and 2016, Indiana had 651 pharmacy robberies — the most in the U.S. and more than the 597 recorded by No. 2 California, which has six times the population, U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration records show. The frequent holdups reflect a grim reality: With each regulation or law enforcement tactic, the opioid crisis quickly shape-shifts to evade new obstacles. Dealers and those struggling with addictions adapt, and the epidemic continues with little interruption. “They’re always looking for wherever they can get their foothold. And once they do, they’re going to take advantage,” said Tom Prevoznik, a deputy chief of pharmaceutical investigations with the DEA in Arlington, Virginia. Pharmacies and law enforcement agencies in Indianapolis, where most of the robberies have occurred, are fighting back. Pharmacy chains have installed time-release safes that won’t open for several minutes, forcing robbers to risk arrest by waiting. Signs so far are positive. Robberies in Indianapolis numbered only eight through early June, compared with 55 for all of 2016. But some criminals responded to those efforts by traveling from Indianapolis to small suburban towns to rob pharmacies, including one in January in Elwood, about 40 miles from Indianapolis, where two robbers herded frantic employees into a bathroom after threatening them with a handgun. Indiana’s economic makeup has made it a likely breeding ground for opioid addiction for years. The 2008 financial crisis hit the state’s manufacturing economy hard, causing waves of layoffs. And physically demanding jobs in heavy industry have long left workers prone to injuries that could lead to prescriptions for painkillers. “They get a legit medical prescription — and then all of a sudden it gets out of control,” said Jason Hockenberry, an Emory University professor of health policy who has studied opioid addiction. He said the state already had outsized opioid woes, related in part to its location along Interstates 65 and 70 — two major corridors for illicit drugs. Opioid addiction was behind the state’s worst-ever HIV outbreak, in 2015, an epidemic that infected more than 200 people in a rural county north of Louisville, Kentucky. Most had shared needles while injecting a prescription painkiller. That year, Indiana ranked 17th in the nation in heroin and prescription opioid overdose deaths, with 1,245 deaths per 100,000 people. Four years ago, the Legislature directed the state’s Medical Licensing Board to draft rules requiring patients to visit their doctors periodically to keep getting prescription refills. The changes included requiring doctors to use an online database to check patients’ use of controlled substances. But stemming easy access to opioids probably contributed to the binge of 168 robberies in 2015, more than twice the previous year’s total, as more people addicted to prescription opioids robbed stores seeking painkillers and other potent drugs, said Greg Zoeller, who was Indiana’s attorney general at the time. The holdups — sometimes more than five a day in Indianapolis — flooded the black market with nearly 200,000 pills, primarily painkillers. “We knew full well that if you reduce easy access, you’re going to have these kinds of consequences,” Zoeller said. Lt. Craig McCartt, who oversees robbery investigations for the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department, said 85 percent of Indianapolis’ pharmacy robberies in 2015 were committed by juveniles enlisted by adult dealers offering cash and gifts to rob the stores. Amid that crime spree, Indianapolis police teamed up with the DEA, FBI and federal prosecutors for a multi-agency approach that’s led to the indictments of 35 people, including six juveniles, in 62 of the robberies. The state’s two largest drugstore operators, Walgreens and CVS, have also installed time-release safes at their roughly 180 Indianapolis pharmacies and added armed guards at some stores in recent years. Indiana’s pharmacy robberies dropped to 78 in 2016, but the state still ranked second in the U.S., behind California. The latest effort targeting the robberies is a law taking effect in July that will lead to longer sentences for people who threaten violence or injure anyone during pharmacy robberies. Ken Fagerman, a former South Bend pharmacist who wrote a book about the robberies, said the pharmacy industry should not have tolerated the heists for years and shares some blame. “It’s regrettable that more wasn’t done sooner,” he said. |
Meetings in Havana paved the way for negotiations that open in Oslo on Wednesday on ending long-running civil war The ailing former Cuban leader Fidel Castro, together with Venezuela's recently re-elected leader Hugo Chávez, played a critical role in bringing the Colombian government and the deadly Farc guerrilla group together for peace talks that could end one of Latin America's longest-running civil wars, the Observer has learned. According to sources closely involved in the peace process, which sees historic talks opening in Oslo on Wednesday, the key breakthrough after almost four years of back-channel talks between the two sides came during a visit earlier this year by Colombia's president, Juan Manuel Santos, to Cuba, where he met both Castro and Chávez, who was in Cuba being treated for cancer. That meeting was the first of many in Havana between the two sides, facilitated primarily by Cuba and Norway with the backing of Venezuela, which saw agreement on the detailed agenda for the first round of talks this week. "Officially President Santos went to Cuba to discuss the Americas summit," said a source intimately involved in the peace negotiations. "But the purpose of that trip was to discuss the peace initiative." The meetings earlier this year followed the decision last year by Santos to take the step of recognising that an "armed conflict" existed in his country, an initiative encouraged by Chávez since 2008. Those contacts also came in the same period that Farc announced it was ending kidnapping, one of five preconditions for talks that had been set down by Santos as a gesture of goodwill. Farc and the government have been at war since 1964, with the group more recently accused of having taken a directing role in coca production in areas it controls, an issue that will be on the agenda for the talks. But in what is being billed as the best chance to bring about a negotiated end to the long-running conflict, the Colombian government delegation will sit down with Farc leaders whose Interpol arrest warrants have been suspended to allow them to travel to Oslo without fear of arrest. The government delegation, for the first time ever, will include retired generals with the trust of the country's military and representatives of Colombia's business elite, whose presence, it is hoped, will help sell any peace deal that emerges to those hostile to the process. After the failure of the last round of peace negotiations, which foundered 12 years ago, top of the agenda will be the issues of land reform – Farc's key demand – political participation, the disarmament of the guerrilla group and the issue of paramilitaries who have in the past sought to torpedo any deal. The disclosure of the key role of Cuba in organising support for the peace process marked the culmination of a long period of back-channel talks first initiated by Santos's predecessor as president, Alvaro Uribe, under whom Santos served as minister of defence. During those four years contacts continued despite the death during an army operation of Farc's leader, Alfonso Cano, last year. Others credited with having created the conditions for the talks in Norway are unnamed former participants in the Northern Ireland peace process. The talks are due to begin amid warnings from both sides, as well as observers, that a serious threat exists from those on both sides of Colombia's political divide who might attempt to use violence to derail the process. The attempt to reach a negotiated peace settlement foundered over a decade ago as both sides accused the other of stalling and rebuilding their forces, a period, observers say, that saw a doubling of anti-Farc paramilitaries. A senior Colombian government source, who briefed the Observer on condition of anonymity, described the chances for talks as the best ever, adding that the Santos government had already enacted a new law for land reform and victim restitution. "President Santos is a pragmatist. He has already presented to congress a framework for an agreement. Colombia was already moving into a post-conflict phase, in some respects, even as the conflict continues. It is the right moment. Farc have a historic opportunity – probably the last – to find a solution to this conflict with dignity. To go into history and say they fought for social justice. To say they fought for land reform. "We want to see 'Timochenko' [Rodrigo Londoño Echeverri, who took over command of Farc after Cano's death in 2011] in Colombia's congress just as we have seen Gerry Adams in the Northern Ireland assembly." The sense of a guarded new optimism is shared by outside observers, including Marc Chernick, a US academic who has followed the history of Colombian peace negotiations and written The Farc at the Negotiating Table. Speaking from Colombia on Friday, Chernick said: "I've observed all the previous negotiations and I have been optimistic before, but this time I believe there is a real seriousness on both sides that has not been shown before. "In the past Farc has always asked for a demilitarised zone as a precondition and this time it has not pressed for that. Four years ago it started to release prisoners, first civilians then military, and then renounced kidnapping. "Clearly they want to talk. And they stayed at the table for the pre-negotiations even though three senior leaders were killed, including Alfonso Cano. "Santos is clear, too. He was former minister of defence under President Uribe. They pushed the war as hard as they could and killed leaders. Now he has recognised that it will go on indefinitely. So Santos has come to the conclusion that only a negotiated solution is possible." Chernick – like the senior government source – warned of the risk of violence during the peace talks from those, particularly on the right, opposed to peace with Farc, not least, he says, from paramilitaries who, although officially "disbanded", are still active and supported by elite sectors of society. "What is different this time," added Chernick, "is that both sides have signed up to the idea that the intended end of the peace talks is the end of the conflict." |
Where did the words "abracadabra," "hocus-pocus," and "presto" come from? How did they become associated with magic? Cecil replies: Age-old process. Years ago, when trying to invoke the mysterious forces of the universe, you said, “Abracadabra.” Today you say, “Hello, tech support?” Hocus-pocus has been around since the early 17th century. The Oxford English Dictionary tells of a conjurer called Hocus-Pocus who used the phrase as part of a faux-Latin incantation during his act: “Hocus pocus, tontus talontus, vade celeriter jubeo.” It’s been plausibly suggested that hocus-pocus is a corruption of the genuine Latin words hoc est enim corpus meum, “for this is my body,” spoken during the consecration of the Roman Catholic Mass when the wine and wafer are said to be transformed into the body and blood of Christ. Some experts, presumably non-Catholic, think hocus-pocus itself was then corrupted into the word hoax. Abracadabra is a much older term, turning up first in a second-century poem. It was used by the Gnostics, early Christians who placed great stock in esoteric knowledge. The term has been explained as (1) a combination of the Hebrew words ab (“father”), ben (“son”), and ruach acadosch (“holy spirit”); (2) a derivation of the name of one Gnostic leader, Abrasax; or (3) a derivation of Abraxas, a Gnostic word for God, “the source of 365 emanations.” Allegedly the Greek letters for Abraxas add up to 365 when translated according to numerological principles. If you wrote abracadabra on a parchment in a triangular arrangement — A B R A C A D A B R A A B R A C A D A B R A B R A C A D A B — etc., and hung it around your neck, you’d supposedly be cured of the ague (fever). The over-the-counter remedy of the day, I guess, and probably worked equally well. Presto, Italian for “quickly,” has been used by conjurers for centuries to command the unseen demons. A possibly related term is prestidigitation, or sleight of hand, which is probably derived from the Latin words for “quick fingers.” Sounds a lot like what pickpockets do, and if you’ve ever seen one of those three-card-monte guys do his thing, you know the result, as far as your wallet is concerned, is about the same. [Comment on this answer] Send questions to Cecil via cecil@straightdope.com. |
Micah Xavier Johnson Police have identified a dead suspect in a deadly sniper attack during an anti-police brutality march in Dallas. Investigators named the suspect as 25-year-old Micah Xavier Johnson, a U.S. Army veteran. Dallas police killed Johnson using a robotic explosive device after cornering him in a parking garage at El Centro College. Police had negotiated with him for several hours. “We were able to take out one of the suspects, who had been cornered in the garage, with an explosive device,” Mayor Mike Rawlings said in a press conference. “We’ve got other possible suspects that we’re interviewing. They’re not being real cooperative at this point.” The shootings killed five police officers, and wounded six others. Two civilians were also wounded in the attacks. Police have not found any links between the suspects and international terrorist groups, but investigators said one suspect claimed a racial motive in the shootings. “He was upset about Black Lives Matter (and) he wanted to kill white people, especially white officers,” said Dallas Police Chief David Brown. Investigators have not ruled out the possibility that other suspects helped plan or carry out the deadly shootings. |
CEX.IO reports $40m in deposits and has announced plans to add margin trading UK based bitcoin exchange and mining company CEX.IO has passed a new milestone, stating that they have had $40 million worth of deposits from bank credit cards across 600,000 users registered on the exchange. Oleksandr Lutskevych, CEO and Co-Founder of CEX.IO, said that “credit cards are still the most common thing in users’ pockets, no matter what country they come from, [and] we decided to direct our efforts to user-friendly, fast and cheap Bitcoin purchases using payment cards.” A few weeks ago CEX.IO announced a new feature where users can withdraw funds directly to their credit cards, which may have helped spur the growth. Oleksandr Lutskevych spoke with CoinTelegraph and also announced that the exchange has plans to add margin trading to their platform soon. Lutskevych said, “We are preparing to launch beta testing of Bitcoin margin trading to satisfy the needs of traders. Margin trading on CEX.IO will imply several levels of leverage, and a special algorithm for calculating risks, and thus, a user will never be in the red, even in critical situations.” Lutskevych also went on to say, “We will continue developing solutions for our two main audiences: crypto beginners and professional traders. The first category of users will enjoy their first experience with Bitcoin, Litecoin, and Ethereum, which should be even easier, faster, and more understandable. Liquidity growth, launch of margin trading, partnership with various trade interface and API solutions will be mainly appreciated by traders. Both audiences will also experience improvement of CEX.IO verification procedures. As our industry is incredibly fast moving in terms of development and changes, the above mentioned plans are for the very nearest time. Stay tuned for big announcements regarding long-term perspectives.” CEX.IO is just one of many bitcoin exchange platforms across the world. Seeing growth and passing new milestones is always a good signal in the bitcoin space; as it displays positive interest among users and brings new attention to the market, in particular from venture capital firms who want to invest in successful companies while it’s still early in the Bitcoin’s lifespan. |
The Donald is the TRUMP Card of the International Banking Cartel There is no other way out for the bankrupt U.S. Corporation except an “Orderly Default”? State of the Nation With the appointment of a former Goldman Sach’s top executive to the Trump Campaign, who also worked for Soros Fund Management, it should be clear that Goldman & Company is getting set for the inevitable. After all, Donald Trump is a well-known bankruptcy artist. He has at least four (maybe 5) under his belt and therefore plenty of practice for the BIG ONE. The “Biggest One of All Time” is of course the bankruptcy of the U.S. Corporation, Inc. which everyone now knows is effectively bankrupt because of the Federal Reserve practice of relentless Quantitative Easing (also known as money printing out of thin air). Trump Picks Former Goldman Partner And Soros Employee As Finance Chairman Now that Trump has also secured the endorsements of Sheldon Adelson (Gambling Magnate of the World) and Carl Icahn (Corporate Raider without peer), as well as the likes of Chris Christie and Rick Scott, Rudy Giuliani and Michael Flynn, Mitch McConnell and Rand Paul, clearly something quite momentous is occurring under the radar. All of those names are very significant. Each one provides a HUGE endorsement for The Donald. More importantly, every individual represents a very important piece of the 1% electorate. Hence, something extremely critical has taken place behind the political scenes which is reflecting a sea change toward The Donald. That something is the growing acceptance that he is an established bankruptcy expert par excellence … .. … and what America needs desperately is an orderly default… and fast! Trump has done this before and can do the bankruptcy routine blindfolded, handcuffed while straightjacketed. Yes, he is the Houdini of bankruptcies and quite world famous for them. Who else has become richer with each successive business bankruptcy than Trump?! The Donald has been practicing for this gig his whole professional life. And, “YES”, he knows it. In fact it is the only way possible for him to stand by his campaign promise to : “Make America Great Again”. There is really no other way! There you have it—the scoop of the millennium. Conclusion Yes, this whole preplanned bankruptcy thing is a major controlled demolition in the works … exactly like 2008. Here’s what that really looked like but never appeared in the MSM. The PRE-PLANNED Financial and Economic 9/11 of 2008 Here is another reality check on 2007, 2008 and beyond that you will not read anywhere else—Why? Because it’s too brutally honest. The ‘FOUR HORSEMEN’ Herald the Death Knell of Predatory Capitalism State of the Nation May 7, 2016 Author’s Note For those folks who followed the Shemitah happenings of 2015, 2016 has been identified as the Super Shemitah. It simply does not get any bigger than the Super Shemitah, especially where it concerns the predicted economic Armageddon which inevitably occurs after the financial Apocalypse. And there is no stopping it because we have hit mathematical certainty across all the markets —stocks and bonds, currencies and commodities, real estate and insurance, derivatives and carbon. There are very good reasons why: Trump tells Janet Yellen: “You’re Fired!” Editor’s Note It’s crucial to note when discussing the U.S. national debt to understand that the total amount of indebtedness has absolutely nothing to do with the American people. We the People did not sign for that outrageous debt, nor are we obligated to pay it back. It is the bankster’s debt and theirs alone to pay back. They incurred it for their own self-serving reasons and will be forced to bear the consequences of the default, be it orderly or disorganized. Hence, if and when The Donald takes the nation through a formal bankruptcy, he knows that it is the U.S. Corporation that is forever going bankrupt, not the American Republic. Reference Former Goldman Sachs Elite Becomes Trump’s Financial Chairman Sheldon Adelson Says He Will Support Donald Trump ___ TRUMP: The NWO Cabal’s Nuclear Option—To Declare U.S. Bankruptcy | SOTN: Alternative News & Commentary |
First, Microsoft submitted source code to the Linux kernel. Then, one of its executives claimed "We love open source." And just last night, Microsoft said it is now adding interoperability support for CentOS Linux so it can be run on Hyper-V, the virtualization platform that comes with Windows Server. Microsoft's top 12 rivals There's a healthy does of self-interest here, as Microsoft is trying to improve the viability of Hyper-V in an all-out war to topple VMware from its place at the top of the virtualization market, while also fending off open source competitors Xen and KVM. Plus, Linux is widely used in the Web server market. But you also might call supporting CentOS an indirect compliment paid to rival Red Hat, because CentOS is a version of Linux based on the Red Hat OS. Bashing Microsoft 'like kicking a puppy,' says Linux Foundation chief Microsoft marketing GM Sandy Gupta explains that Microsoft is targeting CentOS because it "is a popular Linux distribution for hosters," and therefore an important entry point for Microsoft to get its software into cloud networks. "This development enables our Hosting partners to consolidate their mixed Windows + Linux infrastructure on Windows Server Hyper-V; reducing cost and complexity, while betting on an enterprise class virtualization platform," Gupta writes. Microsoft is set to share more details about Hyper-V's support for CentOS at this week's Open Source Business Conference. Microsoft has a long, mostly contentious relationship with Linux and open source software users, often claiming that Linux software infringes on its patents. Linux-based Android is one of Microsoft's latest targets in enforcing patent claims. But if Linux and open source can be integrated with Microsoft software in a way that helps Microsoft sell more licenses, then Redmond officials become a little more forgiving, even supporting Linux servers (including Red Hat's) in its System Center management suite. We'll keep a close eye on Microsoft's evolving stance toward open source software. |
To say that Tequila: Distilling the Spirit of Mexico by Marie Sarita Gaytan was not what I expected would be a grave understatement. I think it ought to have tipped me off that the reviews on the jacket were all from professors and Mexican authors, rather than other bar/cocktail connoisseurs. So, too, should I have paid more attention to the author, Marie Sarita Gaytan, Assistant Professor of sociology and gender studies at the university of Utah. With this information in mind, it might have occurred to me that this was not to be the average bar book, albeit one focused on tequila. It even says on the top of the back “Sociology/Hispanic Studies”, indicating that this very well could be (and almost certainly is) a college level textbook or supplemental reading. Luckily for me (or maybe not…) I have some experience with muddling my way through such things, as I had to do it frequently when I was pursuing my history degree. At least this time I’m actually interested in the subject, though even I admit it took me twice as long to read this small book as it has taken me to read any other alcohol related text. Don’t Read IF… If you are a purveyor of cocktails, look elsewhere. There is not a single recipe to be found in these pages. If you are looking to expand your awareness of tequila and other agave distillates, also look elsewhere. There is little in the way of classification and nothing remotely resembling tasting notes. DO read if… If, like myself, the allure of alcohol goes way beyond what you taste and what you feel when you drink it, then you might be interested in this book. Even then, you must approach this with the idea that you are learning about the culture of Mexico through the lens of Tequila and not the other way around. You must be acutely interested in the history of Mexico and it’s people, far and above the interest you gain as simply a tequila drinker. For some context, I will set before you the chapter titles: Fermenting Struggles: Pulque, Mezcal, and Tequila Intoxicating Icons: Pancho Villa, Masculinity, and U.S. – Mexican relations Gendering Mexicanidad and Commercializing Consumption: Tequila and the Comedia Ranchera Touring Tequila and Harvesting Heritage: the pasts enduring presence Pursuing Prestige: regulation, resistance, and the limits of Mexican authenticity Consuming Complexity: Tequila talk in Mexico and the United States From a historical and distilling perspective, from the chapter titles alone, this book has some very good information to offer. Too often I have struggled to find the real difference (and legal classifications) between Mezcal and Tequila with insufficient answers from people who claimed to know such things. While it may not have answered my questions fully in regards to the production methods, this book certainly gave me context for why those answers may be so difficult to attain (spoiler alert: it’s the Mexican government). Hard Questions about Hard Liquor As a professor of Gender studies, I can safely assume that Marie Gaytan knows a great deal more about the ways in which we have expressed and rebelled against notions of femininity over time than I do. With that in mind, I will not even attempt to put into words the ideas that she put forth in this book, since she does it so much better. Instead, I will focus on what I considered to be the most thought provoking element of her research: the complicated interaction between the government, small distilleries, and alcohol conglomerates. At the time of publishing in 2014, Seniora Gaytan talks about how in the main cities of Tequila, small craft distilleries are struggling to compete with the advertising, resources, and political pull of the larger distilleries, many of which are owned by corporations based well outside of Mexico. While there is nothing wrong with that in itself, these large corporations are weaving a narrative of tradition and culture that smothers the actual culture of the region. This illusion of craft, local, and traditional is something that plagues distillers across the globe as everyone tries to stay ahead of shifting trends and convince an ever-picker audience that their product is the one to grace the shelves of a home bar. From My Perspective Living in the American Southwest and growing up in a largely Hispanic area has given me a healthy considering for Mexican history and culture and how it may affect my state of living today. It is in this spirit that I do recommend Tequila: Distilling the Spirit of Mexico as a sincerely interesting read. It made me think, it made me ask questions, it made me look at the world I live in with a different perspective. That said, for people whose interest is in cocktails, tasting, and inebriation, I fear you might be sorely disappointed by this book. How to Apply it to The Rest of the Business Beyond these two though, I would recommend this book because I feel that Tequila and it’s story is a microcosm of the alcohol industry today. The stories of whiskey, rum, wine, brandy, and beer are all woven through global culture and each of them has played a role in history almost organically. Tequila strikes me as different… It was so late to the global market, born and raised in such a tumultuous environment that every aspect of the story of Tequila has been deliberately shaped. It is a study power of governments, businesses, and the collective to determine what place certain symbols can hold. To people who don’t have an emotional attachment to tequila, it is the lens through which we can look at other spirits and ask ourselves if we are happy with the industry as we know it. Ask ourselves how we can change it to make it better and how we can create more educated consumers in the face of a veritable avalanche of misleading information. This book may not have been what I was expecting, but it certainly did not let me down. This has been part of the Book Reviews Series. Click for More! Share this: Tweet Email More Like this: Like Loading... |
Get the latest from TODAY Sign up for our newsletter Nov. 7, 2012, 4:36 PM GMT By Ree Hines and Ree Hines and Ree Hines Prime-time power comes with perks, according to the star and creator of "The Mindy Project." On Tuesday night's "Conan," Mindy Kaling admitted that she gets a bigger kick out of on-screen kisses now that she's in charge of casting the men she locks lips with. "On 'The Office,' I had to kiss people and things like that, but on this show, there's like full-on, roll-around make-outs and stuff," Kaling explained. "And so, I get to cast those people." And sometimes she gets to make those people a little uncomfortable, too. "When I'm rolling around and making out with someone, in my experience, I don't do that that often where I'm not saying something like, 'I love you,' to them," she said of her real-life experiences. "So it's very hard. I have to not say (that) ... to the actor I'm doing that with, cause it really creeps them out." But that's not the only thing that creeps out her on-screen partners. "When you kiss in real life, when you are feeling passionate, you use your tongue," she said. "But on TV, you're not supposed to use your tongue. You fake it." Sure you're not supposed to, but Kaling admits she sometimes forgets that all-important tongue rule. "Yeah, and when I do it on the show now, it's like the worse kind of sexual harassment because I'm like the boss," she joked. "And they're scared to complain because I'll fire them." See Kaling's kisses for yourself on "The Mindy Project," Tuesdays at 9:30 p.m. on Fox. More in The Clicker: |
Join host Greg Carlwood of The Higherside Chats podcast as he talks Lucifer’s Technology and the Donald Trump coup with returning guest, Chris Knowles. We’ve all heard the Arthur C. Clark quote that “any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic”, but maybe they’re linked by more than just appearance. It seems that most people who study the smattering of crumbs the deep state has dropped over the past few decades will find a few curious connections between occult practices and technological advances, strange phenomenon and secret experiments, and let’s not forget the curious resurrection of ancient Babylonian names from companies on the bleeding edge of things we’ll probably never see. It’s true that odd pieces that seem unrelated, often times come together when you dig deep enough to find the ties that bind. Although, what can be overwhelming and often glossed over, is the vast amount of knowledge a person need to put these odd pieces in the proper context. What good is a NASA investigator who knows nothing about ancient Egyptian mythology? How valuable is a Ufologist who’s never studied the occult? And can a person really decode Hollywood symbolism accurately without opening up a book on Kabalah? 4:15 Greg and Chris begin by examining how Knowles’ approach to his research has always been to take the path less traveled or studied, should we say? Diving down several rabbit holes the past few months on his blog from the likes of Bell Lab’s dirty laundry to the lesser known MK-OFTEN project, it’s easy to understand how his work is instrumental in helping people think different. Chris points out, this has been personally advantageous in this “all bets are off year” where we’ve experienced so much high strangeness bubbling to the surface. With things feeling reminiscent of the past because of interchanging political scandals, a divided and polarized nation, the international war machine marching forward and the reemergence of the hacker culture onto the center stage of politics, it’s clear to see this is a time where the machinations of the secret world emerge. Greg and Chris dive even deeper into this by discussing the recent Podesta email leaks involving Pizzagate, the shocking election results and the shift of power players pulling the strings in the wake of president-elect Trump. 17:43 As Chris previously observed, the claim of Russian interference is not only unlikely but interestingly enough ties into one of the overarching themes of his ongoing installment Lucifer’s Technologies where he elaborates on the idea of computer technology as a Trojan horse. After his lengthy series leading to a spin-off where he more deeply covered the archetype of Lucifer, Chris expanded his research beyond the Grecco-Roman era and discovered not only the reasons this figure was hijacked and manipulated to reflect religious origins but at the core the is a very powerful idea that is essentially a secret tradition. 34:42 Greg and Chris recap the Greg and Chris recap the story of Lucifer from the rebellions against Sargon the Great to the tales that evolved into Prometheus . After following this twisted web of truths it may be safe to say that Lucifer can be equated to a figure who uses technology to subvert the established power center. Knowles contends the Titans of Greek mythology were in fact, also Sumerian kings, because the Sumerian kings were called Legal, another word for giant or titan. 42:44 After reviewing the long and violent history of politicians ranging from the Clintons to JFK, being checked by nefarious forces attempting to protect their black budget programs, Greg and Chris walk through the unlikely connections of UFOs, President Ford’s attempted assassination, the Manson family and MK-OFTEN. Continuing with their conversation on UFOs, Greg and Chris dissect the ancient links of Cadmus to Roswell and the alternatives explanations from a mythological perspective. 57:50 Although so many people may have believed Hillary Clinton was being taken to task by the ruling elite, recent events suggest otherwise. As Chris astutely points out, the dark and nefarious levels that supersede the Clinton dynasty are perhaps quietly playing their hand protecting their exotic technology and occult knowledge, Although so many people may have believed Hillary Clinton was being taken to task by the ruling elite, recent events suggest otherwise. As Chris astutely points out, the dark and nefarious levels that supersede the Clinton dynasty are perhaps quietly playing their hand protecting their exotic technology and occult knowledge, while crumbling her house of cards 1:12:54 With certain technologies failing to make the huge leaps forward, but instead only minor incremental changes one can only wonder, why? As any halfway decent observer will note, our infrastructure is rapidly deteriorating, and one viable explanation may be that newer technologies are being kept underground. Greg and Chris take this one step further by examining how the new technology inventions problem might tie into the idea that we are quarantined on a prison planet, something covered in With certain technologies failing to make the huge leaps forward, but instead only minor incremental changes one can only wonder, why? As any halfway decent observer will note, our infrastructure is rapidly deteriorating, and one viable explanation may be that newer technologies are being kept underground. Greg and Chris take this one step further by examining how the new technology inventions problem might tie into the idea that we are quarantined on a prison planet, something covered in Knowles’ As prognostic posts 1:41:09 Chris relays the connection between ancient Greek mythology, multinational corporations and Chris relays the connection between ancient Greek mythology, multinational corporations and the statue in front Rockefeller Center 1:48:58 Chris discusses Chris discusses MK OFTEN , an off-shoot of the more well known MK ULTRA. Noting the connection between altered states of consciousness and the emergence of entities, Chris suggests that exploring that contact could have very well become one of the deep state’s primary goals. 1:58:20 Chris talks about the connection between Nike missile silos and the deep states human experimentation projects. 2:07:00 Greg and Chris speculate about the possibility that the deep state activities and an array of other strange events in 1966 might somehow relate to the Greg and Chris speculate about the possibility that the deep state activities and an array of other strange events in 1966 might somehow relate to the Mothman phenomena that manifested later that year. 2:12:00 Chris relays, even to Greg’s surprise, that the original theatrical release of Chris relays, even to Greg’s surprise, that the original theatrical release of Night of The Living Dead was initially marketed as a children film and exposes it as an exercise of mass trauma conditioning. Chris goes on to explain how the Exorcist could be another example of a similar style deep state operation. 2:23:03 Greg and Chris revisit their surprise over Trump’s win, the possible upcoming changes and Greg and Chris revisit their surprise over Trump’s win, the possible upcoming changes and the sudden desertion of the TPP |
For other people named Karl Arnold, see Karl Arnold (disambiguation) Karl Arnold (21 March 1901 – 29 June 1958) was a German politician. He was Minister President of North Rhine-Westphalia from 1947 to 1956. From 7 September 1949 until 8 September 1950 he was President of the German Bundesrat. He is, together with Jens Böhrnsen (in 2010) and Horst Seehofer (in 2012), one of the three Presidents of the Bundesrat who have acted as head of state during a vacancy of the office of President, according to Article 57 of the Basic Law. Early life and education [ edit ] Arnold was born in Herrlishöfen in Württemberg on 21 March 1901.[1] He was trained as shoemaker[1] and later (1920/21) studied at the Soziale Hochschule Leohaus, Munich. From 1920 onwards, Arnold worked as functionary of the movement of Christian workers. In 1924, he became secretary of the Christian workers union for the Düsseldorf region. He was elected in the town council of Düsseldorf for the Centre Party in 1929. In 1933, Arnold was co-owner of a sanitary installation shop in Düsseldorf. The Gestapo observed and hunted him in the following years because of his political activities. In 1944, he was jailed by the Gestapo. Career [ edit ] After World War II, Arnold became politically active again. In 1945, he was co-founder of the local Christian-Democratic Party in Düsseldorf, which became part of the CDU later in 1945. Also in 1945, the Düsseldorf chapter of the united workers union was founded, presided by Arnold. On 29 January 1946 Arnold was named mayor of Düsseldorf and later elected in the first free elections (26 October 1946). In December, 1946, Arnold became deputy minister president of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia and in 1947 he was elected minister president. Until 1950 he presided over a coalition of CDU, Centre Party, SPD and (shortly) the Communist Party. He considered himself a "christian socialist". The only in-parliament-party he did not let enter the government was the FDP, whose North-Rhine Westphalian branch had a particular nationalist bent. On 7 September 1949, he was elected as the first president of the federal Bundesrat of Germany. From 1950 to 1956, Arnold was elected minister president for North Rhine-Westphalia twice again, governing with the help of conservative parties and the Free Democrats. Important acts of his government were the foundation of the North Rhine-Westphalian broadcasting system (today: Westdeutscher Rundfunk) and the German system of workers union influence in steel and coal industries. On 20 February 1956, the FDP switched coalition affiliation to the SPD, ending the Arnold government in North Rhine-Westphalia. In 1957, he was elected into the German Bundestag (with a 72% majority in his constituency). He was member of the Bundestag until 29 June 1958, when he died of a heart attack.[1] Personal life [ edit ] In 1928, Arnold married Liesel Joeres. Arnold was a Roman Catholic and a member of the German branch of the lay Catholic organization Catholic Action. References [ edit ] Further reading [ edit ] |
Description ORNL's newly printed 3D car will be showcased at the 2015 NAIAS in Detroit. This "laboratory on wheels" uses the Shelby Cobra design, celebrating the 50th anniversary of this model and honoring the first vehicle to be voted a national monument. The Shelby was printed at the Department of Energy’s Manufacturing Demonstration Facility at ORNL using the BAAM (Big Area Additive Manufacturing) machine and is intended as a “plug-n-play” laboratory on wheels. The Shelby will allow research and development of integrated components to be tested and enhanced in real time, improving the use of sustainable, digital manufacturing solutions in the automotive industry. Text Version Below is the text version for the video 3D Printed Shelby Cobra: The video opens with a montage and time-lapse of 3D printing the car frame and parts, workers assembling the pieces, sanding and finishing the body, adding the motor and electronics, the motor, and displaying the final result: a Shelby Cobra in blue with white racing stripes. LONNIE LOVE, PhD – Manufacturing Demonstration Facility: In a matter of six weeks to go from saying, “Hey, let’s print a car,” to actually having a working vehicle, which is unheard of. Six weeks is insane. What you’re going to see at the Detroit auto show is a car that’s going to shock people. It’s not going to look like a printed vehicle. It’s going to look like a real car. As a matter of fact it’s going to look like a real beautiful car. On screen: Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Manufacturing Demonstration Facility The Lab is not an auto manufacturer; we’re an auto innovator. We develop technologies that are going to go onto cars in 5 years, 10 years. Things like wireless charging, like lightweight power electronics, like new drivetrains. On screen: video montage of testing apparatus for wireless charging, lightweight electronics in the vehicle, a vehicle on a drivetrain testing apparatus, and of the 3D printed cobra being assembled. LOVE: So the reason that I believe that DOE’s Advanced Manufacturing Office got behind this was they saw that we didn’t just want to repeat what had already been done. We want to push the technology forward. So in a matter of six weeks not only have we developed a car, we’ve developed new technologies. On screen: Caption that reads, "Energy Efficiency" and video of the car, in mid-production, being driven. LOVE: Number 1, we quantified how much energy – how efficient this manufacturing process is. When you look at how much energy it takes to make a car, this is one of the most energy efficient ways to do it. It’s absolutely shocking. On screen: "Surface Finish" and video close-up of workers sanding, refining, bonding, and painting the surfaces of the 3D printed parts. Number 2 is the surface finish. When you look at the parts as they come off of the printers, they’re relatively rough. And right now the body is out at a local company, True Design, and they’re for the first time starting to look at how do you really finish one of these printed bodies. They’ve really had to push the envelope on the chemistry of what paints, what bonding has to go on these materials to give you a really beautiful surface finish. So that was another thing that we’ve developed over the past six weeks is the processes to give you an extremely smooth surface finish not just for the Cobra but for the tools that can be used for the automotive manufacturing industry. On screen: "Energy Absorption" and video displaying the 3D printed car mid-production. Number 3 is the energy absorption. So can we design energy absorbing structures using additive we’ve never been able to do before. On screen: "Speed" with fast-paced progression of images covering the entire process from 3D printing to final product. And really to me number 4 the most important thing is just speed. The speed at which the national labs can work is absolutely amazing. On screen: video montage of workers using a mold by laying down sheets of material, rolling on epoxy, and lifting the molded piece off the mold. Another thing that we’re going to be highlighting and showing at the Detroit Auto Show is a mold. And typically these molds are made out of aluminum or steel. They’ll cost hundreds of thousands of dollars and take months to manufacture. And what we’ve shown is instead of taking months to manufacture, we’ve made a mold in about two days. Instead of costs of hundreds of thousands of dollars, it’s going to be thousands of dollars. It makes you just much more adept, much more nimble, and I think that you’ll see innovation just explode when this tool, these tools are in the hands of typical designers. On screen: video montage of production process of the 3D printed car, historical photos of sketches and clay models of prototype vehicles, and detailed view of the finished Shelby Cobra. Are we going to be printing cars in the near future? And the answer is well I don’t know. Highly unlikely in the next in my lifetime we’re going to see mass production of printed vehicles, but the way we make prototype cars today is exactly the same way they made it thirty, forty years ago which is clay models. What we’re showing is we can go well beyond that now. You can go and print out a working prototype vehicle in weeks, in days and drive through the streets and look at people’s involvement, look at people’s excitement. You can test it for form, fit and function. So your ability to innovate quickly has radically changed. I think there’s a whole industry that can be built up around rapid innovation in transportation. And that again is revolutionary. On screen: Logo of Oak Ridge National Lab; logo of U.S. Department of Energy |
Functional programming is hardly new. I remember coding a lot of LISP when I was at university in the early 90's. That was 25 years ago, and the language was already quite a bit older than my college-age self. The advantages of FP have long been recognized. Successful software development is largely about keeping complexity under control as applications scale under real-world conditions, battling unrealistic deadlines as we lard on more and more features. This is so much easier when your application is made up of highly testable pure functions and lacks icky side effects and mutable global state. And yet no functional language has achieved anything approaching mass adoption. By this I mean the kind of intergalactic hegemony first enjoyed by C in the 70's, before it passed the mantle to C++, Java and then JavaScript over the ensuing decades. None of the second-tier contenders (Python, PHP, Perl, Ruby, C#…) are functional either. But now something magical is happening. I'm talking about Clojure, of course. Just kidding! It isn't that a new functional language has taken the world by storm, it's that the functional potential of the reigning champ is suddenly coming to the fore. I'm helping out right now with this React/Redux-based mobile app we're developing, and I find myself writing code like: aliasesList.reduce((allMatching, matching, index) => { if (matching.count() > 0) { const expanded = allAliases.take(index) .concat(List.of(matching)) .concat(allAliases.skip(index + 1)) .filter(aliases => aliases.count()) .reduce((current, aliases) => current ? current.flatMap( i1 => aliases.map(i2 => i1.concat(i2)) ) : aliases.map(alias => List.of(alias)), null); return allMatching.concat(expanded); } else { return allMatching; } }, new List()); Hey, you got your LISP in my JavaScript! So why has FP been neglected for so long by the programming masses? And why, at last, is it starting to gain mainstream adoption? Down with Nouns The answer to the first question owes much to an overarching trend in software development. After graduating from university I was swept away by the object-oriented tsunami and didn't write another line of LISP for over 20 years. The software development community had decided that OOP was the One True Way—a trend amplified by the invention of Java a few years later—and didn't have enough collective attention to devote to FP as well. Under the triumvirate of encapsulation, inheritance and polymorphism, OOP promised a cure for the scourge of software complexity. In recent years, however, its weaknesses have become increasingly apparent. Rigid object hierarchies with fragile base classes make for painful schema evolution. Spreading state all over the place leads to concurrency issues and unpredictable side effects. As the nouns of OOP have fallen from favor, appreciation of FP's verbs has risen accordingly. I poked a bit of good-natured fun earlier at Clojure, but due credit should be given at this point for its contribution to the FP renaissance of recent years. By addressing many of the practical issues that plagued the LISPs of yesteryear, Clojure introduced a whole new generation of developers to FP. It also spurred the creation of Om, which has had a massive impact on the evolution of today's JS ecosystem (more on that later). Big Boy Pants for JavaScript Besides disillusionment with OOP, the two questions mentioned above are bound together in two further trends: the emergence of JavaScript as a full-fledged general-purpose programming language and the embrace of FP by the broader JavaScript ecosystem. At the turn of the decade, most web development was still server-driven, with client-side script playing a supporting role. A few pioneering Ajax-driven apps like Gmail, however, had already demonstrated the appeal of single-page apps that run entirely in browser, treating the server mainly as a centralized data store. Low latency web apps that look like desktop apps were clearly superior to the CGI-driven clunkers of the early web. Reinforcing this trend was the release of Google Chrome in 2008 and particularly the step change afforded by its V8 JavaScript engine. Blazing fast JavaScript was a precondition for the creation of soup-to-nut frameworks for "single-page apps", led again by Google with AngularJS. V8 is also at the heart of Node.js, a standalone JS runtime used mainly for server-side development. Suddenly JS wasn't just for script kiddies anymore. Angular and its brethren, along with Node, have led to an explosion in JS usage over the past few years. Function and Form What does all this have to do with functional programming? By his own account, Brendan Eich (who invented JS) was hired into Netscape in 1995 to create Scheme for the browser. Though he succumbed in the end to management's insistence that the language "look like Java", it retains some crucial aspects of FP languages (e.g. first-class functions) and has been described (a tad hyperbolically) as "LISP with C syntax". The web offers millions of lines of evidence that JS can be used to write imperative code, object-oriented code and just plain god-awful spaghetti code. But far more than other C-like languages, it has the basic plumbing to serve as the foundation of a true functional language. Functional stalwarts map and reduce were added to JS (technically ECMAScript) in 2011. ECMAScript 2015 (née ECMAScript 6), added a number of other functional-friendly constructs include const and the beloved fat arrow, with its concise syntax and non-insane this binding. Most ES2015 features have yet to gain widespread browser support, but the Babel transpiler has made this largely irrelevant since you can use ES2015 (and even ES2016) constructs and compile them down to universally digestible ES5. Equal React-ion AngularJS was an important factor in the JavaScript boom, but with roots in Java and OOP, it is anything but functional. Over the past couple of years, Facebook's React has imposed itself at impressive speed as the client-side JS framework of choice. It is complemented by the Flux architecture and Immutable.js library, both created by Facebook as well. (It's intriguing how much the rise of functional JS coincides with Facebook elbowing Google aside to become the JS framework supremo.) React feels like a very functional approach to mapping application state onto web views. In fact, the latest version introduced a simplified syntax for side effect-free pure components. React addresses only the problem of displaying data, however, which is why Facebook recommends Flux for the broader application architecture. As Flux is just a set of basic principles (stores, actions, centralized dispatcher, unidirectional data flow), many competing implementations have been vying for dominance. None had emerged as a clear winner until the recent appearance of Redux. Redux is based on three principles: a single centralized data store, state mutation triggered only by emitting actions and pure functions (a.k.a. reducers) to modify state. When used in conjunction with Immutable.js, Redux starts to look a heck of a lot like Clojure's Om. It has always been possible, theoretically, to do FP in JavaScript, but React, Redux and Immutable.js finally offer JS developers a practical basis—developing pure side effect-free reducers manipulating immutable state in taut ES6 syntax—for creating large-scale functional applications. The popularity of this approach (and thus of mainstream FP) is exploding: when I first noticed Redux a few months ago, it had about 500 stars on GitHub. It now has over 11,000. Functional Future? It's a bit early to say whether the new-found penchant for functional JavaScript is here to stay. The JS landscape has been so unstable in recent years that the rapid-fire emergence of ever newer Frameworks to End All Frameworks has become a bit of a joke. But functional programming's long pedigree and underlying appeal suggest that it is unlikely to disappear. Even if the concrete implementations are supplanted, it looks increasingly probable that the future of modern software development—at last!—will be functional. |
The coal-burning Hunter Power Plant near Castle Dale, Utah. (AP Photo/Al Hartmann) (CNSNews.com) - The electricity price index and the average price for a kilowatthour (KWH) of electricity both hit records for May, according to data released today by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The average price for a KWH hit 13.6 cents during the month, up about 3.8 percent from 13.1 cents in May 2013. The seasonally adjusted electricity price index rose from 201.431 in May 2013 to 208.655 in May 2014—an increase of about 3.6 percent. If the prevailing trend holds, the price of electricity will hit an all-time record high this summer, when demand for electricity is at its peak. ype="node" title="Electricity Price Index Hits Record for May Rising electricity prices have not been inevitable in the United States. BLS’s earliest calculation of an annual price index for electricity dates to 1913, with a baseline of 100 set in February 1984. In 1913, the annual electricity price index was 45.5. By 1947, it had dropped to 26.6. Over the two decades following that, it only rose 12 percent, hitting 29.9 in 1967. By 2013, however, the electricity had risen to 200.750. (The price index shows the relative change in price from a baseline of 100. Thus between February 1984 and the end of 2013, the price of electricity in the U.S. approximately doubled.) ype="node" title="Average Price for KWH Hits Record for May Per capita production of electricity in the United States peaked in 2007. Since then it has generally been on downward trend. In 2013, the U.S. produced less electricity per person than it did 1996. The relative price of electricity tends to rise in spring, peak in summer, and decline in fall. In four months of 2012 (March, April, May, December), the average price for a KWH of electricity was the same as it had been during that month in 2011. In another five months of 2012 (July, August, September, October, November), the price of KWH was less than it had been in 2011. ype="node" title="Per Capita Production of Electricity However, that pattern did not hold in 2013, when each month set a record for the price of electricity in that month. This has also been the case in the first five months of 2014, when, in each month, the price of electricity has set a record for that month. Thus far, the all-time peak for the seasonally adjusted electricity price index was March of this year, when the index hit 209.341. In April, it dipped to 203.874 (which was nonetheless a record for April). And, in May, it climbed back to 208.655, which was a record for May, but slightly below March’s all-time record of 209.341. According to BLS, the one month drop in the electricity price index in April was due to a “climate credit” applied to electricity bills in California that month. ype="node" title="Monthly Average Price for KWH of Electricity “The electricity index rose 2.3 percent in May after declining 2.6 percent in April. This is largely due to semiannual climate credits applied to electricity bills in California,” said BLS. “The credits were applied to bills in April, causing the decline, while the May increase reflects those bills returning to levels that do not include the credit.” What is the California climate credit? The California Public Utilities Commission explains it this way: “Under California's climate law, power plants and industries must pay for permits when they put carbon pollution into the air. Some of that money is used by the state to fight climate change, and some goes to households and small businesses to protect them from the carbon pollution cost in electricity that comes from non-renewable resources, like coal and natural gas. The credit on your electricity bill is your share of that money.” |
When Marvel announced that they were initiating “Phase 2” of their shared-universe cinematic saga, there weren’t too many surprises. A Captain America sequel, a Thor sequel, an Avengers sequel — check, check, checkeroo! And then there was the wild-card project Guardians of the Galaxy, a spacefaring adventure based on a decidedly off-mainstream comic book series featuring a warrior tree and a gun-toting raccoon. Well, the Guardians of the Galaxy movie just got even more interesting: Director James Gunn just announced on his Facebook page that he will be directing the film. Gunn has a devoted cult following for his films, including the horror-comedy Slither and the superhero riff Super. But Guardians will be his largest undertaking yet — by comparison, Super had a budget of $2.5 million, which will presumably pay for about three minutes of Guardians screen time. Here’s Gunn’s Facebook post, where he also mentions that he’ll be doing a rewrite on the Guardians script, presumably to add in more tentacles: For a month or so there’s been a lot of Internet speculation about my involvement with Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy. Until now I haven’t said anything, because I’m trying to be less expulsive about this project than I am about the rest of my life. But last night I got the go-ahead from Kevin Feige to let you all know that, yes, indeed, I am rewriting and directing Guardians of the Galaxy. As a lifelong lover of Marvel comics, space epics, AND raccoons, this is the movie I’ve been waiting to make since I was nine years old. Kevin, Joss, and all the folks at Marvel have been amazing collaborators so far, and we’re committed to bringing you something majestic, beautiful, and unique. I am incredibly excited. I am also incredibly grateful to the fans and the press for all their words of encouragement and support regarding my involvement with this project since the news first leaked. Thanks – you have, honestly, touched and overwhelmed me. And that’s it for now. Other than the occasional photos of my dog and cat here on Facebook, I’ll talk to you again in August 2014 when Guardians is released! This is very exciting news, since the last time Marvel handed the reins of a mega-franchise over to a beloved cult auteur, the result was The Avengers. It’ll be interesting to see how Gunn’s eccentric vision and the intrinsic weirdness of the original Guardians comic book will mesh with the natural urge to set up the Guardians movie as a blockbuster franchise kickstarter. But here’s the good news: The odds that Michael Rooker will play Rocket Raccoon just increased exponentially. Follow Darren on Twitter: @DarrenFranich Read more: Marvel’s ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ eyeing offbeat filmmaker James Gunn as director Marvel Studios goes micro (‘Ant-Man’) and macro (‘Guardians of the Galaxy’) with Comic-Con revelations A gunslinging raccoon? Marvel moving forward on ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ |
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