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It's been a good year for all kinds of entertainment. From the release of two high profile next-gen consoles, to the avalanche of current gen blockbusters and indie treasures, the video game industry delivered more high quality content than we've seen in many years. The return of franchise powerhouses like Grand Theft Auto, Lara Croft, and Zelda was bolstered by surprising, non-traditional experiences from the likes of Device 6 and Gone Home. Putting all those diverse games up against one another makes this year's Game of the Year vote particularly interesting. Things were no less amazing in movie theaters. From the next chapters in the Hobbit and Hunger Games' trilogies to the revitalization of Disney animation with Frozen. You can check out the rest of our Movies of the Year yourself. On our televisions, we had to say goodbye to Breaking Bad, but we also had the chance to welcome in provocative new series like Masters of Sex and Orange is the New Black. The continued success of Game of Thrones, Mad Men, and The Walking Dead show just how diverse and powerful television can be. We got a full list of the Best TV Shows of the Year. 2013 was also a great year for fans of comics. While the reliance on cross-title events was nothing new, Age of Ultron and New 52 offered lots to fans of comic's most established brands. Even the smaller stories, like those told in Daredevil and Hawkeye, had comic fans sitting up and taking notice. You can check out the awards for Best Comics of the Year and Best Tech of the Year on those pages as well. For more on how IGN chooses its awards and overall winner, it's all explained here. |
One Help On The Way > Slipknot! > Franklin's Tower ; Cassidy ; Brown Eyed Women ; Mexicali Blues ; Tennessee Jed ; Big River ; Peggy-O ; Sunrise ; The Music Never Stopped Two Bertha > Good Lovin' ; Ship Of Fools ; Estimated Prophet > The Other One > Drums > Not Fade Away > Comes A Time > Sugar Magnolia Encore Uncle John's Band Click removed from between Slipknot! and Franklin's Tower Click removed from between Bertha and Good Lovin' Click removed from just before Ship of Fools and edit smoothed Click removed from between Estimated Prophet and The Other One Entire show re-tracked Sector boundaries verified with SHNTOOL 1.01 PainoMan - March 2002 plus-circle Add Review comment Reviews Reviewer: frknvgn - favorite favorite favorite favorite favorite - May 19, 2017 Subject: Peggy-O!! What a wonderfully beautiful version of Peggy-O :) For some reason I feel so much more emotion from this song than I've heard it before. So warm! - May 19, 2017Peggy-O!! Reviewer: hobo 357 - favorite favorite favorite favorite favorite - February 6, 2015 Subject: 05/09/1977 Ive spent years listening to shows on tape, finally found the show i was looking for. Amazing help slipknot franklins bertha the music never stopped. Hands down favorite show so far. Thank god for this site. - February 6, 201505/09/1977 Reviewer: aherberger - favorite favorite favorite favorite favorite - April 4, 2014 Subject: Chills Listening at work while cranking out some Java code. Start of Franklin's just gave me chills. I grew up in Buffalo but alas was clueless to the Dead at this time. My first concert would be Aerosmith in 1980...and first Dead show would not be until 1993 at Rich Stadium. What a great recording of a stellar show, and I agree with the sentiment re: the night before. Five stars all around for this one, can't believe this great music was going on just a few miles from my home while the 12 year old me was doing who knows what. - April 4, 2014Chills Reviewer: Jahmez - favorite favorite favorite favorite favorite - April 4, 2014 Subject: Lovin 77' highlights are of course the franklin's suite, peggy-o and sunrise is a cool twist to throw in but this has to be one of the best Music never stops Ive ever heard. After set break they come back with an awesome estimated and a most memorable comes a time, donna and jerrys vocals compliment each other so much and jerrys guitar crys out it gives me chills.Jerry's crackling with eneregy, Bobbys right behind him, Phil is just on point. They are just rocking the house up there in buffalo. These are the shows from the magical years of 77' - April 4, 2014Lovin 77' Reviewer: bstockwellus - favorite favorite favorite favorite favorite - June 1, 2012 Subject: Great Show This is a favorable first set. - June 1, 2012Great Show Reviewer: P.M. Kramer - favorite favorite favorite favorite favorite - January 23, 2012 Subject: shocking! words cannot describe the the first 3 tunes very surprised that this has not been released on"picks" - January 23, 2012shocking! Reviewer: Dead In Istanbul - favorite favorite favorite favorite favorite - November 24, 2011 Subject: TMNS Sitting here in my office grading students essays and listening to this show which is just gorgeous. I read the below review and I have to say, I didn't notice any cut in The Music Never Stopped. I scrolled back a bit and I couldn't find a clear cut. They might have done it too seamlessly for me to notice. Not that the reviewer is wrong, but I just wanted to add that I didn't notice the cut. A five star show for me. - November 24, 2011TMNS Reviewer: dschwarz - favorite favorite favorite favorite - July 21, 2010 Subject: One of my favorite shows, and the all time best TMNS, but beware: There's a reel change in the soundboard master at the height of Jerry's epic TMNS jam. Most other versions of the show on here patch the missing section from a listenable AUD recording. This one is not patched; it simply skips that part of the jam. I'm taking away 1 star for that. Otherwise, a really nice recording of a 5+ star show. - July 21, 2010One of my favorite shows, and the all time best TMNS, but beware: Reviewer: geraldusa - favorite favorite favorite favorite favorite - March 14, 2010 Subject: Great Soundboard I've always listened to the other recordings of this show but never this one. A mistake, I must say. It's fabulous and completely overlooked. You need to sit down, put your headphones on, and give it a listen. The fact is the more I listen to this soundboard the more I realize just how good the band was in Buffalo that night. - March 14, 2010Great Soundboard |
When Andrew Joseph Stack, a software consultant with a history of tax troubles and marital problems, crashed his Piper Cherokee into the Austin, Texas, office of the Internal Revenue Service in February, the crime was widely seen as a referendum on the national psyche. Stack, who killed himself and one other person while injuring 13, was said to represent a strain of legitimate grievances in America. In his syndicated column, Richard Parker credited Stack with summing up the American “continuum of disappointment, anxiety, fear and yes, anger” related to economic pressure and income inequality. “On the day of Stack’s violence,” Parker wrote, “everyone I interview who has read his suicide note has the same reaction: No, he should not have tried to kill anyone to make his point and so he deserved to die. And yes, the guy did have a point.” Writing on AlterNet, Rich Benjamin called Stack “an acute symptom of this nation’s neglected wounds,” concluding, “We dismiss his screed, suicide and crime as ‘lunatic’ at our own risk.” A similar reaction greeted a far less catastrophic act of destruction that occurred a few days before Stack’s attack. Terry Hoskins, an Ohio carpet store owner and landlord of several commercial properties, bulldozed his own home before it was foreclosed. Hoskins’ local TV station ran a very sympathetic story on the destruction of the house. A blogger at macedoniaonline.eu called it “the tipping point” for Americans who have “been taken advantage like no one on earth by greedy Banksters and corporations.” Neither man made a very credible case for righteous everyman rage. Stack’s breakout-hit suicide note runs through such disparate peeves as banker bonuses, the Catholic church, the failure of health care reform, post–Cold War base closings in Southern California, Stack’s own accountant, George W. Bush, tax treatment of freelance engineers, and capitalism. Hoskins’ foreclosure resulted not from the real estate correction but from a 10-year battle against a family member and from his failure to repay commercial real estate loans for which the $350,000 house was collateral. The bank collecting on the loans is not some too-big-to-fail behemoth but Clermont County’s own RiverHills Bank, which as of 2008 had a mere $118 million in assets and $96.2 million in deposits. The elevation of such unlikely folk heroes might be a sign of the current recession’s severity. Or it might not. A similar genre of morbid appreciation arose during the prosperous mid-1990s around Unabomber Ted Kaczynski’s 35,000-word Luddite manifesto Industrial Society and Its Future. Elite society has a tendency to take the declarations of violent outlaws with great seriousness. As an unironic believer that the 1968 S.C.U.M. Manifesto by Andy Warhol shooter Valerie Solanas is the most important work on gender relations ever written, I fully understand the impulse. But outlaw intellectualism is part of a larger trend in declinism. The recession has not just hustled the U.S. economy back to a late-20th-century state of nature that resists all efforts at reinflation, stimulus, and outcome management. It has created a conviction that American society itself, rather than just its institutions of government and public/private rent seeking, is in collapse. “The United States is not the Soviet Union,” writes Yale School of Management fellow Bruce Judson in his 2009 book It Could Happen Here: America on the Brink. “Our economy is not as terrible. Our government is not as despised. But nobody thought the U.S.S.R. could collapse. Could everyone be wrong again?” The first third of Judson’s book is taken up with a scenario in which the United States crumbles as terrorists furious about growing inequality bring the nation to a standstill with a dirty bomb campaign; politicians like “Sen. Bob King (R-Nevada)” and “Sen. Louis Roberts (D-Minnesota)” float a single piece of legislation that will solve the health care, education, and housing crises; Florida, Illinois, and New York secede (and the rest of the country fails to respond with the expected “good riddance”); and so on. It’s a bit like the old “Jeopardy 1999” sketch on Saturday Night Live, in which famous acts of nuclear terrorism turn out to have been committed by unlikely culprits such as the Young Republicans. After that jarring opener, Judson goes on to argue that asset bubbles, the decline of labor unions, and other factors have created a combustible disparity in wealth throughout the country. It’s not hard to persuade people these days that they’re doing worse than they were 10 years ago. My own career and financial prospects are in every way worse and more hopeless than they were in 2000, and I’m ready to join any revolution that will reverse my catastrophically bad decisions and foil the shadowy enemies who have kept me down. But Judson’s remedies turn out to be the same old recipe—new financial regulations, more spending on education, more accountability—that you hear from every politician. This is the problem with the new declinism. With no compelling vision of the apocalypse that doesn’t involve zombies, cyborgs, or outlaw bikers, we tend to miss something obvious: The problem isn’t that things are collapsing. It’s that not enough things are collapsing. General Motors, AIG, and the government of California have committed enough errors to merit immediate extinction, but there they still are. Yet the political establishment continues to argue that the market needs to be prevented from delivering rough justice to sinners. President Obama, who one year ago gave us a worst-case scenario in which an unstimulated economy might hit 8 percent unemployment by this year, now presides over 10 percent unemployment but tries to bamboozle us with counterfactuals like this doozy from the 2010 State of the Union address: “If we had allowed the meltdown of the financial system, unemployment might be double what it is today.” The current recession has become the economic version of The Fantasticks, a show that keeps running long after the audience wants to move on. It’s becoming increasingly clear that by not letting anything collapse, by not allowing sweet, beautiful failure to happen, the government is helping to drag out the pain. That may not be indicative of anything new, but it’s enough to make you want to bulldoze a house or two. Contributing Editor Tim Cavanaugh (bigtimcavanaugh@gmail.com) blogs at simpleton.com. |
September 9th is Primary Day in New York State. While primaries have lower turnouts and generally receive less media scrutiny, they are often very significant races that determine the policy direction a party takes. In some cases, as in the June Congressional primary between Rep. Charles Rangel and State Sen. Adriano Espaillat, it determined the person who will ultimately serve in the next Congress. Next month’s primary is an important one for Democrats. Conventional wisdom holds Andrew Cuomo, Kathy Hochul, Eric Schneiderman and Tom DiNapoli will all be serving in Albany next year. What’s less certain is who will control the State Senate. Some are surprised to learn that the Senate is currently in Republican hands when one considers the lopsided advantage that Democrats hold in party registration in our state. As of this past April, there were 5,873,844 Democrats and 2,785,773 Republicans. Yet Dean Skelos, a Long Island Republican, controls the Senate, in part due to a power-sharing agreement made with Jeff Klein, a senator from the Bronx who defected from the Democratic caucus to form the “Independent Democratic Conference” (IDC). Joining Klein to form the IDC were Malcolm Smith of Queens, Diane Savino of Staten Island, David Valesky of Oneida, and David Carlucci of Rockland. Sen. Smith was forced to leave the IDC after he tried to bribe his way into the New York City Mayor’s office. Smith was soon replaced by Sen. Tony Avella, who joined the IDC earlier this year. While Avella acted like he was joining the IDC for benevolent reasons alone, his staff got raises as a result, Avella himself became Chair of the Social Services Committee, and his campaign was given $50,000 by other senators for his good will. Albany works different than real life, it seems. On February 26th, Avella told the New York Daily News: “Under Sen. Klein’s leadership, the [Independent Democratic Conference] has developed a clear, progressive agenda for New York’s working families.” Odd that he didn’t feel that way before the raises, chairmanship, and 50 grand. Details…details. This statement, though, makes September 9th so important for Democrats in New York. Leaving the Democratic Caucus, led effectively by Sen. Andrea Stewart-Cousins of Westchester, in order to best promote a “clear, progressive agenda” is like Michael Bloomberg saying he could most effectively support gun control legislation by writing a check to the NRA. It just doesn’t make sense. Maybe if the NRA offered Bloomberg’s staff raises and made him chair of a policy committee he’d reconsider. That would be benevolent, right? No greater proof is needed to rebut the claim that the IDC and its alliance with the Republicans is promoting a “clear, progressive agenda” than three bills which never saw the light of day thanks to the “power-sharing agreement”: the entire Women’s Equality Act, GENDA and a ban on conversion therapy. The Women’s Equality Act, all-encompassing legislation that would have ensured equal pay, cracked down on human trafficking, and safeguarded reproductive health was apparently deemed “extreme.” As was the Gender Expression Non-Discrimination Act, which would have banned discrimination based on gender identity or expression. The third bill, to ban conversation therapy, would have made it illegal to try to “cure” children of homosexuality, a “treatment” that has increased depression and suicide rates. In fact, Gov. Chris Christie helped ban it in New Jersey and is quoted saying he All of these bills should have passed, reflecting the substantial registration advantage that Democrats have over Republicans in New York. But they weren’t even given a vote on the floor. The reason they were not given a vote is clear: because Dean Skelos and the Senate Republicans would not allow a vote. Why do Dean Skelos and the Senate Republicans have this say? Because they were given it by members of the IDC who were given plum committee posts and financial benefits in exchange for their allegiance. As a result, any chance of progressive social policies passing in New York came to a halt. You see, according to the “power-sharing” agreement, both “co-leaders” Skelos and Klein need to approve bills that go to the floor. Democracy has a different definition in Albany. What many people don’t realize is that the Senate Republicans have a second master: the New York State Conservative Party. Many of their members could not win without the backing of the Conservative Party, and rely on it for votes, GOTV and fundraising. The Conservative Party has been openly hostile to women, to minorities and to the LGBT community, and doesn’t hesitate to punish those who run opposed to its dogma. The party is closely aligned with the Catholic Church, including its belief on the role of women in society, the rights of said women, and its narrow interpretation of the Bible to meet its own agenda – regardless of who is harmed. This can be remedied on September 9th, though. Many members of the IDC face primaries. Two races in particular can have a significant impact on the future of the IDC and the State Senate. In Queens, Tony Avella is being challenged by John Liu. In the Bronx, Jeff Klein is facing Oliver Koppell. If the Democrats can regain control of even one of these seats, it will send a clear message that Democratic voters didn’t go out and vote on Election Day 2012 so that Dean Skelos could be left in power. If you want the chance for a true progressive agenda on social issues, you need to express yourself on Primary Day. The alternative is a State Senate that is to the right of Chris Christie. |
Pope Francis has helped the Society of St Pius X in its efforts to buy a beautiful church and complex in the centre of Rome, according to the Italian newspaper Il Foglio. Vatican commentator Matthew Matzuzzi said the Pope played a “decisive role” in speeding up the purchase of Santa Maria Immacolata all’Esquilino. The church, round the corner from Rome’s Lateran basilica, is expected to become a study centre and later, it is hoped, the headquarters of the SSPX. Matzuzzi said the Pope’s intervention was made through Mgr Guido Pozzo, secretary of the pontifical commission Ecclesia Dei, which seeks to bring traditionalists into full communion with the Church. He said the SSPX superior general Bishop Bernard Fellay stayed at the Pope’s Santa Marta guesthouse along with two other officials, Fr Alain Nely and Bishop Alfonso de Galarreta, during negotiations last month. The neo-Gothic church, located on the Esquiline, one of the seven hills of Rome, was built between 1896 and 1914 for a now disbanded order of Franciscans, the Grey Friars of Charity. The complex buildings next door were formerly used for a school. It would not be the first time the society has been able to count on the assistance of Pope Francis. The then Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio, Archbishop of Buenos Aires, intervened when the Argentine government sought to deny the society permanent residence in the country on the grounds that it was not Catholic. Fr Christian Bouchacourt, the SSPX district superior, appealed to Cardinal Bergoglio, who reportedly told him: “You are Catholic, that is evident. I will help you.” Matzuzzi also claimed that an agreement between the Holy See and the SSPX that would establish the society as a personal prelature was now close. |
NEW DELHI/LUCKNOW: The "secular parties" on Tuesday were falling over each other to coddle the fatwa-issuing clerics and support their latest directive not to allow Salman Rushdie to attend the literary festival at Jaipur later this month.The state unit leaders of the Congress Samajwadi Party and RLD welcomed Deoband's demand and agreed with the Islamic seminary's stand that his presence would offend the sensibilities of the Muslim community.Rushdie, who has been periodically targeted by the Muslim street for his 1998 novel The Satanic Versus, is scheduled to participate in a discussion on 'Inglish, Amlish, Hinglish: The chutnification of English' at Jaipur.Deoband rector Maulana Mufti Abul Qasim Nomani had on Monday said that the seminary was demanding a ban on his visit as his "blasphemous writings have hurt the sentiments of Muslims across the world".The timing of the fatwa is significant as it is seen as part of the efforts of community leaders to flex their muscles on election eve. Rushide had visited India several times in the past.The newly-elected Congress Working Committee member and prominent leader from Saharanpur belt, where the Islamic seminary is situated, Rasheed Masood, went to the extent of demanding the cancellation of the literary festival."It could create a controversy on the election eve," said Masood.Samajwadi Party leader Ahmad Hassan also supported the demand for a ban on Rushdie's entry. He said the Centre has been "appeasing anti-Muslim forces" and should not allow Rushdie to set foot in India.However, Rushdie brushed aside opposition to his India trip by the Islamic seminary saying he does not need a visa to visit the country. "Regarding my Indian visit, for the record, I don't need a visa," posted Rushdie on microblogging site Twitter in the wake of the Deoband's demand.The Satanic Verses, which was banned by India, had sparked outrage in the Muslim world, including a fatwa against him by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the Supreme Leader of Iran, on February 14, 1989.A few months ago, al-Qaida had issued an audiotape threatening to retaliate against Britain for having honoured Salman Rushdie. Ayman al-Zawahri's 20-minute speech was entitled Malicious Britain And Its Indian Slaves.In the tape, the Qaida leader had lashed out at Britain for having awarded a knighthood to Rushdie, saying it was defying the Islamic world by granting the honour to the author of The Satanic Verses, deemed to insult Islam. |
Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption David Cameron says Lloyds share sale will "help us recover billions more" Up to £4bn worth of Lloyds Bank shares will be offered to small investors at below-market prices if the Conservatives win the election, David Cameron has confirmed to the BBC. The offer would be part of the £9bn sale of shares in the bailed-out bank announced in the Budget in March. Mr Cameron said it would "help us recover billions more to pay down the national debt". Labour said the Tories had announced the plans at least seven times before. Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls said he would be "happy to have a look at" the plan as long as it was not which would lead to big institutional investors "making a killing". The Liberal Democrats said the idea had been looked at by the coalition government but decided against because it was not clear the money could be recouped for the taxpayer. In other election-related news: Under Mr Cameron's plans, buyers who keep their Lloyds shares for a year will be rewarded with a loyalty bonus. It will include one additional free share for every 10 shares that they still hold. With Lloyds shares closing at 78.75p on Friday, those offered to individual investors will be sold for more than the 73.6p a share paid by the previous Labour government when it bailed out the bank following the financial crash of 2008. Analysis - BBC Conservative campaign correspondent Carole Walker Two weeks into this closely-fought contest and David Cameron is trying to rework another Thatcher hit from the 1980s. Ed Miliband is embarking on a week of campaigning on Labour's favoured home territory of the NHS. They both appear to be out to convince and reassure their own natural supporters. Neither seems poised to make a dramatic breakthrough and win an overall majority. The polls suggest the only party on course to make big gains is the SNP which could end up with as many as 50 MPs at Westminster. Hence the increasingly fevered speculation about what role they could play in determining who governs the country. David Cameron is ratcheting up the rhetoric on the dangers of a Labour government propped up by the SNP, warning of a group of nationalists coming to Westminster to break up the country. Labour and the SNP have ruled out a coalition. But Labour's Angela Eagle has kept the door open to a vote-by-vote deal with the SNP, saying her party would speak to any other party represented in the Commons to build a majority for its Queen's Speech. The SNP will launch its manifesto tomorrow. Stand by for more arguments about what sort power and influence the nationalists might wield at Westminster - and what that will mean for the rest of the UK. The prime minister said: "We haven't announced it before. We've said we want to see Lloyds back in the private sector but we haven't said there'll be a retail offer so they can own shares in healthy, successful British banks. "The crucial point is it's more of clearing up the mess that Labour left us. The taxpayer put £20bn into these banks and I want to get the money back. "We've already recovered billions and this will help us to recover billions more to pay down the national debt. "But I think that at the same time that having people in our country being able to own shares in healthy, successful British banks is the sort of country we should be building." Analysis Image copyright PA By Joe Lynam, BBC business correspondent In Feb 2007, 19 months before Lloyds TSB merged with HBOS to form Lloyds Banking group, shares stood at 600p. Today, 8 years, 2 bailouts and one financial crisis later Lloyds shares stand at 79p. At this price the Government would be selling at a profit. But not a huge one. Lloyds shares are booked at a buy-in price of 61p in the Government's national accounts but because there were 2 bailouts (2008 and 2009) the more realistic figure is anything above 73p a share. So if a 5% discount is applied to the current share price it would mean a meagre 2p a share profit for taxpayers. Having said that the prospects for Lloyds are good. They're a profitable, low cost bank focusing exclusively on retail and business customers in Britain. They've the biggest share of the mortgage market and a huge physical presence on the UK High Street. They'll also soon be paying dividends to shareholders, which more than can be said for fellow bailed-out bank RBS. For Labour, Chris Leslie, shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury, said: "The Tories have now announced this seven times. They promised it before the last election and they're turning to it again just weeks before this election." Mr Balls told Sky News said: "If the best way to make sure that small savers get a fair deal is to have a discount, that's something I'm really happy to have a look at." But he said the government had got it wrong with the Royal Mail sale and said he would not sell the shares at a discount if "the killing doesn't go to the taxpayer, the national debt - it goes to big institutional investors". The politics explained By Chris Mason, BBC politics correspondent It is known as a retail share offer: but it also amounts to a retail political offer. Elect a Conservative government, David Cameron will say, and we will make shares available to the public - and not just to institutional investors such as pension funds. The Tories hope that now the Lloyds share price is above the amount the previous government paid for the shares they can be sold at a profit to the taxpayer. For the second time in a week - after their announcement offering the right to buy housing association homes in England - the Conservatives are again reviving an idea pioneered by Margaret Thatcher that they hope will be popular. Labour said this was the seventh time David Cameron had announced the plan to sell Lloyds shares. Lib Dem Chief Secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander said it was a "highly irresponsible" proposal. "This idea is one that we have looked at several times in government... and decided against, because it's not been clear that we'd be able, through this method, to get the money back for the taxpayer," he told BBC Radio 5 Live. "The British people have put a lot of money and made a lot of sacrifices as a consequence of the financial crisis, and as we are able to return these banks to the private sector, people should be able to benefit." UKIP's Nigel Farage said he welcomed plans to return Lloyds to private ownership with a big discount offering to members of the public "but the price must be right otherwise the taxpayer loses out". Policy guide: Economy This issue includes the wider economy and deficit reduction but also employment and the role of business. Under the terms of the retail offer, buyers will receive a discount of at least 5% on the market price at the time of the sale, with priority being given to investors purchasing up to £1,000 worth of shares. The minimum purchase will be £250 and there will be a maximum limit of £10,000. The government has already raised £9bn from the sale of Lloyds shares, and the state's stake in the bank - which was 43% at the time of the bailout - is now down to 22%. The proceeds from the latest offering will be used to pay down the national debt. Subscribe to the BBC Election 2015 newsletter to get a round-up of the day's campaign news sent to your inbox every weekday afternoon. |
Twenty-eight versions of Facebook, a nanny state and censorship of the internet: those could be the consequences if the European Parliament's position on the directive regulating the provision of audiovisual media services (AVMS) enters into force. On Monday (15 May), the two German co-rapporteurs, Sabine Verheyen from the centre-right EPP group, and Social Democrat Petra Kammerevert, received the parliament's mandate to begin informal trilogue negotiations with the European Commission and Council of the EU on the final version of the text. Their report was originally adopted on 25 April, at a meeting of the parliament's committee on culture and education (Cult), by 18 out of 33 members. According to the parliament's new rules of procedure, the committee report constitutes the house's position, without the need for a broader parliamentary discussion. The file will be put on the table this autumn, while Estonia holds the council presidency. My country, made world-famous for its broad implementation of digital technologies, ironically risks going down in history as the accomplice to the establishment of state censorship of social networks in Europe. But first thing's first. The directive The initiative to update the audiovisual media services (AVMS) directive came from the European Commission and was completely justified. Much has changed since the initial rules for audiovisual media in Europe were first put in place. In particular, the Internet has challenged the role of television as a source of information and as an advertising platform. But the reform was compromised when the parliament appointed the two rapporteurs, who are both board members of Germany's public broadcaster. This means that not only do they represent a single country, but they also have an obvious conflict of interests. The rapporteurs have turned the commission's proposal into an instrument to destroy the competitive advantage of the internet over normal television. Moreover, the definition of a video-sharing platform (VSP) has been changed in such a way that all social networks with a video function are also subsumed into the category. If today's version of the AVMS directive regulates YouTube, tomorrow it will also cover Facebook, Twitter and the like. Social networks, and their users, do not suffer from a lack of regulation. Even today, Facebook removes posts containing incitement to violence and hatred, promoting drugs, pornography, and so on. It also has its own set of rules in terms of advertisement. The biggest change will be a ban on so-called product placement: the exposure of a product of a certain brand. How exactly Brussels will complicate the lives of food and beauty bloggers will only be known by the end of trilogue talks, but it is already clear that the on-camera cooking of Barilla pasta in a pot by celebrity chef Jamie Oliver will no longer be possible. Think of the children Another change to the directive is the proposal to supervise the moral development of children. It sounds good, as long as you forget that there is no such thing as a legal definition of moral development. Already today, social networks are required to block posts that are harmful to the physical or mental development of children - say, for example, the Blue Whale suicide challenge, a sinister online "game" that promotes self-harm. Well, according to the rapporteurs, the state will now supervise such moral development. The colourful map of the EU features a dozen countries where there are night and day differences in views on morality. Are single mothers morally correct? We have just had a discussion about that in Estonia. What about sexual education in school? Or homosexuality? Disputes about euthanasia? Contraception? Abortion? Criticism of power? The list could be continued indefinitely. And, given recent electoral tendencies, one can be sure that there are people wishing to use the regulation so that even adults will not see posts that their government has deemed immoral. Meanwhile, social networks are a mini-model of the common digital market - the very space without borders that helps us understand each other and makes us stronger. The new directive, however, is aimed at building walls. Who will control all this? Monitoring bodies, or national regulatory authorities. The rapporteurs did not take on board a proposed requirement to make these bodies independent, both legally and functionally. Estonia's position, as presented to the council, coincides with the position of the rapporteurs. I hope this is a misunderstanding, because anything else means we are ready to entrust control over mass media, social networks and moral development of our children to a group of MEPs and board members of public broadcasters, appointed with the blessing of the ruling coalitions. I have raised only three of at least ten absurd provisions contained in the parliament's position, which amounts to a total of 70 pages. Documents of this size are read only by MEPs directly working with them. In our case, this means the two main and seven shadow rapporteurs. These nine form the line of their political groups, reporting on the file at their meetings. Unfortunately, neither the centre-right EPP nor the centre-left Social Democrats have ever discussed the AVMS directive, mainly because they believe files in the Cult committee are non-controversial. At group meetings, everyone wants to speak about the budget or Brexit, not something called the "review of the audiovisual media services directive". The rapporteurs took advantage of this. A bad reform But the unfortunate reform can still be avoided. As Alde coordinator in the culture committee and shadow rapporteur on the directive, I will do my best to re-open the mandate. Our group, with the support of radical-left GUE, eurosceptic EFDD and conservative ECR, has requested that the issue is voted on by the plenary. We will do our best to convince other MEPs, but we have little time: the vote should take place on Thursday. And half of the British MEPs - who share our position - will not be in Strasbourg, as the UK election campaign is in full swing. There is a serious chance that the European Parliament's official position on audiovisual services will be to legalise state censorship in social networks. Yana Toom is a liberal MEP from Estonia, a shadow rapporteur for the audiovisual media services directive and the liberal coordinator in the European Parliament's committee of culture and education. |
On Wednesday, Arkansas became one of only a handful of states to block Medicaid funding for Planned Parenthood, despite several years of whistleblower video evidence depicting the nation’s largest abortion provider violating federal law and trafficking in human body parts. Politico reports “The ruling Wednesday by the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals vacates preliminary injunctions from a federal judge that required the state to continue Medicaid payments following legal challenges brought by three patients challenging Gov. Asa Hutchinson’s 2015 decision to end the state’s Medicaid contract with the women’s health group.” Although approximately 15 states have recently attempted to defund Planned Parenthood, few have succeeded. Alabama and Missouri ended their Medicaid contracts with Planned Parenthood, and Ohio and Wisconsin restricted how Medicaid could fund the organization. Many states moved to defund the Planned Parenthood after the Center for Medical Progress (CMP) unveiled a series of videos which revealed the abortion provider was illegally selling parts of aborted babies for profit and altering its abortion procedures in violation of federal law in order to obtain “intact” human body parts. Now, two years later, the effect of those sting operations continues to ricochet. In their ruling, federal judges in the Eighth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals specifically cited these videos as the reason Arkansas moved to end its contract with Medicaid: “The Arkansas Department of Human Services terminated its Medicaid provider agreements with Planned Parenthood of Arkansas and Eastern Oklahoma after the release of controversial video recordings involving other Planned Parenthood affiliates.” In a statement to The Federalist, CMP founder David Daleiden said, “The American people, who are shocked and scandalized by undercover video of senior Planned Parenthood leadership callously negotiating the harvesting and sale of aborted baby hearts, lungs, livers, and brains, should not be forced to prop up Planned Parenthood’s criminal abortion empire with half-a-billion tax dollars each year. If activist district judges continue to twist the law to protect Planned Parenthood’s abortion business, they can expect to be struck down by more reasonable appeals courts, as has happened today.” Although this decision will likely be appealed, it should encourage pro-life advocacy groups in other states who have attempted this and failed. Federal judges in states including Texas, Kansas, and Louisiana have all ruled against blocking Medicaid funding for Planned Parenthood. The ruling also demonstrates why the Senate should approve President Trump’s qualified list of judicial nominations, including several for federal appeals courts, as soon as possible. Kudos are due to the state of Arkansas and the pro-life community for pushing forward more than two years after damning evidence of Planned Parenthood’s corrupt practices and needless federal funding came to light. |
This past postseason, traditional bullpen usage went out the window. Most notably, Indians manager Terry Francona used Andrew Miller for multiple innings in all situations and Dodgers manager Dave Roberts also used Kenley Jansen earlier than usual as well. With his team facing elimination in Games 5-7 of the World Series, Cubs manager Joe Maddon pushed rental closer Aroldis Chapman to the limit against Francona's Indians. Here is Chapman's World Series workload: Game Date Situation When Entering Game Outs Recorded Pitches Thrown 1 Oct. 25 Did not pitch 2 Oct. 26 Cubs up 5-1, 2 outs, runner on 3rd in 8th 4 23 3 Oct. 28 Cubs down 1-0 to start 9th 3 17 4 Oct. 29 Did not pitch 5 Oct. 30 Cubs up 3-2, 2 outs, runner on 2nd in 7th 8 42 6 Nov. 1 Cubs up 7-2, 2 outs, runners on 1st & 2nd in 7th 4 20 7 Nov. 2 Cubs up 6-3, 2 outs, runner on 1st in 8th 4 35 That's an awful lot of work, especially in Games 5-7. Chapman got an eight-out save in Game 5, got four outs in Game 6 and then got four more outs in Game 7. He threw 107 pitches in the span of four days, which is an unusually high workload for a reliever. Using Chapman for eight outs in Game 5 was universally praised. Using him up five runs in Game 6 was more questionable. Yes, the Cubs were facing elimination, but a five-run lead with four outs to go? Using Chapman there seemed unnecessary. Game 7? Well, it's Game 7 and anything goes. Ultimately, it all worked and the Cubs won the World Series. Aroldis Chapman apparently wasn't thrilled with his World Series usage. USATSI Chapman signed with the Yankees as a free agent earlier this month, and, on Friday, he held a conference call with reporters. During the call he said he did not agree with how Maddon used him in the World Series, specifically Game 6. Chapman said that he did not agree with how Joe Maddon and the Cubs used him in the postseason, but he feels healthy going into 2017. — Bryan Hoch (@BryanHoch) December 16, 2016 Chapman said the one game he'd point to is Game 6 of the World Series, as he was tired for Game 7. — Bryan Hoch (@BryanHoch) December 16, 2016 To Chapman's credit, he also told reporters he never told Maddon he disagreed with his usage and felt it was his job to be ready whenever the team asked him to pitch. As he should have been. It's the World Series and teams are going to lean on their top relievers more than ever. Ask any reliever and they'll tell you they appreciate knowing their role and exactly when they'll pitch. Guys like Miller, who are flexible enough to pitch at any point in the game, are very rare. Most are like Chapman and appreciate having a set role. Baseball players are creatures of habit, and when you don't know when you're going to enter a game, it disrupts your routine. The Yankees signed Chapman hoping he will one day throw the final pitch of their 28th World Series championship. It probably won't happen in 2017, but they gave him a five-year contract and are getting younger. It could happen at some point during the life of his contract, and when the time comes, Chapman is going to have to get ready for more unconventional usage in the postseason. That's baseball these days. |
Even before Albert Haynesworth landed the most egregious of Washington Redskins owner Daniel Snyder's laundry list of inexcusably terrible contracts, one NFL general manager astutely noted that the 2008 Defensive Player of the Year only "played to get paid." Former Redskins teammate Chris Cooley recently went a step further, accusing Haynesworth of being an "awful human being" who sought a monster signing bonus with the sole intention of getting released as soon as possible. "His goal from the get-go was to take that money," Cooley said on WTEM-AM, via The Washington Post. "He also indicated to many players on the team that his new goal was to get released as soon as possible, sign another maybe $10, 12 million contract -- that's verbatim -- go somewhere, play for a year and probably get released, and keep that money, too. ... This was open (knowledge) among many players in this locker room: that his goal was basically to take money." Cooley believes Haynesworth was motivated by the belief that NFL teams have no qualms about cutting players before their contracts expire. As a result of that disillusionment, Haynesworth failed multiple physicals and endurance tests with the Redskins while often putting forth a laughably pathetic effort. After signing with the Patriots, he simply stopped competing altogether. By all accounts, Haynesworth was a highly intelligent and principled professional athlete. Like many of that species, though, he's susceptible to falling into the trap of justifying a distorted viewpoint. Armed with the belief that the league grinds up its players' bodies, only to casually discard them as part of a cold-hearted business practice, Haynesworth could have retaliated by attempting a thought-provoking expose along the lines of "North Dallas Forty." One of the most disliked players in recent NFL history opted instead to strike back at management through negligence, placing a higher value on collecting expensive toys than playing football. Haynesworth was a blatant huckster. In another line of work, he'd be found guilty of fraud. The latest "Around the League Podcast" has takeaways from every Week 8 game. |
Los Angeles Football Club participated in a community event on Friday, as they were formally welcomed to the Exposition Park community alongside the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art. As part of the event, media and dignitaries were taken on a tour of LAFC’s venue, Banc of California Stadium, which is estimated to be 60 percent complete. A sneek peek at LAFC's new 22,000-seat soccer-specific stadium in Exposition Park. Banc of California Stadium is about 60 percent complete. pic.twitter.com/PGaipdG1aW — CBS Los Angeles (@CBSLA) October 21, 2017 As of now, the stadium is apparently on track to open in the spring, in time for LAFC’s inaugural season in MLS. A peek inside LA Football Club's stadium going up in Expo Park. Now 60% complete with expected spring 2018 opening. @CBSLA pic.twitter.com/BwDFC46CVa — John Schreiber (@johnschreiber) October 20, 2017 All in all, it sounds like good news, and while “spring” could be any range of dates, it sounds like LAFC may get to open the stadium as close to the start of the season as possible, which is terrific news. In contrast, D.C. United are also in the midst of their stadium construction, but won’t be able to open Audi Field until next summer. To be honest, there’s still about 40 percent to go, but it sounds like things are moving as smoothly as can be expected for the project, and that is great news indeed. What do you think? Leave a comment below! |
You must sign in or register to continue reading content. OLYMPIA — Washington State University wants to expand its offerings in Everett if the governor and state lawmakers will provide the money. Officials are seeking $832,000 in state funds to launch four agriculture-related degree programs at WSU North Puget Sound headquartered on the campus of Everett Community College. The request went to Gov. Jay Inslee last month who will consider including it in his 2016 supplemental budget proposal due out in December. WSU also will need lawmakers’ support next year. For WSU, this is a chance to provide research and training opportunities long available to the agricultural community east of the Cascades. “People know WSU supports the production of agriculture in Eastern Washington,” said Chris Mulick, director of state relations for WSU. “We haven’t done quite as much in Western Washington for small independent farms and those farming on smaller plots of land.” If funding comes through, the university intends in 2017 to bring its renowned Organic Agriculture Systems degree program to Everett. Now offered on WSU’s main campus in Pullman, it would give students instruction in all aspects of organic food production. Also in 2017, WSU would provide a degree in agriculture and food security. In this program, students would be studying ways of protecting crops from pests, diseases and other external influences that are not harmful to the health of humans or the environment. Faculty from WSU extension centers in Mount Vernon and Puyallup would be involved in these programs, Mulick said. Two other two degree offerings — sustainable food systems and urban horticulture — would be phased in later, according to materials submitted to the governor. This won’t be WSU’s first try to get these programs going. Officials attempted to get the required money this year and had support in the House but not the Senate. If the university is successful in 2016, it will further fortify its academic presence in the city. Washington State University began offering classes for a mechanical engineering degree through the University Center in 2012. The center is a WSU-managed collaboration of public and private colleges based on the EvCC campus. Two years later, WSU launched bachelor’s degree programs in electrical engineering, communications and hospitality-business management. And in June, the university did receive money to add courses in software engineering and data analytics. Plus, the final capital construction budget for the state included $54.6 million for WSU to construct a four-story, 95,000-square-foot building in the north corner of the College Plaza parking lot on North Broadway and Tower Street. The site is owned by Everett Community College, whose main campus is across the street. This will be the future home of WSU North Puget Sound and the University Center. Work is expected to finish in time for the start of the 2017 school year. When it opens, it will have at least a dozen classrooms, 10 laboratories, offices, a small café and an area for public gatherings. Jerry Cornfield: 360-352-8623; jcornfield@heraldnet.com. |
We’ve posted a number of times on the use of non-Western locations, and their residents, as background props in ads, catalogs, and fashion spreads, and the examples keep coming. A while back, Rebecca Smith-Mandin sent in this ad for Conrad hotels, in which the implicitly wealthy, White audience is invited to indulge in “the luxury of being yourself,” which includes the ability to have authentic, off-the-beaten-path experiences in far-flung locales, while remaining clearly distinct from them: Similarly, last year Anna-Sara H. found this image in the German women’s magazine Freundin: Anna-Sarah’s translation (which she says loses some of the poetic intent of the original): We are playing mermaid. And wrap ourselves in light-bright outfits now, adorned with large-sized ethnic accessories. The only things missing are an innocent gaze and hair being played with by the wind. In both cases, we see a very common trend in ads or photo shoots for fashion and luxury services: non-White individuals may be included in the photo shoot, but they are not used to model the use of the product or service itself. As Ashley Mears argues in her ethnography of modeling, Pricing Beauty: The Making of a Fashion Model, non-White bodies are generally seen as incompatible with the idealized fantasy of inaccessibility and sophistication that is the guiding aesthetic for fashion mag editorials and advertisements for luxury goods. In these images, we see that non-Whites are included in a way that superficially increases diversity in a magazine’s pages, without disrupting the assumption that the imagined consumer — the subject of these images — is White. |
– Roman Reigns has been getting mostly positive reactions at WWE’s recent live events, despite the backlash we’ve been seeing on WWE television over the past week or so. He wrestled the Big Show in a Street Fight at Saturday night’s show from Edmonton. A reader who was at the show wrote that he did receive some boos, with one fan throwing a beer at him during his entrance. – UFC President Dana White spoke to the Fight Network over the weekend and clarified that Brock Lesnar does not have any fights remaining on his previous UFC deal, which some fight fans have been speculating. This means Lesnar will be free to negotiate with UFC and Bellator if he does not sign a new contract with WWE by WrestleMania. – Big Show was a guest on the Beneath The Mat podcast. Big Show talked about a number of topics, including breaking into the industry, his relationship with Triple H, his character turning babyface/heel so many times over the years, why he thinks it’s going to be an uphill battle for Roman Reigns and more. |
Not so long ago, Liverpool fans boasted of having “the best midfield in the world”, and it was no exaggeration. The world-class trio of Mascherano, Alonso and Gerrard were as good as any other in world football at the time, so it’s perhaps no surprise that those who have succeeded them have been made scapegoats for Liverpool’s recent decline. First Lucas was made the fall guy, then last season Henderson shared the burden of haters’ favourite with Stewart Downing. This year the role was filled by Joe Allen, seen by many as the poster boy for Rodgers’ new regime. Things started well for Allen at Anfield. Liverpoolfc.com journalists named him their man of the match against West Brom, Man City and Arsenal, and for the first quarter of the season the young Welshman was one of the Reds’ best performers despite having to play as a defensive midfielder in place of the injured Lucas. It was just as the team as a whole started to perform better that Allen’s performances began to suffer, and we never really saw the best of him again. For the first eight fixtures Allen’s Passing Accuracy Percentage was 92.875%, then in the away game against Everton at the end of October it dropped to 86%, where it stayed in the following match against Newcastle, and never really recovered thereon. As Andrew Beasley has already shown, Allen’s dip in form coincided with the shoulder injury he picked up sometime in late October, with both his passing and the physical side of his game and deteriorating. On top of that, Allen also became a father at the end of August, and as any parent knows, sleepless nights can leave you tired and performing under par. Being playfully labelled “the Welsh Xavi” by his manager probably didn’t help either, but was Allen really as bad as some fans think? And could he yet establish himself as a key player for Liverpool? One of the common criticisms of Allen is that he passes backwards too often, but his percentage of backwards passes in 2012-2013 was only 11.93% – less than Jordan Henderson (19%), Steven Gerrard (15%) and Moussa Dembele (17%). Michael Carrick had the lowest percentage in the league for a midfielder on just 7.97%, and Mikel Arteta – who is widely considered an excellent passer of the ball – was near enough level with Allen on 11.64%. In fact, of all the midfielders who played over 1700 minutes of football and 1000 passes, only Michael Carrick, Lucas Leiva, Craig Gardner, Ashley Westwood, Leon Osman, Claudio Yacob, Bradley Johnson, Gareth Barry, Yaya Toure, Youssouf Mulumbu, Darron Gibson, Yohan Cabaye and Mikel Arteta played fewer backwards passes. Lucas played the second least backwards passes of that lot, with just over 9% going towards his goal. And Allen wasn’t playing too many passes sideways, either. 31% of Allen’s passes were played forwards, more than Mikel Arteta (29%), and only fractionally less than Yaya Toure and Claudio Yacob, both also with 31%. Not that passing sideways or even backwards is a particularly bad thing. Barcelona players do it all the time, as taking an ‘indirect’ route to goal is a key characteristic of the Tiki-Taka style. Demands for less sideways and backwards passes are essentially veiled calls for direct, typically ‘English’ football. Passing Direction: Allen V Henderson V Gerrard V Lucas Another Allen myth says he can only pass the ball short. Again, this is a misconception. His long pass success rate last season was the second best in the league at 89.66%, so playing with Allen in midfield doesn’t stop us from breaking quickly when it’s on, or mixing the passing up from time to time. Allen’s prefered game, however, is to receive and give the ball quickly, and to do that most effectively he needs teammates providing passing options close around him. And this perhaps gives us a clue as to why Allen was less effective as the season wore on as our play became more direct. In Rodgers’ three-man midfield, the deepest player shields the defence, dropping in between split centre-backs and coming forward with the ball. The player furthest forward is the chief creator, linking the midfield and attack and threading passes through the opposition defence for attackers to run on to. The third midfielder – which was usually Gerrard for us last season – performs a sort of ‘shuttle’ function similar to a box-to-box midfielder or a ball-carrier in Basketball. His role is to bring the ball forward as the team transitions from a 4-3-3 (or 4-2-3-1) to a 3-4-3 by recycling possession via short passes and one-twos. To do this effectively, the player needs excellent ball control, decent dribbling skills, great awareness of where players are around him and most of all, the ability to keep possession of the ball and consistently find teammates with passes. Of course the more he can create the better (although with an AM and three forwards ahead of him there is no create pressure on him to provide chances), and defensively he needs to be adept at closing down and gaining possession through tackles and interceptions. To asses Allen’s ability in this role, I’ve compared his stats for last season to other players who performed similar roles for their teams. The players I’ve looked at are primarily CMs as opposed to DMs or AMs, with one or two others thrown in for context. Joe Allen Defensive Comparison Incredibly, despite having the worst tackle success percentage, Allen won possession more often than any of the other midfielders listed in the table above. This was in part down to his excellent interception rate, with one made every 38.38 minutes compared to an average of one every 47.75 among this group of players. Other than that though, Allen’s defensive stats are distinctly average. However, being ‘average’ compared to the league’s ‘elite’ midfielders when you carried an injury for most of the season isn’t all that bad. Allen was better than the average here for Minutes Per Possession Won (10), Minutes Per Ground Duels (10.1) and Minutes Per Interception (38.38), suggesting he gets a lot of defensive work done, and his Minutes Per Tackle (36), Ground Duels Won Percentage (51%) and Minutes Per Loss Of Possession (101) rates were at least in the same ballpark as the average figures. Where Allen really needs to improve defensively is on Defensive Errors and his Tackle Success Percentage, but as Andrew Beasley discovered, his Tackle Success Percentage prior to getting injured was 67% – still below the average at 75.37%, but not the lowest score (Cabaye, 65%). Beasley said of his findings: [quote]“The interesting thing to note here is that the frequency with which Allen attempted both tackles and especially aerial duels has decreased, whilst he is attempting ground duels more often. In other words, he has been less involved in the more physical types of challenge but happier to take players on with the ball at his feet on the deck. As would you be if your shoulder was in constant pain.”[/quote] Joe Allen Offensive Comparison Despite a dip in his statistics after October, the only players to out-pass Allen across the season overall were Mikel Arteta and Moussa Dembele. His Open Play Pass Completion (90%), Attacking Zone Pass Completion (85%) and Final Third Pass Completion (81%) were all well above the average (86.92%, 80.15% and 70.31% respectively) and his Minutes Per Successful Dribble (174.45) and Minutes Per Chance Created (91) were also above the averages of 223.51 and 96.69. Clearly Allen would be a better player if he scored and assisted more goals, but if Jordan Henderson is anything to go by, it’s possible Rodgers can help him improve on these aspects of his game. In his Premier League season with Swansea, Allen made two assists and scored a goal every 723 minutes, so we know he can do better than he did for us last season. It is also worth bearing in mind that Allen played as a DM for most of the first half of the season until Lucas returned. If he were to play the ‘shuttle’ role with a more solid DM behind and/or beside him he would have more opportunity to get involved in chance creation and assisting and scoring goals. Attributes that can’t yet be adequately conveyed via statistics are the quality of a player’s first touch, his mobility and his movement, but you don’t have to watch Joe Allen for very long to realise that these are some of his greatest strengths. Calling him the “Welsh Xavi” was no doubt a factor in some fans seeing Rodgers as a Brent-like comedy figure who ought to talk less, but while he’s clearly nowhere near the Spaniard’s level (who is?), there is some merit to the comparison. On his day, and when fit and on form, Allen exudes class, especially in the way he turns away from challenges and plays quick, short passes to teammates. He’s the kind of player who is often available for a return ball, too, and these characteristics will be vital if Rodgers tweaks the system next season in the way I suspect he will. After Carragher replaced Skrtel we played with a deep defensive line, which meant the midfield were stretched over a large area between the defence and attack. Should we bring in some quick defenders like Papadopoulos and Ilori to join the already signed Toure, we could then play a higher line, squeezing the gap between centre-backs and our most advanced player, and bringing all our players closer together in a more compact formation. That will play right into the hands of a player like Allen, who although adept at playing long passes as we’ve seen, excels in a short passing game. At the start of the season it sometimes looked as if Allen was the only player who fully understood how Rodgers wanted the team to play, and the other midfielders seemed almost out of sync with him. After adjusting the style Rodgers struck on something of a balance with Lucas and Gerrard occupying the two deepest midfield positions, making Allen the odd man out, but with the addition of Coutinho (or Mkhitaryan) at the front of the trio, and the possibility of a more physical DM to rival Lucas, Allen could be the perfect player to bind the midfield together. Of course, that raises the question of where Gerard fits in, but the captain is getting no younger and can’t go on playing every game forever. But at only 23, Joe Allen has plenty of time to win Liverpool fans over, just like Lucas and Henderson before him. [box_light]All of the stats from this article have been taken from the Opta Stats Centre at EPLIndex.com – Subscribe Now (Includes author privileges!) Check out our new Top Stats feature on the Stats Centre which allows you to compare all players in the league & read about new additions to the stats centre.[/box_light] |
A cursory glance at the World’s leading tax havens illustrates the hypocrisy of politicians getting wound up about the revelations in the recently released Paradise Papers and the Panama Papers before them. Many of the havens are within the direct legislative jurisdiction of nations such as the US (which is itself a tax haven) and the UK, for example. And we should not forget that Luxembourg, Switzerland are key European homes of tax avoidance. Remember that the current President of the European Commission “spent years in his previous role as Luxembourg’s prime minister secretly blocking EU efforts to tackle tax avoidance by multinational corporations” (Source) ably supported by the Netherlands, another nation engaged in the practice. If the politicians were truly worried about this issue they could do something about it directly with the stroke of a legislative pen. Britain could, for example, eliminate Jersey, the Isle of Man, and its Overseas Territories from this corporate scam. The US could do similarly. The EU could bring in new rules to stop Luxembourg. But they don’t stop it, which tells you everything. But, the problem of tax avoidance and evasion is not fiscal. Progressives get stuck on that point. It is largely irrelevant. The real issues are inequality, power and macroeconomic stability. That is what this blog is about. I covered my view on many of these issues in these blogs (among others): 1. Progressives should move on from a reliance on ‘Robin Hood’ taxes (September 4, 2017). 2. Modern Monetary Theory and Value Capture (November 11, 2015). 3. Governments do not need the savings of the rich, nor their taxes! (August 15, 2015). 4. Off-shore tax havens – be sure we define the issues correctly (July 23, 2012). 5. Robin Hood was a thief not a saviour (April 1, 2010). The information in the Paradise Papers is shocking – no doubt. But what shocks me and what seems to shock the average progressive (if their voices indicate their impressions) are somewhat different. The idea that the savings and tax receipts of the rich are in some way important in order for governments to be able to provide high quality services, public infrastructure and jobs to advance the well-being of society is a very dangerous and misguided narrative for progressives to engage in. Please read my blog – Governments do not need the savings of the rich, nor their taxes! – for more discussion on this point. I read a report from Canada where a ‘liberal’ senator said that the Paradise Papers showed that the Canadian government was letting “potential revenue slip through tax collectors’ hands … [and] … billions of extra dollars could be put to good use … There’s lots of things the government could be doing … retiring debt, lower taxes, fund new programs … It goes on and on” (Source). In the same CBC report, another progressive politician said that if the Canadian government closed the so-called “$6 billion a year tax gap” which is a “heck of a lot of money … That might be enough to repair our crumbling infrastructure and sewage plants in Winnipeg, and to invest in a modern transportation system.” The report presented a table entitled “What could an extra $6 billion buy?” and listed child-care places, affordable housing, MRI machines for hospitals, new water treatment plans, and military jets as options. The arithmetic might be impeccable but the logic is sadly erroneous when tied to so-called ‘tax gaps’. These views is representative of the vast majority of commentators on either side of the political spectrum. The Right think, inasmuch as they comment, think that tax cuts could be forthcoming if the governments stopped tax avoidance, while the Left, rave on about better public services etc. Neither view has any merit. If there are child-care staff available for hire in Canadian dollars, then the Canadian government can always afford to hire them. Similarly the rest of the wish list – better housing (presumably there are available carpenters and materials) and the rest of it. The same logic applies to all currency-issuing governments, which have the capacity to purchase anything that is for sale in the currency they issue – at any time. The choice is political not financial. The revelations in the Paradise Papers do not alter that reality. The Paradise Papers just tell us what we have known for ever. The legal profession is used by corporations and individuals to devise ways in which the rich can get richer – in this case by being able to keep a higher proportion of their incomes than those without access to such expensive legal services. The difference between the Paradise Papers and the Panama Papers is clear. They both disclose tax avoidance but the latter really only documented how a poorly-governed nation lured corporations and individuals in countries that similarly struggle with regulative capacities (for example, Russia, Latin America). The Paradise Papers are about the mainstream elites use tax havens that are within nations that have coherent rule of law regimes and which the Peer Review process conducted under the OECD transparency policies do not implicate as being problematic. The Paradise Papers tell us that the rich siphon a high proportion of their income and store their wealth in these offshore tax havens, even if the haven is still under the legislative remit of the nations they are citizens of. Many of these schemes operate through financial products, which provide no productive purpose, and which I have long advocated should be made illegal. The fact they are not made illegal is testimony that, in this neoliberal era, nation states prefer to legislate in favour of the rich at the expense of the poor. But that is a choice that we can all influence. I will come back to that. Modern Monetary Theory (MMT) and tax havens The Modern Monetary Theory (MMT) argument is outlined in the blogs cited above. In summary, while the concerns of organisations such as the British-based Tax Justice Network about massive tax avoidance by global companies and individuals using various cross-country schemes is noted, progressives often push the wrong message in all of this. The loss of tax receipts to a nation via tax avoidance is not the issue that progressives should focus on. The notion that the ‘lost taxes’ in some way prevent a currency-issuing government from spending is just an application of erroneous mainstream economics thinking, which thinks governments are financially constrained. In terms of Modern Monetary Theory (MMT) such terminology is grossly misleading. The tax receipts foregone (lost) to tax avoidance just represents ‘numbers on a bit of paper’. The only issue that is important is the amount of purchasing power that is embodied in the tax cuts (or the reversal of them) and how it is distributed. The rich do not provide the funds that allow the government to provide services, jobs and public infrastructure. If the rich do not spend their incomes (and hide them in various tax havens) that doesn’t reduce the capacity of the government to spend. In fact, the more income the non-government sector, in general, do not circulate back into spending, the greater is the need for government deficit spending to ensure that productive capacity continues to grow and total spending continually absorbs that capacity and maintains full employment. In 1946, Beardsley Ruml published his 4-page article – Taxes for Revenue Are Obsolete – in the journal American Affairs (January 1946, Vol VIII, No 1), which carried the sub-title “A Quarterly Journal of Free Opinion”. At the tine Beardsley Ruml was the Chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. His argument was straightforward: … given (1) control of a central banking system and (2) an inconvertible currency, a sovereign national government is finally free of money worries and need no longer levy taxes for the purpose of providing itself with revenue. All taxation, therefore should be regarded from the point of view of social and economic consequences. This was the same idea that Abba Lerner advanced in terms of his Functional Finance theories, which provide essential underpinnings to Modern Monetary Theory (MMT). Please read my blog – Functional finance and modern monetary theory – for more discussion on this point. Ruml also noted that: The necessity for a government to tax in order to maintain both its independence and its solvency is true for state and local governments, but it is not true for a national government. Two changes of the greatest consequence have occurred in the last twenty-five years which have substantially altered the position of the national state with respect to the financing of its current requirements. The first of these changes is the gaining of vast new experience in the management of central banks. The second change is the elimination, for domestic purposes, of the convertibility of the currency into gold. So, where the currency issued by the central bank “is not convertible into gold or into other commodity”, then Federal government “has final freedom from the money market in meeting its financial requirements.” For Ruml, Federal taxes … serve four principle purposes of a social and economic character”: 1. As an instrument of fiscal policy to help stabilize the purchasing power of the dollar; 2. To express public policy in the distribution of wealth and income … 3. To express public policy in subsidizing or in penalizing various industries and economic groups; 4. To isolate and assess directly the costs of certain national benefits, such as highways and social security. So the government might impose taxes: 1. To control inflation. 2. To redistribute purchasing power from the rich to the poor (high income to low income). 3. To alter the allocation of resources away from undesirable ends – such as tobacco taxes. 4. To provide some hypothecated public transparency for major projects/programs. So from a functional finance perspective, taxation must be designed to advance these purposes and the public discussion must be about the idea of public purpose and never about raising revenue. We thus have to view the revelations in the Paradise Papers from that perspective. The hidden income and unpaid taxes do not alter the basic remit or capacity of the national government in relation to: 1. The need to balance nominal aggregate demand growth with the capacity of the real economy to absorb it. 2. The aims of social policy to ensure that the benefits of economic activity are shared in some reasonable manner (relevant to the distribution of the tax burden). The two issues are interrelated because different income groups have different propensities to consume which influences the impact of fiscal policy. Which brings the question of inequality to the fore. Inequality is the issue At the heart of my concern is that the trends to offshore tax havens coincide with the increase in income and wealth inequality that has been recorded in most nations over the last thirty years or more. What the Paradise Papers also tells me is that what we know in terms of the macroeconomic aggregates reported by national statistics agencies is only part of the story. For example, national accounts, which estimate the Gross Domestic Product and Income generating performance of a nation, clearly under-reports such things given that the rich can hide income received (and thus production generated) in offshore tax havens. These facts then lead to the next conclusion: our empirical understanding of income and wealth inequality is likely to be understated. The rising inequality measures are likely to understate the true degree of inequality. In other words, if you were concerned on the basis of the official data, then you should be really concerned now. Inequality is bad for social well-being. Clearly, it is bad for growth. Even the IMF these days has admitted this after denying it under the ruse of ‘trickle down economics’ for decades. The trickle down claims made at the outset of the neo-liberal period are lies. Please read my blogs – Trickle down economics – the evidence is damning and Inequality and growth and well-being – revolutions have occurred for less – for more discussion on this point. Rising economic inequality undermines the capacity for individuals to invest in education, which is the most reliable source of economic development (skill development). A redistribution of national income can increase or decrease aggregate demand and the final impact thus depends on the different consumption propensities and the number of people who are affected. A tax cut will inject a certain amount of extra spending into the economy which then induces further spending via the multiplier process, which I explain in this blog – Spending multipliers. If you put a dollar of extra disposable income into the hands of the lower paid workers the multiplier effects will be greater than if you put the extra dollar into the hands of high income earner because less will be lost to the rest of the world via imports. Not only will the low income earners spend more of every extra dollar on consumption per se than the high income earners less income will be lost to the rest of the world because the import propensities are also different and align with their consumption propensities. Attacking tax avoidance is one path to take in this regard – forcing the rich to declare more of their income and pay more tax. But that path is complex. A more obvious path is to use the legislative capacity to allow workers who do not use tax havens to increase their share of ‘reported’ national income. For example, ratios such as the wage share in national income are likely to be overestimated as a result of the off-shore activity. Given that the distribution of income has been firmly biased in the neoliberal era towards profits (as real wages growth has fallen well behind productivity growth) this means that this redistribution towards profits has been even greater than is disclosed in the official accounts. The more effective way to resolve that problem is not via tax law enforcement (given its complexity) but through wages policy. The state could legislate to force companies that produce within its borders to share productivity gains with workers via proportional real wages growth. Sure enough, the vexed issue of measuring productivity growth would arise – as usual. But governments could come up with reasonable estimates that could be used for this purpose. If the companies didn’t want to play ball then the government has the capacity to stop their productive and sales activity within its borders. No government in this era has shown the fortitude to do that. But they can and that capacity should be promoted by progressive political forces. Further, this principle can also extend to specific tax reporting issues. If, for example, Nike wants to sell its shoes in Australia then it should be required to pay some reasonable proportion of its sales in tax or have its shoes removed from retail outlets under law. Yes, on-line sales are tricky. But even those can be monitored. The Tax Justice Network proposal is interesting in this regard (Source): An alternative system of taxation, called “unitary taxation” instead calculates the tax liabilities of companies based on a proportion of the company’s global profits. The formula used to work out the tax is based on the real economic activities company, for example the sales it books in each country. See their November 2017 report – Ending multinational tax avoidance through unitary taxation – for further detail. Further, practices such as the use of intra-group debt and transfer pricing to shift liabilities, while complex are not beyond the legislative capacity of the government to reduce. For example, tax authorities could simply reject any intra-company loans that pay interest rates that are obviously only set for tax avoidance purposes and bear no relation to reality. If a company can borrow externally at, say, 2 per cent and are creating intra-group loans at, say 10 per cent, then clearly that can be stopped by authorities. The other obvious path to pursue is to break the link between tax and income. In order for the rich to enjoy their wealth they have to spend it. Spending tends to be localised. If the government introduced more coherent consumption taxes – with equity parameters such as ‘luxury tax inclusions’ and exclusion of essentials – this would get at the rich more quickly than trying to tax their incomes. No-one of meagre means buys private jets, luxury ocean-going yachts, cars that belong on race tracks but are driven on city streets, expensive golf club memberships and the like. Most of these things cannot be ‘off-shored’. Consumption is here and now. By cutting the capacity of the rich to actually realise their hidden incomes in the consumption of goods and services, there is more non-inflationary space for the rest of us to enjoy our material lives. And if we do not want to spend more, then the public sector has more real resource space in which to spend and provide public goods and services. Taken together this strategy would reduce inequality and advance the well-being of the lower income groups. It would be more easily to enforce than trying to close down elaborate tax avoidance schemes. Further, I would substantially increase the penalties for any illegal behaviour by companies and their owners – serious prison time not just fines – which would also provide disincentives to engage in nefarious behaviour. Inequality is also bad for democracy because it further tilts the power into the hands of the wealthy, who, arguably, have little need to see general well-being advanced ahead of their own interests. Several reforms are necessary in this regard, including the banning of political donations, breaking up of media empires etc. I will write more about how progressives have to address power imbalances in societies in a later blog. We address that issue in some detail in our new book – Reclaiming the State: A Progressive Vision of Sovereignty for a Post-Neoliberal World (Pluto Books, 2017) Conclusion The Introduction tells us that many of these so-called tax havens are actually within the legislative remit of national governments such as the US and the UK. These governments could close the tax avoiding capacity of their states, dominions etc whenever they wanted to. Why couldn’t Britain just close down the incentives to hide cash in Jersey for example? They cry poor in terms of lost tax revenue but then do not do the single most obvious thing they could to stop this practice. The reason is that the crying poor is about setting up depoliticised justifications to reduce public spending, while enjoying the massive lobbying funding that comes if they make political choices that enhance the rich.. This is the classic neoliberal strategy. Progressives should meet it head on. There are things governments can do if they are so motivated. Our task is to provide that motivation for them, ultimately, via the ballot box. That is enough for today! (c) Copyright 2017 William Mitchell. All Rights Reserved. |
Welcome to the official website of The Real Junk Food Project Birmingham! The Real Junk Food Project is a concept that started in the UK in 2013. The network now has over 130 projects and 60 PAYF cafés worldwide. If you’d like more information about projects outside of Birmingham, please visit the national Real Junk Food Project website. TRJFP Brum has been operating since 2014 – rescuing over 600 tonnes of waste food and serving about 200 meals every week. The project intercepts food that would otherwise go to waste from supermarkets, restaurants and other sources; turning it into healthy, nutritious meals for all on a “Pay-As-You-Feel” basis. We have regular cafés all over the city, food boutiques, a Sharehouse, and we run a Freegan Box scheme. As if that wasn’t enough – you’ll see us popping-up at many different events around Birmingham; check out the calendar on the left for dates and locations of the next 10 places you can find us. We’re also available for catering: see here for more info. For more information on what we do, browse the tabs at the top, read the latest TRJFPBrum News or read our Frequently Asked Questions page. Thanks for dropping by and helping us to #feedbelliesnotbins! |
.- Catholic and Lutheran bishops have signed a declaration that they hope solidifies areas of “consensus” on matters of faith while providing a path forward for more dialogue. "Pope Francis in his recent visit to the United States emphasized again and again the need for and importance of dialogue,” explained Bishop Denis J. Madden, auxiliary bishop of Baltimore and co-chair of the task force that authored the document the “Declaration on the Way.” He added that the declaration “represents in concrete form an opportunity for Lutherans and Catholics to join together now in a unifying manner on a way finally to full communion.” The declaration, published on Oct. 30, commemorates 50 years of dialogue between Catholics and Lutherans and points ahead to the upcoming 500th anniversary of the Reformation in 2017. It lists areas of “consensus” between Catholics and Lutherans on matters of the church, the Eucharist, and ministry while acknowledging that full agreement and communion have not yet been achieved. Both the U.S. Catholic Bishops’ Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs committee and the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America’s Conference of Bishops “unanimously affirmed” 32 statements of agreement on the church, the Eucharist, and ministry that were outlined in the declaration. They exemplify the “imperfect but real and growing unity of Catholics and Lutherans,” the declaration stated, and show that “there are no longer church-dividing differences” on those matters, solidifying a platform on which to continue dialogue in the future. The Lutheran bishops are sending the statements to higher church bodies for acceptance and implementation. For the Catholics, acceptance will also be sought from the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity. “Through our dialogues, we are renewed in our commitment to continue together on the way to full communion, when we will experience our unity in sharing the Eucharist, in the full recognition of each other’s ministries and of our being Christ’s church,” the declaration states. Although differences still exist, dialogue has brought Catholics and Lutherans much closer than they have been in the past, the Presiding Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America noted. "Five hundred years ago wars were fought over the very issues about which Lutherans and Roman Catholics have now achieved consensus," Bishop Elizabeth A. Eaton said. “The declaration is so exciting because it shows us 32 important points where already we can say there are not church-dividing issues between us, and it gives us both hope and direction for the future.” For instance, some of the statements of agreement centered on the Eucharist. Both Catholics and Lutherans believe that Jesus is present “truly, substantially, as a person” in the Eucharist and is also “present in his entirety, as a Son of God and a human being,” the declaration said. Catholics and Lutherans also believe that Eucharistic worship is a participation in the “life of the Trinity,” as well as a “memorial” of Christ, “present as the one crucified for us and risen, that is, in his sacrificial self-giving for us in his death and in his resurrection (Romans 4:25), to which the church responds with its sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving,” the document continued. However, “there are differences in their theological statements and terminology about the mode of presence,” the document explained, although both Catholics and Lutherans believe that Christ is truly present in the Eucharist. Statements of agreement should be implemented at the local and regional levels, the document recommended. More opportunities should be made for Lutherans and Catholics to receive Holy Communion together, the declaration said. They should also try to pray and read the Bible together, as well as study each other's respective histories. Parishes should establish “covenants” with each other by praying for each other at the Sunday liturgy. The declaration emphasized that Catholic and Lutheran clergy should pray together regularly and make regular retreats in manifestation of the “real, if imperfect, communion with each other.” Pope Francis' apostolic exhortation Evangelii Gaudium provided inspiration for the declaration. “The credibility of the Christian message would be much greater if Christians could overcome their divisions and the Church could realize ‘the fullness of catholicity proper to her in those of her children who, though joined to her by baptism, are yet separated from full communion with her’,” Pope Francis wrote, as quoted in the declaration. The bishops also commended the 1999 Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification between the Lutheran World Federation and the Catholic Church as an “ecumenical breakthrough” because it clearly explained the difference between “divisive mutual condemnations” and “diversities in theology and piety which need not divide the church, but which can in fact enrich it.” “All of this flows from Jesus’ prayer for his disciples after the Last Supper, ‘That they may all be one’ (John 17:21),” the declaration concluded. |
By Saeed Azhar SINGAPORE (Reuters) - English Premier League football club Manchester United has received permission from the Singapore Exchange for a planned $1 billion listing in a deal that would include non-voting preference shares, two sources with knowledge of the deal told Reuters on Friday. The IPO would include stapled securities that bundle with ordinary and preferential shares, one of the sources told Reuters, consistent with expectations the club would issue more than one tier of stock to ensure the Glazer family that owns the club retains control. By combining ordinary and preferential shares into a single security, Manchester United would effectively create a category of shares with lower voting rights, but higher dividends. The two-tier system has drawn criticism from investors and fans alike. The football club wants to raise cash to help cut almost $500 million in debt. Its choice of Singapore was aimed at expanding the club's huge Asian fan base as well as tapping the region's stronger growth and investment climate. "The main issue now is the financial position of the company and they would have to convince potential investors that it's not going to be an issue going forward given that the global outlook is a little bit slower," said Lorraine Tan, director of Asia equity research at S&P Capital IQ, a unit of Standard & Poor's. "Investor interest is always going to be a question of valuation, but they are a big enough brand name, so I think they are not going to be heavily discounted like an unknown company." Many of the club's estimated 333 million global fans are sceptical of the Glazers who bought the club in 2005. Duncan Drasdo, chief executive of Manchester United Supporters Trust, recently told Reuters that the degree of control by one majority shareholder has to be a concern for minority investors seeking a decent return. SINGAPORE SCORES A COUP The Red Devils, a nickname given to the club by its fans, have spent the past few weeks courting Asia's major institutional and sovereign investors including Singapore state investor Temasek, sources told Reuters earlier. The company has hired Credit Suisse, Morgan Stanley and JP Morgan Chase to manage its IPO, for which premarketing is expected to start in mid-September. The sources declined to be named because the process is not public. The listing of one of the world's biggest soccer clubs is seen as a coup for the Singapore Exchange, which competes against Hong Kong for listings. Lawyers have said it is likely the club will make a significant part of its offering in preference shares, which are shares that carry no voting rights, but get priority over ordinary shares for dividend payments and in the event of liquidation. Corporate governance experts have criticised the Singapore Exchange for allowing the planned listing that many see will minimise the influence of new shareholders. SGX CEO Magnus Bocker defended the exchange's position, saying Singapore's governance structure for companies is ranked among the best in the world. "Our listing regime does not allow companies, regardless of country of origin or size, to issue (ordinary) shares with different voting rights," he said. (Additional reporting by Kevin Lim and Eveline Danubrata; Editing by Matt Driskill) |
By Jason Pan / Staff reporter An suspected spy ring that was allegedly selling military secrets using the latest digital technology and cloud computing has been busted, the Kaohsiung District Prosecutors’ Office said yesterday. Six suspects — mostly retired servicemen — are suspected of selling military secrets to China, authorities said. Prosecutors allege the operation was headed by a Taiwanese man surnamed Chuang, 33, a former soldier who has been traveling to China to on business over the past four years after his discharge from the military. Chuang recruited five men in their late twenties and who had formerly served in the army, offering up to NT$250,000 (US$7,768) per document. The Kaohsiung District Court has granted prosecutors the right to detain Chuang incommunicado, due to likelihood of fleeing him the nation and tampering with evidence, pending charges on breaching the National Security Act (國家安全法). One suspect surnamed Shih (師), 27, was released without bail, while the other four suspects — surnamed Chen (陳), 28, Liu (劉) 27, Mou (牟), 29 and Chu (諸), 29 — posted bail of between NT$20,000 and NT$40,000 each. A taskforce headed up by Kaohsiung prosecutor Shih Yu-ting (施昱廷), along with Military Police and Criminal Investigation Bureau investigators began surveillance of the suspects after receiving reports of espionage activities and intelligence security threats at military bases in southern Taiwan. Investigators allege that Chuang instructed the five men to gather classified information, photographs and other data on military exercise programs and deployment plans, and that from May to last month he made more than 20 transfers to his Chinese contacts and received more than NT$1 million. Prosecutors allege that Chuang encrypted classified military files and stored them in a cloud for retrieval by his contacts in China. Shih said investigations revealed that Chuang used Skype to communicate with his Chinese contacts, who in turn provided him with designated cloud storage and other network links to send the data. Chuang had served in Kaohsiung-based 8th Army Command. Five suspects were low-ranking soldiers, while one was a lieutenant. Military analysts said this case was a different approach by Chinese agents, as they were likely testing the viability of recruiting from the lower echelons of the military to see if valuable information could be obtained. In the past Chinese have approached high-ranking officers for military secrets, which requires more money. As part of their probe, prosecutors raided 11 locations in southern Taiwan and seized computers, hard disks, and USB storage devices, that they said contained classified military information. |
Fuel up with pancakes or a “Vermonter” skillet at Henry’s Diner, a local favorite since 1925 (breakfast for two, around $20). Then head seven miles south to Shelburne Farms, a National Historic Landmark encompassing 1,400 verdant, rolling acres along Lake Champlain. The facility began life in the late 1800s as the agrarian estate of William Seward Webb and his wife, Lila Vanderbilt Webb. The estate’s design masterminds included Frederick Law Olmsted, of Central and Prospect Park fame, and the architect Robert H. Robertson, whose original house and magnificent gabled barns remain. The complex is still a working farm, but in the 1970s Webb descendants transformed it into a nonprofit educational organization focusing on sustainable agriculture. Visitors can milk cows, chase chickens and watch cheesemakers create award-winning Cheddars from the milk of the farm’s Brown Swiss cows. (Admission: $5 for children, $6 for seniors and $8 for adults.) The main house is an inn, for those who want the farm immersion experience. 5. Shop on Church Street | 2 p.m. Locals can seem ambivalent about the Church Street Marketplace, an open-air mall featuring chain stores like Gap and Patagonia. The historical architecture, central location and town square vibe make the corporate incursion more palatable, and there are plenty of local stores like Lake Champlain Chocolates, the throwback Burlington Records and the Vermont Flannel Company. Grab a bite and a beer at the Farmhouse Tap and Grill, which — you know the drill by now — specializes in Vermont beer and fare. Recharge at Muddy Waters, the platonic ideal of a funky coffeehouse with a pressed-tin ceiling, church pews and Christmas-light chandelier. Wind down with a cocktail at the Daily Planet. (Try the Prime Thyme, made with vodka, thyme lemonade and ginger liqueur, $9.) 6. Root for the Home Team | 6 p.m. Centennial Field, home of the Vermont Lake Monsters, an affiliate of the Oakland Athletics, is one of the oldest professional baseball parks. It opened on the University of Vermont campus in 1906 and has hosted diamond greats like Tris Speaker and Ken Griffey Jr. The field got some much-needed upgrades recently, but the frills are still few. Even baseball agnostics will be vulnerable to the charms of a summer evening in the old grandstand. (Tickets $5 to $15.) 7. Well Lit Live Acts | 10 p.m. Lamp shopping and live music might not seem like the most obvious pairing, but it makes for an elegant end to the day. The Light Club Lamp Shop, which opened last year on North Winooski Avenue, glimmers with the soft light of dozens of vintage lamps, most of which are for sale, and provides an inviting ambience for jazz combos and other conversation-volume acts. The vibe is more belle époque salon than music club, but those in search of a more traditional live venue can find one without leaving the building. Light Club is part of a complex that includes the jumped-up street-food cafe Duino Duende — the volcano fries ($12) are your friend — and Radio Bean, a cozy and eclectic music spot. Grab a Heady Topper and wander between them. |
Email encryption service EasyCrypt passes an independent security audit The Swiss-based service supports effortless end-to-end encryption at the user's existing email address. A report of the findings has been published and the detected vulnerabilities were fixed. The audit was commissioned by Open Technology Fund and performed by the security assessment firm Include Security. All the high priority and almost all the low priority vulnerabilities discovered in the audit were fixed in the latest software version. EasyCrypt email privacy service allows non-technical users to communicate using OpenPGP end-to-end encryption, using their existing email service and address, without installing anything and with no need to manage encryption keys. “The independent audit reflects our commitment to the security and privacy of our users” said EasyCrypt spokesperson. “In accordance with our policy of full transparency we have published the source of our webmail client and are now publishing the results of the audit. We are grateful to OTF for sponsoring the audit”. Read the full announcement and report. Press contact |
Dr. Mohammad Mossadegh Biography Prime Minister of Iran, 1951-1953 Dr. Mohammad Mossadegh (1882-1967) was a lawyer, professor, author, Governor, Parliament member, Finance Minister, and democratically elected Prime Minister of Iran. Mossadegh fought both internal corruption and foreign interference, enacted social reforms and nationalized the Iranian oil industry. In 1953, he was overthrown by a British-American coup, arrested and tried as a traitor in military tribunal court. It was the CIAs first successful dismantling of a foreign government, and Iran has not known democracy since. Mohammad Mossadegh was born June 16, 1882 in Tehran. His father, Mirza Hedayat Ashtiani, was Irans Minister of Finance, and his mother, Najm al-Saltaneh, was closely related to the ruling Qajar dynasty. At age 10 his father died of cholera, leaving him and his only sibling, a younger sister, to be raised by his mother. He was about 12 when in recognition of his late fathers service to the crown, the monarch Nasir al-Din Shah gave him the title of "Mossadegh al-Saltaneh". Years later, when a national identity card system was introduced in Iran, he chose the surname of Mossadegh for himself, which means true and authentic. Mossadeghs career began at the unusually young age of 15 when he was appointed, again in honor of his father, to Mostofi (Chief of Finance) of Khorasan Province. As a young man, in addition to pursuing his interest in modern sciences, he took part in various sports, and learned to play Tar, a traditional Persian string instrument. At 19, he married Zia al-Saltaneh, a Qajar princess; whom he considered my most cherished person after my mother. The couple would have three daughters — Zia Ashraf, Mansoureh and Khadijeh; and two sons, Ahmad and Gholam-Hossein. Mossadegh was only 21 years old when the people of Esfahan elected him to the Majles (Iranian Parliament) as their representative. However, because he did not meet the legal age requirement, he withdrew his name from consideration. During the constitutionalist movement of 1905-1911, Mossadegh actively participated in the events which led to the establishment of a constitutional monarchy in place of arbitrary monarchial rule. Mossadegh studied political science in Tehran and in 1909, continued his education in Paris. While in Paris he began to experience extreme weakness and fatigue and was forced to quit school and return to Iran. Throughout his life he was burdened by this persistent problem, better known today as chronic fatigue syndrome. Later, he returned to Europe and studied Law at the University of Neuchatel in Switzerland. In June 1914 he became the first Iranian to receive a Doctorate in Law, and returned to Iran only a day before the start of World War I. Soon after his return to Iran, Mossadegh became the subject of a malicious accusation by a political rival. The unfounded accusation made him so upset that he became sick and developed a fever. His mother, who is best known for founding Najmieh charity hospital in Tehran, noticed how miserable he was and told him that she wished he had studied medicine rather than law. Anyone who studies law and enters politics should be ready to suffer all types of slander and insults, she told him, yet A persons worth in society is dependent on how much one endures for the sake of the people. In his memoirs, Mossadegh wrote that those words of wisdom prepared him for the life he chose and from then on the more hardship and insults he faced, the more prepared he became to serve the country. In 1917, Mossadegh accepted a job in the government as Deputy Secretary of Ministry of Finance where he tried to combat corruption and even brought convictions to several individuals. In 1919 he chose self-exile in Switzerland in protest over an agreement between Iran and Britain that he found very disturbing. The main provision of this agreement was handing over to British advisers the supervision of Irans army and financial systems. Fearing the worst for Iran he feverishly campaigned against it in Europe and wrote to the League of Nations asking for help in this matter. Mossadegh returned to Iran after the agreement was rejected in the Majles. Mossadeghs reputation as an honest, just and concerned politician preceded him upon his return to Iran. As he traveled throughout Fars province, he was greeted warmly by locals and received an offer to become their governor, which he accepted. After a few months, however, he resigned this post in protest of the 1921 British-inspired coup in Tehran that ultimately led to the establishment of the Pahlavi dynasty in 1925. After the Fars governorship, Mossadegh served as Finance Minister in Prime Minister Ghavams government and was later appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs during the premiership of his friend Moshir-al Dowleh. This was followed by a short term as Governor of Azerbaijan province. In 1923, Mossadegh was elected to the 5th Majles and began his historic opposition to the establishment of the Pahlavi dynasty by British supported Reza Khan, who was at that time the Prime Minister of Iran. He foresaw the return to dictatorship in Iran when ...one man is to be king, Prime Minister and magistrate! As Mossadegh predicted, life under the tyrannical reign of Reza Shah was harsh and oppressive; in fact the political climate became so unbearable that he had good reason to fear for his life. In 1928, he voluntarily withdrew from social and political activism and retreated to his village of Ahmadabad located about 100 kilometers outside of Tehran. During this period, which lasted over a decade, he occupied his time reading and farming; conducting experiments to improve crop production and sharing the knowledge he acquired with other farmers in the village. On July 26, 1940, Reza Shahs police squad unexpectedly arrived at Mossadeghs residence, searching and ransacking his house. Although no incriminating evidence against him was found, he was taken to the central prison in Tehran. Mossadegh was interrogated and, without being informed of any charges against him, transferred to a prison citadel in Birjand (a city in northeast Iran). Well aware of the fate of many others who dared to oppose Reza Shahs arbitrary rule, he expected to be killed. The harshest blow to Mossadegh resulting from his imprisonment was the effect it had on his 13 year old daughter, Khadijeh, who had witnessed her fathers brutal arrest and forced transfer to Birjand prison. The highly sensitive Khadijeh was deeply traumatized and spent the rest of her life in psychiatric hospitals. Mossadegh later said that this tragedy was the cruelest punishment that could have ever been inflicted on him. Reza Shah released Mossadegh from Birjand prison in November 1940, transferring him to Ahmadabad; to live there, until he dies. A year later his house arrest ended when the British forced the abdication of Reza Shah, and his 22 year-old son, Mohammad Reza, ascended to the throne. Having returned to political activities, Mossadegh was elected with overwhelming support as Tehran representative to the 14th Majles in 1944. During his tenure in the Majles, Mossadegh passionately fought for Irans political and economic independence from foreigners, including addressing the highly unfair oil agreement with the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company, a goal for which he received overwhelming popular support. The contemporary history of Iran had been intertwined with oil, a highly sought after energy source by the West. It all began in 1901 when a 60 year exclusive rights were given to William Knox DArcy, a British subject, for oil exploration and exploitation in Irans southern provinces. In 1908, oil was struck and The Anglo-Persian Oil Company was established. Just before the start of World War I in 1914, the British government purchased 51% of the companys shares. The British thus created a beachhead and practically colonized the southern west corner of Iran, directly and indirectly interfering in the political affairs of the entire country. APOC even cheated on the meager 16% profit sharing payment to Iran and treated Iranian oil workers with contempt and racism in their own land. It all came to a head in July 1946 when about 6,000 Iranian oil workers went on a strike in the oil city of Aghajari. Their clash with government troops resulted in more than 200 dead or wounded workers. All Mossadegh quotes translated by Ebrahim Norouzi, MD. © The Mossadegh Project |
Hopefully you’re ok with me answering this myself– I figure if I don’t it might go ignored and I wouldn’t want anyone thinking I’d delete something like this to “save face.” Consumers are capable of making their own choices. It’s stated on my site that customers are welcomed to provide their own eyelets if they have a sensitivity to 316L steel or if they flat out prefer implant grade materials. I push people to send glass or titanium all the time. Bottom line, my jewelry is a novelty that most people don’t wear for days on end so they can’t justify shelling out for implant grade metals for what is essentially a costume piece. If I were out to just make a business of swindling money, I’d give in to the countless requests I receive to work with acrylic eyelets. I do draw the line. I also want to note that I do work in a reputable shop and have had conversations with professionals on the topic a multitude of times. We’re a shop that shouts “Implant grade only!!!” from the rooftops, but we still sell jewelry from big name brands that work with “mystery” metals or brass alloys and recognize that juxtaposition. Would I recommend wearing white brass hanging pieces as every day jewelry? Of course not. I warn consumers of that too. So bottom line, I don’t feel the educated use of economy steel invalidates my other experiences. -Petra |
Employment up in 49 of the 51 largest metro areas, December 2015 to December 2016 From December 2015 to December 2016, nonfarm employment rose in 49 of the 51 metropolitan areas with a 2010 Census population of 1 million or more, and fell in Milwaukee-Waukesha-West Allis, Wisconsin (−0.5 percent), and Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, Virginia-North Carolina (−0.4 percent). Chart Image Chart Data 12-month employment percent change for large metropolitan areas, December 2016 Metropolitan area Over-the-year percent change December 2015 employment December 2016 employment Over-the-year net change Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL 4.2% 1,190,600 1,240,900 50,300 Salt Lake City, UT 3.4 690,500 714,200 23,700 San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA 3.4 1,068,700 1,104,700 36,000 Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA 3.4 1,922,200 1,986,800 64,600 Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX 3.3 3,483,600 3,597,100 113,500 Jacksonville, FL 3.3 666,700 688,800 22,100 Denver-Aurora-Lakewood, CO 3.2 1,415,500 1,460,300 44,800 Sacramento--Roseville--Arden-Arcade, CA 3.2 929,200 958,500 29,300 Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA 2.9 1,389,900 1,430,700 40,800 Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA 2.7 2,643,800 2,714,600 70,800 Las Vegas-Henderson-Paradise, NV 2.7 928,000 952,800 24,800 Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TN 2.6 940,400 964,700 24,300 St. Louis, MO-IL 2.5 1,358,500 1,392,100 33,600 Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL 2.4 2,572,700 2,633,500 60,800 Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA 2.2 1,135,200 1,160,300 25,100 San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX 2.2 995,200 1,017,000 21,800 Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL 2.2 1,282,400 1,310,800 28,400 Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV 2.1 3,222,200 3,288,800 66,600 Boston-Cambridge-Nashua, MA-NH NECTA 2.0 2,681,100 2,734,300 53,200 Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN 2.0 1,072,300 1,094,000 21,700 San Diego-Carlsbad, CA 2.0 1,412,400 1,441,300 28,900 San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, CA 2.0 2,313,100 2,359,700 46,600 Austin-Round Rock, TX 1.9 984,600 1,003,400 18,800 Indianapolis-Carmel-Anderson, IN 1.9 1,038,100 1,057,800 19,700 Columbus, OH 1.8 1,060,600 1,079,800 19,200 Louisville/Jefferson County, KY-IN 1.8 661,600 673,700 12,100 Raleigh, NC 1.8 598,000 608,900 10,900 Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC 1.7 1,130,100 1,149,000 18,900 Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI 1.7 1,964,400 1,997,700 33,300 Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD 1.6 1,385,300 1,407,500 22,200 Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA 1.5 5,952,500 6,042,500 90,000 Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI 1.4 1,946,600 1,974,000 27,400 Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD 1.4 2,879,200 2,920,500 41,300 Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, AZ 1.4 1,984,700 2,012,200 27,500 Buffalo-Cheektowaga-Niagara Falls, NY 1.3 561,600 568,700 7,100 New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA 1.3 9,537,100 9,657,700 120,600 Cleveland-Elyria, OH 1.0 1,058,100 1,069,000 10,900 Kansas City, MO-KS 1.0 1,051,500 1,062,000 10,500 Birmingham-Hoover, AL 0.8 520,600 524,800 4,200 Rochester, NY 0.8 530,400 534,800 4,400 Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI 0.7 4,640,600 4,672,800 32,200 New Orleans-Metairie, LA 0.7 576,700 580,500 3,800 Richmond, VA 0.7 670,500 675,000 4,500 Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT NECTA 0.6 576,100 579,300 3,200 Memphis, TN-MS-AR 0.6 641,600 645,600 4,000 Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX 0.5 3,021,300 3,036,100 14,800 Pittsburgh, PA 0.4 1,169,000 1,173,400 4,400 Providence-Warwick, RI-MA NECTA 0.4 583,100 585,400 2,300 Oklahoma City, OK 0.1 635,500 636,000 500 Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, VA-NC -0.4 772,000 769,200 -2,800 Milwaukee-Waukesha-West Allis, WI -0.5 860,300 855,600 -4,700 The largest over-the-year percentage increase in employment in these large metropolitan areas occurred in Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, Florida (+4.2 percent), followed by Salt Lake City, Utah; San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, California; and Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, Washington (+3.4 percent each). These data are from the Current Employment Statistics (State and Metro Area) program and are not seasonally adjusted. Data for the most recent month are preliminary. To learn more, see "Metropolitan Area Employment and Unemployment — December 2016" (HTML) (PDF). |
With all the people out there willing to offer help on Linux, getting started should be pretty easy. But with many options in introductory books and easy-to-install distributions, choosing a place to start can be the hard part. Where to Find Support Picking a distribution gets a lot less challenging when you remember to choose based on where you plan to go for help. Your local user group mailing list will be a lot more useful when other members know the locations and utilities you're talking about. Just subscribe to your local user group mailing list, and lurk for a while to find out what distribution the most helpful people there use. Then pick up a copy of a good Linux book, burn an install CD, and jump in. There is lots of useful online documentation for specific tasks. But so far, books offer the best introductions to basic concepts such as file permissions or working with the shell. And looking for the distribution's name in the title of your first Linux book can be a time and frustration saver for new users. Instead of telling you to do things this way on one distribution, that way on another, or worse, telling you to find things for yourself, a book that concentrates on one distribution can point you straight to the file, tool or feature you need. Lately, though, there's been a catch. The most helpful introductory books for beginners, Mark G. Sobell's "Practical Guide..." series, cover Red Hat Linux and its descendants Fedora and Red Hat Enterprise Linux, but many of the participants in user groups and mailing lists that offer the best help for new users are running Ubuntu. Sobell's new "A Practical Guide to Ubuntu Linux" closes the gap. Ubuntu's Advantages Part of Ubuntu's popularity among user group members is because it nails down and documents many of the best system adminstration practices. For example, many administrators recommend that you never log in as root. Just log in as yourself, and use a properly configured sudo to run individual commands as root when needed. Ubuntu actually disables the root account, and forces you to use sudo. A new user who installs Ubuntu and does things the Ubuntu way will find himself or herself acting in many ways like a cautious, experienced sysadmin without realizing it. Now, in A Practical Guide to Ubuntu Linux, you can get a thorough Linux intro book that works the Ubuntu way, while still drawing on the author's long experience with old-school Unix and older Linux environments to cover the basics that haven't changed. |
New Delhi: Citing a large number of cases for probe coupled with acute manpower shortage, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) director Anil Sinha has demanded more personnel from states on deputation to the agency, saying if this is not done, the agency would collapse. Appearing before a parliamentary committee, Sinha cited the increase in the number of cases referred to CBI by the Supreme Court and high courts, and said the agency’s capacity for investigation was around 700 cases a year which has now almost doubled, necessitating more officers to supervise probes. As per the submission made by the agency, a total of 1,200 cases and “62 foreign investigations" were pending. Of the total pending cases, 31 are pending for over three years. A total of 1,531 posts were vacant in CBI as against its sanctioned strength of 7,274, as per the agency’s latest data. Following the submission, the panel has asked the government to complete cadre review in the agency by June-end. While deposing before the committee, the CBI director proposed to provide longer tenure to officers on deputation in the agency from the state and other central forces in addition to other steps taken to manage vacancies, said the report of the parliamentary standing committee on personnel, public grievances, law and justice, tabled in Parliament on Tuesday. “He, therefore, expressed that unless state governments provide the manpower by way of sending more of their personnel on deputation to the CBI, a time could come that CBI would collapse and fail," it said. The committee expressed deep concern on the state of affairs relating to the vacant positions in CBI. “It, therefore, impresses upon the department of personnel and training to complete the exercise of cadre review by June 30, 2016, as per the direction of the Supreme Court to deal with the vacancies in the establishment," the report said. “The committee is apprehensive that unless the present malady of massive vacancy is corrected immediately, the very purpose of establishment of the CBI would be eroded and its credibility tarnished," the report said. |
FEBRUARY 14--As federal agents hunt for the culprit who illegally accessed several Bush family e-mail accounts, The Smoking Gun has learned that the hacker’s victim list also includes a U.S. Senator, a senior United Nations official, security contractors in Iraq, two former FBI agents, and a Department of Defense supervisor. The hacker, who uses the alias “Guccifer,” apparently began the breaches last year, with infiltrations of the AOL accounts of Dorothy Bush Koch, sister of George W. Bush (and the youngest child of George H.W. Bush), and Bush family friends Willard Heminway, 79, and Jim Nantz, the CBS sportscaster. While Dorothy Bush Koch’s account yielded the hacker a trove of sensitive e-mails, documents, and photos about the Bush clan--including correspondence to and from the two former presidents--other compromised accounts were also raided for intimate information about the political dynasty. For example, the hacker broke into the AOL account of Scott Pierce, the 82-year-old brother of Barbara Bush, and accessed correspondence between him and the 87-year-old former First Lady. The hacker also infiltrated the Comcast e-mail accounts of Josephine Bush, sister-in-law of the 41st president (and mother of Access Hollywood host Billy Bush), and Patricia Legere, a Bush family friend (and former Miss Maine). The illegal incursions gave the hacker confidential details about the Bush family’s travels, illnesses, and whereabouts. But while able to access AOL and Comcast accounts, the hacker does not seem to have broken into the personal e-mail accounts of either former president, both of whom send and receive mail via specific domains established for their post-presidential offices. In e-mail exchanges, the perpetrator did not reveal a motive for the hacks or details about how they were engineered over the past several months. But it seems likely that certain targets were identified by the hacker’s perusal of e-mail accounts that had already been compromised. This daisy chain approach likely explains how members of the Bush family’s inner circle were targeted. One of the hacker’s victims surmised that their e-mail account was a “domino” that had fallen in sequence. In most instances where a TSG reporter contacted a victim, they were unaware that their e-mail account had been compromised. One victim who had learned of the incursion said that the hacker had also rummaged through several other online accounts, including an IRA account. When the victim checked with representatives of the financial institution, she was told her retirement account had been accessed via an IP address that traced back to the Russian Federation. Hackers routinely go to great lengths to mask their actual IP addresses via proxy servers and powerful anonymizers that can make it appear they are committing crimes from the other side of the world. When asked about the breadth of their illegal activity, the hacker offered that, “I have some 40 high profile victims,” including politicians, show business figures, and diplomats. While claims like this often amount to nothing more than bluster, the hacker’s assertions are more than wishful thinking. E-mail records and screen grabs reveal that the hacker’s other victims include: • U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski. The Alaska Republican’s Yahoo e-mail account was broken into last year. Access to the Yahoo account appears to have also allowed the hacker to sign into the 55-year-old politician’s Flickr account. A screen grab of the Yahoo account’s inbox contains the greeting “Hi, Lisa” and includes e-mail updates from Flickr about her photo storage account. A screen grab from the Flickr account page indicates that the visitor was “Signed in as U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski.” Murkowski spokesperson Matthew Felling said that the Senator and her staffers were unaware that the two accounts had been compromised. Felling added that the Yahoo account was created five years ago to manage Murkowski’s Flickr account and that she “has never used this account for incoming/outgoing communication.” • U.N. Under-Secretary-General Joseph Verner Reed. The 75-year-old diplomat, who also serves as a special adviser to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, had his AOL account breached by the hacker, who accessed Reed’s e-mail, as well as certain financial and travel records. Reed, pictured below, served as ambassador to Morocco during the Reagan administration and was the White House Chief of Protocol for George H.W. Bush. Prior to those political appointments, Reed, who did not return TSG phone messages, worked for 20 years at Chase Manhattan Bank, where he served as David Rockefeller’s personal assistant. In an e-mail, the hacker wrote that he had gained access to the e-mail accounts of Happy Rockefeller, widow of former Vice President Nelson Rockefeller, and other Rockefeller family members. • David Greenberg, a veteran intelligence analyst working for Lockheed Martin, had his Yahoo account hacked late last year. Greenberg, who has a Top Secret security clearance, has been deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan, and has been attached to the Department of Defense’s Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Organization. Among other sensitive matters, the hacker’s entry to Greenberg’s inbox allowed him access to a daily “threat update” issued by the Baghdad Embassy Security Force (BESF). • The AOL account of Rex Evitts, an employee of a military contractor working in Iraq, was hacked last year. Assigned to the BESF, Evitts was a project manager overseeing explosive detection dog teams. However, by the time the hacker broke into Evitts’s account, it had already been dormant for nearly a year (and had more than 6000 e-mails in its “New Mail” folder). Evitts, an Air Force veteran who did five tours in Vietnam, died of lung cancer in December 2011. He was 68. • Susan Malone, an Army supervisor stationed in Afghanistan, had her Yahoo account hacked. Malone, assigned to the U.S. Army’s Human Terrain System, a military intelligence support group, holds a Top Secret clearance. She previously worked in Baghdad as a senior adviser with the U.S. Embassy's Anti-Corruption Coordination Office. Once inside Malone’s e-mail account, the hacker browsed its contents and even re-sorted the mail to display only correspondence with attachments (like PDFs and spreadsheets). Malone’s account included memorandums, presentation files, and briefing documents. Screen grabs show that while the material was listed as unclassified, some documents carried the non-public “FOUO” (For Official Use Only) designation. Malone, 65, is a former FBI agent who, in 1972, was one of the first two women to be sworn in as special agents. Malone, seen at right, did not respond to TSG e-mail and phone messages. • The Comcast e-mail accounts of two ex-FBI agents were hacked about two months ago. In an interview, one of the retired investigators surmised that the duo, who are married, may have fallen victim to a “spear phishing” attack. The ploy, a favorite with hackers and fraudsters, often involves the sending of an e-mail with a “weaponized” attachment that, if opened by the targeted recipient, can compromise the victim’s computer (or network) and result in the theft of passwords and other valuable information. One of the former federal agents said that none of the information in the couple’s compromised e-mail accounts was classified. While unsure as to how they came to the hacker’s attention, the agent recalled having e-mail contact with Susan Malone in the months before the hack. “It was probably just a domino thing,” the victim concluded. (3 pages) |
WASHINGTON—Telling reporters they were unable to convey the full extent of their gratitude that the plot of the hit HBO series had finally surpassed the events of the novels, citizens across the country expressed immense relief Sunday that all the insufferable little Game Of Thrones fans would no longer be able to lord the books over everyone else just trying to enjoy the show. “After five unbearable seasons of constantly hearing how ‘the books handled things much differently,’ it’s just so nice to know I won’t have to deal with any of that shit this time around,” said White Plains, NY resident Cathryn Wakeman, echoing the sentiments of millions of viewers who had become exasperated by the incessant comments from “all those little shits” about how the televised version of a battle strayed from the George R.R. Martin novels. “Every time there was a slight deviation, one of those fuckers would have to chime in with how someone from the show was actually a composite of ‘two way more interesting’ characters from the book or how the producers left out a passage critical to understanding Westeros or some shit like that. Thank God those assholes just have to sit there and wait to find out what happens next like the rest of us.” Although the nation was looking forward to watching the fantasy show unbothered by annoying remarks from fans of the books, Americans said they wouldn’t put it past the little pricks to butt in with fan theories they picked up online. Advertisement |
Now out in a limited theatrical run and available on VOD starting January 13, 2017 is the new independent horror film Pitchfork, about a group of friends traveling from New York to the Michigan farm home of their friend Hunter Killian. Looking to support him in revealing a secret that he’s been hiding, they end up being hunted by a deadly monster. Researching this production resulted in discovering several brutal reviews on IMDB and a rather unfairly low rating, which is most likely going to result in some bold statements from this reviewer. Pitchfork may very well be the best horror movie for all of 2017 and the year has only just begun. This modern day twist on Leatherface and other similar slasher characters features stunning cinematography and imagery, while presenting a new iconic monster that is visceral, animalistic, and will frighten viewers to the core. Despite this being his feature length directorial debut, Glenn Douglas Packard is well on his way to becoming one of the masters of horror. The story is reminiscent of Texas Chainsaw Massacre and a host of other slasher flicks like it, but with some twists and added subplots. There is some humor, goofiness, and a Footloose style barn party and dance sequence that are integrated into this; however these moments never directly interact with the murder sequences. This is not a horror comedy. There are instances of normal people partying, joking around, and having fun while grisly events occur unbeknownst to them. The subplots are only slightly explored but help add a little bit of depth to characters that are most likely going to meet untimely ends. The pacing is done well, it never feels slow and moves at a pretty consistent speed throughout. The acting is far superior to what you would typically expect from a low budget independent horror production, with all of the core characters having some type of depth and drama going on. They should all be commended for giving respectable performances. It was also nice to see a diverse and eclectic group of actors and characters that varied in both ethnicity and sexual orientation. Brian Raetz, Lindsey Nicole, and Addisyn Wallace were all good in their respective roles. Rachel Carter is simply devious in her performance, one that I cannot go into further without spoiling plot points. Daniel Wilkinson is the star of the show and gives an incredible physical performance as the disturbing monster. While most of his portrayal is through his specific physicality and unusual noises, there are several moments where we get some terrifying facial expressions slightly hidden behind the mask. The directing and cinematography are outstanding, with strikingly bold colors, atmospheric lighting and shadows, expansive overhead scenic shots, and great camera movement and placement. This is a terrific looking picture and both Packard and cinematographer Rey Gutierrez have taken their experience in music videos, commercials, and other avenues and applied it well to this. The editing is crisp and the decision to use sound instead of dialogue during certain sequences was smart and helped create the right mood. The music was a diverse mixture of a composed score from Christie Beu and various songs that all worked well combined together. The score contained pianos, ambient sounds, and a woman singing that really added to the overall disturbing tone during the horror sequences. Practical effects, nudity, and excessive gore are considered essential elements for most successful horror movies. I believe that they more than delivered in the level of violence, offering up an extensive body count, plenty of splattering blood, several holy shit kills, and moments that could be considered torture porn. Despite containing no nudity, there is more than enough crazy violence to please most horror fans. Hi, welcome to Walmart This has every makings of becoming a memorable horror film with an iconic slasher character, one with franchise potential. There should be more than enough in Pitchfork to entertain most horror buffs and freak out their significant others; I know I can’t wait to watch this again. |
Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) officials blocked the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) by charging made-up, exorbitant fees such as $30,000 for documents staffers admitted were “easy to find,” according to internal emails obtained by The Daily Caller News Foundation Investigative Group. A VA hospital used the technique to get watchdogs and activists to drop their requests after a lone FOIA officer there helped expose corruption by the facility’s director. The director paid the FOIA officer to stay home without access to sensitive information, leaving the facility without anyone to process the requests. The efforts at VA to block FOIA requests are reminiscent of those at the Department of State that torpedoed Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign. As secretary of state, Clinton’s desire to keep her emails from being discovered by reporters prompted the use of a private server located in her New York mansion. Clinton’s decision in turn led to the State Department’s implausible response to journalists who filed FOIAs during her tenure that Clinton had no emails. Some VA responses were even more implausible. An employee at the Caribbean VA hospital in Puerto Rico, for example, sought emails between himself and Chief of Staff Antonio Sanchez. Wayne Weldge, head of FOIA for the VA’s Sun Belt region, responded: “The estimated fees associated with processing your request are $30,933.90.” The entire fee had to be paid in advance, according to VA, which also said it might keep the money without giving up the emails. “You must pay the estimated fees stated above before we perform any more work to process your request,” Weldge wrote. Then, in italics, he continued: “Please understand that if VHA finds records responsive to your request and, if a FOIA exemption authorizes withholding these records in whole or in part, VA may not release the records to you even though you have pre-paid the search fees.” Weldge allowed Sanchez instead of the agency’s IT office to filter his emails and compile them for release, just as Clinton was allowed to do. An invoice for the fees revealed that Sanchez is paid $338,000 annually and claimed that responding to the request would require 162 hours of the boss’s time. Another 53 hours of processing would supposedly have to be done by an employee who makes $110,000 annually. A “Notes” portion of the estimate sheet that showed how the fees were calculated said “Close Enough.” In an email to Weldge, Sanchez said responding to the FOIA request would not require much work. “I would say 30-45 days as I am out of VA this week and next week will be only on Monday. [The employee] has sent me emails in reference to official travel arrangements only as he doesn’t work for me directly so I anticipate will not be a lot. Emails will be saved in my outlook so doing a search on it will be easy to find,” the email stated. The VA FOIA office then charged the requestor for 162 hours of the chief of staff’s time, which is a month, even though the chief’s response clearly said he wouldn’t get to the task for at least two weeks. Then, even though the requester asked for the emails in digital format, which is expressly permitted under FOIA, VA officials decided to print them and charge for photocopying, claiming they didn’t have a disc drive. The emails provide a disturbing peek inside the murky world of FOIA processing, where journalists routinely submit lawful requests to federal agencies only to be met with an illogical response or none at all, or impenetrable fee calculations. The FOIA provides no penalties for agencies or individual employees who violate the law. Dewayne Hamlin, director of the Caribbean VA hospital, tried to fire its FOIA/Privacy Officer Rosayma Lopez, openly charging her with refusing an order to fabricate evidence to be used to fire another employee, Joseph Colon, after Colon alerted top brass that Hamlin had been arrested and caught with regulated pills for which he had no prescription. After Lopez’s firing was blocked by ethics authorities, Hamlin paid her to stay home for a year. He then offered her $305,000 to resign — the largest such settlement ever at VA — with no discernible justification other than using taxpayer money to remove a threat to his job. The VA’s national general counsel defended Hamlin’s action, but Lopez has not accepted the offer, saying she only wants to serve veterans honorably. Ethics authorities then ordered Lopez return to work, but VA officials moved her to a trailer without basic tools required to do her job. FOIAs were routed to Weldge’s office at VA’s regional office in Florida, where Hamlin had previously worked. The Florida office sought to deflect FOIAs by hiding behind unusually aggressive interpretations of the law’s exemptions and massive fees for simple requests. (RELATED: Feds Put Credit Card Felon In Charge of Major VA Purchasing Program) The office charged $100 when a requester wanted to know the hospital’s phone numbers. In another example, when an employee sought information on a boss’ selection, he was charged $568, with no explanation. When an employee wanted to get a ranking sheet that would show the numerical score for each applicant for a position, the office admitted only a few sheets of paper were involved, yet claimed it would require eight hours of a highly-level employee. The requester dropped the request. Follow Luke on Twitter. Send tips to luke@dailycallernewsfoundation.org. Content created by The Daily Caller News Foundation is available without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org. |
A revitalized Russian military on Monday sent tanks, paratroopers, artillery, antiaircraft weapons, jets and helicopters into frigid rains to engage the forces of a mock enemy called the "Western Coalition." VILNIUS, Lithuania — The vast Russian military exercises that ended this week showed off a muscular fighting force practicing state-on-state warfare, NATO's deputy military commander said, in one of the first assessments of a large-scale operation that put Russia's neighbors on nervous alert. The Zapad exercise, which rehearsed a conflict along Russia's western borders, showed off a force that was marshaling itself "probably more quickly, more efficiently, with this underlying message that if you thought we were in decay, we're not," NATO's Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Europe, British Gen. James Everard, said in an interview. The exercise, whose active phase ended Wednesday, is an every-four-years effort that was held this month for the first time since Russia in 2014 annexed Crimea from Ukraine then sparked war in the eastern part of the country. Because Russia used exercises as cover ahead of both its operations in Ukraine and its 2008 invasion of Georgia, its neighbors were cautious this time as the Kremlin fired up its military machine. Now Western allies are sifting through intelligence reports and starting the arduous work of assessing Russia's military capability, which is deep into a reform that has translated the force from a neglected and struggling group into one that for two years has been able to project power into Syria, far from Russia's borders. Everard said that the first formal assessments would likely not be ready before the end of October. But he said that some of the basics of effective large-scale warfare - an ability to pick up and move large numbers of troops, and then command them effectively - were on clear display. "You see a recognition in the Russian hierarchy that if you are going to have a foundation of military force behind your stratagem, and I think they do, then it needs to work," he said. Military analysts also said the exercise was a chance for the Kremlin to shoot a message straight to the Pentagon and its allies that Russia has a formidable fighting force capable of mobilizing across its enormous territory - and it needs to be reckoned with. But if the exercises showed off a Russian military that is much-better trained and equipped than at any point since the Soviet collapse, the scenario of the exercises - an enemy from the West tries to overthrow the government in Moscow's ally, Belarus, and is beaten back - also may reveal Russia's greatest handicap. Moscow says it is convinced it is under threat of assault by a hostile force in the West that is determined to bring its military to Russia's borders. This, as President Vladimir Putin sees it, has already been done in the Baltics. He believes the United States and NATO were the instigators of street protests that forced Ukraine's president to flee to Russia in 2014. Viewed from that perspective, Zapad was intended to reinforce a point Putin made in December: That Russia is "stronger than any aggressor." "Russia is acting on a faulty threat assessment and seeks to fashion a military response to largely imaginary threats and challenges that are not military in nature," said Vladimir Frolov, an independent foreign policy analyst based in Moscow. "It's all about strategic messaging of coercion and compellence directed at the U.S. and NATO, to prevent things the West has no intention of doing or the capability to accomplish." NATO says it is a defensive alliance and creates no military threat to Russia. Many NATO officials disbelieve the Kremlin's stated concerns, saying they are an excuse to practice for war against the West. Although Russia publicly declared that the exercises were small enough to exempt them from international transparency obligations, most Western observers said that the concurrence of drills and joint exercises across Russia's vast territory made them far larger than what was formally announced. The Russian and Chinese navies drilled in the east. The Russian military exercised in Central Asia. Bomber flights ranged over the Norwegian Sea. Paratroopers were active far above the Arctic Circle. Adding a nuclear edge to the war gaming, Russia carried out two tests of its new intercontinental ballistic missile, the RS-24, the first two days before Zapad began and the second on the culminating day of the exercise. Western officials are still trying to estimate how many troops took part in the exercises. Some security officials and analysts ventured initial guesses that Zapad may have been a smaller exercise than other major efforts in recent years, although they said it was still a significant event. "It was effectively a national-level military operation," said Igor Sutyagin, a senior research fellow for Russian studies at the Royal United Services Institute, a London-based security think tank. He said his initial estimate was that between 65,000 and 72,000 troops took part. Putin, who viewed a mock battle involving tanks, missiles, air power and paratroopers at a firing range in Luga, northwestern Russia, also watched a broadcast of Russia's new Iskander-M missile being launched from a firing range in southern Russia to a target in Kazakhstan some 300 miles away. The weapons were not only a fearsome show of Russian firepower, they were also a sparkling advertisement for the nation's arms exporters. "The president was very positive about the conduct and the result of that event," Putin's spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, told reporters Friday. As the exercise unfolded, the Pentagon stepped up the presence of U.S. forces in the region. The U.S.-led heavy armored battalion deployed to Poland was in the process of rotating, meaning it was temporarily doubled. The U.S. Air Force sent three extra F-15 fighter jets to patrol the skies over the Baltics. And nearly 500 U.S. Army troops fanned across the Baltics for the month of September to do exercises. "We train hard to have a combat edge, and that has a deterrent effect," said Lt. Col. Hugh Jones, the commanding officer of the Germany-based U.S. Army squadron doing the troop exercises in the Baltics. Some of the Russian military capabilities seen by NATO leaders confirmed their preexisting concerns. "In 24 to 48 hours, some parts of the Russian armed forces could be ready to invade one Baltic state or all of them," Lithuanian Defense Minister Raimundas Karoblis said in an interview. "It's clear that it's not only defense but it's also about offense." Part of the exercise rehearsed cutting off the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania from the rest of NATO, Latvian Defense Minister Raimonds Bergmanis told Latvia's LETA news agency. That is a nightmare scenario for the alliance because Russia has stationed powerful antiaircraft missile systems in its exclave of Kaliningrad, creating challenges for any Western attempt to retake the region. Despite the Western worries, the training may not have been flawless. "What had been expected but did not happen was the demonstration of readiness of the newly-formed divisions, which adds credibility to the proposition . . . that they are rather far from being combat-capable," said Pavel Baev, who studies the Russian military at the Peace Research Institute Oslo. Other embarrassing incidents included a Tu-22M long-range bomber overshooting a runway and a misfiring rocket from a Ka-52 attack helicopter that hit spectators. The "Russian Air Force is feeling the pressure of the protracted deployment in Syria," Baev said. "Typically, maintenance is the weakest link, and accidents multiply," he said. Still, during the exercise, top military and security officials held daily briefings to prepare for the worst-case scenario of an invasion, even as they said they thought it was unlikely one would occur. "As a human being, when you see such events close to your country, you always think, 'what if?'" said Lithuanian Col. Mindaugas Steponavicius, the commander of the Iron Wolf Brigade, Lithuania's core fighting force. Earlier this year, NATO deployed battalions of about 1,000 troops to each Baltic nation and Poland, a step that alliance leaders hoped would ease the risk that Russia would try to seize any territory from those nations. "We all hoped that the Cold War or something comparable would never happen again," said German Army Lt. Col. Thorsten Gensler, the commander of the German-led, multinational NATO battalion that has deployed to Lithuania to dissuade Russia from attacking NATO territory. "So it is a kind of deja vu for me to be here." |
Story highlights Shootdown of Syrian plane is first for US since it began fighting ISIS in Syria Syria says its plane was attacking ISIS (CNN) A US Navy fighter jet shot down a Syrian warplane after the Syrian jet dropped bombs near Syrian Democratic Force (SDF) fighters on Sunday, the US military said in a statement. The shootdown came a little more than two hours after forces allied with the Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad attacked the north-central Syria town of Ja'Din, which was controlled by the SDF. A number of SDF forces, who are backed by the US-led coalition, were wounded in the attack, the statement from the Combined Joint Task Force said. The attack drove the SDF from Ja'Din, which is west of Raqqa, the coalition statement said. Read More |
Jim DeMint thinks this ad shouldn't be allowed on the air: Why? DeMint calls the ad "both false and misleading" because it says that he doesn't have a health care plan, when he has in fact advanced one. DeMint's "plan" is to give uninsured Americans vouchers of $2,000 per year (or $5,000 per family) to buy health care insurance. How would he pay for this? By requiring all TARP loans be repayed within five years, and using the repayments to pay for the vouchers. Problem is, once the TARP loans are repayed, DeMint has no plan to pay for the vouchers. So not only would his plan be woefully inadequate and do nothing to control costs, it wouldn't even last more than a few years. As the DNC said, that's "no plan at all." "We don't concede at all that he does have a plan," said DNC communications director Brad Woodhouse, saying Demint's plan would "do nothing to address the questions of access and cost. That's not really a plan in our view." Amazingly, the cable operators sided with DeMint and refused to air the ad, leaving the DNC with no choice other than to slightly change the ad's wording so that it would comply with the demands of cable company censors. (Imagine what Sarah Palin would be saying about the First Amendment at this point.) According to the DNC, the revised ad still makes the same essential point: that Jim DeMint is putting politics ahead of doing anything meaningful on health care. In the end, not only did Jim DeMint help draw attention to the DNC's ad, but he also let us know something that we might not have otherwise figured out: he's a thin-skinned bully who thinks the best way of dealing with political criticism is to have it taken off the air. Jim DeMint is the one who waded into the conversation with his "Waterloo" insanity. Now that it's backfiring on him, he can't take the heat. |
....But...human rights are a fucking thing and you are a bad American. I have to prove that me, someone descended of people brought here against there will and hose homelands were destroyed, deserve to be in this country that was owned by my other ancestors (native americans) in order to get the rights given to my distant ancestor an Irishmen. That's the most unamerican bullshit I have ever heard and the most arrogant shit. I never said whites are better at making shows. lol. I have implied that whites believe whites are more relatable, talented, and "worthy" of being treated as human beings with interesting stories and lives that are worthy of respect but are consistently "othered" and regarded as some sort of unrelatable alien in the country we were brought to and born in by people who deeply believe that some how they earned everything and stole/manipulated/abused nothing and no one ever in history and if they did it doesn't matter because nothing ever passes down politically, economically, socially, or institutionally and that sociology isn't a science even though it is a science, and that characters need to perfectly reflect the population but only for whites and so it's ok that blacks are depicted far belo the population along with every other racial group. You are either a troll, or someone so fixed in your belief that people of color are just making shit up because we are someho inherently ignorant that only those who think like you see the "truth". You're right on a level, about homogenous nations and areas, however the issue is in 2015 you can't just stay in a same race/religion/ethnicity/political area and if you do when you eventually interact with others problems increase. If you look at American immigrant tensions as compared to most of Europe we are culturally and philosophically better equipped to handle the racial tensions of immigration, intermarriage, and tourism. For example other countries did not have too many issues 25 years ago, but then look not necessarily at "massive immigration" but the experiences of students who study abroad and how locals act. I had a number of friends who are every kind of Asian ancestry(most were Australian) but when they would walk around Norwich England to get dinner...it wasn't uncommon for people to shout "CHINGCHONGCHING GO HOME" or some shit at them. These aren't even students planning to stay. That shit happens here. I've seen it, but the attitudes of the schools and counselors to that sort of thing and the attitudes communities take when schools tell community leaders "this is an issue" vary. It's the difference between experiencing immigration as normal and historical and not. Irish, Italians, Puerto Ricans, and others experienced mass immigration racial tensions. Many Puerto Ricans still do. Mingling and movement does produce tensions, but in a globilizaing and culturally diverse world only associating with others limits you because you don't develop those skills and you develop assumptions. You are more susceptible to stereotyping, and generally that hurts a persons ability to problem solve in a group, to work outside of themselves and those like them. It's actually a problem faced most often by students in college. There's a brilliant article about it (I can see if I still have the info around here) studying college students different perceptions of certain interactions based on race. Because of the frequent depictions of whites, white class cultures, and cultures in general over other race and rae cultures there was tension. In the example given a black roommate at a Predominantly White INstitution, snapped at her white roommate for asking to touch her natural afro textured hair. To the wwhite roommate it's a simple question, but to the black roommate who hears this question all the time from her white peers she felt as though she as expected to be ,in her words I recall, "a petting zoo" for white curiosity. It's a simple harmless interaction at a glance, but it's because of a lack of exposure to one and not the other that one girl felt unduly attacked and other as though she wasn't a person but like a textbook to be studied at everyone's leisure. And your point is? There are places I don't go because I'm black. Am I supposed to feel sorry for you because that's unfortunately the norm for us in many places in the south even if you won't get shot you just don't go to those places. |
KIEV (Reuters) - Pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine said on Monday they would take control of Ukraine-run businesses in rebel-held areas if the Ukrainian government does not end a rail blockade that has halted coal supplies. Activists warm themselves at a fire in a camp at Kryvyi Torets station as they take part in a rail blockade that has halted coal supplies in the village of Shcherbivka in Donetsk region, Ukraine, February 14, 2017. Picture taken February 14, 2017. REUTERS/Konstantin Chernichkin For the past month, a group of Ukrainian lawmakers and veterans have blocked some rail traffic in eastern regions - a move opposed by the government as it prevents coal produced in separatist territory from reaching Ukrainian power plants and the steel industry, whose exports are a keystone of the economy. In a joint statement, leaders of the so-called Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics (DNR and LNR) said the blockade had caused many businesses to suffer in rebel-held areas and that it went against the spirit of the 2015 Minsk peace agreement. “We are forced to announce that if by midnight on Wednesday the blockade is not taken down, we will introduce a system of external management on all companies registered in Ukraine’s jurisdiction that operate in the DNR and LNR,” leaders Alexander Zakharchenko and Igor Plotnitsky said. They also said they would stop selling coal to Ukraine and send future coal supplies to Russia or elsewhere. Ukraine’s largest steel producer, Metinvest, is one of the biggest employers in eastern regions on both sides of the front line. The blockade has already forced it to halt production temporarily at one of its mills and several coal mines. Metinvest said it would be “unacceptable” for separatist officials to take control of its businesses in rebel-held areas, saying this would force it to halt the affected operations. “In those specific businesses alone, almost 20,000 people would face redundancy. This would inevitably be followed by the dismissal of people at related businesses ... and contractors, which would lead to social upheaval,” Metinvest said in emailed comments. Heorhiy Tuka, Ukraine’s deputy minister for issues relating to rebel territories, dismissed the separatists’ threat to seize the companies. “It’s an attempt to scare us,” he said in a statement published by website InfoResist, saying the separatists did not have the ability to manage the large industrial companies. In government-controlled areas, the economic impact of the blockade is already being felt. The government has warned that low coal stocks in power plants could lead to rolling blackouts, while the central bank has said it could take emergency measures if the supply squeeze hits steelmakers’ export revenue. Ukraine stands to lose up to $2 billion in foreign currency revenue if the blockade continues, according to President Petro Poroshenko. |
Charges: Man tried to burn elderly parents alive over $40 He rammed his parents with his car, shoved his father and set their car and house on fire, reports say Prosecutors charged an Auburn-area man with attempted murder after he allegedly tried to burn them alive in their home last week following an argument about $40. Prosecutors charged an Auburn-area man with attempted murder after he allegedly tried to burn them alive in their home last week following an argument about $40. Photo: Richard Gaul/Getty Images Photo: Richard Gaul/Getty Images Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Charges: Man tried to burn elderly parents alive over $40 1 / 1 Back to Gallery Prosecutors charged an Auburn-area man with attempted murder after he allegedly tried to burn his parents alive in their home last week following an argument over $40. Gregory Harris' elderly parents have disabilities and require assistance to walk, court records say. "But for the actions of the fire department the victims ... would not have been able to leave the burning home," Senior Deputy Prosecutor David Martin wrote to the court. Harris' mother later told police that he grew upset with them Nov. 8 because they refused to give him $40, according to a King County Sheriff's Office incident report. The parents left their house in the 3800 block of South 306th Place near Auburn to try to get away from their son, court records say. However, 43-year-old Harris then allegedly used his vehicle to ram into the back of their car while they were inside it and pushed them into the attached garage. The couple went back inside the house in an effort to avoid their son. A neighbor reported hearing tires spinning and then spotted Harris walking to his parents' car and lighting the interior of the vehicle on fire with a match. The fire spread to the garage and the front of the house, according to the Sheriff's Office. RELATED: Charges: Pair of teens kill friend, burn down crime scene Harris' father called 911 to report that his son intentionally rammed him and his wife, causing them neck pain, reports say. About five minutes later, Harris' mother updated 911 call takers to report their car was on fire and that their son had returned to their house. The 911 recording reportedly captured someone yelling, "Stay in the house. I'm going to burn the house down and kill you." Harris allegedly shouted to his mother, "You're next," police reports say. Harris then pushed his father out of the recliner he was sitting in, pushed the chair on top of him and lit it on fire with a lighter, according to court records. Call takers at 911 then reportedly heard, "Get down, get down there, you're going to hell, I'm going to set this on fire, mother f**ker," and "You're going to die today." Police and firefighters arrived to find Harris walking away from the house. Deputies arrested him. He allegedly made several unprompted statements while sitting in the back of a patrol vehicle, including, "I didn't mean to kill them," reports indicate. RELATED: Man set on fire in North Seattle Fire investigators determined that three fires had been set. The one set in the parents' vehicle spread to the garage and across the front of the home. The second one was set to the recliner chair in the living room where the father had been sitting and the third started in the floor of the garage near a door leading to the kitchen, according to court documents. Investigators recovered a purple lighter and a book of paper matches in front of the house, along with Harris' cell phone and keys. His mother reported to authorities that Harris told them it was their last day on Earth, the incident report says. Prosecutors charged Harris on Monday with first-degree arson, second-degree assault and second-degree attempted murder. He remains jailed on $500,000 bail. Lynsi Burton can be reached at lynsiburton@seattlepi.com. Follow her on Twitter at @LynsiBurton_PI. |
HONG KONG/BARCELONA (Reuters) - Staff at China’s Huawei Technologies Co Ltd [HWT.UL] are bracing for possible jobs cuts after internal memos highlighted intense pressure to improve earnings and an executive said the flagship smartphone business had missed internal profit targets. A worker adjusts the logo at the stand of Huawei at the CeBIT trade fair in Hanover, in this file picture taken March 15, 2015. REUTERS/Morris Mac Matzen/File Photo Huawei, which rose rapidly to become the world’s third largest smartphone maker, is aiming to narrow the gap with leaders Apple Inc and Samsung Electronics. But the company faces challenges after losing its top spot in China, the world’s biggest market, to new contender Oppo last year. Huawei’s mobile unit missed an internal profit target for 2016 even though revenues exceeded targets, Richard Yu, head of its consumer business division that includes mobile device operation, told Reuters in an interview at the Barcelona Mobile World Congress this week. “It is still profitable but the profit margin is very low,” Yu said of the unit that contributes around one third to the group’s revenue. In an internal memo sent last Friday, Huawei Group founder and CEO Ren Zhengfei urged all employees to work hard, saying the company would otherwise “fall apart”. “Thirty-something strong men, don’t work hard, just want to count money in bed, is that possible?,” Ren said in the memo seen by Reuters. “Huawei will not pay for those that don’t work hard.” The remarks have unnerved some of Huawei’s 170,000-strong workforce, 45 percent of which are in research and development, a division said by Huawei staff in online communities to be most insecure. “Everybody is nervous,” said a 36-year old engineer in Huawei’s consumer business unit who declined to be identified due to the sensitivity of the issue. “We are now all thinking more of the next steps, realizing permanent employment with the company is no longer a given.” According to company insiders, Huawei maintained its 5 percent annual quota to eliminate the worst performers, but was seen indirectly pushing underperformers out by asking them to relocate to undesirable posts. “Huawei does not have layoff plan,” the company said in an emailed response, declining further comment. STREAMLINING Consumer business chief Yu said in his New Year’s address to staff that the company needed to adhere to a “streamline strategy” in personnel as well as product portfolio as it must make profitability its focus in 2017. “We will seek to improve efficiency and profitability by focusing on organizations at all levels, every employee, and every detail, and strictly control costs and risks to ensure sound development, “ Yu said in the memo, seen by Reuters. “We will not tolerate low-performing managers, and prioritize removal of managers who fail to make noteworthy improvements after working in a position for several years.” Huawei made a net profit of $5.69 billion in 2015. In another sign of profit pressure at Huawei, which is unlisted and collectively owned by some 80,000 employees, the company cut its dividend to 1.53 yuan per share in 2016 from 1.98 yuan a year earlier, according to a shareholder source. Huawei splashed out on international marketing campaigns last year, getting footballer Lionel Messi and Hollywood stars Scarlett Johannson and Henry Cavill as brand ambassadors. But analysts said the spending did not win it as much market share as expected, as rivals piled in to fill a gap in the market left by Samsung after a costly recall of its flagship Note 7 smartphone in October. “In marketing, we will control our budget,” Yu told Reuters. “We are not spending too much on marketing and branding. We invest more money on technology and innovation, and in retail and services.” Huawei, whose main business is telecom equipment and services, said in December it expects 2016 revenue to rise 32 percent to $74.8 billion. It is due to release full results on March 31. The company aims to catch up with Apple’s service and Oppo’s profit margin in three years, according to another memo sent last Friday by Ren. Yet analysts expect tough year ahead as competition heats up. “We don’t expect Huawei will easily regain No. 1 position in 2017 in China market, mainly due to less-developed distribution channel in low tier cities and rural areas,” said Strategy Analytics analyst Linda Sui. |
Just as it seems the White House is close to finally announcing its policy on encryption - the FBI has been pushing for tech companies like Apple and Google to insert backdoors into their phones so the US government can always access users’ data - new Snowden revelations and an investigation by a legendary journalist show exactly why the FBI’s plans are so dangerous. One of the biggest arguments against mandating backdoors in encryption is the fact that, even if you trust the United States government never to abuse that power (and who does?), other criminal hackers and foreign governments will be able to exploit the backdoor to use it themselves. A backdoor is an inherent vulnerability that other actors will attempt to find and try to use it for their own nefarious purposes as soon as they know it exists, putting all of our cybersecurity at risk. In a meticulous investigation, longtime NSA reporter James Bamford reported at the Intercept Tuesday that the NSA was behind the notorious “Athens Affair”. In surveillance circles, the Athens Affair is stuff of legend: after the 2004 Olympics, the Greek government discovered that an unknown attacker had hacked into Vodafone’s “lawful intercept” system, the phone company’s mechanism of wiretapping phone calls. The attacker spied on phone calls of the president, other Greek politicians and journalists before it was discovered. According to Bamford’s story, all this happened after the US spy agency cooperated with Greek law enforcement to keep an eye on potential terrorist attacks for the Olympics. Instead of packing up their surveillance gear, they covertly pointed it towards the Greek government and its people. But that’s not all: according to Snowden documents that Bamford cited, this is a common tactic of the NSA. They often attack the “lawful intercept” systems in other countries to spy on government and citizens without their knowledge: Exploiting the weaknesses associated with lawful intercept programs was a common trick for NSA. According to a previously unreleased top-secret PowerPoint presentation from 2012, titled “Exploiting Foreign Lawful Intercept Roundtable”, the agency’s “countries of interest” for this work included, at that time, Mexico, Indonesia, Egypt and others. The presentation also notes that NSA had about 60 “Fingerprints” — ways to identify data — from telecom companies and industry groups that develop lawful intercept systems, including Ericsson, as well as Motorola, Nokia and Siemens. It’s the exact nightmare scenario security experts have warned about when it comes to backdoors: they are not only available to those that operate them “legally”, but also to those who can hack into them to spy without anyone’s knowledge. If the NSA can do it, so can China, Russia and a host of other malicious actors. The White House is reportedly close to coming to a decision on their official policy on encryption. Despite the FBI and NSA’s best efforts to convince them that they should push for a law mandating backdoors - a catastrophe for human rights, cybersecurity and the US economy - the White House may be on the verge of openly condemning the FBI’s approach, according to the Washington Post. This would be great news for everybody. However, they have yet to come to a final decision. To help them, the Electronic Frontier Foundation and a host of other groups (including Freedom of the Press Foundation, where I work) have launched a White House petition calling on the Obama administration to do the right thing on encryption: strongly support everyone’s right to use it. Coming out strongly against such a mandate would be huge on multiple fronts for the Obama administration: it would send a strong message for human rights around the world, it would make it much harder for other governments to demand backdoors from US tech companies and it would also strengthen the US economy. For the White House, it would cement President Obama’s legacy as a president who ultimately decided to strengthen the internet under his watch, rather than weaken it. |
Image caption A huge solar flare could give rise to a global cyber shock, warns the report The vast majority of hi-tech attacks described as acts of cyber war do not deserve the name, says a report. The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development study is part of a series considering incidents that could cause global disruption. While pandemics and financial instability could cause problems, cyber attacks are unlikely to, it says. Instead, trouble caused by cyber attacks is likely to be localised and short-lived. However, it warns that governments need to plan for how it could mitigate the effects of both accidental and deliberate events. 'Great confusion' Attempts to quantify the potential damage that hi-tech attacks could cause and develop appropriate responses are not helped by the hyperbolic language used to describe these incidents, said the OECD report. "We don't help ourselves using 'cyberwar' to describe espionage or hacktivist blockading or defacing of websites, as recently seen in reaction to WikiLeaks," said Professor Peter Sommer, visiting professor at LSE who co-wrote the report with Dr Ian Brown of the Oxford Internet Institute. "Nor is it helpful to group trivially avoidable incidents like routine viruses and frauds with determined attempts to disrupt critical national infrastructure," added Prof Sommer. The report acknowledged the risk of a catastrophic cyber incident, such as a solar flare that could knock out satellites, base stations and net hardware, but said that the vast majority of incidents seen today were almost trivial in comparison as they did not last long and only hit a few people or organisations. Attempts to decide how to deal with the wide variety of potential attacks and attackers were being hampered because words used to describe incidents meant different things to different groups. For instance, it said, an "attack" could mean phishing e-mails trying to steal passwords, a virus outbreak or a concerted stealthy attempt to break into a computer system. "Rolling all these activities into a single statistic leads to grossly misleading conclusions," said the report. "There is even greater confusion in the ways in which losses are estimated." The report also played down the risk of a conflict between nation states being played out over the net. "It is unlikely that there will ever be a true cyberwar," said the report, most likely because no aggressor would stick to one class of weaponry. Also, it said, existing defences and the unpredictable effects of such an attack could limit its effectiveness. However, it noted, that even if a cyberwar is unlikely to ever happen, there was no doubt that the weapons used in such a theatre of war were becoming ubiquitous and would likely be used in the future alongside conventional weapons as "force multipliers". Under the heading of cyber weapons the report included viruses, worms, trojans, distributed-denial-of-service using botnets and unauthorised access to computers ie hacking. Finally, it said, while the net may be a vector for attack it might also help in the event of a large-scale event. "If appropriate contingency plans are in place, information systems can support the management of other systemic risks," it said. "They can provide alternate means of delivering essential services and disseminate the latest news and advice on catastrophic events, reassuring citizens and hence dampening the potential for social discontent and unrest." |
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — The owner of a Pennsylvania company that makes steel-processing equipment has been sentenced to 12 months on probation under a plea deal for conspiring to illegally sell an $800,000 machine to an Iranian firm. HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — The owner of a Pennsylvania company that makes steel-processing equipment has been sentenced to 12 months on probation under a plea deal for conspiring to illegally sell an $800,000 machine to an Iranian firm. Helmut Oertmann is CEO and owner of Hetran Inc., of Orwigsburg. U.S District Court Judge Yvette Kane sentenced him Wednesday. Prosecutors say Oertmann falsified paperwork to get around a U.S. trade embargo and deliver a machine to be used in Iran for the production of high-grade steel. Kane also sentenced his company to the fines already imposed by the U.S. Department of Commerce: $837,500 cash, $500,000 of which was suspended. Charges also were filed against three Iranian nationals and two Iranian firms. |
Mara will stop sponsoring students to Taylor's University for a host of reasons, Bernama reported Rural and Regional Development Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob announcing today. It is unclear what the "host of reasons" are, but Taylor's University terminated its contract with operator Wawasan Sutera last Friday for using buses that carried the varsity logo to ferry participants to the red shirt rally last Wednesday. Nevertheless, the state news agency quoted him saying that the decision does not apply to existing students and they could continue their studies as usual. "I have instructed Mara director-general (Ibrahim Ahmad) to look into this matter. We will stop sponsoring the new intake (of students) due to many reasons. "However, we will not terminate the scholarship of the existing students for fear it will cause problems in the future," he told reporters after visiting the Information Technology Sales Centre @Busana at Menara Mara in Kuala Lumpur today, quoted in Bernama . Ismail Sabri said this when asked to comment on news which went viral on social media that Mara would cease giving scholarships to students pursuing studies at Taylor’s University. Photographs of red shirt protesters getting off a bus which had the university logo had put them in a spot. Ismail Sabri was among a few Umno ministers who was vocal in voicing support for the rally, named 'Himpunan Bangkit Maruah Melayu' at first but was later changed to 'Himpunan Rakyat Bersatu'. It was meant as a counter-rally to the allegedly 'Chinese' Bersih 4 which called for institutional reform and Najib's resignation, held from August 29 to 30. Related reports After red shirts bus boo-boo, now Mara snubs Taylor's Uni All, including red shirts, welcome to PAS (H60K) rally Butt out, MCA Youth tells Pahang Umno Youth Umno man: MCA vocal on Sept 16, silent on Chinese at Bersih 4 Johor MCA Youth: PM's praise for red shirts inappropriate 'Malays okay with cows, so too Chinese with pigs' I'm a constitutional racist, says Jamal Umno’s red terror gambit 'Cabinet should ask Suhakam on red shirt rally' |
Renting an apartment to tourists visiting Barcelona can be lucrative. Jordi Mallafré, a property owner who advertises his flat on platforms like Airbnb says he can earn four times more from visitors than he would from a long-term tenant. We attribute many things to tourism, but the truth is that incivility exists both among residents and foreigners. Teresa Travieso Barcelona resident “Until the end of the year it’s fully booked and there are already reservations for next year,” he said, noting that he is making far more than the 1,000 euros a month he would have had from a residential let. According to the Barcelona city council, there are about 10,000 legal tourist apartments and more than 6,000 that are unlicensed, most of them advertised on Airbnb. The council “has dedicated all possible efforts to fight against illegal practices,” with more inspectors and sanctions, said Janet Sanz, the councillor responsible for housing. In August, after receiving a fine of 600,000 euros, Airbnb committed to removing more than 1,000 illegal flats from its site. For residents of areas like Barceloneta, where more and more properties are being converted to holiday accomodation, that’s just scratching the surface of the problem. “No tourist flats” can be read on some balconies. Joan Antoni Hermo says he is fed up of mass tourism and the bad behaviour that often accompanies it. “Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays are awful, with incidents of noise and public urination.” Not everyone blames the visitors, however. Teresa Travieso, who has a puppet shop in the Gothic Quarter, concedes that “We attribute many things to tourism, but the truth is that incivility exists both among residents and foreigners.” The growing number of tourist flats, the purchase of buildings by investment companies to build luxury apartments and overall a low supply and high demand have led, according to Joan Balañach, vice president of the Federation of Neighbours Associations of Barcelona, to an increase in rental prices. The Statistics Department of the city council shows that the average monthly amount has risen from 688 euros in 2014 to 845 in 2017 (+22%), in a city where many monthly salaries are only around 1,000 euros. “Barcelona is experiencing a new housing bubble,” Balañach said. This situation “is driving people out of their neighbourhoods.” “There are real dramas in families who have been living in the same district all their life and now are forced to leave because they can’t afford the excessive rent increase or their tenancy agreement isn’t renewed.” However, David Herencia, commercial director of the real estate platform Idealista, said that the impact of tourist apartments is often overstated. “It affects less than you think.” In addition, “in 2017 rental prices have stabilized, which is a sign that that could have peaked.” This could be good news for Victoria Sanantón, a resident who has been flat hunting for more than three months. “In half a year conditions have become inconceivable.” Many of the available properties measure less than 30 square meters and are in poor condition, she notes. The Barcelona city council is trying to combat its housing problem with a 160 million euro budget for 2017. The money will be used to buy buildings and prevent large investors from acquiring them; to build new flats to rent at affordable prices; and to offer subsidies to citizens that have difficulties to pay the rent. By Anna Lladó |
Visitors to the Los Angeles Zoo have always viewed hippos, the third largest land animal known for killing roughly 3,000 people each year, from afar. But on weekends and holidays, it will be possible to get a closer look. Much closer.A 3,700-pound hippo named Mara loves being petted as does her 15-month-old daughter named Rosie. Both hippos are part of the "Hippo Encounter," a new attraction at the Los Angeles Zoo that allows small groups of visitors to view a hippo family up close for an additional $15.You can also touch and take a selfie with the hippo during the 20-minute visit. Only adults and children four years and up will be admitted."They're known to be very, very aggressive and territorial in the wild. Obviously at the zoo, it's a little different. They're pretty friendly, they're letting us do these wonderful tours here at the zoo," hippo keeper Jennifer Gruenewald said.For more information or to purchase tickets, visit www.lazoo.org/visit/showsandactivities |
After getting lost in the car corner of YouTube, as I so often do, I stumbled across what has to be one of the most amazing JDM cars I’ve seen to date. The 1989 Toyota Soarer Aerocabin shared underpinnings and its 3 litre turbocharged, six-cylinder lump with the third generation Toyota Supra – but that’s not what this car is really about. You see, those bizarre proportions hint at this car’s party piece – a massive, motorised roof that’s somewhere between a targa top and many of the folding hardtop designs we see today. Skip to 10min 25s into the video below to watch that in action. Or, if you’re like me and with a taste for 80s cars and JDM models, then be sure to watch it from the start. Apparently, just 500 of these cars were ever made and, like much of Japan’s motoring magic, these were never available outside of the country. So 80s, so JDM, so RevMatch. Share this: Twitter Facebook |
- Advertisement - Portland, Oregon Tells Karl Rove To Go To Jail. The World Affairs Council of Oregon arranged a debate between Karl Rove and Dr, Howard Dean on the 10th day of February 2010 in Portland, Oregon. Almost 100 protestors, most outside and some inside brought the message to Karl Rove that he should be before a judge and not making millions of dollars on a speaking tour with Dean. There were many who also had a message to Dr. Howard Dean, "You are enabling this man to become rich, and you must stop it now." - Advertisement - Outside there were representatives from Veterans for Peace, Code Pink, the Pissed Off Grannies, Individuals for Justice, and other groups. Inside there were about a half dozen members of Individuals for Justice who pooled their money to buy a $47 ticket, (each) and confront the man we call traitor. One by one we stood up and yelled from the balconies, "Traitor, sir your are a traitor and should go before a judge." One person yelled, "Are you going to bring Hitler here next?" You can hear the different people in the theater yelling, the reason it is so dark is that video cameras were not allowed, to ensure compliance they turned the lights out except for the stage area. One of our members got in a small camera and did the best he could with the restrictions on his ability to record what happened. - Advertisement - We could not get close to the man who outed Valerie Plame, there were guards surrounding the stage and every aisle was closed off to us. We did make our statement to him and Dr. Dean. From the upper balcony we flew 25 paper planes with a warrant for his arrest on one side and the charges on the other. The planes did not make it to the stage where the Rove was, but the rich members of the Council were treated to the warrants. We ask all people of good will to do the same when they come to their city. We need to make this duet very uncomfortable when they pick up a big paycheck. We cannot and did not try to stop Karl Rove from speaking, but made it clear that we wished he would turn himself in to the police and do a Perry Mason ending; stand up and say to the cops who were protecting him from the peacemakers, "Yes. I did it, arrest me!" Enjoy the video and pass it on to all people who honor Justice and the "Rule of Law!" - Advertisement - For Individuals for Justice Joe Walsh-Lone Vet |
In an earlier post, I discussed my focus on a new network design for the lab. This post continues along that journey with a focus on vCenter, plugins, ESXi hosts, and gotchas within a vSphere 5.5 environment. Hope it helps! Plugin URLs The first thing I wanted to look at was my vCenter plugin URLs. These are the addresses used to talk with the plugin. If they were hard coded using an IP address, they’d need to be updated to either a new IP address or a DNS name. I figured it would be easiest to use DNS names going forward, so that IP changes are trivial. The fastest way to dump all of the URLs for my plugins was to crank out a quick PowerCLI script. You can snag a copy from my PowerCLI GitHub repo. Most of them were fine, or pointed towards the local server itself, but a few – such as my vCenter Operations Manager plugin – would need to be fixed. Here’s what I did for each entry that I found bound to an “old” IP address: Removed the plugin using the instructions specific to that plugin (this varies per plugin, make a backup just in case). Changed the IP address of the server hosting the plugin. Made sure DNS was up-to-date for that plugin and pinged it from the vCenter Server to validate a fresh DNS entry – use ipconfig /flushdns on the vCenter server if you’re impatient. Connected the plugin to vCenter using the vCenter DNS name, not the IP address (because vCenter’s IP address is going to change). Validate plugin is operational and healthy. This may take a little bit depending on what the plugin is. I also went through any plugins that looked healthy to see how they were connecting back into vCenter. For each one of those, make sure the plugin’s server is using vCenter’s DNS entry, not the IP address. This is likely a good idea for any scenario, but I wanted to do a sanity check to be sure. Changing vCenter’s IP Address For whatever it may be worth, my vCenter Server runs on Windows Server 2012. If you’re using the Linux appliance, I’m not sure how much this post is going to help, but I’m sure William Lam can offer some tips if you break it. 🙂 At this point I felt that enough pre-work had been done to mitigate most of the risks I could proactively avoid. It was time to change the IP address. Here’s the list of steps I used: Created backups of the vCenter Server VM and underlying SQL database. I use Veeam B&R 7 in the lab for this. Set DRS to manual mode to avoid anything moving around. Identified the ESXi host running the vCenter VM and connected directly to the host with the vSphere Client. Close any sessions you have open to the vCenter Server (Web Client, vSphere Client, etc.) Opened a console window to the vCenter Server by way of the ESXi host. Stopped all VMware services. Changed the IPv4 address and IPv4 gateway. I also gave the server an IPv6 address. Restarted the server. Put DRS back to fully automated (optional based on your setup) I let this sit for about 10 minutes to give vCenter time to load up all of its services again, then tried connecting to it. I was sort of blown away that it connected successfully and everything showed healthy. I really thought something would break or I had forgotten a step. Angry ESX Agent Manager I diddled around in vSphere for a while to see how things were going, and did notice that the vSphere ESX Agent Manager remained in a red alert status for greater than 15 minutes. I figured that it must be broken for real because all other alerts vanished after a few minutes. I’ve seen this issue before, and KB 2009934 provides solid steps on what to do. In the end, I updated “localhost:443” to the FQDN of my server, which matches my SSL certificate. Issue solved. I also found out that my VMware Update Manager (VUM) service was configured to listen on the old IP address. Rather than tinker with it, I just uninstalled VUM and then installed it fresh while pointing to my existing database. Make sure that when the wizard asks which interface to use to change the drop down from the IP address (default) to the FQDN of the server. IP Changes for the ESXi Management Host It makes sense to work from top to bottom, and since the management components were now on new IP addresses it was time to do the same for my ESXi hosts. I began work on my management host, which runs my critical workloads that are the heart of my lab and home services. Because my lab services run on this host, I do not rely on DNS entries or the VDS. While a tier 3 or tier 4 data center is nearly guaranteed to avoid power outages, my lab is not nearly so well protected, and I have to be able to survive a complete shutdown of everything. I found out that ESXi hosts don’t like changing IPv4 address, IPv4 gateway, and VLAN ID all at the same time. I could do the address and VLAN ID, but not gateway – all three would cause the task to error out. So I dropped a jump box on the Server VLAN to allow me to connect to the ESXi host after the IPv4 address changed, since the old invalid gateway wouldn’t matter (layer 2 adjacency). Here’s what I came up with for the management host: Updated the ESXi host’s DNS entry to the new IPv4 address. Disconnect host from vCenter to flush out the database entry. Changed the IPv4 address and VLAN ID of vmk0. At this point I lose connection to the host. Reconnected to the ESXi host using the new address and update the IPv4 gateway. Add the host back into vCenter and validate all is good. This process went flawlessly. I also created an IPv6 address on all of my vmkernel ports for future fun. IP Changes for the ESXi Resource Hosts Similar work for the resource hosts, except I was able to use maintenance mode. Updated the ESXi host’s DNS entry to the new IPv4 address. Put host into maintenance mode and wait for VMs to migrate off. Disconnect host from vCenter to flush out the database entry. Changed the IPv4 address and VLAN ID of vmk0. At this point I lose connection to the host. Reconnected to the ESXi host using the new address and update the IPv4 gateway. Add the host back into vCenter and validate all is good. Pretty straight forward stuff. If I had more than 3 hosts to do, I would have looked into building a script, but I found my time to be limited and the above steps only took about 30 minutes. It also gives me the itch to go back to using Razor or looking into Hanlon for my lab hosts. I need a cloning machine. 🙂 Thoughts The remaining servers were easy to move around. Don’t forget to update your DNS SOAs for the domain controllers after changing their IP addresses. I still have to take the time to update my NAS IP addresses to the new subnet; I’ll probably just power down the lab VMs for this to avoid any weird disk access issues. Once that’s done, I’ll go back and edit the NFS vmkernel ports to the new NFS subnet and VLAN ID. So we’re clear, this is what I did in my lab. It worked for me and went by at a reasonably fast speed. I didn’t do this for fun and giggles; it was a means to an end. I would imagine that folks have better ways to do this – and please share them – while at the same time please understand that your environment is most certainly constructed differently and will require adjustments. If this helps out a bit, great, but don’t take it to be an authoritative view on how things must be done. 🙂 |
Not So Shocking News Alert: Crime Rate Among Anti-Gun Politicians Extremely High and Rising Guest Post by Mara Zebest Unbelievable! Mayor James Schiliro – a typical Democrat representative. That’s odd… other than a local Fox29 station report below… I don’t remember this being reported in the mainstream. More information at guns.com who noted: Schilirio is one of 600 mayors who signed on to an open letter to Harry Reid and the United States Senate from MAIG and published as a paid advertisement in USA Today. GunsSaveLives had the following to add: This morning we ripped anti gun politicians for not having their facts straight, now we rip them for not following the very laws they help to pass. According to Fox News, prosecutors in the state of NY have announced 2 arrests of sitting state politicians in 3 days. Both broke the law to benefit themselves. Over the last 8 years 11 NY state senators have been charged with crimes. NY currently ranks the worst for corruption at the state government level. Which states come in 2nd and 3rd? I’ll give you two guesses. California and Illinois have those honors. So, the top three most corrupt state governments in the country based on the number of its elected officials who were arrested are New York, California and Illinois. What else do those three states have in common? They are three of the strictest states in the country when it comes to gun control. It only makes sense that corrupt politicians would want to have a disarmed populace to fleece. The corruption of anti gun politicians doesn’t stop at the state level though. Anti gun mayors seem to be having just as many problems recently, with numerous members of anti gunner Michael Bloomberg’s Mayors Against Illegal Guns organization being arrested on various crimes. Note, most of these mayors are immediately removed from the organization’s roster upon arrest. (Sources: Here, Here and Here) I wonder what the overall crime rate of, oh I don’t know, let’s say the NRA is compared to these state legislatures. More reported at FoxNews regarding the crackdown on a festering corruption problem in Democrat-run states: WASHINGTON – For the second time in three days, prosecutors in New York announced the arrest of a sitting state politician accused of breaking the law for his own benefit. This week’s rapid-fire round of arrests caps the latest push by federal prosecutors to crack down on illegal activity by elected officials across the country — and New York is not alone among states whose public officials are compiling a jarringly long rap sheet. In New York, 11 state senators have been charged with crimes over the last six years. In Illinois, four of the last seven governors have been convicted on criminal charges. New York and California have each racked up thousands of federal public corruption convictions over the last few decades. […] Read the rest here. Take a good look at the people who advocate disarming the citizens. |
Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Cabinet minister Nicky Morgan said disability cuts were a "suggestion" Suggestions by a cabinet minister that the government may back down over cuts to disability benefit have been played down amid a growing Conservative row. Education Secretary Nicky Morgan described the plan as a "suggestion" and said it was "under consultation". But sources close to Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith said her comments don't "tally with what we and Downing Street are saying". The BBC was told Mrs Morgan didn't "seem to understand" the proposals. A number of Tory MPs have written to the chancellor urging a rethink of the £1.3bn a year cuts to spending on aids and appliances, which the government has said will affect up to 640,000 existing claimants. The Institute for Fiscal Studies has said people could lose an average of £3,500 a year. 'Declared war' The government wants to change the way the daily living component of Personal Independence Payments (PIPs) is calculated from January 2017, with a public consultation closing last week. Budget documents made clear it would save the government more than £4bn by 2020-21. Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Jeremy Corbyn: "Any of us could become disabled at any time. We're just a car accident away from a major disability. We should think about that." But ministers have faced intense criticism over the plans, with Labour and some Tory MPs threatening to derail them in the Commons. Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said Chancellor George Osborne had "declared war on the disabled" and he would be seeking to force a Commons vote as soon as possible. "The announcement made by the chancellor is a reverse of the whole trend of the past three decades, to go back to saying disabled people can't lead independent lives, can't get the support they need." He added: "Any of us could become disabled at any time. We're just a car accident away from a major disability. We should think about that." 'Concession territory' Speaking on BBC Question Time on Thursday, Ms Morgan said that the government was "continuing the conversation" to make sure money was "going to the right people to help them with the right needs". "First of all we've got to finish the consultation and the conversations that we're having with MPs, but also with disability groups and others, before we even bring any legislation forward. "It is something that has been put forward, there has been a review, there has been a suggestion, we are not ready to bring the legislation forward," she said. Fellow panel members responded with incredulity to Ms Morgan's comments, with UKIP's Roger Helmer asking: "The Budget is merely a suggestion, is it?" And sources close to Mr Duncan Smith also played down the significance of her comments. "Listening to the Education Secretary you might have assumed we are in concession territory," the source said, adding "that doesn't tally with what we and Downing Street are saying". They added: "I don't know how Nicky is explaining what she said, but she doesn't quite seem to have understood what Iain has been saying." What are the proposed changes? Recipients of PIPs are assessed using a points system to determine what level of help they receive. Claimants can get between £21.80 and £139.75 per week. The money is meant to help people cope with the extra cost of living with a disability or long-term health problem and are used to fund everything from mobility cars to adapted baths and showers. The weight given to the use of aids and appliances in two of the 10 daily living activities - dressing and managing toilet needs - will be reduced from January. It follows an independent review, commissioned by the Department for Work and Pensions, which said a "significant number of people" were likely to be getting the benefit despite having "minimal-to-no" ongoing daily living extra costs. But disability campaigners say the changes will make it harder for some disabled people to qualify for the benefit and prevent people hit by other benefit cuts from living independently. Downing Street said it would be bringing forward "legislative proposals" and, in the meantime, would continue discussions with MPs and campaigners. Asked whether the education secretary had spoken out of turn, the PM's spokesman said she was making the point there would be dialogue but insisted the government's position has not changed. There have been growing calls within the Conservative Party for a U-turn, with some MPs unhappy that the cuts are coinciding with plans to help middle and higher-earners by raising the threshold at which people pay 40% income tax to £45,000. Sarah Wollaston, the chair of the Commons health select committee, said the only changes she wanted to see to disability benefits was a "refocus on those in greatest need". She tweeted: "Govt will never meet approval for change that wld reduce entitlement to #PIP at the same time as raising higher rate tax threshold". Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Budget 2016: 'Disability budget going up' - Osborne Backbench Conservative MP David Burrowes said the proposals were a "backward step" and urged ministers to "press 'pause' on it" while Andrew Percy suggested they were more about helping the chancellor meet his self-imposed cap on overall welfare spending than reforming the benefits system. The changes will need to be approved by both the House of Commons, where the government has a majority of 12, and House of Lords, where it has no working majority. The government was forced to abandon planned cuts to tax credits last year after they were voted down in the House of Lords. An independent review of PIP in 2014 recommended major changes to the way it was delivered to improve how claimants are assessed and treated. Justin Tomlinson, minister for disabled people, has defended the changes, saying there would still be an increase in the number of people claiming PIPs and that the government would be spending more on disability benefits in 2020 than it does now. He told the BBC that although hundreds of thousands of people would be hit by the cut, many of those would not lose out completely and would still be eligible for other forms of support. "A significant chunk of that 640,000 will continue to receive the benefit," he said. |
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