text stringlengths 0 100k |
|---|
Astronomy Picture of the Day Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2014 October 9 Explanation: The Pacific Ocean and Chilean coast lie below this sea of clouds. Seen through the subtle colors of the predawn sky a lunar eclipse is in progress above, the partially eclipsed Moon growing dark. The curved edge of planet Earth's shadow still cuts across the middle of the lunar disk as the Moon sinks lower toward the western horizon. In fact, from this southern hemisphere location as well as much of eastern North America totality, the Moon completely immersed within Earth's shadow, began near the time of moonset and sunrise on October 8. From farther west the total phase could be followed for almost an hour though, the darker reddened Moon still high in the night sky. |
Karachi: Legendary Pakistan cricketer Javed Miandad has called on the PCB to boycott matches against India in ICC events. The veteran of 124 Tests, who also coached the national team thrice, said it was time Pakistan took a strong stance on cricket ties with India keeping in mind national interest and pride. "It is time we responded with bricks to stones. There is no need for us to play with India at any forum if they are not willing to restore bilateral ties. We should also boycott playing against them in all ICC events," he said. Miandad said it was useless begging India to play bilateral cricket. "I think when we don't play India in ICC events and the ICC suffers financial losses and their events lose significance and colour, only than we will be treated with respect and we will be heard on a equal level at any forum," he said. He said the international cricket community will also realise the injustice being done to Pakistan cricket by the Indians. Miandad noted that India and Pakistan were both equal members of the ICC executive board and yet the other members had not accepted that injustice is being done to Pakistan. "If the ICC board is not able to convince India to change its stance why should they expect us to play in the ICC events with India?" he asked. The former captain felt the PCB was only going to waste valuable money by taking its compensation claim to the ICC disputes resolution committee. "The same money, 100 crores rupees or more, can be pumped into our cricket infrastructure because no one will listen to us as India is very influential and strong in the ICC level. I see it as a waste of time and money," Miandad said. Miandad said the Indians had taken full advantage of Pakistan's fluid stance and the biggest mistake was to go to India in 2012 and play the short limited over series there. "We called it a good gesture but they took advantage of it and earned millions and in return we got nothing. And our failure to take a strong policy decision on ties with India has resulted in embarrassment for us many times," he said. He said country's pride and respect should be given top priority now and Pakistan must not run after India to play any series. "Boycott them in ICC events. Take a stance and see what will happen. We have nothing to lose," Miandad said. |
Nordstrom partners with Borderfree, a global e-commerce provider, to offer international shopping. Just select your shipping destination below and start shopping. You'll see all shipping fees, tariffs and taxes and get a guaranteed exchange rate during Checkout When you place an international order, your transaction will be with Borderfree, but Nordstrom is happy to handle all your customer service needs. Select a country Afghanistan Albania Algeria Andorra Angola Anguilla Antigua and Barbuda Armenia Aruba Australia Austria Azerbaijan Bahamas Bahrain Bangladesh Barbados Belarus Belgium Belize Benin Bermuda Bhutan Bolivia Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba Bosnia and Herzegovina Botswana Brazil Brunei Darussalam Bulgaria Burkina Faso Burundi Cambodia Cameroon Canada Cape Verde Cayman Islands Central African Republic Chad Chile Christmas Island Cocos (Keeling) Islands Colombia Comoros Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Republic of the Cook Islands Costa Rica Côte d'Ivoire Croatia Curaçao Cyprus Czech Republic Denmark Djibouti Dominica Dominican Republic Ecuador Egypt El Salvador Equatorial Guinea Eritrea Estonia Ethiopia Falkland Islands (Malvinas) Faroe Islands Fiji Finland France French Guiana French Polynesia Gabon Gambia Georgia Germany Ghana Gibraltar Greece Greenland Grenada Guadeloupe Guatemala Guernsey Guinea Guinea-Bissau Guyana Haiti Holy See (Vatican City State) Honduras Hong Kong Hungary Iceland India Iraq Ireland Israel Italy Jamaica Japan Jersey Jordan Kenya Kiribati Korea, Republic of Kuwait Kyrgyzstan Lao People's Democratic Republic Latvia Lesotho Liberia Libya Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg Macao Macedonia, the former Yugoslav Republic of Madagascar Malawi Malaysia Maldives Mali Malta Martinique Mauritania Mauritius Mayotte Mexico Moldova, Republic of Monaco Mongolia Montenegro Montserrat Morocco Mozambique Myanmar Namibia Nauru Nepal Netherlands New Caledonia New Zealand Nicaragua Niger Nigeria Niue Norway Oman Pakistan Palau Panama Papua New Guinea Paraguay Peru Philippines Poland Portugal Qatar Réunion Romania Rwanda Saint Barthélemy Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Lucia Saint Pierre and Miquelon Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Samoa San Marino Sao Tome and Principe Saudi Arabia Senegal Serbia Seychelles Sierra Leone Singapore Sint Maarten (Dutch part) Slovakia Slovenia Solomon Islands Somalia South Africa Spain Sri Lanka Suriname Swaziland Sweden Switzerland Taiwan Tajikistan Tanzania, United Republic of Thailand Timor-Leste Togo Tonga Trinidad and Tobago Tunisia Turks and Caicos Islands Tuvalu Uganda United Arab Emirates United Kingdom Uruguay Uzbekistan Vanuatu Virgin Islands, British Wallis and Futuna Yemen Zambia Zimbabwe Select a currency Australian Dollar (AUD) Bahamian Dollar (BSD) Bahraini Dinar (BHD) Balboa (PAB) Barbados Dollar (BBD) Belize Dollar (BZD) Boliviano (BOB) Bosnian Convertible Mark (BAM) British Pound (GBP) Bulgarian Lev (BGN) Canadian Dollar (CAD) Cayman Islands Dollar (KYD) CFA Franc BCEAO (XOF) CFA Franc BEAC (XAF) Chilean Peso (CLP) Colombian Peso (COP) Cordoba Oro (NIO) Costa Rican Colon (CRC) Croatian Kuna (HRK) Czech Koruna (CZK) Danish Krone (DKK) Dominican Peso (DOP) Egyptian Pound (EGP) Euro (EUR) Guarani (PYG) Hong Kong Dollar (HKD) Hungarian Forint (HUF) Indian Rupee (INR) Indonesian Rupiah (IDR) Israeli Shekel (ILS) Jamaican Dollar (JMD) Japanese Yen (JPY) Jordanian Dinar (JOD) Korean Won (KRW) Kuwaiti Dinar (KWD) Lempira (HNL) Lilangeni (SZL) Malayan Ringgit (MYR) Mexican Peso (MXN) Moroccan Dirham (MAD) Namibia Dollar (NAD) Nepalese Rupee (NPR) New Romanian Leu (RON) New Zealand Dollar (NZD) Norwegian Krone (NOK) Omani Rial (OMR) Pakistan Rupee (PKR) Peruvian Nuevo Sol (PEN) Philippine Peso (PHP) Polish Zloty (PLN) Qatari Riyal (QAR) Quetzal (GTQ) Riel (KHR) Rufiyaa (MVR) Saudi Riyal (SAR) Singapore Dollar (SGD) South African Rand (ZAR) Sri Lanka Rupee (LKR) Swedish Krona (SEK) Swiss Franc (CHF) Taiwan Dollar (TWD) Taka (BDT) Thai Baht (THB) Ukraine Hryvnia (UAH) United Arab Emirates Dirham (AED) Uruguay New Peso (UYU) US Dollar (USD) Yuan Renminbi (CNY) or Please note, Nordstrom Rewards members won't receive free shipping benefits or multiple bonus points for orders shipped internationally. You may not use your Nordstrom retail or debit card, Nordstrom Gift Cards or Nordstrom Notes to pay for orders shipped internationally. Shipping to an APO/FPO address? Please proceed with U.S. shipping. Shipping to Canada? Get flat-rate, CAD 9.95 Standard Shipping or CAD 25 Express Shipping on orders over CAD 100. International orders aren't eligible for free shipping or free returns. Learn more about International Shopping. |
While Boeing's Dreamliner can't seem to stop blowing batteries, there's a new breed of light aircraft emerging that hope to use them rather than jet fuel. This e-plane, dubbed the Long-EZ, aims to be the fastest of them all. Advertisement Developed by Chip Yates, the electric Long-EZ is based on the Rutan Long-EZ, a homebuilt aricraft designed and sold by by Burt Rutan's Rutan Aircraft Factory since 1976. There are roughly 700 such aircraft currently registered with the FAA. The Long-EZ is nearly 17 feet long and almost 8 feet high with a wingspan of just over 26 feet. There's enough room in the cockpit for a pilot and single passenger. Conventionally powered models use a 115 HP Lycoming O-235 air-cooled flat-four engine, reach speeds of 185 MPH and can cruise at 144 MPH for about 2,000 miles on 52 gallons of fuel. Advertisement Yates' Long-EZ however, forgoes the flat four and gas tank (and back seat) for an 450V, 600 amp (285 HP) EnerDel battery with a custom software suite controlling the electrical system. This is a new, twice-as-powerful version of the battery he used last July to hit 202 MPH, breaking the previous eplane speed record of 175 MPH set by the Cri-Cri. The old battery kind of catastrophically failed as he set the record so hopes are high for the new system, and initial test flights with the new power pack have gone well. Yates has reportedly hit 175 MPH at just 41 percent throttle ahead of next month's official record-setting attempt. [Wired 1,2 - Wikipedia] |
• United defender urges team to focus on their own game • Injuries could mean another defensive re-shuffle for United Patrice Evra insists Manchester United have learned their lesson and plan to ignore what Manchester City get up to this season. United's 2-1 win over Liverpool on Sunday briefly took them 10 points ahead of City, who responded by beating Arsenal at the Emirates to close the gap back down to seven. That means it is less than the eight points City hunted down in the space of four matches at the end of last season to secure their first title since 1968 and deprive United of their 20th. Yet the feeling at Old Trafford remains that the wound was self-inflicted, caused by too much attention being wasted on what was happening down the road. And this time, with a squad Evra believes is stronger following the arrival of the 21-goal Robin van Persie, the France full-back is confident that Manchester United will avoid a similar calamity. "This year we are focusing more on ourselves whereas last year we were more worried about City," Evra said. "There was too much focus on what they were going to do in their next game. But this year it's about us. By having a good season, we will become the champions. "We finished last season with the same number of points as the champions and it is obvious we are stronger than last year given the addition of players like Van Persie and Shinji Kagawa." With 55 points from their first 22 games, United have created a Premier League record, failing to win only four games. Since their defeat at Norwich on 17 November, they have won nine out of 10 games, drawing the other one. Crucially, Van Persie has made a goalscoring contribution on nine occasions, underlining why the Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini is not alone in believing the Dutchman will be the difference at the top this season. Not that he is the only goal threat from the Old Trafford outfit. Depending on how United's second is viewed, Sir Alex Ferguson's squad either have 18 goalscorers in their midst, with Nemanja Vidic the latest addition, or Evra has five, not bad given he only scored three times in his first six and a half years. "He [Vidic] said it's my goal but I don't know," said Evra. "Maybe if it was a striker, they would give the goal to [Wayne] Rooney or Van Persie. But maybe because it's Evra they will not give the goal to me." Such arguments are side issues now, with United sizing up a trip to Tottenham on Sunday knowing they must navigate an FA Cup third-round replay with West Ham on a decidedly dodgy Old Trafford pitch on Wednesday first. Vidic's exit after taking a smack on the head will probably rule him out, while Ashley Young seems certain to spend an extended amount of time on the sidelines after coming off worst in a crunching first-half duel with Daniel Agger. Ferguson says Nani is ready to make his return from hamstring trouble should Young need to be replaced. However, unless Johnny Evans shrugs off the hamstring injury that kept him out on Sunday, Chris Smalling and Phil Jones are likely to become the 12th different central defensive partnership Ferguson has used this season. Not that Rio Ferdinand – who has not scored for almost five years – believes such upheavals are a major inconvenience anyway. "It doesn't bother me who I play with and that speaks volumes for the squad," he said. "That is the most important thing. It is great to have players of Vidic's quality back because he is top drawer. We know each other's game inside out and it has been like that for a long time. But when the manager can't call upon him, or anyone else, he can have 100% faith in their replacements. "Jonny Evans has done fantastically well when Vidic has been out. Chris Smalling has done well when he has come in and so has Phil Jones. That is more important than any individual." |
One person is dead and another was injured in a shooting at Don's Guns on the Indianapolis northwest side Monday afternoon. Brian Layner, 26, of Indianapolis, was killed after police say he began shooting at a clerk. The clerk was injured. Indianapolis Metro Police officers were called to the scene at around 12:20 pm at the corner of Lafayette Road and 38th Street. When officers arrived, they confirmed that two people had been shot inside the store. "You know he was shooting a hell of a gun back there," said Debra Samples, gun shop customer. Samples and her husband Gillace says her forgetfulness may have saved their lives Monday afternoon. They left Don's Guns at 38th and Lafayette to get her ID at home moments before another customer they clearly remember opened fire inside. "I seen him come out. I guess that is when he was getting ammunition because we were paying attention, and he looked like a normal guy. Nothing was wrong," said Samples. Metro officers arrived to find gun shop employee Ben Chance suffering from a gunshot wound in the chest area. Police say Chance returned fire, killing the customer who was later identified as Brian Layner. Owner Don Davis showed police the shooting play by play from his security camera video. The customer had just fired three boxes of ammunition in the shooting range. "My guy goes up to collect from him and he shoots my guy twice - bang, bang - and my guy immediately killed him," said Davis. Davis says the shooting suspect parked a black Chevy Camaro out front. It's a rental car that Davis said he has seen parked there before. Davis says his business is automatically high risk because its impossible to evaluate every customer. "How in the hell do we know who's in their right mind today? This crap happens. It just happened at one of our embassies," said Davis. After a seriously close call, Debra Samples says she still plans to buy a gun to help her be prepared for the unexpected. "The guys are packing so I can see where they can get him quick," she said. IMPD is asking anyone with information about this case to contact Homicide at 317-327-3475 or call Crime Stoppers at 317-262-TIPS (8477). Callers can also txt "INDYCS" plus tip information to 274627. |
A St. Paul man claims his city’s police department has wrongly refused to return his firearm after seizing it during a traffic stop two years ago. When Jared Sande was pulled over by St. Paul police in July 2015, he informed the officers that he had a .40-caliber handgun in the door of his vehicle, according to a civil complaint filed Monday in federal court. Sande had a valid permit to carry, the complaint said. After finding a small amount of marijuana and a digital scale during a search of the vehicle, the officers arrested Sande and his passenger, and confiscated Sande’s gun, according to the complaint. Sande’s passenger admitted the marijuana and the scale were his and Sande was soon released without charge, the complaint said. But the police kept his gun. In the intervening two years, Sande has submitted several requests to have his gun returned, but all have been denied, according to the complaint. Most recently, he received a letter from the St. Paul Police Department on Aug. 22, saying Ramsey County’s evidence retention policy requires that the gun be sent to the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension for ballistic testing and then be held by the police department until July 2018. Sande’s lawsuit, which names St. Paul Police Chief Todd Axtell as defendant, claims this constitutes a violation of Sande’s Fourth Amendment protection against unlawful search and seizure and his Fifth Amendment right to due process. Sande is seeking unspecified damages and injunctions against the St. Paul Police Department “barring the retention of firearms that are no longer being held as evidence” without a hearing and “barring the warrantless search of firearms that are not part of an ongoing criminal investigation.” The lawsuit also seeks class action status. The police department does not comment on pending litigation, said Sgt. Mike Ernster, a St. Paul police spokesman, on Tuesday. |
James O’Keefe’s Project Veritas released a new video Wednesday that it says shows a CNN associate producer, who was featured in a previous video allegedly calling American voters “stupid as shit,” doubling down on those remarks. In the new video, he is seen telling undercover reporters, “I don’t think I said anything wrong.” It is not clear to which remarks he is referring. Associate Producer Jimmy Carr, who apparently works on CNN’s morning show New Day, was allegedly caught in a video released last week mocking President Trump as a “clown” who is crazy — views he claims are shared by the majority of CNN employees. “On the inside, we all recognize he is a clown, that he is hilariously unqualified for this, he’s really bad at this, and that he does not have America’s best interests … We recognize he’s just fucking crazy,” Carr states in the video. He added: “90% of us are on board with just the fact that he’s crazy.” The Project Veritas undercover journalist later asked, “Would it be fair to question the intellect of the American voter?” Carr responded, “Oh, no. They’re stupid as shit,” before later describing White House adviser Kellyanne Conway as someone who “looks like she got hit with a shovel.” In the new video, filmed after some of Project Veritas’s “American Pravda” series was released but before Carr’s prior remarks were published, Carr says he had “a moment of panic” when the other videos of other employees were released. The first revealed CNN Producer John Bonifield disparaging the network’s running story on purported collusion between Russia and the Trump campaign as “mostly bullshit.” The second video appears to show left-wing CNN commentator Van Jones calling the Russia controversy a “nothing burger.” In Part 3, O’Keefe claimed in a tweet that CNN CEO Jeff Zucker refused to respond to his questions about CNN’s coverage of the Russia story. In this video Carr talks about his reaction: “And it came out and we’re all going ‘holy shit, how is this guy [John Bonifield] so stupid, he’s talking to everyone and telling… saying X, Y, and Z about CNN.’ Then I went… ‘Well, I talked to a couple of guys at a bar on Friday afternoon and I said things that we wouldn’t normally say,’” he says. “I mean granted, anything I’ve said to you I would defend on the record. I don’t think I’ve said anything wrong,’ he adds. The latest video comes as CNN struggles to keep its head above water amid a number of scandals rocking the company, including a fake news story it was later forced to retract, and controversy after it tracked down the creator of a meme that President Trump later tweeted. Adam Shaw is a politics reporter for Breitbart News based in New York. Follow Adam on Twitter: @AdamShawNY |
Hello everyone! Suwabe (@gsc_suwabe) from the Corporate Planning Division here! Today I’m going to be taking a look at Phat’s… 1/5th Scale Aty! “My name is Aty, a teacher. A pleasure to meet you.” From the fantasy simulation RPG “Summon Night 3” comes a scale figure of the main female character, Aty! The figure is based on the promotional illustration that was drawn to celebrate the announcement of the PSP version of the game, and has been sculpted in 1/5th scale allowing for amazing details and careful attention to the textures to really make the figure stand out in any collection! The glasses she is wearing in the original illustration are also included but can be attached and removed as you wish, allowing you to choose how you prefer to display her! Manufacturer: Phat! Category: 1/5th Scale Release Date: 2017/10 Price: ¥15,000 (Before Tax) Sculptor: Yasuhiro Uchijima Paintwork: Arakuma Product Page: Aty The lovely Aty-sensei has been transformed into an impressive 1/5th scale figure!! Most figures are normally around 1/7th scale or 1/8th scale, so this figure of Aty is probably a lot larger than you might be thinking! The larger size allows for more intricate details on the face and helps to provide a nice dynamic feeling to the outfit! Plus the barrel base has also had a nice amount of attention given to it! ヾ(o´∀｀o)ﾉ Just look at those gentle eyes and smile!! ♡ As you may have read in the product description, the glasses can be removed allowing for a slightly different appearance as well! (*´ω`*) Even though I was told the glasses could be removed, I ended up returning the figure without ever taking them off for a photo, so I just stole the above photo from the product page! (ΦωΦ) But I still took lots of photos that capture the impressive 1/5th scale details and the lovely curves that come with it!! (*´ω`*) ▲ The creases in her white jacket and boots as well as the tight feeling of the turtleneck one-piece all come together so nicely! I think turtlenecks are quite a rare sight in the figure world, but I for one am very glad that Aty is wearing it on this figure!! A look from the the other side! 👍 Quite a daring angle, but you can’t quite see underneath the short one-piece! You’ll have to wait until she joins your collection for that! Somehow from this angle Aty-sensei seems more defenseless – particularly around the legs! It’s nice to get these different feelings for a figure from different angles. ▼A look from the back! ▲ From the back you can see how her hair is parted down the middle as it flows off to the sides. The details put into the shadows of the long hair really make it look stunning! The flow of the white material around her is also just as stunning, and really brings the figure to life! (*´▽｀*) ▲I personally love boots that tie-up all along like this, but perhaps more amazing than the ties are the realistic creases along the boots! They look like rather thick boots based on the design, but thanks to the creases you can get a good feeling as to where the actual feet and legs are within the boots! It makes me so happy just looking at them!! ヾ(o´∀｀o)ﾉ ▲The details on the belt and other accessories is also wonderful! You can clearly see the contrast between the leather areas and the golden buckle! Onto my favorite shot for today! I tried not to focus too much on the bare skin… but just look at those lovely thighs!! Plus the gap that forms between the boots and the legs… I just want to dive inside!! Enjoy the company of the gentle teacher by your side! ♪ Phat! Company’s Aty! She is currently up for preorder! ♡ Preorders close on the 27th April 2017 at 12:00JST! Product Page: Aty (*´▽｀*).｡oO（ There is some special charm that people have as a teacher! Sensei…） Suwabe / twitterID：＠gsc_suwabe English Updates: @gsc_kevin |
Bye-bye Berto; Bulls planning to leave suburbs hello There is no timetable established, but the Bulls intend to relocate their practice facility to downtown Chicago. The Bulls have practices at the Berto Center in Deerfield for 20 years. Associated Press/2011 file Chicago Bulls officials today announced a commitment to move their suburban practice facility to downtown Chicago. The team has practiced at the Sheri L. Berto Center in Deerfield since 1992. During recent conversations, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel pitched Bulls chairman Jerry Reinsdorf on the idea to relocate the team's practice facility to a downtown Chicago location. "Mayor Emanuel has done a tremendous job promoting investment in the city of Chicago," Reinsdorf said in a statement. "The mayor stressed that the Bulls brand is important to the city, nationally and internationally, and that the Bulls represent the spirit and competitive grit of Chicago. He thought centralizing our team assets inside the city limits would be a show of our ongoing commitment to Chicago. We have been contemplating how to address the growth limitations of our practice facility for awhile, so the mayor's timing and ours seems to make sense." The team is in the process of exploring a variety of site locations throughout the city. A specific timetable has not yet been established for the project, which will be privately funded. "We have been happy at the Berto for many years," Bulls president and COO Michael Reinsdorf said. "However, for us, the time is right for a move from both a basketball and a business standpoint. Our basketball operations group has been incredibly resourceful, but there is no longer space available to grow where we are now. And, strategically, we are taking a more integrated approach to our business, and decreasing the physical distance between our two main facilities will naturally create more opportunities for collaboration among all departments." The team's current facility, the Berto Center, has hosted the majority of team practices, gameday shootarounds and summer workouts for the last 20 years. The building is also the home of the Bulls' coaching and basketball operations staff offices. A new facility could include additional features that would allow the team to expand its use of the building, particularly during non-practice times. Some ideas under consideration include event and educational space, and greater digital and video production capabilities. Another potential benefit of a practice facility located downtown would be reduced commute time for the players on game days. The Berto Center is located about 25 miles north of the United Center, and currently on game days the players have to commute from the Berto to the United Center following mandatory shootarounds. The team intends to sell its current practice facility. |
Not so long ago, the idea of most people owning a robot seemed far-fetched. But today, not only can consumers buy robots, they can do so relatively cheaply. The world of consumer robotics is finally beginning to merge with the world of everyday people, and some products really stand out. But in this growing and cutting-edge field, what makes a robot commercially successful? TechNewsDaily spoke with two creators of successful consumer robots to find out how they make their products click with the masses. Ian Bernstein, co-founder and CTO at Orbotix, believes the secret to success is simplicity. "[The robot] has to be really simple, because if it’s too complicated, people won’t use it," Bernstein said. He and his team are responsible for Sphero, a simple robotic sphere with a range of capabilities. But that simplicity didn’t come easy, said Bernstein. "We were constantly improving to make things intuitive and simplify things. It was so hard to get this thing to work. It was crazy." In addition to the complicated challenge of making a straightforward robot, Bernstein wanted to produce an affordable product, one that would be accessible to a wide audience. Over the last few years, the Orbotix team made that goal a reality. Users can control Sphero by remote, using an iPhone or Android. But the robot can also function as an onscreen controller to replace traditional gaming controllers, tabletop and multiplayer games and, most recently, augmented reality games. The ball, which two years ago was simply a concept, became hugely popular, and is now available for $129 at retailers like Brookstone, Apple and Target. And the Orbotix team has no intention of slowing down. With more and more apps on the way, Bernstein and his group are excited about the future of Sphero, and for new Orbotix creations. "I think Sphero is a good introduction to gaming robots, and as people get more comfortable with that idea, we can begin to do more complicated things," said Bernstein. "In fifteen years, we want to be the company building one-and-a-half foot robots that you buy at Target and battle while you’re jumping around your living room." But the current world of consumer robots isn’t limited to entertainment. Jasen Wang, the founder of MakeBlock, believes that the ability to create is an essential piece of the consumer robotics market. His product, what he calls "Legos for adults," allows consumers to buy parts and build robots for themselves. "Most people are creative people," said Wang, "and they have ideas, so now, if they want to, they have the opportunity to realize those ideas." Like, Bernstein, Wang wanted to create an intuitive product. “Before, if you wanted to produce something, it was very hard on the mechanics side. Our goal is make it easy for people to build robots." Image courtesy of Flickr, randychiu This article originally published at TechNewsDaily here |
The laptop of a French citizen arrested in Belgium has been found to contain pictures of Brussels Zaventem Airport taken before the terrorist attacks there in March, local media revealed. The man, identified as Omar B, 24, a resident of the Val-de-Marne deportment in central France, was arrested in Brussels Zaventem Airport on Wednesday, French TV channel M6 Info reports. The suspect was wearing an electronic bracelet, apparently because he was on the “Fiche S” list, an indicator used by France to flag those considered to be a threat to national security. Those on the list are not arrested, but are thoroughly monitored by the authorities. Read more Omar B, who has been using the alias ‘Scarface’, was reportedly distantly connected to those who attacked Paris back in November 2015. He was also convicted of a number of petty crimes, according to M6 info. Initially he was arrested for violation of his supervision conditions, which prohibited him to leave the country. He was reportedly using false documents that belonged to his brother and said that he was a tourist. As the Belgian authorities analyzed his laptop, they found photos of Brussels Zaventem Airport taken before the attacks in March, M6 Info revealed Friday. Paris was immediately informed, and the French authorities will now decide if they will prosecute the man for the violation of his supervision conditions or for terrorist acts. Brussels has been on high alert since twin suicide bombings hit Zaventem Airport and Maelbeek metro station on March 22. The attack killed 32 people and injured dozens more. The station is near the buildings of the EU Commission and the Council of the European Union, as well as NATO’s headquarters. Numerous raids have been conducted in the mainly Muslim Molenbeek area of Brussels, which is often referred to as an “Islamist hotspot.” Many of the suspects involved in the Paris attacks grew up and lived in Molenbeek, including terrorist mastermind Abdelhamid Abaaoud, the Abdeslam brothers, and Mohamed Abrini – who was also involved in the Brussels attacks. |
CyanogenMod Compiler Now Builds CM with a GUI XDA Recognized Developer lithid-cm has dropped a bombshell on CM users and kangers everywhere with the release of the newest CyanogenMod Compiler, or ‘CMC.’ Similar to what we wrote about a little over a year ago, this release helps users build CyanogenMod from source. However, the first-party CMC differs from other alternatives by offering a GUI for compiling customized CyanogenMod builds for any supported device. This impressive piece of software runs on Ubuntu. The new GUI allows users to select a device, a branch to build, a theme to incorporate, languages, and a host of other settings. This makes it easy for anyone to build the latest CyanogenMod firmware from source, and that’s pretty awesome. The original command line version is still available, for users who prefer that method. If you’d like to check it out and have a working Debian/Ubuntu installation, check out the release thread. The project is open source, and links to the code are provided in the original post. As always, it should be noted that flashing a ROM should only be attempted if you know what you are doing and have backed up your device. Don’t forget to thank lithid-cm for all the hard work it took to build these utilities, and most of all for sharing the source with the community! |
Col. Morris Davis, former chief prosecutor for the Guantanamo military commissions, settled a freedom of speech lawsuit [press release] on Tuesday against the Library of Congress after Davis was terminated from his position as assistant director of the Congressional Research Service due to his criticism of the Obama administration’s decision to resume use of the military commissions system. Davis was terminated after he wrote an op-ed letter to the editor in his capacity as a civilian, which was published by the Wall Street Journal and the Washington Post. The case, Davis v. Billington [case materials] was filed in 2010 [complaint, PDF] in the District Court for the District of Columbia and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) [advocacy website] and Goodwin Procter LLP [official website] represented Davis. Davis has been a longtime critic of the national security policies of Presidents Obama and George W. Bush. In 2011 Davis wrote an opinion piece [JURIST op-ed] claiming that the CIA’s killing of Anwar al-Awlaki violated the law of war. Davis drew attention to the alleged iniquities of the military commissions system in 2007, when he penned a noted op-ed [text] for the New York Times about his experience as chief prosecutor. Later that year Davis publicly said that he was pressured to use classified evidence against defendants while serving as chief prosecutor at Guantanamo and that such trials were become overly politicized [JURIST reports]. He further claimed that the push to use classified evidence stemmed from certain military officials’ desire to keep the trials closed and complained that Brig. Gen. Thomas Hartmann [official profile], legal adviser to the Convening Authority for the trials, should not have been supervising his work. The issue played a role in his resignation [JURIST report]. |
14.6k SHARES Facebook Twitter Google Whatsapp Pinterest Print Mail Flipboard A new poll shows that Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton are statistically tied in deep red South Carolina as Trump’s two-point lead is within the poll’s margin of error. According to PPP: PPP’s newest South Carolina poll* finds that the state is trending toward being competitive in the Presidential race this year, just like in neighboring Georgia. Donald Trump has only a 2 point lead with 41% to 39% for Hillary Clinton, 5% for Gary Johnson, and 2% for Jill Stein. The closeness is a function of Democrats being a lot happier with their party’s candidate than Republicans are with theirs. Clinton is winning 84% of the Democratic vote, compared to Trump’s 77% of the Republican vote. Although neither candidate is well liked by voters in the state Trump’s favorability, at 38% positive and 56% negative, comes in slightly worse than Clinton’s at 38/55. …. Trump is only ahead because of a massive advantage among seniors in the state at 58/30. When you look at everyone in the electorate below the age of 65, Clinton leads Trump 41/36. That suggests the potential for the Palmetto State to become much more of a battleground in the years ahead, just as in migration and the increasing diversity of the electorate has done in Southern states like Virginia and North Carolina. South Carolina voters overwhelmingly support increasing background checks (84%) support, 84% also support not allowing people who are on the terror watch list from buying guns, and 77% support increasing the minimum wage to at least $10/hour. The poll was sponsored by the South Carolina Democratic Party, but not conducted by the Democratic Party. The same demographic shifts that are being caused by inward migration and demographic diversity in North Carolina and Virginia are also occurring in South Carolina. What the South Carolina poll highlights is the narrow base of support that Republican nominee Donald Trump is clinging on to. Trump’s bedrock of support is with conservative white senior voters. For all of his talk of expanding the GOP, Trump is shrinking the Republican Party down to its whitest and most loyal core. South Carolina joins Georgia, Arizona, and Utah as red states that Republicans are in danger of seeing flip to Hillary Clinton in November. If Trump loses South Carolina to Clinton, it will signal a landslide of historic levels. Should red states begin to fall to Clinton on Election Night, Republicans will lose their bid for the White House, control of the Senate, and could even lose their House majority. As bad as Republicans thought things were under Trump, the South Carolina poll suggests that the situation could be worse than anyone imagined. If you’re ready to read more from the unbossed and unbought Politicus team, sign up for our newsletter here! Email address: Leave this field empty if you're human: |
The tracks, which are each about four centimetres long, were left by reptiles living 500 kilometres from the nearest seashore. ((Courtesy of University of Bristol)) An accidental discovery along the eroding Bay of Fundy shoreline in New Brunswick is giving scientists insight into the evolution of life on earth. Scientists have discovered 318 million-year-old reptile footprints in rock slabs that have broken free of the sea cliffs, and say they show reptiles were the first vertebrates — animals with a backbone — to move inland away from the swampy coasts. The footprints were discovered by Howard Falcon-Lang of Royal Holloway, University of London during a trek along the coast near St. Martins, N.B., in August 2008. However, the results of his study — conducted along with Mike Benton at the University of Bristol and Canadian colleagues — are only being published Friday in the journal Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology after undergoing peer review. "It's a very significant event in the history of life," Falcon-Lang said in an interview. "About 400 million years ago, animals with backbones started to come on land, but these were frog-like creatures. And amphibians such as frogs have to return to the water in order to breed. They lay soft eggs that very easily dry out." But Falcon-Lang said when the reptiles came along, they laid eggs with hard shells that they could lay on land, and could therefore start moving away from the shore. Environment like central Australia "What we found in New Brunswick is evidence of early reptiles living around a water hole in a very dry environment," he said. 'These are quite remarkable,' said Randy Miller, provincial paleontologist at the New Brunswick Museum. 'It's not just one set of footprints. The slabs are covered with footprints.' ((Courtesy of University of Bristol)) "It's a bit like environments that you might find in central Australia today." At that time, all the continents were joined together in a single continent called Pangaea. He said the tracks were left by reptiles living 500 kilometres from the nearest seashore. "It's a bit like the story of the American pioneers setting westward to seek fame and fortune," said Falcon-Lang. "These early reptiles were moving into the continental interiors, exploiting environments where animal life had not been before." Randy Miller, the provincial paleontologist at the New Brunswick Museum in Saint John, was with Falcon-Lang when the tracks were discovered. 'Covered with footprints' "These are quite remarkable," he said Thursday. "It's not just one set of footprints. The slabs are covered with footprints." Miller said he actually had his back to the slab and was examining plant fossils when the footprints were discovered. Falcon-Lang said he was looking for something else, and only discovered the prints after he tripped and fell, scraping his knee. "I still have the scars to prove it," he said. The footprints are quite small — only about four centimetres long. Falcon-Lang said the reptile that made them would have been about 20 centimetres long and resembled a gecko. He said it is probably an early reptile called Hylonomus. Fossil skeletons have been found in adjacent Nova Scotia. "It's a very key step in evolutionary history, because these tiny, small, scampering gecko-like reptiles were the ancestors of dinosaurs and they were the ancestors of you and me," he said. 'Foundations for everything to come later' "They were actually laying the foundations for everything to come later in the history of life on land." At the time, the area now known as New Brunswick was along the equator and had a tropical ecosystem. It's believed the footprints were made in sticky mud near a water hole shortly before a torrential rainfall. Even the marks left by the large raindrops have been preserved. Falcon-Lang said it's like looking at a snapshot taken 318 million years ago. "It really is that extraordinary," he said. "You're capturing an event that probably just took a few minutes." Miller has made latex copies of the slab and pieces of the actual rock have been removed for safe-keeping at the museum in Saint John. |
Retirement Announcement by Yurika Endo as Mitsugi Gero from the project “Onsen Musume”. On 17th (Sunday), there was an announcement of retirement from Yurika Endo as Mitsugi Gero from the project “Onsen Musume”. The official release below. To all fans Thank you for always supporting Onsen Musume. There was an announcement that Yurika Endo will retire from the office of Yurika Endo who plays the role of Mitsugi Gero by the end of May 2018. Role of Mitsugi Gero – Yurika Endo ‘s Onsen Musume / SPRiNGS activities will be the last stage to be held on Sunday, December 24th (Sunday) this weekend. From the time of the project announcement, we were very excited about Onsen Musume / SPRiNGS, so it is a very lonely feeling, but we wish for the success of the remaining period. It would be greatly appreciated if everyone who participates in the second live will be able to give a warm cheer to Yurika Endo by all means. Above, thank you. Producer Ryu Hashimoto Onsen Musume Official site：https://onsen-musume.jp |
Battling food shortages, the government is rolling out a new ID system that is either a grocery loyalty card with extra muscle or the most dramatic step yet toward rationing in Venezuela, depending on who is describing it. President Nicolas Maduro’s administration says the cards to track families’ purchases will foil people who stock up on groceries at subsidized prices and then illegally resell them for several times the amount. Critics say it’s another sign the oil-rich Venezuelan economy is headed toward Cuba-style dysfunction. Registration began Tuesday at more than 100 government-run supermarkets across the country. Working-class shoppers who sometimes endure hours-long lines at government-run stores to buy groceries at steeply reduced prices are welcoming the plan. “The rich people have things all hoarded away, and they pull the strings,” said Juan Rodriguez, who waited two hours to enter the government-run Abastos Bicentenario supermarket near downtown Caracas on Monday, and then waited another three hours to check out. Rigid currency controls and a shortage of U.S. dollars make it increasingly difficult for Venezuelans to find imported basic products like milk, flour, toilet paper and cooking oil. Price controls don’t help either, with producers complaining that some goods are priced too low to make a profit and justify production. As of January, more than a quarter of basic staples were out of stock in Venezuelan stores, according to the central bank’s scarcity index. The shortages are among the problems cited by Maduro’s opponents who have been staging protests since mid-February. Checkout workers at Abastos Bicentenario were taking down customers’ cellphone numbers Monday, to ensure they couldn’t return for eight days. Shoppers said employees also banned purchases by minors, to stop parents from using their children to engage in hoarding, which the government calls “nervous buying.” Rodriguez supports both measures. “People who go shopping every day hurt us all,” he said, drawing approving nods from the friends he made over the course of his afternoon slowly snaking through the aisles with his oversized cart. Reflecting Maduro’s increasingly militarized discourse against opponents he accuses of waging “economic war,” the government is calling the new program the “system of secure supply.” Patrons will register with their fingerprints, and the new ID card will be linked to a computer system that monitors purchases. On Tuesday, Food Minister Felix Osorio said the process was off to a smooth start. He says the system will sound an alarm when it detects suspicious purchasing patterns, barring people from buying the same goods every day. But he also says the cards will be voluntary, with incentives like discounts and entry into raffles for homes and cars. Expressionless men with rifles patrolled the warehouse-size supermarket Monday as shoppers hurried by, focusing on grabbing meat and pantry items before they were gone. Long shelves that should have been heaped with rice and coffee instead displayed six brands of ketchup. There was plenty of frozen beef selling for 22.64 bolivars a kilogram — $3.59 at the official exchange rate, or 32 cents at the black market rate increasingly used in pricing goods. A local consumer watchdog, the National User and Consumer Alliance, invokes the specter of Cuba’s struggling economy and calls the ID program rationing by another name. It predicts all Venezuelans without cards will soon be barred from shopping at state supermarkets. After five decades of rationing basic goods for Cubans, President Raul Castro’s communist government is phasing out subsidized foodstuffs as it opens the island’s economy to private enterprise. Cubans most dependent on the rationed goods say that in recent years their monthly quotas provided only enough food for a couple of weeks. Until now, Venezuela’s restrictions on purchases have been toughest in its cities on the border with Colombia. Venezuelans can make a killing by buying goods at below-market prices and smuggling them into Colombia for sale at much higher prices. Defenders of Venezuela’s socialist government say price controls imposed by the late President Hugo Chavez help poor people lead more dignified lives, and the United Nations has recognized Venezuela’s success in eradicating hunger. Complaints aren’t heard in the long lines at government supermarkets. One young mother shielded her eyes against the afternoon sun as she approached a cashier with sugar, flour and Frosted Flakes cereal. She arrived at 10 a.m., but didn’t blame the government or its opponents for the long wait. “I don’t know if it’s worth it, but when my children are crying what else can you do,” said the woman, who declined to provide her name as an armed National Guardsmen watched her at the checkout line. She planned another five-hour run to another supermarket Tuesday to get everything out of stock at the downtown store. |
President Trump Donald John TrumpREAD: Cohen testimony alleges Trump knew Stone talked with WikiLeaks about DNC emails Trump urges North Korea to denuclearize ahead of summit Venezuela's Maduro says he fears 'bad' people around Trump MORE on Sunday suggested that it is no coincidence that news surrounding the special counsel's investigation into Russian election interference has emerged at the same time that Republicans are pushing tax reform on Capitol Hill. "All of this 'Russia' talk right when the Republicans are making their big push for historic Tax Cuts & Reform," Trump wrote on Twitter. "Is this coincidental? NOT!" All of this "Russia" talk right when the Republicans are making their big push for historic Tax Cuts & Reform. Is this coincidental? NOT! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 29, 2017 ADVERTISEMENT Trump's comment comes two days after reports surfaced that a grand jury approved the first charges in special counsel Robert Mueller Robert Swan MuellerSasse: US should applaud choice of Mueller to lead Russia probe MORE's investigation into Russia's role in the 2016 election. The indictment is currently sealed and it's not clear who the charges target, or what they include, though they could be unsealed as early as Monday, according to multiple reports. House Republicans are expected to unveil their tax-reform legislation on Wednesday. Trump and congressional Republicans are pushing to pass a series of tax cuts by the end of the year. Trump has long decried the special counsel's investigation as a "political witch hunt" propagated by the Democrats as an excuse for losing the election. The U.S. intelligence community concluded in a report made public in January that Russia sought to meddle in the election and sway the contest in Trump's favor. |
Chick-fil-A Menu and Prices Rating: 4.6 517 Votes Cuisine: Sandwiches Chicken About Chick-fil-A: Chick-fil-A is an American fast food restaurant chain founded in 1946. The company features chicken sandwiches. The favorites include Spicy Chicken Deluxe and Grilled Chicken Sandwich. Other favorites include trays, desserts, wraps and salads. Below is a list of the latest Chick-fil-A prices that includes individual items, sides, and combo meals. Just scroll down and you can see the rest of the menu and prices yourself! Chick-fil-A Menu Meals Combo Includes Medium Tea or Soft Drink & Choice of Medium Classic Side Chick-fil-A Chicken Sandwich $3.05 Chick-fil-A Chicken Sandwich - Combo $5.95 Chick-fil-A Chicken Deluxe Sandwich $3.65 Chick-fil-A Chicken Deluxe Sandwich - Combo $6.55 Spicy Chicken Sandwich $3.29 Spicy Chicken Sandwich - Combo $6.19 Spicy Chicken Deluxe Sandwich $3.89 Spicy Chicken Deluxe Sandwich - Combo $6.79 Chick-fil-A Nuggets $3.05 8 Pc. Chick-fil-A Nuggets $4.45 12 Pc. Chick-fil-A Nuggets - Combo $5.95 8 Pc. Chick-fil-A Nuggets - Combo $8.59 12 Pc. Chick-fil-A Nuggets (Grilled) $3.85 8 Pc. Chick-fil-A Nuggets (Grilled) $5.75 12 Pc. Chick-fil-A Nuggets (Grilled) - Combo $6.75 8 Pc. Chick-fil-A Nuggets (Grilled) - Combo $8.59 12 Pc. Chick-n-Strips $3.35 3 Pc. Chick-n-Strips $4.39 4 Pc. Chick-n-Strips - Combo $6.25 3 Pc. Chick-n-Strips - Combo $7.25 4 Pc. Grilled Chicken Sandwich $4.39 Grilled Chicken Sandwich - Combo $7.19 Grilled Chicken Club Sandwich $5.59 Grilled Chicken Club Sandwich - Combo $8.39 Chicken Salad Sandwich $3.99 Chicken Salad Sandwich - Combo $6.79 Grilled Chicken Cool Wrap $5.19 Grilled Chicken Cool Wrap - Combo $8.15 Soup & Salad (Large Chicken Soup and Side Salad) $8.35 Chilled Grilled Chicken Sub Sandwich (Limited Time) $4.79 Substitute Medium Premium Side $1.00 Upsize Fries & Drink $0.46 Classic Sides Waffle Potato Fries $1.55 Small Waffle Potato Fries $1.65 Medium Waffle Potato Fries $1.85 Large Baked Potato with Butter $1.65 Premium Sides Yogurt Parfait $2.45 Fruit Cup $2.05 Small Fruit Cup $2.75 Medium Fruit Cup $4.25 Large Side Salad $2.89 Chicken Soup $2.65 Medium Chicken Soup $4.35 Large Chicken Tortilla Soup (Limited Time) $3.75 Medium Chicken Tortilla Soup (Limited Time) $6.05 Large Superfood Salad (Limited Time) $2.89 Medium Superfood Salad (Limited Time) $3.89 Large Chicken Salad Cup $3.19 Medium Chicken Salad Cup $5.15 Large Loaded Baked Potato (Limited Time) $2.65 Kid's Meals Includes Choice of a Small Side, Kid's Size Drink, and a Surprise Nuggets $3.35 4 Pc. Nuggets $4.05 6 Pc. Grilled Nuggets $3.75 4 Pc. Grilled Nuggets $4.65 6 Pc. Chick-n-Strips $3.05 1 Pc. Chick-n-Strips $4.09 2 Pc. Salads Asian Salad $7.19 Cobb Salad $7.19 Grilled Market Salad $7.19 Desserts Hand-Spun Milkshakes (Cookies & Cream, Chocolate, Strawberry, or Vanilla) $2.75 Small Hand-Spun Milkshakes (Cookies & Cream, Chocolate, Strawberry, or Vanilla) $3.15 Large Frosted Lemonade (Limited Time) $2.75 Icedream Cone $1.25 Small Icedream Cone $1.65 Large Icedream Cup $1.59 Small Icedream Cup $1.85 Large Icedream Topping $0.25 Chocolate Chunk Cookie $1.19 1 Pc. Chocolate Chunk Cookie $6.65 6 Pc. Breakfast Meals Combo Includes Hash Browns & Small 100% Colombian Coffee Chick-fil-A Chicken Biscuit $2.19 Chick-fil-A Chicken Biscuit - Combo $4.49 Chick-n-Minis $2.29 3 Pc. Chick-n-Minis $2.99 4 Pc. Chick-n-Minis - Combo $4.65 3 Pc. Chick-n-Minis - Combo $5.29 4 Pc. Buttered Biscuit $0.89 Bacon, Egg & Cheese Biscuit $2.59 Bacon, Egg & Cheese Biscuit - Combo $4.95 Spicy Chicken Biscuit $2.35 Spicy Chicken Biscuit - Combo $4.65 Breakfast Burrito (Chicken or Sausage) $2.55 Breakfast Burrito (Chicken or Sausage) - Combo $4.85 Sausage, Egg & Cheese Biscuit $2.59 Sausage, Egg & Cheese Biscuit - Combo $4.95 Chicken, Egg & Cheese Bagel $3.39 Chicken, Egg & Cheese Bagel - Combo $5.65 Oatmeal $2.69 Oatmeal & Fruit - Combo $6.69 Fruit Cup $2.05 Small Fruit Cup $2.75 Medium Fruit Cup $4.25 Large Plain Bagel $1.29 Bagel with Cream Cheese $1.79 Hash Browns $0.99 Yogurt Parfait $2.45 Cinnamon Cluster $1.95 Beverages Fresh-Squeezed Lemonade (Regular or Diet) $1.55 Small Fresh-Squeezed Lemonade (Regular or Diet) $1.79 Medium Fresh-Squeezed Lemonade (Regular or Diet) $2.09 Large Iced Tea (Sweet or Unsweetened) $1.35 Small Iced Tea (Sweet or Unsweetened) $1.59 Medium Iced Tea (Sweet or Unsweetened) $1.85 Large Soft Drinks $1.35 Small Soft Drinks $1.59 Medium Soft Drinks $1.85 Large Dasani Water $1.59 Bottle Simply Orange Juice $2.15 Bottle Apple Juice $1.09 Freshly-Brewed Tea $4.50 1 Gallon Fresh-Squeezed Lemonade $9.50 1 Gallon Iced Coffee (Original or Vanilla) $2.35 Medium Iced Coffee (Original or Vanilla) $2.65 Large Coffee $1.65 Small Coffee $1.95 Medium Coffee $2.15 Large Coffee $12.75 To-Go Box 1% Milk Plain or Chocolate $1.19 Popular Sandwiches Restaurants Popular Chicken Restaurants |
[Is it possible that attacking forces used a prototype EMF (electromagnetic frequency) weapon to fry electronic circuits in the target area before the impending attack, such as Boeing’s CHAMP microwave cruise missile? “CHAMP program manager for Boeing Phantom Works. ‘In the near future, this technology may be used to render an enemy’s electronic and data systems useless even before the first troops or aircraft arrive.'”] Fire engulfs Yarmouk ammunition factory in Khartoum October 24, 2012. Blackout meant that aside from the sound of gunshots, residents of the area had no idea what was going on, journalist tells Haaretz. The telecommunications network in the Sudanese capital of Khartoum were disconnected for about an hour before an explosion rocked an arms factory there a local journalist told Haaretz on Thursday. The blackout meant that aside from the sound of gunshots, residents of the area had no idea what was going on, said the journalist. The explosion lit up the sky, and nobody knew at first what was going, he added. Eyewitnesses later described hearing planes flying in the sky around the time of the blast. Residents of the area know that the factory is used for producing and storing weapons, said the journalist. Large parts of the factory were destroyed in the blast, he said. Four military planes attacked the Yarmouk arms factory overnight between Tuesday and Wednesday, causing a mass fire. After many hours of silence, Sudan’s information minister accused Israel of being behind the explosion. Sudan, which analysts say is used as an arms smuggling route to the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip via neighboring Egypt, has blamed Israel for such strikes in the past but Israel has always either refused to comment or said it neither admitted nor denied involvement. “We believe that Israel is behind it,” Information Minister Ahmed Belal Osman told reporters on Wednesday, adding that “the planes had appeared to approach the site from the east.” “Sudan reserves the right to strike back at Israel,” he said, saying two citizens had been killed and that the plant had been partially destroyed. “We are now certain that this flagrant attack was authorized by the same state of Israel. The main purpose is to frustrate our military capabilities and stop any development there and ultimately weaken our national sovereignty,” Osman said. He said his country has the right to respond and may take the issue to the UN Security Council. |
CLEVELAND (Reuters) - Two outside experts have concluded a Cleveland police officer’s fatal shooting of a 12-year-old boy who was carrying a toy gun was a reasonable response to a perceived threat, according to reports released by an Ohio prosecutor’s office on Saturday. Jun 9, 2015; Cleveland, OH, USA; Tadar Muhammad (right) and Jeremy Brustein (left) demonstrate in support of Tamir Rice outside of Quicken Loans Arena prior to game three of the NBA Finals. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports The independent conclusions submitted to the Cuyahoga County prosecutor’s office come ahead of an expected decision by a grand jury on whether criminal charges are warranted in the November 2014 shooting of Tamir Rice, which was captured on surveillance video. Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Timothy McGinty said in a statement his office was not reaching any conclusions based on the reports, but an attorney for Rice’s family criticized the reports as a “whitewash.” Rice was black while the officer who shot him is white, and the case is one in a series of high-profile deaths of African-Americans at the hands of law enforcement which have raised questions about the use of force by police. Nearly one year ago, Cleveland police received an emergency call about someone brandishing a gun outside a city recreation center. Officer Timothy Loehmann shot Rice twice in the abdomen, seconds after his partner who also is white drove their vehicle to within 5 feet (1.5 meters) of the boy. Rice died the next day. The gun turned out to be an airsoft-type replica pistol that shoots pellets, but had the orange tip removed. Retired FBI agent Kimberly Crawford, in a review of the shooting, wrote that it was “apparent not only was Officer Loehmann required to make a split-second decision, but also that his response was a reasonable one.” In another report, Colorado prosecutor S. Lamar Sims also concluded that “Officer Loehmann’s belief that Rice posed a threat of serious physical harm or death was objectively reasonable, as was his response to that perceived threat.” The reports, which cited federal case law, stood at odds with an opinion from a Cleveland judge who in June found probable cause that Loehmann should face a murder charge. Municipal Court Judge Ronald Adrine’s opinion did not compel charges or require the officer’s arrest. McGinty has said the case will go to a grand jury. “Any presentation to a grand jury — without the prosecutor advocating for Tamir as prosecutors do for crime victims every day — is a charade,” Subodh Chandra, an attorney for the Rice family, said in a statement. |
GETTING frustrated with your significant other is not just excusable, it’s human nature. In fact, if we went all natural and followed our instincts, the more time we spent with a person and the closer we got, the closer we’d get to killing them. This is the comforting advice of psychobiological relationship expert Stan Tatkin, who is visiting Australia from his California based PACT institute. “Getting on each other’s nerves is completely natural. What’s natural is that we kill each other,” he says bluntly. “If we’re not doing that, then we’re thinking and planning and we’re predicting behaviour, but to do that, we really have to pay attention, and that’s where problems can arise as you get close when two people are in a relationship.” As Dr Tatkin explains, the killer instinct and “negativity bias” that each of our brains are built on can rear their heads in every interaction we have, but we’re less likely to be able to consistently suppress them while in a close romantic relationship. This happens when we stop thinking and considering every move, and our interactions become automated. “Everything we do, we learn, is like bicycle riding, and that includes relationships. So while at the beginning every move is considered, after a while automation takes over,” Dr Tatkin says. “Automation happens fairly soon in the beginning of a relationship because before that kicks in we are addicted to the person, we feel like we’re on drugs that override everything else. “After that we get on each others nerves because, really, all people are annoying and difficult, but there’s a line that can be crossed, and when we cross that line from annoying to threatening, that’s something that becomes a problem.” Dr Tatkin says while automation is good for most things we do, it’s not a good thing for relationships because it means we stop thinking and let the primal, animal part of our brains take over. “The invention of religion an social contracts is a way to get around that in society, so that people get along without killing each other,” he explains. “Since a couple is the smallest unit of society you can have, they also have to come up with the same ideas, they have to come up with the shared principles of governance so that they don’t kill each other.” So in order to outsmart our always automating animal brains, Dr Tatkin says it’s important, even essential, that people in a relationship develop some understanding of how their and their partner’s brains work. “Everyone is listening to all sorts of voices in the atmosphere and most of them are misleading and it would help if people understood what is normal and forgivable instead of pathologising and blaming, but also becoming better at being a human being,” he says. “Without being sappy, these all go towards loving people rather than disliking them.” According to Dr Tatkin, the only way around wanting to be at each other’s throats is with presence and attention. He says when (not if) you get into a disagreement with your partner, you should discuss it face-to-face and eye-to-eye at a relatively close distance. One mast always remain friendly or express friendliness even in the middle of a fight, and be committed to taking care of yourself and taking care of each other at the same time. “We go eye-to-eye, face-to-face, because we are visual animals — the only way to crack each other is to look in the other’s eyes,” Dr Tatkin says. “When you see mammals rough and tumble in play, they’re always locking eyes with one another, but when they’re at war, they’re not.” And, he says, it’s important to remember not to be too hard on ourselves or our partners when we get on each others nerves. “It’s important to remember that as a species we hate anything we can’t handle, and in a relationship we start to realise, even though I picked you, there are parts of you that I hate and I still can’t manage them. That’s always going to happen.” Stan Tatkin is a keynote speaker at the APS College of Clinical Psychologists in Brisbane 30 June — 2 July. |
The excitement of the last few days quickly gave way to professional tedium. Homicide again became about pushing the corpse-broom around. Days passed. Paperwork was shuffled around, network passwords and security layers changed. Carter remained at Central, sewing things up over the Anderson case and deflecting the press while Gray drove around waiting for someone else to get shot in the face, which strangely did not happen for several days. He chalked it up to patriotic fever and the fact that the boys in Pacification had made a real example of the protestors down in the city center. Everybody seemed to calm the hell down after the microwave guns and riot cannons came out. Eventually he got a call to handle a domestic case over in the Redmond sector of the Verge. Some guy went apeshit about gambling debts, shot his wife in a fight before turning the gun on himself. Very straightforward. Gray had crouched over the body of the murdered woman, stared at her blue eyes looking skyward as if they were made of glass. The victim had been shot through the chest and the blood had blossomed across her white blouse like a flower; she lay on the floor with her arms spread wide, just feet away from the man with whom she had shared their apartment, their life. She looked as if she were welcoming something other than the numbing oblivion that science knew she would find, or at least the peace of termination. Gray had never really looked at a vic like that, not really, and it made him shudder in a way very different from the chill that seeing Anderson’s flayed corpse had. |
Nearly a third of teachers and other education workers are considering leaving their schools within the next year, a report finds. A poll of 1,365 school staff, including teachers, teaching assistants, nursery staff and administrators found that 30 per cent were considering changing job in the next year. Among mainscale teachers, this figure rose to 34 per cent. Asked to choose one of four reasons why they are considering leaving the education sector, nearly half (47 per cent) of teachers said poor work/life balance. Nearly four-fifths of senior teachers reported feeling pressure to leave at state pension age, regardless of their skills and experience, while 36 per cent in this category said that the pressure on them to leave at state pension age was significant. The survey results may make ominous reading for the government, which has failed to hit its recruitment targets for education for four consecutive years. Jenny Rollinson, managing director of Randstad Education, which carried out the survey, said: “The genuine concerns many teachers have should give the government food for thought. “Something needs to be done, and fast, if children are to continue to receive the high quality education we know our teachers are capable of delivering. “The education sector urgently needs to be revitalized and while the government must play its role, many schools, too, will have to do their bit to bring about change.” Want to keep up with the latest education news and opinion? Follow TES on Twitter and like TES on Facebook |
Europe's Largest Wind Farm Gets Approval in Sweden April 7th, 2009 by Dave Tyler In this current gold rush climate for green energy words such as “biggest” and “largest” get thrown around all the time in an effort to grab some headlines. But this project in Sweden is big no matter how you parse it. [social_buttons] With 1,101 turbines it would be Europe’s biggest wind farm, and as organizers told the Norrbotten county board in the region where the project would be built, possibly the biggest in the world. It would cost 55 billion kronor or roughly $6.9 billion. It would be located in the northern part of Sweden, near Markbygden and occupy 175 square miles. The Swedish government still needs to sign off, and that process could take another 12 months. Construction could begin in 2.5 years and take about 10 years to complete, the company behind the project, Markbygden Vind AB, said. AFP reports that if built the farm would generate a total of eight to 12 terawatt hours of electricity per year. Who actually wears the title of “world’s biggest wind farm” isn’t really the point. You can tap any number of projects with some sort of title. Projects of this scale are only getting built because developers have figured out there’s money to be made. As long as that’s still the case, it won’t be long before another “world’s biggest” moves into construction. There may be some vanity involved, but in the long run its going to lead to cleaner generation. Photo credit: Bouncer1788’s Flickr Stream, via a Creative Commons License. |
Paramount / "Deep Impact" Editor's note: A more recent version of this story is available here. Nuclear weapons are as awesome as they are terrifying. In an instant, their explosions can vaporize people, level cities, and obliterate military forces. But could this fearsome power be harnessed by Russia or other nuclear nations to lob deadly tsunamis against an enemy coastline, as British tabloids recently reported? If you ask a nuclear physicist, you're likely to be laughed out of the room. "It would be a stupid waste of a perfectly good nuclear weapon," Greg Spriggs, a nuclear-weapons physicist at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, told Business Insider in an email. Here's why it doesn't make sense and where the myth came from. The science of nuclear wave-making A nuclear weapon detonated below the ocean's surface can cause great devastation. One need not look further than the underwater US nuclear weapons tests of the 1940s and 1950s, including operations "Crossroads Baker" and "Hardtack I Wahoo" to see why. These underwater fireballs — roughly as energetic as the bombs dropped on Hiroshima or Nagasaki in August 1945 — burst through the surface, ejecting pillars of seawater more than a mile high while rippling out powerful shockwaves. Some warships staged near the explosions were vaporized. Others were tossed like toys in a bathtub, sinking them. Others sustained crushed or cracked hulls, crippled engines, and other damage from the shockwaves. And — notably— the explosions roughly doubled the height of waves to nearby atoll islands, flooding inland areas there. Yet Spriggs says it's unlikely that even the most powerful nuclear bombs could come close to unleashing a significant tsunami. "[T]he energy in a large nuclear weapon is but a drop in the bucket compared to the energy of a [naturally]-occurring tsunami," he said. "So, any tsunami created by a nuclear weapon couldn't be very large." The mushroom cloud caused by the Soviet Union's "Tsar Bomba" 57-megaton nuclear blast test. Minatom/Wikiepdia For example, the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami that killed more than 15,000 people in Japan released about 9,320,000 megatons (MT) of TNT energy. That's hundreds of millions of times greater than the bomb dropped on Hiroshima in 1945, and roughly 163,000 times greater than the Soviet Union's "Tsar Bomba" test of October 30, 1961: the most powerful nuclear detonation in history. "And second, because of the small solid angle that would subtended by a nuclear-induced tsunami (in the direction of the shoreline), most of the energy would be wasted going back out to sea," Spriggs said. Perhaps the most damning point against using nuclear weapons to trigger tsunamis is how much more effectively the same weapon could kill people above-ground. "[I]f they dropped a 10 MT weapon directly over a city, they could kill millions of people as opposed to a small nuclear-induced tsunami that may, at best, kill only a few thousand people that may be within a few thousand yards of the beach," Spriggs said. "In short, I don't believe it." The origins of the nuclear-tsunami myth A Delta IV-class Russian nuclear submarine. Wiki Commons The claim that underwater nuclear blasts could trigger devastating tsunamis appears to have started with and spread by some media outlets in the UK. Those stories referenced a commentary piece by Viktor Baranetz, a former spokesman for the Russian Defense Ministry, that was published February 28 in Komsomolskaya Pravda, a Russian tabloid. At the time, Baranetz was responding to President Donald Trump's desire to increase US military spending by $54 billion, on top of an annual budget of about $600 billion — what he claimed is roughly 10 times that of Russia's yearly military investment. According to a March 8 translation by the Middle East Media Research Institute, Baranetz suggested that Russia has "already found asymmetrical responses" to counter such US military might including, for example (our emphasis added): "[N]uclear warheads that can modify their course and height so that no computer can calculate their trajectory. Or, for example, the Americans are deploying their tanks, airplanes and special forces battalions along the Russian border. And we are quietly 'seeding' the U.S. shoreline with nuclear 'mole' missiles (they dig themselves in and 'sleep' until they are given the command)[...]" Starting around April 30, however, several British outlets — including the Daily Star, Daily Mail, Telegraph, and The Sun— wrote that Baranetz claimed such "mole" missiles could detonate underwater to trigger deadly tsunamis against US coastal targets. But Baranetz's text doesn't mention underwater detonations or tsunamis. In fact, he wrote a piece on May 2 that decried the suggestion of nuclear tsunamis as a "lie". (Business Insider contacted several prominent British outlets that published the nuclear tsunami claim; in response, at least one publication removed all references to the idea in its story.) In his follow-up commentary on May 2, Baranetz also clarified the suggestion of "mole missiles": "In Russia, any student who owns a computer will explain that 'Status-6' is a Russian project of an unmanned nuclear submarine. The mission of the apparatus is to deliver a nuclear munition with the aim of destroying important coastal elements of the enemy's economy and inflicting guaranteed unacceptable damage by creating extensive zones of radioactive contamination." The Kremlin quickly and roundly denied Baranetz's claims, according to a piece by Tom O'Connor at Newsweek, and experts doubt the existence of "mole" missiles. However, this does not change the reality that US and Russia together have deployed more than 3,700 nuclear warheads, with many thousands more stockpiled. Where many of the deployed weapons are at a given moment is either country's guess, given submarine and other covert military technologies. Elena Holodny contributed Russian translation assistance for this post. |
The Left may succeed in turning Clinton into a cultural icon in the Obama mold. Dispiriting as it is to admit for those of us who like our republics modest and our republicans unassuming, we are living through one of those bothersome periods in American history in which cults of personality are all the rage. Cory Booker’s victory on Tuesday evening was as inevitable as will be his coronation in the Senate, followed before long by the breathless and ubiquitous talk of a Booker presidency. Nevertheless, for all his supposed virtues, the celebrity mayor of Newark will have to wait his turn, for the Obamacult has a different understudy, and she is busily readying herself for a seamless takeover. I refer, of course, to Hillary Clinton. Advertisement Advertisement With her complicated past, her high-school principal’s air, and her unsympathetic voice, Hillary is an unlikely cult heroine, but a cult heroine she may well become. The Left has astutely noticed and internalized something that the Right either has not or cannot: Before you can turn someone into a political icon, you must first turn her into a cultural icon. That is to say that Washington follows the voters, and the voters follow Hollywood. This dynamic goes some way to explaining why both the culture warrior Andrew Breitbart and the former actor Ronald Reagan have acquired such committed followings in death whereas successful and efficacious conservative policy experts have not. It was no accident that Patti Solis Doyle, Clinton’s campaign manager in 2008, described her former boss as “the hardest-working woman in show business,” or that Anna Wintour promised recently that “all of us at Vogue look forward to putting on the cover the first female president of the United States.”#ad# Much of the praise for Clinton is the product of standard political jockeying for position. Harry Reid’s boast that “Hillary Clinton may have a bigger fan than Harry Reid; I just don’t know who it would be” and his obsequious description of Hillary as a “remarkable” secretary of state who “will go down in history books” are smart personal as well as party politics. But, as 2016 approaches, such word-paintings are beginning to shine a little more than is probably healthy in a republic. Hillary Clinton was an average secretary of state, perhaps even good. But she was not “remarkable,” and it is telling that her supposedly stellar achievements are often boiled down to the trivial fact that she traveled more miles than any of her predecessors. (On this questionable metric, one must say, “Move over, John Quincy Adams, you parochial, horse-loving mediocrity.”) Advertisement It is worrying how many Americans appear unable to celebrate the rise to power of representatives of historically powerless groups without imparting special — even magical — qualities to them. Barack Obama’s win in 2008 was part of, not distinct from, the American narrative, and yet he seems to have convinced people — or, more accurately, they seem to have convinced themselves — that he came from outside as a Platonic Philosopher King who would be able peacefully to abolish politics. Looking back over the JournoList controversy of 2010, what strikes me most is how shamefully credulous the collective Left was about Obama: Nothing must be allowed to get in the way of “a black politician who unites the country,” Spencer Ackerman fumed naïvely when the Jeremiah Wright scandal broke. Personally, I don’t much care who is president, providing that he obeys the Constitution, keeps the country safe from those who would harm us, and — most important — damn well leaves me alone. That Hillary Clinton boasts two X chromosomes is almost certainly the least interesting thing about her. That being said, critics of this position would presumably say that this is a jolly easy thing for a white male to say and that it is undeniable as a matter of fact that there are many voters out there who would be genuinely ecstatic to see a woman occupy the White House. Advertisement Advertisement But there is being pleased and then there is falling prey to embarrassing hyperbole. The putatively conservative Kathleen Parker, writing in the Washington Post on Tuesday, thrust herself firmly into the latter camp with an op-ed that claimed no less than that Clinton “can save the world.” Parker quickly conceded that this was “a trifle hyperbolic” but then went on to fill the rest of the page with statements that made the initial characterization look modest. “We may not live to see salvation,” she gushed emetically, “but one has to start somewhere.” In language that was distressingly reminiscent of all that “planet began to heal” hokum, Parker contended that “women, if allowed to be fully equal to men, will bring peace to the planet.” Chief among these equal women, Parker contended, would be “Madame President Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton,” whom smarter Americans have been “studying” for “inspiration,” who has “empowered women as never before with just a few words,” and who will bring an end to the endless “invasions, bunker-busting mega-bombs and killer drones,” which “seem not to be having the desired effect.” Advertisement Advertisement Parker’s words will no doubt be music to the ears of the already assembled Clinton cultists. With their poster-like “Ready for Hillary” T-shirts (this “I’m ready” language always strikes me as odd, implying as it does that America needs to prepare the ground for the coming of a candidate who wishes to be its servant) and their subscriptions to the nauseating “Texts from Hillary” website and to Clinton’s own Twitter feed, they are the early adopters of the new, soon-to-be-constitutionally-obsolescent model of Barack Obama — and they just can’t wait. Advertisement In recent weeks, Hillary has smartly begun to reciprocate this nascent attempt to turn her into an Internet icon. Her relatively new Twitter account deliberately features a famous picture-turned-meme of her typing on a BlackBerry (the future!) and boasts also a breezy, slightly-too-cute biography that describes the proto-candidate as a “wife, mom, lawyer, women & kids advocate, FLOAR, FLOTUS, US Senator, SecState, author, dog owner, hair icon, pantsuit aficionado, glass ceiling cracker, TBD . . . ” In her first Tweet, Clinton self-awarely thanked two of her biggest Internet boosters for “the inspiration,” and promised rather transparently, “I’ll take it from here.” Subsequent postings were contrived enough to prompt ThinkProgress’s Alyssa Rosenberg to effervesce that “Clinton’s twitter feed makes her look Aware Of All Internet Traditions”!#page# Advertisement The process of grafting the Obama pop-culture template onto the less photogenic, more battle-scarred, and, bluntly, much older Hillary Clinton will be tough — and the architects of the New Model Hillary will presumably be aware that there is a genuine risk that, by the time Hillary unleashes her campaign, Americans will have become ready for a little iconoclasm. Nevertheless, many of the ingredients are the same for Clinton as they were for Obama. If she gets the nomination, she will be cast as a proxy candidate for all women, especially those who will be recruited from History and posthumously charged with having “fought” in order to see this moment come to pass. Her opponents will be blithely characterized as “sexists” who are “scared of strong women,” just as Obama’s critics were deemed “racists.” This clash of pieties was briefly problematic back in 2008 when it led some farcically to conclude that we were about to discover whether America was more racist or more sexist and others to brand Hillary and Bill as racists themselves — but there will likely be no such complications this time around.#ad# Hillary Clinton has a long history of spinning straw into gold. The “experience” that she supposedly gained while First Lady largely consisted of her fouling up her husband’s health-care plan and then being called out from the sidelines to lie in front of the cameras; her role as America’s ur-feminist seems to be rather symbolic, as much projected onto her as by her; and her allegedly shining careers as carpetbagging New York senator and then as consolation-prize secretary of state were marked, to put it most charitably, by competence, and the latter was scarred forever by the disaster in Benghazi. Advertisement More of a challenge is that Clinton is the very model of a Washington insider; a political poster girl for a baby-boomer generation whose time has come and gone. The key question for America will be whether a new coat of paint, the imprimatur of the Democratic establishment, and the superficial insistence of the Internet Generation that she is special can transmute an almost-70-year-old woman into another timely savior of the downtrodden and dispossessed. It is no overstatement to say that the strength of the republican ideal rests, in some measure at least, on the answer. If ever there was a time for a Silent Cal or a William Howard Taft, it is now. If, conversely, we are destined for another depthless and detached human avatar, the future looks bleak indeed. — Charles C. W. Cooke is a staff writer at National Review. |
LOS ANGELES – Four years later, he is the ace they hoped he could be then. Four years after the bar debates, after the bleacher observations he surely couldn't be ready to start Game 1 of an NLCS, that for heaven's sake he's practically a child, Clayton Kershaw is the pitcher who changes everything. "Older," Matt Kemp said. "Wiser." Scroll to continue with content Ad At 25. "Yeah," Kemp said, reminded of the last playoff series that included the Los Angeles Dodgers, "everybody's grown up." Four years later, Kershaw is not Joe Torre's hunch play against the Philadelphia Phillies (he walked five, allowed five runs in 4 2/3 innings and took the loss that start), but Don Mattingly's undisputed No. 1 against whoever may come. "If he's not the best," Mattingly said Friday afternoon, "you're going to have to sell me on who's better." He stood Friday night before the Colorado Rockies at Dodger Stadium, threw six shutout innings, allowed four hits, all singles, and struck out eight. He finished the regular season, his sixth, with 16 wins, 232 strikeouts, a 1.83 ERA and an 0.92 WHIP in 236 innings. The list of L.A. Dodgers starters who have gone a season with a lower ERA: Sandy Koufax. Kershaw will lead the NL in ERA, WHIP, strikeouts, other stuff, and likely will win his second Cy Young Award in three years. In between, he finished second, to R.A. Dickey, though he was better in some key statistical categories (like ERA and WHIP). Following one of those well-it's-Coors-Field kind of starts in Colorado on Sept. 2, Kershaw's ERA was 1.33 over his final four starts, and he enters the postseason on a run of 13 consecutive scoreless innings, over which he had 18 strikeouts. Story continues As capable as he has been in the four years since – 64-33 record, three ERA titles, two strikeout titles, a 2.37 ERA over 131 starts, a rising standing in a largely veteran clubhouse – Kershaw has not thrown a postseason pitch since 2009, the byproduct of an organization that lost its footing under previous ownership. He used the time to develop a slider that is among the best pitches in the game, and to nurse a changeup that has its moments, and to command both sides of the plate with four pitches. "Four years in the big leagues," he said, "you'll learn a lot. You learn how to pitch a little bit. I feel like I'm definitely prepared." If a ballplayer is good enough, and if his team is good enough, and if his prime starts soon enough or extends long enough, then he comes upon a time such as Kershaw does. He has dominated April through September for those four years. At 25, he has just put behind him the most precise and most relentless season of his professional career. Four years later, Kershaw has arrived at the place that measures many, pitchers and batters alike. It is where greatness can become something more, something like legend. Once cast into October as a confident young man, carrying two pitches not four and a sense of what worked if not certainty, he returns a grown man, a leader, and the Dodgers' hope that 25 years is quite long enough. Both for themselves, as they last were World Series champions in 1988, and for Kershaw, who was born that very year. "He is keenly and tremendously refined," Dodgers general manager Ned Colletti said of the pitcher Kershaw was then to the one he is now. "I'm talking about everything that happens on the mound, whether it's physical or in the mind, on the mound, in the clubhouse, all he does. He refuses to accept anything that isn't the absolute best." In that Friday night start, he didn't merely beat the Rockies with 82 pitches – a shortened start in preparation for his Game 1 start Thursday in St. Louis or Atlanta – over six innings. He picked a runner off first. He laced a single. He scored a run. He played the game. Then he tipped his cap, was shoved to the top step of the dugout for a curtain call for the 29th sellout – in 79 dates – at Dodger Stadium, and entered the postseason. It's out there, again. Out there, finally, after four years. "He's the same guy," Mattingly said. "The same person. You probably wouldn't recognize the pitcher he is now though." The air chills. The light focuses, sharpens. The world leans in. And we wait to see what October pulls from Kershaw. "That's sports, right, in general?" Mattingly said. "We want to see what a guy can do on the big stage. For most fans, it's probably the way it pushes you to the next level. It pushes you to another level still." His hair damp from a post-game shower, Kershaw considered that. He wore board shorts and a T-shirt. His beard grows grudgingly. He's still just 25 and looks barely that. Still, perhaps, in some ways, practically a child. Only not here, not at 7:00 on the night of a start, not when there's a game to pitch, a game to play. The regular season was behind him. A big game awaited. "Now's the time," he said. "I'm going to start thinking about it. It's all about the playoffs. It's all about Game 1 for me. "Nobody remembers second place. Nobody remembers who won the American League or who won the National League. They remember who won the World Series. At the end of the day, unless you win the whole thing, no one remembers." Four years later, the ball is his. Again. |
Anger after Australian Jew films video of her family singing 'I Will Survive' on a trip to Auschwitz An Australian woman has posted a video of her family singing and dancing along to the Gloria Gaynor hit 'I Will Survive' while on a trip to the Auschwitz death camp in Poland. Jane Korman, who is Jewish, posted the video of her 89-year-old father Adolk - who survived the Holocaust - and her three children dancing to the hit inside the infamous extermination centre where as many as 1.1million people were killed during World War Two. At one point, her father is seen wearing a t-shirt which 'I will survive' written across its front. Insensitive: Jane Korman posted footage of her family singing and dancing to Gloria Gaynor's 'I Will Survive' outside Auschwitz Mrs Korman has defended herself against claims of tastelessness and said the recording was 'a celebration of life and survival'. She said: 'I wanted to make artwork that creates a fresh interpretation of historical memory.' The video, posted on YouTube, showed the Korman family dancing in front of the Auschwitz sign 'Arbeit Macht Frei' - Work Sets Your Free - a Polish synagogue, the German concentration camp at Dachau, the Czech concentration camp at Theresienstadt and a memorial in Lodz, Poland, to victims of the Nazi ghetto. But the recording has sparked anger among many of those who survived the horrors of the camp and neo-Nazi groups have posted it on their websites. Footage: Mrs Korman said her video was a 'fresh affirmation of historical memory' Anger: The footage also includes shots of the family dancing outside Terestenstadt Concentration Camp in the Czech Republic Kamil Cwiok, 86, was just a child when he and his family were rounded up by the Nazis. Most of his family died in the gas chambers at Auschwitz. He said: 'I don't see how this video is a mark of respect for the millions who didn't survive, nor for those who did. 'It seems to trivialise the horrors that were committed there.' Mrs Korman added: 'It might be disrespectful, but he (her father) is saying "we're dancing, we should be dancing, we're celebrating our survival and the generations after me" - the generation he created. 'We are affirming our existence.' The video also shows the family dancing at Dachau concentration camp, a Polish synagogue and a memorial in Lodz The family are wearing white t-shirts with I will survive written on the front The video, which was displayed in an Australia art gallery, was also picked up by neo-Nazi websites. One comment said: 'Look, the Jews are still dancing in every corner. We aren't through with them; we will finish them in the next Holocaust.' Mrs Korman said her mother - who also survived the gas chambers - had refused to travel to Poland where the death camp is based because it held 'too many bad memories'. |
Mr. krabs vs. foxy: battle of the ages It was a very "normal" night at the Freddy's establishment, if you could call it that… Mike was almost finished his tiring shift, he had learned all of Chica's usual hiding places, he had also gotten Freddy's pattern by now, and as for Bonnie... he was never really a threat anyway. yep, mike felt the best he has in a long time, nothing could stop him now. except for foxy quickly like a flash of light, mike heard a piercing screech coming from the hallway next to his work station, he was near. the one robotic that could cause every FNAF fan-boy on earth to simultaneously crap themselves when seeing him. But as Mike was crying for his mother, father and other parental figures, he heard a voice behind him. a very familiar voice, coming from the crab that we know and love, mr. krabs "don't worry there boyo, ill stop that landlubber" he said with determination in his eyes "mr. krabs, what are you doing her?" mike said while holding in his excitement, he had never met a crab quite like this one "im here because that son of a demonic vending machine owes me money" and only god knows how much mr. krabs loves money. as mr krabs heaved himself out the door, mike looked at him before he left with a tear going down his eye. for he had just met one of the greatest crustaceans the world has to offer and was worried or his safety he was a hero. |
Indian food recipes can be pretty versatile and the food still tastes very delicious each and every time. The abundant use of spices and herbs makes it one of the famous cuisines in the world. When I went on Keto, I was perplexed in the beginning, as to how to incorporate the basic rules of the diet into it. But soon I realized that it was really not that tough. By replacing and substituting a few ingredients Indian meals can be made Keto friendly. However, let’s be honest, they do taste a little different from the original version. That’s ok, keep the indulgence for cheat days. I am today going to introduce to you my version of Butter Chicken or Murg Makhani as it is called in some circles. First things first, lets start with breakfast. Breakfast Masala Omelette with Cheese with Smoked Bacon Recipe: 2 eggs a few cilantro leaves finely chopped a few mint leaves finely chopped 1 small green chilly finely sliced 1 Cheese slice 4 to 5 button mushrooms finely chopped Salt and black pepper to taste 1 tbsp Ghee Whisk the eggs with salt and pepper till they become nice and fluffy. Now add the herbs, mushrooms and green chilly to the eggs. On a hot pan put some ghee, and pour the egg mixture on it. When slightly cooked, shred the cheese slice in the middle and fold the omelette. Cook till whatever color you please. I like it a nice golden and usually have it hot with mint chutney. Smoked Bacon Bacon is a very Keto friendly food item. As it has carbs, proteins and fats in the perfect Keto ratio. It is easy to cook and gives you immense satisfaction too. You can add the bacon in the filling or have it on the side. Lunch Parboiled Cauliflower in homemade Mayo with Mutton Seekh kebab Recipe 8 to 9 small florets of cauliflower Salt and pepper to taste Boil the cauliflower for about ten minutes in water. Add some salt to the water. Now strain the cauliflower and toss it in butter, salt and pepper. You can have the florets just like this or mix them with some homemade sugarless Mayo. Mayo Mutton Seekh Kebab You might think that I mention mutton seekh kebabs daily, and I admit I do. They taste delicious, are easy to make, and can be had in any meal. And they are pretty Keto friendly. If you want to make them at home try this recipe. Snacks Peanuts oil roasted and salted For those of you who have never tried peanuts Indian style, I plead you to grab a packet from the closest Indian store. Believe me you will get hooked onto them. Some Ketoites are not snacking at all, and I must say that’s commendable. But Indians have a tradition of sitting with their parents, kids or friends in the evening and sharing their day over a cup of tea with something to munch on. Eat them if they fit into your macros and occasionally only. Check Out My Full 7-Day Indian Keto Diet Plan For Weight Loss Dinner Priya’s Keto Butter Chicken/Murg Makhani Yes, you heard it right. One of my fellow Ketoites had asked me for a modified recipe of the world-famous Butter Chicken, I am gladly obliging with mine. Some secrets are best shared! Get ready for your kitchen to smell of India, with spices like cumin, cardamom and garam masala. The gravy of this chicken is heavenly and it will force you to lick it off the spoon and the bowl. This dish tastes delicious only when you add generous amounts of butter to it. My Keto trick for this dish is to replace the cream with coconut milk. Incase you get HWC where you live, please go ahead and use it. The spices get mellowed down and raise the dish to a whole new level. You must pick tender chicken thighs for this dish, as once the dish is ready they actually melt in your mouth. Vegetarians don’t need to fret, you can make cottage cheese or paneer by the same recipe. The secret to success lies in the marinade and the technique. You need to marinade the chicken in buttermilk or Greek yogurt to allow the enzymes to break up and make the meat tender. Butter chicken should always be made in large quantities and then eaten over the course of several days. Prep time: 20 mins Cook time : 30 mins Servings : 4 Ingredients 1 kg of chicken thighs Paste of 3 garlic cloves Paste of ½ inch piece of ginger 1 tbsp garam masala 1 tbsp fresh Coriander or Cilantro green paste 1 tbsp cumin powder 1 tbsp red chili (optional) 1/2 cup full fat Greek yogurt 4 tbsp of butter 2 cardamoms green 1 cinnamon stick 1 cup coconut milk ½ cup chopped coriander for garnish 2 tbsp Tomato puree optional Pink and White Salt to taste Procedure Combine in a bowl the chicken pieces, the garlic and ginger paste, salt, red chilly powder and the yogurt. Let it sit in the refrigerator for two to three hours. Now take a wok and melt the butter in it. Drop the cinnamon stick, and the crushed cardamom in it. Next add the chicken and cook it on high heat till it turns a nice golden. You can also grill it on a pan. Add the tomato puree and lower the heat. Keep stirring from time to time till the chicken is fully cooked. Add the cumin powder, coriander paste and the garam masala. The coconut milk or cream can be added now, cook for a few more minutes and garnish with the coriander. Add a little food colour if you want it to look red. Just writing about Butter Chicken is creating excitement in my gastronomical juices. I think I am going to cook a batch for myself tomorrow. I sign off today on a positive note. Looking forward to inspiring more mommies like me, and hopefully creating a ripple in the vast world of getting fit. |
Glen Ellyn officials are considering creating the village's second special taxing district that would aim to spark economic development along Roosevelt Road. The village board gave village staff the green light Monday to pursue a feasibility study to see if the proposed development district along Roosevelt Road is eligible. A tax increment financing district is a tool local governments can use to funnel tax dollars toward making improvements in an area that has difficulty attracting development. Glen Ellyn village trustees created the village's first tax increment financing district earlier this year in an effort to promote downtown development and improvements. The districts can sometimes prove to be controversial because they freeze property tax assessments that determine revenue to local taxing bodies, like school and park districts. Any growth in property value is taxed and money is directed toward improvements in the area instead. Glen Ellyn officials say there's been a lack of private investment in portions of Roosevelt Road that might qualify the area for the development incentive. The area being considered is bounded by commercial and multifamily residential properties fronting the north side of Roosevelt Road located between Main Street to the east and Park Boulevard to the west. It also includes commercial properties between Park Boulevard and Route 53 situated between Roosevelt Road and Taft Avenue. The proposed boundaries do not include most of the commercial district that has been redeveloped in the last 20 years, like Baker Hill Development, Pickwick Plaza and Market Plaza, where Jewel sits, said Glen Ellyn Village Manager Mark Franz. The genesis for the initial analysis of a second special taxing district is that there "appears to be a number of underutilized opportunity sites" for development in the proposed area, Franz said. He called Roosevelt Road a critical commercial district for the village, bringing in 70 percent to 80 percent of the village's sales tax revenue. "It's an older area that needs some type of shot in the arm to get development to happen there," Franz said. Franz said the village is expected to put out a request for proposals for a consultant to do the feasibility study, which could take months to complete. mmanchir@tribune.com |
The Rockets completed the trade for veteran guard Jason Terry on Wednesday, acquiring the long-time Rockets nemesis along with two second-round picks from Sacramento. The Rockets sent the unguaranteed contracts of Alonzo Gee and Scotty Hopson, both acquired in July’s three-team sign-and-trade for Trevor Ariza with the Wizards and Pelicans, to the Kings in the deal. Terry, 37, did not play for the Kings last season after he was acquired in February to allow him to return to Dallas to rehab his left knee. He averaged a career-low 4.5 points in 35 games last season with the Nets. The 2009 Sixth Man of the Year, Terry has long been recognized as a particularly vexing Rockets killer, though his play against the Rockets has largely been similar to his play overall in his career. He has shot better against the Rockets (47.4 percent) than against any opponent but the Kings, but his scoring average (15.9 points per game) and 3-point shooting (38.9 percent) are roughly his career averages. His reputation, however, likely comes from the 2004-05 playoff series against the Rockets when the Mavericks came back after losing the first two games of the series to win in seven games. Terry averaged 18.3 points on 52 percent shooting and 60.6 percent 3-point shooting, reveling in his successes with his “Jet” pantomime after several big shots. Terry is signed for one more season worth $5.45 million. The Rockets sought veteran help to a backcourt rebuilt since the trade of Jeremy Lin around second-year guards Isaiah Canaan and Troy Daniels and rookie Nick Johnson along with veterans Ish Smith and Francisco Garcia. |
I can’t believe it is ONE year ago today my little blog started with my first tentative step into the world of blogging. It feels as though I have been doing this forever! Initially I thought it would be a great way to ramble about my cancer journey and possibly raise further awareness of Leiomyosarcoma but in fact my love of books and chatting over took that fairly quickly and soon became my main focus. In a way that has helped so much during a difficult year of treatment, surgery, stress, worry, pain etc. I could never have achieved so much without the love and support of so many people, far too many to mention individually but a huge thank you to the bookblogging/author community who are always happy to share my posts, the tour hosts who provide a lot of the info and of course the authors who entrust me with their books before publication. And a massive thanks to all my readers/followers who continue to grow daily! There are some regulars who read/comment that have made me smile on many occasions .. I expected to be alone in my venture so to know so many people spare time in their busy days to read this is amazing! I will give one individual special thank you to my #BFF .. it was her encouragement that gave me confidence to begin and she has been there every step of the way since, so Rachel Gilbey you are a star .. you can find her blog Here So as a little celebration and hope for the future of my blog I have included a giveaway! Open Internationally where Amazon Gift Cards can be issued .. £15 or Country equivalent. Enter via the form all winning entries will be validated before prize is given. Ends 12th September 23:59 Good luck! xx #Win £15 Amazon Gift Card Please Like and Share: 0 |
Special vice squads to be set up to enforce guidelines forbidding firing of weapons and ‘non-traditional’ dance moves Authorities in Chechnya plan to set up wedding vice squads to patrol nuptials in the region ensuring nobody gets drunk or performs inappropriate dance moves. The region, which is part of Russia, is run by Ramzan Kadyrov, who critics say is becoming increasingly dictatorial. The latest crackdown will target any weddings held outside private homes in the republic. Russia’s Tass news agency said guidelines drawn up by the mayor of Grozny had been sent to restaurants and other wedding venues. The guidelines forbid the firing of weapons, drunkenness, and allowing the bride to dance. A number of “non-traditional” dance moves are banned, such as swapping partners. Public humiliation: Chechen leader's simple strategy to control social media Read more “We will set up special working groups, whose representatives will be present at weddings in public places, and check that the demands of a traditional wedding are met. If they see clothes that do not match our mentality, or incorrect dance movements, they will intervene,” a representative of the Chechen ministry of culture told Tass. The crackdown is somewhat ironic given Kadyrov’s own history with weddings. This year footage from his nephew’s nuptials showed a motorcade of dozens of luxury cars travelling through Chechnya. A US diplomatic cable released by WikiLeaks described a wedding in 2006 in Dagestan, which borders Chechnya, at which Kadyrov arrived with a large entourage and “danced clumsily with his gold-plated automatic stuck down the back of his jeans” before showering the dancers with $100 bills. The then US ambassador William Burns, who also attended the wedding, recounted how Kadyrov gave the newlyweds a gift of a 5kg lump of solid gold. Kadyrov pays regular compliments to the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, in his Instagram feed, where he often appears wearing Putin T-shirts, and the streets of Grozny are adorned with giant portraits of Kadyrov and Putin. WikiLeaks cables: Chechnya's ruler, a three-day wedding and a golden gun Read more But despite the pledges of loyalty, Kadyrov runs the republic as a personal fiefdom, and rights activists have complained that Russian law often seems not to apply. Authorities have implemented a mix of elements of Islamic law and a strict interpretation of local customs. Kadyrov has banned the sale of alcohol in the territory, and encouraged modest dress for women. In 2010, women who were not wearing the hijab were shot at with paintball guns by men in cars. Kadyrov denied the men had been sent by the government but praised their actions. The space for dissent has narrowed in recent years. Those who have criticised Kadyrov on social media have been hauled in for televised public shaming sessions. |
Brad Neely can’t stop creating. Since production wrapped on his new Adult Swim series Brad Neely’s Harg Nallin’ Sclopio Peepio in early 2016, the mind behind China, IL, “Cox And Combes’ Washington,” and Wizard People, Dear Reader has penned an audio-visual ode to Totino’s Pizza Rolls, worked on a novel, and shopped around an album’s worth of non-comedy songs. The title is intentionally nonsensical (“This one just made us laugh—it was our favorite collection of syllables,” Neely says in an Adult Swim press release), but Brad Neely’s Harg Nallin’ Sclopio Peepio might be the clearest articulation of Neely’s artistic voice to date. Simultaneously cerebral and silly, it combines elements of the sacred (an abiding interest in history, a wide vocabulary, a few gags about the divine) and the profane (gleeful toilet humor, abundant allusions to 1980s cinema) into a rapid-fire cavalcade of animated sketch comedy. Prior to the show’s premiere—Sunday, July 10 at 11:45 p.m. Eastern—Neely spoke to The A.V. Club about bringing Harg Nallin’ to the air, then left us with some parting words about the king of the apes. Brad Neely: For some reason, I didn’t sleep very well last night. I live a very standard, regular lifestyle, and I go to sleep around 10:30 or 11, and wake up every day around 7 or so. But I just laid there—not in the usual anxious way of thinking about old past things. I was just laying there very awake all night, not in a negative zone. But it has definitely got me in a strange place this morning. Advertisement The A.V. Club: Well, you did just put the full first episode of Harg Nallin’ on Vine, so that could’ve been something that was keeping you up. Brad Neely: Someone did that. I’ve been finished with this show since January, maybe? We had originally planned to air it then, but for reasons that are beyond my paygrade, we were pushing it to now. So I’ve been twiddling my thumbs. So to see a lot of this content is like, “Oh shit, that’s right! I did that!” AVC: What made you want to explore the sketch-comedy, short-form realm after China, IL? Advertisement BN: I think that most people in my position have designs to do a show like this. It’s a format that really lends itself to animation—to do a quick joke, get out. And I’ve always done musical bits, and we always have little bits of funny that we try to fit into a narrative. This type of show I conceived as a place to dump a bunch of ideas, and not feel beholden to anything other than just being silly. I’ve always loved Saturday Night Live and Monty Python, and I wanted to live in those waters for a bit. AVC: The show has a Pythonesque, stream-of-consciousness flow to it. What determines which segments go together into a single episode? BN: We initially tried to do episodes that had a logical reasoning for [the segments] to be together, but we got rid of that early on. It was too restrictive. A lot of this show’s definitions came about through the production process. And I mean that by: There’s me who’s generating content faster than we can make. Songs: I go in my little whisper room—which I am in right now, it’s the perfect place to make phone calls—and make two or three songs a day sometimes. Or we’d write a bunch of skits. It started to get where we had all of these bits—like 600 bits. With animation, we wanted to get ahead of things, so a lot of it we would get down the pipileine and storyboard—and all the other processes—by way of having me scratch the audio before we went to get our talent. So “all of those things” is a long way of answering your question. All of those things determined “we just have to keep things loose. Don’t even think about episodes until we get a big batch of them.” And then it’s a very unromantic method of putting together an episode. This is probably the real answer—you might not even want to touch what I just said. [Laughs.] We would look at it and say, “How many songs can we have? How man dick jokes can we have? How many poop jokes can we have? How many sex jokes can we have?” And then we’re like, “Is the cast represented? Do we have enough bits for Ilana [Glazer], for Darrell [Hammond], for Affion [Crockett], for Gabourey [Sidibe]?” And then we need to put all of these things together that way. That was the math that would determine an episode. You have 11 minutes to fill up, and sometimes we’d get way down the line and we’d be like, “Oh shit: It goes ‘Dick, dick, lady humor, lady humor, dick, dick.’ We gotta swap it so it’s like ‘Dick, lady, dick, lady, dick.’” Advertisement AVC: When it came to casting the vocal talent, what were you looking for? BN: Also this is a very unromantic answer, I think: I wanted a dedicated cast. I wanted it to be diverse. And by that I wanted two men, two women, and I didn’t want it to be all white people. So we went with that first, and we sought people who fit those little quadrants, and we got what we got. And I think it really worked out. We asked a lot of people who were either busy or not into it. [Laughs.] That’s always part of it. But a lot of these people just really wanted to do this right off the bat. AVC: The dedicated cast, a different guest star for each episode—would you connect that back to your appreciation of Saturday Night Live? Advertisement BN: Yeah. Initially, it was a show where we had talked about just bringing on musicians, and then maybe offering to animate their music. But all the licensing stuff is intense. So then the idea of “How do we do SNL, but make it go faster and make it not be hamstrung by any of the traditions or prerequisites that show might be beholden to staying true to?” So we’re like, “Bring on a guest, and let them do two or three things, and if they want to sing they can.” So there’s no musical guest, you just all lump it all together. Then we went after casting it with SNL people [Laughs.] like Darrell Hammond. We pretty much ripped off Lorne Michaels. AVC: Animation is such a time-intensive process, and sketch comedy is so frequently powered by topicality and responsiveness. How topical can you be with this show? One of the early preview clips is about Donald Trump—is that indicative of what we’ll see as the show goes on? Advertisement BN: That’s about as topical as we’ll get. And if you’ve seen that, there isn’t anything that is speaking specifically to any kind of current Donald Trump headline. We made that bit early on in his announcement for presidency. And Trump, I felt like, “Well, he’s been in the news forever, so he’s not going to not be in the news by the time we get to this airing.” “Hopefully someone will not have killed him” is the only worry. I don’t really like to make fun of people or celebrities. It’s not where I feel comfortable. So when we do a Kanye bit, or a Taylor Swift bit—which we do—those are more about my strange associations that come to mind about them then taking them down or being part of a national conversation. So, yeah, we might be talking about Kanye, but I think if anyone watches that is like, “What are they saying about Kanye?” Who knows? AVC: It’s more about the general idea of that person, or the myth that they have projected out into the world? Advertisement BN: Yeah, but through my filter. My work can be called crazy or weird, but a lot of it is heavily scripted and down to the word and we’re very specific about what we’re after, even if it seems very random. But for this thing—for Taylor Swift, Kanye, we do one for Tyra Banks, we do one for James Bond—those are the only things that I’ve ever done that were completely ad libbed. Pretty much first takes. So I just think about Kanye and say what comes to mind. I think that’s how Kanye does it. AVC: China, IL’s Baby Cakes make a brief appearance in one of the teasers posted by Adult Swim. Are there any other callbacks to your previous work? Advertisement BN: This might be an answer to a question that I fumbled earlier: We started this show while we were finishing China season three. And at that time, we were not aware that there would be no more China. So at the conception of Harg Nallin’, it was going to be like a weird show that could also be a satellite to the China universe. Some of the conceptions of what would be episodes one or two had China characters in them. There was a Pony bit that was way too nasty and racy and we had to cut it. Greta [Gerwig, the voice of Pony] did it and everything, but it was going to bump us up to a different rating, so we took it out. There was a Frank bit we removed. Once we knew China was over, we took out a bunch of those, and the only ones we kept were two Baby Cakes songs, because we just loved the songs. Jeffrey Tambor is a special guest on one of the episodes, and we had planned on him doing his character from China, but last minute we shuffled and were able to salvage the guest spot for him in a different way. AVC: But from the first episode, at least, it seems like there might be a new cast of characters populating Harg Nallin’ Sclopio Peepio. Some of the segments—“Dog Dog,” or “Lil Perf”—feel introductory. Is that correct to assume? BN: That is incorrect. I’ll probably never touch Dog Dog again, or Lil Perf. This is all about false introductions. We introduce characters, we get you to know them, and then we leave them. Much like how life is. You just get to know someone on a train ride, or on a bus, and you never seem them again. But you get kind of a good picture, and you can imagine what their living room is like. That’s what this is. There are hundreds of characters that are designed and named and turned, and we will never come back to them. That’s the kind of creator that I am. There are some people that I want to get in there and do 30 episodes about, and we know them a little bit more. People ask me if I’m sad that China’s over, and I’m like, “Yeah, sure.” But that’s not what makes me excited. I’m just going to keep going, and make new people and new people and new people. There’s a band in Harg Nallin’ [Fruit Blood] that shows up a lot, and they’re the only ones I’m thinking, “If we do Harg Nallin’ 2, I’ll definitely do a lot more Fruit Blood songs.” Advertisement AVC: Do you think there will be a Harg Nallin’ 2? How was this process of coming up ideas that were primarily one-offs? Do you think you could do it again? BN: It’s so easy. I don’t want to sound like an asshole, but this is what I do. [Laughs.] Some people are really good at being policemen, I guess. [Laughs.] This is what I do. We actually have so much that we did that didn’t fit into season one that if they said, “Okay, we’re going to do season two,” we have the first episodes made. And I’ve got more coming that I’m just keeping a log of. It’s all about whether it performs well. Who knows, this could just be like a blip, and then I have to go back to writing narratives. Which is fine, I like that. But this is just being silly and trying to make [producers] Daniel Weidenfeld and Dave Newberg laugh and make it feel like we’re 14 again. That’s the mandate. Advertisement AVC: Is there anything else that you wanted to talk about that we didn’t get to? BN: I’m wondering if anybody’s interested in that Tarzan movie. I’m so interested in Tarzan right now. I don’t know why. I want to know why we keep telling the Tarzan story. AVC: It’s crazy that this movie exists in 2016. BN: I know! But I find myself wanting to see it. I wonder what that’s about. It makes me think so many different things, like why we are so fascinated with Tarzan. |
On January 17th, President Obama commuted the sentence of whistleblower Chelsea Manning. After an extremely tumultuous experience where she twice attempted suicide, Manning’s sentence was finally commuted shortly before President-Elect Donald Trump takes office. The decision is final and cannot be reversed by Trump. Manning, a transgender woman formerly known as Bradley Manning, was serving a 35 year sentence as she was convicted with counts of the Espionage Act for leaking government documents that exposed many of the United States government’s actions in the Bush administration, much of it specifically during the Iraq war. Government officials called her a “traitor” as well as many Americans. President Obama has been notorious for a “war on whistleblowers” as he has shown absolutely no mercy towards whistleblowers from intelligence committees exposing the criminal actions of the government. Jake Tapper of CNN stated that “the Obama administration has used the Espionage Act to go after whistleblowers who leaked to journalists … more than all previous administrations combined” — a claim that was verified by PolitiFact. President Obama refused to pardon Edward Snowden, who is now in asylum in Moscow, Russia and has been awaiting the extradition of Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks which has yet to happen during his presidency and most likely will not occur. Obama, who promised transparency, has put a lot of effort to prosecute whistleblowers that expose the actions of the government during his presidency. Not to mention that the information leaked didn’t put any lives at risk. According to the Hill, President Obama made these statements back in 2011 addressing Chelsea Manning: “We’re a nation of laws,” Obama said at the time, according to Forbes. “We don’t individually make our own decisions about how the laws operate … He broke the law.” Yes, President Obama — we may be a nation of laws, but when a law us deemed unjust, well…? I also find it extremely hypocritical of President Obama to make these statements as the first black president. Wasn’t the same argument used before by white supremacists against Martin Luther King’s and John Lewis’ sit-ins and marches that “were against the law”? This is the massive hypocrisy in the President’s logic. It appears that he is not aware that we are a democracy in which the American public, the American people, have a right to know what their elected officials are doing on their behalf. According to the Guardian: Brigadier General Robert Carr, a senior counter-intelligence officer who headed the Information Review Task Force that investigated the impact of WikiLeaks disclosures on behalf of the Defense Department, told a court at Fort Meade, Maryland, that they had uncovered no specific examples of anyone who had lost his or her life in reprisals that followed the publication of the disclosures on the internet. “I don’t have a specific example,” he said. So even the counter-intelligence officer heading the task force says that Chelsea Manning’s leaks did not lead to deaths or endangering of American troop’s lives. What gives Obama? Without Manning’s heroic acts and work, we would not have gained access to the “collateral damage” video, which shows the death of two reporters at the hands of American fire. The American government denied Reuters access to the video. Chelsea Manning also had the video of the Granai Airstrike in Afghanistan which is estimated to have killed from 86 to 147 civilians. However, it was never published because it was destroyed by Daniel Berg, according to Assange. The work of Chelsea Manning should be applauded and admired, not only because of the horrible treatment she faced but because of the amazing amounts of courage it took for her to release these documents and footage knowing what risks she could face. Manning faced horrible treatment in the detention center that was unjustified, according to a report by the Guardian: Juan Mendez has completed a 14-month investigation into the treatment of Manning since the soldier’s arrest at a US military base in May 2010. He concludes that the US military was at least culpable of cruel and inhumane treatment in keeping Manning locked up alone for 23 hours a day over an 11-month period in conditions that he also found might have constituted torture. Deprived of a fair trial, Chelsea Manning faced some of the worst conditions shortly afterward. She also suffered from mental instability and had trouble dealing with her transition to being a woman. She attempted suicide twice, and the response by the government was to put her in solitary confinement. The horrifying experiences that the hero Manning has endured is more than enough, and it is a huge relief to see the unjust conviction to be commuted. Chelsea Manning will be freed in May of 2017, instead of 2045. Chelsea Manning is not a traitor, she is not only a hero to America, but the heart and soul of democracy that it so desperately needs right now. |
By Orion McCarthy LIFE ON EARTH wouldn’t be the same without forests. An estimated 1.6 billion people around the world depend on forests for their livelihood. Forests provide food and timber, preserve water quality and soil fertility, and act as a home for 80% of the planet’s terrestrial species. They also act as the planet’s lungs. Forests produce one third of the oxygen we breathe and absorb more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere than any other global system except the ocean. As trees photosynthesize, they store vast quantities of carbon, making forests carbon sinks. Forests absorb almost 40% of all anthropogenic carbon emissions, and have the potential to significantly slow the rate of global climate change. However, only 15% of global carbon emissions are sequestered by forests. The rest is released back into the atmosphere due to deforestation and forest degradation. To maximize the carbon sequestration potential of forests, the United Nations launched an initiative called REDD+ (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation Programme) in 2007. The program aims to financially reward developing countries that successfully implement forest conservation, sustainable forest management, and reforestation programs. Slowing deforestation is the most pressing and immediate REDD+ goal because it provides the most short-term benefits, such as preventing the release of carbon dioxide and the loss of biodiversity. But in the long run, reforestation could prove to be key in the fight against climate change. The World Resources Institute estimates that over 2 billion hectares are available for reforestation worldwide, an area the size of South America. With such a large area available for replanting, the reforestation incentives put forth by REDD+ have profound implications. If new forests are designed to maximize carbon sequestration, how will that affect other forest qualities such as biodiversity or ecosystem services? Can conservationists promote carbon sequestration, ecological health, and sustainable resource harvesting at the same time, or are these qualities mutually exclusive? To answer that question, it helps to understand what makes a forest good at sequestering carbon. What Type of Forest is Best? When it comes to carbon sequestration, all trees are not created equal. The amount of carbon a tree sequesters varies based on the growth rate, age, and species of the particular tree. Young, rapidly growing trees uptake far more carbon than mature trees with slower growth rates. Warm and wet climates with long growing seasons also contribute to rapid plant growth and indirectly promote higher rates of carbon sequestration. Tropical rainforests are particularly valuable for carbon sequestration – they store substantially more carbon per unit area than temperate or boreal forests and are thought to absorb 18% of all global carbon emissions. Within tropical forests, sequestration levels vary among trees species: 50% of all carbon sequestered by the Amazon rainforest is absorbed by a prolific 1% of the region’s tree species. The age of the forest plays a roll as well. A recent study in Nature found that new rainforests grown on degraded lands, known as secondary forests, are capable of storing up to 11 times more carbon than old growth rainforests, where tree growth has largely plateaued. Sometimes reforestation isn’t the answer. At high latitudes, the conversion of barren land into forests changes the reflectivity of the ground by decreasing overall snow cover. Snow is bright and reflective, and it cools the climate by bouncing incoming solar radiation back into space, a process known as the albedo effect. Relatively dark forest cover absorbs that radiation instead, increasing global temperatures in the process. Sustainable Forest Management So what is the best way forward? Should conservationists shift their focus away from old growth forests towards secondary forests, or abandon projects in the arctic in favor of tropical ecosystems, all in the name of climate change mitigation? Not exactly. Every type of forest is valuable in it’s own way. While they might absorb less carbon, old growth forests are more ecologically stable and biodiverse than their secondary counterparts, and their loss would release huge amounts of already sequestered carbon back into the atmosphere. And while high latitude forests are less diverse than their tropical counterparts, they are still home to a unique array species that deserve protection. Instead of neglecting old growth forests, existing forest conservation should continue in tandem with reforestation efforts. In addition to the ecological benefits of old growth forests, their complex ecology can offer clues to foresters about the best ways to manage new forests. Reforestation can be managed to maximize carbon sequestration and human resource use while promoting ecological health. The process is known as sustainable forest management, and is a key cornerstone of REDD+. Reforestation and sustainable forest management rely on a diverse array of techniques, such as fire suppression, use of rapid growth native species, enrichment planting, community involvement, and agroforestry. To achieve the desired forest structure and diversity, land managers alter forestry practices based on observed results, a process known as adaptive management. Thanks to REDD+ incentives and organizations such as Conservation International and the Rainforest Alliance, sustainable management practices are being implemented across the globe to encourage reforestation in a holistic and ecologically sound manner. Reforestation efforts in the Philippines using rapid growth native species have provided a sustainable source of charcoal for locals and important habitat for the endangered Philippine eagle. In Mexico, shade grown coffee farmers are using multi-species plantations to increase carbon sequestration and local biodiversity. And in Fiji, a mix of native species and economically valuable timber species have been planted as part of a “green wall” to buffer ecologically valuable forests from disturbances. In all three cases, sustainable harvesting from the new forests has lifted communities out of poverty, provided wildlife habitat, and reduced pressure on the surrounding ecosystems. They will also sequester a combined 411,000 tons of carbon over the next 25 years. Hopefully the success of these projects will encourage further reforestation efforts on a large scale. To facilitate reforestation, the University of Maryland has partnered with the World Resources Institute and the IUCN to create the Atlas of Forest Landscape Restoration Opportunities, an interactive map that illustrates reforestation potential around the globe. Communities and conservationists can use the map to find the most suitable sites for reforestation programs, while the average citizen can use them to explore the current state of the world’s forests. Click here to check it out. What YOU can do Most of us don’t have massive plots of land to sustainably manage or reforest. Even so, no one is a bystander when it comes to forest conservation. By following these simple steps you can actively encourage reforestation efforts both locally and around the world. Try Meatless Mondays – Raising livestock is an incredibly wasteful process that requires huge amounts of energy and space. Meat production is responsible for 18% of carbon emissions and 32% of deforestation globally. Thankfully you can make a difference, even without becoming a vegetarian overnight. If everyone on the planet gave up meat for one day each week, it would be the equivalent of taking 190 million cars off the road in terms of carbon emissions. Buy Sustainable Products – Timber, paper, chocolate, palm oil, and coffee are among the many products sourced from forests around the world. By purchasing sustainable lumber, shade grown coffee, and other ecologically friendly products, you simultaneously promote reforestation and discourage deforestation. Look for products certified by the Rainforest Alliance, the Forestry Stewardship Council (FSC), or the Roundtable for Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO). Plant a Tree – Offset your own personal emissions by planting a tree on your property. Such a step may sound small or inconsequential, but planting even a single tree can offer environmental benefits, such as increasing wildlife habitat or improving local air quality. Depending on the species of tree, you could help to sequester up to 48 pounds of carbon each year. Some forests may be more useful than others when it comes to climate change. But overall, every forest, from the newly planted to the old and craggily, has a special place in the biosphere. LEARN MORE |
I’m Rob Saunders, Curator of the Letterform Archive. I’ve been collecting typography and letterforms of all kinds for 35 years. I created the Archive to share my passion and build community around the collection. The CALENDAR is 12¾ x 13”, printed in five colors on 80 lb. Sappi Flo Dull cover stock and wire bound. 12 Rare Masterworks with 12 Fresh Faces Each month features a rare masterwork from the Letterform Archive, exquisitely reproduced in high fidelity and full color, paired with a recent typeface carefully chosen to complement it. This curated selection of excellence in type design was developed with the collaboration of Stephen Coles, who discusses the selection process in this blog post. Scroll down for a sample monthly page. January . A M Cassandre . Mislab by Xavier Dupré February . Edward Johnston . London by Henrik Kubel March . Francisco Palomares . Rumba by Laura Meseguer April . Rudo Spemann . A wonderful new face releasing on 20 November May . Piet Zwart . Versa by Peter Verheul June . William Addison Dwiggins . Metro Nova by Toshi Omagari July . Will Bradley . Shift by Jeremy Mickel August . Paul Renner . FF Mark by Hannes von Döhren & Christoph Koeberlin September . Ben Shahn . Turnip by David Jonathan Ross October . Rudy VanderLans . Program by Zuzana Licko November . Ladislav Sutnar . Ladislav by Tomáš Brousil December . Filippo Marinetti . Enquire by Antonio Cavedoni 232 Birthdays of Letter Artists Each month also features about twenty birthdays of notable personalities in the letter arts whose work is represented in the Archive, the most extensive birthday list of its kind ever published. These artists are featured in the Artists of Letterform Game, the completed game board of which becomes the back cover of the calendar. The current state of the gameboard A sample monthly page (Click to enlarge) We will print as many calendars as are preordered, and it will not be reprinted. Don’t miss out! For more details, including a gallery of all the featured images, click here. Certain pledge levels include a set of twelve POSTCARDS featuring the same masterworks as the calendar, also printed in five colors on 80 lb. Sappi Flo Dull cover stock. Every backer, regardless of support level, will also receive a download link for 12 calendar WALLPAPERS (computer desktop images) featuring the same twelve masterworks. Every pledge means more beautiful typography out in the world, and more encouragement for the Letterform Archive, which is in its infancy today but has much more up its sleeve. Thank you for your support. Nota Bene Domestic shipping is included in the purchase price. For other destinations, please add the amount indicated for each pledge level. If you order more than one calendar, you can provide a separate shipping address for each, or have them all sent to one address. Other Ways To Contribute Help spread the word about the calendar—and the Archive—by sharing this link on Facebook, Twitter, and other social media. (Use the Kickstarter share tools.) If you'd like to stay in the loop and connect with me, please follow me on Twitter (@LettArc) or like my page on Facebook. Thanks! Tweetimonials for the Letterform Archive "If you appreciate why high fidelity equipment exists for good audio, you'll appreciate @LettArc for type." - Christopher Slye (@ChristopherSlye), San Francisco, CA "I think Letterform Archive might be my new favourite Twitter person." - Pat Armstrong (@poisontofu), Australia “These Dwiggins samples Rob Saunders is showing are amazing.” - Neil Patel (@greyletter), Portland, ME "I confess I didn’t know who Rob Saunders was until recently. But I’m so grateful for @LettArc. Sharing knowledge makes the world go round." - Caren Litherland (@litherland), New York, NY "@LettArc these are tremendous. Please keep it up!" - Kris Sowersby (@klimtypefoundry), New Zealand "Excelente infografía." José María Cerezo (@cerezoom), Spain “I love being able to see the compass pinholes and pen strokes. :) Nice scan/photo!" - Abby Larsen (@abberdab), Portland, OR |
Welcome to my Flag and Templar Maps guide for Assassin's Creed. This guide covers the Xbox 360, Playstation 3 (PS3) and the PC versions of the game. Thank you SO MUCH to everyone who donated to pay for the domain registration andd hosting costs for the year, I honetly would not have been able to pay it otherwise. I have emailed each of you to thank you. I also wish to thank the Twitch channel GameXplorersNL for donating the last $30 required. You all saved the site. Now onto the future of the site. Assassin's Creed is now a very old game, and the site has sadly slowly began to die over the last few years. It was rather stupid of me to not continue to update the site with new content with the later installments of the games such as Assassin's Creed 2. I have FINALLY began working on a guide for AC2, and with the resent release of The Ezio Collection I am hoping that it will revitalize the site if I provide Assassin's Creed II maps for Feathers and Glyphs. After adding support and content for AC2, I will then decide wether or not it is worth providing such maps for the later games (Brotherhood and revelations for example are probably not worth it having their own in-game maps) but guides and videos and such will probably be a good move. Now the site has been paid up for the next year, but I do still kindly ask if you find the site useful, please consider donating, as it is after all what keeps the site going. Finally thank you for using my site! »»» Please consider donating if you find the site useful ««« FiReStOrM^ |
At some point we look up at the sky at night and wonder a bit. What is all of this stuff and why is it there? For some of us, we find ourselves with our first telescope. It’s typically a simple combination of a refractor telescope on a wooden tripod. As we discover more we learn what a refractor is and how a wooden tripod that gave us such wonderful views of the Moon betrayed us when we wanted to see further. It’s then that we begin to invest and develop our equipment for the simple reason, “we are hooked.” Hooked on the ability to see the planets, objects and distant galaxies in what we perceive as real-time. And then we learn that there is no real-time because most of what we are observing is an event that happened minutes, hours, years, and millions of years ago. It’s at that point that our observations become a bit deeper on an intellectual level, and for some of us – an emotional level. What should I know about the equipment? If you’ve made the decision to watch the night-sky for whatever reason, you have some options to consider from an equipment standpoint. Before we get into some of the basics of how to use a telescope, it’s good to understand some equipment fundamentals that will affect your viewing. To put it simply there are 4 kinds of telescopes you can buy. One is a refractor, two is a reflector or “Newtonian“, three is a “Dobsonian” and the fourth is a Schmitt-Cassegrain. If all of that sounds confusing, rest assured it is and it will not get simpler. But you can make some simple decisions as you develop your strategy for night-sky viewing and the tactics you choose to use. How does the type of telescope affect my viewing? Refractor A refractor is a concept that goes back as far as Copernicus and Galileo. It’s a tube with lenses that magnify an object. It’s the simplest scope to use and typically costs more than a reflector telescope. Reflector (Newtonian) A reflector telescope uses a concave mirror to reflect light to a prism that directs it to an eyepiece. Basic scopes are inexpensive and easy to use. However, you may have to collimate the scope from time to time. This involves aligning the mirror with the prism and the eyepiece and is fairly easy to use once you understand the concept. Dobsonian A Dobsonian telescope is essentially a very large tube that functions like a reflector but provides a very wide field of view. As a result, the mounts for Dobsonian scopes are somewhat simple. There are a range of sizes and prices. The downside to a Dobsonian scope is that they are large and somewhat cumbersome. This makes it difficult to transport beyond your backyard. Schmitt-Cassegrain The Cassegrain telescope (also knows as a catadioptric) is essentially a hybrid of a reflector and refractor. They tend to be very compact, are easily portable and also the most expensive scope across their range. While all scopes can be used for astrophotography, many people prefer a Cassegrain style scope for photography due to its compact size. Why do people say the tripod and mount are so important? Many amateur astronomers wish they had made a significant investment in their first tripod and mount. The tendency is to focus on the telescope and accept whatever tripod or mount accompanies it. A good tripod and mount allows you to accurately track celestial objects as they move across the sky. There are two fundamental types of mounts. The alt-azimuth mount and the equatorial mount. The alt-azimuth is the most basic mount and will do just fine for most amateur astronomers. The Equatorial mount is designed to work with motor-drives and computerized drives and are both complex and more expensive. One thing to keep in mind is the total weight. If you regularly travel to remote locations you may struggle a bit with a very heavy tripod and mount. If you’re just starting out an alt-azimuth mount should work just fine although it does not work as well as an equatorial mount when it comes to astrophotography. Do I need a motor drive or computer capability? You can purchase a scope with a motor-drive or computer capability or add them at a later date. If you are considering deep space observations and especially astrophotography, a motor drive is somewhat of a necessity for any object at significant distance. The computer option will actually direct your scope to the object in the sky once you have calibrated it to your exact latitude and longitude. How can I learn to use my telescope when it’s the dark? One of the hardest lessons that many of us learn occurs the first time we take our scope out into the darkness of night. Suddenly, all of the fundamental things we need to do to adjust the tripod and mount; get pointed in the right direction; locate our first object and then learn how to track it – it can be overwhelming. Especially when it’s cold and dark. There is a simple solution. It’s the daylight-Moon. Many times when we look up at the sky during the day we’ll see the Moon high in the sky. That’s the perfect time to get your scope out and learn the fundamentals. It’s easier to practice when you can see. What should I practice? Study all of the adjustments that both your scope and your mount are capable of doing. Teach yourself to remember exactly what each adjustment does so you can make these adjustments automatically in the dark. This includes focusing, tracking azimuth and altitude, and the location and effect of various eyepieces, filters and lenses. Focusing Some scopes have two focusing knobs. One for a rough focus on an object and a second for final focus. Practice with these and remember which is which. Azimuth This is the horizontal adjustment you need to make as celestial objects move across the sky due to the rotation of the Earth. Figure out where the adjustment know is on your scope and learn to track horizontal motion. Altitude This is the second type of adjustment and it’s a vertical adjustment that allows you to track objects moving up or down through your field of view. In actual fact you’ll probably need to adjust both altitude and azimuth simultaneously so practice that with your daylight moon observation. Eyepieces and accessories Most have a tray for eyepieces and accessories on the tripod. Develop a system so you always know where each eyepiece is located, remember its power or magnification, and consistently return them to the same spot in the tray. How do I use a star chart? A star chart is fundamentally based on constellations. You should learn the basic constellations so you can recognize them in the night-sky. Charts also vary by season. What we see in the summer is different than the night-sky in winter to some degree. A new development is the growing number of apps that can be downloaded to wireless mobile devices and computers. This gives you significant flexibility and many of the wireless mobile apps are keyed to the GPS system in your device. As a result you can hold your device up to the sky and the app will track across the sky and identify objects, planets and constellations. There are so many accessories. Which ones do I need? There are numerous accessories you can buy for your telescope, but remember that you’ll have to carry it all with you if you’re going far afield to watch the sky. Here are some of the most popular that you might want to consider. A red LED flashlight or a flashlight with a red lens. This is what every astronomer uses to make adjustments, change lenses, or consult star charts. The red light does not affect our eyes light white light allowing our retina’s to remain wide open to the night sky. or a flashlight with a red lens. This is what every astronomer uses to make adjustments, change lenses, or consult star charts. The red light does not affect our eyes light white light allowing our retina’s to remain wide open to the night sky. A Barlow lens . A Barlow lens doubles the magnification of your scope. . A Barlow lens doubles the magnification of your scope. Hunter gloves . These are gloves that have cuts in the material at the fingertips. They’re designed to allow a hunter to feel the trigger, but can help a great deal on a cold, winter night when you are trying to do precise focus or adjustments on your scope. . These are gloves that have cuts in the material at the fingertips. They’re designed to allow a hunter to feel the trigger, but can help a great deal on a cold, winter night when you are trying to do precise focus or adjustments on your scope. A Diary. This allows you to keep a record of your viewing so you can find an object easier the next time, or want to remember the settings or adjustments for viewing a particular object or photograph. Ultimately, the best way to learn how to use your telescope is to simply use it on a regular basis. Over time you will master the mechanics of the scope and will discover more and more objects and events that the night sky never fails to deliver. Image Credits: 1, 2a, 2, 3. |
We should have taken his media bashing literally and seriously. Yuri Gripas/Reuters It was hard for anyone to know, in the course of Donald Trump’s presidential campaign, which of his pledges and threats to take seriously. Shortly after winning the election, he made it clear he would not attempt to prosecute Hillary Clinton, suggesting his “lock her up” rhetoric had been largely theater. On the other hand, one of his first major moves as president was to implement a travel ban that looked a lot like the Muslim ban he had called for on the trail. That punctured the argument, memorably advanced by Salena Zito in the Atlantic last September, that Trump’s more outrageous claims were not to be taken literally. Right up there with Hillary Clinton and immigrants in Candidate Trump’s trinity of bêtes noires was the political press, aka the “media elite.” (It was only after his election that they became the “fake news media.”) At various points in his campaign, he emitted ominous noises about his plans for cracking down on press freedom, such as his February 2016 pledge to “open up libel laws” so that he could more easily win suits against news organizations when they write “hit pieces.” A year later, as president, he declared the news media “the enemy of the American people.” He added that he had directed the Department of Justice to open a crimininal investigation into the leaks that had allowed journalists a window into the early doings of his administration, including the fireable offenses of his first national security adviser, Michael Flynn. Putting two and two together, Washington Post media columnist Margaret Sullivan wondered then if Trump might go after journalists as well as leakers. “Some knowledgeable lawyers and academics say it’s unlikely,” she reported, suggesting that Trump might just be rallying the base. But she didn’t sound entirely reassured. More recently, some commentators have questioned the sincerity of Trump’s attacks on the press, suggesting that his outrage and the media’s serve the interests of both sides. Politico Magazine wrote last month of Trump’s “fake war on the fake news.” But it now seems clear that the war is real: Trump has every intention of using his power as president to punish journalists who cross him. On Tuesday night, the New York Times reported that, according to a memo written by James Comey, Trump had asked the then-director of the FBI to lay off of Flynn, who is under investigation—a possible obstruction of justice. But that’s not the story’s only chilling revelation. According to the Times, on Feb. 14 Trump made another request of Comey: Alone in the Oval Office, Mr. Trump began the discussion by condemning leaks to the news media, saying that Mr. Comey should consider putting reporters in prison for publishing classified information, according to one of Mr. Comey’s associates. It can’t really shock anyone, at this point, to learn that Trump apparently tried to use the FBI to muzzle the press. But it should scare people nonetheless. Unlike changing the libel laws, prosecuting reporters for publishing classified information is something that experts say Trump may actually have the power to do. And we should no longer delude ourselves that he would hesitate to do it. The First Amendment laid down strong protections for the press, and courts have protected its freedom to publish classified information at important junctures in history. Famously, the Supreme Court ruled in 1971 that the Nixon Administration couldn’t stop newspapers from publishing the Pentagon Papers. Yet as James Risen explained in the Times in December, the Obama administration laid a troubling blueprint by invoking the World War I–era Espionage Act against journalists as well as leakers. (Obama was building on precedents set by his predecessor, George W. Bush, as NPR’s David Folkenflik recently explained.) Obama’s Justice Department eventually backed off, fearing a backlash, and then–Attorney General Eric Holder later said he regretted the overreach. The Trump administration, we can be confident, would have no such compunction. “Publishing classified information has generally been considered a bedrock right of journalists,” Trevor Timm, executive director of the Freedom of the Press Foundation, told me in a phone conversation on Tuesday. “I think there is at least a broad consensus among the legal community that bringing such a prosecution would violate the First Amendment. But when you look at how the Espionage Act is written, it’s written so broadly that, just judging by the letter of the law, newspapers are violating it all the time.” Timm said he doubts the act could withstand constitutional scrutiny if applied in that way. Still, he added, “there’s nothing stopping the DOJ from trying to bring that case, and that’s what’s so disturbing. Even the specter of such a prosecution would certainly chill a lot of reporting.” That might not sound like such a bad thing to those who believe classified information is meant to stay classified. But, Timm said, “In the past 40 to 50 years, virtually every really important story on national security or foreign policy that has been reported in major newspapers has contained classified info. If you outlaw journalists from publishing this type of information, it’s almost like outlawing journalism itself.” Which might be just fine with Trump, who refers to real news as “fake news” and has also mused about canceling White House press briefings in favor of handing out written responses to questions. But it ought to trouble anyone who prefers a free society to an autocratic one, including Republicans. It should—but perhaps it won’t. With the GOP in control of Congress and the Supreme Court, only Trump’s own party has the power to rein him in. But its unofficial mouthpiece, Fox News, has devoted itself to running interference for the president by treating everything he says as the truth while dismissing critical, fact-based reporting as liberal propaganda. Meanwhile, a recent Pew survey found that most Republicans no longer support a watchdog role for the media as a check on politicians’ power. The party, it seems, has evolved to accommodate its leader’s illiberal inclinations. No one knew, when they voted for Trump, just what he would do if elected president. Many Republicans comforted themselves with the assumption that he wouldn’t actually carry out his more radical threats to upend democratic norms. Once again, that assumption has been exploded. Perhaps someday those who clung to it will be able to admit that they were wrong. The question is how much damage they’ll let him do first. |
Andy is a short story writer, who makes his living by working at a huge faceless company in present day Chicago, writing Technical Manuals. In his active, fertile, writer's imagination, we see (and hear as he narrates) the stories of his daily life, as they should be, could be, might be, and even actually how they are. Andy shares his office with the company's newest employee, and Andy's newest friend, the frail, jumpy, odd, loveable Byron. Also inhabiting Andy's world is his best friend Keith, who is "so good looking" that Andy must fight his own "prejudice against the 'attractive,' who seem to get everything they want, unlike ordinary humans." Supervisor Jessica is also Andy's longtime friend and uses her lightening sharp tongue to keep the group out of, or at times, to get the group INTO trouble. The newer receptionist Wendy (Irene Molloy, "Grosse Pointe"), whom Andy first had a crush on, is dating Keith (somewhat proving Andy's "Attractive Theory"). Written by Anonymous |
Pearls on a String Volume 2 Chapter 15: Downtime Town of Vale Friday Evening Evie strolled along the busy sidewalk, her arm securely wrapped around her blue-haired girlfriend's shoulders. They'd just finished dinner, and were in no particular hurry to get anywhere just yet, rather just enjoying each other's company. The Cat Faunus glanced down at Beryl, noting her bronze eyes glinting in the streetlamps that cut through the night to illuminate their way. The shorter girl's face was relaxed, a small grin tugging at the corners of her mouth as she tightened her arm around her own waist. Dust, she is so beautiful… Why did it take me so long to figure out how much she means to me? It'd been two weeks since they'd changed their relationship for the better, and every day she caught herself more and more in wonderment with her petite girlfriend. There was much she had already admired and knew about her, the steadfast loyalty and protectiveness she harbored towards the team, the way she would observe with quick, careful, and intelligent eyes the movements of other students as they sparred. But she'd begun to realize that Beryl often trained that same intense gaze upon herself. It made her feel like she was the center of the blue-haired girl's universe. And then there were the little things that she did, or gestures that she seemed to effortlessly make. Like tonight, when she took her out to a new seafood restaurant. Or when Beryl had so shyly asked if she could start using her hygiene products, somehow knowing what that gesture would mean to a Faunus, to have Evie's scent on her, marking her as hers. The way she would gently play with her ears every night before bed. Or know just when Evie was on the verge of stressing out over a paper or test, and effortlessly reigning her emotions back in with a shoulder rub, or another ear scritch, or just a break to go on a walk outside. Evie let out a soft sigh. I really don't deserve someone as wonderful as her… "What was that for?" Beryl perceptively murmured. The raven-haired Faunus glanced back over at her again. "Sometimes… I just wonder how you do what you do, y'know?" Beryl pulled the pair to a halt, looking up at her with a blank expression. "I mean… all the things you do for me… I just…" Evie sighed and closed her eyes. "I don't feel like I do enough to deserve everything you do, everything you mean to me." She opened her eyes again when she felt a small hand cup her cheek. Beryl's light bronze eyes were shining now with earnestness. "How can you say that?" her girlfriend whispered. "You are so, so very worthy of all my love… Everything you are to me…" Beryl cleared her throat in embarrassment, glancing away briefly. "Um, I know I'm not the best with words sometimes… But, you're my kitty cat, you're my heart, and everything I do for you is because I want to, I want to… show you how much I love you, and, y'know… just because I want to." Evie smiled down at her, ignoring the press of the passersby as they flowed around the couple. "You are so sweet…" she murmured. "There's the smile I love to see," Beryl beamed. "That's why I do what I do. To make you happy, and to see you smile like that." "You do, you make me so very happy…" "And you make me happy as well… Dust, I've never been so happy in all my life." They gazed into each other's eyes blissfully for another moment before Evie lowered her head and gave Beryl a slow, sweet kiss. "I love you," she murmured against the blue-haired girl's lips. "I love you too," Beryl murmured back. They resumed their stroll, a little more of a bounce in their steps than before. Suddenly Evie wanted to get back to their room and some privacy, as much as she was enjoying the open air. "Can we head back?" she asked nonchalantly. Beryl grinned, not fooled in the slightest, as she ran her hand along her ribs ever so casually. Her small, calloused hands made her shiver even through her clothes. "I'd like that," she replied. They separated a little bit so that they might hold hands instead, as it would allow them to walk towards the airbus platform faster. "Oh, wait!" Beryl exclaimed, pulling them to a halt. "We almost forgot to pick up our order!" Evie giggled quietly. "Well, that would suck. We'd never hear the end of it from the others if we were so eager to get back that we forgot." "Seriously," Beryl chuckled, steering them down a side street. "I think we've passed through Pip's grace period, any teasing is fair game now…" Fifteen minutes later saw Beryl lugging a good-sized box back towards the platform again, while Evie looked at her askance. "You sure you don't want help with that?" she asked hesitantly. "Nope!" Beryl replied confidently. "It's all good, this isn't even the hardware, we already picked that up yesterday." "So it's a box of wooden blocks?" Evie asked. She was excited that they would soon have their bunk beds put together, finally. "Right, but with the necessary holes already punched through the centers. Now we just have to drill the holes in the tops of the bottom bunks and the bottom of the top bunks." "If you say so… How do you know how to do all this, anyways?" Beryl shot her an amused glance. "You saw my Dad, right? He raised me like a son. I know all about woodworking." "Hmm, a woman of hidden talents," Evie giggled. "What other fun stuff have you been hiding from me?" "Well…" Beryl mused, her lips pursed in thought. "I can make a really mean chili." The Cat Faunus barked out a loud laugh, not having expected that response at all. "Yep, many hidden talents," she snickered. "Not to mention a seriously good kisser." "Oum, and modest to boot." "Hey, those were your words." "I must have been under your spell at that point." Beryl snorted humorously. "What, my kissing puts you under my spell?" "Yeah," Evie sighed blissfully. "Yeah, it does." Her girlfriend blushed brightly as they boarded the next transport to Beacon. "Um… well I suppose that makes two of us." "What, you fall under you own spell?" Evie snarked. "That's not… You are such a dork. Cute, but a dork." "Mmhmm," Evie grinned, leaning over her once they'd taken their seats with the box under their legs. "And I'm your dork." "I would say the both of you are rather profound examples of dorks," a soft voice interjected from behind them. The pair turned to see a pair of light blue eyes, twinkling in merriment, staring back at them. "Hey, Lustre!" Beryl greeted her silver-haired partner. "Didya have fun in town?" "I did," she replied, walking around to sit next to them. "I purchased a few new books, as well as… clothing." "Wait, what?" Evie exclaimed in shock. "You… went clothes shopping?" Lustre blushed lightly, the action showing up even on her dusky skin. "Well, yes… Pip made some recommendations while she and Rufus were with me. I have a new casual dress. It is very nice." "Well, how about that," the Cat Faunus said, sitting back again. "And how are the other lovebirds doing?" Rufus Henna, Pip's boyfriend from Shade Academy, had decided to come out from Vacuo and visit for the weekend, subsequently blowing through much of his cash reserves in the process for the two-way ticket. Their blonde leader was extremely touched by the gesture, and was taking him around town to enjoy the nightlife. "They were prepared to, er, 'hit the town', as it were," Lustre commented with a small smile. "I do believe they wanted me to mention they would be out quite late tonight." "Oh, really?" Beryl asked, a gleam in her eyes. "Indeed," Lustre smirked. "Also, I might have not mentioned this, but I have been invited to a video viewing party over at Team Iris' room. It will also likely run late." Evie giggled. "Thanks, sweetie," she murmured. "It is my pleasure. I shall be sure to knock before I enter when I retire for the night." Beryl and Evie turned to each other, both wearing goofy grins. "Well, then," Evie murmured. "It's a good thing we decided to return when we did." "Yes," Beryl murmured back. "Yes it is." Beacon Academy Lustre stayed just long enough to drop off her purchases and change into her kimono sleepwear before leaving for her friends' room. The couple turned towards each other after dropping their box off in the corner next to the other hardware for the bunk beds. "Sooo…" Beryl drawled, one eyebrow raised inquisitively. Evie fidgeted with the dark red straps that encased her upper arms. "How about we get ready for bed early?" "Sounds good. Um, you wanna just… go ahead?" The Cat Faunus glanced around in embarrassment. As strongly as they felt towards each other, they'd still done nothing more than kiss. Each was even more hesitant now to undress in front of the other, which seemed kind of silly in her mind. Dust, we've dressed in front of each other before, it's never been that big of a deal… Why is it I feel so unsure now of doing so? Beryl quickly picked up on her hesitation. "I can go change in the bathroom," she quickly interjected. "No… No, it's okay, um… I'll just…" Evie turned her back on her girlfriend and, facing her dresser, began to remove her clothing, pulling off her accessories first before slipping her black crop top off. She bent down to remove her boots when she risked a quick peek over her shoulder. Her blue-haired girlfriend was in the process of taking her own boots off, but was openly staring at her. She gave a start once she'd been found out, and quickly turned around again. "Really, sweetie?" "I'm sorry," Beryl mumbled. "I just… Yeah, I have no excuse for peeking. Sorry." Evie laughed as she pulled her black leggings and bra off before stepping into her sleep shorts. "I, um… I don't mind, I guess," she replied hesitantly as she slipped her camisole top over her head. "Are you… decent?" "Yeah." The Cat Faunus turned at the slightly dejected tone in Beryl's voice to see her staring down at her own sleeping attire. The blue sleep pants and baggy white shirt that bore her sapphire blue protection knot emblem on it were to be expected, but not the glum look on her face. "What's wrong?" she asked, taking a step forward to rest her hands on Beryl's shoulders. "Do you… Should I maybe get something else to sleep in?" her girlfriend asked meekly. "Something, I dunno… more feminine?" Evie sighed affectionately and pulled her the rest of the way into a hug. "If you want to, that's fine," she murmured. "But don't feel you have to just for me. I like your pajamas, and I know they're comfortable to you." "Says the sexy Cat Faunus who wears skimpy sleepwear to bed," Beryl mumbled into her chest. "Sexy?" Evie asked, unsure if she'd heard right. "Um…" Beryl sighed. She could almost hear the gears in her brain turning fast to figure out a way to retract her previous statement. "Yeah. I got nothing. That's what I said alright." "Well, um… I never really thought of this as…" Evie paused and blinked her eyes in surprise. Beryl was pressed against her in a hug, which was nothing new, but while wearing her camisole top, her rather low-cut camisole top… "Your face is in my boobs," she finally stated levelly. "That it is," Beryl replied calmly. "Not complaining any." "Um." Evie was at a bit of a loss. On the one hand, they'd decided not to move their relationship forward in any physical sense, and Beryl had repeatedly expressed her desire to take things at whichever pace she wanted, as slow as she desired. Yet, on the other hand, having Beryl pressed up like this, her breath warm on her halfway-exposed bosom, filled her with a tingly feeling that was altogether pleasant. Her brain began screaming at her about how important it was to wait for such things, as she'd always planned. Meanwhile, her libido smacked her brain firmly and reminded it that not only was Beryl, without a doubt, worthy mating material, but this felt really, really, really good. Evie's body, content at letting the two of them battle things out, decided to just leave things as they were. Traitor, her brain complained. Shut it, you, her libido retorted. "Hey, Evie?" her girlfriend eventually murmured. "Um… Did you wanna get in bed?" "Bed!" she exclaimed far more loudly than she'd intended, causing Beryl to jump slightly. "I mean, yes, yes we should. Get in bed. Together." Beryl pulled back, gazing up at her with a bemused look. "Are… you okay?" "Fine, never better," Evie replied, knowing her eyes were perhaps a little wild. She closed them, and took a deep breath. Once she opened them again, it was to catch Beryl's gaze shooting back up towards her face. "Were you just checking me out again?" she asked humorously. Beryl sighed, and turned towards her bed. "I really do try to behave," she grumbled petulantly. "But it's Dust-damned hard when you're so gorgeous." Evie giggled as she slid under the covers next to her small girlfriend. "I'm sorry I make things so difficult for you." "Well, I'm not," Beryl smiled. "Wouldn't want you any other way than as you are." "You just wanna make sure I don't wear anything more concealing to bed." "Dust, no, please… That would just be cruel…" Evie cleared her throat as she leaned forward, a blush brightening her face. "Well… what about something, um… more revealing?" Beryl gazed into her eyes, a matching blush spreading across her cheeks. "Oh, that would be even more cruel… Might just kill me, in fact…" "Well, we wouldn't want that to happen," Evie murmured before sealing her lips against Beryl's. Once again the Cat Faunus reveled in the feeling of Beryl's softness pressed up against her, her velvety tongue swirling inside her mouth and against her own tongue. Beryl's strong hands reached up and around her waist, grasping at the back of her camisole to pull her in tighter against her body. Evie rolled slightly so that she was fully on top. One arm was wrapped around Beryl's middle while she ran the fingers of her other hand through her chin-length blue hair. She was feeling a little more aggressive than usual, perhaps because of their earlier embrace, but she let her arm slide down further towards Beryl's waist to pull her in as tight as she could. In doing so, however, Beryl's leg made contact with her vagina through her sleep shorts. Evie gasped loudly and shot off of Beryl. Her nerves were sparking like she'd been shot with an infusion of white dust, and she found herself trembling at the unanticipated contact. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" Beryl exclaimed in a panic. "I didn't mean to, really, it just-" Evie reached over and placed her fingers against Beryl's lips, cutting off her babbling. "It's… okay, sweetie, just… a little unexpected, is all." She turned on her side so that they were facing each other again. Beryl's eyes were filled with worry, which in turn made her feel incredibly guilty. "Really, it's okay," she tried to assure her. "Well, okay then…" Beryl hesitantly leaned forward again and gave her a soft kiss. "Maybe… we just stay like this, then?" "Yeah…" Evie replied absently. Her libido was once again screaming at her to jump that beautiful girl right now, while her brain was still shouting the same refrain as before. "Evie?" "Um… I…" Evie closed her eyes. "I don't know what I want," she admitted softly. "Oh." Beryl cupped her face in her hands, stroking her cheeks with calloused thumbs. Evie leaned into the touch, practically purring at the rough feeling against her skin. "You know," the blue-haired girl began hesitantly. "There's… well, stuff we can do that's short of actual, um… sex." Evie blinked her eyes open again, both her brain and libido silencing in rapt attention to what she had to say. "Go on…" she prompted, trying to keep the eagerness out of her voice. "Well, beside the kissing… um…" Beryl was blushing brightly, but decided to instead let her actions speak for her. She reached down to grasp Evie's hand and slowly pull it up to her own small chest. Evie's mouth made a circle as she gazed down wondrously, and then her lips clamped shut once Beryl had moved her hand up to the intended target. "It's just kinda fooling around a little," Beryl explained, her voice somewhat strained. "Without crossing the line. At least, I think it doesn't. Unless you think it does?" "No," she breathed. "I don't… I think this might be, um, okay… maybe…" "Hey, kitty cat," Beryl murmured, drawing her gaze upwards again. "I'm not going to rush you into doing anything you don't want to do, okay? "I… I want to, really… but I'm just not sure…" Beryl nodded, and gently moved Evie's hand off of her chest and around her waist again. "If you're unsure, then you're not ready," she stated adamantly. "And that's okay." I was really enjoying that, her libido complained. Her brain just shrugged wordlessly. She's not wrong. "But…" "Evie, don't worry about it," Beryl assured her, leaning forward to kiss her once more. Evie closed her eyes, feeling them burn slightly with her irritation at herself. Why can't I figure out what I want? I already said my bit, her libido stated crossly. She waited for her brain to make a rejoinder, but it seemed to have found something more interesting to deal with elsewhere. Beryl pulled back and grinned sheepishly. "Um, Evie…?" "Yeah?" "Your tail is going up my shirt." Evie let out a squawk and grabbed at the offending appendage, holding it firmly behind her. "Sorry, sweetie," she blushed. "Sometimes it just has a mind of its own…" "Well," Beryl chuckled. "Maybe it just acts through your subconsciousness?" "Could be," Evie conceded thoughtfully. She was the one to initiate the kiss this time, putting both her passion and frustration into it as she pressed her body up against her slender girlfriend. It's really not crossing a line… Is it? No, no it's not… Having made up her mind, Evie rolled back and pulled Beryl on top of her. Instead of supporting the diminutive girl by the waist, she slipped both hands up and hesitantly placed them on her small chest. Beryl let out a soft moan into her mouth, which, to be honest, gave her another warm tingly feeling through her entire body. They stayed like that, each one afraid to move but still deepening the kiss as much as they could, before Beryl finally pulled away and rolled off of her. They lay side by side, both of them panting for breath. Evie's finally subsided somewhat, though the tingly feeling didn't seem to want to subside. Beryl, on the other hand, seemed to be still struggling to even out her breathing. Finally the blue-haired girl leaned over and gave her a quick kiss. "Um… I need to use the restroom." Evie just nodded and watched as her girlfriend darted over towards the bathroom, closing the door behind her. Well, that was… something. I suppose she enjoyed that? I know I would have… Her face blushed brightly at the thought of those small and roughly calloused hands wandering over her own chest. Oum, just thinking about that… really, really excites me… She stifled a moan as she rolled onto her side. But then her Faunus ears picked up on another faint sound coming from the restroom. Evie sucked in a quick breath of surprise. Beryl wasn't using the restroom for what she thought she was using it for, not if the labored pants coming from there were anything to go by. Oh, Dust damn it all… And it wasn't like she could stop hearing it. Well, she could have, really, by stuffing her head under a pillow… But she found herself simply not wanting to stop hearing it. And then her own hand crept down her stomach, and she sighed resignedly. Well, shit. May as well, at this point… Perhaps ten minutes later Beryl entered the room again, flipped the light switch, and slipped under the covers next to Evie. The Cat Faunus looked over, and her vision easily picked up on her girlfriend's chagrined blush even with the lights out. "Sorry," Beryl murmured. "Um… I didn't think about, you know…" "How I would be able to hear everything?" Evie finished for her wryly. "Yeah, that." "Well…" It was Evie's turn to blush now. "I may have… taken care of myself as well." "Oh." Beryl chuckled weakly. "Seems kinda silly to do something like that in separate rooms." Evie turned fully onto her side, unsure if she'd heard her correctly, or if she was interpreting that with any degree of accuracy. Yep, pretty sure she meant exactly that, her brain assured her. Her libido just purred contentedly. She swallowed her suddenly dry throat. "Well… maybe some time…" "Later," Beryl stated with a nod. She looked over at Evie and smiled warmly. "Much later." "Yeah. Later." Evie leaned down and gave her a kiss. "I love you," she whispered. "And… I appreciate you being so patient with me." "Told you, kitty cat," Beryl grinned. "I'm not going anywhere. I can afford to be patient." "I'm glad." Beryl gave the tip of her nose a kiss. "And I love you, too. Let's get some sleep, huh?" "Okay, sweetie. 'Night." "G'night, love." Evie rolled over to allow Beryl to spoon her. She smiled softly to herself as her girlfriend reached up to run her nimble fingers along one of her black furry ears on the top of her head. Yeah, I'm not going anywhere either. I think… I think I may have just found my mate. Took you long enough to figure that out, her brain complained. Seriously, her libido chimed in with a satisfied sigh. Oh, shut it and sleep, she retorted crossly. Some time later a soft knock sounded at their door, and Evie sleepily called out an all-clear without waking Beryl up. Lustre slipped inside and wordlessly got ready for bed before settling down for the night herself. It would be morning before the three girls realized that their team leader had never returned to their dorm. A/N: Ahhh cliff-hanger! I know, I suck. Hopefully this didn't cross the line for folks, I think I kept it to PG level for the most part. Plus I had fun with Evie's brain and libido arguing. Next chapter will pick up the same evening to see what Pip and Rufus are up to. Hugs for reading, favoriting, following (I have 15 followers now, woohoo!), and/or reviewing! Commando2341: Hmm… Myrtensater's new wielder will certainly play a part in all of this, but for good or evil will yet be seen. And I still giggle when I think of Scaredy Cat. Dunno if it'd be appropriate for Pip to work into teasing, but I'll percolate on that… Martin Hooper1: Picked up on the foreshadowing of Pip's family there, eh? Might have to wait awhile for that to become relevant, it will actually occupy the third planned arc in this story. And yeah, as I tried to insinuate, Damian and Frost are the only surviving Schnees at this point in time. The why and how of that will be eventually revealed. TacoKing23: I had actually considered making the relation, but then decided not to. So no, Lord Malachite is not related to the Malachite twins from Junior's bar, at least not immediately. With all of the colorful names in Remnant, it can be assumed they see some reuse. Glad everyone liked Corvis from the last chapter. Goes a ways to explain how Beryl turned out the way she is. Poor Evie… Stay shiny! |
Wednesday, December 3, 1997 Published at 05:11 GMT St Pauls Cathedral St Paul's celebrates its 300th anniversary St Paul's has dominated the London skyline for 300 years St Paul's Cathedral as we now know it was opened to the public on December 2, 1697. To mark the tercentenary of the cathedral of the Church of England, the Queen, the Duke of Edinburgh and the Prince of Wales are attending a ceremony there on Wednesday. The old St Paul's was completely destroyed by the Great Fire of London in 1666. It was just eight days after the last flames had died out that Sir Christopher Wren produced his first plan for a new cathedral. The new cathedral was rebuilt using stones from the old However, the plans were not finalised until 1675, when it began to be rebuilt out of Portland stone in a classical Baroque style. Among those assisting Wren were the master wood carver Grinling Gibbons and French ironworker Jean Tijou. Although its 300th anniversary is being celebrated this year, St Paul's was not finished completely until 1710. Modern times During the Second World War, St Paul's became a national symbol of resistance when Winston Churchill declared that "the cathedral must be preserved at all costs." There were a number of direct hits to the cathedral by incendiary bombs and the area surrounding it was completely devastated. But a team of volunteers known as St Paul's Watch took responsibility for dousing and sand-bagging the bombs. St Pauls is traditionally the venue for state ceremonies As the traditional venue for state occasions, St Paul's held ceremonies to celebrate the peace following the Falklands War and the Gulf War. The funeral for Winston Churchill was held in St Paul's in 1965. Unusually, Prince Charles and Princess Diana were married in St Paul's cathedral, which is usually reserved for state ceremonies rather than royal ceremonies which are traditionally held at Westminster Abbey. The cathedral became the centre of controversy when it appointed its first woman minor canon, the Rev Lucy Winkett, earlier this year. The appointment split the clergy at St Paul's, and has still not been accepted by some, including Canon John Halliburton. In 1991 St Paul's began charging an admission fee for the first time, having previously relied on donations which were unforthcoming. Maintenance costs £15,000 a day, and tourism now raises 60% of these costs, with voluntary donations, grants and sponsorships providing most of the rest. Back to top | BBC News Home | BBC Homepage © Internet Links Church of England The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites. [an error occurred while processing this directive] [an error occurred while processing this directive] |
Life is Strange has won the hearts and minds of the Tumblr massive. Life is Strange has ascended a couple of ranks to become the most popular video game fandom on Tumblr for the week ending August 10. The image below is a screengrab of the latest Tumblr Fandometrics update, but came to my attention when the Tumblr Staff blog passed on a summary of the week’s happenings. You can browse the Life is Strange tag to see what sort of content the fandom is producing – as you might have expected there’s quite a lot of (mostly SFW and very cute) art of the OTP known as “Pricefield”, but there are also plenty of funny reaction posts to the highly traumatic events of the series to date, and some love for the rest of the cast – Kate, Warren and Nathan are pretty popular. No love for Victoria, Tumblr? Life is Strange doesn’t have the typical indicators of a runaway hit – you don’t play as even one soldier, and there are zero nuclear bomb threats – and yet it is selling strongly and has clearly struck a chord with all kinds of players. It’s a wonderful demonstration of the fact that the video games market can and will support diversity in gameplay, narrative and themes. If you’re yet to get on board I personally really recommend it; here’s an almost totally spoiler-free word vomit on why I love Life is Strange. There’s just one episode to go, and you can grab it on PC, PlayStation 3, PS4, Xbox 360 and Xbox One. |
WILKINSON RESIDENCE Portland, Oregon - 2004 The Wilkinson House by Robert Oshatz, completed in 2004, is an example of modern architecture at peace with its site. The house occupies a wooded Pacific Northwest site, with a fast sloping grade that allows the main level of the house to sit amongst the tree canopy. Walls made of glass let abundant natural lighting through into the interior spaces and provide views to the surrounding canopy. The openness created by the glass walls satisfying the resident’s desire to see and hear the surrounding bird life and let the home feel like a part of the surrounding landscape. The house has a spacious, open plan, with a variety of built in furnishings, countertops, and cabinets. The main living space consists of a single open space that includes a sitting area, kitchen and dining area, and a fireplace nook. The space then opens out onto a large deck that cantilevers out amongst the trees. The house has a total of 393 square meters of floor space, 234 square meters of which are on the main floor, and 159 square meters on the lower level; which consist of three full bedrooms and two and a half baths. Natural materials provide a variety of colors and textures to create a warm interior environment. Materials used include cedar shingles, wood trim, gypsum board, carpet, slate tile, granite tile, and copper. The space of the house seems to flow effortlessly between inside and out by continuing the materials of the interior through the glass walls and out to the exterior. Curves add tranquility to the home; a series of curved, glue laminated beams support the high ceiling overhead, cedar shingles describe a series of organic curves, and a glass enclosed meditation room adjacent to the main space is a circle in section. Oshatz left no detail untouched; he provided for natural ventilation, and environmentally friendly gas-fired hot water radiant floor heating. As the resident is a lover of music, Oshatz carefully controlled the acoustics of the interior space, and designed the volumes of the house to resonate with the flow of music. The exterior of the house consists of a series of horizontal layers featuring copper, cedar shingles, and a copper metal roof. The entrance walkway passes through a small Japanese garden. |
It’s a bit of a mystery (pun intended) as to why we haven’t seen Austin Powers 4 yet. Admittedly, Mike Myers is far from the bona fide box office star he was back in the late 80s and into the 90s, but all three films in the series did quite well upon release, pleasing audiences and turning a pretty decent profit for the studio. Still, a fourth instalment has never come to fruition and though it is getting to be a bit too late for it to happen now, Myers is still interested.The last outing for the franchise, Austin Powers in Goldmember , debuted back in 2002, but as Myers tells The Hollywood Reporter, he’s still up for another one.“I would love to do another, but you just have to see. I was devastated by my father’s death. But to have that turn into something that |
The goal of our study was to assess if empiric β-lactams with or without vancomycin compared to vancomycin alone was associated with differences in outcomes in patients with MSSA bacteremia. We found no differences in all-cause mortality at 28 and 90 days, or hospital LOS between these two groups. Clearance of bacteremia was delayed by a median of 1 day in the vancomycin group. However, this outcome may have been confounded by the earlier receipt of empiric antibiotics in the β-lactam group (median 2 h). When we analyzed a subset of patients from the vancomycin group (n = 43) whose median time to receipt of empiric antibiotics was 1.97 h, the duration of bacteremia was still longer compared to the β-lactam group, but just shy of statistical significance (95.1 vs 70.7 h, p = 0.06), likely because of the reduced sample size. Therefore, it does not appear that time to receipt of empiric therapy had a major impact on time to clearance of bacteremia in our study. Despite the high prevalence of MRSA at both of our institutions (25 and 38 %), only 67.2 % of patients in the β-lactam group received vancomycin empirically as well. Perhaps the awareness of MRSA was low among some treating clinicians or patients who did not receive empiric vancomycin were judged to be at low risk for MRSA infection. Interestingly, the differential time delay in receipt of empiric antimicrobials was unexpected. Patients in the β-lactam group generally received antibiotics well before the blood culture became positive, while patients in the vancomycin group tended to receive antibiotics shortly after the blood culture turned positive. The reason for this observation is likely multifactorial. First, β-lactam patients generally had more identifiable sources of bacteremia (i.e. more skin and soft tissue infections). Second, the higher prevalence of community-onset bacteremia suggests these patients may have had their first medical contact with the emergency department where sepsis protocols facilitated timely administration of antibiotics. In the β-lactam group, patients who received empiric β-lactam plus vancomycin had a higher Pitt bacteremia score, experienced more metastatic complications and stayed in hospital longer than those who received empiric β-lactam monotherapy. The greater severity of illness in this combination subgroup may explain the initial use of broad-spectrum β-lactams (ceftriaxone or piperacillin–tazobactam), with subsequent de-escalation to cloxacillin or cefazolin during the empiric period by the infectious diseases consultant when S. aureus was identified in the blood culture. De-escalation occurred within a median of 23.1 h, which follows the time to positivity of the first blood culture (median 20 h). Despite differences in baseline characteristics and antimicrobials prescribed, mortality rates and time to clearance of bacteremia were similar between these subgroups. Our study outcomes were similar to those reported in the literature. The overall 28- and 90-day mortality in our study was low at 18 (7.06 %) and 36 (14.1 %) respectively, but is within the range of 3.6–51.7 % described in a meta-analysis of patients with MSSA bacteremia from catheter-related infections and infective endocarditis by Cosgrove et al. [22]. Definite infective endocarditis was diagnosed in 36 (14.1 %) of our patients, which is similar to rates reported in previous studies [10, 14, 16, 23, 24]. The median duration of bacteremia was longer in the vancomycin compared to the β-lactam group (4 vs 3 days) in our study. In a similar study by Khatib et al. [3], clearance of bacteremia was delayed (duration ≥3 days) more often in patients who received empiric vancomycin (57.6 %) compared to those who received empiric β-lactams (37.5 %). They reported no difference in all-cause or attributable mortality between groups. We did not find any differences in mortality between treatment groups in our study. In contrast, Lodise et al. [17] demonstrated that empiric β-lactam was associated with lower infection-related mortality than with empiric vancomycin monotherapy (11.4 vs 39.3 %, p = 0.005) among injection drug users with predominantly right-sided MSSA infective endocarditis. Even when patients were switched from vancomycin to a semi-synthetic penicillin within a median of 3 days, infection-related mortality remained high at 40.9 %. The overall mortality in Lodise’s cohort was unusually high at 22.2 % compared to a rate of 0–4 % described in a systematic review by Yung et al. [25]. The largest study to date by McDanel et al. revealed that empiric β-lactam therapy (predominantly piperacillin–tazobactam and ceftriaxone) compared to vancomycin was not associated with differences in mortality in patients with MSSA bacteremia [15]. However, this study excluded patients who received empiric vancomycin plus β-lactams, did not address microbiological cure, and evaluated empiric regimens independent of the definitive antimicrobial therapy prescribed. We included a large proportion of patients who received empiric treatment with optimal anti-MSSA agents (cloxacillin or cefazolin), whereas previous observational studies have either failed to specify the β-lactam agents used or enrolled patients who received mostly broad-spectrum β-lactams. This is an important point because not all β-lactams have equal efficacy against MSSA. As demonstrated in one study, empiric cefazolin or cloxacillin was associated with improved short-term survival compared to empiric regimens containing other β-lactams [26]. Therefore, the ideal study is one that compares a semi-synthetic anti-Staphylococcal penicillin or cefazolin to vancomycin. Our study has several limitations. The reason for the lack of difference in the primary outcome is likely multifactorial. Because of the low event rate in both groups, our study was potentially underpowered to detect a significant difference in mortality. The lower than expected death rate may be partly due to the exclusion of patients who died within 24 h of the diagnosis of SAB and of patients who remained on broad-spectrum β-lactams. This group may have represented a sicker population and thus, we may have selected for less critically ill patients. The absence of matching with respect to baseline characteristics and the retrospective nature of the study may have also contributed to a lack of difference in the primary outcome. Obtaining subsequent blood cultures was often delayed, which may have led to an overestimation of the duration of bacteremia. However, this effect was likely balanced between both groups. Data regarding adverse effects were not collected due to the difficulty of establishing drug-related events in a retrospective study. A randomized controlled trial would be ideal to address our study question because it would provide better matching of patient baseline characteristics and control of antimicrobials prescribed, and permit prospective monitoring of adverse drug effects. In such a study, daily blood cultures would need to be collected to determine the exact date of clearance of bacteremia. As well, more accurate estimation of the expected mortality rates between groups would be needed when calculating the required sample size. Collaboration between the medical microbiology laboratory, infectious diseases service and antimicrobial stewardship team is essential to execute such a trial. Until we have more concrete evidence from future prospective studies, the benefit of adding a β-lactam to empiric therapy for MSSA bacteremia remains unclear. Ultimately, the choice of empiric regimen will depend on patient factors, the prevalence of MRSA in the population, and the ability of the microbiology laboratory to rapidly differentiate MSSA from MRSA. In conclusion, empiric therapy with β-lactams was associated with earlier clearance of bacteremia by a median of 1 day compared to vancomycin, but was not associated with differences in all-cause mortality or hospital LOS in patients with MSSA bacteremia. Our data should be interpreted with caution however, as major differences in the baseline characteristics between the groups may have overshadowed any potential treatment effect. Future prospective studies are needed to confirm our findings. For now, empiric treatment with vancomycin is reasonable if the prevalence of MRSA is significant. The addition of a β-lactam agent could be considered in critically ill patients. |
Subsets and Splits
No community queries yet
The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.