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Since Matthew Hulsizer’s out on the “hey, I want to buy the Blues/whatever hockey team’s available” front, the Blues’ minority owner Tom Stillman now has an exclusive crack at buying the team. Per the St. Louis Business Journal, that negotiating period has begun, and Stillman has gathered a fairly good group of investors around him to make it happen. The Journal’s article focuses on local sports medicine guru Dr. Richard Lehman. Lehman is a member of the St. Louis Sports Hall of Fame, and is also part owner of the St. Louis Aces tennis team and the Florida Panthers. That last part’s important on two levels. One: Lehman actually has a decent relationship with the league (read: hasn’t done anything to lead them on/anger them) and two: you can’t be a part owner of two teams at once. Lehman’d have to sell his stake in the Panthers to get his stake in the Blues, which is a decision that’d make sense from a location standpoint as well as consistency in team success – in theory. The Panthers and Blues are both on playoff runs right now, but the stability for the future as far as the team’s on-ice winning could be a concern. Home grown talent vs. a team cobbled together of free agents (well-cobbled, mind you) could be a draw for the good doctor. Lehman could not comment to the Business Journal regarding the process, though he did offer this up: “We’ve been asked by the league to not say anything to the media regarding the specifics, but I can confirm that I’m part of this amazing group of local investors and that we look forward to getting a deal done.” |
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/XanatosGambit Advertisement: all paths lead to a victory." Cavilo, The Vor Game "The key to strategy... is not to choose a path to victory, but to choose so thatpaths lead tovictory." A Xanatos Gambit is a plan for which all foreseeable outcomes benefit the creator — including ones that superficially appear to be failure. The creator predicts potential attempts to thwart the plan, and arranges the situation such that the creator will ultimately benefit even if their adversary "succeeds" in "stopping" them. When faced with a Xanatos Gambit the options are either to accept that the creator will get the upper hand and choose the outcome that is least beneficial to them, or to defeat them by finding a course that they didn't predict. At its most basic, the Xanatos Gambit assumes two possible outcomes for the one manipulated — success or failure. The plan is designed in such a way that either outcome will ultimately further the plotter's goals. A more complex view is offered by the study of probability in which such a gambit is known as a Dutch Book and involves securing bets such that regardless of the outcome the bookie will always pay out less than was bet. Advertisement: Since the Xanatos Gambit can involve an obvious goal's apparent failure, this is a convenient device in an ongoing series to let the villain occasionally win (preventing Villain Decay) while still giving the heroes a climactic pseudo-victory. This trope is named after David Xanatos, one of the main antagonists in the series Gargoyles, who was a master of the technique and used it consistently to serve his own ends. If the character's plan is continually revised to bring about a winning solution no matter what happens, he is playing Xanatos Speed Chess. When a plan is so ludicrously complicated that it relied more on luck than actual planning and foresight, it's a Gambit Roulette. If the plan relies on misdirection rather than Morton's Fork, then it's a Kansas City Shuffle. If several people are trying to out-scheme the other in this way, you might be headed for a Gambit Pileup where several of them are likely to be Out-Gambitted. This may involve counters to plans the mastermind may or may not be expecting. Advertisement: This is one of The Oldest Tricks in the Book, listed in The Thirty-Six Stratagems as the 35th strategy, Chain Stratagems. Contrast with Indy Ploy, a "plan" executed with no planning whatsoever, and Batman Gambit, a plan which relies on people doing as predicted in given circumstances. The Magnificent Bastard is a villain type likely to use these, but a particularly skilled Chessmaster, Manipulative Bastard, or Guile Hero may also pull one off. This trope is not to be confused with Thanatos Gambit, where a plan includes the planner's death as a final piece, although they can overlap. Remember: It's only a Xanatos Gambit if all the plausible outcomes benefit the mastermind in some way. At the very least, the planner has to benefit regardless of whether the obvious plan succeeds or fails. This is not a shorthand for "any clever, complex, evil plan." You may want Evil Plan for that. Instances of this term that use "Xanatos Gambit" without the key quality of "all (or at least two) plausible outcomes always benefit the mastermind" are WRONG. Please fix them wherever you see them at TV Tropes. If you can't decide what kind of plan it is, use The Plan which is the supertrope for plans in general. Heroes and villains and everything in between can use this trope, but most cases will have spoilers. Read at your own risk. Examples: open/close all folders Board Games A game of Chess played by two halfway decent people is truly a joy to behold due to the sheer number of Xanatos Gambits. Indeed, the very principle of the Gambit comes from the Chess practice of offering up the sacrifice of a piece in order to gain a positional advantage. It is exceedingly common to sacrifice one's own piece in order to capture an opponent's piece, or simply to break the opponent's defences. Capturing the offered piece is called "Gambit accepted", and refusing is called "Gambit declined". Since many players have multiple such gambits going on at any one time, a game can quickly become a Gambit Pileup. On a smaller scale, the concept of a fork. He can take one of several pieces; which one will you protect? Another example of this comes in the form of Zugzwang: a situation in which any move the player makes will lead to a disadvantage (either material or positional), and the best possible action would be not to move at all - which is forbidden. Connect 4 is generally won through a Xanatos gambit: by setting up two sequences right next to each other, either the other player blocks your first one and allows the second, or ignores both and so allows the first. Tic Tac Toe, capture 3 of the 4 corners to assure that you will win regardless. While not always a board game (in fact, it's usually drawn with paper and pencil), a so-called "double-trap" in Tic-tac-toe is one of the most obvious Xanatos gambits. Diplomacy is a game which thrives on these, as the players must secretly negotiate, manipulate, and lie to each other as a matter of course. For example, a clever player may attempt to offer another player support for a movement quid-pro-quo. If successful, great. If that player denies support, the first player might support him anyway - and mutter quite audibly about how he was just stabbed in the back. At the cost of one turn's disadvantage, the first player has trashed the second's reputation with the entire table. The Chinese game of Go makes this Older Than Dirt, as the game is believed to be the oldest game still being played (at least 2,500 years old), as well as having many situations where both players are doing this simultaneously. In a situation called 'Ko', you are not allowed to take a stone that has just captured one of yours if it would lead to exactly the same board layout at the end of your previous turn. You must instead play elsewhere, and are allowed to take back on your next turn if your opponent has not played to stop that. In this case you need to make a play somewhere else that makes a threat that will cost your opponent more than he gains by consolidating the original exchange. He responds to your threat, you retake, leaving him in Ko, and so he then must make a threat for you to respond to. Both sides continue this until one player calculates the threat is not worth as much as the Ko position. Even then this may help the other player, as a dead group of stones is saved (or a live group is killed), lessening the value to the other side of winning the Ko. A pair of possible moves is called 'miai' if it doesn't matter which one is played, because the opponent will make the move the other choice would have prevented (often at the same place), and the outcome will be the same either way. This often turns into a bit of a Gambit Pileup, as there's usually no hurry to make a miai move, and it can be saved for a ko threat. Common sequences of moves, known as 'joseki', have become established because they are believed to be best play. Some joseki have many branches, presenting each player with several choices. No matter what they choose (unless they screw up), the player who started the joseki gets some advantage, while their opponent gets a slightly lesser advantage. Those advantages can be various combinations of territory, influence, initiative and aji, and although which combination of advantages you get depends on your opponent's choices as well as your own, a good player will steer things so that the advantages they get work well with the rest of the board. Players are advised not to learn joseki by rote, as it tends to lead to following such memorised sequences blindly, getting them Out-Gambitted by, for example, getting influence in the wrong direction. This is a common idea in the Game of Thrones Board Game in general The Roose Bolton card does this. He boosts your armies so you might win, but if you lose, you can return him and all your other hero cards to your hand. When one side has a very slight advantage and both players have a grip of a bunch of Hero cards, the leading side will often play a mid-range card in an attempt to bait out a high-power card out of the opponent. If the opponent does, then the leading side does not have to worry about the high power card for later and may not even suffer casualties depending on which House was involved (especially a problem with Stark during 1st Edition). If the opponent doesn't, you still haven't committed many resources and gotten victory in the battle. Card Games Frequently the primary style behind the Scorpion Clan in Legend of the Five Rings, both in game mechanics and in storyline, consist of losing to win. Attacking them politically means they indulge in slander and blackmail; attacking them militarily means they lay horrific traps and pull you into impossible wars all the while. This has proven to be a catch-22 for the writers, as it's a Wall Banger if the clan doesn't salvage anything from a defeat, and if they're never truly defeated. They're also notorious for claiming everything is Just as Planned, even unambiguous defeats. In Bridge, with the number of different varieties of coups, endplays, and the like, it's quite possible to make sure you make your contract (or your opponents lose their contract) no matter what is played, despite said contract appearing to be hopeless (or completely solid). The most common variety would be the endplay (by intentionally losing a trick to opponents, you force an opponent to give you at least two more tricks due to lack of leads), but the squeeze play (where an opponent is forced to discard too many cards, allowing their good cards to be easily captured) and the coup (generally a play to force a foe into promoting one of your other cards) also frequently work like this. The defense can also pull these off, although generally not as easily. Comic Books Fan Works Films — Animation Part A of Syndrome's scheme in The Incredibles. Whether a super succeeds or fails against the Omnidroid, Syndrome still gets to collect the data from the battle, and due to the scenario presented, no one thinks there's a need to question the droid's source. In The Irregular at Magic High School: The Girl Who Calls The Stars, Navy scientists make a meteorite strike Earth as part of their attempts to recreate an illegal experiment. If the meteor hits, they know they got the experiment right. If it is magically disintegrated, they know that the Japanese army secretly has someone very powerful at their command. powerful at their command. Frozen: Some Xanatos Speed Chess is necessary at first due to changing circumstances, but as of Anna's departure from the palace, a regular gambit is in motion: Hans leads Arendelle through the crisis while both queen and princess are absent, becoming a public hero. Option 1: Neither survive (despite Hans eventually mounting his own heroic efforts to find them), so there is no official heir and he will be supported in taking the throne. Option 2: Anna survives but Elsa dies, so he can marry Anna unimpeded and let the naïve princess be a Puppet Queen to his Evil Consort . Option 3: Elsa survives but Anna dies, so Elsa's one supporter is gone and she can be blamed for everything and executed, turning it into Option 1. Option 4: Both return, but public support will now favor Hans over Elsa and she'll have to let him marry Anna; an accident to the feared queen can be arranged later to turn it into Option 2. Hans nearly gets Option 3, but with Olaf's help , Anna stayed unfrozen long enough to derail things. Films — Live-Action Folklore In the old Armenian tale The Liar, a king offers a golden apple to anyone who can tell him a lie he won't believe. Many try and fail until a peasant enters his throne room and tells the king that he owes him money. Thus, the king is forced to either give the peasant the golden apple if he disbelieves the lie, or the money the peasant claims the king owes him. Music In rock opera Act II - The Father of Death by The Protomen, Dr. Wily sets out to ruin Dr. Light. He uses a machine they both built to murder Light's girlfriend, and as soon as the news of it goes public, Wily starts slandering Light to the presses. Light actually receives a not guilty verdict, but because of Wily's words the public believes Light did it and that the court system is broken. He is forced to flee town before they take justice into their own hands. Pro Wrestling WCW tried to make Sting's FaceHeel Turn into one of these with this video package. LayCool pulled one in their big match against Melina to unify the titles at Night of Champions. They had Michelle McCool face Melina. Michelle was called a co-champion but Layla was the legal champion with Michelle allowed to wear and defend the belt as well. So if Michelle won (which she did), LayCool would be legally allowed to wear the unified title, while if Michelle lost, Layla could turn around and say Melina had won doodly-squat since she hadn't technically pinned or even faced the actual Women's Champion. Myths & Religion The Bible: The overarching plot of the Bible (at least according to mainstream Christian interpretations). Adam sinned by deciding humans could decide for themselves what was good or evil, "tainting" all future humans (which, since he and Eve were the First, is ALL humanity) with sin and death, and Jesus gives himself to counter-act this, the life of a perfect man (Adam) for the life of a perfect man (Jesus). Afterwards, everything is basically a Xanatos Gambit by God against Satan. Satan and the wicked have dominion over the earth and can (have, and will) persecute God's true followers and will attempt to destroy them. This could go several ways. 1) If the "wicked" have good hearts, no matter what, they will be called and welcomed to God's followers. Satan loses, Jehovah wins. 2) The wicked try to ignore God's people and continue ruling themselves. They are unable to successfully rule themselves, as God had predicted, and they will be removed from power. Satan loses, Jehovah wins. 3) The wicked and hard-hearted attempt to destroy God's followers. Prophesies are fulfilled, a battle at Armageddon begins, they are destroyed, the good-hearted are heralded into an eternity of happiness in a paradise earth, Satan and his demons are imprisoned and eventually destroyed, resolving the issue of sovereignty once and for all and ending in the destruction of all evil for all time. Satan loses, Jehovah wins. This comes across in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. In the Book of Genesis, Joseph plays one when he demands that the brothers give up Benjamin to be his slave and themselves return to Canaan safely. That way, he ensure that either he gets to keep Benjamin with him (if his brothers treat Benjamin like a dispensable family member, as they treated Joseph years ago), or his brothers show a sufficient Character Arc by refusing to leave Benjamin in Egypt, in which case he reconciles with all of them and brings his entire clan over to Egypt. Luckily for the Israelites, the latter plan eventuates. Tabletop Games Theater Shakespeare's Iago wouldn't be the infamous Magnificent Bastard of Othello if he couldn't pull this off, which he does when convinces Roderigo to kill Cassio. If Roderigo succeeds, Iago gets his revenge on Cassio (for being promoted instead of him). If Roderigo fails and Cassio kills him, Iago doesn't have to worry about paying his Unwitting Pawn back all the money and jewels he's lost on the enterprise so far. So, as Iago muses in soliloquy, whatever the outcome, he wins. In Thrill Me, Richard acts like he's pulling one of these through the whole show by committing the "perfect crime"—he's not, but Nathan is. Nathan wants to stay with Richard forever, so goes along with Richard's plan for the murder, then leaves obvious evidence. If the evidence is found, he can "accidentally" turn them in, if not, he can go to the police intentionally. If they get life in prison, then Nathan would bribe the guards to get put in the same cell. If they were hanged, well... Richard: [agitated] What if we got the death penalty? Nathan: As long as we were together. Toys In BIONICLE, Makuta put the Great Spirit Mata Nui to sleep and on the verge of death while he took over in the power vacuum - but if some heroes would arise to heal Mata Nui and wake him up again (something which Makuta was smart enough to expect would happen), then he could usurp the revival process and commit Grand Theft Me, essentially becoming the Physical God of that world. Eight years of storyline passed before this was revealed. A quote from Time Trap says it best. Makuta: "Little Toa, you have not yet begun to see even the barest outlines of my plans. I have schemes within schemes that would boggle your feeble mind. You may counter one, but there are a thousand more of which you know nothing. Even my... setbacks... are planned for, and so I shall win in the end." One of the Piraka once saw Makuta's plan written out in its entirety. It took up the walls of an entire room, and the Piraka went partially insane after reading it. Visual Novels Web Comics Web Original |
Chapter 055 Threshold For nearly half a minute, the endless void they floated in was silent. Neither Zach nor Zorian knew what to say, and the Guardian of the Threshold seemed content to placidly wait for further questions. Zorian would have liked to say he was considering the implications of this new knowledge at the time, but the truth is that he spent most of it being surprised at how well Zach was taking all this. He kind of expected the other boy to freak out and start swearing and shouting by now. But no, Zach was surprisingly calm and quiet about the situation. The only evidence he was in any way upset was a slight frown on his face. "So," Zach eventually said, his voice cutting through the unnerving silence that sprung up around them. "What now?" "I honestly don't know," Zorian admitted. "I really didn't think Red Robe had already left the time loop. It makes so much sense, though, now that I look back on things…" "Yeah, he really screwed us over, didn't he?" Zach sighed. "Well, I wouldn't exactly put it like that," Zorian smiled. "I'm pretty sure this is not what he had been planning. We were meant to disappear. The time loop was supposed to collapse when the controller of the time loop left this place, permanently removing us as a threat. But we're still here, and if the time loop is this out of its normal parameters, it might actually be possible to get out of this place." "Heh," Zach chuckled. "Now that you mention it, yeah. And also, this means I can stop holding back. You too, for that matter. We've both been doing our best to keep a low profile to stop Red Robe from noticing our activities. Now that we know he is no longer here…" "Yes," Zorian agreed. "The way I see it, we have three main priorities. Number one, we need to find out how long we have until the time loop collapses. Number two, we need to find a way to get out. And number three, we have to try and find out who the hell Red Robe really is so that we can take care of him quickly if… when we exit this place." Zorian turned to the side to look at the Guardian of the Threshold, who had been quietly floating in place not far from them while they talked. It didn't appear bothered by them ignoring it. "We should question the Guardian about everything we can think of," Zorian noted. "Who knows what kind of critical secrets it knows, and it doesn't appear as if it cares to share anything on its own initiative. Though that could take a while – we should probably return to our bodies for a while to make sure we aren't interrupted." "Do we even have to worry about that?" Zach asked, pulling on his jacket in order to demonstrate the way their clothes seemed an integral part of their body. "The cube seems to have ripped our souls out of our bodies to bring us here. Does it even matter if our bodies get killed out there?" "We could be just projected here," Zorian shook his head. "It sounds like the simplest way to achieve this, to be honest. Then again, that would leave the loop controller awfully vulnerable while messing around with controls. Hmm… Guardian?" "You are merely projected into this place, but your stay will not be cut short by events in the outside world," the Guardian explained. It was apparently smart enough to interpret what his question was likely going to be based on his and Zach's conversation. Interesting. "If your physical forms suffer critical damage, or if soul tampering is detected, I will draw in your souls inside the Gate for safekeeping. Your time here will remain uninhibited, though you will have to start a new iteration of the loop in order to leave the place, as I cannot re-anchor your souls back to your bodies if they are not sufficiently intact." "Well. Good to know, I guess," Zorian mumbled. He looked at Zach, and found that the other boy was already staring at him. "Do you have anything you want to ask the Guardian or…?" "You go first," Zach told him, shaking his head. "Alright. First of all, is there a time limit as to how long we can remain here?" Zorian asked. "When this iteration of the loop ends, so will your current visit to this place," the Guardian responded. "Other than that, no." So when the time loop restarts, they will be flung back to their bodies at the beginning of the month, but other than that, they could stay here as long as possible. They had plenty of time, then. "What are the criteria for each iteration's end?" Zorian asked curiously. "Is mere passage of time sufficient, or is there more to it?" "Passage of time is sufficient," the Guardian confirmed. "No iteration is allowed to last for more than a month at the time. Beyond that, there is a multitude of contingencies that will cause the iteration to terminate prematurely." "Can you list those contingencies?" Zorian asked. "No," the Guardian stated emotionlessly. "You aren't authorized for that information." Zorian blinked in surprise. Though he had suspected the Guardian wouldn't be able to answer all of their questions, he thought it would have to do more with it being just a dumb animation spell in the end, not that it would literally refuse to help them like that. "What? But I thought we're the Controller," Zach piped in suddenly. "How can we not be authorized to know?" "The Controller doesn't have unrestricted authorization," the Guardian explained. "Only the Maker and his agents have access to information about the workings of the Gate." "Maker?" Zach repeated incredulously. "Maker of what?" "Of the Gate, of course," the Guardian said. Zorian could almost imagine the Guardian rolling his eyes at the question, even though its eyes didn't work like that and its voice never changed in tone. "So the Controller isn't the ultimate authority when it comes to the Gate or the time loop?" Zorian asked. The Guardian immediately confirmed this. "What can you tell us about this Maker, then?" "You aren't authorized to know the identity of the Maker," the Guardian informed him. Of course it was going to be something like that… "Ugh. This thing is so damn annoying!" Zach complained. Ten more fruitless minutes were spent on trying to question the Guardian about the Maker, its agents, whether it was a god (like Zorian suspected) or not, how long it had been since the Maker had last interacted with the Gate, and so on. The Guardian's response was the same for each of them: they weren't allowed to know. Zorian wished he could just invade the thing's mind and be done with it, but their inability to perform magic in this place extended to his psychic abilities. They had no way to force the entity into cooperation, and eventually decided to move on to other topics. "You said no iteration is allowed to last for more than a month," Zorian reminded the Guardian. "Can you tell us why?" "When an iteration is over, everything in it is destroyed," the Guardian began. Well, good to have that confirmed… Zorian had assumed it was so for a while now, but having the Guardian verify it was nice. "Under certain philosophical outlooks, this could be viewed as mass murder…" "But not under all of them, huh?" Zorian mumbled distastefully. "Others do not view destruction of copies as a problem, so long as they do not diverge excessively from the original," the Guardian continued, ignoring Zorian's interjection. "The time loop is set up under such an assumption. Thus, it is imperative that entities copied by the time loop are not given enough time to meaningfully diverge from the originals, as their destruction would then become unethical. A month was determined to be a good cut-off point." "What if one of the copies managed to achieve awareness of the time loop and found a way to maintain continuity across different iterations?" Zorian asked. "Hypothetically speaking." "That would be very unfortunate for the copy," the Guardian noted. "Only the Controller can actually leave the time loop, after all." "See, this is the part I don't get," Zach suddenly interjected. "Why was such a rule put into place? I mean, there is only one Controller to begin with, so why put that sort of limitation in place?" "To stop the Controller from trying to smuggle some of the copies out of the time loop," the Guardian said matter-of-factly, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. There was a short pause as both Zach and Zorian processed this. "Why… why is that important?" Zorian asked shakily. "Because only the Controller has their real soul pulled into the time loop," the Guardian said. "Everyone else is a copy. For a Controller of the loop to leave, I only have to re-anchor their soul back to their original body. For one of the copies to enter the real world, I would have to switch their soul with the soul of the original. This would effectively kill the original." There was another, longer pause following this explanation. Zorian wasn't terribly surprised at the fact that him leaving the loop would require he switch his soul with his original. It was one of the first ideas he came up with himself, after all. What surprised him was that Zach was apparently not a copy. Being the Controller had more to it than just having a marker stamped on your soul, it seemed. "So the Controller has their original soul drawn into the time loop when it is first made," Zorian said. "They aren't a copy, so there is no problem with them leaving. But everyone else would have to kill someone to get out, and that's unacceptable. Is that correct?" "Yes," the Guardian agreed. "But you could do that?" Zach suddenly spoke up. "If one of the copies wanted to leave this place, you could switch their soul with that of the original?" "Theoretically," the Guardian admitted, "but that goes against what I was made to do. I am the Guardian of the Threshold. One of the main tasks the Maker gave me was to ensure things inside the time loop could not menace the source of the template. If a diverged copy tried to kill the original by switching their souls with it, I would do my best to stop them." "What about a normal, un-diverged copy?" asked Zorian. "Surely there is no harm in replacing the original with a normal copy. They're practically the same thing! It's what makes it okay to destroy millions of souls every month or so, isn't it?" The Guardian hesitated. A short, tense silence descended on the scene as it considered the scenario. "So long as the copies do not diverge too much from the original, such a switch would be theoretically acceptable," the Guardian eventually admitted. "But it is my purpose to keep the time loop from spilling out in the real world as much as possible, so I would still refuse to perform such a switch. Only the controller, with the knowledge and secrets they gathered inside the time loop, is allowed to leave and make their mark on the world outside, since they are technically of that world to begin with." "Alright," Zorian nodded, signaling Zach with his hand to drop the issue. Though still very placid, the Guardian seemed almost agitated by their current line of questioning. Zorian was afraid that if they pushed it too much it might realize one of them was a copy somehow and do something to 'correct' this. Best to leave the topic alone for now. "Let's move on to something else. Guardian, you said the Gate is barred because the Controller has already left the time loop." "Yes," the entity confirmed. "Can you tell me how many iterations that was ago?" Zorian asked. "The Controller is still inside the time loop, Controller," the Guardian said unhelpfully. Some more variations of that question confirmed that the Guardian had no idea when Red Robe left. The Controller left, but didn't actually leave, and the Guardian was hopelessly confused about the whole thing. Asking the Guardian for Red Robe's description or other identifying information didn't work either – the Guardian didn't seem to perceive the world in the same way they did, despite its fairly human-like appearance and the lifelike avatars he and Zach were inhabiting. It seemed to ignore just about everything in terms of identifying characteristics when it come to the Controller. Other than the marker, of course. "So the Controller that left has the marker, then?" Zorian asked. "Of course," the Guardian confirmed. "How could he have left, otherwise?" "How does the Controller get the marker in the first place?" Zorian asked. "Is it hereditary, assigned by the Gate itself according to some criteria or what?" "The Controller is marked by the Key, by the Maker, or by its agents," the Guardian said. "I am not aware of what criteria were used in choosing any particular Controller. It is ultimately irrelevant to my purpose to know such things." "But the Key is lost," Zach said, frowning. "Scattered across vast distances. And if the Maker is a god like you suspect he is, well… the gods have been silent for centuries. That only leaves his agents. Who would that be?" "Impossible to say for now," Zorian shrugged. "But apparently you were purposely chosen by someone to go in here." "Or maybe Red Robe was," Zach said gloomily. "I know you think I'm the original looper, but the fact that Red Robe was capable of leaving just like… it could be that he's the one who's the real deal. You saw how the Guardian reacted to the possibility of switching souls between the copy and the original. How did Red Robe leave if he's just a copy?" "I don't know," Zorian sighed. "It's too bad the Guardian gets all stupid whenever anything involving Red Robe leaving is brought up." "If it didn't get all stupid about it, we would have probably been erased out of existence when Red Robe left," Zach told him. "So that's probably a blessing in disguise. Anyway, Guardian? This marker I have on me is unique, yes? There is no way for there to be multiple Controller markers?" "None," the Guardian confirmed. "Before the time loop is activated, marking a new person will invalidate the old marker. Inside the time loop, the Controller marker cannot be invoked, and only lesser markers can be placed." "'Lesser markers'? What the hell are those now?" Zach protested. "The Controller can temporarily add people to the time loop by placing a lesser marker on them," the Guardian explained. "What?" Zach squawked. "There is a way to include someone in the time loop and you're only mentioning this now!? And what do you mean temporary?" "Though I'm happy to answer any question you may have to the best of my ability, I am ultimately not designed to teach the Controller how to operate the time loop," the Guardian said. "That is the job of whoever placed the marker on you. And by temporary, I mean that the target of the lesser marker will retain their memories and abilities for up to six iterations before the marker dissolves." "Why would this lesser marker be temporary like that?" Zach asked, baffled. "Is there a way to make it permanent?" "It is temporary to keep divergence from the original to a manageable level and discourage the Controller from getting excessively emotionally attached to copies marked in such a fashion," the Guardian explained. "There is no way to make it permanent, as that would be needlessly cruel. They cannot leave the time loop, after all." "But if copies that retain awareness for more than a month count as people and killing them is wrong, doesn't that mean that using these lesser markers is effectively murder?" "Yes," the Guardian readily agreed. "But it is not the Gate that does it, so it is acceptable. It is up to the Controller to decide when and if they feel comfortable using such an ability." "So…" Zorian began after a short pause. "I would never have used such a spell," Zach immediately said, correctly guessing what Zorian was about to ask. "Never. Why would I torture myself by bringing people into the loop, knowing that they would suddenly go back to their old, ignorant self in just six restarts?" "Fair enough," Zorian said, guessing he had touched upon a sensitive topic. "Guardian, what about the ability to expel people from the time loop? Make them start each iteration soulless and dead? Does this ability exist?" "The Controller has such an ability as well," the Guardian confirmed. By now, Zorian knew better than to ask whether such an ability had been used in the past. The Guardian had very limited awareness about what happened in the time loop itself, caring for little except the Controller itself. "How about the ability to restore people 'erased' in such a manner back?" he asked instead. He was still angry at the matriarch for planning to betray him, but he wanted her back anyway. "No," the Guardian said. "The ability instructs the Gate to make changes to the base template that is used to construct each iteration. There is no undoing them without direct intervention from the Maker. The Controller is advised to use this ability with wisdom and restraint." For the next twenty minutes, Zach and Zorian tried to question the Guardian about the manner in which these abilities could be performed by the Controller or about any other abilities they may have at their disposal. Sadly, neither of those inquiries achieved results. The Guardian did not know how any of these abilities might be accomplished, and it refused to list all the abilities the Controller had, saying they were not authorized to know that information. "This makes no sense," Zach complained. "It's happy to tell us about specific abilities if we ask, but a simple list of all options is forbidden?" "Well, it sort of makes sense if the Maker didn't want every Controller to know about all the features at their disposal," mused Zorian. "If some or all of the Controllers are given limited information, you don't want to let the Guardian tell them all about it anyway…" Another fruitless question and answer session occurred, where Zorian tried to ask the Guardian about the history of the time loop and its purpose. The Guardian claimed not to have any knowledge of previous time loops, though, beyond simply knowing they existed. Apparently it did not retain its memories between different time loops. As for the purpose of the time loop… "The purpose of the time loop is between the Controller and the one who marked them," the Guardian concluded. "Or perhaps it would be more accurate to say it is whatever the Controller wants it to be. There is little to stop them from doing whatever they want while inside the time loop, after all." "Alright, next question, then," Zorian sighed. "Can you tell me how long will it be before the time loop runs out of whatever is powering it and shuts down? That is to say, how long do we have to leave this place?" "Yes, of course. The time loop has enough power for 52 more iterations before it must shut down," the Guardian said. "Assuming maximum utilization of each iteration, that is equivalent to little more than four years of operation." Four years… maybe he was just greedy, but that seemed very short to him. He asked the Guardian about that just to see what it would say. He expected it to refuse to answer, bringing up their lack of sufficient authorization or whatever, but the Guardian actually had an answer for them this time. "The time loop is normally supposed to be initiated at the peak of planetary alignment," the Guardian explained. "Unfortunately, something seems to have gone wrong and the time loop has been activated one month prior to it. This made everything more costly, causing the time loop to degrade far more rapidly than it is supposed to." "Do you know how long the time loop had been in existence thus far?" Zorian asked. "967 iterations," the Guardian answered. "Approximately 30 years in linear time." Wait, those numbers were kind of strange… how could almost a thousand iterations equal 30 measly years? "Wait," frowned Zorian. "So the time loop spends power per iteration, not according to how much time passes?" "Yes," the Guardian confirmed. "But I cut a lot of restarts short by dying to some stupid shit in the first few days," Zach protested. "Are you telling me I've been burning through our allotted time every time I did that?" "Yes," the Guardian confirmed again blandly. "It is the Controller's right to do such a thing, however. Presumably you felt the gains were worth the sacrifice of additional time." "Hell no, I didn't!" Zach protested. "I just didn't know any better! If I knew all this, I would have been a lot more cautious about this shit!" "Unfortunate," the Guardian said. It did not sound very sorry or compassionate, however, using the same pleasantly bland voice it always did. "It seems you were poorly prepared for this undertaking. You should complain to whoever gave you the marker once you get outside." "Yeah, I'll get right on that. Just as soon as I manage to find the bastard," Zach said gloomily, "So anyway, let's just get this finally out of the way… Guardian, how can we unbar the gate?" "You would have to present me with the Key by bringing it before the Gate," the Guardian said simply. "If you present all five pieces, you will gain sufficient authorization to reopen the gate." "I don't suppose you could tell us where to find those things, then?" Zach tried. "No," the Guardian immediately answered. Of course. "But finding them should not be too difficult for you. Your marker can sense their presence." Not for the first time, Zorian wished the damn marker stamped on his soul came with an instruction manual or something. Though they continued to question the Guardian for two more hours, very little new information came out of it. When they finally decided to leave, the Guardian informed them that they would have to start a new iteration of the time loop because their bodies had been 'excessively damaged' while they talked to the Guardian and the dumb thing didn't find it important to mention that until they were ready to leave. After about five minutes, when Zorian realized Zach was not going to stop ranting at the Guardian any time soon, he just reached into his soul and flipped the marker restart switch. Everything went mercifully dark and silent. - break - Like always, Zorian's awakening was done via Kirielle jumping on top of him. The events immediately following the awakening were also fairly typical, with him having his talk with Ilsa and dodging Mother's attempts at conversation while having breakfast. He even ended up inviting Kirielle to come with him to Cyoria, despite initially planning to leave her behind. Partially, this was because he realized his vague plans of rushing to gather the Key as soon as possible and find a way to fool the Guardian into letting him out were rather premature and he should really take some time to calm down and digest things a little. But an equally important reason for it was that he realized he needed a break. The previous restart had been very exhausting, what with all the non-stop aranea hunting and the various revelations at the end, and he didn't feel like jumping into another long-term mission right away. Taking a restart or two to relax a little and think things through wasn't going to kill them. The time limit they had was uncomfortably short for his tastes, but not that short. He was just wondering how to explain all this to Zach when they next meet each other when he was interrupted by the knock on the door. What? That… that doesn't usually happen… He went to open the door, reaching out with his mind sense towards the unknown visitor, only to find Zach on the doorstep. Apparently his fellow time traveler wasn't content to wait for him on Cyoria's train station. Zorian was kind of shocked, and not just by the fact Zach decided to come to his home… He could actually sense Zach's mind now. It was still shielded, but the boy wasn't under the effect of mind blank anymore. Zorian was kind of touched at the show of trust this represented. "Hello, Zach," Zorian said. "Fancy seeing you here." "Yeah, well, our last meeting's ending was a little abrupt," Zach told him with a little glare. "So I thought I should drop by and finish our conversation." "Sorry," Zorian winced. "I know ending things so suddenly was a jerk move, but I was already kind of depressed from what the Guardian was saying and you getting into a one-sided shouting match with the thing was…" "It's fine," Zach said, waving him away. "I lost my nerves too. It's probably for the best you shut me down before I did something stupid. That thing seemed pretty uncaring, but if anyone can manage to piss off a non-sapient spell construct, it's me." "Zorian, who is that?" Mother suddenly said, walking up to them. Turning around, Zorian could also see Kirielle peering from behind the kitchen door as well, watching the situation unfold. "It's just Zach," Zorian said. "He's one of my classmates from Cyoria." "Oh my, Zorian finally has friends visiting him at home," Mother noted in exaggerated mirth. "I never thought I'd see the day. Could I get an introduction?" "Sure," Zorian agreed. It was only polite. "Mother, this is Zach Noveda, a friend and a classmate. Zach, this is Cikan Kazinski, my mother. The little girl peering from behind the door is my little sister, Kirielle." Mother gave Kirielle an annoyed glare and gestured her to come over and introduce herself properly. Huffing slightly at the order, Kirielle approached and shook hands with Zach as proper manners dictated. "What, no Fortov?" Zach asked with a whisper. Mother always had good hearing, though, so she ended up hearing anyway. "He's at his friend's place right now. He'll meet us at the train station, so you can see him there. I assume you intend to take a train to Cyoria along with Zorian, yes?" "Yes. The train. Of course," Zach fumbled, giving Zorian a questioning glance. He had probably expected them to just excuse themselves and teleport to Cyoria. "I decided to take Kirielle with me to Cyoria this time," Zorian said. "I hope you don't mind her travelling with us." Kirielle gave Zach the hardest look she could muster, daring him to disagree with her coming along. "Err, right. Of course I'm okay with that," said Zach. What followed was about twenty minutes of Mother trying to talk Zach into accepting something to drink and fishing for information about him. Zach decided not to mention he was the last living heir of a Noble House, possibly because he still remembered what Zorian had told him about his mother, and simply described himself as a wealthy orphan from Cyoria. Based on the looks Mother gave him, however, Zorian was pretty sure she suspected the truth. She was quite perceptive about these sorts of things. Eventually, the four of them packed up and left towards Cirin's train station. "How come Zach doesn't have any luggage to carry along?" Kirielle protested, glaring at the bag of her own things that Mother had forced her to carry herself. "Well, I'm from Cyoria to begin with," Zach said with a grin. "My luggage is already there." "Unfair…" she mumbled. "Oh, you'll see unfair when we get to Cyoria," Zorian told her. "There's an hour walk from the train station to where we'll be staying, and I heard it's going to rain too…" When they finally reached the train station, they found Fortov already there, talking to his friends. Mother insisted on introducing Zach to him, which annoyed Zorian far more than it probably should have. "No offense, Zorian, but your family seems pretty nice to me thus far," Zach told him later, when he finally managed to excuse himself from Fortov's group. "Maybe I'm a little biased, since my family all died and I wish I actually had a family… but I honestly can't figure out your animosity for them." "It's personal," Zorian told him in a clipped tone. "There's a lot of history that you aren't aware of. Just drop it." "Fine, whatever," Zach sighed. "I don't want to start a fight. I actually want to apologize." Zorian gave him a strange look. "Apologize?" Zorian asked curiously. "What for?" "Well, you mentioned last time how I keep up a mind blank around you at all times and how it means I don't trust you…" "You don't have to apologize for that," Zorian told him, shaking his head. "I also told you I would have done the same in your place, remember?" "No offense, but I don't want to be like you, Zorian," Zach said, shaking his head. Well screw you too, Zach! The feeling was mutual! "The point is, you were right. We don't trust each other, and we're not going to get anywhere if we have that constantly hanging over our heads. We need to work together if we want to have any chance of getting out of here." Well, that wasn't quite what he said, but since Zorian actually agreed with the sentiment, he didn't interrupt. "So anyway, I think you already noticed I'm not under the effect of mind blank…" Zach said. "Of course," Zorian nodded. "I do notice your mind is still shielded, though." "Well yeah," Zach said, rolling his eyes. "Trust your neighbors but lock your door, you know?" "I wasn't complaining," Zorian said. "I was just going to notice the shield doesn't feel like a spell. That's a non-structured mental defense, yes?" "Of course you already tested it," Zach sighed. "Goddamn mind-readers. But yes, it's non-structured. I got it a long time ago, back in the first decade of my looping." "It's… kind of rough for something you've been practicing for decades," Zorian admitted. "I mean, I know it's hard to practice non-structured mind magic when you aren't psychic like me, but I've seen other regular mages with similar defenses and theirs were a lot better than this." "I never really refined it much since… well, I never needed it for anything more complex than resisting casual mind reading and the like," Zach said. "This isn't just me being lazy, mind you. This is pretty much conventional wisdom about non-structured mental defenses among mages. Or at least that's what the various magic instructors I learned from told me. Get just enough skill in the ability to foil casual attacks and deal with anything more severe with proper defensive wards and the like. If you don't have time to set up those, locate the source of the mental attack and go on the offensive. Or just outright flee from the scene. Most mages agree that fancy non-structured mental defenses are more trouble than they're worth." "Well, I'm kind of biased, but I don't agree," Zorian said. "Yes, I feel a bit stupid now for just accepting conventional wisdom when it comes to that," Zach admitted. "I've been stuck in a time loop for decades, it's not like I didn't have the time. I've honed far more useless skills to perfection just for bragging rights, so I really shouldn't have skimped out on something like this. But enough of that. I have a request for you." "Go ahead," Zorian nodded, motioning him to continue. "Don't mess with my mind without my express permission," Zach said. "Even if you catch me without any mental protection or something." "Well, okay," Zorian agreed. "I can respect that. What if I suspect you to be under the influence of another mind mage already, though?" "I… have to think about that," Zach fumbled. "For now, no. Don't mess with my mind even then. Just knock me out and wait for the effect to wear off." Zorian wanted to point out that some mind effects didn't 'wear off', but he could see that Zach was still very uncomfortable around mind magic and decided to postpone this talk for some other time. "Alright. I'll leave your mind alone. I will only use my mind sense and empathy on you, since they require no mental invasion to use and it's almost impossible for me to not use them on someone. Anything else?" "Yeah," Zach said. "The fact you can sense and manipulate the marker placed on us and I can't really burns, you know? I can accept you're a better mind mage than I'll ever be since it's your special ability and all, but this personal soul sense of yours is something I could have easily acquired myself if I knew about it. Do you think you can teach me how to do that?" "I think I'll have to set you up with one of my teachers to do that," Zorian frowned. "Alanic has access to potions I have never even encountered elsewhere and knowledge of how to help if something goes horribly wrong. I don't think it's going to be too much of a problem, though – he's a pretty helpful person, despite initial appearances." Eventually the train arrived and they were forced to cut their conversation a little short. Since they were going to share a compartment with Kirielle for the rest of the ride, any sensitive conversations would have to wait for a while. Even if they had wanted to talk about something arcane, though, Kirielle wouldn't have let them. Any apprehension she felt towards Zach melted away during the first twenty minutes of the train ride and the resulting boredom. She started asking Zach questions about Cyoria and the academy. Later on, Zach would remark how surprised he was at the way Kirielle treated him, as Kirielle had been rather more unfriendly towards him in the previous restart. But, as Zorian explained to him, that Kirielle was one who had a far worse impression of Zach… and that bad first impression of Zach had never really left her for the rest of the restart. The way Kirielle was treating him now was actually far closer to her true personality than what he experienced before. "Kind of strange that you don't like most of your family, but you're so close to your little sister," Zach remarked. "Was it always like that, or…?" "I always did like her best out of all of them," Zorian said. "But no, I did not have this good of a relationship with her before the time loop. There was a reason why I had never brought her along before I started retaining my awareness across restarts." "Ah. I figured it was something like that," Zach said. "So do we have a plan for this restart or what?" "I was hoping we could take a break for a restart or two," Zorian sighed. "I need to think about things and come to terms with all of this. It's a lot to take in." "Hmm… fine," Zach said eventually. "I guess we should spend some time getting to know each other anyway. You can still introduce me to that Alanic fellow that teaches personal soul sensing, right?" "Absolutely," Zorian confirmed. "You can work on your soul sense while we decide what to do. It's not like I intend to literally do nothing myself, you know." "Oh? What do you have in mind for yourself?" Zach asked. "I've been pursuing lessons from my mentor, Xvim, but I could never really properly focus on them thus far. Now that I don't have the decaying memory packet in my head demanding most of my attention, I figure I should finally be able to give him all my attention and see what the results are. I'm still not sure how much to really tell him about the time loop and how it functions, though. I mean, I'm freaked out by how it works, and I'm actually aware of the restarts… I'm not sure it's a good idea to explain to Xvim what's really going on." "I can't help you there," Zach shook his head. "I never had much luck in convincing people about the time loop, and that was before I knew all this crazy stuff about it that I do now. I have no idea how you even convinced Xvim to take you seriously about time travel, considering he never believed me when I tried to do the same." "You went to Xvim to try and tell him about the time loop?" Zorian asked. "I guess you really meant it when you said you went to just about everyone with the story." "Yeah…" Zach agreed. "Do you think it might help you convince him you're telling the truth if I came with you? I can do some pretty crazy magic on demand, by now…" "I don't know," Zorian said. "I didn't mention you when I talked to him previously, but that was mostly to minimize any links between the two of us in case Red Robe somehow caught wind of Xvim's investigation in the time loop. Now that we know Red Robe is gone, it might be a good idea to include you into the story." Zorian considered things for a few seconds. "I'll go alone on Monday," Zorian decided. "But I'll tell him you're also a time traveler and see if he wants to meet you." - break - Of course Xvim wanted to meet him. Frankly, if Zorian was in Xvim's place and a student came to him with a story about being a time traveler and then another student was also a time traveler, he'd react the same way too. Thus, the very next day after Zorian's talk with Xvim, he returned to the man's office with Zach in tow. "So, Mister Noveda," Xvim began. "Mister Kazinski here claims you and he are stuck in a… 'time loop', and have lived through this month many times before. You've lived longer than him, apparently. I've already heard Mister Kazinski's story and saw the evidence he had for it, and now I'm curious to hear your side of it. But before we get to that, I admit I'm curious about your level of skill. Do you mind if we take an hour or two to test your magical abilities?" "Sure," Zach shrugged. "I guess we're going to have to leave the office for that, though…" "That won't be necessary, mister Noveda," Xvim told him. "The test will consist of simple shaping exercises." "Shaping exercises?" Zach asked, surprised. "Err, kind of underwhelming, but okay. Ready when you are." Oh dear. Should Zorian warn him? No. No, it would be more amusing this way. "Levitate this pen, please," Xvim told Zach, handing him one of the many pens strewn along his desk. "And then make it spin in the air." Zach smiled, doing just that with total ease… …at which point a marble nailed him straight in his forehead, causing him to lose concentration and stop levitating the pen, nevermind spinning it. "…what?" Zach asked incredulously. "You failed," Xvim informed him, finger tapping against the table impatiently. "But… you threw a marble at me!" Zach protested. "And you immediately lost concentration," Xvim said with a long sigh. "Shameful. And you're supposed to be someone who trained magic for literally decades? What could you have possibly been doing all this time? Zorian here would have never let some little thing like that distract him, and he has only been stuck in the time loop for a few years." There was a long pause as Zach looked incredulously between Xvim and Zorian, as if unable to believe what he was hearing. Zorian was struggling not to laugh. He could kind of understand why Xvim had done this – it was an asshole move, and completely inappropriate for a teacher, but damn if it wasn't amusing. "Well, I suppose it's to be expected," Xvim said. "Decades of shoddy instruction is nonetheless shoddy instruction. One more promising student failed by the poor state of our magical education. Let's try that again, only properly this time. Start over…" - break - "I hate this guy," Zach told him as they left Xvim's office. "I don't think I've ever wanted to strangle someone more in my entire life." "Yeah, Xvim has that kind of effect on people," Zorian agreed. "I mean, I knew he was an asshole, but I never quite realized he was that… that much of an asshole. You know?" Yes, he knew. Oh, how Zorian knew… "If he's always like that, then why the hell did you keep coming back to him restart after restart?" Zach asked incredulously. "I wanted to prove him wrong," Zorian shrugged. "He was an ass, but he was demanding excellence in something I'd always felt I was good at, and so I just couldn't let it go. Besides, he's not utterly terrible, once you get to know him a little." "Not utterly terrible," Zach repeated, rolling his eyes. "I really hope this is the end of it and I never have to talk to the guy again." "You know, Xvim is pretty good at non-structured mental defenses," Zorian said innocently. "No," Zach said immediately. "What?" Zorian grinned. "I was just going to suggest you ask him for help in mastering the ability. I'm sure he'd be happy to help you train." "No. Absolutely not," Zach shook his head. "And don't think I didn't notice how much you were enjoying yourself while I suffered in there. I'll find a way to pay you back somehow, you'll see." Rather than be intimidated by the threat, Zorian finally laughed. |
Ready to fight back? Sign up for Take Action Now and get three actions in your inbox every week. You will receive occasional promotional offers for programs that support The Nation’s journalism. You can read our Privacy Policy here. Sign up for Take Action Now and get three actions in your inbox every week. Thank you for signing up. For more from The Nation, check out our latest issue Subscribe now for as little as $2 a month! Support Progressive Journalism The Nation is reader supported: Chip in $10 or more to help us continue to write about the issues that matter. The Nation is reader supported: Chip in $10 or more to help us continue to write about the issues that matter. Fight Back! Sign up for Take Action Now and we’ll send you three meaningful actions you can take each week. You will receive occasional promotional offers for programs that support The Nation’s journalism. You can read our Privacy Policy here. Sign up for Take Action Now and we’ll send you three meaningful actions you can take each week. Thank you for signing up. For more from The Nation, check out our latest issue Travel With The Nation Be the first to hear about Nation Travels destinations, and explore the world with kindred spirits. Be the first to hear about Nation Travels destinations, and explore the world with kindred spirits. Sign up for our Wine Club today. Did you know you can support The Nation by drinking wine? Credit: Detroit15.org. Ad Policy Four updates appear below. Hundreds of Detroit fast food workers plan to walk off the job beginning at 6 am today, making the motor city the fourth in five weeks to see such strikes. Organizers expect participants from at least sixty stores, including McDonald’s, Wendy’s, Subway, Little Caesar’s, and Popeye’s locations. Like this week’s strike in St. Louis, and last month’s in New York and Chicago, today’s work stoppage is backed by a local coalition including the Service Employees International Union, and the participants are demanding a raise to $15 an hour and the chance to form a union without intimidation. Organizers say that over a hundred workers joined the St. Louis strike between Wednesday and Thursday. That included a group of Jimmy John’s workers who alleged that management humiliated them by requiring them to hold up signs in public with messages including “I made 3 wrong sandwiches today” and “I was more than 13 seconds in the drive thru.” “Sometimes I walk for more than an hour just to save my train fare so I can spend it on Ramen noodles,” St. Louis Chipotle worker Patrick Leeper said in an e-mailed statement Thursday. “I can’t even think about groceries.” A spokesperson for Jimmy John’s declined to comment on Thursday’s strike. McDonald’s did not respond to a Tuesday inquiry about the fast food campaign; Wendy’s did not respond to an inquiry last night. As I’ve written elsewhere, the fate of the fast food strike wave carries far-reaching implications: Fast food jobs are a growing portion of our economy, and fast food–like conditions are proliferating in other sectors as well. Organizers say the fast food industry now employs twice as many Detroit-area workers as the city’s iconic auto industry. These strikes also come at a moment of existential crisis for the labor movement, a sobering reality that was brought into sharp relief in December when Michigan, arguably the birthplace of modern US private sector unionism, became the country’s latest “right to work” state. Along with a shared significant supporter—SEIU—the campaigns in New York, Chicago, St. Louis and Detroit have apparent strategies in common. Rather than waiting until they’ve built support from a majority of a store’s or company’s workers, they stage actions by a minority of the workforce designed to inspire their co-workers. Rather than publicly identifying the campaign and its organizers with a single international union, these union-funded efforts turn to allied community groups to spearhead organizing. Rather than training all their resources on a single company, they organize against all of the industry’s players at once. And—faced with legal and economic assaults that have weakened the strike weapon—these campaigns mount one-day work stoppages that are carefully tailored to maximize attention and minimize, but not eliminate, the risk that workers will lose their jobs. Whether these strategies can ever compel a fast food giant to negotiate with its employees remains to be seen. “After what I would consider well over three decades of wage suppression, workers in this particular industry—and then I think it’ll go to others—are realizing that their only way up the wage ladder is through their own organizations,” CUNY labor studies lecturer Ed Ott said Wednesday. Ott, a board member of the community organizing group that spearheaded the New York fast food strike, added, “The only way these workers are going to be able to advance these jobs is through unionization. And I think that idea has finally gotten traction.” Update (9:15 am Friday): According to the campaign, a walkout by twenty workers at Detroit’s 10400 Gratiot Avenue McDonald’s prevented the store from operating. Some workers brought in as strikebreakers to replace those striking workers chose to join the strike instead. Organizers say that by day’s end, today’s strike could be the largest fast food work stoppage yet, topping last month’s 400-strong strike in New York. Update (11:50 am): Along with the Gratiot Avenue McDonald’s, organizers say that strikes shut down at least three others stores: a McDonald’s on Van Dyke; a Long John Silver’s on 8 Mile; and a Popeye’s on Grand River, where strikers were joined by US Congressman John Conyers. Strikers plan to converge for rallies at 1 and 4 this afternoon. McDonald’s, Wendy’s, Chipotle, and Long John Silver’s did not immediately respond to requests for comment this morning. Update (2:05 pm Friday): The campaign now says there are over 400 workers on strike in Detroit, making today’s action the largest fast food strike in US history. That figure includes workers who woke up today planning to work and then changed their mind; at one McDonald’s store, the campaign says eight workers decided at the last minute to join the strike after watching four of their co-workers walk off the job. In an e-mailed statement, McDonald’s worker Nathaniel Gaines said that after management called him into work early to break the strike, he decided upon arrival to join the work stoppage instead. “I am constantly training new workers, while working the grill at the same time, all at minimum wage,” said Gaines. “Management always changes my hours, so I never have a consistent paycheck…The strike made me feel empowered to do the right thing for myself and my son.” Update (3:30 pm Friday): In an e-mailed statement, McDonald’s said, “We value and respect all the employees who work at McDonald’s restaurants. The majority of McDonald’s restaurants across the country are owned and operated by independent business men and women where employees are paid competitive wages, and have access to flexible schedules and quality, affordable benefits.” The statement, which also touts “training and professional development opportunities” for workers who want to advance to management, is the same one provided by the company regarding protests in New York and Chicago last month. A McDonald’s spokesperson did not immediately respond to The Nation’s follow-up inquiry regarding the company’s stance on the strikers’ demands; whether management would meet with the striking workers; and whether any strikers would be punished or “permanently replaced.” For more on this week’s strike in St. Louis, read Annie Shields’s report. |
Tottenham Hotspur striker Vincent Janssen has revealed that a conversation with Mauricio Pochettino, during a visit to the Spurs training ground, convinced him to move to White Hart Lane from AZ Alkmaar during the last summer transfer window. West Ham and Wolfsburg were also linked with the Dutchman but he insisted that his priority was always to move to North London – despite the fact he could have earned more money elsewhere. The 22-year-old striker emerged as Tottenham's top target since the beginning of the summer after enjoying an impressive 2015-2016 season with AZ Alkmaar, scoring 32 goals in 49 appearances, including 27 in the Eredivisie to become the top scorer of the tournament. Janssen himself then claimed that he was also likely to join Tottenham but the move came under scrutiny after it emerged that AZ rejected an opening bid for the striker. It was said that West Ham and Wolfsburg were also ready to battle for his services but the Tottenham eventually won the race by agreeing to pay around €20m for his services. The Netherland international has now confirmed that other clubs tried to sign him and were ready to pay even more. Asked during an interview with Helden Magazine if he was surprised by the €20m paid by Tottenham to lure him to North London, he said: "Actually not because there were clubs willing to pay even more money than Spurs but I immediately told AZ: I just want to play for Spurs and not a club that might be offering you more. That was not a club in the desert but clubs from good leagues, such as VfL Wolfsburg and a club in the Premier League." Yet, Janssen said that Pochettino and Tottenham chief Daniel Levy convinced him to move to Spurs instead, despite the fact he was aware about the completion he faced with Kane. "I spent a day with my agents visiting London. We had a tour through the wonderful (Tottenham) training ground and spoke extensively with manager Mauricio Pochettino. He said honestly: 'We have Harry Kane but we can sometimes use someone behind him and furthermore we play Champions League, we play so many games that we want an extra striker and you are exactly the type we're looking for.' After that visit I knew I wanted to play for that club, and I was given the number nine which also gave me extra confidence," he said. "I did not choose (to join Tottenham) for the money. Trust me, I could have earned more elsewhere, even in England. Tottenham chief Daniel Levy also said that they wanted me very much and that I should have pride to be allowed to wear the shirt of Spurs." |
http://champion.gg/statistics/#?roleSort=&sortBy=general.winPercent&order=descend http://champion.gg/statistics/#?roleSort=&sortBy=general.winPercent&order=descend Champion.gg - League of Legends Stats by Champion Role for the Current Patch League of Legends Statistics including Win Rate, Ban Rate, Play Rate, Kills, Deaths by Champions and the roles they play. I knew there were OP champs, but I actually found a lot of these mildly surprising. Let's see here: {{champion:36}} : Too tanky to be killed by overpowered ADCs, recently got buffs, hypersynergy with basically the entire Resolve tree {{champion:54}} : Direct ADC counter. {{champion:33}} : Direct ADC counter. {{champion:23}} : Hypersynergy with Warlord's Bloodlust, benefits from ADC itemization. {{champion:63}} : INSANE synergy with Deathfire Touch. Keep in mind, that's the winrate pre-nerf Ahri and Sej had back in S5. Following them at 56% are: {{champion:34}} {{champion:104}} {{champion:10}} Then at 55% - 54% (the winrate pre-nerf Veigar had) we have: {{champion:26}} {{champion:98}} {{champion:161}} {{champion:48}} {{champion:31}} {{champion:21}} {{champion:90}} {{champion:1}} {{champion:99}} {{champion:106}} {{champion:5}} {{champion:24}} {{champion:120}} {{champion:111}} What I've concluded from this: -We have way more OP champions than we realized. -These masteries are very, _very_ prone to abuse cases. -Either the Resolve tree is bonkers OP, or tanks are having huge success because they're the only thing standing in the way of complete ADC domination. Or both. -Rageblade/Gunblade are definitely OP. On a related note Kayle's back to being stupid, which makes me wonder why she isn't reworked yet. -The AP masteries are bad on most champions, but when they work (3-hit combo mages, DoT mages) they are incredibly powerful. Notes: -Just specualtion, but I think that the champs at the top are actually far more powerful than their winrates suggest. There are actaully enough OP champs that it's hard for one to get a crazy winrate in the 60% range because another OP champion or two is almost always on the enemy team. -A "worrying trend": Heimerdinger, a champion almost specifically good at stomping SoloQ and only played by dedicated mains, is at 50.5% winrate. |
Public school districts across the country have implemented policies that allow students to “transition” genders without their parents’ knowledge or permission. When the Obama administration published a guidance last month instructing public schools to allow boys who identify as girls to use the girls bathroom, it also published a list of existing policies around the country to serve as examples. Until now, that list has received little (if any) attention from the media. Several school districts on the list have policies in place that allow parents to be kept in the dark about their child’s decision to switch genders. “The District of Columbia Public Schools issued guidance (‘DCPS Guidance’) noting that ‘students may choose to have their parents participate in the transition process, but parental participation is not required,'” the list points out. The list notes that DCPS “recommends working closely with older students prior to notification of family.” A similar set of guidelines from Chicago Public Schools instructs staff not to tell parents about their child’s gender transition without the child’s permission. “When speaking with other staff members, parents, guardians, or third parties, school staff should not disclose a student’s preferred name, pronoun, or other confidential information pertaining to the student’s transgender or gender nonconforming status without the student’s permission, unless authorized to do so by the Law Department,” the guidelines state. Also on the list of examples is a policy guidance from the Massachusetts Department of Education, which notes, “Some transgender and gender nonconforming students are not openly so at home for reasons such as safety concerns or lack of acceptance.” Therefore, the guidance says, “School personnel should speak with the student first before discussing a student’s gender nonconformity or transgender status with the student’s parent or guardian.” A policy guidance from the Oregon Department of Education notes that “transgender students may not want their parents to know about their transgender identity.” School employees are instructed to “balance the goal of supporting the student with the requirement that parents be kept informed about their children.” The “paramount consideration,” the guidance states, “should be the health and safety of the student, while also making sure that the student’s gender identity is affirmed in a manner that maintains privacy and confidentiality.” The full list of “emerging practices” can be read here. Follow Peter Hasson on Twitter @PeterJHasson |
The Christian Democratic Union of Germany (German: Christlich Demokratische Union Deutschlands or CDU; German pronunciation: [ˈkʁɪstlɪç ˌdemoˈkʁaːtɪʃə ʔuˈni̯oːn ˈdɔʏtʃlants]) is a Christian democratic[2][3][4] and liberal-conservative[2] political party in Germany. It is the major catch-all party of the centre-right in German politics.[11][12] The CDU forms the CDU/CSU grouping, also known as the Union, in the Bundestag with its Bavarian counterpart the Christian Social Union in Bavaria (CSU). The party is widely considered an effective successor of the Centre Party, although it has a broader base.[13] The leader of the CDU is Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer. She is the successor of the former party leader Angela Merkel, who is the current Chancellor of Germany. The CDU is a member of the Centrist Democrat International, International Democrat Union and European People's Party (EPP). History [ edit ] Immediately following the collapse of the Nazi dictatorship at the end of World War II, the need for a new political order in Germany was paramount. Simultaneous yet unrelated meetings began occurring throughout Germany, each with the intention of planning a Christian-democratic party. The CDU was established in Berlin on 26 June 1945 and in Rheinland and Westfalen in September of the same year. The founding members of the CDU consisted primarily of former members of the Centre Party, the German Democratic Party, the German National People's Party and the German People's Party. Many of these individuals, including CDU-Berlin founder Andreas Hermes, were imprisoned for the involvement in the German Resistance during the Nazi dictatorship. In the Cold War years after World War II up to the 1960s (see Vergangenheitsbewältigung), the CDU also attracted conservative, anti-communist former Nazis and Nazi collaborators into its higher ranks (like Hans Globke and Theodor Oberländer). A prominent anti-Nazi member was theologian Eugen Gerstenmaier, who became Acting Chairman of the Foreign Board (1949-1969). The election poster of 1957 reading "No experiments" and featuring then Chancellor Konrad Adenauer what would be the only election in which the CDU obtained an absolute majority One of the lessons learned from the failure of the Weimar Republic was that disunity among the democratic parties ultimately allowed for the rise of the Nazi Party. It was therefore crucial to create a unified party of Christian democrats—a Christian Democratic Union. The result of these meetings was the establishment of an interconfessional (Catholic and Protestant alike) party influenced heavily by the political tradition of liberal conservatism. The CDU experienced considerable success gaining support from the time of its creation in Berlin on 26 June 1945 until its first convention on 21 October 1950, at which Chancellor Konrad Adenauer was named the first Chairman of the party. In the beginning, it was not clear which party would be favored by the victors of World War II, but by the end of the 1940s the governments of the United States and of Britain began to lean toward the CDU and away from the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD). The latter was more nationalist and sought German reunification even at the expense of concessions to the Soviet Union, depicting Adenauer as an instrument of both the Americans and the Vatican. The Western powers appreciated the CDU's moderation, its economic flexibility and its value as an oppositional force to the communists which appealed to European voters at the time. Adenauer was also trusted by the British.[14] The party was split over issues of rearmament within the Western alliance and German unification as a neutral state. Adenauer staunchly defended his pro-Western position and outmanoeuvred some of his opponents. He also refused to consider the SPD as a party of the coalition until he felt sure that they shared his anti-communist position. The principled rejection of a reunification that would alienate Germany from the Western alliance made it harder to attract Protestant voters to the party as most refugees from the former German territories east of the Oder were of that faith as were the majority of the inhabitants of East Germany.[14] The CDU was the dominant party for the first two decades following the establishment of West Germany in 1949. Adenauer remained the party's leader until 1963, at which point the former minister of economics Ludwig Erhard replaced him.[15] As the Free Democratic Party (FDP) withdrew from the governing coalition in 1966 due to disagreements over fiscal and economic policy, Erhard was forced to resign. Consequently, a grand coalition with the SPD took over government under CDU Chancellor Kurt Georg Kiesinger. The SPD quickly gained popularity and succeeded in forming a social-liberal coalition with the FDP following the 1969 federal election, forcing the CDU out of power for the first time in their history. The CDU continued its role as opposition until 1982, when the FDP's withdrawal from the coalition with the SPD allowed the CDU to regain power. Kohl Era (1983–1998) [ edit ] CDU Chairman Helmut Kohl became the new Chancellor of West Germany and his CDU–FDP coalition was confirmed in the 1983 federal election. Public support for the coalition's work in the process of German reunification was reiterated in the 1990 federal election in which the CDU–FDP governing coalition experienced a clear victory. East German CDU leader Lothar de Maizière (left) with West German CDU leader Helmut Kohl, September 1990 After the collapse of the East German government in 1989, Kohl—supported by the governments of the United States and reluctantly by those of France and the United Kingdom—called for German reunification. On 3 October 1990, the government of East Germany was abolished and its territory acceded to the scope of the Basic Law already in place in West Germany. The East German CDU merged with its West German counterpart and elections were held for the reunified country. Although Kohl was re-elected, the party began losing much of its popularity because of an economic recession in the former GDR and increased taxes in the west. The CDU was nonetheless able to win the 1994 federal election by a narrow margin due to an economic recovery. Kohl served as chairman until the party's electoral defeat in 1998, when he was succeeded by Wolfgang Schäuble. Schäuble resigned in early 2000 as a result of a party financing scandal and was replaced by Angela Merkel, who remained the leader of the CDU until 2018. In the 1998 federal election, the CDU polled 28.4% and the CSU 6.7% of the national vote, which was the lowest result for CDU/CSU since 1949 and a red–green coalition under the leadership of Gerhard Schröder took power until 2005. In 2002, the CDU and CSU polled slightly higher (29.5% and 9.0%, respectively), but still lacked the majority needed for a CDU–FDP coalition government. Merkel Era (2000–2018) [ edit ] In 2005, early elections were called after the CDU dealt the governing SPD a major blow, winning more than ten state elections, most of which were landslide victories. The resulting grand coalition between the CDU/CSU and the SPD faced a serious challenge stemming from both parties' demand for the chancellorship. After three weeks of negotiations, the two parties reached a deal whereby CDU received the chancellorship while the SPD retained 8 of the 16 seats in the cabinet and a majority of the most prestigious cabinet posts.[16] The coalition deal was approved by both parties at party conferences on 14 November.[17] Merkel was confirmed as the first female Chancellor of Germany by the majority of delegates (397 to 217) in the newly assembled Bundestag on 22 November.[18] Although the CDU/CSU lost support in the 2009 federal elections, the FDP experienced the best election cycle in their history, thereby enabling a CDU/CSU–FDP coalition. This marked the first change of coalition partner by a Chancellor in German history and the first centre-right coalition government since 1998. CDU/CSU–FDP coalition lasted until the 2013 federal election, when FDP lost all their seats in the Bundestag. The CDU/CSU thus formed a new grand coalition with the SPD. In the 2017 election, the CDU/CSU lost a large portion of their voteshare. After failing to negotiate a coalition with the FDP and Greens, they continued their grand coalition with the SPD. In October 2018, Merkel announced that she would step down as leader of the CDU in December 2018, but wanted to remain as Chancellor until 2021.[19] On 7 December 2018, Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer was elected as new party leader of the CDU in the Christian Democratic Union of Germany leadership election. Voter base [ edit ] Konrad-Adenauer-Haus, headquarters of the CDU in Berlin While Adenauer and Erhard co-operated with non-Nazi parties to their right, the CDU has later worked to marginalize its right-wing opposition. The loss of anti-communism as a political theme, secularization and the cultural revolutions in West Germany occurring since the 1960s have challenged the viability of the CDU. In her 2005 campaign, Angela Merkel was unwilling to express explicitly Christian views while maintaining that her party had never lost its concept of values. Merkel and Bundestag President Norbert Lammert have been keen to clarify that CDU references to the "dominant culture" imply "tolerance and living together".[14] According to party analyst Stephan Eisel, her avoiding the values-issue may have had the opposite effect as she failed to mobilize the party's core constituency.[20] The CDU applies the principles of Christian democracy and emphasizes the "Christian understanding of humans and their responsibility toward God". However, CDU membership consists of people adhering to a variety of religions as well as non-religious individuals. The CDU's policies derive from political Catholicism, Catholic social teaching and political Protestantism as well as fiscal conservatism and national conservatism. The party has adopted more liberal economic policies since Helmut Kohl's term in office as the Chancellor of Germany (1982–1998). As a conservative party, the CDU supports stronger punishments of crimes and involvement on the part of the Bundeswehr in cases of domestic anti-terrorism offensives. In terms of immigrants, the CDU supports initiatives to integrate immigrants through language courses and aims to further control immigration. Dual citizenship should only be allowed in exceptional cases. In terms of foreign policy, the CDU commits itself to European integration and a strong relation with the United States. In the European Union, the party opposes the entry of Turkey, preferring instead a privileged partnership. In addition to citing various human rights violations, the CDU also believes that Turkey's unwillingness to recognise Cyprus as an independent sovereign state contradicts the European Union policy that its members must recognise the existence of one another. The CDU has governed in four federal-level and numerous state-level Grand Coalitions with the Social Democratic Party (SPD) as well as in state and local-level coalitions with the Alliance '90/The Greens. The CDU rejects coalitions with either far-left or far-right parties. Internal structure [ edit ] Members [ edit ] According to news media, the CDU had 420,240 members by June 2018. In 2017, it had added a net 1,000, the first increase since 2003.[21] In May 2012, the CDU had 484,397 members. The number has dropped by 3.1% in 2011 and 3.0% in 2010. In 2012, the members' average age was 59 years. 6% of the Christian Democrats were under 30 years old.[22] A 2007 study by the Konrad Adenauer Foundation showed that 25.4% of members were female and 74.6% male. Female participation was higher in the former East German states with 29.2% compared to 24.8% in the former West German states.[23] Before 1966, membership totals in CDU organisation were only estimated. The numbers after 1966 are based on the total from 31 December of the previous year. Membership development Relationship to the CSU [ edit ] Both the CDU and the Christian Social Union in Bavaria (CSU) originated after World War II, sharing a concern for the Christian worldview. In the Bundestag, the CDU is represented in a common faction with the CSU. This faction is called CDU/CSU, or informally the Union. Its basis is a binding agreement known as a Fraktionsvertrag between the two parties. The CDU and CSU share a common youth organisation, the Junge Union, a common pupil organisation, the Schüler Union Deutschlands [de], a common student organisation, the Ring Christlich-Demokratischer Studenten and a common Mittelstand organisation, the Mittelstands- und Wirtschaftsvereinigung [de]. On issues of federal policies, the CDU and CSU do not differ,[citation needed] but they remain legally and organisationally separate parties. The social differences between the CDU and the somewhat more socially conservative CSU have sometimes been a source of conflict in the past. The most notable and serious such incident was in 1976, when the CSU under Franz Josef Strauß ended the alliance with the CDU at a party conference in Wildbad Kreuth. This decision was reversed shortly thereafter when the CDU threatened to run candidates against the CSU in Bavaria. The relationship of CDU to the CSU has historic parallels to previous Christian-democratic parties in Germany, with the Catholic Centre Party having served as a national Catholic party throughout the German Empire and the Weimar Republic while the Bavarian People's Party functioning as the Bavarian variant. Since its formation, the CSU has been more conservative than the CDU. The CSU and the state of Bavaria decided not to sign the Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany as they insisted on more autonomy for the individual states.[24] The CSU and the free state of Bavaria have a separate police and justice system (distinctive and non-federal) and have actively participated in all political affairs of the Bundestag, the German government, the Bundesrat, the parliamentary elections of the German President, the European Parliament and meetings with Mikhail Gorbachev in Russia. Konrad Adenauer Foundation [ edit ] The Konrad Adenauer Foundation is the think-tank of the CDU. It is named after the first Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany and first president of the CDU. The foundation offers political education, conducts scientific fact-finding research for political projects, grants scholarships to gifted individuals, researches the history of Christian democracy and supports and encourages European unification, international understanding and development-policy cooperation. Its annual budget amounts to around 120 million euro and is mostly funded by taxpayer money.[25] Special organizations [ edit ] Notable suborganisations of the CDU are the following: Chairperson of the CDU, 1950–present [ edit ] Parliamentary chairmen/chairwomen of the CDU/CSU group in the national parliament [ edit ] German Chancellors from the CDU [ edit ] Election results [ edit ] Election posters of the CDU in 1949 Federal Parliament (Bundestag) [ edit ] European Parliament [ edit ] Election year No. of overall votes % of overall vote No. of overall seats won +/– 1979 10,883,085 39.0 (2nd) 33 / 81 1984 9,308,411 37.5 (1st) 32 / 81 1 1989 8,332,846 29.5 (2nd) 24 / 81 8 1994 11,346,073 32.0 (2nd) 39 / 99 15 1999 10,628,224 39.2 (1st) 43 / 99 4 2004 9,412,009 36.5 (1st) 40 / 99 3 2009 8,071,391 30.6 (1st) 34 / 99 6 2014 8,807,500 30.0 (1st) 29 / 96 5 State Parliaments (Länder) [ edit ] Note that the CDU does not contest elections in Bavaria due to the alliance with Bavarian sister party, the CSU. State Parliament Election year No. of overall votes % of overall vote Seats Government No. ± Position Baden-Württemberg 2016 1,447,249 27 (2nd) 42 / 138 18 2nd Greens–CDU Berlin 2016 288,002 17.6 (2nd) 31 / 160 8 2nd Opposition Brandenburg 2014 226,844 23 (2nd) 21 / 88 2 2nd Opposition Bremen 2015 261,929 22.4 (2nd) 20 / 83 0 2nd Opposition Hamburg 2015 561,377 15.9 (2nd) 20 / 121 8 2nd Opposition Hesse 2018 27.0 (1st) 40 / 137 7 1st CDU–Greens Lower Saxony 2017 2,707,274 35.4 (2nd) 50 / 137 4 2nd SPD–CDU Mecklenburg-Vorpommern 2016 153,101 19 (3rd) 16 / 71 2 3rd SPD–CDU North Rhine-Westphalia 2017 2,796,683 33 (1st) 72 / 199 5 1st CDU–FDP Rhineland-Palatinate 2016 677,507 31.8 (2nd) 35 / 101 6 2nd Opposition Saarland 2017 217,265 40.7 (1st) 24 / 51 5 1st CDU–SPD Saxony 2014 645,344 39.4 (1st) 59 / 126 1 1st CDU–SPD Saxony-Anhalt 2016 334,123 29.8 (1st) 30 / 87 12 1st CDU–SPD–Greens Schleswig-Holstein 2017 470,312 32 (1st) 25 / 73 3 1st CDU–Greens–FDP Thuringia 2014 315,096 33.5 (1st) 34 / 91 4 1st Opposition See also [ edit ] References [ edit ] Further reading [ edit ] |
After yesterday’s news about iTS opening invite applications, here’s yet another powerhouse of a torrent tracker extending its reach to new members – Torrent Damage has re-opened their invites channel and interested users can now apply for an invite through IRC. For those of you who haven’t heard about this site before, TD is a huge General/0day torrent tracker that’s been around for ages. The site tracks pretty much everything ranging from scene released movies, TV shows, games, music to non scene releases and exclusive packs and maintains a database of over 50000 torrents. TD used to occasionally open signups back in the old days but as far as we know there hasn’t been an open registration ever since TD v2 launch a couple of years ago. This is where the IRC invite channel comes in – it’s a safe way to get your hands on a Torrent Damage invite, without having to risk invite trading or falling victim to similar scams. A popular tracker from the start, Torrent Damage went through a lot of changes when TD v2 was launched. v2 brought in a brand new visual design as well as a number of new features to the site, with speed and ease of use being two of the most notable enhancements. TD has grown throughout the years and today it’s a huge tracker by any standards, with nearly 50000 registered members and over 57000 indexed torrents. Speaking of the content, Torrent Damage is a General/0Day torrent tracker which might appeal to both novice and power users of BitTorrent. The site indexes almost all major scene and p2p releases daily, at pretty fast pre times too. Download speeds and torrent retention is also good thanks to the large user base. Apart from individual torrents, quite a few exclusive packs have been uploaded to the tracker as well (some of which can be seen in the screenshot below) – packs unique to Torrent Damage usually have –TD at the end of torrent name. As said earlier, Torrent Damage is currently closed for signups. However you can easily get into this tracker by requesting an invite from the official invites IRC channel (this might not continue for long – even this channel was closed for an extended period of time in the last couple of months). Follow the instructions below to request for a TD invite: Information removed at the request of Torrent Damage staff. Apparently the sheer number of users who tried to join their channel after reading this post was crashing their IRC server. And staff were having a difficult time trying to deal with the increased number of requests. We are sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused - congrats to those who got in. Make sure to always follow channel rules - do not spam or PM anyone without permission. And please be patient since there may be delays in the process due to the large number of requests received by TD staff. Special thanks to Bugatti for the heads up. |
Strong and large dogs require wider and bigger collars that are adapted to their morphology and strength. Failing to equip your bully with the right pitbull collar will hurt their neck and skeleton in the long run. It is safer to invest a few dollars in a perfect pitbull collar than a spend hundred times more on vet bills. Although we call them pitbull collars, these large dog collars are fitting American Bullies, Rottweilers or Mastiffs as perfectly, it is just their common name on the web. Just a little advice when you choose the size of your pitbull collar for your dog: always choose a size 1-2″ longer than the widest part around your dog’s head. You want your dog to feel comfortable, not strangled. 1. Metal Pitbull Collar by Silver Phantom Jewelry Made from quality stainless steel, this large and bold pitbull collar is incredibly strong and will never rust. This means your big dog can enjoy it under the rain without any problem. Solid yet sleek, this pitbull collar has a fancy polished finish and a weight that is surprisingly light considering the great durability it offers. Many sizes are available (14″, 16″, 18″, 24″, 26″, 28″ and 30″) so pretty much all bulky breeds can benefit from this superb collar. Definitely a manly collar for a powerful dog, we recommend using it with a silver chain lead for a full impact. Oh and don’t you worry, there is a hassle-free no questions asked lifetime satisfaction guarantee. They will refund you within a few days if you change your mind, but I am very confident that you won’t. Check out the pictures below and you will notice how great it looks for an everyday collar. Of course, many think the metal chain is not comfortable and not built with dogs’ comfort in mind but we strongly disagree. Regardless of the material used, what truly matters is the shape, weight, and all the hardware. Fancy Metal Slip Chain by Silver Phantom Jewelry Fancy Metal Slip Chain by Silver Phantom Jewelry 2. OneTigris Military Adjustable Dog Collar A perfect large dog collar ideal for bulldogs, rottweilers and pitbulls, the M1-K9 is built using premium military-grade pistol belt webbing. If you are training your dogs for protection, this is a superb collar as it features everything you would need from quick-release buckle to silent mode. The OneTigris Military Adjustable Dog Collar comes in two sizes Adjustable 16-22 Inches or Adjustable 18-26 Inches, and three colors that are black, pink or green. For being a collar, it offers a lot of adjustment hardware which makes it a perfect device for dogs still growing, or gaining some muscle. This collar is for bully owners who want more than just a collar. It offers a tactical silent mode when used with an included leash, a utility pouch that you can detach with one buckle ideal to store your dog’s leash. 3. Leather Pitbull Collar With Free Personalization Where most pitbull leather collars online are cheap because made of faux leather which literally means fake leather, this one is a real handcrafted leather collar coming in black or mahogany. It is made of law enforcement approved, professional grade leather and even tested at 2000 lb/sq. inch and it passed the test with flying colors. These collars are so thick and tough you can tow your car with them. Because BlackJacks Leather who manufactures this leather takes things seriously, they offer different widths but also different lengths for each width. This is ideal for pitbulls, bullies, bulldogs, mastiffs and other dogs who are wearing their collars a lot and intensively training or working. This pitbull collar offers great quality comfort and is crafted by people who have been doing this for over 30 years now. Bonus! When ordering through Amazon, you can get a few personalisation with your dog’s name in either small or large font. It takes a day or two to make by hand but it does look awesome. The reviews keep on commenting about the best customer service they received on Amazon. And they’re right. 4. Signature K9 2-Inch Heavy Agitation Collar The perfect fit to very large dogs, the Signature K9 Heavy Agitation Collar will make Rottweilers, Cane Corsos, Boerbels, Great Pyrenees, Bernese Mountains, and other giant breeds happy. Rare are the pitbull collars to fit such big necks and actually resist over time, but this is a little gem amongst the offer available these days. For what you get, this is a bargain! The width makes for a soft landing on your dog’s throat, even when he’s lunging for a squirrel. It is two-layer thick and made from military-grade quality leather. Thanks to a clever manufacturing process, the collar spreads the pulling weight stress around the neck for injury-free comfort during long working or training days. Signature K9 2-Inch Heavy Agitation Collar Signature K9 2-Inch Heavy Agitation Collar Signature K9 2-Inch Heavy Agitation Collar Signature K9 2-Inch Heavy Agitation Collar This is a collar that is proudly handmade in Pennsylvania by real craftsmen, and it is used by K-9 and working dog professionals worldwide. They used heavy-duty stitching and hardware to make sure nothing fails this collar that is loved by all the community. The collar is not only of high quality and durable but it looks great on my dogs as well. If you have a large breed this is the collar for you. My dogs are quite active and they love playing in the dirt. Every week I simply clean the collar with leather cleaning soap and preserve with leather oil. The collar still comes out as good as new. Just what I was looking for. The collar comes in two colours, black or burgundy, and with or without a handle. We recommend the handle as it offers full control over your dog when you are standing next to each other. 5. K9 Maxtac Adjustable Collar with Handle Don’t be fooled by the photos, this pitbull collar is quite heavy and a larger than it looks. The black metal buckle is big, the heavy-duty nylon is sturdy, and the velcro extremely strong and well-made. This is not for small and fragile pooches, but rather for heavyweights in the canine species. Stitches are doubled and the handle is the perfect addition to keep your big boy or girl under control. I also added this pitbull collar in here because of its customer service. A couple of people thought, once received, that it wouldn’t be solid enough so they returned it. Most sellers would just issue a refund and end of the story. Well, RedLine K9 isn’t like that. Instead, they send it to a seamstress to reinforce every single stitch and the end result is a thrilled customer who is getting a good surprise. If you think the velcro won’t work well on big pullers, you are wrong, this has been tested with 80lbs dogs pulling non-stop and it has never been undone. Pitbull collars never cease to surprise us and we’re happy to see different models than just heavy metal chains on the market. |
After Graham DeLaet finished a solid 1-under Saturday round that put him in the final pairing at the Northern Trust Open on Sunday, he was asked what he had learned about playing on the biggest stages during his time on the PGA Tour. He had been there before, but had yet to close the deal. [np_storybar title=”Hahn wins playoff” link=”] LOS ANGELES — Surrounded by stars in the city and on the golf course, James Hahn turned in the performance of his life Sunday at the Northern Trust Open. In trouble behind the 10th green at Riviera in a three-man playoff, he hit a flop shot over the back bunker and made a 10-foot putt to stay in the game when Dustin Johnson hit a shot that was even better. On the third extra hole, Hahn remembered the subtle break and holed a 25-foot birdie putt. He was too nervous to watch Johnson try to match the birdie from 12 feet. And he was too stunned to dance. By closing with a tough par for a 2-under 69, and making two birdies in the playoff, Hahn captured his first PGA Tour title and earned his first trip to the Masters. Until Sunday, he was best known as the guy who did the “Gangnam Style” dance before the crazies on the 16th hole at Phoenix. On Sunday, he was amazed and humbled at what hit him at Riviera just as the Academy Awards was getting started. His story is fit for Hollywood. Hahn once sold shoes at a high-end department store to make a living. He was on the verge of giving up on golf in 2008 when he was down to his last $200 and decided then to work a little harder. And he then he won a PGA Tour event in a playoff over Johnson and Paul Casey, weaving his way through traffic on the back nine in which seven players had at least a share of the lead. “I never would have thought I would win this tournament,” Hahn said. Doug Ferguson, The Associated Press [/np_storybar] “Patience,” DeLaet responded. “I’ve slept on either leads or final group pairings before and I know, like, laying in bed, you’re thinking about what a win can do and this and that. I’m past that now in my career.” He also said, of the challenge of playing at a dry, fast, Riviera Country Club, “You have to get a good start out here.” Cue the ominous music and the thunderclap. DeLaet, the 33-year-old from Weyburn, Sask., who has for a couple of years looked liked the Canadian most likely to become a full-on PGA star, followed an opening birdie on Sunday with a double-bogey on the second hole and a bogey on the third. He started the day two shots behind leader Retief Goosen, and before he had teed off on the fourth hole, he was five shots back, dropped off the first page of the leaderboard and relegated to a role on the CBS broadcast that only saw him get camera time if he happened to walk into the frame while they were paying attention to one of his playing partners. Meanwhile, 2005 broke out on the leaderboard, with Goosen trading the lead with Sergio Garcia and, Vijay Singh (!) and Paul Casey (!!), among others. DeLaet would manage some late birdies to threaten the lead, but ended up two shots out of a playoff. He has three second-place finishes, three third-place finishes and now 22 top 10s on Tour, but still lacks that win. After his Saturday round, he was asked what the pressure was like “to have a whole country living and dying by your every shot hoping for you to replace Mike Weir?” If nothing else, it was a rather over-the-top way to phrase it. I would bet most of the country was unaware of DeLaet’s position in a routine February PGA stop, let alone near death on every shot. DeLaet, to his credit, brushed off such nonsense. “What I feel more than pressure is I just feel support from the 35 million people north of the border,” he said. He said he would do all he can to try to bag a win for them on Sunday, though obviously that’s didn’t work out. For DeLaet’s sake, one hopes those comments reflect his actual attitude about the pressure to be The Next One, since no one Canadian should think they are expected to be the next Weir, silly questions aside. One of the side benefits of the bumper crop of Canadians on Tour — six of them with full-time status this season, which as far as anyone can figure is a record — is that they should collectively share the burden of the home-country expectations a little. DeLaet doesn’t have to feel pressure to be the first Canadian since Weir to win a Tour event, for example, since Nick Taylor already did that last fall. Taylor, the 26-year-old from Abbotsford, B.C., won the Sanderson Farms Open in November in only his fifth PGA start, having graduated from the Web.com Tour at the end of its 2014 season. Taylor presently holds the mantle as top Canadian in the young PGA Tour season, as the win pushed him into the top 30 in the FedEx Cup points race. But in addition to DeLaet, who despite injury troubles late last year has a top-10 finish at Phoenix to pair with his result at Riviera, David Hearn has flashed strong play this year, most recently with an opening 67-66 at Pebble Beach that had him poised for contention. A 71-70 weekend left him in a tie for 21st. Adam Hadwin had made three cuts and a bit of money in his rookie PGA season after winning twice on the Web.com Tour last year, and Roger Sloan, another rookie who graduated from the Web.com last year, has made it to the weekend three times. Sloan also wins the prize for self-deprecating Canadian-ness, having posted a blow-by-blow-by-blow account of his recent 11 on the 18th hole at Pebble Beach, which included three tee shots, two penalty strokes and three putts. The one Canadian most struggling to look like the Mike Weir of old remains Weir himself, who has missed the cut in his four 2015 tournaments. When he was at his best, he really did carry the country’s hopes with him, with the odd assist from Stephen Ames, but this is a whole new kind of Canadian contingent. With this many capable pros on golf’s top circuit, it shouldn’t be rare when one takes a run at a title. It won’t likely become routine, but, at least, familiar. |
Police Monday were looking for more possible victims of an Uber driver accused of sexually assaulting a woman he picked up in downtown Los Angeles. Alaric Spence, 46, was arrested late Friday and was being held on $1 million bail. Spence assaulted the 24-year-old victim about 3 a.m. Friday after she passed out in the back of his car on her way to Hollywood, according to Los Angeles police. Instead of driving her to her destination, Spence drove her to a hotel on Lankershim Boulevard in North Hollywood and raped her, according to Capt. William Hayes. “He went to the hotel, rented a room and then carried her from his car into the hotel room where he assaulted her,” Hayes said. “To do something that brazen … in my investigators’ and my opinion … we believe it is something he has done before.” The woman, who may have passed out from drinking alcohol, woke up alone, not knowing where she was or how she got there, called police, Hayes said. Spence had been an Uber driver for six months and has prior drug-related convictions. Uber declined to comment. Anyone with information about other possible victims was urged to call LAPD Detective Carla Zuniga at (213) 486-6910. After-hours and weekend calls should be directed to (877) LAPD-24-7. Anonymous tips can be submitted through Crime Stoppers by calling (800) 222-TIPS. |
Paulinho: Corinthians midfielder says Spurs is a 'fantastic opportunity' Paulinho is currently on Confederations Cup duty with Brazil and claimed last week that Premier League side Spurs had made an offer. Reports suggest that Spurs have matched the 24-year-old's €20million (£17m) buy-out clause and Corinthians director Duilio Monteiro Alves wants to discuss the situation with Paulinho after the Confederations Cup. "The buy-out fee is 20million Euros and Corinthians can't do anything," Alves told UOL. "We'll talk with him. "Paulinho already knows about the offer, we told him. "He asked to wait until he returns from the national team. When he comes, the final decision will be made." Paulinho had also been linked with Serie A duo Inter Milan and Roma, but has confirmed he cannot reject the chance to move to White Hart Lane. "I feel I am ready to experience football at the highest level in Europe and the opportunity to play in England is a dream," Paulinho is quoted in The Independent. "It's a great pleasure to be linked to such a great club like Tottenham. They have a reputation as one of the great clubs in England who play exciting, attacking football which suits my style. "I couldn't turn them down if they made me an offer. It would be a fantastic opportunity to play for Tottenham." Spurs have yet to comment on the reported deal and, at the weekend, manager Andre Villas-Boas cooled rumours of a move for Paulinho's Brazilian team-mate Bernard. |
Late last year in the midst of Marvel and Netflix filming season 2 of Daredevil, they added another face to the cast. Stpehen Rider joined the show as Blake Tower and as shown throughout the second season, he played a big role and was set up for a bigger role in the future. With him now being the Distict Attorney, there are plenty of viable reasons for him to journey outside of Hell’s Kitchen to encounter some of the other heroes roaming New York. Rider recently talked to iDigitalTimes about his experience working with Marvel and about the chances we see him again. We know thanks to Charlie Cox that The Defenders, which recently named its showrunners, will start shooting later this year. When asked if we could see Blake Tower interacting with the team, Rider is as much in the dark as we are. Based on what I’ve read, there’s not even a script for it. Right now they are still casting for Iron Fist, so I think that’s where they’re at right now. I’m in the guessing game like you. With The Defenders looking to be coming out directly after Iron Fist and no date announced for season 2 of Jessica Jones, we are still waiting for an announcement on when season 3 of Daredevil will happen. When that season does roll around – and do not be afraid because it will – will Rider reprise his role then? I would imagine you will find out around the same time I find out about Season 3, but I would love to be a part of it. Following season 2 of Daredevil, the devil of Hell’s Kitchen is seemingly more open to accepting help than before. According to Rider, this is out of necessity and the growing world that Daredevil has found himself involved in. Daredevil has gotten to the point where he is seeking help from other people because he’s been trying to do everything by himself. The world of Hell’s Kitchen, and New York City at large, is becoming huge. You can tell that it seems like he doesn’t know all the answers. Prior to even stepping foot on set or officially getting the role, Rider was a big fan of what Marvel was doing. Rider was so excited to have the chance to get involved, he was campaigning the other people in his life to catch up on what Marvel and Netflix were up to. It was a dream come true because it was my favorite show last year. I’ve seen most of the [ Marvel ] movies, if not all of them. It just so happened I watched the first season [ Daredevil] in a week. [When I auditioned for it]…I was literally telling everyone I know, ‘You’ve gotta watch this new show.’ Rider can be seen in season 2 of Daredevil which is currently available exclusively on Netflix. Source: iDigitalTimes. |
CLARKSBURG, Calif. - A Northern California teacher is accused of stealing medication from her students, reports CBS Sacramento. Sheri Haselhuhn, a veteran teacher of 14 years who works at Delta Elementary Charter in Clarksburg, was arrested after school officials reportedly noticed prescription items missing from the student "medication room." Surveillance video led them to Haselhuhn, according to the station. "If they're stealing my kids' medication that would be wrong because that's for my kids, it's not for her," parent Carlos Alvarez told the station. Linda McCapes' son was taught for years by the 40-year-old teacher. "She taught my son how to read," McCapes said. "She was nice." Clarksburg is about 15 miles south of Sacramento. CBS Sacramento went to the teacher's home to get answers, but no one answered the door. Yolo County detectives would only say their investigation is ongoing "I think the most important message to our families is that the safety of our children is No. 1 priority, and we want all our families to know that's why we notified law enforcement and took immediate action," said principal Steve Lewis. |
And I think you demonstrated the problem right there. "..the few times I did.." While it was a great idea, it was always very clunky to get into, and interrupted gameplay by many minutes. The beauty of the Switch implementation of screenshots is that you press a button and you have the screenshot saved. Boom. I feel Miiverse was great because of the delay due to the fact that you're still in the gaming moment when posting. There's no posting after the fact, far as I know. Your brain is still in the game, and you're expressing what you felt at the very moment. While that's cool, it also could break you out of the game. And if you wanted a simple screenshot, you can't just save the screenshot and call it a day. Were it faster to get to, I believe it could have been better. While I imagine the Switch would have sped it up, unfortunately, it seems Nintendo may not believe it has staying power in their new vision. I lament the loss and at the same time welcome Nintendo's decision. |
A pre-K student brought money and crack-cocaine to class today, prompting a drug sweep and many questions. NBC10's Deanna Durante has the story from Mifflin Elementary in Philadelphia. (Published Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2013) 4 Year Old Comes to Class With Drugs and Money Philadelphia police conducted a drug sweep at an elementary school after finding what they believe to be crack cocaine and large sums of cash in a 4-year-old's pockets. Another preschooler at Mifflin Elementary noticed that a classmate had money, which turned out to be $173, in his pockets and alerted a teacher. Chief Inspector Cynthia Dorsey, with the district's school safety unit, confirmed that they also found drugs in the boy's pockets. "He knew he had something that was on his person," said Dorsey. "They told the teacher and then, you know, the child reached into his pocket and pulled out this quantity of narcotics." School's Chief Safety Inspector: We Are Looking for His Parents The chief safety inspector for Philly schools talks about the discovery today of drugs and money in the pockets of a pre-schooler. (Published Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2013) The student handed his teacher eight zip lock bags that contained an "off-white chunky substance, alleged crack-cocaine," police said in a statement. At that point, school administrators called police. Inside the school, everyone in the pre-K class was moved out of their room and into the auditorium around 10:30 a.m. so they could bring in the police K-9 unit, according to Fernando Gallard, a spokesman for the school district. Outside the school in Philadelphia's East Falls neighborhood, parents and grandparents who live nearby heard news helicopters overhead. Some made their way back to Mifflin to discover a number of police cars parked outside, the drug-sniffing dog, narcotics detectives and school security. "Oh wow," said Rhonda Smith as she learned what was going on. Her 10-year-old grandson attends Mifflin, along with an estimated 300 students that attend classes from pre-K to the 8th grade. "Actually, this is a secure school. I don't know what to say... I'm just sad that that happened here." School Leaders Respond to Crack in Pre-K Class School leaders say most of all, they are grateful no one was hurt after discovering crack and money in the pockets of a pre-schooler. (Published Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2013) Harry Carr contemplated whether to take his grandchild out of class, but wanted to learn more about the circumstances. "You know, it seems like it's a sign of the times," Carr said. "It's sad though." Jennifer Gallagher did pull her pre-K daughter out for the day, after seeing the news on Facebook. "It's kind of disturbing. I called my husband and said, 'I'm going to go get her." Temple University Psychologist Dr. Sue Cornbluth says parents should take the opportunity to sit down tonight and have a conversation with their children about drugs, even the 4-year-olds. "Parents should have the conversation about the dangers of drugs at an early age. They should be told it is wrong to use drugs. It hurts your body and your brain. What happened at school today was scary. That little boy should not of had drugs or money with him today but we don't know why that happened. If someone ever asked you to sell drugs or carry money you say no and tell someone immediately. Parents should also tell their children that the 4 year old is not to be blamed for this." The boy was taken to the hospital, as a precaution, to be checked out and reunited with his mother. Police are interviewing the child's mother and say they also want to talk with a male friend of the family. Investigators plan to test the substance found in the boy's pockets. The school district plans to offer counseling to the boy. "The child will be back. The child is a victim of the situation, wherever that situation is occurring." Gallard said. Dr. Cornbluth said the incident was likely traumatic for the preschooler. "The 4-year old is innocent in all of this. He does not cognitively know what he is doing. With that being said, he may be teased and that is where a teacher, principal or school counselor has to intervene," said Cornbluth. |
KOLKATA: India may be heading for a huge surplus of generation capacity because the 300 million people who don’t have access to electricity also don’t have the means to buy power from new plants that are being set up to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of power for all, experts said.The government said it intends to expand power generation capacity about three-fold to 800 gigawatts by 2030 and to fuel this, it is targeting coal production of 1.5 billion tonnes a year by 2020.Early signs of an impending demandsupply mismatch have already started to appear, according to experts.Distribution companies saddled with losses are not buying electricity generated by new plants. Capacity utilisation at thermal power plants dropped to 59% in June, according to the Central Electricity Authority, and coal is piling up.In the past two years, the country added about 40,000 MW of generation capacity, while the demand increased by about 10,000 MW only.“We feel a large chunk of the population without access to power don’t have the financial capability of buying electricity,” said Anish De, partner, infrastructure and government services, at KPMG India. “The cost of supplying power to remote rural areas, inclusive of infrastructure expenditure, is estimated at around Rs 10 per unit and this is too costly for them,” he added.Utilities receive between Rs 4 and Rs 6 per unit of electricity sold compared with the supply cost of Rs 10 per unit. At Rs 10 per unit, affordability will come down, De said. Such a model is unsustainable unless the power utilities are compensated by the state.Even with adequate availability of power, distribution companies may not be keen on supplying electricity at the current tariffs. “At present, a large number of beleaguered utilities tries to restrict supply of power for areas where selling electricity is a loss-making proposition,” said Salil Garg, director India Ratings & Research. “They do not have the financial capability to supply power to match the demand in view of losses on supply of power,” Garg added.Power utilities would need the support of the state governments if cheap power has to be supplied to a loss-making consumer category. However, officials from the Indian Energy Exchange, a platform for power trading, said people without access to electricity would buy power if it was made available to them.“At present, a large chunk of this population is using energy, say kerosene, and are incurring a cost in procuring them. If power becomes available, they can stop using kerosene for lighting lamps and use electricity instead,” said a senior official with IEX .KPMG’s De, however, said kerosene is subsidised and even if people in rural areas want to buy electricity, utilities would not find it profitable to supply to them because actual costs can’t be recovered. However, the IEX official said because of the vast geographical spread, demand for power will rise at a slow pace and there is bound to be a temporary demand-supply mismatch.A senior official from one of the Big Four consultancy companies said the incremental cost of supplying power to the underprivileged population may not be very large and could easily be borne by the state government . Alternatively, utilities could come up with better models of supplying power to rural areas.“A large number of Indian utilities is financially very sick and they are bound to be reluctant to supply to a segment which increases the possibility of increased losses,” said De. |
When I was in the fifth grade, I wrote a report about Title IX, the law that granted women equal access to all aspects of federally-funded education, including sports. As a basketball player, I was passionate about sports, especially since the WNBA had been founded just two years earlier, but I was also really into girl power. (Thank the Spice Girls for that.) Hillary Clinton was a name I recognized and I was learning about Susan B. Anthony. But as I marched in Atlanta this past weekend to protest the current administration's blatant disregard and disrespect, all I could think was that I was finally facing my white feminism — and I was ashamed. Confused? I get it. I was, too. I'm a white woman. I'm a feminist. Am I supposed to be ashamed of these two things? No. Of course not. But being a white feminist doesn't mean I have to promote white feminism. According to FEM Magazine, white feminism is described as the belief system of "white, heterosexual, cisgender feminists." The term focuses on the things most women in this category are concerned with — equal pay, rape culture, and "crushing the patriarchy." I read article after article from women of color. The first few were upsetting. They claimed I didn't really know what fighting for equality meant. They suggested white women were more of a problem than a solution in a lot of cases. They asserted I knew nothing of being uncomfortable, of being scared to march, of being afraid. They said I practiced white feminism. And you know what? They were right. Are those things important? Of course they are. As I read sign after sign in Atlanta about "a woman's place is in the resistance" and "my body, my rules," I felt inspired. I was pumped. I thought about how I was taking up the attitude my ancestors left behind. I was fighting for equal rights, just like Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton — you know, the suffragette who didn't want equal rights for all women, just the white women. I took selfies with my best friend, both of us in our homemade shirts. Hers said "Feminist AF." Mine said "Taking Up My Space." We recorded moments of the march for Snapchat, high-fived the Atlanta police officers lining the barricades, and repeatedly said things like "OMG, this is too much fun," and "let's get in formation." Thinking of these things now? It's embarrassing. A day or so after the marches took over the country, I read article after article from women of color. The first few were upsetting. They claimed I didn't really know what fighting for equality meant. They suggested white women were more of a problem than a solution in a lot of cases. They asserted I knew nothing of being uncomfortable, of being scared to march, of being afraid. They said I practiced white feminism. And you know what? They were right. After about the third article, I let my guard down. I could feel it — I was defensive, I was quick to shout, "not all white women voted for Trump, "and I wanted to yell, "I believe in Black Lives Matter, too." In short? I sounded like a white man who didn't recognize his privilege. If I was going to learn anything, I needed to listen first. My privilege is something I've taken notice of — I know I've been afforded different liberties because of the color of my skin — but it took the march to notice the white feminism I was following. While a local lawyer shared a Facebook status that offered his services to anyone if they were arrested at the Atlanta march, I scoffed. "If you aren't doing anything illegal, why would you be arrested?" I asked my best friend as we marched side-by-side, totally unafraid of the policemen lining the sidewalks or the ones on top of the state capitol. Oh. While I shouted "this is what democracy looks like" as I marched and updated status after status on Facebook about fighting for what I believe in, arguing with friends and colleagues and family about what the march meant to me, I didn't have to worry that someone was going to stereotype me as "the angry white woman." I could leave my social media feeds public knowing no one was going to look at them before hiring me and thinking me a liability. Nobody was going to passive-aggressively comment I was strong and brave for standing up for myself. Oh. I want equal pay for women and men. But did I know that the pay gap for women of color is even larger than the pay gap between white women and men? No. I want comprehensive sex education in schools; I want women to be able to determine what they do with their own bodies. But did I know that the abortion rate for black women is almost five times higher than it is for white women? No. I want convicted sexual offenders like Brock Turner to pay for their crimes; I want all men who sexually assault, regardless of their color or social status, to be known as sexual predators. But did I know that Native Americans are twice as likely to experience rape and/or sexual assault compared to all races? No. Instead of thinking about how "cool" it was to march for what I believed in, did I take any time to think about how tired women of color are of marching? The answer, again and again and again and again, was no. No, I didn't know this; no, I didn't know that. I was standing up for a cause I thought I wholly understood — but what, if anything, did I really understand except the boxes I could check that affected my own life? This is white feminism. I can say that I support Black Lives Matter all day, but when I'm faced with issues of equality and injustice, am I looking at all races, religions, and sexual orientations? Or am I seeing only women who look like me — white and cisgender? Instead of thinking about how "cool" it was to march for what I believed in, did I take any time to think about how tired women of color are of marching? White feminism is what you see when your social media feeds are filled with white women asking, "What are these women actually marching for?" It's the cousin at Thanksgiving who says, "I thought women already had equal rights." It's the woman in line at the grocery store who says, "These women don't know what oppression is." If I really am as committed to my feminism as I claim to be, I can't stop marching when I make as much money as my male colleagues — I have to keep going until all women make as much money as their male colleagues. I can't stop marching when Planned Parenthood is safe and abortions remain legal — I have to keep marching until all women have access to birth control, to quality healthcare, and to insurance. I have to keep marching until it no longer feels "cool." And even then, I still have to keep going. It's everywhere and I realized, also in me. And I am so, so ashamed of it. Emma McIntyre/Getty Images Entertainment/Getty Images I chanted "love trumps hate" as I marched the streets of Atlanta. I'm terrified of Trump's presidency because I can't stand the thought of refugees being turned away, of a giant wall shielding us from the "bad hombres," of incredibly short-sighted white men legislating on a woman's body, of a woman who knows nothing about education making decisions about our country's schools, of Trump supporters gleefully shouting racist comments at people of color because they can. But I'm a white woman. And I'm not nearly as terrified as women of color, as immigrants, as refugees, as the LGBTQIA+ community, as people living with disabilities — I have no idea how they feel. I will never be able to comprehend that. And looking that right in the eyes, and noting that no matter how much I want equality, I'll never know what it's like to not actually have it, is necessary. I realized that if I really am as committed to my feminism as I claim to be, I can't stop marching when I make as much money as my male colleagues — I have to keep going until all women make as much money as their male colleagues. I can't stop marching when Planned Parenthood is safe and abortions remain legal — I have to keep marching until all women have access to birth control, to quality healthcare, and to insurance. I have to keep marching until it no longer feels "cool." And even then, I still have to keep going. Critical Voices on YouTube In Atlanta, as I pushed my blonde hair out of my face for a Snapchat-filter selfie with my best friend, I heard a roar from the back of the crowd. We turned and I immediately screamed — it was Congressman John Lewis from Georgia, a civil rights activist, and an incredible hero to so many. We all reached out to high five him as he pushed through the crowd and I immediately began crying. How many marches has this man pushed himself through? How many times has he had to say, "Let's go, it's time to fight"? How many speeches will he have to give about equality, about the rights of his fellow citizens, about people pulling together to make a change? My white privilege is my responsibility. And it's about damn time I did something worthwhile with it. I have no idea. But I do know that if I am going to be an advocate and ally, I need to march and stand up and advocate even when the issues don't affect me; even when it's not my rights at risk; even when the President of the United States has not taken aim at me and my body, I need to stand up for the people he has. I need to march, to be loud, and most importantly, to use my privilege to empower those around me. And with so much uncertainty still looming in the air, that is one thing I know, without a doubt, that I can focus on. Noting my white feminism, making a conscious effort to change it, and marching right alongside men like Lewis, no matter how uncomfortable or scary it may seem, is one of the best ways I can contribute right now. If I'm going to be a feminist, I need to keep in mind exactly whose equal rights I'm fighting for — not just my own. My white privilege is my responsibility. And it's about damn time I did something worthwhile with it. |
In her book “Living History,” Hillary Rodham Clinton described what she found while working for the children of New Bedford: “Knocking on doors was revelatory and heartbreaking. I found children who weren’t in school because of physical disabilities like blindness and deafness. Instead of looking to make money at a DC or NY law firm, the idealistic young woman joined Marian Wright Edelman’s fledgling Children’s Defense Fund in New Bedford to save the children, or so the story goes about a young Hillary. Nice story. Only it’s not true but she told it again during her DNC acceptance speech anyway. First of all, she failed her bar exams which is why she ended up with the defense fund. She finally passed them in Arkansas. She ended up at that big firm eventually – the Rose Law Firm. During her DNC acceptance speech, she continued the story of New Bedford and their poor treatment of handicapped children in 1973 before the handicapped laws were passed on both state and federal levels and she seems to suggest she was responsible for the laws. I remember meeting a young girl in a wheelchair on the small back porch of her house. She told me how badly she wanted to go to school — it just didn’t seem possible in those days… It became clear to me that simply caring is not enough. To drive real progress, you have to change both hearts and laws. You need both understanding and action. So we gathered facts. We built a coalition. And our work helped convince Congress to ensure access to education for all students with disabilities.” Ken Pittman and Chris McCarthy of WBSM knew it had BS written all over it. Pittman knows the Mayor of New Bedford in 1973, Mayor John Markey (81 years old and a lifelong Democrat now living in Dartmouth, MA.). Mayor Markey is also a retired judge and a man whose credibility and character are beyond reproach. He tells a different story. “I took over as Mayor in January of 1973. We had a budget for vans with drivers and provided services to students with disabilities. It was Tremblay Bus. They would pick them up and drop them off at their homes. Now, they may not have been able to go to the local school, depending on whether or not the schools were accessible for wheelchairs but there were many schools then which could and did accommodate our handicapped students in wheelchairs”. “In fact, we had a local guy who was a paraplegic, injured in a diving accident who came to my office many times to advocate for the disabled and I actually spent an entire day in 1973 in a wheelchair to better understand the challenges they face everyday. Soon after that we were cutting out sidewalks for wheelchairs and doing things in New Bedford before the laws ever compelled us to.” Apparently, the Democrats of New Bedford were taking care of the children and their reward was for her to throw them under the bus. Does she ever tell the truth? How do you get up before tens of millions and just lie??? SOURCE |
An eight-year-old girl at the center of what authorities suspect might be child abuse died last night at 8pm, according to Chinese reports in The Mirror. The girl, known as Phoebe, was brought to the Capital Institute of Pediatrics on November 24. She stopped breathing on her own around 7pm Sunday night and passed away at 8. Suffering from an intestinal obstruction and kidney problems that began some time in September, this was her third trip to the hospital since the injury. Volunteer caregivers who have assisted Ray Wigdal, identified as the American foster father of the girl and 10 other Chinese children ranging from two months to 17 years old, told reporters that her injuries were the result of a bicycling accident; however authorities suspect the girl's injuries may have been inflicted by Widgal, as Chinese media reports claim that the girl told the hospital staff she had been hit by him. Wigdal is reported to have been in China for over 30 years, speaks Chinese fluently, and has been raising orphans from infancy since at least 2004, with most of the children abandoned by their natural parents because of birth defects such as cleft palate. Wigdal's whereabouts remain unknown and he did not visit Phoebe since her admittance November 24. Volunteers said he was informed immediately about her death, but none would reveal how he knew or who told him, nor what his reaction to her death was. News reports say a Chinese elderly volunteer, identified as "Granny Guo," 76, helped Wigdal take care of his foster kids. She said that Phoebe was adopted by Ray in 2006, but since she was not there when Phoebe first arrived, she had no idea how he ended up with Widgal. Like Wigdal's other adopted kids, Phoebe did not have a Chinese name and no one knows who her biological parents are. Among the 11 adopted kids, Phoebe impressed Mrs. Guo. “She was the smartest and the best behaved,” Guo told The Mirror. “Except for one child, who is autistic, all the other kids are very smart -- but Phoebe was surely the smartest.” Guo said Phoebe loved jigsaw puzzles and the Rubik's Cube. “Often it took her just a few moves [to finish a Rubik’s Cube]," Guo told reporters. Guo also told reporters that Phoebe was the best behaved of the 11. She loved grapes but she never rushed to grab too much for herself when the kids were sharing a snack. She was always satisfied with whatever she got. Every time the kids fought or played pranks on each other, Phoebe never joined them. She always simply sat there, watching and laughing. Guo added that Phoebe was a tough kid, never one to complain, even if she was uncomfortable. Reports from 163.com last night state that Wigdal was interviewed by police on Sunday. Beijing Police released no further information on the matter, including whether or not they had detained him. Chinese media reports have gone sensational with headlines that have presumed Widgal's guilt, such as 163.com's use of the headline "Chinese Girl Tortured by Foreigner Stops Breathing (被老外虐待中国养女停止呼吸)". However, Granny Guo was quoted as saying that Phoebe's initial injury, which doctors say came from blunt external force, dated from September, a time when Wigdal was in the US – and therefore it was impossible for him to have caused her injuries. A woman identified as Ms. Zhang, one of the volunteers, said that Wigdal had "almost collapsed," although it is unclear whether this occurred before or after his meeting with the police. "He said that raising children is a part of his life and he can't believe the situation has developed into this," Zhang told The Mirror Chinese newspaper. The report also says Wigdal called the children via one of the volunteers Sunday night, saying, "No matter where you are, I'm still the boss." The other 10 children were taken into protective custody by Beijing authorities and children protection staff on Friday, December 5, with reports coming from a trusted American source familiar with the case saying "the kids were safe and treated kindly and with great patience and compassion." It remains unclear whether Wigdal has legally adopted any of the children. "Granny Guo" told reporters that she is not aware of Wigdal processing any proper paperwork for fostering or adopting the children. However, one report added that since most of the children Widgal has been caring for were abandoned due to birth defects, they lack any formal Chinese paperwork such as birth certificates or IDs that would be necessary for proper registration. Police said they planned to use DNA testing to attempt to establish the children's identities. Authorities have stated that in order for Wigdal to claim any of them from protective custody, Wigdal will have to prove that he is their legal adoptive parent. The Mirror report indicates that volunteers intend to send Phoebe's body for cremation at the Baobaoshan Crematorium. No decision has been reached as to whether there will be a funeral service for the girl. The report does not discuss whether an autopsy would be performed. Photo: The Mirror Additional reporting/translation by Patrick Li |
The early and medieval Irish poets have long been identified as powerful social figures whose power resided in satire and in their role as the “memory” of their people, called on to ratify legal arguments about borders, kinship and other matters. Outside of this “public” role, however, the literature also includes extensive narrative and lyrical traditions that are the basis of Maurice Riordan’s terrific new compendium, The Finest Music (Faber, £14.99). Riordan’s informative introduction describes the lyrical “monastic” poetry as being “without a public function. Its concern is with the viewpoint of the individual.” That individuality may well be what attracted post-Romantic poets such as Samuel Ferguson and Alfred Lord Tennyson to these poems, and Riordan publishes extracts from their ebullient versions. The introduction also posits that the poems’ attention to the natural world may have something to do with the changing climate of the “medieval warm period”, something evident, along with its influential use of alliteration and medial rhyme, in TW Rolleston’s The Song of Finn in Praise of May: Swift horses gather nigh Where half dry the river goes; Tufted heather crowns the height; Weak and white the bogdown blows. Alongside these pioneer translators, Riordan includes a substantial set of translations by Frank O’Connor, whose Advice to Lovers still feels distinctively fresh and quick: The way to get on with a girl Is to drift like a man in a mist Happy enough to be caught, Happy to be dismissed. As well as dusting off such classics, Riordan has assembled existing and commissioned work by his contemporaries. There is a piercing clarity to the blackbird and Sweeney poems variously translated by Seamus Heaney, Thomas Kinsella, Derek Mahon, Ciaran Carson and Riordan himself: Lucky blackbird with your nest hidden in the green forest a monk who rattles no bell clear, happy is your whistle A freer, more idiomatic tone characterises Eiléan Ní Chuilleanáin’s remarkable version of the much-imitated Song of the Woman of Beare (“My days drinking spirits / And wine with kings are gone. / Now it’s a soft drink, whey, / water with the seniors”), and likewise Paul Muldoon’s brilliant, frayed versions of Pangur Bán and Colmcille on exile, whose closing stanza gives a flavour of his approach: I so loved being in Ireland and still rail against being displaced. To hang with Comgall in Bangor, Canice in Kilkenny, it would be such a blast. Ní Chuilleanáin and Muldoon provide their versions with a narrative pulse, as does Ciaran Carson in his translations of the early poems’ otherworldly voyages, from which dreamers emerge – like readers of this revealing anthology – “in the rowboat / after morning had come / wondering not knowing / where the island had gone.” (The Island of the Glass Bridge). The clean, clear diction of Carson’s translations in The Finest Music carries across into his absorbing new book, From Elsewhere (Gallery, €20/€13.90). Ostensibly a translation of the work of the French poet Jean Follain (1903-1971), it includes alongside each translation an original poem of Carson’s own that “arose” as a response to the translation. Formal devices like this have defined, along with his stylistic spareness, Carson’s recent books. Formally, From Elsewhere most resembles Carson’s haunting 2010 diary of loss and illness, Until Before After (2010), with its box-within-a-box structure, underpunctuated run-on lines, repetitions and keenly attuned ear for the sounds of things falling apart. While the book is an intriguing new example of Carson’s formal method, it also offers a distinctive reading of Jean Follain: the French poet has previously been translated into luminous English poems by WS Merwin, but Carson presents him, very differently, as a poet of aftermath. For Carson, everything Follain observes is written in the tattered shadows of European wars. Pensées d’octobre: October Thoughts is typical: How good it is to drink this fine wine all by oneself when evening illuminates the coppery hills no hunter any longer sets his sights on the lowland game our friends’ sisters look lovelier than ever regardless of the threat of war an insect stops then starts again Carson’s own “response” poems show exactly how much his work chimes with Follain’s, picking up on the French poet’s images and resituating them in a city still marked by the Troubles, where a helicopter “circles overhead / in the haze of its night” (Ritual). Follain’s poems in fact seem to foreshadow Carson’s instinctive sense of the ephemeral, his feeling that nothing will last in the world he sees and hears around him, except occasional traces of the vanished world he knew as a child. And the long sentences that Carson breaks up across short, occasionally abrupt or gasped-out lines create beautiful musical effects, as when Empire notes: “The drop-leaf of the escritoire is all blots / beyond the tumult / the sun already well up in the sky.“ These “translations” may not be exactly faithful or historical, but Carson uses the freedom of his method to illuminatingly link Follain and his own poems to other poets’ work: Elizabeth Bishop, WB Yeats, Louis MacNeice, Jorge Luis Borges and Seamus Heaney appear, the latter the subject of an elegy, In Memory, that is also a meditation on translation and a homage to Heaney’s Personal Helicon: leaning over the rim he shouted the two syllables of his name deep down into it to hear his echo. John McAuliffe teaches poetry at the University of Manchester’s Centre for New Writing. His first collection, A Better Life (2002), has just been republished as an ebook by the Gallery Press |
Donald Trump Jr., the eldest child of former vodka salesman and current U.S. president Donald Trump, was reported to have met during his father’s campaign with Natalia Veselnitskaya, a Russian lawyer with alleged ties to the Kremlin who once referred to liberalism in the United States as a “fucking mental disorder.”[1][2][3] Donald Jr., who once said he prefers “Moscow over all cities in the world,” issued a statement claiming that the meeting was “primarily” about “the adoption of Russian children.”[4][5] White House senior adviser Kellyanne Conway, who previously said conversations between Russian officials and associates of the Trump campaign “never happened,” told a journalist that “nobody said the word ‘opposition research,’” and Donald Jr. tweeted that he went to the meeting with Veselnitskaya in order to “hear information about an opponent.”[6][7][8] White House chief of staff Reince Priebus said the meeting was a “big nothing burger,” an ethics lawyer for the administration of former president George W. Bush said the meeting “borders on treason,” and Donald Jr. hired as legal representation Alan Futerfas, a criminal attorney who has previously represented associates of the Gambino and Genovese crime families, which in the late 1970s sold Trump the overpriced concrete used to build Trump Tower, where the meeting between Donald Jr. and Veselnitskaya occurred.[9][10][11][12] Donald Jr. learned from reporters that emails he had sent about the meeting would be published; issued a second statement claiming that the meeting was organized by “an acquaintance” from the Miss Universe pageant, which Trump once owned, along with the Miss USA and Miss Teen USA pageants and a modeling agency accused by a former employee of practicing “modern-day slavery”; and then revealed that the acquaintance was Rob Goldstone, the agent of Emin Agalarov, an Azerbaijani pop star whose video for the song “In Another Life” featured Trump firing him and whose father is Aras Agalarov, a billionaire who owned the Moscow venue where Trump held his 2013 Miss Universe pageant and who once planned with Trump to build a Trump-branded tower in Russia, a project that according to Goldstone was led by Donald Jr. until it was canceled because “the economy tanked in Russia” as a result of U.S. sanctions, which Trump’s former national-security adviser unlawfully discussed with the Russian ambassador while he was a member of Trump’s transition team.[13][14][15][16][17][18][19] Donald Jr. wrote that his father, who days before the meeting with Veselnitskaya had told the press he would soon announce incriminating information about his Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton, “knew nothing of the meeting”; and that during the meeting he received “no meaningful information” to help his father, who then did not announce any incriminating information about Clinton.[20][21] Donald Jr. wrote of the meeting that Veselnitskaya’s “true agenda” was to discuss the Magnitsky Act, a piece of U.S. legislation that imposed sanctions on 18 Russian officials believed to be responsible for the death of an accountant who uncovered a $230 million money-laundering scheme; that he “advised” Veselnitskaya that “her concerns were better addressed if and when” Trump “held public office”; and said that he had “no further contact” with Veselnitskaya, who continued after the meeting to represent Denis Katsyv, a Russian businessman who was charged in Manhattan with participating in the money-laundering scheme, until the case was settled out of court after Trump ascended to the presidency and fired the prosecutor.[22][23][24][25] Veselnitskaya said that she never offered Donald Jr. any information on Clinton and denied that she worked for the Russian government, it was reported that U.S. prosecutors had evidence Veselnitskaya told a Moscow lawyer working to expose the money-laundering scheme that he would face consequences from Russia’s intelligence agency if he continued his efforts, and a lawyer who claimed to have discovered new evidence of the money-laundering scheme said that his fall from the fourth-floor balcony of his Moscow home two months before Katsyv’s case was settled was “no accident.”[26][27][28][29] Donald Jr. said that he wanted to be “transparent,” then tweeted copies of his email exchanges with Goldstone, which revealed that Goldstone had offered to set up a meeting between Donald Jr. and a “Russian government attorney”; that the attorney would provide “information” to “incriminate Hillary Clinton,” to which Donald Jr. replied “I love it”; that Goldstone said he would “send the names” of the people attending the meeting ahead of time to Donald Jr., who later claimed he “did not know” Veselnitskaya’s name before the meeting; that Trump’s former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, who Donald Jr. had claimed attended the meeting without knowing what it was about, received the emails; and that Donald Jr. attended the meeting about two weeks before he said that the Clinton campaign’s claims that the Democratic National Committee was hacked by Russia were “lies” that were “so phony” and “disgusting.”[30][31][32][33] Republican senator Orrin Hatch said Donald Jr. is a “nice young man,” and Donald Jr. said he was “in the learning curve” when he accepted assistance in writing from the Russian government for his father’s U.S. presidential campaign via an email exchange with Goldstone, who was a former judge for Miss USA and who once wrote that when an “idiotic child” falls into the hands of a 440-pound gorilla, he should be “shot.”[34][35][36][37] Sign up to have the Weekly Review delivered to your inbox. |
The global community has been galvanized by the tweets, Facebook logins, cellphone pictures and reports from Iran. Now comes this video of a young a woman shot in Tehran by Basiji police force, which I came across after seeing "neda" and "#neda" on Twitter, where the words kept showing up in in the Tehran and Iran threads. "Neda" means "call" or "proclamation" in Farsi, an odd and chilling coincidence. I clicked a couple links, and then a few more and found the details: At 19:05 June 20th Place: Karekar Ave., at the corner crossing Khosravi St. and Salehi st. A young woman who was standing aside with her father watching the protests was shot by a basij member hiding on the rooftop of a civilian house. He had clear shot at the girl and could not miss her. However, he aimed straight her heart. I am a doctor, so I rushed to try to save her. But the impact of the gunshot was so fierce that the bullet had blasted inside the victim’s chest, and she died in less than 2 minutes. The protests were going on about 1 kilometers away in the main street and some of the protesting crowd were running from tear gass used among them, towards Salehi St. The film is shot by my friend who was standing beside me. Please let the world know. The video is extremely graphic, It also keeps getting pulled from YouTube, so you may have to search for NEDA to find it if this version gets yanked. Twitter hash "#neda" has become a new update site for the demonstrations in Tehran, with updates urging protester to not wear contact lenses, to wear green, and for everyone reading to change their Twitter and blog timezone to GMT + 3:30 (which is Tehran time) to baffle security forces searching for those reporting on the protests. |
Berkeley High students formed their own kind of border wall Friday morning, only unlike the president’s theirs was designed to send a message of protection and support for their undocumented classmates. Scroll down to see slideshow of photos by Pete Rosos. Hundreds of students linked arms and encircled the entire campus, demonstrating solidarity with those affected by the potential end of an Obama-era program protecting young immigrants from deportation. During what would be third period, around 10:30 a.m., the students poured into the courtyard for a quick rally in support of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients, led by student group Chicano Latino United Voices (CLUV). The student organizers then directed their peers to the edges of the campus, where they held hands and chanted, easily reaching all the way around the school. “No ban, no wall, education for all,” was the cry. Some danced, many held signs with strongly worded messages for President Donald Trump, and all participated in a moment of silence. Cars driving by honked loudly in support. The student organizers were inspired by a similar protest in 2008, when Berkeley High formed another human chain around the campus in a demonstration against Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrests involving a local family. “We wanted to show people what a peaceful protest looks like,” said CLUV president Marielena Rodas, 17, after the DACA event. “This is how the kids do it.” She said she has classmates who are struggling to focus on their schoolwork, knowing they, or their family members, could face deportation. The CLUV organizers worked with Berkeley High faculty and administrators to plan the action over the past week. Principal Erin Schweng said she helped facilitate the event in part to make sure it went smoothly and safely, but also because she empathized with the students’ message. “We do stand in support with them against the fear that the decision [to end DACA] caused,” Schweng said. She was pleased the students wanted to organize an event on campus involving the student body, in an action “that shows unity and hope.” DACA allows undocumented immigrants who were brought to the U.S. when they were children, and who are currently in school or have a high school diploma, to stay in the country and work. Around 800,000 young people have received protection through the program, including more than 200,000 in California. Earlier this month, Trump announced his plan to phase out the program in six months, prompting protests around the country. On Thursday, however, Democratic leaders announced they may be close to reaching a deal with the president to protect DACA “dreamers” while boosting border security. Shortly after Trump announced his intention to end DACA, Berkeley Unified leaders put out a statement in support of affected students. Student immigration status is not tracked by the district. Scroll through the slideshow of photos below: Become a member Berkeleyside relies on reader support so we can remain free to read for everyone in Berkeley. Become a member and be part of the future of independent, local journalism. BECOME A MEMBER TODAY |
When I was talking to people for this piece on partisanship in the House of Commons, I spoke with Pierre Poilievre, the minister of democratic reform and a character rather well-noted for his performances in the crucible for question period. I didn’t include any of our conversation in the piece, but here is a transcript. Q. Is there any way to determine when partisanship goes from being a functional part of our Parliament to a detriment to our Parliament? A. I think it’s a detriment if it detracts from good policy and/or the business of governing. So, for example, if a politician takes a deliberately bad and damaging policy decision strictly and demonstrably for a partisan purpose, voters punish [him or her] accordingly. But, aside from that, I think it’s just part of the regular discourse. Q. We’ve talked about this in the past. You’re a guy who’s associated with question period and the battle of question period, and you are kind of happy with the role you play, but do you ever worry that there’s too much partisanship, or that the rancour has gotten a bit over the top? A. No. Q. Really? A. No, not at all, and I don’t think Canadians do, either. I think the average Canadian couldn’t care less if some politician’s feelings are hurt because of an unkind word. I think everyday people expect politicians to be able to withstand very tough criticism. There’s a public interest in having the weaknesses of a politician’s policy positions and judgments exposed for all eyes to see. That’s one of the greatest things about a democracy, and it’s one of the characteristics that most distinguishes it from a dictatorship. There’s certainly no partisanship in most totalitarian dictatorships. The political debate, I’m sure, is very polite, actually, in those places. Q. I was going to say there’s maybe partisanship, but there’s maybe only one party. A. That’s right, exactly, but there’s certainly no partisan disagreement, I should say. And so I don’t want to become one of those places, and I don’t think we risk that, but what I’m saying is that I think it’s the job of public officials to be able to explain themselves and their positions and the robust debate in Parliament allows for that to happen. Q. You don’t ever think that people are turned off by the bickering and the shouting back and forth, and you know the way question period is, and attack ads and constant disagreement—constant and loud disagreement. A. I think that people are more concerned with the result, like when I go into my community, they want to know when is that bridge going to be finished, why are my hydro rates so expensive, what’s your plan to reduce my commute time. Those things matter to people in their lives. Frankly, they’re not so much captivated by whether or not politicians are friendly with each other. Q. What about the idea that it turns people off politics? A. I don’t think it does. I just think that, at the end of the day—first of all, I think that I should point out that our party is the least partisan of the three. Q. There are people who quibble with you on that. A. They might, but I think it’s demonstrably true, and I think if anyone did a quantitative analysis of question period, they would find that to be so. And I think to the extent that our party does criticize its competitors, it is mostly fair game. And you look at our main criticism of our opponents, [which] is that they cost too much and they would raise taxes on Canadian families. They can quibble with that, too, but the reality is that voters should be able to judge that criticism before they cast their ballots, rather than waking up to a big tax increase after the election is over. That’s just one example of how the public is served by having a robust back-and-forth on the floor of the House of Commons. I know all the other people you’ll interview will claim that they are non-partisan, and I encourage anyone to look at their actual record. Look at the questions that are asked on the floor of the House of Commons and judge whether or not these people who decry partisanship at 4 p.m. are equally non-partisan at 3 p.m. Q. But let’s take a very small example. Members’ statements, those 15 minutes before question period, seem possibly to have been, at some point, not as much of a forum for attacks on each other. Could there be fewer attacks going back and forth, less rancour? A. I think the defining question is this: Are the words focused on the concrete interests of the Canadian people? It doesn’t really matter whether or not the words are agreeable; it matters if they’re relevant to people’s lives. So, for example, if a member of our caucus stands up and points out that the Opposition is going to raise taxes and hit families with higher costs, some might call that negative, [but] I call it very relevant. But if somebody gets up and attacks a colleague’s personal life or a private matter, then I don’t think Canadians will react well to that. And that, I think, is the dividing line. If it’s relevant to the interests of everyday people, then voters expect that it should be robustly and aggressively debated on the floor of the House of Commons. If it’s gratuitously personal, having nothing to do with the public interest, then people react very badly to it. Q. I think there’s always going to be a debate about the content, where partisanship goes, but could there be fewer attacks and less back and forth? Also, do you think there should be more co-operation between the parties, between MPs? A. Yeah, and this is where I’ll be critical of the media, because there are instances where the parties do actually work together, and there’s no interest from the media in even covering it, so no one finds out and it becomes the old “when a tree falls in the forest” problem. I had a unanimous legislative change passed through the human resources committee to extend Employment Insurance parental leave to returning soldiers, and there wasn’t a single journalist in the room to cover it. It was a very touching story: We had a soldier testifying from Kabul, who saw his wife through the intercom for the first time in six months. She was testifying in person; a great, beautiful story, but no one was interested because there was no fight. We hear from journalists all the time, “Why don’t you guys be less partisan?” Well, we are, it’s just you’re never around to see it. Q. Yeah, that’s fair. I do wonder how often it happens, [or whether] it’s obscured because we aren’t able to see it. But I take your point. A. I know there’s lots of quiet back and forth that happens between representatives that improves the quality of the bill. I remember Pat Martin made a lot of very good suggestions during the Accountability Act process back in 2006, and many of his thoughts actually became law. And I’ve seen in instances over the course of 10 years here where that has happened. But it just really doesn’t get a lot of air time when it does. Q. Irwin Cotler has pitched the idea of a Speak No Evil day that would be dedicated to civil discourse. Any interest in such a thing? A. Well, I certainly agree we need to be civil, but that we can disagree civilly at the same time. I think the great thing about Parliament is you bring together an extremely diverse group of people who have differing points of view, and all of those views clash on the floor of the House of Commons and only the best ones survive in the long run. That’s the genius of the Westminster parliamentary system. We don’t have a congressional system formed into a half circle. We do actually have two sides and they are called the Opposition; they’re not called the minority party like in Washington. I think that the fact that parties bring their ideas and they clash every day is not necessarily pretty, but, in the end, the best ideas rise to the top and, to cite Churchill’s much overused quote, it’s the worst system of government except all the rest. Q. I guess this comes down, to a certain degree, to a definition of what everyone thinks is civil. A. I think so, but where I draw the line is, is the person uttering the words that are relevant to the public interest? Or is it just a gratuitous personal attack? And there is a difference between that. If somebody wants to make an allegation about somebody else’s tax plan, that’s one thing. They want to attack them for some irrelevant personal characteristic, that’s another question entirely. So I really think that it comes down to whether or not you’re addressing a matter of public interest. Q. Right, and you can go down a rabbit hole on this discussion, but take the example of Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau and the mosque. That might be seen by some people as a completely gratuitous and irrelevant attack. A. I don’t have any of the details on that story, so I don’t want to comment on it in particular. But I think, on the whole, that our criticisms of Justin Trudeau have been very fair. He is one of the most partisan members of the House of Commons, no question about it*. So, look, if Justin Trudeau is going to mean higher taxes for somebody’s family, that family should know about it before they get into the ballot box and cast a ballot. If he is going to repeal some of our anti-terrorism legislation, I think we have a duty to inform people of that before they vote on the question. He wants to be prime minister of Canada; that takes a lot of judgment, a lot of good management and wisdom. We have the obligation to point out when his judgment is demonstrably bad, as it has so often been. There’s actually a public interest in doing that, because he proposes himself for an office that requires judgment. So I think these criticisms that he has faced are very fair and very reasonable, and not out of line, by the way, with what other politicians face on a daily basis. *When I followed up, the minister’s office pointed to three examples to substantiate this assertion: Trudeau calling Peter Kent a “piece of s–t”; Trudeau tweeting a link to Vikileaks; and Trudeau’s focus on the Prime Minister’s leadership in opposing the government’s decision to commit to a combat mission against ISIS [Islamic State] in Iraq. Alleges Poilievre’s office of Trudeau: “Most recently, he seemed to support the international community’s military action against ISIS, but opposed it for Canada. His only rationale for the contradiction was his personal opposition to the Prime Minister’s leadership. In other words, he cannot even put aside personal and partisan disputes when it comes to fighting ISIS, even when he recognizes it as a threat and other Liberals supported military action out of Responsibility to Protect, not just from the international community but from Canada, as well.” (It’s not clear to me whether Trudeau offered support for the idea of our allies participating in air strikes previously, but he seems to have now in a recent interview with the Huffington Post.) |
Alx Preston is the creator of Heart Machine and Hyper Light Drifter. He remains mostly alive and clackity clacking away at a keyboard on new projects. You can follow him on Twitter or Instagram via @HeartMachineZ. Even though 2016 has been completely exhausting--we released our game, my chronic (sometimes debilitating) illnesses reared their heads, and society as a whole has been going through tumultuous times--I managed to sneak in several incredible gems to subsist off of and reorient my sanity in smaller doses. A few games even managed to capture me entirely off-guard and thrill my bones into jiggly noodles. I was a Team Fortress 2 player for years; I had racked up hundreds of hours and a wealth of hats, so I thought Overwatch would be a natural fit. Unfortunately my initial reaction was unkind: it struck me as a shallow “me-too”, with scattershot character and level designs. After allowing myself more time with the game, however, it clicked. It became my go-to stress-reliever for evenings. Everything is exquisitely crafted, from the sound design, the player models, the levels, to the UI and UX. Even the character-driven shorts they release have a level of polish that’s easy on the eyes. (Which helps to forgive the sometimes clunky dialogue and predictable narratives.) It’s increasingly rare to find this amount of polish in a game. Every character is endearing; even the immensely thick-headed lines of McCree (bless your stupid cowboy heart) and ultra-edgelord attitude and attire of Reaper (bless your shredded vocal chords and absolute commitment to your lifestyle). The world Blizzard has crafted is engaging and cohesive in a way I didn’t initially grasp, and the fact that the community has responded so positively to all these new personalities has only further bolstered their likability. Blizzard itself deserves major credit for how they embrace and interact between their community on a continued basis; it’s impressive and uncommon to see this level of care. I’ve not been able to stop playing since release, which says a lot for a game that makes me violently claw at my face at the end of so many frustrating competitive matches. Congrats. I don't think I'm alone in saying I didn't expect much out of this game. Considering it was in development for years, went through an entire reboot, and was made by a team without John Carmack and plenty of the other id crew, Doom had a huge wall of doubt to climb. Instead, it super-punched through that wall--blood, hundreds of bones and buckets of guts flying in every direction--then turned around and said “Fuck you, wall” and put a cigarette out on it. Most satisfying game moment(s) of the year: every time you run up on a demon and blow it into bloody, chunky mist bits. Everything in this game is great. Fantastic job, id. I’m aware I’m late to the party and this is a 2015 game; I didn't have time to play this during production of Hyper Light. (‘Whatever’ to your rules!) I finally got around to completing the game this month, and boy is it great. Undertale has the most endearing cast of characters I’ve experienced in a game. This is largely due to the incredibly strong comedic writing of Undertale (on par with Portal 2); I found myself laughing out loud, by myself, numerous times throughout. It also showcases several clever, deceptively simple and flexible “battle” mechanics that made each encounter feel entirely unique, which worked brilliantly to build each character. Undertale made me smile more than any other game this year. Plus, I can't stop listening to this damned soundtrack. Raw mechanical bliss. Harsh, haunting soundtrack. Immensely satisfying sound design. Plinks and plangs that make my brain scream with joy. A game I can’t put down once it grips my wretched heart with stupid little alien beetle claws. Thumper feels like an interactive fractal desktop wallpaper from 1999 that’s yelling at me. Yes, it’s basically a remix of the Greatest Hits from previous Souls games. True, it had some stand-out battles, some streamlining of mechanics and the interface, some neat new tracks and locations to explore. Of course, the story was still convoluted and obscured, even a bit melodramatic. It’s still Dark Souls. I can never slake my thirst for abuse, apparently. Inside is a game that took its time to get finished (about 6 years), and it shows. It’s a powerful and expertly crafted experience. The animation is exceptionally fluid and lavish; the environment is immaculate and communicates a wealth of information. Building a narrative purely through environmental storytelling is really challenging, and they succeeded overwhelmingly. The audio design and atmosphere are so good I just want to live (read: die in a horrifying way) and sob silently in this dreary, fucked up world for a while. Well done, Playdead. This game has an even longer history than Inside, having taken the better part of a decade for the developers to complete. It’s heartwarming to see them pull through that cycle with such a strong debut. The game has a great cast of characters, exceptionally fitting OST, and ridiculously detailed sprite work. Just look at those explosions and the hand-animated foliage. The insane amount of labor that's been poured into this game makes me shiver a bit when I consider the hours spent on each enemy, background, character. Owlboy reminds me of the last generation of SNES greats and early 2D PlayStation platformers in all the best ways. The best part of Titanfall 2 is the unexpectedly excellent single player campaign. It harkens back to Half-Life and Halo in many ways, but with a giant robot pal you can ride inside of. The multiplayer maps have excellent level design. The progression system is satisfying and contains thoughtful design changes. Above all else, though, it feels (and sounds) great to shoot dudes and blow up Titans. Excited to see how they push the next campaign. Another beautifully crafted experience by a small team, gorgeous in every department (such a strong artistic direction) and precisely executed without frills or nonsense. Firewatch made me want to go hiking and camp in the backwoods, then I remembered my severe allergy to the outdoors. Also, I miss my old pet turtle. Jonathan Blow and his team succeeded in providing the player with true epiphanies through gameplay--a significant feat. It’s not just simple “aha” moments you get in most puzzle games, disparately peppered throughout: it is a deeper and fuller understanding of each consecutive puzzle and the context in which they apply themselves to the world they occupy. The art direction and design is my favorite of the year. It’s a beautiful, streamlined visual style that works in tandem with the sparse narrative with fascinating and clever visual tricks built into specific puzzles and the wider exploration of the dense island. I’m not usually one for line or grid puzzles, but The Witness really drew me in, had me wishing there was a hotline to connect to for assistance manned by Rubeus Hagrid... I’ll stop now. Abzû was the most lovely experience I had with a game this year. The game came out during a period of incredible stress (right after months of porting and releasing HLD on PS4 and Xbox One) so the soothing pace, gameplay, and atmosphere came at the perfect time. It helps that Abzû is a stunning artist showcase--remarkable compositions, fantastic color palettes, well-considered wildlife and breathtaking scenery in every location. It’s not often you experience such a lush environment, particularly underwater, so it was a rare treat to simply swim and exist in this world. Congrats to Matt and his crew on such an artistic achievement. |
It doesn’t matter what side of the political aisle you stand on—having a pet is a big responsibility. Here’s why Reince Priebus really should wait until this election is over to do it. 1. He’s too busy: Leave your politics at the door for a moment. As chairman of the Republican National Committee, Mr. Priebus will have a jam-packed schedule in the coming months—debates, fundraisers, rallies, and dinners. You don’t have to agree with Mr. Priebus’ party or candidate to see that a dog would be too much. Advertisement 2. It wouldn’t be fair to his wife, Sally: Just be realistic. If Reince gets a dog right now, who do you think is going to end up taking care of it? A puppy is a lot of work, and Reince should wait until he can share more of the burden. Whether or not you support his party’s platforms, you have to admit that this is the only responsible move. 3. Flying with a dog can be stressful: Whoever you’re supporting this November, the fact is that Reince Priebus is traveling a lot right now. He has a family in Wisconsin, a job in DC, and he’ll surely be visiting some critical swing states this fall. The logistics of flying with a dog are very complex. It might be easier to manage if he chooses to fly private, but this comes with its own set of political pitfalls. Objectively, it would be better for him to steer clear of this mess. 4. He needs to focus on uniting a broken party: There are thousands of opinions on the GOP, but it should be obvious to everyone that Priebus has his work cut out for him if he wants to secure a Republican victory come fall. Getting a dog right now would only further complicate an already enormous task. Advertisement 5. It might distract from his message: Every single choice Reince Priebus makes is under the microscope. If he got a dog in spite of all the reasons listed here, he’d risk creating an unnecessary and unwelcome sideshow. That’s not politics—that’s being pragmatic. 6. It’s something he can look forward to: Even if Mr. Priebus’ heart is really set on getting a dog, why not let the dog be the light at the end of the tunnel? After this bitterly divisive election is over, there will be plenty of time for Reince to give his new pet the attention and love it needs. Until then, Democrats, Republicans, and others can agree that there’s simply no need for Reince to rush into it. |
An international team of geologists has a new explanation for how the Midwest's biggest geological feature -- an ancient and giant 2,000-mile-long underground crack that starts in Lake Superior and runs south to Oklahoma and to Alabama -- evolved. Scientists from Northwestern University, the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC), the University of Gottingen in Germany and the University of Oklahoma report that the 1.1 billion-year-old Midcontinent Rift is a geological hybrid, having formed in three stages: it started as an enormous narrow crack in the Earth's crust; that space then filled with an unusually large amount of volcanic rock; and, finally, the igneous rocks were forced to the surface, forming the beautiful scenery seen today in the Lake Superior area of the Upper Midwest. The rift produced some of the Midwest's most interesting geology and scenery, but there has never been a good explanation for what caused it. Inspired by vacations to Lake Superior, Seth and Carol A. Stein, a husband-and-wife team from Northwestern and UIC, have been determined to learn more in recent years. Their study, which utilized cutting-edge geologic software and seismic images of rock located below the Earth's surface in areas of the rift, will be presented Oct. 20 at the Geological Society of America annual meeting in Vancouver. "The Midcontinent Rift is a very strange beast," said the study's lead author, Carol Stein, professor of Earth and Environmental Sciences at UIC. "Rifts are long, narrow cracks splitting the Earth's crust, with some volcanic rocks in them that rise to fill the cracks. Large igneous provinces, or LIPs, are huge pools of volcanic rocks poured out at the Earth's surface. The Midcontinent Rift is both of these -- like a hybrid animal." "Geologists call it a rift because it's long and narrow," explained Seth Stein, a co-author of the study, "but it's got much more volcanic rock inside it than any other rift on a continent, so it's also a LIP. We've been wondering for a long time how this could have happened." He is the William Deering Professor of Geological Sciences at the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences. This question is one of those that EarthScope, a major National Science Foundation program involving geologists from across the U.S., seeks to answer. In this case, the team used images of the Earth at depth from seismic experiments across Lake Superior and EarthScope surveys of other parts of the Midcontinent Rift. The images show the rock layers at depth, much as X-ray photos show the bones in people's bodies. In reviewing the images, the researchers found the Midcontinent Rift appeared to evolve in three stages. "First, the rocks were pulled apart, forming a rift valley," Carol Stein said. "As the rift was pulling apart, magma flowed into the developing crack. After about 10 million years, the crack stopped growing, but more magma kept pouring out on top. Older magma layers sunk under the weight of new magma, so the hole kept deepening. Eventually the magma ran out, leaving a large igneous province -- a 20-mile-thick pile of volcanic rocks. Millions of years later, the rift got squeezed as a new supercontinent reassembled, which made the Earth's crust under the rift thicker." To test this idea, the Steins turned to Jonas Kley, professor of geology at Germany's Gottingen University, their host during a research year in Germany sponsored by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation. Kley used software that allows geologic time to run backwards. "We start with the rocks as they are today," Kley explained, "and then undo movement on faults and vertical movements. It's like reconstructing a car crash. When we're done we have a picture of what happened and when. This lets us test ideas and see if they work." Kley's analysis showed that the three-stage history made sense -- the Midcontinent Rift started as a rift and then evolved into a large igneous province. The last stage brought rocks in the Lake Superior area to the surface. Other parts of the picture fit together nicely, the Steins said. David Hindle, also from Gottingen University, used a computer model to show that the rift's shape seen in the seismic images results from the crust bending under weight of magma. Randy Keller, a professor and director of the Oklahoma Geological Survey, found that the weight of the dense magma filling the rift explains the stronger pull of gravity measured above the rift. He points out that these variations in the gravity field are the major evidence used to map the extent of the rift. "It's funny," Seth Stein mused. "Carol and I have been living in Chicago for more than 30 years. We often have gone up to Lake Superior for vacations but didn't think much about the geology. It's only in the past few years that we realized there's a great story there and started working on it. There are many studies going on today, which will give more results in the next few years." The Steins now are working with other geologists to help park rangers and teachers tell this story to the public. For example, a good way to think about how rifts work is to observe what happens if you pull both ends of a Mars candy bar: the top chocolate layer breaks, and the inside stretches. "Sometimes people think that exciting geology only happens in places like California," Seth Stein said. "We hope results like this will encourage young Midwesterners to study geology and make even further advances." |
WASHINGTON — U.S. public high schools have reached a milestone, an 80 percent graduation rate. Yet that still means 1 of every 5 students walks away without a diploma. Citing the progress, researchers are projecting a 90 percent national graduation rate by 2020. Their report, based on Education Department statistics from 2012, was presented Monday at the Building a GradNation Summit. The growth has been spurred by such factors as a greater awareness of the dropout problem and efforts by districts, states and the federal government to include graduation rates in accountability measures. Among the initiatives are closing “dropout factory” schools. In addition, schools are taking aggressive action, such as hiring intervention specialists who work with students one on one, to keep teenagers in class, researchers said. Growth in rates among African-American and Hispanic students helped fuel the gains. Most of the growth has occurred since 2006 after decades of stagnation. “At a moment when everything seems so broken and seems so unfixable … this story tells you something completely different,” said John Gomperts, president of America’s Promise Alliance, which was founded by former Secretary of State Colin Powell and helped produce the report. Education Secretary Arne Duncan said Monday the country owes a debt of gratitude to teachers, students and families whose hard work helped the country reach the 80 percent mark. “But even as we celebrate this remarkable achievement, our students have limitless potential and we owe it to all of our children to work together so they all can achieve at higher levels,” Duncan said in a statement. The rate of 80 percent is based on federal statistics primarily using a calculation by which the number of graduates in a given is year divided by the number of students who enrolled four years earlier. Adjustments are made for transfer students. In 2008, the Bush administration ordered all states to begin using this method. States previously used a wide variety of ways to calculate high school graduation rates. Iowa, Vermont, Wisconsin, Nebraska and Texas ranked at the top with rates at 88 percent or 89 percent. The bottom performers were Alaska, Georgia, New Mexico, Oregon and Nevada, which had rates at 70 percent or below. Idaho, Kentucky and Oklahoma were not included because these states received federal permission to take longer to roll out their system. The new calculation method allows researchers to individually follow students and chart progress based on their income level. By doing so, researchers found that some states are doing much better than others in getting low-income students — or those who receive free or reduced lunch meals — to graduation day. Tennessee, Texas, Arkansas and Kansas, for example, have more than half of all students counted as low income but overall graduation rates that are above average. In contrast, Minnesota, Wyoming and Alaska have a lower percentage of low-income students but a lower than average overall graduation rate. Graduation rates increased 15 percentage points for Hispanic students and 9 percentage points for African American students from 2006 to 2012, with the Hispanic students graduating at 76 percent and African-American students at 68 percent, the report said. To track historic trends, the graduation rates were calculated using a different method. Also, there were 32 percent fewer “dropout factories” — schools that graduate less than 60 percent of students — than a decade earlier, according to the report. In 2012, nearly one-quarter of African-American students attended a dropout factory, compared with 46 percent in 2002. About 15 percent of Hispanic students attended one of these schools, compared with 39 percent a decade earlier. There were an estimated 1,359 of these schools in 2012. Robert Balfanz, a researcher with the Everyone Graduates Center at the School of Education at Johns Hopkins University who was a report author, said some of these schools got better. Other districts closed these schools or converted them to smaller schools or parents and kids voted with their feet and transferred elsewhere. If the graduation rate stayed where it was in 2001, 1.7 million additional students would not have received a diploma during the period, Balfanz said. “It’s actually a story of remarkable social improvement, that you could actually identify a problem, understand its importance, figure out what works and apply it and make a difference,” Balfanz said. “It’s actually a story of remarkable social improvement, that you could actually identify a problem, understand its importance, figure out what works and apply it and make a difference,” Balfanz said. In New Hampshire, where the graduation rate is 86 percent, Anne Grassie, a state representative and former longtime member of the Rochester School Board, cites a change in state law in 2007 that raised the dropout age to 18. In Rochester, she said there have been numerous initiatives such as programs that allow students who fail classes to begin making them up online or after school instead of waiting for summer school and an alternative school for at-risk students. “We pay more attention to just making sure there’s an adult to connect with every child, so they know someone’s there for them,” Grassie said. “I think those kinds of initiatives have a lot to do with kids staying in school, but it’s a combination of things. It’s not really one thing.” Among the advice offered by report authors to get the nation’s graduation rate to 90 percent: Don’t forget California. With 13 percent of the nation’s schoolchildren and 20 percent of low-income children living in California, the state must continue to show growth. The state’s overall rate was 79 percent compared with 73 percent for the state’s low-income students. Improve outcomes for special education students. Students with disabilities make up about 15 percent of students nationally but have a graduation rate 20 percentage points lower than the overall average. The rate for students with disabilities varies by state, with a rate or 24 percent in Nevada and 81 percent in Montana. Focus on closing racial and income gaps. Think big cities. Most big cities with high concentrations of low-income students still have graduation rates in the 60s or lower, the report said. In addition to America’s Promise Alliance and Balfanz’s center, the report was produced by the public policy firm Civic Enterprises and the education group Alliance for Excellent Education. Watch the PBS NewsHour’s complete coverage of the graduation rate crisis in the U.S. here. _____ Associated Press writer Holly Ramer in Concord, N.H., contributed to this report. |
Ohio State running back J.K. Dobbins celebrates a touchdown during Saturday’s loss to Oklahoma. (AP Photo/Paul Vernon) Cade Massey, a practice professor at the Wharton School, and Rufus Peabody, a Washington-based sports analyst, developed this ranking system for projecting future performance. Ratings represent a team’s predicted point differential against an average team on a neutral field. Current season statistics are adjusted for home field, opponent and game situation, blended with preseason expectations and weighted by their predictive ability Oklahoma quarterback Baker Mayfield may have driven a stake into Ohio State’s logo Saturday night, but if he was hoping to kill the Buckeyes’ chances of a College Football Playoff bid, he missed the mark. The short history of the college football playoff tells more than one story of teams effectively given up for dead after an early loss that later rise like holiday-season zombies to claim spots in the semifinals. The first of the un-dead was none other than Ohio State, which three years ago lost to heavy-underdog Virginia Tech – at home in Week 2, no less – yet ended the season as national champions in the inaugural college playoff season. What’s the likelihood the Buckeyes can reprise that act? The short answer is not bad. For the longer answer, you need to consider three factors: team, schedule and the field. Team Ohio State remains one of the best teams in the country, full stop. After Saturday loss, the Buckeyes’ dropped four points in our power ratings – an unusually large hit – but that merely closed the gap with the rest of the field. They still rank second, about five points behind Alabama and two ahead of Clemson. Based on our blend of preseason expectations and in-season performance, and despite quarterback J.T. Barrett’s occasional struggles, they boast the country’s third-best offense. And before you judge their defense too harshly – we have them ranked fifth – remember that Oklahoma’s offense is the nation’s best. The Sooners will make teams look much worse this season. Unexpected outcomes and big swings help make college football great, but it’s easy to overreact. Teams are rarely as good, or as bad, as they looked last weekend. Given the Buckeyes’ roster talent and their on-field performance last year and this, history suggests they’ll bounce back well from this loss. Schedule That bounce, of course, depends in part on Ohio State’s remaining strength-of-schedule. College football teams have wildly unbalanced schedules. A good team in the SEC West, for instance, can be expected to notch 1.5 more losses, on average, than a comparable Big Ten West team, because in-conference play is so murderously unforgiving. Want to increase your chances of a spot in the playoff? Pick the right division. Sensible projections depend more than most people think on who, where and when teams play. Ohio State plays the country’s 32nd-toughest schedule this year, about average for a Power Five team. The Big Ten is the highest variance conference in the country, with some of the best teams and a disproportionate share of the worst. This means few of the Buckeyes’ remaining games will be even competitive. We expect the Buckeyes to be big favorites for the rest of the season (our future lines correspond highly with the market’s), even when hosting Penn State (-10) and traveling to Michigan (-7). Given this schedule, we project Ohio State’s most likely outcome to be 10 regular-season wins. But that’s the average outcome if the season plays out as we expect it to — and of course it won’t. To understand the range of possibilities, we ran simulations for the rest of the season. Doing so requires us to acknowledge that some teams will end up better than we currently think they are, while others will end up worse. Using this approach, we find that Ohio State has a 42% chance of winning the rest of their regular season, giving them an 11-1 record and a place in the Big Ten title game. The huge favorite (64%) out of the Big Ten West is Wisconsin, but the Buckeyes would be highly favored regardless of who they play. Overall we make their chances an even 50/50 to win the Big Ten title. The Field The final piece of the puzzle is how much competition there is for the four playoff spots. Would a 12-1 Big Ten champion Ohio State fare well? How about an 11-2 Big Ten champ? It depends on what plays out in other conferences. A one-loss Power Five conference champion likely won’t be left out in any year. (It happened to Big 12 co-champion TCU in 2014, but with every league having a championship game now, the days of co-champions are over.) And a two-loss team has yet to make it but eventually will. All it takes is the field breaking a certain way. How will the playoff selection committee judge this year’s field? We ran simulations, keeping in mind this is as much art as science, and that the committee is a political animal. But there’s also some logic to it: An undefeated Power Five champ will be chosen over a one-loss champ, etc. By mixing some basic rules of thumb with a healthy dose of randomness to properly account for uncertainty, we can ballpark a team’s chances. Most important, we simulate all team seasons simultaneously to see how often certain groups of teams emerge with the best records and conference championships. If Ohio State wins out, including the Big Ten championship, the Buckeyes most likely make the playoff. It’s much less likely should they lose again, but it’s still possible if they win the conference. All told, we give them a 28-percent chance of pulling off a spot in the semis. That’s still fifth-highest in the country, behind only Alabama (67 percent), Oklahoma (42 percent), Clemson (37 percent) and USC (33 percent). Of course, in college football the only thing we can be sure of is that we shouldn’t be too sure of anything. The favorites to make the playoff are obvious, but we show 19 teams with at least a 5-percent chance. Team MP Rank E(Ws) E(Ls) Pr(L<2) Conf Champ Playoff Alabama 31.0 1 11.1 0.9 78% 56% 67% Oklahoma 22.7 5 10.6 1.4 59% 48% 42% Clemson 24.2 3 10.3 1.7 51% 32% 37% USC 20.5 7 10.4 1.6 54% 46% 33% Ohio State 26.1 2 10.1 1.9 42% 50% 28% Washington 17.0 12 10.0 2.0 43% 24% 24% LSU 23.5 4 9.8 2.2 33% 14% 20% Penn State 18.9 8 9.7 2.3 31% 12% 18% Wisconsin 15.4 16 9.9 2.1 41% 18% 17% Louisville 17.1 11 9.5 2.5 24% 11% 13% Michigan 16.5 13 9.1 2.9 18% 9% 11% TCU 16.0 14 9.2 2.8 20% 15% 10% Florida State 22.6 6 8.1 2.9 15% 26% 9% Virginia Tech 13.3 19 8.9 3.1 17% 9% 8% Georgia 16.0 15 9.0 3.0 20% 11% 8% Oklahoma State 14.7 17 8.7 3.3 16% 14% 8% Kansas State 13.0 20 8.4 3.6 12% 10% 6% Stanford 17.4 10 8.7 3.3 13% 18% 6% Miami (FL) 13.7 18 7.5 3.5 12% 10% 6% With so many teams in the conversation, and so much variance in the game, chances are good a dark horse will emerge. Ohio State more-or-less still determines its own fate, as unlikely as winning out would be. But then so does LSU, Louisville and Oklahoma State. This time of year (almost) everyone is a contender. Read more college football coverage: Urban Meyer is sticking with J.T. Barrett, but Ohio State’s passing game needs serious fixing The wackiest blooper play in college football somehow winds up in third-and-93 Why was Howard playing at UNLV anyway? It wasn’t just college football business as usual |
Salem is a sandbox crafting MMO set in 17th century New England, where players must learn the skills needed to bring civilization to the New World. An expansive crafting system and lexicon of skills are available to forge your own colony in the wilderness. Salem is a sandbox MMO developed by Mortal Moments, set in 17th century New England and featuring fantastical elements like witchcraft and strange creatures. Salem heavily emphasizes crafting as players explore the eternal autumn of its world. Almost every object is interactable, from auburn leaves to grey boulders, and objects can be combined in numerous ways to create new materials. Through a huge library of skills, players build tools and equipment to start their own village in the New World. To survive players must become a honed artisan, building a character's specific skill set and working with other players. One is not alone on the frontier, and devious players can steal your life, permanently. Salem is one of the few sandbox MMOs with permanent character death if killed by another player. To stay alive, work together with fellow players to form a community and survive the elements, before plunging headfirst into the unknown of the wilderness. Full Review Salem Review By Sean Sullivan Salem is an underrated MMO, designed for players who love crafting in unforgiving sandbox worlds; its depth can only be explored through example. Upon entering the game I was greeted by a horrifying grey troll, only to discover that it was me. Who gave Mortal Moments my picture? For the uninitiated, all babies start out as horrible little monsters before growing up into beautiful little people. To customize your character you talk to a man or woman locked in the troll pen with you. Honestly, I wanted to stay in my pure form—to make Plato proud—and show off my beauteous nude troll body. But the Gods of Salem are not merciful, and I settled on becoming a grisly dude, eager to mine for ore and test unfaithful women’s sorcery by drowning them. Talking to the barber beyond the gates of my captivity I opted for a Cartesian haircut, with a brimming mustache to charm the pantaloons off the new world ladies. I named my character “Descartes,” and right-clicked my privateer to set sail for the New World. Upon disembarking I posed for a photo with the natives, but discovered I didn’t have enough silver to pay the crown. I was forced to gather Hickory nuts for Chief Lend-A-Hand to earn some coin. I pass on the tutorial in most games, but Salem creates its own rules so it's best to sit and listen to the Chief as you run through the game’s mechanics. Manifest Destiny Navigation is simple, predominantly consisting of left-click to move and right-click to interact. Your middle mouse button can be held down to rotate the camera, and almost all interactions can be initiated by right-clicking. If you spot a silvery rock jutting upwards in a field, right-click it to start lining your bag with flint. Right-click a tree and collect pinecones to tear apart and munch on later. Almost every object in the game can be interacted with, from crimson leaves to hackberry trees. The tutorial has you gathering a variety of these objects to appease the Chief, before your debt is forgiven and you’re shipped off to Providence. After smoking a peace pipe I was ready to seize my destiny in Salem. Exploring the Wilderness Dropped off in the middle of nowhere I began to explore. The environments are attractive, reminiscent of Don’t Starve, but are also simple enough to run on nearly any computer. Some players may be put off by Salem's Java graphics. But I found it charming, and its distinct atmosphere is guaranteed to leave an impression—whether it be good or bad. You’ll see fall foliage with paved auburn leaves, marshlands traversed by anxious rabbits, and dense woods appropriate in a Brothers Grimm story. It’s an inviting landscape, one that evokes a fairy tale world where witch trials are common. The music is particularly good, signaling a fantastical feeling that reminds me of Fable. Sometimes xylophones play a carousel beat, or solemn string instruments set the tone of surviving alone in an expansive world. It was impossible for me to discern just how big the world is; it seems to be endless. Humour Me Exploring is not without a price; one’s health must be monitored. There are four humours, inspired by Hippocrates and other ancient Greek and Roman physicians, that must be watched to survive Salem: blood (health), phlegm (endurance), yellow bile (strength), and black bile (cunning). Black bile is the only one outside the realm of typical attributes, representing your characters’ mental properties, affected by committing crimes, studying, and more. As Descartes, I knew that black bile was to become my favorite attribute. And then there’s gluttony, a deadly sin, but also the only way to increase your humours. Most food has two values, one indicating its healing effect and the other is its gluttony value. Gluttony value affects one your four humours if you gorge on that food. Feast on everything in site, a sinful Thanksgiving. But you can’t just eat and fill your humour. You have to enter Gluttony mode. You must be mentally prepared like a Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating contest contestant. While looking through my inventory for a fruit that would increase my black bile, a stealthy puma mauled Descartes, leaving him to bleed, and stunning him for eternity. You can only be permanently murdered in the game by other players. Non-player deaths result in a Looney Toons stylized stun, momentarily disabling you. I gave up on the revolutionary philosopher, and started again, equipped with the knowledge not to explore too far. And by this point I had learned what skills to priotizie. Becoming An Artisan Your character has various Skills he or she can learn, from Childish Things to Fishing, and those skills unlock new actions and craftable items. You can’t farm until you’ve learned to till the land. But to learn skills you have to study. And the way we study in the 17th century is by examining the natural world. So, as you wander about picking up objects, you’ll notice that some of those objects have the option “Study.” Doing so allots Inspiration points to a Proficiency. You can see a full list of your Proficiencies by pressing “Ctrl + T.” And certain Proficiencies need a certain amount of points before you can learn a skill. Yes, it sounds confusing at first, and it took me a bit to be habituated to Salem’s unorthodox approach to skills. It’s best demonstrated by example. Let’s say I want to learn Small Game Hunting. Nothing is more offensive to my sensibility than fluffy, white rabbits. So, I’m determined to shoot them and hoard their pelts. To fulfill my dream I’ll need 500 Inspiration points in Flora & Fauna and 1300 points in Hunting & Hideworking. To get those points I need to study items that I’ve picked up on my travels. Having stripped a log, I see that Wood Choppings will allot me 50 points in Flora and 75 in Hunting. I’m going to be studying a barrel of Wood Choppings. Each time I study one Wood Chopping, I increase my inspirations points in both Flora and Hunting until I've reached the required amount to learn the skill. After which, I can highlight the skill and learn it. And as you study your Black Bile drains, so you’ll likely be forced to eat as you level to restore your humour. Some skills require more Inspiration points in a Proficiency than you start with. Before completing the tutorial you’ll have 500 points in each proficiency. To raise that level you must max out Inspiration Points in a proficiency, then press the “+” sign next to it, to increase its capacity by 200 points. Any other proficiencies that are also maxed out when you click the “+” will be raised by 100 points. In this way you improve your skills, and make more techs available. But it also forces players to consider strategically approaching their skillset. It takes such a large investment to advance, unless you plan on being a Renaissance Man. Settling in the New World The point of a complex skill system is to enable you to build complex structues, right? At times Salem’s crafting can be excruciatingly frustrating, learning after hours of playing that you missed one intricate step, and now must level a new skill to craft that cabin. But it’s rewarding when you finally find the ingredients you need to construct that one item. Let’s take crafting a fishing pole as an example, something I yearned for, only to later realize how extensive dropping a line can be. I unlocked the Fishing skill early on; it only requires minimal proficiencies and I thought it would be a good way to collect food, learn to cook, etc. So, to craft a Fishing Rod you need 4 branches, 1 flint, and 2 fibre materials. Where am I going to get fibre? Thanks to the Wiki I discovered that cooking Milkweed Roots in a Fireplace gives you Milkweed Jute, that must be washed off by water before it's usable (a nice added step). So, I constructed my Fishing Rod after dusting off my new fibre, but oh wait now I need to construct a lure. Well, to make a fish hook you need to have researched Blacksmithing. But, before you unlock Blacksmithing you have to have unlocked Coaling, requiring 2950 proficiency in Sparks & Embers. And that doesn’t go to mention the housewife-grocery list of items needed to complete each step along the way. I wasn’t going to be fishing for quite a while. It should be obvious that Salem is not for players seeking instant gratification. You will slowly build up your lexicon of craftable items and skills, and discover a sense of satisfaction from your dedication and persistence. It's a game that requires patient discovery and attention. Only the most hardcore of survivors can endure the pilgrimage. PvP As I traveled, staying close to the water to pursue fishing (at some point), I eventually came across an encampment, seemingly abandoned. If only I had been more familiar with the game’s rules, I would have stayed far away. Attempting to steal any player-owned item gives you a debuff called “Crime,” and it is brutal. For a long period of time—there is no timer to indicate a countdown—your character’s black bile regeneration and phlegm regen is cut off, so you can’t train proficiencies or build a campfire (or anything for that matter). You're stuck, tagged as a criminal, like a 1960's Catholic student wearing a dunce cap. I did not experience PvP. Hours of investment are needed before you're anywhere near ready to ponder raiding another player's base, and from what I understand it's near impossible without a group. As far as what type of PvP systems are in the game: you can duel other players or attack their town. But to commit crimes you have to have Crimes turned on, from the adventure menu. A feature I like is that crimes leave scents, that can be detected if a player has learned Tracking. Little exclamation points pop up above the spot of a crime, allowing players to pursue the criminal. But pursuing New World deviants requires a large skill-set and a deep understanding of the game's various mechanics. Unless you’re particularly cunning, building a defense will be your primary outlook for quite a while. Final Verdict – Great Salem is the answer to players who desire a hardcore survival game that holds crafting central to its gameplay. It is not for players looking for a solely PvP experience. Within Salem is the feeling of accomplishment, of dedicating yourself to completing a project, whittling away at each step. As you transform the environment around you, slowly but surely, you become overwhelmed with a sense of satisfaction. If you play survival games to craft in a persistent world then pick up Salem to start your own colony. |
A few months back I wrote a thorough tutorial on how to use the Couchbase Java SDK to create an application around the Couchbase 4.0 sample data. However, I never explained the thought process behind developing such an application or why the Couchbase Java SDK is so convenient. With this article I plan to walk through the thought process behind designing an application and then how you might develop it with Java and Couchbase. Of course it won't be as thorough as my tutorial, but viewing them together will definitely put you on the right track. Crafting a Design Process Let's assume you want to build the next great travel booking application. You've got the great idea, but aren't sure what kind of process to follow for executing the idea. It is probably a good idea to break the idea up into parts. More than likely your travel booking application will contain the following three parts: A backend API layer A client-facing UI layer A data layer So let's talk about each layer a bit more. The Data Layer A database, in this case Couchbase, will act as the data layer of your application. Why are we choosing to use Couchbase as our NoSQL database, or for that matter, our database in general? I'll brush in this soon, but in short, we're using NoSQL because our application will be RESTful and serve JSON data. We're using Couchbase because we want the freedom to use SQL queries or key-value (k-v) operations. SQL and Key-Values in NoSQL? With NoSQL document databases, each of your documents have a lookup key or id. When supplying the key in the lookup, you get a value or in our case JSON data. If you're new to databases this concept might not be too difficult to grasp, but if you're coming from a database like Oracle or MySQL it could sound like pure craziness. In relational database management systems (RDBMS) like Oracle or SQL Server if you want to get data from the database you can run SQL queries. With Couchbase 4.0, you now have what is called N1QL which allows you to run SQL queries against your NoSQL database while leaving you with the option to use key-value lookups as well. Best of both worlds by being able to make the choice yourself. Some Sample Documents Being that this is a travel booking application, you are probably going to be working with airline information, and airport information. Of course you will probably have plenty of other information, but for the sake of this article, it doesn't really matter. Based on what we know we need to accomplish, the NoSQL documents for our data can look something like this: Airports { "type": "airport", "name": "San Francisco International", "tag": "SFO" } 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 { "type" : "airport" , "name" : "San Francisco International" , "tag" : "SFO" } Airlines { "type": "airline", "name": "United Airlines" } 1 2 3 4 5 6 { "type" : "airline" , "name" : "United Airlines" } Each of those JSON documents will probably contain plenty of other information in reality, but the slimmed down versions above should be fine. We now should have enough information about our data layer to start learning about the backend layer. The Backend API Layer The whole purpose behind the backend is to serve as a bridge between your data and the UI that every user using your application sees on their screen. In this case, the backend would be Java. The Java layer will make requests against the database, format the responses, and then return them back to the end user for displaying. The end user making the requests to the Java layer will do so via endpoints in the backend. Think of an endpoint as a different URL in your application, each responding with different data. The client-facing UI layer The purpose behind the client-facing UI layer is to give the end user something pleasant to work with rather than processing raw code. Someone visiting a travel website like Expedia may not have any developer experience at all. The front-end layer will normally consist of a language like AngularJS, ReactJS, or jQuery. Developing the Application We know that our development process is going to be split into parts. Primarily, a front-end and a back-end. Instead of building the full application from scratch we're going to talk about what is necessary to accomplish each part. Serving a RESTful API Out of the box you'll find that Java can't accept and respond to HTTP requests. There are many options for accomplishing this, but one option might be to use Spring Boot because you can quickly get an API running. With Spring Boot, you might create API endpoints that look like this: @RequestMapping(value="/airline", method= RequestMethod.GET) public Object login(@RequestParam String airlineid) { // Process the request // Return a response } 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 @ RequestMapping ( value = "/airline" , method = RequestMethod . GET ) public Object login ( @ RequestParam String airlineid ) { // Process the request // Return a response } If the user hits www.yourapp.com/airline in their browser or front-end application, the airlineid passed will be processed with some logic that you define and then some response data is returned. The logic you define, might involve querying for data. Querying for Data Let's say you have a few of each document type in your Couchbase database. By each document type I mean airport and airline. Now let's say your Java back-end received a request from your front-end to get information about the United airliner. We have two options for getting this information: Getting an Airline with K-V Lookup Below we're assuming that each airline document is prefixed with the key name airline:: and that the airlineid was passed from the front-end. JsonDocument doc = bucket.get("airline::" + airlineid); JsonObject responseContent = JsonObject.create().put("data", doc.content()); 1 2 3 4 JsonDocument doc = bucket . get ( "airline::" + airlineid ) ; JsonObject responseContent = JsonObject . create ( ) . put ( "data" , doc . content ( ) ) ; We're doing a lookup based on that compound key and creating a JsonObject out of the result. At this point we can craft some Java code to return the result back to the front-end. Getting an Airline with N1QL Just like with the k-v lookup, we're assuming the document keys are compound and are prefixed with airline::. We are also assuming the key id is passed from the front-end. QueryResult result = bucket.query("SELECT * FROM `" + bucket.name() + "` AS a WHERE META(a).ID = 'airline::" + airlineid + "'"); 1 2 3 QueryResult result = bucket . query ( "SELECT * FROM `" + bucket . name ( ) + "` AS a WHERE META(a).ID = 'airline::" + airlineid + "'" ) ; Above is a N1QL query which is very similar to what you'd find with SQL. Both options are valid for obtaining information about the airline. However, in scenarios where you are querying data from different document types (a join maybe), it may be more beneficial to use N1QL rather than lookups. The reasons being: Couchbase Server does all the heavy lifting rather than the back-end Less code in your back-end Wrapping It Up You've gotten a taste of what is necessary to serve HTTP endpoints in Java and how to query for data via the Java back-end, but where does that leave us now? You just need to add more endpoints to your Java API, each of which performing different queries or lookups against Couchbase. Conclusion When designing a web application you're going to have several layers that play together. Couchbase is always a good choice because it is a JSON document database thus making APIs easy to craft. The Couchbase Java SDK is great because you are left with plenty of simple options for querying data. Although this wasn't a thorough create an application from start to finish type of article, I recommend you check out the tutorial I wrote regarding creating a travel application. |
You may have seen a map floating around Facebook or other social sharing sites recently depicting an "optimal" U.S. road trip across every state in the country. It's certainly garnered lots of attention, and quite a few criticisms from folks disappointed to see their favorite state landmarks were not included.This week, Michigan-native Randy Olson, the same gent who computed the national map, published a 2,098-mile, 43-site trip though Michigan's upper and lower peninsulas. On his website , he says it should take about 40 hours of driving time, and also recommends it be done in the fall to take full advantage of the seasonal foliage.Here's his map, followed by a list of stops.1. Ypsilanti, MI2. The Henry Ford Museum & Greenfield Village, Dearborn, MI3. Detroit, MI4. Port Sanilac, MI5. Flint, MI6. Frankenmuth, MI7. Bay City, MI8. Mt. Pleasant, MI9. East Tawas, MI10. Alpena, MI11. Gaylord, MI12. Cheboygan, MI13. Mackinaw City, MI14. St. Ignace, MI15. Mackinac Island, MI16. Sault Ste. Marie, MI17. Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, Grand Marais, MI18. Marquette, MI19. Mt. Bohemia, Grant, MI20. Keweenaw Peninsula, Schoolcraft, MI21. Escanaba, MI22. Manistique, MI23. Harbor Springs, MI24. Petoskey, MI25. Charlevoix, MI26. Traverse City, MI27. Leelanau Peninsula, Leelanau, MI28. Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, Empire, MI 4963029. Cadillac, MI30. Manistee National Golf & Resort, Manistee, MI 4966031. Ludington, MI32. Michigan’s Adventure, Muskegon, MI33. Muskegon, MI34. Grand Rapids, MI35. Holland, MI36. South Haven, MI37. Kalamazoo, MI38. Binder Park Zoo, Battle Creek, MI39. Coldwater, MI40. Lansing, MI41. Jackson, MI42. Tecumseh, MI43. Ann Arbor, MIWhat do you think of this list? What's missing that shouldn't be? |
Initially, I thought the story was a satire, something pulled from The Onion by an unwitting intern and republished by a credible news source. It was sometime in 2007 and I was casually browsing the Internet when I spotted an article describing the imminent collapse of Belgium. I paused. And snickered. Belgium? On the verge of implosion? I spent the next hour dutifully fact-checking. Sure enough, Belgium’s two main regions, Flanders and Wallonia, were at loggerheads. Flemish-speaking politicians from the north were threatening to secede. They accused their French-speaking compatriots in Wallonia of being lazy, a drain on the economy of more prosperous Flanders. Belgium, a founding member of NATO and home base to the European Union, was supposed to be a symbol of European unity. Yet here was a crisis threatening to tear it asunder. In February 2010, the country set a record by failing to form a coalition government in 250 days after holding elections, beating out the previous mark set by postwar Iraq. Then the true gravity of the situation dawned on me. If Belgium crumbled, what would happen to my favorite beers? I tasted my first Belgian beer about eight years ago, when I was working at a brewery in Chicago. The beer was remarkably smooth, a tad spicy, and inhumanly strong. My obsession kindled, I made a point of getting chummy with the local high-end beer merchants. I learned about obscure bottles and seasonal releases; I even brewed a couple of batches of Belgian-style beer at home. I plunged headfirst into the gastronomical world of dubbels and tripels, gueuzes and krieks, saisons and wits. Thus, as I read more about Belgium’s impending demise, I knew I would need to investigate further. My plan was to intrepidly traverse Belgium, seek out the artisans who make the world’s finest beers, and find out whether Belgian beer, like the Belgian state, was also teetering on an existential ledge. And, as a disciplined researcher, I knew that would entail drinking a beer or two or three along the way. It was a sacrifice I was willing to make. It was a sunless, dreary morning, but that would not deter me from my plan: to go to church and drink. I hopped on a bus in Antwerp, a city in northern Belgium, and rode 45 minutes northeast, until the driver stopped in front of the abbey at Westmalle. Westmalle is one of six Trappist monasteries that brew beer in Belgium. This one and two others are located in Flanders, the other three in Wallonia. (There is another Trappist brewery in the Netherlands and dozens of nonbrewing Trappist monasteries around the world.) Photo by Andrea Wyner Trappist monks at Westmalle make beer as part of the life of prayer and work prescribed by Saint Benedict. Photo by Andrea Wyner You can taste the diversity of Belgian beers at Brussels bars like Mappa Mundo (pictured above). Photo by Andrea Wyner At Malheur, a small brewery southwest of Antwerp, beer is treated like champagne. Photo by Andrea Wyner On average, Belgians drink approximately 22 gallons of beer each year. Photo by Andrea Wyner In 2016, Belgian beer culture was inscribed on UNESCO’s List of Intangible Cultural Heritage. A green lawn the size of several football fields spread out before the abbey walls. I walked up a narrow brick road lined with oak trees that resembled plucked grape stems. The morning fog dampened the sound of my footfalls. I reached the gate, which was tucked behind another row of skeletal trees, and rang the doorbell. Marleen Hurdak, a cheery woman with shoulder-length dark-blonde hair who works in the sales division at Westmalle, greeted me and ushered me inside.A wall separates the brewery from the area where the monks live and pray. Visitors are rarely granted access to the brewery at all and are almost never allowed on the other side of the wall. But Hurdak let me get a glimpse. She escorted me through a door into a courtyard that encircled a Hogwarts-esque monastery replete with stained glass and dark brick. I felt as though I were on a bird-watching expedition, except that I was on the lookout for monks. “Is that one?” I whispered. A man in a blue jumpsuit crossed the grounds pushing a wheelbarrow. Hurdak nodded.Westmalle is Belgium’s second-largest Trappist brewery, after Chimay . The Westmalle monks have been brewing beer since 1836 and selling it to the public since 1856. Revenues from the brewery so far exceed the monks’ expenses that they use the surplus to support monasteries around the world and a foundation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo—after which they still have money left over for charity. (Perhaps the Girl Scouts of America should consider making cognac in lieu of Thin Mints.) Westmalle brews two beers for sale: a golden, moderately sweet tripel and a dark, nutty dubbel. The monks drink a bitter “Extra” brewed exclusively for them.After we had walked the grounds, Hurdak and I retired to the tasting room, where one wall was adorned with donated steins and glassware, and the windows were hung with red-and-white-checked curtains. She poured out a glass of the tripel. The beer’s slight caramel finish paired perfectly with the plate of monk-made cheese and mustard that Hurdak served.We talked politics for a few minutes, and I gathered from Hurdak that the abbots at this medieval compound wouldn’t care one way or another if Belgium ceased to exist. Their loyalties were to the Big Guy first, their monastic order second, and the rest, well, it didn’t much matter to them. Perhaps my worries about secessionist brewers were unfounded after all.That afternoon, I headed 20 miles southwest of Antwerp to the town of Buggenhout, home to a small brewery called Malheur that has earned a reputation for making strong, eccentric beers. A driver from Malheur picked me up at the train station and drove me to the outskirts of town, where I met Manu De Landtsheer, the owner. De Landtsheer is a towering man with brown hair swept back from his forehead and bifocals that rest on the tip of his nose. He is a genuine bon vivant who presides over Belgium’s largest Cuban-cigar smokers’ club and sips beer like a wine connoisseur, aerating it through his lips to release its flavors. Malheur, he told me, means “a positive accident.” “Like when your teenage daughter gets pregnant,” he chuckled. “That’s malheur!”De Landtsheer walked me through the brewery. To one side, a 20-foot-high, cylindrical fermentation vat bubbled with Malheur 6, a variety of blond beer. To the other, a half dozen American oak barrels were aging an experimental batch of one of De Landtsheer’s brut biers, strong, bubbly brews with a production process that mirrors that of champagne.Sitting in the tasting room overlooking the brewery, De Landtsheer popped the cork and poured us each a glass of his lighter brut. The beer surprised me with its effervescence, which then mellowed into the taste of green apples with a touch of lemon and a dash of pepper. I asked him about the incredible variety of Belgian beers. “There’s a historical explanation. One of the most important borders in Europe was this street,” De Landtsheer said, pointing out the window at the road running adjacent to the brewery. Dusk had begun smudging the day away. In the Middle Ages, according to De Landtsheer, one side of the road was French territory ruled from Paris, and the other was German land ruled from Cologne. The Germans prohibited the use of spices in their beers; the French prohibited the use of German hops in theirs. But brewers in border towns like this one—and much of Flanders, for that matter—“ignored the rules and used whatever hops and spices they wanted.”De Landtsheer’s eyes twinkled with an unmistakable disdain for such political silliness. He granted that today’s Flemish and Walloon nationalists had inflated their grievances into a crisis, but he scoffed at them. De Landtsheer is Flemish, but he’s not ready to secede. “My passport is Belgian, and I do not support any extremist,” he said. “I will never sell Flemish beer. It would make no sense. Our style of beer is Belgian.”The beers perhaps most closely tied to the place where they are made are Belgium’s lambics. These are brewed exclusively in a narrow strip of territory along the Zenne River, which flows through Brussels. It is believed that the specific yeasts of this region help give lambics their distinctive flavor.Fermentation is normally a tightly controlled process in which brewers in sterile suits pour measured vials of yeast into vats of hoppy sugar water and then monitor the organic process by which the yeast converts sugar into alcohol. But with lambics, it’s a free-for-all. Whatever wild yeast happens to be floating in the air miraculously converts tubs of sugar water into beer. If we didn’t know better, we’d call it magic. Would lambic brewers be more loyal to their magical corner of the country than to Belgium as a whole?I visited Jean Van Roy, the unofficial high priest of the lambic world, at his brewery, Cantillon . Most breweries are spotless. At Cantillon, dust coated rows of aging bottles and stacks of wooden pallets. Some of the cobwebs seemed large enough to double as hammocks. “What is special is the brewery itself,” Van Roy said. “What’s on the floors, what’s on the walls. You have a special atmosphere inside here.”Van Roy, 41, has a taut face with faint eyebrows and intense blue eyes. He wore jeans with a brown Cantillon hoodie and a gray fleece scarf; the chilly temperatures inside added to the romance Van Roy cultivates. He revels in tradition. “I am working here the way my great-grandfather did,” he said.Thanks to the international commercial success of Lindemans , a larger-scale lambic brewery located a few miles southwest of Brussels , public interest in gueuzes (blended lambics), krieks (cherry lambics), and framboises (raspberry lambics) has grown. One might assume that Van Roy would be psyched. Instead he sees their makers as a cast of sellouts. “Lambics cannot be sweet,” he proclaimed. “But 99 percent of gueuzes are sweet. Why? Because the masses want it. And it’s too expensive for industrial gueuze makers to do it right.” He shook his head in disgust. “We are the fundamentalists of the lambic world. We have a rapport with our beer. It’s a feeling. We speak with our beer. No other brewer can say the same thing.”His self-righteousness aside, Van Roy was right. His rivals’ brews often taste like liquid Jolly Ranchers. A Cantillon, on the other hand, is a taste like no other. Van Roy handed me a banquet-style wine glass and poured a gueuze. It sparkled on my tongue like vinegar without a trace of typical beer bitterness. It was delicious, sour, and pungent as an old gym sock, with a flavor so bemusing—and compelling—that I had to go back to the rustic tasting table for another round.Listening to Van Roy, I got the sense that whatever happened in Belgian politics, his beer would survive. He was so devoted to his craft that Martians could invade and all he would care about was whether the aliens’ first sip of gueuze was properly sour.Some brewers, however, insist on the importance of maintaining a unified national identity. Charles Leclef is the owner of Het Anker , a brewery, like Van Roy’s, that has long been a family affair; Leclef’s great-great-grandfather founded the brewery in 1872. Four years ago Leclef helped found the Belgium Family Brewers association to help small breweries like his reach a wider audience and to foster an appreciation for their authentic brewing methods. He now oversees a compound in the historic city of Mechelen, 13 miles northeast of Brussels, that includes the brewery, a whisky distillery, a modest hotel, and an upscale pub and restaurant. After my visit with Van Roy, I headed to Mechelen and met Leclef at his restaurant.Leclef and I sat at a table in the pub to enjoy a glass of his tripel. A server carried a steaming plate of beef stew past us, and I had to restrain myself from reaching out for a big spoonful. Leclef acknowledged that the hysteria surrounding talk of secession had grown serious, but he held out hope that beer could save the day. “The breweries will fight against separation because brewers are one of the only national federations. We know that, outside of Belgium, if you talk of Flemish beer, no one will listen.” Belgium, as Leclef saw it, was more than the sum of its Flemish and Wallonian parts. Absent “Belgium,” the beers would still exist, but the chic—and profitable—international marketability of “Belgian beers” would not. As separate states, he said, “we would be nothing.”Back in Antwerp, I ventured out into the rain in search of Kulminator, rated by beer geeks as the best beer bar in the world. When I found it, the bar itself was a cramped, underwhelming space. There were six tables, six bar stools, and walls of dark wood. Chamber music played in the background. I took a stool at the bar. Then the menu arrived. It was a veritable phone book of beers, with page after page of offerings from even the most obscure Belgian breweries. But I had something particular in mind.I was looking for Westvleteren, brewed at the smallest of the Trappist monasteries. And while it is distributed only at the abbey and a nearby café, Kulminator had stashed away “vintages” dating several years back. One of the owners of the bar, Leen Boudewijn, a short, rosy-cheeked woman of grandmotherly age, recommended I try the 2004. So along with a plate of sausage and cheese, I ordered an ABT 12, the darkest and strongest variety, which has been called the world’s finest beer.Boudewijn repaired to a back room, then returned with a bottle in one hand and a chalice in the other, the latter marked only by the Westvleteren logo. I poured about half the beer into the glass, then closed my eyes and lifted it to my lips. My nose picked up rich, spicy aromas. As I tasted the beer, I detected flavors of raisins and dates. Hints of anise and licorice followed. I set the beer back down on the bar, my chest warm, as if I’d been sipping brandy. The ABT 12 measured in at a shade over 10 percent alcohol. I’ve had stronger beers, but I’ve never enjoyed one with such marvelous complexity, with the kind of tastes that I wanted to savor, chew on, and contemplate at length.In the midst of my Westvleteren-induced haze, I struck up a conversation with Boudewijn. I asked if she had any opinions about beer’s place in Belgium’s national identity crisis. “It’s simple,” she said. “We have good Flemish beers and they have good beers in Wallonia. But the beers are different. Everything is different.” Boudewijn called it “a pity” that Flanders was forced to subsidize Wallonia.As I savored the Westvleteren, I had a hard time concerning myself with anything at all, let alone whether I was in Flanders or Wallonia or where my beer came from. All I could focus on was sifting through my mental spice cabinet to pinpoint the complex flavors washing over my palate. My impression of Kulminator had shifted: Now it was so incredibly “Belgian”— cozy, quirky, small—that I couldn’t have imagined a more appropriate spot to sip the finest beer on earth.I wondered, if there were no such thing as “Belgium,” and thus no such thing as “Belgian beer,” would I ever have experienced this sublime moment? Probably not.It was enough to make me believe that a united Belgium was good for the world—at least the beer-drinking portion of it. I’m sure the politicians can work something out. My advice? Meet over a beer. |
Adding insult to injury is never a concern for the litigious among us, and one man has filed a class action suit against Nokia in New York because its comeback, thus far, has been anything but. Complaint Robert Chmielinski, represented by Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd, alleges that Nokia’s shift to the Windows Phone platform has not halted its sliding position in the global smartphone market, as the company promised it would. Nokia reported last month that it lost a staggering $1.7 billion in the first quarter of 2012 after losing nearly $1.3 billion in the fourth quarter last year. According to Chmielinski and the class he claims to represent, Nokia violated federal securities laws by telling investors that the switch to Windows Phone would stop the bleeding. “The complaint alleges that during the Class Period, defendants told investors that Nokia’s conversion to a Windows platform would halt its deteriorating position in the smartphone market. It did not,” the lawsuit states. “This became apparent on April 11, 2012, when Nokia disclosed that its first quarter performance would be worse than expected. Nokia expected its first quarter 2012 non-IFRS Devices & Services operating margin to fall by 3%, and projected first quarter 2012 Devices & Services net sales of €4.2 billion.” “It also disclosed a glitch in its newest Windows offering – the Lumia 900. Nokia had to immediately offer customers an automatic $100, making the phone essentially free,” the complaint continued. “As a result of this disclosure, the price of Nokia’s American Depositary Shares (‘ADRs’) dropped over 16% in a single day.” Chmielinski and his layers seek unspecified damages for themselves as well as all individuals and institutions that owned publicly traded shares of Nokia stock during the class period. The complaint was filed with the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York on May 3rd. Following the publication of this article, Nokia issued the following statement: “Nokia has become aware of the filing of a securities class action complaint naming Nokia Corporation as a defendant, filed in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York on May 3, 2012. Nokia is reviewing the allegations contained in the complaint and believes that they are without merit. Nokia will defend itself against the complaint.” Updated with Nokia’s statement in final paragraph. |
Annamite Striped Rabbit What’s black and brown and striped all over? A new species of rabbit hopping around the forests of Southeast Asia, according to the Aug. 19th issue of the journal Nature. Discovered by biologists from the Bronx Zoo-based Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), the rabbit lives in the rugged Annamite Mountains of Laos, an extremely isolated region that has yielded several new species of mammals in recent years. Arunachal Macaque The Arunachal Macaque (Macaca munzala), a relatively large brown primate with a comparatively short tail, is a macaque native to Arunachal Pradesh in north-eastern India. Its species name comes from Munzala (“monkey of the deep forest”) as it was called by the Dirang Monpa tribe. It was unknown to scientists until 2004, when a group of scientists from the Nature Conservation Foundation, India reported it. Australian Snubfin Dolphin The Australian snubfin dolphin, Orcaella heinsohni (Beasley, Robertson, Arnold, 2005), is a recently recognised species of dolphin first described in 2005. Experts say the discovery of a new mammal is extremely rare. In fact, the Australian Snubfin is the first new dolphin species to be discovered in 56 years! Two scientists at James Cook University, Isabel Beasley and Peter Arnold, took DNA samples from the population of dolphins off the coast of Townsville, Queensland and sent them to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Southwest Fisheries Science Center in La Jolla, California. The results showed that George Heinsohn, (an Australian biologist who worked at James Cook University in the 1960s and 1970s on dolphin species for whom Orcaella heinsohni is named) was correct in his hypothesis that the Townsville population was a new species. Bornean Clouded Leopard The Bornean Clouded Leopard (Neofelis diardi) is a medium-sized wild cat found on Borneo, Sumatra and the Batu Islands in the Malay Archipelago and publicised under that name by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) on March 14, 2007. Its coat is marked with irregularly-shaped, dark-edged ovals which are said to be shaped like clouds, hence its common name. Though scientists have known of its existence since the early 19th century, it was positively identified as being a distinct species in its own right in 2006, having long been believed to be a subspecies of the mainland Clouded Leopard (Neofelis nebulosa). Calayan Rail Exactly one hundred years after the last visit by an ornithologist, a team of bird, mammal, reptile and amphibian specialists arrived in May this year on the island of Calayan, one of the Babuyan Islands in the northernmost part of the Philippines archipelago. There, they made the remarkable discovery of a new species of rail, which they have named the Calayan Rail Gallirallus calayanensis. (The formal description appears in Forktail 20: 1–7, published by the Oriental Bird Club.) The rail appears to be restricted to forests on coralline limestone areas, which probably make up less than half the island’s surface, and the extent of their suitable habitat is likely to be much less than 100 km², and could be smaller than 10 km². Des suspects they are abundant, but very localised. Camiguin Hanging Parrot Both adults in general green; yellow/green breast and abdomen; red forehead, crown, lower back and upper tail coverts; gold/yellow wash on back of crown and head; band of orange/red on nape which varies from bird to bird; blue cheeks; blue greater underwing coverts; blue undertail and underside of flight feathers. Bill orange. Eye grey/brown. Female has less blue on cheeks. Call: Calls are described as high-pitched and repetitious notes. Dingiso The Dingiso is currently (2003) listed as a vulnerable species. It is endemic to Indonesia. It was first discovered by an Australian named Dr Tim Flannery in 1987. He roamed the mountains in New Guinea and discovered four new varieties of tree kangaroo. He named this Dendrolagus mbaiso, referring to it as “It’s a beautiful thing, and no biologist had ever seen one before.” Flannery describes the Dingiso as “none was as unusual as Dingiso and none such an interesting evolutionary and culturual story to tell. “Did you know? The Dingiso is the only known species of semi-terrestrial tree kangaroo. Ghost Slug A new all white worm-eating slug has been discovered in back gardens in south Wales. A “ghost” slug found in a garden in Cardiff has been declared a new species by specialists at the National Museum of Wales and Cardiff University. They have given the creature a partially Welsh name, Selenochlamys ysbryda, or ghost (ysbryd) slug. Creatures of this type are more usually found in Turkey and Georgia. The origin of the ghost slug, and its route into Britain, is completely unknown, and specimens have not been seen in Europe before this was discovered in Cardiff last year. Mary River Turtle The Mary River Turtle, Elusor macrurus, is an endangered short-necked turtle that inhabits the Mary River in South-East Queensland, Australia. In the 1960s and 1970’s, they were popular as pets in Australia, with about 15,000 sent to shops every year during a ten year period. They were originally known as the “Pet Shop” turtle. Hatchlings have a SCL (Straight Carapace Length) of between 2-3.5 cm. Pygmy Three-toed Sloth The Pygmy Three-toed Sloth (Bradypus pygmaeus) is a three-toed sloth. Its habitat is located on the tiny island of Isla Escudo deVeraguas off the coast of Panama. As its name suggests, it is a dwarf of its mainland relatives; it is likely a product of insular dwarfism. It weighs 40% less and is 20% smaller than other three-toed sloths. |
Tennessee football legend Peyton Manning will be honored during halftime of the Volunteers home game against Georgia. The ceremony will serve as the National Football Foundation's official "On-Campus Salute" of Manning's selection to the College Football Hall of Fame. The game will be on Sept. 30 at Neyland Stadium. The kickoff time and TV network designation for the Georgia game will be announced later this fall. NFF President & CEO Steven J. Hatchell, NFF Chairman Archie Manning and Fidelity Investments® President Kathy Murphy will join Peyton at midfield for the halftime recognition. Peyton has requested that each of UT’s living College Hall of Fame inductees also join him on Shields-Watkins Field during the recognition. Those individuals are Dickey, Emanuel, Fulmer, Johnson, Kell, Kiner, Majors and Michels. Former Tennessee quarterback Peyton Manning is honored alongside his former college coach Phillip Fulmer before the start of the game against the South Carolina Gamecocks at Neyland Stadium on Oct. 29, 2005. “Peyton is one of this university and athletic program’s finest ambassadors,” Tennessee Vice Chancellor/Director of Athletics John Currie said. “Honoring him at our Georgia game this fall provides our fans with a wonderful opportunity to celebrate not only his induction into the National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame, but also the incredible impact he continues to make across Big Orange Nation." Sign up for Take 10, the WBIR lunchtime newsletter Thank You Something went wrong. Get the news you need to know, plus weather and something to make you smile, every weekday in your inbox! Thank you for signing up for the Take 10 Newsletter Please try again later. Submit RELATED: Peyton Manning on retirement: "18 is a good number" The National Football League announced Manning as part of its star-studded 2017 College Hall of Fame induction class on Jan. 9. <p>Peyton Manning embraces Tennessee head coach Phillip Fulmer on senior day in November 1997.</p> His induction is set for Dec. 5 during the 60th NFF Annual Awards Dinner at the New York Hilton Midtown. Manning will be Tennessee’s 23rd inductee into the College Football Hall of Fame. MORE: Retired NFL ref recalls personal Peyton Manning apology According to UT, the Volunteers have more inductees than any other Southeastern Conference institution and rank among the top 10 nationally in total inductees. Manning joins the following: Gene McEver (inducted 1954) Beattie Feathers (1955) Robert R. Neyland (1956) Herman Hickman (1959) Bobby Dodd (1959 as a player, 1993 as coach) Bob Suffridge (1961) Nathan Dougherty (1967) George Cafego (1969) Bowden Wyatt (1972 as a player, 1997 as a coach) Hank Lauricella (1981) Doug Atkins (1985) Johnny Majors (1987 Bob Johnson (1989) Ed Molinski (1990) Steve DeLong (1993) John Michels (1996) Steve Kiner (1999) Reggie White (2002) Doug Dickey (2003) Frank Emanuel (2004) Chip Kell (2006) Phillip Fulmer (2012 as a coach) Joe Steffy, who lettered at UT as a freshman in 1944, was inducted in 1987 for his accomplishments during his career with Army from 1945-47. |
A new Microsoft website has just made life a little easier for anyone who's ever purchased a retail copy of Windows 7. If your original installation DVD has been damaged or lost, you can now download the installation media in ISO format from the Microsoft Software Recovery site. (Previously, it was possible to download Windows 7 ISO media from Microsoft's online software distribution partner, Digital River, but those links stopped working last year.) Special Feature Windows 8 in Business Microsoft has painted bold design strokes with Windows 8, but the business impact remains hotly debated. ZDNet and TechRepublic have the enterprise and SMB perspectives on Windows 8 covered from virtually every angle. Read More You'll need a valid retail product key to unlock the download. After entering that key and selecting one of 19 available languages, you click a button that verifies the key you entered. If you pass that verification step, you can download the media. The ISO file can be used to burn a DVD, create a bootable USB flash drive, or install Windows in a virtual machine. But before you get too excited, consider the limitations. The ISO download is for full retail copies of Windows 7 only, purchased in a shrink-wrapped box or from an authorized download site (including Microsoft itself). It won't work with Windows 7 OEM System Builder media, which is still available for sale from online merchants. And not all retail keys will work. In my testing, the verification step failed and I was unable to download installation media when I used a product key from a Windows 7 upgrade edition purchased at retail. I was also unsuccessful at convincing the site to authorize a download using valid Retail keys obtained from Microsoft subscription services such as TechNet or MSDN. If you're hoping that you can use this option to refresh or repair Windows on a PC that came with Windows 7 preinstalled, you're out of luck. Entering the product key from the Windows 7 Certificate of Authenticity attached to a PC in my office produced this error. If you need to restore an OEM copy of Windows 7, you'll need to find your original installation media, beg the OEM for a replacement, or locate the compatible media from somewhere else. Curiously, a separate Microsoft-hosted site allows you to download ISO files for Windows 8.1 without entering a product key at all. Why are the rules for Windows 8.1 more relaxed? The obvious difference is that anyone can install Windows 7 without entering a product key, allowing all of the operating system's features to be used for up to 30 days. And using a single command, you can "rearm" that unactivated copy for up to three additional 30-day periods. By contrast, Windows 8.1 requires a valid product key for installation. Hat tip to Lifehacker for first pointing this site out. Update: For several hours after this story was first published, the Microsoft Software Recovery website was offline. It is now online again. |
Cape Town - While academics warn that the academic consequences would be dire if classes at the country’s universities don’t resume soon, the student protests have already led to an unintended crisis: a blood shortage. The South African National Blood Service (SANBS) says it has less than two days of blood supply – and is ringing an urgent alarm-bell and calling on its donors to assist. There should always be enough blood to last five days. Blood drives at university campuses and schools yield about 40% units of blood collected annually and although the SANBS has systems in place to minimise the effects of shortages experienced during exams, protests have been an unpredictable factor, the service said in a statement. Dennis Ngongoma of SANBS told Northglen News that the student protests have made it dangerous for staff to set up mobile clinics at campuses, resulting in the loss of 150 units of blood per day. This, in combination with preparations for end-of-year exams, is negatively impacting on the national blood supply. Appeal to public As a result of the dangerously low blood stocks, the SANBS is appealing to members of the public who are due for their regular donation to visit the nearest donor centre as soon as they can, because many lives will be affected by this. “A shortage of blood hinders our ability to save hundreds of lives daily because, without an adequate supply, essential treatment for various patients cannot occur,” SANBS spokesperson Vanessa Raju says. Blood is used for emergencies as well as treating people with blood diseases and women who haemorrhage while giving birth. The SANBS must collect about 3000 units of blood daily in order to meet daily demand for this resource and keep stock levels above the two-day mark, the statement reads. To find you nearest donor centre or mobile visit www.sanbs.org.za or call the toll-free number 0800 11 9031. |
They're forbidding noting that a trans-woman was born a boy, or that a trans-man was born a girl. Now comes the AP's gender rewrite. In a series of tweets on Tuesday explaining the changes first promulgated earlier this year, the AP's editors contended that "gender refers to a person's social identity, while sex refers to biological characteristics" and admonished writers to "avoid references to being born a boy or girl." The venerable news agency also endorsed the language- and prose-disfiguring use of "they/them" as a singular pronoun. It even left open the door to more exotic made-up pronouns such as "ze" and "zir." Tuesday also saw the AP introduce a new rule: Instead of the expressions "sex change" or "transition," writers are to use "gender confirmation." This was a deep kowtow to the transgender movement, which believes that physicians don't alter anything essential or fundamental when they perform a sex-change operation: Caitlyn Jenner was always Caitlyn Jenner. The operation merely confirmed this ontological fact. |
Iran condemned on Saturday the Obama administration for taking an Iranian militant group formerly allied with Saddam Hussein off the U.S. terrorism list, saying it shows Washington's "double standards." The Mujahedeen-e-Khalq (MEK), which began as a guerrilla movement fighting Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi, helped overthrow the monarch in 1979 then quickly fell out with the Islamic Republic's first leader, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. It fought in the 1980s alongside Saddam's forces in the eight-year Iran-Iraq war but disarmed after the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003. The State Department delisted the group on Friday, meaning that any assets the MEK has in the United States are unblocked and Americans can do business with the organization. On Saturday, at their Paris headquarters, MEK members gathered to celebrate, tossing flower petals and displaying photos of members killed in the past 15 years. "We call on the international community to respect the will of the Iranian people for a regime change in Iran," Maryam Rajavi, the Paris-based head of the exiled opposition group, said Saturday. Iranian State TV criticized the decision, saying that the U.S. considered the MEK "good terrorists" and claims Washington is using the group to work against Tehran. State radio said the move highlights President Barack Obama's anti-Iranian sentiments. "There is much evidence of the group being involved in terrorist activities. Delisting them shows America's double standard policy on terrorism," state TV said. The U.S. distinguishes between "good and bad terrorists" and the MEK are now "good terrorists because the U.S. is using them against Iran," the report also said, adding that Washington and Israel use the group to spy on Iran's nuclear program. The U.S. and its allies accuse Iran of using its civilian nuclear program as a cover to develop nuclear weapons. Iran has denied the claims, saying the program is peaceful and is intended for electricity generation and scientific research. The State Department said the MEK hasn't committed terror for more than a decade. The group has also complied with demands that over 3,000 of its once-armed members abandon their base in Iraq near the Iranian border for a camp outside Baghdad, an essential step to ending their decades-long presence in Iraq. The group claims it is seeking regime change through peaceful means, aiming to replace Tehran's clerical system with a secular government. However, a senior State Department official suggested that removing MEK from the U.S. terrorist list does not translate into a shared common front against the Islamic Republic. The official said Washington does not view MEK as an opposition movement that can promote democratic values in Iran. The official on Friday briefed reporters on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to speak publicly on the matter. In a rare interview on Friday, Rajavi said "the most important impact ... will be seen inside Iran." "The balance of power is going to change. For example, the first message for the Iranian people will be they won't fear increasing their activity and increasing their demonstrations," she said. The fear "will evaporate ... and that will lead to the expansion of anti-regime activities within Iran." Iran says MEK is responsible for the deaths of more than 12,000 Iranians over the past three decades, including senior government officials. The MEK spent huge sums of money over years lobbying for removal from the U.S. terror list, holding rallies in European capitals and elsewhere that featured luminaries like former Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge from the administration of George W. Bush. Former House Speaker and presidential candidate Newt Gingrich was among those recently welcomed by the MEK to Paris. The group was protected in Iraq under Saddam Hussein, but its members are disliked by the new Iraqi government, dominated by Shiite Muslims like those in Iran. The United States had insisted the MEK's members leave Camp Ashraf, their home in Iraq, as a condition for removal from the terrorist list. All but several hundred militants are now located in Camp Liberty, a former U.S. base outside Baghdad, looking for placement in third countries. The MEK was removed from the European Union's terrorist list in 2009. |
Pillow Cookies Have you ever had any pillow cookies? I’ve only had them once, but I was immediately smitten. I found them in the bakery section of the Fresh Market sometime last year. They were some sort of sugar cookie wrapped around a brownie center. I immediately went on the hunt for a similar recipe but didn’t have much luck until just a few weeks ago when I was rummaging through some of my aunt’s recipes. And there it was. A torn out recipe for Chocolate Chip Brownie Pillows. Not sugar cookies, but good enough. Better even. And when I read the how-to, it all made sense. I had been throwing around scenarios in my head trying to figure out how the brownie batter and cookie batter all came together to form such soft sugary cookies. And… It’s easier than you think. First… bake up some brownies. You can just use your favorite box mix if you like. Let them cool and cut about ten 1 inch squares. You won’t need the rest for the cookies. I’m sure you can find something to do with the leftovers. Then you need some chocolate chip cookie dough (recipe below). The dough should be chilled for at least an hour before using. Each cookie uses about 1/2 cup of dough. Yes, you read that right. One half cup. For each. And yes, they are ginourmous! All you do is place the dough on parchment paper and make a pretty big indention in the center. Place the small brownie in the middle and fold the dough around it to form a ball. Then bake. I know, I was a bit skeptical at first, too. But it worked perfectly. Not convinced? Want to see it again. Okay. here goes. Place 1/2 cup of cookie dough batter on a parchment lined baking sheet. Make indentions in the dough and place a 1 inch square brownie in the center of each. Smoosh it a little, so the cookie dough surrounds the edges of the brownie. Then work the dough around the top to cover the entire brownie and shape them into balls. Place no more than 6 on a 15 x 20 inch baking sheet at a time because these guys are HUGE! Bake and voila……… Giant pillow cookies. Now these are much, much, much larger than the ones I had from the Fresh Market. And actually, the process may not even be similar, but the result reminds me of them. I’m guessing these could go smaller if you like, just use a smaller brownie to start. But I love how big the are. Gigantic. I guess you want to see the inside. The magic. The pillowy goodness. Let’s face it – you just want to see the brownie. I know. I know. Okay, here ya go… Oh my. I’m in love. Brownie Pillow Cookies 1 package brownie mix 1 cup butter, room temperature 1 1/2 cups packed light brown sugar 2 large eggs, plus 1 egg yolk 1 tablespoon vanilla 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour 2 teaspoons baking powder 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 12 oz. bag miniature semi-sweet chocolate chips Make brownies according to package and let cool. Cut about ten 1 inch squares. Enjoy the remaining brownies. (I used a pan about 8 X 8) For the chocolate chip cookie dough, beat butter with a mixer until creamy. Add brown sugar and beat until smooth. Add eggs, yolk and vanilla. Beat until smooth. Combine flour, baking powder, soda and salt in a medium bowl and stir together with a wire whisk. Add flour to butter mixture and beat until combined. Stir in mini chips. Let dough chill covered in the refrigerator for at least an hour. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Use a measuring cup to scoop batter by the 1/2 cup. Since it’s chilled, you may need to pack it with a spoon. Then use the spoon to remove the dough from the cup and place it on parchment paper. Work quickly so the dough remains chilled or either prepare one cookie at a time so the rest of the dough remains cold. After the dough is on the parchment paper, make an indention and place a 1 inch square brownie in the center. Press the brownie down gently and work the remaining dough around the brownie. You can use your hands to shape the dough into a ball. During this step, I found it easier to use a piece of parchment paper as a work surface since the dough can get sticky and then I used another piece of parchment paper for the baking sheet. If your dough gets too soft, you can chill the rolled dough balls for a few minutes right before baking. Prepare six cookies at a time using a large baking sheet (15 X 20) and bake at 350 degrees for about 18 minutes. Return the remaining dough to the refrigerator until time to bake the second batch. Cool on the baking sheet for a few minutes and then cool completely on a wire rack. Makes about ten cookies using a little less than a 1/2 cup of dough for each cookie. If your cookies start to get too brown before they are done baking, you can place a sheet of aluminum foil over top for the last few minutes. Recipe adapted slightly from an ad for a Southern Living Cookbook… I think it’s in the Christmas with Southern Living 2009, but not sure. Enjoy! P.S. If there was ever a time to use the term “Brookies,” this would be a good one. |
Yolanda Barron Carmona commutes 45 minutes from her home in Oakland to her hotel housekeeping job in Emeryville during the week. Though the drive is taxing, Carmona said she had no choice because hotel jobs closer to her home don’t allow union representation for workers — an important factor for her. Carmona, a 51-year-old immigrant from Mexico, said she felt more respected by hotel management after she signed on with a union. Yet after lunch Monday, Carmona intends to exercise one of the advantages of being a union member. She plans to walk out of work after lunch to join thousands of hotel staff, restaurant employees, nurses, teachers and others in the Bay Area in a May Day strike calling for workers’ and immigrants’ rights. “All immigrants — whether we are from Mexico or (are) Muslims or Asian immigrants — we should be able to work freely and in peace, and we shouldn’t be harassed by immigration,” said Carmona, who’s a permanent resident living legally in the U.S. and has lived in Oakland for 17 years. Carmona and about 60 other hotel workers from Oakland and Emeryville will gather at Mandela Parkway and Yerba Buena Avenue in Oakland from 1:30 to 2:30 p.m., to demand sanctuary workplaces and to tear down a prop wall that symbolizes the wall that President Trump wants to build along the U.S.-Mexico border. Sanjay Garla, the vice president of the Service Employees International Union United Service Workers West, said the annual nationwide strike is expected to be larger than it has been in the past decade because of Trump’s rhetoric on immigration. The biggest turnout is expected to be in Los Angeles, where workers will march from MacArthur Park to Grand Park. “Immigrants’ rights and worker rights in the low-wage service industry are one and the same thing,” said Garla, whose organization represents 45,000 workers in California. “And what our membership is really looking at is the attacks on immigrants — we feel it is a direct attack on the strength of working people as well.” In San Francisco, a protest outside the Immigration and Customs Enforcement office is scheduled for 8 a.m. Monday, followed by a gathering at 11 a.m. at Justin Herman Plaza, and from there a march to the Civic Center at noon. Mayor Ed Lee is planning to participate in the march. “We cannot have our residents living in the shadows, fearful to go to work, enroll their children in schools or seek medical assistance,” Lee said in a statement to The Chronicle. “Despite the misguided rhetoric coming from Washington, D.C., we will continue to lead the way and fight for our immigrant communities.” For the first time, leaders from Greenpeace, the Sierra Club and other environmental organizations will participate in the strike to call for better working conditions that are pollution and hazard-free. Miya Yoshitani, the executive director of the Asian Pacific Environmental Network in Richmond, said the organization’s members view the fight for clean and healthy working conditions as part of its push for environmental justice. The organization represents many factory workers, she said, who plan to meet at 3 p.m. at Fruitvale Plaza in Oakland for a march to San Antonio Park, where they will hold a rally. Employees of the Oakland Coliseum and Oracle Arena complex, including janitors, security guards and other service workers, will join them, Garla said. Lawyers will be on deck at marches throughout the country to assist workers who fear retaliation from their employers, said Alan Benjamin, a retired board member for the San Francisco Labor Council and May Day coordinator, although most employers, including Facebook and Google, are supporting their employees’ decision to strike. A May Day strike and march is also planned for 1 p.m. at the Mexican Heritage Plaza, 1700 Alum Rock Ave. in San Jose. The San Francisco and Oakland unified school districts are planning to keep schools open for May Day and will rearrange staffing needs should teachers walk out, according to school officials. Carmona said her hope is to show the Trump administration that immigrants are an important part of the working force in the U.S. “Immigrant workers should not be harassed, and there should be dignified work for immigrants,” she said. Sarah Ravani is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: sravani@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @SarRavani |
The Powerpuff Girls are back! The trio returns for a special this week, Steven Universe jumps into bizarre world of professional wrestling, and we take a look at Rick and Morty, a 'toon from the mind of Dan Harman. As always - minor spoilers ahead! Adventure Time - "Blade of Grass" Finn breaks his sword while fighting a playground full of baddies, so Jake takes him shopping for a new blade. The duo head to Tree Trunk's house to give it whirl, only to learn that the new sword might be cursed. Advertisement Steven Universe - "Tiger Millionaire" Ah, it's one of the most storied tropes in cartoons - send your main character off to join and underground fighting league. Wait, no, that's not right. Steven awakens to find Amethyst sneaking out in the middle of the night on her way to a closed doors wrestling federation where she stars as the Purple Puma. Advertisement The Powerpuff Girls - "Dance Pantsed" Taking the prime-time slot from Regular Show is the one-off return of the Powerpuff Girls. Mojo Jojo invents a Dance Dance Revolution-style video game as a vehicle to gain control of Townsville, and Beatles drummer Ringo Starr makes an interesting cameo as Fibonacci Sequins. Advertisement Rick and Morty - "Meeseeks and Destroy" Rick and Morty is a series from the mind of Dan Harman (Community) about a kid and his scientist grandfather, who happens to be an alcoholic and an unwanted influence in Morty's life. You can check out the entire episode above thanks to Adult Swim. Advertisement My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic - "Three's a Crowd" Princess Cadance is en route to Ponyville, but one pony isn't pitching in with the preparations. Discord is sick and doling out demands to the ponies to help him overcome his illness. Advertisement Hulk and the Agents of S.M.A.S.H. - "A Thing About Machines" The Leader gives the Jump Jet, the official transport of the Agents of S.M.A.S.H., a new operating system with a mind of its own. No clip is available at the time of this post, but once one arrives, I'll pop it in. Advertisement Archer Vice - "A Kiss While Dying" Archer's ISIS-owned penthouse is seized by the government thanks to last week's treasonous escapade, giving Archer and Lana even more incentive to sell the millions in cocaine Malory had hidden away. Language in clip may be NSFW. Advertisement Top image is courtesy of Cartoon Network. |
Tuesday night was a long one for supporters of the proposed Main and Six Brewing Company in Springfield. The project, part of a lineup of potential new businesses in Springfield, was subject to a public hearing at the Land Use Zoning committee meeting. It had already gone through this process successfully once before, but was referred back to the committee because of a technicality. Around 100 residents showed up Tuesday to witness the meeting and show support. The brewery had to apply for a waiver to a provision in the city’s Code of Ordinances. Specifically, it needed to avoid a provision in Chapter 656, Section 805 that states: “There shall be not less than 1,500 feet from an established school or church for the on-premises consumption of alcoholic beverages, not in conjunction with the service of food, except as specifically provided herein.” (It failed to notify three churches last time, hence why it was referred back to committee.) This is particularly problematic for attempts at development in the Springfield area. Debbie Thompson, vice president of Springfield Improvement Association, pointed out during Tuesday night’s hearing that almost every bit of property in Springfield lies within 1,500 feet of at least one church or school. As she and several passionate Springfield residents pointed out, that means any development seeking to serve alcohol will almost certainly have to come before the zoning committee. The provision itself is a product of antiquated priorities, as well as influence from church groups who believe alcohol consumption promotes sinful behavior. At Tuesday’s hearing, it was clear that this mentality is still present in the city. George Carter, one of only two citizens to speak in opposition to the Main and Six project’s approval, identified himself as a deacon of the Westside Baptist Church and insisted that the neighborhood must choose between “a brewery or salvation.” He also claimed that the “Christian way” is to abstain from the consumption of alcohol. Both remarks drew light chuckles from the crowd, but it’s clear that the committee takes Carter and the people he represents very seriously. Councilman Reggie Gaffney alluded to a desire to see churches and businesses working together, and insisted that residents needed to try to understand where the church is coming from on these issues. Gaffney also proposed an amendment that would forbid any consumption of alcohol on any patio areas on Wednesdays and Sundays, which was agreed to by applicant Zach Miller. Councilman Doyle Carter argued against the fact that Miller, in his re-application, changed the wording to encompass all churches and schools rather than naming each one individually. His concern seemed to be that a church or school could be missed if this is allowed in the future. While the Main and Six Brewing project ultimately gained approval after a lengthy discussion process, it remains to be seen if future projects will have similar fortune or have to jump through similar hoops. Chances are they will. The distance provision in the Code of Ordinances is one that the city needs to consider revisiting. As seen on Tuesday night, all it does is hinder potential development. The same issue was brought up earlier in the meeting in regards to La Cena’s relocation to a property on Edgewood Ave., and will continue to be brought up in a city dense with churches and schools. There’s no reason that churches can’t coexist peacefully with neighboring projects that involve alcohol. As multiple residents pointed out during Tuesday’s hearing, there are plenty of examples of cities densely packed with churches that are able to have economic growth by letting in bars, restaurants, and especially breweries. Jacksonville has a large church-going population, but the vast majority of them are reasonable people. The opposition to projects like this represents an extremely small portion of the city’s religious population – a portion that largely seems stuck in the past. Unfortunately, the loudest voices are the ones being heard the most – you can expect Carter to be at other similar hearings, along with Pastor Ted Corley of Mission First Coast, who also spoke in opposition Tuesday. These voices are the ones that think churches should be able to have control over governmental matters such as land use, and who think that they know what’s best for the community. They believe this even when the community shows up to tell them otherwise. None of this will change until the zoning code is revisited. This cycle will continue, with the same debates and arguments, for future projects that come too close to churches or schools. At some point the city has to take a look at this and wonder if it’s worth chasing away potential development just to appease a small group of residents. |
Must-have: The first Baylor Traditions Christmas ornaments If your Christmas tree is like mine (or like these), it’s got more than its share of green-and-gold decorations. But we’ve never had anything quite like this before. This year, the university has launched a new annual program — the Baylor Traditions Christmas ornaments. These two specially designed ornaments (pictured above) celebrate two of Baylor’s rich traditions. One ornament features the university seal and celebrates Baylor’s reign as the oldest continually operating university in Texas. Engraved in the seal, of course, is the school motto: “Pro Ecclesia, Pro Texana” — “For Church, for Texas” — which was adopted in 1851 and declares who we are today, and who we will be in the future. The plan is for this ornament to be sold each year. The other ornament depicts the Baylor Bear, which the student body voted as the university’s official mascot on December 14, 1914. Three years later, Baylor had its first live mascot named Bruin; today, our on-campus bears are Judge Sue Sloan (Lady) and Judge Joy Reynolds (Joy), who keep our century-year-old tradition alive. Marked with the year, this design will be replaced by something new next year, so this is our first and only chance to collect this particular ornament. Only 2,000 such ornaments have been produced; they are available with a $38 gift to the university, which must be placed by Nov. 30. Personally, I can’t wait to add these to my ornament collection each year. Sic ’em, Bears! |
I made it Jerac . Quoting Warhammer Fan^^ (Necrons^^) It' s very very cool i' m a very big warhammer 40k fan and I like Lego too^^. this is a really nice work. Can you give me a Instruction about this models please, it is really so cool that I must have that^^. send it please at hai_ray@freenet.de Than I havn' t any Idea how to build this it where really nice thanks in advance. Well, thanks for appreciation, but please tell me - why would I even want to make instructions? If I built these models I will be able to replicate them if needed (especially considering that they stay)... and making instructions is just a waste of time as it takes more to do it than to actually build something. Well, thanks for appreciation, but please tell me - why would I even want to make instructions? If I built these models I will be able to replicate them if needed (especially considering that they stay)... and making instructions is just a waste of time as it takes more to do it than to actually build something. |
Response to Prime Minister David Cameron Aerial view of intensive fracking in the US- is this our future? Prime Minister Cameron wrote a disturbing article in the Telegraph on the 11th of August in which he unreservedly endorsed hydraulic fracturing, or 'fracking' as a solution to the energy needs of Great Britain. Fracking is a technique to extract shale gas from the earth by forcing water, laden with a cocktail of hazardous chemicals, into the rock under high pressure. This releases shale gas, as well as toxic gases such as methane, salts and metals. Fracking causes earthquakes, contamination of aquifers, leakage of toxic chemicals into the ground, air pollution, increased road traffic and significantly contributes to climate change. Each well drilled requires millions of litres of water, which will place an immense strain on already scarce resources. If the Prime Minister had, as he claimed in April last year, given Britain 'the greenest government ever,' he would have written an entirely different article. The satirical version of his piece, by the UK Youth Climate Coalition (UKYCC), which substitutes renewable energy data for Mr Cameron's fracking statistics, shows us what he should have said. The UK should be committing to a conversion to renewable energy. Instead of shale gas, the UKYCC dryly suggests, the Prime Minister should be endorsing solar panels, wind turbines, tidal power and hydro - sources which do not threaten our communities, our safety, our air, water and environment as fracking does. The Prime Minister has some important questions to answer. Why has he changed his policy, which in 2012 was still directed towards a coming-of-age for renewable energy in the UK? Who counselled Mr Cameron to abandon renewable energy for fracking? There are obvious conflicts of interest in the sources of the government's advice. The Conservative strategist Lynton Crosby's links to the fracking industry have been well documented. But there are more sticky fingers than just Crosby's in this pie. Lord Browne, former chief executive of BP and chairman of fracking company Cuadrilla - the very same company which is currently operating in Balcombe, West Sussex - is also a UK government adviser. The endorsement of fracking in the UK has the fingerprints of corporate interest all over it - especially Lord Browne's. The Royal Academy of Engineering's final report on shale gas extraction which states that fracking 'can be safely undertaken' with low risk of seismic activity is often cited by the pro-fracking contingent. The endorsement of fracking in the UK has the fingerprints of corporate interest all over it - especially Lord Browne's. The Royal Academy of Engineering's final report on shale gas extraction which states that fracking 'can be safely undertaken' with low risk of seismic activity is often cited by the pro-fracking contingent. It seems more than coincidental that the scientific society telling the government that fracking is safe - the Royal Academy of Engineering - had as its president, until 2011, the same Lord Browne, Chairman of Cuadrilla, which stands to make huge financial gains if fracking is widely adopted as government policy. I notice that the government has hired the PR giant Bell Pottinger in an attempt to greenwash fracking, to persuade the British public to come on board. Mr Cameron's endorsement is starting to look like a corporate takeover. Collusion of this kind between government and corporations compromises the state in the performance of its duty: to protect its citizens and the environment. Prime Minister - have you forgotten BP's miserable safety record under Lord Browne's leadership between 1995 and 2006? In his book "Run to Failure: BP and the Making of the Deepwater Horizon Disaster," investigative reporter Abrahm Lustgarten states, 'Browne drove a spree of acquisitions while pushing BP into riskier drilling and ruthlessly cutting costs.' Prime Minister - it would only take one mistake by Cuadrilla and others to cause a fracking disaster. How can Mr Cameron write that 'fracking is safe. International evidence shows there is no reason why the process should cause contamination of water supplies or other environmental damage' - in the face of the mounting evidence to contrary? The UK Environment Agency impact assessment released on the 13th of August is clear that fracking involves 'Serious hazards, including the potential for air pollution and for contamination of surface and groundwater,' with a "high risk" of pollution caused by the chemicals pumped into the ground, of "contamination and loss of resources, injury, ill health or death, loss of or damage to a habitat." Tom Wigley of the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado, concluded in a recent study that fracking and reliance on shale gas will exacerbate climate change for many decades. Whereas the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) suggests investment in wind and solar could reduce emissions of CO2 from the U.S. power sector by up to 80 per cent by 2050. Prime Minister, I urge you to examine the 'international evidence' more closely. Dr Anthony Ingraffea is a professor of engineering at Cornell University as well as the president of Physicians, Scientists and Engineers for Healthy Energy. He has worked as a researcher on shale fracturing techniques as well as for NASA. He is co-author of the Cornell University 2011 study that established the greenhouse gas footprint of fracking as being greater than that of any other fossil fuel including coal, and is one of the leading voices raised against the use of intensive fracking in the US. 'I was aghast,' he said of the US's adoption of fracking. 'It was as if [I'd] been working on something [my] whole life and somebody comes and turns it into Frankenstein.' Has the Prime Minister seen the footage of methane laden water catching fire as it pours from a kitchen tap? The Prime Minister is not the first world leader to try and soft-pedal the dangers of fracking. A report by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was suppressed by the Obama administration during 2012 then leaked by whistleblowers to the Los Angeles Times on July 27th 2013. It clearly states, "Methane is at significantly higher concentrations in the aquifers after gas drilling... and... apparently cause significant damage to the water quality." Nor is the US the only country to experience serious repercussions from its commitment to fracking. Around 40 'seismic events' were recorded in British Columbia, Canada, between 2009 and 2012- the earthquakes were caused by fracking, according to the 2012 report by the British Columbia Oil and Gas Commission. And a study published in Science journal in July found that even earthquakes thousands of kilometres away can trigger quakes near wells. Most of the 'international evidence' resembles cautionary tales. France, which has some of the largest reserves of shale gas in Europe, has banned the practice, and there is currently a moratorium in New York State. But Mr Cameron need look no further than Lancashire for proof of fracking-related earthquakes. Cuadrilla admitted in 2011 that their gas exploration had caused earthquakes near Blackpool. Police escorting lorry in Balcombe, West Sussex. Credit, Jeff Pitcher In his article, the Prime Minister promises communities money- £100, 000 up front for those near drill sites, and '1 per cent of the revenue - perhaps as much as £10 million' which he claims 'will go straight back to residents.' I am outraged when governments and corporations offer vapour money to communities in return for exploitation of their natural resources. The Prime Minister's words sound ominously like those guarantees being made by multinational corporations in the developing world. Usually all that results is irreversible environmental destruction. Communities rarely benefit. Prime Minister - we can't put a price on the environment. The air, the water, the land - these are precious resources which we must conserve, if we are to leave a habitable world to future generations. The Prime Minister also claims that 'fracking has real potential to drive energy bills down... ' There is just too little evidence to back this statement up. The Prime Minister's claim of '1,300 trillion cubic feet of shale gas lying underneath Britain,' is unproven. The Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology finds it unreliable. Their report states, 'Estimates of UK shale gas potential are at an early stage of development... leading to uncertainty in resource estimates. There are no official reserve estimates, which are needed to forecast the commercial scale of shale gas extraction.' In addition the nine-month long cross-party inquiry chaired by former energy minister Charles Hendry, the Carbon Connect report, finds that a UK shale price boom will have little to no bearing on energy prices in the UK and throws doubt on the capacity to extract the gas. John Vidal called 1,300 trillion cubic feet estimate 'meaningless,' in the Guardian, 'until it is known how much is accessible, what the environmental cost could be to extract it and how long the supplies may last.' UK energy prices depend on the global market and global suppliers. Predicting them is a lottery. It's true that in the US gas prices are at an all-time low - but there's no reason to believe the UK will follow suit - and the US bubble is already bursting. 'The economic momentum of the shale-gas industry can be sustained for the long term only by decreasing production (ultimately causing prices to adjust--a process that may be under way...) or by increasing sales of its product,' writes Michael McElroy for Harvard Magazine. Chancellor George Osborne's reduced 30% tax rate for shale gas producers (less than half the amount paid by the conventional oil and gas industry) will help companies like Cuadrilla make money. It will certainly not carry any benefit for consumers or fracking affected communities. Fracking will however have extensive economic repercussions for communities other than energy prices - property prices near the drill sites will probably fall. Buildings and businesses will be harder to insure. The £100, 000 promised to communities situated near exploratory wells won't cover these deficits - nor will the purely speculative '£10 million.' Vanessa Vine, Bianca Jagger and Charles Metcalfe at Cuadrilla operations site, Lower Stumble near Balcombe, 3rd August 2013. Credit Bianca Jagger The Prime Minister makes assurances in his article that: 'Local people will not be cut out and ignored... Dialogue is important...' Mr Cameron - are you not aware that the drilling in Balcombe is taking place against the will of the residents? When I spoke to villagers during my recent visits it was clear that most of them oppose it. Kathy Dunne, of resident's campaign group No Fracking in Balcombe Society (No FIBS), conducted a survey in the village: 85% of those who answered were against fracking. We spoke to every household in the village," said Dunne, "and the overwhelming majority of people who live in Balcombe don't want fracking." Yet Cuadrilla began drilling in Balcombe anyway. There was little sign of the 'dialogue' promised by the Prime Minister. Bianca Jagger with Balcombe protesters. For the past eight weeks protesters have gathered at the Balcombe site, during which over 100 protesters have been arrested, including MP Caroline Lucas. The Balcombe protesters were ordered to leave the site by 9 am on Tuesday the 10th of September - many have stayed. Today a High Court judge ruled that the protesters have the right to remain, and that West Sussex County Council must pay court costs. This is good news, but the battle is far from over. Balcombe is a litmus test of the British public's attitude. Most want the countryside frack-free. The risks of the Prime Minister's fracking policy are high, the rewards uncertain at very best. In the words of Dr Anthony Ingraffea: 'My position is this. Where shale gas development has not yet occurred, ban it. Period.' I am deeply concerned about the impact fracking will have on our environment, our water sources, air and way of life. In this mad 'dash for gas,' in this quest for profit and so-called 'cheap' energy, is the UK government losing sight of the real objectives? We urgently need to reduce carbon emissions and decrease our dependence on fossil fuels. Fracking will not achieve this. Only a sustained and serious commitment to renewable energy will turn us aside from climate disaster. As Einstein wrote in 1949, 'We shall require a substantially new manner of thinking if mankind is to survive.' Prime Minister, time is running out. George Monbiot's response in the Guardian says it all. Extraction is an ideology, gendered and gendering, pursued independently of economic purpose. As Cameron says, without shale gas "we could lose ground in the tough global race". It doesn't matter whether the race is worth running. It doesn't matter that it's a race towards mutually assured destruction, through manmade climate change. The point is that it's tough and a race. And that's all a politician needs to feel like a man. Prime Minister, you made a promise to the electorate. You swore to give the UK a green government, promised to "inspire and encourage positive action through a radical but realistic vision of green growth," to lead a new political consensus to stop "short term political calculation" getting in the way of environmental protection. You have let us down miserably. |
In a warm place sits a mansion made entirely of many-hued flowers, their vines forming the unnatural architecture of mankind. The house grew around two entities, the Heart of Eternity, and the Heart of Chaos. The Heart of Chaos mutated all life around it, changing it beyond recognition, and the Heart of Eternity gave the new life the order necessary to survive. The Hearts arrived long before mankind existed, and they have been locked in a perpetual struggle ever since. A proxy war is fought between the two, using flowers mutated into ambulatory forms as pawns. The battles are fought entirely inside the house, because while immensely powerful, the influence of the Hearts cannot extend outside. The structure around which the house grew, the Chapel of the Void, is the reason the Hearts cannot leave. Only dreams they create are dreamt beyond the house. Locals in the area know well enough to avoid the house, as all who have entered were either killed or scarred horrendously, but they all receive the dreams. Those who sleep in the area often dream of entering the house, fighting through the rooms, kidnapping one of the Hearts, and sacrificing it on the altar inside the Chapel of the Void. They dream this will bring them great wealth and power. The dreams lie. Includes: |
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