text stringlengths 0 100k |
|---|
TENSIONS were running high when your correspondent visited Sweden at the height of Europe’s migrant crisis, in late 2015. Although most Swedes happily accepted the 163,000 asylum-seekers who arrived in their country that year, others were far less welcoming. In Malmo, a heavily immigrant city in the south, one cashier in a local shop was particularly angry. “They are just here for welfare and benefits,” he said, before telling your correspondent to “get out”. Such language was once the preserve of politicians from the far-right Sweden Democrats party, which has capitalised on the crisis to boost its support. Since then the government has been trying to adapt the Swedish welfare state to suit the times: both to accommodate hundreds of thousands of refugees and to try to diminish such right-wing sentiment. What is changing? Swedes are rightly proud of their welfare state. The “Scandinavian model” combines high taxes, collective bargaining and a fairly open economy. The result is excellent living standards, high wages and impressive rates of female labour-force participation (parental leave is generous for both sexes). Its reputation has leftist politicians elsewhere filled with envy: Bernie Sanders has cited Sweden, and its neighbour Denmark, as his ideal of “social democracy”. Yet the system has long been in need of reform. Like much of Europe, Sweden has an ageing workforce. Decades of under-construction has sent house prices soaring in Stockholm and other cities. High wages leave many unskilled workers, both Swedish and foreign-born, on the fringes of the labour market. Get our daily newsletter Upgrade your inbox and get our Daily Dispatch and Editor's Picks. The first response by the centre-left coalition government to the overwhelming influx of refugees in 2015 was to close the border with Denmark. This was seen as an extreme measure: the deputy prime minister, Asa Romson, cried when announcing the move at a press conference. Since then it has also tried to tweak welfare spending. Previously, failed asylum-seekers received a monthly cash benefit of around 1,200 SEK ($140) and housing; this was scrapped last year. On May 31st the government voted to limit paid parental leave for immigrants: previously, refugees could claim the full amount of paid leave (480 days per child under the age of eight). Now they can only do so if the child is under one year old. For big families the benefits will be limited further. These tweaks, however, do not tackle the biggest problem Sweden faces in integrating new arrivals: its rigid labour market. Many refugees do not have the skills or connections to enter the workforce. Sweden has one of the largest gaps in employment between native and foreign-born workers. This damages the welfare state not only because fewer foreign-born workers pay taxes, but also because some Swedes, like the cynical cashier in Malmo, resent their new neighbours and lose trust in the state. If Sweden is to remain exceptional—for its high living standards and generous attitude to people fleeing barrel bombs—far bigger changes are needed. |
Rochom P'ngieng, dubbed "jungle woman" when she emerged in Feb 2007, has still has not learnt to speak and refuses to wear clothes. Her father said she had been admitted to hospital after refusing to eat for a month and had made several attempts to return to the forest. Sal Lou said: "Her condition looks worse than the time we brought her from the jungle. She always wants to take off her clothes and crawl back to the jungle. "She has refused to eat rice for about one month. She is skinny now... She still cannot speak. She acts totally like a monkey. Last night, she took off her clothes, and went to hide in the bathroom." Rochom P'ngieng disappeared in 1989 when she was eight years old while herding water buffalo in the province of Ratanakkiri bordering Vietnam, north-east of the capital, Phnom Penh. Her parents had long given up hope of ever seeing her. But in 2007, she emerged from the jungle naked and dirty, hunched over like a monkey, and was caught trying to steal by a farmer. She was said to have been scavenging food in the forest and could utter only unintelligible words. Sal Lou described the sounds she made simply as "animal noises". The drama of her disappearance and unlikely reappearance gripped Cambodians who described her as "half animal girl" and "jungle woman", though there were also many questions raised about her identity and whether she could really have survived in the jungle. But Sal Lou, a village policeman, embraced Rochom P'ngieng as his long-lost daughter after identifying her by a facial scar. However, in spite of the family's best efforts, the woman has had great difficulty settling in after her years in the jungle. Sal Lou said that she was admitted to Ratanakkiri's provincial hospital last Monday, but he had removed her because she was unsettled and the medical staff had difficulty preventing her running away. "We have to hold her hand all the time (at the hospital). Otherwise she would take her clothes off and run away," he said. She has become so difficult that he wants a charity to take her into care. At the hospital Dr Hing Phan Sokunthea said Sal Lou took her away against the wishes of medical staff. "We wanted to monitor her situation more, but we don't know what to do because the father already took her out of hospital." The jungles of Ratanakkiri – some of the most isolated and wild in Cambodia – are known to have held hidden groups of hill tribes in the past. In 2004, four hill tribe families emerged from the dense forest where they had fled in 1979 after the fall of the genocidal Khmer Rouge regime, which they supported. |
Today I hit half my biblically allotted time on Earth. I’m also leaving RPS’ full-time staff. That’s my last regular commitment as a “real” games journalist. These fifteen years have been a pleasure. For a little more of what it means for the pirate-ship that is RPS, read on. In short: Don’t worry too much. This hasn’t been a sudden thing. “Kieron Leaves On September 30th” has been on the RPS Calender for most of the year. As such, we’ve had plenty of time to bring Quinns in as the new regular writer. You’ll all have seen by now exactly how lightning-in-a-bottle he is and what he brings to the site. I can’t wait to see what he’ll do next. Equally, while I’m not on the regular staff I’ll remain a Director of RPS, so be involved in shaping the site’s future. More importantly, I remain a gamer whose main response the medium is going on big rants. When I decide I want to write ten thousand words on an indie strategy game no-one else gives a toss about, there’s not a power in the world that can stop me. Unfortunately. My dilettante ass will be showing up whenever I have something worthwhile to say. In other words, I’ll basically be filling the position Quinns was before he came on full time. Take-away message number 1: Quinns is the new me. I’m the new Quinns. Those who follow my career may be wondering whether this actually has anything to do with me signing an exclusive contract with Marvel. Well… yes and no. Yes, it affected the timing. Not because it has anything to do with whether I can write games journalism or not, but because with the contract signed I felt it important to give my full, undivided and primary attention to the comic-writing. However, no, it didn’t affect whether I was leaving or not. I’d be leaving around now anyway. When Jim floated the idea for RPS back in 2007, I wasn’t sure whether I wanted to offer my oar for the Viking longship. I knew it’ll be a long haul to get it to a position to actually make money. I also knew that I was kind of half out the door anyway. If I was going to do a load of work for no money, I’d be much better off doing indie comics for no cash. That would feed into where I wanted to be heading. On the other hand: how could I say no? It was a site which needed to exist. Number one on my list of unfulfilled games journalist desires was “I’d like to launch a mag”. It took me a while to actually realise that’s what RPS was, but a chance to build something on our own terms, embodying what the four of us believed about writing was pretty much irresistible. If I was going to leave games journalism, I’d like to leave something like RPS behind. The point being: to leave it behind. I knew that as soon as the site was commercially valid, I’d probably be out the door. We had Eurogamer take over our ads early this year. You’ll have noticed that we’ve started having a more commercial class of adverts. While we’re resolutely anti-pop-up and multiple-pages and all that, some of you may have been a little annoyed by it. You’ll also hopefully have noticed the greater amount of content, from multiple feature posts per day to just a general amount of news churn. Soon, you’ll see improvements to the site infrastructure – starting with the comments threads. And there’s other special things which we’ve got lined up for the near future. The ads money has made all that possible. The ads money and the readership, because ads without anyone to read them are worthless. Pulling up the stats for the last 30 days, and we had 770,959 unique visitors and 4,871,919 page impressions. These are not small figures. We’re the largest generalist PC games site in the anglophone sphere. Readership + Ads = Money = A sustainable site. Thank you for reading. Assuming you aren’t running adblock, just by doing so you’re helping to pay for us to make the site better. And, as always, a special shout out to the people who are paying us directly – the RPS subscribers. Take-away message number 2: I’m not leaving RPS because it’s failed. I’m leaving RPS because it’s successful, and so no longer needs me. But I am, in a real way, leaving RPS. I won’t be sitting in the chat-room, posting sexy renders of the latest guns and making terrible puns based around bad pop music – and if you want the one real change from me leaving, it’d be a downturn in references to mid-nineties zine-kid glitterpop. Of course, I’m sentimental – sentimental enough to fire off a last round from the games-journalism-journalism gun elsewhere. I’ve been a professional games journo for the last fifteen years. I’ve been doing this for longer than some of you have been alive. However, I’m aware of how lucky I’ve been. When I left PC Gamer back in 2003 to go freelance, I assumed that I’d basically done the big body of work which I felt which would have been my highpoint. Those five, drunken years on the mag would be basically as good as my games journalist experience would get. And despite some of the stuff I got up to after I left – don’t mention the war – all of that rested on those five years. And part of me was a little sad that it was as good as it got. I never really got to have my own Amiga Power. Which is why I’m lucky. Against all expectations, when I thought I’d seen and done everything I could do in the field, the last three years have confounded those lessons. It could be better. It could be anything. RPS broke my heart and patched it back together on a daily basis. I consider it the absolute highpoint of my career. I’m very lucky. Time to die. |
The trial of 49 suspects, including 19 police officers, on charges relating to the brutal mob killing of an Afghan woman has adjourned in Kabul. All suspects in the trial - in its second day on Sunday - face charges related to the March 19 killing of a 27-year-old woman named Farkhunda. One of them admitted to dragging her by the hair, as shown in mobile-phone footage captured by a bystander. A prosecutor read charges against 10 of the defendants, including assault, murder and encouraging others to participate in the assault. The police officers are charged with neglecting their duties and failing to prevent the attack. Prosecutors have alleged that Farkhunda was beaten to death in a frenzied attack spurred by a bogus accusation that she had burned a copy of the Quran. Anger among accused as #Farkhunda trial adjourns for the day. Worried that politics will interfere with justice pic.twitter.com/8sYM1RONKs — Jennifer Glasse (@JenniferGlasse) May 3, 2015 One of the accused admits dragging #Farkhunda by her hair he's id'd in video shown in court — Jennifer Glasse (@JenniferGlasse) May 3, 2015 The killing shocked many Afghans, though some public and religious figures said it would have been justified if she in fact had damaged a copy of the Muslim holy book. Mobile-phone video of the assault circulated widely on social media. It showed Farkhunda, who like many Afghans went by only one name, being beaten, run over with a car and burned before her body was thrown into the Kabul River. The incident caused nationwide outrage, as well as a civil society movement to limit the power of clerics, strengthen the rule of law and improve women's rights. Safiullah Mojadedi, head of the Primary Court, called for senior officials, including the Kabul police chief and the interior ministry's chief criminal investigator, to attend Sunday's court session. He also ordered the arrest of another police officer who allegedly freed a suspect. At least two of the accused told the court they had confessed under physical duress. Afghanistan's judicial system long has faced criticism for its inability to offer the majority of Afghans access to justice. Women especially are sidelined, despite constitutional guarantees of equality and protection from violence, a recent report by the UN concluded. |
Daniel Craig, it would appear, does not want to be James Bond anymore. And that’s fine. He has done a very good job at it and deserves to be tired of the role. More than being fine, though, it’s fun, because it allows for the “Who should be the next James Bond?” conversation to happen naturally, and people get to pretend that they’re really invested in it for a little while before discarding it, like the results of the Olympics or the expiration date on bread. Rather than churn out a These Guys Could Be the Next Bond list, though, let’s be a little more involved and complicated and specific, because this is a very important decision. Let’s list the people who could possibly play Bond (based on strong recent performances in movies from 2014 to now), and then let’s list all the skills required of a James Bond, and then we can just cross off the names who don’t meet a requirement, and we’ll do that until there’s only one person left, and malibooyah: Bond by elimination, which is really the only way a Bond should ever be chosen. Twenty potential new James Bonds: David Oyelowo Jack O’Connell Groot Rodrigo Santoro Tom Hardy Michael Fassbender Tom Hiddleston Vin Diesel Jason Statham Sam Worthington Jon Hamm Chris Pratt Ryan Reynolds Shia LaBeouf Don “The Dragon” Wilson Idris Elba The Rock One of the raptors from Jurassic World Channing Tatum Michael B. Jordan A few surprises in there, I’m sure, but a case can be made for each and every one. The prerequisites to be James Bond: Prerequisite 1: The new James Bond has to be good at not being Ryan Reynolds. Oh, man. I guess that gets rid of Ryan Reynolds? Cold world. Crazy that he was eliminated before the raptors from Jurassic World. That’s just how it goes sometimes, I suppose. Remaining Options: David Oyelowo, Tom Hardy, Jack O’Connell, Rodrigo Santoro, Groot, Tom Hiddleston, Jason Statham, Sam Worthington, Michael B. Jordan, Channing Tatum, one of the raptors from Jurassic World, Idris Elba, Chris Pratt, Jon Hamm, Michael Fassbender, Shia LaBeouf, Don “The Dragon” Wilson, The Rock, Vin Diesel. Prerequisite 2: The new James Bond has to be good at being tough, or at least appearing tough. The worst person to play Bond was David Niven, star of the non-canon parody adaptation of Casino Royale from 1967, and it was mostly because he was so waifish and flimsy. And I don’t want you to confuse “waifish and flimsy” with meaning he was just a slight guy, because Pierce Brosnan was very narrow and he’s the deadliest Bond ever (he killed 47 in GoldenEye alone). I just mean that a James Bond needs to be a presence. He needs to be able to walk in the room and have somebody say, “Who’s that?” and another person say, “I don’t know, but I probably wouldn’t fuck with him if I were you.” David Niven didn’t look like that. David Niven looked like someone who would talk to you for a long time about very fine and delicious oats. So if the new Bond needs to be tough (or at least look tough), then that means we lose Tom Hiddleston, Rodrigo Santoro, and Jack O’Connell now. Also, Jon Hamm gets eliminated here, too. He’s semi-rugged and certainly manly, but it’s not the type of manliness that manifests itself in toughness, if that makes sense. He’s tough the way new leather shoes are tough, in that they’re sturdy, but you’re mostly hoping to keep them clean and shiny. Remaining Options: David Oyelowo, Tom Hardy, Groot, Jason Statham, Sam Worthington, Michael B. Jordan, Channing Tatum, one of the raptors from Jurassic World, Idris Elba, Chris Pratt, Michael Fassbender, Shia LaBeouf, Don “The Dragon” Wilson, The Rock, Vin Diesel Prerequisite 3 (and counterpoint to Prerequisite 2): He has to be tough, or at least appear tough, without being a cartoon. Adios, Mr. Statham. You lasted longer than most expected, I’m sure. Remaining Options: David Oyelowo, Tom Hardy, Groot, Sam Worthington, Michael B. Jordan, Channing Tatum, one of the raptors from Jurassic World, Idris Elba, Chris Pratt, Michael Fassbender, Shia LaBeouf, Don “The Dragon” Wilson, The Rock, Vin Diesel Prerequisite 4: The new James Bond has to not be 1,000 years old. Damn. Bye, Don “The Dragon” Wilson. Three things: 1. This really feels like a big loss. Because, OK, James Bond is cool. That’s clear. That’s for sure. But do you know who’s cooler than James Bond? James “The Dragon” Bond. If you’re at a party and you introduce yourself as “Bond, James Bond,” then people are like, “He looks cool.” But if you introduce yourself as “Bond, James ‘The Dragon’ Bond,” that gets respect, my friend. “Did that guy just call himself The Dragon? Oh, fuck. I better not do any super-villainy around him.” 2. Why hasn’t Don “The Dragon” Wilson ever been canonized or deified? He deserves it. If for nothing else, then because HE HAD A MOVIE FRANCHISE CALLED BLOODFIST. And guess who he fought in it. BILLY FUCKING BLANKS. And then guess what. He made SEVEN MORE BLOODFIST MOVIES. Listen to these titles, and I promise you they are real: Bloodfist, Bloodfist II, Bloodfist III: Forced to Fight, Bloodfist IV: Die Trying, Bloodfist V: Human Target, Bloodfist VI: Ground Zero, Bloodfist VII: Manhunt, Bloodfist VIII: Trained to Kill. How? 3. The most recent movie featuring Don “The Dragon” Wilson: an anti-bullying film they actually called The Martial Arts Kid. I super hope they just start firing off a bunch of knockoff titles of other famous movies. Very excited about Bruisesport. And also The Shawshank Redeemer. And don’t forget Scarchest. Remaining Options: David Oyelowo, Tom Hardy, Groot, Sam Worthington, Michael B. Jordan, Channing Tatum, one of the raptors from Jurassic World, Idris Elba, Chris Pratt, Michael Fassbender, Shia LaBeouf, The Rock, Vin Diesel Prerequisite 5: The new James Bond has to be able to open doors without help. We lose the raptors from Jurassic World here — and Vin Diesel. I’m including him here just because it is very funny to picture Vin Diesel trapped behind a door, trying to figure out how to open it like that alien that got trapped in the pantry in Signs. I feel like that’s gotta happen to Vin two, three, four times a week. Remaining Options: David Oyelowo, Tom Hardy, Groot, Sam Worthington, Michael B. Jordan, Channing Tatum, Idris Elba, Chris Pratt, Michael Fassbender, Shia LaBeouf, The Rock Prerequisite 6: The new James Bond has to be good at outsmarting people. We’re losing The Rock, Channing Tatum, Chris Pratt, and, sadly, Shia LaBeouf, who was my dark-horse pick and personal preference. The biggest loss here, though, is Idris Elba, who, in a macro view, looks like the obvious choice to play Bond. He’s handsome, he’s well built, he’s European, he has good teeth, all that. But, with the exception of woman seductresses, James Bond generally needs to be the smartest (or most clever) person in any given situation, and Idris just has too many L’s in his history for me to feel comfortable about him being able to outsmart a proper villain. He’s already been outsmarted by, among others, Omar Little and Brother Mouzone in The Wire, zombies in 28 Weeks Later, Frank Lucas in American Gangster, Taraji P. Henson in No Good Deed, and Michael Scott in The Office (truly unforgivable). Sadly, devastatingly, frustratingly — Idris is out. Remaining Options: David Oyelowo, Tom Hardy, Groot, Sam Worthington, Michael B. Jordan, Michael Fassbender Prerequisite 7: The new James Bond has to be able to snatch a life away from someone by any means necessary, and at any time necessary. This means David Oyelowo is out. He was just way too convincing as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in Selma. And if you want to say, “Well, sure, but he was obviously evil in Rise of the Planet of the Apes,” then I’d respond, “That’s fair, but if we’re taking him from his Planet of the Apes role, he gets eliminated in the category that preceded this one, given that he was outsmarted by actual chimps and gorillas.” Remaining Options: Tom Hardy, Groot, Sam Worthington, Michael B. Jordan, Michael Fassbender Prerequisite 8: The new James Bond has to have never been in a Terminator movie. Bye, Sam. We’ve still not forgiven you for that, Sam. Can’t wait to see Avatar 2, though, Sam. Remaining Options: Tom Hardy, Groot, Michael B. Jordan, Michael Fassbender Prerequisite 9: The new James Bond has to be able to get to high places in clever ways. Remember the scene at the beginning of Casino Royale in which Bond chased down the parkour guy? Is there any situation at all where you see Tom Hardy doing that? Tom Hardy doesn’t move; Tom Hardy smolders. He’s the closest we’ve ever come to having a person who’s really a volcano and not a human at all. He’s run before, sure. But it wasn’t a James Bond run. Look: That’s not a James Bond run. That’s an I’m Gonna Murder Your Mother run. That’s an If I Catch You I’m Tearing Your Arms Off run. It’s an ugly run, or maybe a passionate run. Either way, it’s not a James Bond run. A James Bond run is controlled and cool and you gotta stop every once in a while and fix your shirt collar. If Tom Hardy feels compelled to run, his penis could flop out of his shorts and he wouldn’t stop. Love you so much, Tom, but you’re out. Remaining Options: Groot, Michael B. Jordan, Michael Fassbender Prerequisite 10: The new James Bond has to not look like a psychopath. Have you ever looked at Michael Fassbender before? I mean, REALLY looked at him? He looks all the way insane. James Bond should look cool when he’s not smiling, not like he’s cooking his mother in a large pot at home right now. Fassbender is out. Remaining Options: Groot, Michael B. Jordan Prerequisite: The new James Bond has to be indestructible. No Bond has ever died. Did you know that? I didn’t know that. In total, James Bond has killed more than 350 people. But he’s never been got. No deaths; not one single time. He can be hurt, he can be tortured, he can getsoclose to dying. But that’s it. That means we need a James Bond who, at the very least, can’t be killed by bullets. And only one of our final two options isn’t impervious to bullets. R.I.P. Wallace. R.I.P. Michael B. Jordan. Congratulations to Groot. Groot is your new James Bond. |
“The recent tragic events unfolding with regard to the Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar is another situation where innocent people are falling prey to the evils of intolerance and extremism,” Iran’s Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the UN Gholamali said. “We strongly condemn the ongoing violence against the Rohingya Muslims and call for its immediate end. Hundreds of innocent people have lost their lives and hundreds of thousands of people have been forced to flee their homes.” Addressing a High Level Forum on the Culture of Peace held at the UN Headquarters, Khoshroo said the Culture of Peace is the essence of the UN Charter and lies at the heart of the work of this organization. “The United Nations […] has been created to save humankind from the scourge of war. Thus, this organization bears a paramount responsibility to combat the evils of extremism and terrorism as well as to promote peace and a culture which nourishes, supports and sustains it,” he added. Khoshroo referred to unilateralism and coercive measures in international relations as the cause of instability, insecurity and expansion of terrorism and extremism, and said, “The successful cases where diplomacy has proved to be effective, such as the JCPOA, should be regarded as patterns of action in international affairs.” “No one should be allowed to beat the drum of threat and to ridicule the international community. The failed and violent experiences of the past should not be repeated,” he went on to say. “The Middle East region has turned into an exhibition of modern and deadly weapons,” he said, adding that each of those weapons cause a scar on the feeble body of peace. “It is in such circumstances that extremism finds a fertile ground to expand and violence becomes the only possible means of interaction,” he noted. “We have to combat cultures of unilateralism and extremism simultaneously. When the so-called ‘alliances’, in parallel with terrorist groups, pour bombs over sacred places, schools and hospitals they suffocate the culture of peace with their iron hands.” He finally referred to the idea of ‘A World against Violence and Extremism (WAVE)’ proposed by the Islamic Republic of Iran to the UN General Assembly, and once again invited all peace-loving nations to close ranks for the cause of peace. |
"Pearlescent" redirects here. For the type of paint, see Pearlescent coating "Iridescent" redirects here. For the Linkin Park song, see Iridescent (song) For the Brockhampton album, see Iridescence (album) Iridescence (also known as goniochromism) is the phenomenon of certain surfaces that appear to gradually change colour as the angle of view or the angle of illumination changes. Examples of iridescence include soap bubbles, butterfly wings and seashells, as well as certain minerals. It is often created by structural coloration (microstructures that interfere with light). Pearlescence is a related effect where some or all of the reflected light is white, where iridescent effects produce only other colours. The term pearlescent is used to describe certain paint finishes, usually in the automotive industry, which actually produce iridescent effects. Etymology [ edit ] The word iridescence is derived in part from the Greek word ἶρις îris (gen. ἴριδος íridos), meaning rainbow, and is combined with the Latin suffix -escent, meaning "having a tendency toward".[1] Iris in turn derives from the goddess Iris of Greek mythology, who is the personification of the rainbow and acted as a messenger of the gods. Goniochromism is derived from the Greek words gonia, meaning "angle", and chroma, meaning "colour". Mechanisms [ edit ] Fuel on top of water creates a thin film, which interferes with the light, producing different colours. The different bands represent different thicknesses in the film. An iridescent biofilm on the surface of a fishtank diffracts the reflected light, displaying the entire spectrum of colours. Red is seen from longer angles of incidence than blue. Iridescence is an optical phenomenon of surfaces in which hue changes with the angle of observation and the angle of illumination.[2][3] It is often caused by multiple reflections from two or more semi-transparent surfaces in which phase shift and interference of the reflections modulates the incidental light (by amplifying or attenuating some frequencies more than others).[2][4] The thickness of the layers of the material determines the interference pattern. Iridescence can for example be due to thin-film interference, the functional analogue of selective wavelength attenuation as seen with the Fabry–Pérot interferometer, and can be seen in oil films on water and soap bubbles. Iridescence is also found in plants, animals and many other items. The range of colours of natural iridescent objects can be narrow, for example shifting between two or three colours as the viewing angle changes,[5][6] or a wide range of colours can be observed.[7] Iridescence can also be created by diffraction. This is found in items like CDs, DVDs, some types of prisms, or cloud iridescence.[8] In the case of diffraction, the entire rainbow of colours will typically be observed as the viewing angle changes. In biology, this type of iridescence results from the formation of diffraction gratings on the surface, such as the long rows of cells in striated muscle, or the specialized abdominal scales of peacock spider Maratus robinsoni and M. chrysomelas.[9] Some types of flower petals can also generate a diffraction grating, but the iridescence is not visible to humans and flower-visiting insects as the diffraction signal is masked by the coloration due to plant pigments.[10][11][12] In biological (and biomimetic) uses, colours produced other than with pigments or dyes are called structural coloration. Microstructures, often multilayered, are used to produce bright but sometimes non-iridescent colours: quite elaborate arrangements are needed to avoid reflecting different colours in different directions.[13] Structural coloration has been understood in general terms since Robert Hooke's 1665 book Micrographia, where Hooke correctly noted that since the iridescence of a peacock's feather was lost when it was plunged into water, but reappeared when it was returned to the air, pigments could not be responsible.[14][15] It was later found that iridescence in the peacock is due to a complex photonic crystal.[16] Pearlescence [ edit ] Pearlescence is an effect related to iridescence and has a similar cause. Structures within a surface cause light to be reflected back, but in the case of pearlescence some or all of the light is white.[17] Artificial pigments and paints showing an iridescent effect are often described as pearlescent, for example when used for car paints.[18] Examples [ edit ] Arthropods and molluscs: Chordates: The feathers of birds such as kingfishers,[19] birds-of-paradise,[20] hummingbirds, parrots, starlings,[21] grackles, ducks, and peacocks[16] are iridescent. The lateral line on the neon tetra is also iridescent.[5] A single iridescent species of gecko, Cnemaspis kolhapurensis, was identified in India in 2009.[22] The tapetum lucidum, present in the eyes of many vertebrates, is also iridescent.[23] Plants: Many groups of plants have developed iridescence as an adaptation to use more light in dark environments such as the lower levels of tropical forests. The leaves of Southeast Asia's Begonia pavonina, or peacock begonia, appear iridescent azure to human observers due to each leaf's thinly layered photosynthetic structures called iridoplasts that absorb and bend light much like a film of oil over water. Iridescences based on multiple layers of cells are also found in the lycophyte Selaginella and several species of ferns.[24][25] Meat: Iridescence in meat, caused by light diffraction on the exposed muscle cells[26] Minerals and compounds: Man-made objects: Nanocellulose is sometimes iridescent,[27] as are thin films of gasoline and some other hydrocarbons and alcohols when floating on water.[28] To create jewelry with crystal glass that lets light refract in a rainbow spectrum, Swarovski coats some of its products with special metallic chemical coatings and for example his Aurora Borealis gives the surface a rainbow appearance.[citation needed] See also [ edit ] |
Several playgrounds near elementary schools have been destroyed by fire in recent weeks, including one in D.C. on Tuesday. Arson is suspected in at least two of the cases. Several playgrounds near elementary schools have been destroyed by fire in recent weeks, including one in D.C. on Tuesday. Arson is suspected in at least two of the cases. WASHINGTON — Several playgrounds near elementary schools have been destroyed by fire in recent weeks, and arson is suspected in at least two of the cases. The latest case happened Tuesday evening in Northwest, by Upshur Park. The playground near Dorothy I. Height Elementary, at 4300 13th St. NW, went up in flames at around 6:30 p.m., NBC Washington reports. “I think it makes anybody feel sad that a place meant for enjoyment for children is damaged in this fashion,” said Vito Maggiolo, with the D.C. Fire and EMS Service, in an interview with NBC Washington. Investigators are still looking for the cause of that fire and have not ruled out arson. Arson is suspected in two similar cases in Fairfax County, Virginia, this month. NBC Washington reports that on Monday evening, the playground at Greenbriar West Elementary burned, causing more than $16,000 in damage. And on Oct. 2, a fire at the playground at Lees Corner Elementary resulted in $35,000 damage. “We don’t want to call it arson just yet, but we’re suspecting that,” said Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department Battalion Chief Willie Bailey . Anyone with information on the Fairfax County fires is being asked to call the Fairfax County Fire Marshal’s Office at 703-246-4711 or 703-246-4386. You also can contact Crime Solvers of Fairfax by texting TIP187 plus your message to CRIMES (274637). You don’t have to give Crime Solvers your name. Follow @WTOP on Twitter and like us on Facebook. © 2016 WTOP. All Rights Reserved. |
The U.S. Congress has voted to give the President the power to punish human rights violators and corrupt leaders from any country by banning them from travel to the United States and freezing their U.S. assets. The Senate adopted the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act last week in a 92-7 vote. The law was tacked onto a bigger U.S. defense bill. President Obama is expected to sign the bill into law soon. The House of Representatives passed the bill earlier this month. The new law expands the Magnitsky Act adopted in 2012. The Magnitsky Act was aimed at Russian officials and others involved in the detention or death of Sergei Magnitsky, or anyone who tried to cover it up. Magnisky was a Russian lawyer who exposed a $230 million tax fraud. He died in a Moscow jail in 2009 at age 36. His family and former client, William Browder, the CEO of Hermitage Capital, said Magnitsky was tortured and denied medical care. The Russian government said he died of natural causes. So far, 39 individuals including Russian government officials and alleged mobsters have been sanctioned through the Magnistsky Act. The Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act gives the President power to impose visa bans and freeze U.S. assets against anyone who suppresses basic human rights or targets whistleblowers exposing corruption. The bill targets any foreign citizen "responsible for extrajudicial killings, torture, or other gross violations of internationally recognized human rights committed against individuals in any foreign country." The President can also impose sanctions on foreign officials engaged in "significant corruption, including the expropriation of private or public assets for personal gain, corruption related to government contracts or the extraction of natural resources, bribery, or the facilitation or transfer of the proceeds of corruption to foreign jurisdictions." ____ Richard L. Cassin is the publisher and editor of the FCPA Blog. |
Buffalo Wild Wings386 Taylor Square DrReynoldsburg, Ohio 43068(614) 860-9464Feel free to add any additional submissions by posting in the comments or emailing me at MikeRuth5@aol.com. I’ll be adding to this until tomorrow morning. New York Murphy's Pub 977 2nd Ave. (Btwn 51st & 52nd St.) New York, NY 10022 (212) 751-5400 Los Angeles The Garage 3387 Motor Avenue Los Angeles, CA 90034 310-559-3400 OR Barney's Beanery 8447 Santa Monica Blvd West Hollywood, CA 90069 (323) 654-2287 San Francisco The San Francisco Athletic Club 1750 Divisadero St. San Francisco, CA 94115 (415) 923-8989 Indianapolis Sam's Silver Circle 1102 Fletcher Ave Indianapolis, IN 46203 (317) 636-6288 Nashville Double Dogs - Sylvan Heights 4017 Charlotte Ave. Nashville, TN 37209 (615) 292-8110 San Diego Tavern at the Beach 1200 Garnet Ave San Diego, CA 92109 (858) 272-6066 Washington, D.C. Town Hall 2340 Wisconsin Ave NW Washington, DC 20007 OR Crystal City Sports Pub 529 23rd Street S. Arlington, VA (703) 521-8215 Charlotte Leroy Fox 705 S. Sharon Amity Road Charlotte, NC 28211 (704) 366-3232 Denver Blake Street Tavern (corner of 23rd & Blake, one block north of Coors Field) 2301 Blake Street Denver, CO 80205 (303) 675-0505 Chicago Finley Dunnes Tavern 3458 N. Lincoln Ave. Chicago, IL 60657 Orlando Gator's Dockside 4982 New Broad St. Orlando, FL 32814 Kansas City Westport Ale House 4128 Broadway Kansas City, MO 64111 (816) 756-5277 Boston Miller's Ale House 617 Arsenal St Watertown, MA 02472 (617) 926-2500 Atlanta Taco Mac Sports Grill, the Prado 5600 Roswell Rd. Atlanta, GA 30342 Houston Houston Texans Grille at City Centre 12848 Queensbury Houston, TX Philadelphia Tavern on Broad200 S. Broad St. Philadelphia, PA 19102 (215) 546-2295 South Florida Fox and Hound 4812 N Dixie Hwy Oakland Park, FL 33334 Phoenix The Hangar Food and Spirits 13610 N Scottsdale Rd, #30 Scottsdale, AZ 85254 Las Vegas Fiesta Henderson Sportsbook 777 W. Lake Mead Pkwy Henderson, Nevada (702) 558-7000 Northern Kentucky Jerzees Pub & Grub 708 Monmouth St. Newport, KY 41071 (859) 491-3500 Lexington The Paddock Bar 319 S. Limestone Lexington, KY 40508 (859) 270-4589 Newport Beach, CA Malarky's Irish Pub 3011 Newport Blvd Newport Beach, CA 92663 (949) 675-2340 Charleston, SC The Alley131 Columbus St Charleston, SC 29403 (843) 818-4080 OR Liberty Tap Room & Grill1028 Johnnie Dodds Blvd. Mount Pleasant, SC 29464 Jeffersonville, Ind. Bearno's Pizza 700 W Riverside Dr Jeffersonville, IN 47130 (812) 282-3125 Tucson, AZ Murphy's Public House 140 S Kolb Rd. Tucson, AZ 85710 Sherwood, OR Finn's I can't find anything about it online so it might not be real. This is the risk you run. Dayton, OH Flanagan's Pub 101 E Stewart St Dayton, OH 45409 (937) 228-5776 Shanghai, China Willowbrook 435 Sports Bar and Pub in Jinqiao Shoutout to owners Heather and Andy for opening at 8 a.m. local time for the game |
A lot has been made about the controversial Zimmerman Trial Juror B37. First she appeared on Anderson Cooper and made comments expressing sympathy and support for Zimmerman. But she really sparked an outrage by announcing — fewer than 48 hours after George Zimmerman was declared Not Guilty — that she’d signed a book deal. Well, one passionate person on Twitter who goes by @MoreandAgain took things into her own hands. First, she sought out the publishing company that signed the juror… Then she spread the publisher’s information across Twitter so people could call and email, telling them to stop the book deal from coming to fruition… She quickly whipped up a Change.org petition calling for literary agent Sharlene Martin to drop Juror B37. Within minutes, the petition had more than a thousand supporters. Martin eventually caved and released this statement: “After careful consideration regarding the proposed book project with Zimmerman Juror B37, I have decided to rescind my offer of representation in the exploration of a book based upon this case.” Naturally, it was only a matter of time before the juror came to her senses (or realized she was getting dropped by Martin and the book deal was a dead end) and released her own statement: “I realize it was necessary for our jury to be sequestered in order to protest our verdict from unfair outside influence, but that isolation shielded me from the depth of pain that exists among the general public over every aspect of this case. The potential book was always intended to be a respectful observation of the trial from my and my husband’s perspectives solely and it was to be an observation that our ‘system’ of justice can get so complicated that it creates a conflict with our ‘spirit’ of justice. Now that I am returned to my family and to society in general, I have realized that the best direction for me to go is away from writing any sort of book and return instead to my life as it was before I was called to sit on this jury.” Thus ends one of the dumbest attempts at exploitation imaginable. Juror B37’s decision to originally pursue the book deal was insensitive at best and revealing of serious issues with the jury at worst. If anything, this is a pretty fascinating look at the power of Twitter and what a little bit of passion and movement can accomplish. It’s not like @MoreAndAgain has a million followers or anything either so it was pretty much word of mouth. Take it away, Questlove. |
Ebbets Field in Brooklyn. (Courtesy of the Museum of the City of New York; X2011.34.2264) Walter O'Malley's position as a villain in Brooklyn history was sealed from the moment he packed up the Dodgers and moved them to Los Angeles. A new book from Jerald Podair, called City of Dreams, now explores what O'Malley went through in trying to open Dodger Stadium in L.A., and its got plenty of insights into how he tried to stay in Brooklyn, but was ultimately stymied by forces outside of his control. We talked with Podair about how Robert Moses stood in the way of O'Malley's Dodger Dome plans, how the fight over a Dodger Stadium in Downtown Brooklyn played out again 50 years later when the Barclays Center was built, and the role local governments should play in financing stadiums. Can you go over a little bit about what Robert Moses' role was in the way that O'Malley decided to leave Brooklyn? It's hard to imagine one individual being so powerful in one city during one era as Robert Moses was in the 1950s during New York. He was obviously not an elected official, never elected to anything, but because of his administrative positions during the 1950s, Moses controlled what got built in New York, who built it, where it got built. When Walter O'Malley decided that he wanted to build a new stadium in Brooklyn, one that he would own, he realized very quickly that while he had the finances to build the stadium on his own, he didn't have the finances to get the land. The land would be very expensive and certainly very expensive in Brooklyn. He set his sights on a property at the intersection of Atlantic and Flatbush Avenues in Brooklyn, where ironically, around where the Barclays Center stands today. He asked Robert Moses to condemn the land under a provision of a federal act called the Federal Housing Act of 1949, whereby governments could condemn land, blighted or slum properties they would designate them as. They would buy them and then sell them sometimes to private owners, but sometimes to public agencies to build projects that were associated with a public purpose. In other words a school or a hospital or a highway. Moses says to O'Malley, "I don't think that a privately owned ballpark fulfills a public purpose at all, and I'm not going to use Title I [of the Federal Housing Act] to get you this land. If you want the land, buy it like everybody else would." Now that practically was impossible for O'Malley, because he had tipped his hand. Everybody knew that the Atlantic-Flatbush site was what he wanted. It was going to be almost impossible for him to put together the capital to basically buy a lot of different parcels of land and put them together into the site for the stadium. Walter O'Malley's proposed Dodger Dome, which he couldn't build because he couldn't afford the land. (via Modern Mechanix) About 40 years earlier, Charles Ebbet, who owned the Brooklyn Dodgers in the early part of the 20th Century had very quietly and secretly bought up land around what would become Ebbets Field. He was able to pull that off because before the people who sold him the land knew what was going on, Ebbets had gotten the land at a reasonable price and assembled his parcel and built Ebbets Field. That was going to be impossible for O'Malley in the 1950s. I think it's pretty clear, at least to me, that Robert Moses' intransigence on this issue made it really impossible for O'Malley to build the ballpark that he wanted to build in Brooklyn. Of course, you could argue and say, "Well, what about a city-owned stadium? Why did O'Malley have to have a privately owned stadium?" That's almost asking O'Malley to be someone that he was not. I think historians have to take their subjects on their own terms. O'Malley insisted that he wanted to own his own stadium. He did not want to be a renter in a city-owned stadium. Businessmen like to own, they don't like to rent. When the site in Queens which became Shea Stadium was offered to O'Malley as a city-owned stadium, he turned it down. What he said at the time, I thought was interesting. He said, "Well first of all, I want to be in Brooklyn. These are the Brooklyn Dodgers. If I'm going to be outside Brooklyn, I could be 30 miles outside of Brooklyn or I could be 3,000 miles outside of Brooklyn and it's not going to matter to me." What he was saying there was he was open to overtures from other cities and specifically, from Los Angeles. So O'Malley didn't really want to leave Brooklyn? After about 10 years of trying to get the land on which he could build his own stadium in Brooklyn, O'Malley turned toward Los Angeles, I think rather reluctantly. I know the urban legend in New York is that he had planned to move to L.A. all along. I didn't see that from my research. He seemed to be remarkably unfamiliar with Los Angeles. By my estimation, he had only visited Los Angeles three times in his life, for about 10 days total, when he made the decision to move the Dodgers in October 1957. It seems to me that if he had been planning to do this all along, he would have done more homework on it. I think he turned to Los Angeles reluctantly because he just felt he could not get the deal he wanted in New York. The other aspect of it that struck me is that O'Malley was a true New Yorker. As one myself, I know the attitude of most New Yorkers, which is that New York is the greatest place in the world, it's the only place in the world, and it towers over all other cities and why would anyone want to leave the greatest place in the world? I think O'Malley had that attitude as a very proud New Yorker. He moved to Los Angeles I think with regret and with some concern. I think it's pretty clear that if Moses had offered him the deal that he wanted, he wouldn't have thought twice about Los Angeles. Or if someone else in city government had offered him a palatable deal, he would not have thought about Los Angeles. Was there any other deal on the table? At the very, very end of this process in September of 1957, just weeks before the Dodgers announced that they're leaving for Los Angeles, Nelson Rockefeller, of all people, comes forward with a possible deal to buy the property at Atlantic and Flatbush, lease it to O'Malley rent-free for 20 years, after which O'Malley would buy the property and he could build the stadium in the mean time. That deal, I thought, had at least the seeds of keeping the Dodgers in Brooklyn. It broke down over Rockefeller not wanting to put as much of his own money into the deal as the city required, basically. He was a couple of million short. He just wouldn't go any farther in terms of the money that he was going to put in, and the city was going to have to pay for the rest, or O'Malley was going to have to pay for the rest. The deal broke down not over philosophy, which is how the Moses part of the deal broke down. This Rockefeller deal broke down over money. I found that to be ironic because if Nelson Rockefeller had plenty of anything, it was plenty of money. The deal broke down with weeks to go before O'Malley made the decision. I think that was the last realistic chance to keep them in Brooklyn. O'Malley was a little bit suspicious about Rockefeller because he saw it as maybe just this rich guy trying to look good before he ran for public office. Oh, absolutely. I mean it was really transparent I think on the part of Rockefeller. Here it is, it's 1957. Rockefeller has never run for public office before, he's almost 50 years old, he obviously has his eye on the Governor's mansion in 1958, and perhaps other things beyond that as we later discovered. He needs to make some sort of splash. Nelson Rockefeller, the man who didn't save the Dodgers but became governor anyway. (Harry Benson/Express/Getty Images) Rockefeller had absolutely no interest in spectator sports. I mean he was not doing this because he was a loyal Brooklyn Dodger fan, because he loved the team. He just figured he could make some sort of political splash before what looked to be a very difficult race in 1958 against Averell Harriman, who was the reasonably popular Democratic sitting governor. In fact, he did do so, but as we look back at that retrospectively, that 1958 election was not a done deal by any stretch of the imagination. Rockefeller needed to get his name in the papers and what better way to do it than to save a beloved baseball team? Do you get the sense that he would have gone all the way? Was it a true publicity stunt, or was it a thing where there was a chance that maybe O'Malley, Moses, or somebody could have said, "Look, just, you have all the money in the world, what's another couple million?" Right, but from knowing what I do about Nelson Rockefeller, that kind of argument I don't think worked on the Rockefellers, generally. There's an assumption that you have all the money in the world, and they probably did, but they didn't like to be told that. What Rockefeller did is he upped the ante at one point. I think his original offer was $2 million. Now this sounds like nothing in today's money obviously, $2 or $3 million, and the Atlantic-Flatbush property was valued at maybe $8 to $10 million. When Rockefeller was pushed, he said, "All right, I'll throw in an extra million." I think now he's up to three million, but O'Malley still needed eight or nine million for it. The rest of that money was either going to have to come from O'Malley or the city, and of course then Moses steps in and says, "We're not going to spend that money, it's just too expensive." O'Malley didn't have that kind of money. We think our sports owner or sports team owners have so much money that they can do anything they want, and that's not always the case. What I write in my book is that there were maybe 10 people individually in New York who could have, out of their own pockets in 1957, just said, "All right, I'm going to buy up this Atlantic-Flatbush property. I'm just going to write a check because I can." Very few people in New York could have done that. O'Malley, who was not independently wealthy, was not one of those people. He was a wealthy lawyer, but he had made money as a lawyer, ended up buying the Dodgers and then buying controlling interest in the Dodgers. That was his main way of making money. He wasn't, for example, Phil Wrigley of the Chicago Cubs who made his money in chewing gum, or Robert Carpenter who owned the Philadelphia Phillies at the time and was an heir to the DuPont fortune. O'Malley wasn't in that position. When you say, "Well you've got to come up with $6 million or $7 million," to O'Malley, that's serious money at the time and he's not in a position to come up with that money. I don't even know whether a bank would have been willing to give him that kind of money at the time. He was essentially stuck in October 1957, unless he wanted to play in what became Shea Stadium. He just did not want to do that and so the whole deal broke down. Rockefeller was elected Governor, anyway. So going back Robert Moses, can you go a little more into how he didn't see a new baseball stadium as a public good, what his view on that was? It couldn't just be that he hated baseball. I found that almost humorous, as well. You know, there's a law that we're all familiar with called Murphy's Law where everything that can go wrong will go wrong at the worst possible time. It would be O'Malley's luck that the guy who held his fate in his hands basically, was someone who considered baseball and all other spectator sports to be a total waste of time. Moses was a very, I think you could call him a culturally snobby man. A very imperious, arrogant man. He viewed baseball as sport for the rubes. He didn't view it as anything approaching a public purpose. When you asked him, "What kind of sports do you believe in?" It's tennis and hiking and climbing and all sorts of participatory sports. I guess it stood him in good stead since Moses lived into his 90s, but it didn't help Walter O'Malley because I would be willing to argue that if Robert Moses happened to be a big baseball fan, this deal would have happened. Moses had the kind of ego where he just generalizes from his own feelings outward to the situations he encountered. Moses never considered, "Well I might not be a baseball fan but there are millions of them there, and they do have money to spend, and a stadium in downtown Brooklyn could be a very good thing for the borough and generate revenue. Even though I am not a fan, there are many other fans, I'm sure] "I don't think Moses's mind worked that way. I think he thought what he thought and when he thought it, he thought it was right for everyone. O'Malley had a very, very difficult adversary in Moses. Robert Moses, who escaped blame when the Dodgers left town. (C.M. Stieglitz, World Telegram staff photographer - Library of Congress. New York World-Telegram & Sun Collection) I also noticed that there was almost like a dichotomy between Moses and O'Malley in terms of their background and their outlook and their personalities. Moses, although he was born Jewish, identified as a Protestant, as a High Protestant. O'Malley was an Irish Catholic. Moses came out of the progressive tradition in New York City. The good government tradition. O'Malley was associated with Tammany Hall. His father had been closely associated with Tammany Hall. O'Malley was while certainly not boss-ridden or anything, was comfortable in the milieu of Democratic politics in New York City. That brought him into conflict politically with someone like Moses. They were sort of on the opposite sides of almost every street. Cultural, religious, political. I think it was almost inevitable that they would not find a way to meet the minds. O'Malley was a businessman and he never made any apologies for that. Moses always portrayed himself as someone who was above mere business, who had the interests of the city and all the people of the city at heart and was public spirited and not grubby and selfish. I think Moses had a tremendous amount of contempt for businessmen generally, even though Moses himself in his own way was a businessman. You can be a businessman and still operate in the public realm, and I think Moses proved that. The way that he looked at the world and looked at things, where he himself didn't take graft, but he certainly worked with people who were more than happy to participate in it. Oh, absolutely. He knew that, but he himself put himself in another realm. What also helped Moses during the '50s is he got really great newspaper coverage from the newspapers that mattered with intelligent people and people who read, literate people. That of course is the New York Times, also, at the time, the New York Herald Tribune, which was also what we might consider today, a high-brow paper. Moses was the darling of the editorial writers of those papers because they were very public spirited themselves, and were hostile to political machines like the Tammany machine. Moses was a perfect acolyte to them. They could write great things about Moses and Moses cultivated the high newspapers like the Times and the Herald Tribune. He had an advantage in that way, as well. O'Malley was not a New York Times or Herald Tribune person. The Dodgers' paper was the Daily News and the Daily News is not the New York Times. Although often I enjoy reading the Daily News, especially the sports section more than the Times, but that's neither here nor there. I think if you're a New York sports fan, you've got to read the tabloids, you've got to read the Post and you've got to read the Daily News, whatever your political opinions are. And of course, Moses did do things that benefited private developers in ways that didn't always serve the public. But was he right to say, "This is not a public good, so I'm not going to use Title I, I'm not going to eminent domain everything to benefit you, Walter O'Malley?" It's interesting because the same exact issue came up in California when O'Malley moved to Los Angeles. The courts in California, and I think it's fair to say the people in California or at least in Los Angeles, answered it in a different way. The California Supreme Court in 1959 was presented with a taxpayer lawsuit against Dodger Stadium to stop the city transaction from going through. Dodger Stadium today (Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images) What happened in Los Angeles is O'Malley traded land that he already owned, a small stadium called Wrigley Field. Long story, it's in L.A., but he called it Wrigley Field. O'Malley owned that stadium and that land, and he transferred it to the city in exchange for the Chavez Ravine land. It was more of a land swap than a monetary deal. Even that was too much for some taxpayers who sued to prevent this deal. The case goes all the way to the California Supreme Court and what they rule is that the Dodger Stadium has a public purpose because the city stands to benefit. They get other land, not Chavez Ravine but other land on which they can build recreational facilities for the children of the city, and also they're going to be getting property taxes because Dodger Stadium as a privately owned property will remain on the tax rolls, so they're going to get tax money, which they wouldn't have gotten with a publicly owned stadium. Then, they're going to get all these ancillary revenues. Ticket sales and restaurants and fans spending money outside the stadium, and jobs connected with the stadium. What the California Supreme Court concentrated on is the benefit to come to the city from the stadium, and not really how much money O'Malley was going to make. In New York, the emphasis was exactly the reverse. There was very little discussion about what New York City was going to get out of a new privately owned Dodger Stadium, and most of the talk was, "Well, O'Malley will make all this money." I think what happened in New York and in Los Angeles was different answers to the same question. Different kinds of people are making those choices in New York and Los Angeles. In New York, even though it wasn't litigated, obviously, it was Moses who made this decision, Moses said, "This stadium is not a public purpose. All it's going to do is make money for O'Malley." In Los Angeles, there was a referendum that narrowly passed approving the stadium, and the California Supreme Court case upheld it. So there they said that due to the revenues that the city is going to make, and the land that the city is going to get from this transaction, and the property tax that they're going to get from this transaction, Dodger Stadium does satisfy a public purpose even though it's privately owned. Do you see any parallels between O'Malley's Brooklyn fight and many years later, the Barclays Center fight? I am, actually because I'm not only a New Yorker, I'm one of the very few people who can say that I have been a Nets basketball fan since the team was founded in 1967. There are very few people who can say that. That's a lot of suffering over the years. I still haven't gotten over losing Julius Irving in the 1970s, that just broke my heart. (Tien Mao/Gothamist) I did follow the negotiations, the very contentious negotiations over the Barclays Center. Bruce Ratner certainly got aid from the government in acquiring this land, and I'm sure somewhere in Los Angeles, perhaps the O'Malley heirs were saying to themselves, "My God, why didn't we get this kind of help in the 1950s? We'd still be there." There's a certain irony that the city of New York or the government generally, was willing to do things for Bruce Ratner that they were not willing to do 50 years earlier for Walter O'Malley. Do you think that what happened in Los Angeles had an impact outside of the city in regards to stadium financing? Do you think that played a part that, or it was just that the world had moved on from Robert Moses and the world had moved into a different way of looking at how the government helps private enterprise? Yeah, I think both. First, I think there was just regret. New Yorkers can say all they want, "Oh let them leave, we didn't need the Dodgers." Once they left though, they understood that there was a void in the city. Looking at the success that the team had in Los Angeles with a privately owned stadium, I think that made an impact on New York. When Bruce Ratner came along basically asking for help for the same property that O'Malley was turned down on, I think it was easier for him to convince city officials. You're also right in that I think the atmosphere changed generally in the country in terms of public entities giving help to private individuals and private sports owners in order to keep them. I think the wind shifted to an extent. Third, as you also mentioned, I think New York had a Robert Moses hangover for a long time after that. I think, you know very few books of history have had the impact that Robert Caro's The Power Broker had. Often, books of history, other historians read them or interested readers read them, but I think public officials were reading The Power Broker and they realized that to give one individual who wasn't even elected, that kind of power over the built environment of the city, was a mistake. Do you also see a parallel in how Dodger Stadium was built, and then downtown Los Angeles would develop, and the Barclays Center was one part of what has become an enormous change in downtown Brooklyn where you've got high-rises and more luxury retail going up? Absolutely. I think there's certainly a parallel there. Recently, I was in New York to give a talk at the Brooklyn Historical Society. I hadn't been in Brooklyn in a while. I was struck by how unrecognizable it was almost from just maybe even a decade earlier. All this high-rise development, apartments, it looked like a different place. What happened in Los Angeles as a result of Dodger Stadium was that a music center was built, an indoor sports arena was built, the Staples Center, art museums, restaurants, and high-rise apartments were built in what had pretty much been what I call a, "work and flee zone," in downtown Los Angeles up until the 1960s and 1970s. I think that made an impression on Brooklyn public officials. Not necessarily Manhattan public officials because Manhattan didn't need any help or advice from downtown Los Angeles. A rendering of Downtown Brooklyn's forthcoming 1,000-foot skyscraper, surrounded by other high-rises in the neighborhood. (SHoP Architects) I obviously don't know Brooklyn public officials personally, so I don't know what they were thinking of, but they had to have said well we lost the Dodgers 50 years go, where did they go? They went to Los Angeles and what happened to downtown Los Angeles after Dodger Stadium was built? Obviously though there are all sorts of social, racial costs, economic costs to what's happening in downtown Brooklyn. It's not just a one-sided argument here. What they're thinking is well, if we can get at least some of these things that downtown Los Angeles has in downtown Brooklyn in this area, then the Barclays Center will have fulfilled its purpose. I have to believe that was going through their minds. There was something that you wrote that was really interesting in the book about how O'Malley wanted to make Dodger Stadium class inclusive while also getting celebrities involved in games. Have modern stadiums totally failed on that level? We've seen with the new Yankee Stadium and their moat separating the really high rollers from everybody else, and every new stadium has more and more luxury boxes. Is that kind of an unintended consequence from O'Malley Hollywooding things up a little bit, or is this just again, another thing where society kind of shifted and so that's what happened? I think O'Malley was a businessman, and a businessman wants his stands full. O'Malley understood that in this new Los Angeles market that he was going to have to do two things at once. First of all, he was going to have to sort of glamorize it up and Hollywood it up to get the Hollywood stars to come to the games and give them good seats. He became very good friends with of all people, Cary Grant, who was not even an American, he was British, who became a very, very big baseball fan and sat with O'Malley in his box and was seen in the stadium club and everything. That's one side of what O'Malley knew he had to do. He had to involve Hollywood because L.A. is a city built on glamor. He also knew that the vast majority of average Angelinos were not Hollywood types, and there were many, many more of them. In other words, if he filled his stadium up with all the Hollywood types that he could find, he would only probably sell about 5,000 tickets. There had to be more to it than that. What he was able to very skillfully do was to market the team in two ways at once, as a glamorous sort of place to be, and also as a place that was inexpensive for families. His ticket structure, $3.50, $2.50, $1.50 for around the first 15 years, well into the '70s, was designed to attract families and repeat viewers. These families would be attracted by the atmosphere of the stadium, of course by the low ticket prices, and also to an extent, by the perhaps opportunity to see a Cary Grant or Frank Sinatra in the stands. Of course they're sitting in the front row, in boxes, or private clubs, but you know, you never know who you're going to run into. What O'Malley was doing in Los Angeles is he was sort of working both sides and I think very skillfully. He was glamorizing the team but he was also not pricing the team out of affordability for the average Angelino. He was able to do both things at the same time. Now, O'Malley did not have to really deal with the era of free agency in baseball. The 1976 advent of free agency came in at the very end of his career as owner, he died in 1979. Obviously, owners today deal in a completely different world financially. Players are making huge amounts of money and so the owners need revenue streams to make up for that and other expenses. Yankee Stadium in 2009, with empty seats in the stadium's most expensive section. (Ezra Shaw/Getty Images) We see the total glamorization of these teams where it's only the rich people or mostly the rich people and the well connected people who get to go to the games. I mean at this point, even the low tickets, the low price tickets at Citi Field and especially Yankee Stadium, are still pretty high. I don't think that O'Malley would have approved of what he saw. Although he might have said well listen, this is the bottom line. The bottom line is that my total salary expenses because I didn't have to deal with free agency were, I don't know, $5 million, and the equivalent today is, the same team, the same 25 guys' salaries, is the equivalent of let's say $50 million. Obviously the value of money changes. It's 10 times as much. Salaries are costing owners 10 times as much and I think that explains a lot of the ticket prices. It doesn't make it acceptable, because today I did some research. To go to a Dodger game, let's say against the San Francisco Giants and sit in a $3.50 box seat, what used to be a $3.50 box seat at Dodger Stadium, that could cost you as much as $300 or $400 today. There's the law in history of unintended consequences. You make a decision 50 years in the past, and you have no idea how it's going to work out. I don't think O'Malley could have predicted that when he invited Cary Grant to come to a Dodger game and have the people in the stands see Cary Grant, that he may have started sort of a chain reaction which has ended here, where if you watch a game on TV the seats in Yankee Stadium behind the plate are always empty because they cost $1,000 or something like that. Just to wind things up, going back to an op-ed you wrote about this, the day is probably coming that a New York owner will say, "This is obsolete, I need a new place." So what is the ideal way to finance a stadium? Should governments support their construction at all? What's the best way forward, in your opinion? In my view, the best way, the ideal way is to have a private owner buy the land and build the stadium. Now, not every owner is wealthy enough to do that, but and I think the op-ed that you read discussed what went on in Los Angeles with Stan Kroenke, the owner of the Los Angeles Rams, previously the St. Louis Rams, who's a Walmart fortune heir, he's got a lot of money. He bought all the land that he wanted in Inglewood, California, which is sort of surrounded by Los Angeles, and constructed his own stadium on his own land. Los Angeles was of course very happy because they didn't have to put in anything, and they're going to get all this property tax and they don't have to build a stadium that they can't pay off. That is the perfect situation where an incredibly wealthy private owner will do that. Now obviously, that's not going to be the case in every city in every stadium. New York, I think has more of a chance of having that happen simply because the owners want to be in New York. In other words, Stan Kroenke was, it seemed to me, desperate to get out of St. Louis, and get to Los Angeles. To get to Los Angeles, he was willing to open his own pockets and pay money. Not every city is able to have that kind of leverage, but I think New York does have that kind of leverage. It can say to an incredibly wealthy owner, "Okay, you want to buy in? Buy in. Use your own money, and you will have the advantage of owning a team in New York." Private money is the best. Now, short of that, obviously the public money has to be used. I think the Dodger Stadium model is best where if you're the government, you try to help the private owner with the land. The land sometimes is the real sticking point. If you can help the owner with the land, you can then say, "Okay, we helped you with the land, now build the stadium on your own." If you build the stadium on your own, it's going to be a property tax generator. That way, I think you can sell that to the public on that, on those grounds. Generally, get as much private money as possible, try to get someone as rich as Stan Kroenke to invest in New York in that way. Short of that, help on the land, and I would draw the line there. I would say, "Okay, we will help you on the land, the rest of it has got to be up to you. We cannot start throwing money in for the arena itself or the stadium itself." I think that may be asking too much, especially since we have so many needs obviously in our society, and so many needs in New York. The optics I think are going to be bad if you go beyond, "We will help you with the land." And you know what? My feeling is if an owner is helped with the land by the government, if he then says, "Well I don't have enough money to build the stadium," the response is, "Well, you probably shouldn't be in this business, then." |
Pauley Pavilion, UCLA’s storied venue for everything from basketball championships to presidential debates, on Thursday marks the 50th anniversary of its grand-opening event – UCLA graduation on June 11, 1965. UCLA athletes have earned a nation-leading 112 NCAA team championships, and 40 of those titles have been won by teams that call Pauley home: women’s and men’s basketball, gymnastics and volleyball. Read the athletics story. Pauley Pavilion has also hosted awards shows, concerts ranging from the Grateful Dead to Jay-Z, and visits from presidents, nobel laureates and the Dalai Lama. On Friday, the UCLA Class of 2015 will celebrate its commencement with two ceremonies. A brief look at Pauley’s history. 1. Groundbreaking, 1964 UCLA Library We’re pretty sure they didn’t dig that hole with a shovel. Chancellor Franklin Murphy, basketball coach John Wooden and the building’s eponymous donor, UC Regent Edwin W. Pauley, appear at the groundbreaking ceremony for Pauley Pavilion. 2. Construction, 1964–65 UCLA Library The bones of Pauley begin to take shape. This photo looks east and shows a staggering amount of parking by modern Bruin standards. 3. Opening, 1965 UCLA Library Pauley opened in June next to Ackerman Union, pictured with its old façade. 4. First royal visit, 1966 UCLA Library Regent Edward W. Carter and UC’s Clark Kerr joined Britain’s Prince Philip on stage to present an honorary law degree to Queen Elizabeth’s husband. Prince Philip spoke at UCLA Charter Day, celebrating the 98th anniversary of the University of California. 5. Bob Hope, 1967 UCLA archives Bob Hope came to campus to film a special episode of “The Bob Hope Show” inside the still-new Pauley. The show included a sketch with Hope playing a UCLA football recruit refusing to suit up. 6. Dr. Spock, 1968 UCLA archives Dr. Benjamin Spock spoke to students during an anti-war rally. Though the pediatrician is best known for his book of baby advice, he was also a prominent activist in the anti-Vietnam War movement. 7. Check out those cars! UCLA archives Some stylish cars — and some very dented student rides — parked in a lot that is long-since gone. The exact year is unknown, but even in the 1960s students complained about parking too far from classes. 8. Frank Zappa and the Philharmonic, 1970 UCLA archives Rock musician Frank Zappa, right, is pictured with Zubin Mehta, then-conductor of the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra. The pair combined their two musical styles in concert at Pauley (not shown). 9. 1984 Olympics Los Angeles Public Library The UCLA campus transformed for the 1984 Olympics, hosting tennis, track and field and an Olympic Village. The gymnastics competitions took place in Pauley Pavilion, where the U.S. men’s team won gold for the first time. More than 160,000 spectators watched events from Pauley’s stands. 10. Desmond Tutu, 1985 Elke Wetzig/Wikimedia Creative Commons Nobel laureate Desmond Tutu delivered an anti-apartheid speech to student activists in 1985. “Don’t let anyone delude you into believing that what you do today is of little moment,” Tutu told the crowd. (Photo is not Pauley Pavilion.) 11. Carol Burnett and Elizabeth Taylor, 1986 Los Angeles Public Library At her 53rd birthday celebration, UCLA alumna Carol Burnett, right, visited with guest Elizabeth Taylor. 12. AIDS awareness, 1988 Los Angeles Public Library UCLA hosted a benefit honoring victims of AIDS. As part of the fundraiser, panels of the National AIDS Quilt, memorializing those killed by the syndrome, rested on the floor and hung from the ceiling. 13. Bush-Dukakis presidential debate, 1988 UCLA archives Presidential candidates George H.W. Bush, left, and Michael Dukakis met for their second and final debate in October. Organizers gave UCLA six days notice, during which the campus scrambled to turn Pauley into a television studio. 14. Ella Fitzgerald, 1989 UCLA Daily Bruin archives Singer Ella Fitzgerald was awarded the Gershwin Award at UCLA’s student-run Spring Sing. Ray Charles accepted the Gershwin Award in 1991. 15. Henry Mancini, Julie Andrews and Luciano Pavarotti, 1994 UCLA archives Pauley became a star-studded party venue at a 70th birthday tribute to composer Henry Mancini. The event raised $2.1 million for arts education and featured performances and speeches by Luciano Pavarotti, Julie Andrews, Quincy Jones, Dudley Moore, John Williams and others. Pictured: UCLA alumnus and Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley, Mancini and UCLA Chancellor Charles E. Young. 16. President Bill Clinton, 1994 UCLA archives President Bill Clinton, with Chancellor Charles E. Young, spoke at UCLA’s 75th anniversary convocation. 17. Dalai Lama, 1997 Yancho Sabev/Wikimedia Creative Commons UCLA Extension brought the Dalai Lama to campus for a three-day course. During his visit, the Dalai Lama spoke to students in Pauley (not shown). 18. Cookie Monster, 2005 Scott Quintard, ASUCLA Photography Alumnus Gary Knell spoke at graduation in June. As CEO of Sesame Workshop, Knell brought Cookie Monster for a special appearance. 19. Michelle Obama, Oprah Winfrey and ‘Yes, we can!’ 2008 Steve Toyoshima (Flickr) Michelle Obama, Caroline Kennedy, Maria Shriver and Oprah Winfrey were among the celebrities chanting “Yes, we can” at a campaign rally for Barack Obama in February. 20. Jay-Z and Rihanna, 2009 UCLA archives Rap superstar Jay-Z performed in a show that also included sets by N.E.R.D., J. Cole and Wale. The concert included a surprise appearance by Rihanna, singing her vocal on Jay-Z’s hit from that summer, “Run This Town.” 21. Grand opening celebration, 2012 Pauley Pavilion closed in 2010 for a two-year makeover. Watch Los Angeles join the party for the reopening in 2012. 22. New main entrance, 2012 Reed Hutchinson/UCLA When Pauley reopened in October, there was a new glass-walled concourse and many improved amenities. 23. John Wooden in bronze Adam Fagen, Flickr Outside the new main entrance, Coach Wooden is immortalized. 24. New student welcome, 2013 Christelle Snow/UCLA After Pauley reopened, Chancellor Gene Block welcomed incoming freshmen and transfers during student welcome week. 25. A flood in the middle of a drought, 2014 ajstream/Creative Commons A city water main burst on Sunset Boulevard in July and inundated the campus with an estimated 20 million gallons. Pauley was flooded and required extensive repairs. 26. Dance Marathon, 2014 Hom Photography UCLA’s annual 26-hour Dance Marathon grew so large that it moved into Pauley for the first time. The fundraiser to fight pediatric AIDS raises hundreds of thousands of dollars a year (nearly $4 million during its 14-year existence). 27. Commencement 2014 UCLA Bruin legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar with Chancellor Gene Block at graduation in 2014, where Nobel laureate Randy Schekman delivered the keynote address and received the UCLA Medal. 28. Spring Sing, 2015 Hom Photography The dance group ACA Hip Hop, pictured above in their 2014 performance at Spring Sing, performed again in 2015 and took home the Bruin Choice Award. 29. It’s all about the students UCLA Pauley Pavilion is a center of student activity on campus. Graduates of the UCLA College all end up there. For the Class of 2015, that day has arrived. #UCLA2015 30. Happy 50th, Pauley Pavilion! Reed Hutchinson/UCLA 31. We honor Pauley’s athletes as well. Watch a video by UCLA Athletics. See more content like this on Facebook. |
In areas like traffic management, onboard Internet connectivity or geolocation, the space and rail sectors share much common ground. On the back of recent actions engaged by its Directorate of Innovation, Applications and Science, CNES has set up with SNCF a joint Rail and Space Coordination Committee to identify avenues for cooperation and put their relationship on a formal footing. This committee will be cochaired by SNCF’s Chairman and CNES’s President and will meet once a year. At the committee’s first meeting in February this year, several avenues were identified: modernization of the control-and-command system, which could benefit from the advantages afforded by Europe’s Galileo satellite navigation system; on-train fast-broadband connectivity delivered by new Ka-band satellites; rail network safety enhanced by optical satellite imagery; use of radar imagery for surveillance of tracks and their immediate vicinity. Technical trials in some of these areas are already underway. The two partners are also working together in the field of the data economy, seeking to pool their expertise in processing and adding value to the wealth of data that they generate. To organize discussions on these topics, working groups will be formed comprising specialists from SNCF and CNES. The Coordination Committee will subsequently review the groups’ progress and areas for cooperation identified. |
I think the use of language is something very important and over the past few months (wow, how quickly weeks turn into months) we have seen a lot of twisting of the uses, a lot of shifting of the notions of words to fit a particular narrative. Those people against #GamerGate, I’m looking at you. Recently, the concept of satire has been under attack, although I’m sure most people don’t realise this. A pernicious trend has surfaced where insult has been labeled as satire, presumably to increase the moral ambiguity of the act. Satire, after all, is not seen as an insult. It is not seen as malicious. Sarcasm, however, is. Where some seem to come unstuck is the thought that satire can employ sarcasm at its most militant. It is a mistake to assume that everything sarcastic is satirising. Intent and perception are important in this regard. Satire and sarcasm are often used interchangeably but they are not the same thing. Whilst satire is used to jolt an established group into action, because of the depictions made within, it is not used vindictively. Satire is used to depict the failings or limitations of society, groups or individuals. Sarcasm, on the other hand, is nasty in nature and is used to sneer. It is the unflattering retort or insulting imitation. It is often an insult veiled in the words of praise but obviously never meant as one. This is a stark contrast to satire, of course, as the disapproval of society’s actions needs to be depicted in order for the effect to become apparent. A great place to see this is in the writings of Jonathan Swift whose unfortunate adventurer, Gulliver, shows disgust at actions he perceives. These actions are meant to bring to mind some of the political failings of his day. An 18th century reader would understand that. Modern satires work in the same way. The “Beyond The Fringe” show’s sketch, “Entirely a matter for you”, satirises Judge Cantley’s summing up of the politician Jeremy Thorpe’s trial. Thorpe was acquitted of murder and Cook’s sketch voiced the opinion that Judge Cantley’s summation jumped through a few hoops in order to try and get the accused acquitted. It was not a sneer at the people involved but a retelling of events with comic inflation of the situation to bring the absurdity into sharp relief. The above is not done in ill humour. It is not done to offend, which is the point here, merely to inform. It may embarrass the subjects of the sketch but it is sarcasm that would, outright, call them names. One of the most important things about satire is its use in discussion of society’s problems. Its purpose is to gently show somebody that their actions may not be quite right. Sarcasm, on the other hand, is more likely to drive people away. It is a jab at someone who is not liked. Even though satire is concerned with the morality of society, sarcasm has often been used by people in order to belittle others because of their views. It might not be concerned with actual morality but is often used to push someone else’s morality through Ill-humoured debate. It is one-upmanship, after all. It is used in order to wound or alienate. Whilst Satire educates, sarcasm does not. To finish off, I wanted to illustrate sarcasm by using the pinnacle of sarcastic comedy, Blackadder. In that video you can see every line is built by sarcasm. Blackadder’s position as the head servant allows him to be rude to his masters (who don’t understand him) and his subordinates (who can’t do anything about it). We find these lines funny primarily because they are not aimed at us but at other people. If this were a real situation and we were in the room, no doubt we might find the words and actions uncomfortable, if not offensive. Consider some of the things we have been told are satire in recent weeks. What category do they fall in to? Is a fake Twitter account (for example) satire or sarcasm? It’s very dependent on what is actually said. It could be either but if the intention of the tweets is done to mislead, belittle or mock then it is not satire. If the intent is to encourage change then it is. Even with these parameters we must be careful. The instigator of a remark can also have an effect on whether a piece is seen as satire or sarcasm. If you’re writing a piece and you want to be funny, consider what you are writing. Does it educate and inform or are you taking a jab at someone in a veiled attempt at moral superiority? The latter is not satire! Advertisements |
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) -- A Texas company is closer to forcing Lance Armstrong to return about $12 million in bonuses he was paid for winning the Tour de France while secretly using performance-enhancing drugs. In a key ruling against Armstrong, a Texas arbitration panel said Wednesday it would consider Dallas-based SCA Promotions' appeal to recover its money. The company tried to prove Armstrong used steroids and other drugs and doping methods back in 2005, but ultimately agreed to pay him in a 2006 settlement. Armstrong's attorneys have argued the settlement is irreversible. But the same three-person arbitration panel that presided over the original dispute ruled 2-1 that the settlement gave the panel jurisdiction to decide all future disagreements. Scroll to continue with content Ad SCA spokesman Jeff Dorough said the ruling effectively rejects Armstrong's claim that the settlement bars the company from recovering its money. But Armstrong attorney Tim Herman noted the ruling determined only whether the panel would hear the case, not whether Armstrong should be forced to pay. Herman said he remains confident the original settlement - which stated that ''no party may challenge, appeal or attempt to set aside'' the payment and was ''fully and forever binding'' - favors Armstrong. ''Nothing has changed on the merits of this case,'' Herman said. Armstrong was stripped of his seven Tour de France victories and given a lifetime ban from sports in 2012. SCA sued in February 2013, saying Armstrong, his agent and the team management company conspired to cheat SCA out of millions. The lawsuit noted that Armstrong repeatedly testified under oath in the original dispute that he did not use steroids, other drugs or blood doping methods to win, all of which he now admits to doing. Story continues SCA argued the case could be reopened because Armstrong's repeated lies under oath prevented it from proving he doped. The SCA case is just one of several pending against Armstrong. The federal government has sued him to recover about $40 million in sponsorship money paid to Armstrong and his team by the U.S. Postal Service. Penalties in that case could top $100 million. Nebraska-based Acceptance Insurance Holdings also had a bonus contract with Armstrong and has sued him to recover about $3 million. |
An overwhelming 85 percent of Americans say freedom of speech is “more important than making sure no one is offended by what others say,” according to a poll published by Rasmussen Reports on Wednesday. A new poll released by Rasmussen Reports on Wednesday revealed that over 85 percent of American adults believe that the right to free speech is “more important than making sure no one is offended by what others say.” A mere eight percent said they believe that guarding against personal offense is more important than protecting free speech. 73 percent also agreed with the famous line often attributed to Voltaire: “I disapprove of what you say but will defend to the death your right to say it.” Another 10 percent disagreed with that statement, and 17 percent said they are undecided. The poll reveals that there is bipartisan agreement with regards to freedom of speech. Despite overwhelming support for speech rights, Democrats are slightly less supportive as a group of protecting speech for those they disagree with than are Republicans. Additionally, 47 percent of respondents said they believe that most college administrators and professors are more interested in getting students to toe a specific political line rather than to participate in a free exchange of ideas. |
About This Game Begin a journey like no other, become the Ant Queen and establish your empire. Ant Queen is a simulation game where you breed different types of ants to ultimately conquer your surroundings and achieve a stable ant colony. The game focuses on a true representation of an ant colony in the wild. Just as in nature, this game provides an environment in which random events determine the outcome. It is a true ant game where you can control your units depending on your needs, as a real Queen would. By allowing a natural progression of your colony, you really feel like your are the Queen of your ants. All your ants, upgrades and acquired resources within your Empire will succeed through each level, enabling you to build your own colony. |
When wintertime comes most people with motorcycles would prefer to keep them indoors and wait for warmer times. The irony of this is that during winter while the body is struggling to keep warm you lose more calories and thus get a lot more benefit than you would normally. The concerns of most about the cold, however, are very legitimate and should be addressed. Below are some tips that should be able to keep anyone safe in cold weather. Most of it is just common sense but still reading it won't hurt. The key thing during winter is warmth. The body is losing heat fast and so will make decisions based on the amount of heat available. The core temperature that is the temperature in the mid and internal regions of the body will determine what your body does; it is crucial then that this temperature should be kept warm. You might think that the best way would be to wear thick and heavy clothing, but that would be ill-advised. The best way to keep heat is layering. Layering involves wearing some clothes over each other. The number of layers you choose will depend on how cold it is. The individual layers of clothing are separated by air cushions so to speak. These air cushions are excellent insulation against cold and will ensure that the core temperature doesn't drop too much. Another reason for having layers of clothing is that it allows for sweat to evaporate naturally instead of growing cold on the skin and leading to even more heat loss. The clothes also absorb swear which conserves heat even more. Extremities By extremities I mean hands and feet. These are those areas of the body farthest from the core. When temperatures outside drop the body sort of neglect these areas and focuses on the core. You will, therefore, have to take extra care to keep them warm. With the hands, appropriate gloves are a must. These could be worn over another layer of clothing if the user feels the need. This increases the protection on the hands. These gloves must also be good enough to allow the fingers to maintain their dexterity and thus their ability to handle the motorcycle. With the feet thick socks are sufficient and on top of these a good pair o boots that should be comfortable. The socks will absorb swear as well as provide a layer of protection against the cold. Keeping extremities warm prevents the cold from affecting them. When cold affects these parts for long periods, the effects might be very bad. Antifreeze Most motorcycles use water for cooling. Water is easy to come by and a very efficient cooler. In winter, however, water could be a great disadvantage. It freezes over, and once this happens, it ceases to be functional. Motorcycles usually have a solution for this that involves antifreeze. Antifreeze is a special substance that prevents the water from solidifying. Basic science States that if impurities are added to water then the freezing point must drop and this holds true here. The antifreeze is usually changed once a year as part of routine maintenance. With winter weather a user will have to disregard this condition. They will have to ensure that there is a fresh batch of antifreeze to replace any that was already there. This is the best way to keep safe and ensure that the bike is in good condition while riding it. Tire condition Perhaps the most important thing is that of tire condition. When the weather gets cold tires tend to get cold too, and cold tires are not at all good for riding. They are very unsafe because they lack traction and might lead to slipping and even worse forms of accidents. Before a user goes out with their bike in cold weather, he should check the condition of the tires and so looks for means to ensure that the tire temperature doesn't drop too much. Avoiding areas with ice and melted water is also a very important thing. Tires that lack grip will very easily lead to accidents in these kinds of conditions. The user wants to be safe so they should keep this in mind. Road Safety Still, on the issue of safety, the user has to be extra careful in his riding. On normal days a motorcycle user has to observe many road safety issues such as keeping an appropriate distance from other vehicles and also anticipating situations. In cold weather with all the added risk these measures have to be respected even more. Seventy meters is an appropriate distance between the rider and a vehicle. This provides enough distance for any reaction that might be done. Any shorter distance would lead to a very short reaction time which wouldn't be ideal. The rider also has to focus ahead and not just on his immediate surroundings. Focusing on the horizon makes him aware of dangers long before they happen. With this foreknowledge safety is guaranteed. There are other obvious matters such as driving at a manageable speed that will minimize the risk of accidents. Extra Gear One often neglected issue but that is very crucial. You must remember to include extra gear whenever you go out in cold weather. There should be additional layers of clothing to have in case the weather gets colder. There should also be normal spares that a motorcycle user might need just in case the motorcycle breaks down while he or she is on the road. Something as simple as an extra pair of socks could come in very handy when you happen to step into some cold water. The outer layers of clothing are also likely to get wet, and for this reason, the user will need to change them. The idea to include extras is really important. Help Be sure to have avenues for help ready to come in whenever things get bad. If you belong to a motorcycling association, you should have the numbers that are used for emergency purposes. Numbers of family and friends should also be on speed dial. These will help you when you run into a situation that is not very easy for you to handle on your own. An even better thing to do would be to let someone know that you are going out. They should also know the route you intend to use and how much time tour trip will take. With this knowledge, they can keep track of your traveling and call for help when anything appears amiss. Most associations have towing services and can even offer medical help for the user when they are in need. Food And Drink As we have already seen, the body loses a lot of heat when it is cold. It is therefore very important to eat and drink well if you intend to go out into the cold. Carbs for energy would be a perfect choice to have at this time, complex carbs that will be broken down slowly and therefore provide energy continuously instead of bursts. One could also carry a light snack to chew on while on the road. There is nothing wrong with this. Water is even more important. In cold weather, the rider will very rarely feel thirsty, but this doesn't mean that they don't need water. They so need water because a lot of it is being lost in sweat and in keeping the body warm. Carrying water is an absolute essential. Water could be kept in a warm flask to prevent the temperatures from getting to it. The rider must be diligent and take frequent sips to hydrate. Stop Often When riding in cold weather the best thing to do is stop often. Riding for long periods of time will cause problems. When riding the rider will most likely be going into the wind. This means that they are facing even colder temperatures. Exposure to these kinds of temperatures for long periods of time is not ideal. The best way to prevent this is to ride for short stints and then stop. If the road the user has chosen is not deserted, these steps could be taken in buildings by the side of the road. This way the user can be out of the cold and keep warm for that period of the stop. Know When It's Too Much |
OWNERSHIP used to be about as straightforward as writing a cheque. If you bought something, you owned it. If it broke, you fixed it. If you no longer wanted it, you sold it or chucked it away. Some firms found tricks to muscle in on the aftermarket, using warranties, authorised repair shops, and strategies such as selling cheap printers and expensive ink. But these ways of squeezing out more profit did not challenge the nature of what it means to be an owner. In the digital age ownership has become more slippery. Just ask Tesla drivers, who have learned that Elon Musk forbids them from using their electric vehicles to work for ride-hailing firms, such as Uber. Or owners of John Deere tractors, who are “recommended” not to tinker with the software that controls them (see article). Since the advent of smartphones, consumers have been forced to accept that they do not control the software in their devices; they are only licensed to use it. But as a digital leash is wrapped ever more tightly around more devices, such as cars, thermostats and even sex toys, who owns and who controls which objects is becoming a problem. Buyers should be aware that some of their most basic property rights are under threat. Get our daily newsletter Upgrade your inbox and get our Daily Dispatch and Editor's Picks. Lost property The trend is not always malign. Manufacturers seeking to restrict what owners do with increasingly complex technology have good reasons to protect their copyright, ensure that their machines do not malfunction, uphold environmental standards and prevent hacking. Sometimes companies use their control over a product’s software for the owners’ benefit. When Hurricane Irma hit Florida this month, Tesla remotely upgraded the software controlling the batteries of some models to give owners more range to escape the storm. But the more digital strings are attached to goods, the more the balance of control tilts towards producers and away from owners. That can be inconvenient. Picking a car is hard enough, but harder still if you have to unearth the specs that tell you how use is limited and what data you must surrender. If it leads to more built-in obsolescence, it can also be expensive. Already, items from smartphones to washing machines have become exceedingly hard to fix, meaning that they are thrown away instead of being repaired. Privacy is also at risk. Users were appalled when it emerged that iRobot, a robotic vacuum cleaner, not only cleans the floor but creates a digital map of the home’s interior that can then be sold on to advertisers (though the manufacturer says it has no intention of doing so). After hackers discovered that a connected vibrator, called We-Vibe, was recording highly personal information about its owners, its maker, Standard Innovation, agreed in a settlement to pay customers and their lawyers up to $3.2m, with a maximum of $127 for each claim. And farmers complain that, if crisis strikes at the wrong time, John Deere’s requirement that they use only authorised software, which funnels them to repair shops that may be miles away, can be commercially devastating. Some are sidestepping the curbs with hacked software from eastern Europe. Such intrusions should remind people how jealously they ought to protect their property rights. They should fight for the right to tinker with their own property, modify it if they wish and control who uses the data that it hoovers up. In America this idea has already taken root in the “right to repair” movement; legislatures in a dozen states are considering enshrining this in law. The European Parliament wants manufacturers to make goods, such as washing machines, more fixable. In France appliance-makers must tell buyers how long a device is likely to last—a sign of how repairable it is. Regulators should foster competition by, for instance, insisting that independent repair shops have the same access to product information, spare parts and repair tools as manufacturer-owned ones—rules that are already standard in the car industry. Ownership is not about to go away, but its meaning is changing. This requires careful scrutiny. Gadgets, by and large, are sold on the basis that they empower people to do what they want. To the extent they are controlled by somebody else, that freedom is compromised. Corrections (September 28th and 29th, 2017): The original version of this article stated that the courts ordered Standard Innovation to pay customers $10,000 each. The article has been corrected to report that the company in fact settled for up to $127 each and a total maximum of $3.2m. The article also contains a reference to iRobot, a robotic vacuum cleaner that creates a digital map of a home’s interior. We have clarified in the text that the manufacturer has no intention of selling this map to advertisers |
ARGHANDAB, Afghanistan — Setting out on one of their final patrols in Afghanistan, the U.S. Army and Afghan soldiers waded through waist-deep streams, scampered over crumbling 9-foot-tall mud walls and were closing in on a suspected bomb-making factory when their mission came to an unexpected halt. Fifty yards short of their target, an Afghan soldier had been stung in the head by a bee. Now he wanted to abort the mission and head back to base. American soldiers from the 82nd Airborne Division rolled their eyes as they told the pained Afghan fighter that scrapping their mission wasn't an option. "He's like a little girl," one of the U.S. soldiers said with disdain as a medic persuaded the glaring Afghan to press on. After months of deadly and often demoralizing fighting alongside mediocre Afghan forces in one of the Taliban's most intractable strongholds outside Kandahar city, the Americans in this Army company are asking themselves if it had been worth it. "I'm ready to get out of here," said Sgt. Joshua Middlebrook, 25, of Sanford, N.C., as the patrol made its way back to base after coming up dry in the search. "I'm tired of picking up body parts." American forces have been dying in record numbers this summer. The death toll in June was the highest in nearly nine years of war — until July, when U.S. deaths in Afghanistan reached a new monthly record of 66. Many of the killings occurred here in Kandahar province, where President Barack Obama is gambling that an unfolding military campaign can dislodge Taliban fighters from their spiritual homeland and allow the U.S.-led military coalition to gain the upper hand. Amid growing U.S. concerns about the war in Afghanistan, no one is feeling the pressure to demonstrate progress more than the Americans working on the rustic, isolated bases in southern Afghanistan. In the sweltering Arghandab valley, U.S. soldiers have fumed in silence as Afghan fighters got high on drugs before setting off on military operations. They've questioned Afghan police commanders suspected of cutting private protection deals with Taliban insurgents. Problems with the Afghan police in Arghandab probably reached their nadir this summer when a teenage police officer accused an older officer of sexually abusing him on a U.S.-Afghan base. The accused officer was expelled. Though American military strategists said they are making slow headway, some U.S. soldiers aren't confident it will be good enough to assuage skeptical Americans back home and to convince wary Afghans to back the anemic Kabul government led by President Hamid Karzai. "Some days I feel like we've made a difference," Middlebrook said. "Other days, not so much. Maybe it won't last and the Taliban will move back in. I don't know." Over the past year, Charlie Company — of the 2nd Battalion, 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team with the 82nd Airborne Division — has been hit especially hard. Charlie Company squad leaders said that four of their soldiers were killed and 15 more seriously wounded as they battled Taliban fighters and grappled with an endless supply of well-hidden roadside bombs, said soldiers with the 82nd Airborne, based in Fort Bragg, N.C. The company's deaths accounted for more than a fifth of the 27 soldiers from the 82nd Airborne Division killed this year in Afghanistan, according to the iCasualties website. Charlie Company spent much of this year in a part of Arghandab that some soldiers call the "Westside ghetto," a chain of desolate villages and dense orchards running along the west side of the river that's provided often impenetrable shelter for fighters over the centuries. Like the Soviets before them, American forces have found the Arghandab River valley to be an especially punishing battlefield. Progress has been halting. Many village elders from Taliban-controlled areas long ago sought refuge in nearby Kandahar city, and with Taliban insurgents routinely killing Afghans who work with U.S. forces, some village leaders are wary of American assurances that they'll be safe if they come back. That's made it difficult for counterinsurgency strategists to make much headway in creating a network of trustworthy local leaders or hiring local Afghans to work on signature development projects. "The local population knows who they're afraid of — and it ain't us," said Staff Sgt. Chris Gerhart, an outspoken 22-year-old Charlie Company squad leader from Jacksonville, Fla. With Americans increasingly questioning the war and U.S. generals pressing for swift results, military commanders in Afghanistan are anxious to demonstrate success. When U.S. forces made significant headway in pushing Taliban fighters out of the southern stretches of the Arghandab valley, the insurgents retreated north. "We had a greater flow of insurgents than I originally anticipated," said Lt. Col. Guy Jones, the commander of the 82nd Airborne forces in Arghandab. The intensified fighting soured some of the soldiers on the fundamental tenets of a U.S. counterinsurgency strategy — also known as COIN — that relies as much on wooing the population with political and economic progress as it does on routing enemy forces. "I'm not saying you can't win a COIN fight, but it's not going to work in Afghanistan, and it's not going to work during the fighting season," said one Charlie Company soldier who asked not to be identified to avoid being disciplined for his candor. "It's hard to go to hugs and kisses when you still close your eyes at night and see your friends' body parts." The frustrations within Charlie Company were compounded this summer by a challenging transfer of control to 101st Airborne Division artillery forces who had little of the infantry experience needed for the grueling fighting in Arghandab. In their first few weeks in Arghandab, the 101st Airborne took extensive casualties. At least four soldiers were killed and two dozen more were seriously injured, according to soldiers in Arghandab. "They weren't prepared physically, mentally and tactically," Gerhart said. Some Charlie Company soldiers blamed the 101st Airborne Division's inexperience for the death of Sgt. Edwardo Loredo of Houston, who was killed by a roadside bomb one day before his 35th birthday in late June. The problems came to a head in mid-July as the 82nd Airborne was preparing to cede control to the 101st and the joint forces got pinned down in a battle that some Charlie Company soldiers called the Arghandab Alamo. The forces set out to fight the Taliban at one of the most contested canals in an area dubbed the "devil's playground." The Taliban met the American forces with a well-planned strike that quickly ravaged the American forces, said soldiers who took part in the fight. "If it wasn't for the 82nd guys, we'd be dead by now," said Private George Miller, a 19-year-old Redlands, Calif., native who's now in Arghandab with the 101st Airborne. The influx of new forces dispatched by Obama has given the 101st Airborne, based in Fort Campbell, Ky., more power to hold onto areas that the 82nd Airborne never could fully control. Lt. Col. David Flynn, the head of the 101st Airborne in Arghandab, took it as a kind of personal mission to seize the "devil's playground" and set up a new military base to throw the Taliban off-balance. "I told the guys I would not let Sgt. Loredo die in vain," Flynn said. At significant cost, the new soldiers fought to establish Combat Outpost Stout, named after Sgt. Kyle Stout, of Texarkana, Texas, who was one of the first soldiers from the 101st Airborne Division to be killed in Arghandab this summer. "They don't need to be the best infantry, they just need to be better than the Taliban," Flynn said of his soldiers. "And they are." In the past five months, 38 soldiers with the 101st Airborne Division have been killed in Afghanistan, according to iCasualties. Five of them were killed in Kandahar province last month as the soldiers struggled to get their bearings. Although the Afghan forces sent to fight alongside American soldiers in Arghandab are supposed to be among the best the country has to offer, U.S. officers gave them mixed reviews. Drug use among Afghan fighters remains pervasive. One Afghan commander turned up on a recent military operation in Arghandab with bloodshot eyes, suggesting that he was high. U.S. soldiers at one Arghandab base refer to a particular guard tower as "the Hash Tower" because that's where they say the Afghan soldiers go to get high. "I trust them only as far as I can throw them," Specialist Clayton Taylor, a 25-year-old Charlie Company soldier from Lake Wales, Fla., said while on patrol with the Afghan Army. "They're lazy. They don't care. And half of them are crooked." The Afghan police are an even bigger problem. Charlie Company soldiers said they long suspected that the Afghan police commander in their area had cut a deal with the Taliban to ensure that he wouldn't be attacked. "You could tell he was playing both sides," said Private Larry Nichols, a 21-year-old from St. Mary's, Md. "He was doing what he did to stay alive." On a recent evening, Gerhart and his squad sat outside their tent as they counted down the days to their departure and released months of pent-up frustrations while talking to a reporter. "Has the war been worth it?" Gerhart asked while pacing back and forth in the dimming light. "I don't know, because it's not over yet." ON THE WEB 101st Airborne homepage 82nd Airborne homepage MORE FROM MCCLATCHY Ten medical aid workers robbed, killed in Afghanistan Ex-Guantanamo detainee now campaigning in Afghanistan Poor security, lack of government challenge Kandahar operation Officials: WikiLeaks release could hurt Afghan war effort Follow Dion Nissenbaum on Twitter. |
Bored with homogenized journalism? Yeah, me too which is why I started all my blogs. Deep thinking of the news and how it affects our lives along with lots of humor posts and much more from my 24 blogs. A free to read online newspaper from independent journalist blogger Denny Lyon. Sit back, relax, get informed, cook a little and laugh a lot: http://dennysnews2.blogspot. com - where all the blogs link so you can peruse for your interests. I'm a hybrid journalist-blogger which befuddles the publishing and journalism industries that are in serious flux these days - OK, the publishing houses have been melting down. What is not to understand? Time to rock on and catch up with the fast moving times. Hmmm... maybe I have Tiger or Dragon blood after all. :) Social Issues Poet (SIP), Google searched as "The Social Prophet," abstract artist, photographer, life philosophy and spirituality writer, great cook. Writing eclectic interests on world news, American politics, great simple food and recipes, chocolate as the other food group, throw up some of my art, poetry, lots of great humor, astronomy and other sciences, photography - mine and other friends, spiritual and lover of people. Enjoy all kinds of people from the most artistic to those who think themselves not creative but have just not yet unlocked it. Yes, I LOVE people, even the annoying ones though no one ever said they would be immune from hearing from me about said bad attitude. :) Keep the Joy in your heart and it will get you through anything that gets in your way in Life - a tried and true life philosophy from those who know from experience there will always be obstacles in Life. Your will must develop to be stronger and sweep aside, leap over, walk around or just plain spit on those obstacles. Hey, whatever works, right? Journalism degree from LSU: Geaux TIGERS! (This is Louisiana where we take creative license when it comes to spelling.) |
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov speaks during a news conference in Moscow, Russia, January 26, 2016. REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia has evidence that Turkish troops are on Syrian territory, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in an interview broadcast on Sunday, accusing Turkey of a “creeping expansion” on its border with Syria. The comments by Lavrov are the latest confrontation between Moscow and Ankara, after Turkish jets shot down a Russian warplane near the Turkish-Syrian border in November. “Turkey has started to declare it has a sovereign right to create some safety zones on Syrian territory,” Lavrov told Russian television channel Ren-TV. “According to our data, they have already ‘dug themselves in’ several hundred meters from the border in Syria. ... It’s a sort of creeping expansion.” Lavrov also said that Russia would insist the United Nations invites Kurds to peace talks on the Syrian conflict despite Turkey’s opposition. Russia and Turkey are on opposing sides of the five-year-old conflict in Syria. Relations between the two countries nosedived after the downing of the Russian plane, which President Vladimir Putin called a “stab in the back”. Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan has not apologized over the incident, saying the Russian jet crossed into Turkish airspace and ignored repeated warnings. Russia denies the warplane violated Turkey’s airspace. Lavrov added to Ren-TV that Russia was willing to coordinate its actions in Syria with the United States so that the city of Raqqa could be taken back. “At some stage the Americans suggested carrying out a ‘division of labor’: Russia’s air force should concentrate on freeing Palmyra and the U.S. coalition with Russian support should concentrate on freeing Raqqa.” |
Freedom of Speech on Trial If my hypothesis is correct, this work will be repressed. It should not be surprising if justice is not done to the evidence presented here. It should not be unexpected that these arguments will not be given a fair hearing. It is not unreasonable to think that this work will not be judged on its merits. This work contains a theoretical application of sociobiology to politics. Simply discussing its theories publicly can constitute an experimental test of liberal democracy’s original enlightenment claim to advance freedom of rational inquiry. Such a discussion can clarify the extent, and the particular ways, in which these original enlightenment self-justifications have been politically abandoned. The attempt to repress rather than address the evidence in this work, for example, can clarify that there are arguments of substance that are being denied a right to be heard. Persistent intolerance of certain kinds of rational inquiry can clarify that civilized means of public discourse have broken down. The basic problem with a sociobiological self-analysis for liberal democracy is that it does what its free speech principles were designed to do. Sociobiology can help expose the distortions, lies, and falsehoods of the powers that be — that power being liberal democracy itself. Findings of sociobiology have refuted the original theory of human nature underlying liberal democracy. The constitutional right to freedom of speech was built upon this pre-Darwinian view of man that findings of sociobiology have refuted. In consequence, an accurate sociobiological theory of liberal democracy presents the fundamental test of this political system’s claims to freedom speech. The system cannot be understood on the basis on its own premises and assumptions. This sociobiological theory about liberal democracy requires going beyond liberal democracy and this is what makes sociobiological self-understanding inherently controversial and liable to be repressed within a liberal democracy. Those who think that sociobiology fully applied to the human-political sphere should expect a fair hearing on the grounds of freedom of speech have committed an error. The error falls, not on liberal democracy itself, but on those who have overestimated it as a political system, failing to grasp its inherent limitations. Even under ideal conditions, the freedom of speech method cannot be expected to publicly separate empirically true statements from empirically falsified statements in every instance. The empirical validity of the theories in this work cannot be expected to be verified by the public freedom of speech method of liberal democracy. The freedom of speech hypothesis states that since the controversial nature of sociobiology in a liberal democracy cannot fundamentally be ‘fixed’, the repression of this work may empirically verify this theory of liberal democracy through the very act of repressing it. It also applies to other related sociobiological theories. Unwarranted rejection of this sociobiological theory of liberal democracy should follow, not accidentally and randomly, but predictably and routinely. From those socialized or invested in the system, repeated rejection or repression of this work in the face of overwhelming evidence should inspire, not surprise, but boredom. Its regularity would have the character of a general law, and hence, I call it the freedom of speech hypothesis. Testing this hypothesis in the form of a free, open, and ongoing public debate would constitute what Tocqueville called an “experiment in democracy”. Can we speak with freedom about the things that demonstrate the limits of freedom of speech? The freedom of speech hypothesis predicts only that attempts will be made at repression, not whether or not these attempts will be successful. The only scientific way to verify or falsify the freedom of speech hypothesis would be to collect evidence of repression, whether successful or not, of it and related sociobiological theories. Examples of evidence that could constitute its verification include more than the inhibition of the distribution of this work. Silent, inconspicuous, and seemingly innocuous methods of repression that preempt even the opportunity for consideration of alternatives, and extirpate even the awareness of the existence of other points of view, are so often the most effective. After all, why should censors burn books or other media when they can simply pull them from access or availability? Ultimately, the methods available for repression are flexible and multifarious. Consequently, any attempted or actual repression could constitute a verification of the freedom of speech hypothesis, regardless of the particular adaptable, evolving, and unpredictable means of repression. There should be no bar for anyone to access this work. This work should be distributed for free; not for profit. I will likely be unable to defend its content against (further evidence for its repression through) media manipulations such as falsification, misrepresentation, decontextualization, and distortion. I can only point out that to verify a position, the position itself must first be disclosed in its veracity. Yet the question remains whether the theories presented in this work stand up to the evidence or not. The problem is this: if the views expressed in this work are only attacked, dismissed, denounced, repudiated, maligned, or vilified with slander, defamation, marginalization, misrepresentation, or denigration, how can one tell if this is only a method of evading the real issues of substance? The substance of one person’s disagreement might be unreasoned ideological-political value commitments. For such a person, rational reflection on human nature might be less important than the political outcome that the theories presented here are ultimately discredited. This criterion holds no less for anyone who agrees on scientific grounds: there is no reason to assume that one can resolve one’s integrity as a scientist with one’s commitments as a political partisan. In response, I stress that what is scientifically relevant is not whether one agrees or disagrees, but why one agrees or disagrees. What are the reasons a given theory might be accepted or rejected? If one thinks that I am wrong, then demonstrate why I am wrong. If one claims to judge this thesis by its scientific merits rather than unreasoned loyalty to extra-scientific commitments, then there is no need whatsoever to repress it and one should be able to confront my arguments point by point. Can the critic offer a better explanation of the evidence than the ones presented in this work? Why should anyone be convinced by anything less than an alternative theory that can better account for all of the evidence? I challenge anyone to resist public and political pressures and confront this application of sociobiology to politics on the basis of its scientific merits. The Saxon/Norman origin of liberal democracy in the English-speaking world is the key to understanding why the discoveries of sociobiology have appeared to be so congenitally politically controversial. Stated briefly, a long-term consequence of the Norman Conquest of England in 1066 was a nepotistic “class” system imposed over the defeated Anglo-Saxons. Yet, as Thomas Jefferson put it, “although this constitution was violated and set at naught by Norman force, yet force cannot change right. A perpetual claim was kept up by the nation” for “a restoration of their Saxon laws.” This ongoing kinship-ethnic conflict broke out most radically as the English Civil War (1642-1651), the American War for Independence (1775-83), and the American Civil War (1861-65). Liberal democracy in the English-speaking world originated, in part, through the evolution of this tribal struggle. As a logical fulfillment of the enlightenment founding of liberal democracy, this work puts liberal democracy on trial. It is a test of liberal democratic justice; if based on its own standards of justice, the evidence can be judged on its merits, unmarred by political interests. It is a test of whether America can be true to itself. |
Kieran Gibbs says he is relishing the challenge of winning his place back in the Arsenal team. The full back has not started a Premier League match since New Year’s Day, with Arsene Wenger preferring Nacho Monreal on the left side of defence. Gibbs did complete 90 minutes against Brighton and Hove Albion in the FA Cup fourth round, and says he is determined to perform when he next returns to the team. "I have to take my chance when I get it and I’m excited for that challenge" “At some stage you’re going to have to fight for your place,” the defender said. “It’s the same as last year, when I was playing a lot and other players weren’t. “You have to respect that, know what it feels like. I have to take my chance when I get it and I’m excited for that challenge. “It’s never easy but I think it’s something that once you mature, you realise quickly the better you’ll become when you do get the opportunity. “You have to realise that playing for a club like this is a special thing. It doesn’t get a lot easier, but it’s something that many players have to deal with.” Having featured regularly in the first half of the season, Calum Chambers has primarily started games from the bench in 2015. Gibbs believes his fellow defender has the maturity to deal with not being in the starting XI. “I think he’s coped well,” Gibbs said. “He’s a mentally strong boy and he matures quickly. “I think the first half of the season will have matured him even more. He’s had an explosive first half of the season and he’s available. He’s a great player.” |
Washington Nationals star Bryce Harper has started talks for a contract extension but is asking for a record-breaking deal that will exceed 10 years in length and pay him more than $400 million, according to USA Today's Bob Nightengale. Harper's agent, Scott Boras, says discussions have taken place for a one-year deal in 2017. Harper earned $5 million in 2016 and is eligible for salary arbitration. "I have had no discussions with the Nationals regarding Harp and a long-term contract," Boras told Yahoo Sports' Jeff Passan. The Nationals reportedly believe the difference in negotiations may be too big to overcome and could prepare to move on without him. Harper will be 26 years old when he hits the free agent market. In his first five Major League seasons, he has 121 home runs and won the 2015 National League MVP award. • Winter Meetings preview: What to watch for in off-season's busiest week Next year's free agent class will include Baltimore Orioles third baseman Manny Machado, center fielder Adam Jones and closer Zach Britton as well as Pittsburgh Pirates center fielder Andrew McCutchen and New York Mets starter Matt Harvey. Washington already has $87.4 million committed in salaries in 2019 with the large contracts of Cy Young award winner Maz Scherzer, starter Stephen Strasburg and infielder Ryan Zimmerman. The Nationals are reportedly interested in trading for McCutchen as the Winter Meetings take place in Maryland this week. |
This article is over 3 years old Discovery of carcasses south of Hobart sparks investigation as new research shows a decline in the threatened species is affecting Tasmania’s ecosystem Five dead Tasmanian devils may have been poisoned, says ranger Investigations are under way into the discovery of five dead Tasmanian devils south of Hobart as new research shows a decline in population of the threatened species is affecting the island state’s ecosystem. The carcasses of five of the carnivorous marsupials, including a mother with two babies in her pouch, were found near the township of Cygnet by a bushwalker, a spokesperson for the Department of Primary Industries, Parks, Water and Environment said. Nearby were the bodies of two wedge-tailed eagles, a brown falcon and a sparrow hawk. “Indications show that they may have been poisoned but there’s no confirming that,” wildlife ranger Matt Jones told the ABC. He added that it’s difficult to find who is responsible in such cases. Police confirmed they are helping look into the deaths. Tasmanian devils’ decline ‘driven by climate change’, new research shows Read more The news comes as research shows the transmissible devil facial tumour disease has destroyed populations of the creature and their absence is affecting Tasmania’s wildlife food chain, University of Tasmania professor Menna Jones said. “Devils are now functionally extinct in eastern Tasmania as far as possums are concerned, and our research found that possums are spending more time on the ground and are moving further from the safety of trees to feed,” she said. “This change in behaviour has occurred very quickly and shows how the decline of the devils has disrupted the ecosystem.” Researchers estimate there has been a decline of about 90% in the number of devils in eastern Tasmania. |
UFC light heavyweight champ Jon Jones called in to the MMA Hour today. Jones spoke with host Ariel Helwani about his upcoming title defense against former teammate Rashad Evans. Evans beat Phil Davis this past Saturday at UFC on Fox 2 in a number one contender's match. The two fighters have been engaged in a bitter feud ever since Jones stepped in for an injured Evans to take a title shot against Mauricio "Shogun" Rua at UFC 128. Jones won that fight handily and Evans has been trying to get a title shot ever since. Helwani asked Jones if Greg Jackson would be cornering him against Evans. "Rashad and Greg had some genuine moments and I wouldn't put him in that position. ...I could never imagine [Jackson] coaching against me, and I wouldn't put that pressure on him to coach against Rashad," Jones replied. Despite the acrimony, Jones hopes that he and Evans can improve their relationship once they have fought. "I'd love to have a respectful relationship with him, because actually, deep down, I kind of just liked hanging with the guy," said Jones. "He was cool. We had good times. We did a lot of cool stuff together and it sucked that competition came between our friendship. After this fight, I just hope that the respect can be restored. Friendship is not necessary, but the respect should be restored," Jones told Helwani. Jones also told Helwani that he More SBN coverage of UFC 145. |
PREV NEXT BATAVIA — With many Democrats and Republicans still feeling hungover from an election with more celebration and despair than most, there’s a sense that things have to get going elsewhere. Sitting around a table at T.F. Brown’s Monday, members of the Genesee County Libertarian Party were thinking of November and talking of how to get there. The party wants to contest all three at-large city council seats up for election this fall, which former candidate Jim Rosenbeck, a Libertarian state vice chairman, said was looking likely. They’d like to run in lots of races — nine county legislators and scores of town and village positions are up in 2017. But as a new year dawns Libertarian leaders said they needed to first continue building a campaign apparatus. The committee agreed Monday to create a vetting committee, whose approval would be another step in the candidate selection process. Who can be vetted took up a significant part of the meeting. Their debate, Genesee County Libertarian Party Chairman Dave Olsen said, was based on a potential candidate for the legislature that members weren’t sure was all-in on their current standards. Currently, the Libertarians only endorse candidates who have registered as Libertarians, or are unaffiliated with any party and have actively supported their party by carrying petitions for candidates in recent years. Without official party status, partymembers see the collection of signatures as a major hurdle and a signal of interest in pushing their collective goals ahead. It’s a callus of commitment those gathered felt they shared, and were willing to extend support if it’s earned. “If someone carries petitions, it’s knocking on doors, many hours at the fair ... if someone is willing to do that, to take part, we’re willing to recognize them as a general member,” said Rosenbeck, who estimated there were 70 to 80 registered Libertarians in Genesee County. In the case of their unidentified candidate and others, the question is where effort and views overlap or fail to be achieved. The Libertarians want to run candidates at all levels, but not if it doesn’t help build a party in Genesee; in that sense, they need to be Libertarians as much as the Republicans and Democrats want people they can support. Olson said they want people who fit the party’s perspective of “limiting government size and scope, more personal freedom and economic liberty,” but for a city, town, county race that means more than saying “no to bad ideas.” It’s shared services and having an open mind to new ideas. “It’s things like having to use all the sheriff’s deputies to transport women in prison to court,” Olson said, suggesting that having fewer municipal courts may help. “We want to see innovation that creates smaller government, and enables ways for people to do things themselves.” They hope to start lining up a slate of candidates before May, with a county convention scheduled for June 5. |
People gather with signs during a protest at the Phi Kappa Psi fraternity house at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville on Saturday, Nov. 22, 2014. (AP Photo/The Daily Progress, Ryan M. Kelly) On Slate’s DoubleX Gabfest podcast last month, reporter Sabrina Rubin Erdely explained why she had settled on the University of Virginia as the focus for her investigative story on a horrific 2012 gang rape of a freshman named Jackie at the Phi Kappa Psi fraternity house. “First I looked around at a number of different campuses,” said Erdely. “It took me a while to figure out where I wanted to focus on. But when I finally decided on the University of Virginia — one of the compelling reasons that made me focus on the University of Virginia was when I found Jackie. I made contact with a student activist at the school who told me a lot about the culture of the school — that was one of the important things, sort of criteria that I wanted when I was looking for the right school to focus on.” Rolling Stone thought it had found the “right” campus and the right alleged crime: Following her Nov. 19 story on Jackie’s alleged assault in a dark room at the Phi Kappa Psi house, the university suspended all fraternity activities and a national spotlight fell on the issue of campus rape. 1 of 23 Full Screen Autoplay Close November, December 2014 Nov. 24, 2014 Nov. 22, 2014 Skip Ad × Police find no evidence in U-Va. sexual-assault case View Photos The five-month investigation was spurred by allegations of a fraternity-house gang rape described in Rolling Stone. Caption The five-month investigation was spurred by allegations of a fraternity-house gang rape described in Rolling Stone. Charlottesville police announced March 23 that they have found no evidence of the sexual assault alleged to have occurred at the Phi Kappa Psi fraternity house at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Va. Steve Helber/AP Buy Photo Wait 1 second to continue. Now it’s all falling apart. Thanks to several days of reporting by the Washington Post’s T. Rees Shapiro, Rolling Stone’s account is not even a semester away from becoming part of journalism classes around the country. Jackie’s friends now doubt her account of the traumatic event, reports Shapiro, and the fraternity insists it never held a “a date function or social event” on the weekend of Sept. 28, 2012, which is the date cited by Jackie in the Rolling Stone story. Rolling Stone has issued a statement apologizing for the story, which includes this misogynistic, victim-blaming line: “In the face of new information, there now appear to be discrepancies in Jackie’s account, and we have come to the conclusion that our trust in her was misplaced.” But Jackie was a freshman in college when her episode allegedly took place; the story itself references her misgivings about putting her life into the public realm; she requested that Rolling Stone not contact “Drew,” the ringleader of the alleged assault; the alleged sequence of events — nine college men conspiring to attack a freshman and sexually assaulting her for three hours — should have triggered every skeptical twitch in the Rolling Stone staff. This disaster is the sole property of editors and a reporter. Students held a candlelight vigil to raise awareness on sexual assault Friday night as Rolling Stone cited "discrepancies" in an article that reported a gang rape in a campus fraternity. (Reuters) The story and Erdely’s comments about it, moreover, suggest an effort to produce impact journalism. While media critics on the right and the left cry about media bias in just about every news cycle, the complaints generally amount to nothing but ideological posturing. There are few things like a good media-bias claim to distract from a substantive conversation. In the case, of Erdely’s piece, however, there’s ample evidence of poisonous biases that landed Rolling Stone in what should be an existential crisis. It starts with this business about choosing just the “right” school for the story. What is that all about? In his first, important piece on this story, the Washington Post’s Paul Farhi described the author’s thought process: So, for six weeks starting in June, Erdely interviewed students from across the country. She talked to people at Harvard, Yale, Princeton and her alma mater, the University of Pennsylvania. None of those schools felt quite right. But one did: the University of Virginia, a public school, Southern and genteel, brimming with what Erdely calls “super-smart kids” and steeped in the legacy of its founder, Thomas Jefferson. A perfect place, in other words, to set a story about a gang rape. Observe how Erdely responded to a question about the accused parties in Jackie’s alleged gang rape. In that Slate podcast, when asked who these people were, she responded, “I don’t want to say much about them as individuals but I’ll just say that this particular fraternity, Phi Kappa Psi — it’s really emblematic in a lot of ways of sort of like elitist fraternity culture. It’s considered to be a kind of top-tier fraternity at University of Virginia…It’s considered to be a really high-ranking fraternity, in part because they’re just so incredibly wealthy. Their alumni are very influential, you know, they’re on Wall Street, they’re in politics.” The next time Erdely writes a big story, she’ll have to do a better job of camouflaging her proclivity to stereotype. Here, she refuses to evaluate the alleged gang rapists as individuals, instead opting to fold them into the caricature of the “elitist fraternity culture,” and all its delicious implications. Of course, one of the reasons she didn’t describe the accused is that she never reached out to them. Rolling Stone has published a note to readers apologizing for an article about an alleged U-Va. sexual assault, saying new information shows discrepancies in the victim's story. (Reuters) More grist comes from an Erdely interview with SiriusXM host Michael Smerconish. In a wide-ranging discussion, Erdely discussed some details of her reporting that didn’t surface in the story. Erdely alleges Jackie had told her some chilling things about the run-up to the alleged gang rape. As lifeguards at the U-Va. pool. Jackie couldn’t figure out why “Drew” was paying attention to her when the other female lifeguards were “model-gorgeous blondes,” said Erdely in the interview. “‘He was paying so much attention to me, showing so much interest in everything I had to say,’” Erdely said, paraphrasing Jackie. “And all she could think is that [Drew] was probably grooming her for something like this, and testing her for something like this.” In a tale of hard-to-believe scenarios, this one distinguishes itself. It’s plausible that the repeat rapists plaguing college campuses case out their victims. Yet as academics David Lisak and Paul Miller note in their much-cited study “Repeat Rape and Multiple Offending Among Undetected Rapists,” the modus operandi of the serial campus rapist diverges from that of gang-rape orchestrator “Drew”: Given the number of interpersonal crimes being committed by these men, how is it that they are escaping the criminal justice system? The answer may lie, in part, in their choice of victim and in their relative abnegation of gratuitous violence. By attacking victims within their social networks — so-called acquaintances — and by refraining from the kind of violence likely to produce physical injuries in their victims, these rapists create “cases” that victims are least likely to report, and that prosecutors are less likely to prosecute. Under the scenario cited by Erdely, the Phi Kappa Psi members are not just criminal sexual-assault offenders, they’re criminal sexual-assault conspiracists, planners, long-range schemers. If this allegation alone hadn’t triggered an all-out scramble at Rolling Stone for more corroboration, nothing would have. Anyone who touched this story — save newsstand personnel — should lose their job. The “grooming” anecdote indicates not only that Erdely believed whatever diabolical things about these frat guys told to her, she wanted to believe them. And then Rolling Stone published them. Aside from indicting Rolling Stone and setting back the fight against campus sexual assault, this episode affirms the importance of strong regional newspapers. After the Rolling Stone piece began to surface fissures, Washington Post local staff deployed to familiar turf, seeking out the folks that Rolling Stone had bypassed. The effort called on a week’s worth of reporting by Shapiro, the work of two researchers and the oversight of two editors. If Erdely had chosen some other campus, perhaps her skewed reporting wouldn’t have attracted such scrutiny. Something to consider the next time a debate arises over whether The Post should sustain its local reporting. |
Vinova Energy is a fast growing organisation in the field of Solar Photovoltaics in India. With Cost-Effective means of production and by adhering to International Standards and best practices in manufacturing, we have been providing high efficiency, high performance and durable solar PV modules. Solar Photovoltaic Modules manufactured are IEC certified for performance, safety and durability by Underwriters Laboratories. Manufacturing process are ISO 9001:2008 certified by TUV Rheinland. In addition to Solar Panels, we manufacture Solar based LED Street Lighting Systems and also have been implementing power projects, Rooftop Solar Systems, Grid-Tie Solar Systems, Off-Grid Solar Systems, Solar Water Pumping & Water heating systems. Vinova Energy is an Empanelled Channel Partner with Ministry of New & Renewable Energy, India for Rooftop Grid Connected Systems, Off Grid Solar Power Plants & Small Solar Power Plants. |
Why can't we be more like them? Shaun Botterill / © Getty Images There is something ethereal about cricket at dawn; staying up late is a lesser magic. Indians turn to cricket from England and South Africa after lunch, from the West Indies before dinner. New Zealand is so far ahead that it is still our night. We only rise to cricket from Australia. Five-thirty: the hour is beautiful. Birds can be heard, and milkmen, but in the melting inkiness of the house you know you have beaten the city. Australia comes to us like a secret, crystalline. The cricketers in their whites are more defined than elsewhere. The sound of the ball pitching is harder; the thump into the wicketkeeper's gloves - fingers facing up - louder. The slips are in conspiracy. They are chewing gum. They have paint on their faces and casual, staring eyes. In the background are bikinis, sombreros. There are banners in the crowd. They bear the word "curry". The commentators are talking smartly with broad vowels, asking us to buy framed photographs of matches gone by. "Edged and taken!" The warriors are in superior celebration. The batsman is out "fishing", an activity he is happy to avoid in his homeland. There's a cartoon duck waddling across the screen, spilling blue tears. In the evenings we, kids, play in the building compound. There is a chatter of commentary. Occasionally Michael Holding or Geoffrey Boycott appear, but only for their eccentricity. We talk in Aussie. "Edged and taken!" - no matter that we play against a wall, or that no Aussie would recognise a syllable of our twang. Some among us can barely speak English. But even they can say "Bang!" like Bill Lawry. Richie Benaud is too sober for us. Lawry has our pulse. "It's all happening at the WACA!" Tony Greig, too - "It's a biggie!" - is he not Australian? This is our sole interaction with Australia. We know nothing of Australia otherwise. I am in love with the song "Forgotten Years" but who is to imagine it has been created by Australians? Session by session, season by season, Australia reveals its meaning. Australia means success; a state of being victorious. Huddled together in defeat we young friends ask each other questions. "How do they do it?" "Why can't we do it?" We agonise over this. "Why must we be let down?" We have a pretty decent player called Sachin Tendulkar. He has everything a batsman needs. But Steve Waugh, we decide, he has balls. How are we to grow Australian testicles? The world will not count us without them. The years are rolling by. Australia slaps us with its meaning. We are growing older, our country is growing younger, faster. People are talking about the economy. Our television stations are multiplying and the internet is here and every day they are telling us more about Australia. Australia is mateship, one for all and all for one, a number stitched on a shirt and beneath the crest; it is kissing the crest in a moment of accomplishment, like Michael Slater at Lord's, and hitting a double-century while puking on the pitch, like Dean Jones in Madras. Australia is aggression, and ambition. Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman are saying things like "no worries" and "cheers, mate". The "mate" is tending just a little bit towards "myte" The sportswriters sometimes quote from John Arlott: "Australianism… It means that where the 'impossible' is within the realm of what the human body can do, there are Australians who believe that they can do it - and who have succeeded often enough to make us wonder if anything is impossible to them." If what John Arlott wrote half a century ago was true then, and is true now, is it not an indisputable, perpetual truth? The year 2000 is the high noon of Australian triumph. We are in a shambles. Our former captain, Azharuddin, has sold his country. Our current captain, Tendulkar, has been defeated so severely in Australia that he resigns. Australia is an immense thing, we are learning, a superculture. It has a superstructure: academies, centres of excellence. They have superadministrators, looking out for "all stakeholders". Theirs is a supermedia, guarding its territory like dogs, attacking all comers. They have supercricketers - spitters and cussers - who ingest a secret element that turns a talent into a champion. Above all their team is a superteam, led by a supercaptain, who invokes the green headgear as a call to prayer and to arms. We must plot all of this. The nation looks to Australia. We will bring Brisbane to Bangalore and build a National Cricket Academy. The course is designed by Rod Marsh. From this academy we will send our brightest students on scholarships. To Australia. We will have not just our students coached but also our coaches. By Australians. They will issue us level-three certificates. In our academy for fast bowlers the guru is Dennis Lillee. Bit by bit we will make the superstructure. We get a new captain. He has been scarred by Australia. They - the players, the press - have humiliated him in his youth. He knows that to be Australia, you have to beat Australia. He knows, this Ganguly, that Australia is aggression. He is telling the youths of his team this. He is joined by a new coach, from New Zealand. It is sound logic: a New Zealander must know this enemy best? Even his name is appropriate: Wright. John Wright knows that to beat Australia, you have to be Australia. One day he mounts a chair in the dressing room. "You don't look up to them," he tells the team, "you f*****g look down on them." Andrew Leipus of Adelaide, a physiotherapist, gives the players bleep tests, takes them to the gym. Sandy Gordon, a psychologist from Perth, tells them that during competitions the great teams stay in a "f*** you" mode. The boys love it. He gives them a motto. "Never take a backward step." The emu and the kangaroo do not step backwards, and are they not on the Australian coat of arms? Our cricketers are migrating: in their thoughts, habits and speech. Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman are saying things like "no worries" and "cheers, mate". The "mate" is tending just a little bit towards "myte". Their vocabulary at press conferences is changing. They are no longer talking about innings; they speak only of partnerships. They are enjoying the process, they are controlling the controllables. The Australians taunt them with dirty words and the words slip off them like satin. Ducks are no longer waddling across our screens. We are fishing less, spearing more. Dravid makes 305 runs in Adelaide: Australia are defeated in Australia. He talks into the camera like a soldier. His India blue has the aura of the mythical green. Steve Waugh retrieves the match ball from the gutter and hands it to him. Afterwards, in his final, mammoth memoir, Waugh offers the foreword to Dravid. "He gave grit a good name," Dravid writes. We have earned respect. These years are the years of inspiration, heroism. We have fought epic battles, performed epic deeds, won some, lost some. Everyone has been in thrall. Our spirits have soared and slackened like sheets in the wind, and now we have moved towards parity. This is going to get nasty. The teams fight like cocks. They leap and flutter and scratch and peck. Like cocks they want to fight till death. People are baying. If the Australians curry-bash, Indians will monkey-call. One week in Sydney, in 2008, it is alleged that one brat has called another a monkey, a racist insult. The Indians claim he only insulted the other guy's mother, which is deemed more acceptable. This is the dispute. It is bigger than brat versus brat, team versus team. This is nation versus nation, superculture versus superculture. To our surprise it emerges that the Australian supercaptain is a thing of the past. His response to the confrontation is to rat to teacher. The bully can't handle it. He refuses to sort it out among the boys. He wants to initiate legal proceedings, claim damages. All those things we learned - "We play hard on the pitch but at the end of the day we're in the dressing room for a tinny, mate" - what has happened to them? Do they forget what they preach? He's making a mistake, Ricky Ponting. He has no idea. Our superadministrators will outmanoeuvre his. Our supermedia will smash his. We will outshout them. On the internet we will outnumber them. We are like ants around a mango, eating it from all sides. It is a superculture in descent versus a superculture in ascent. Ours is a resounding victory. We are able to choose umpires, call off tours, change constitutions. They kept us out too long. They vetoed us away. It is our time. Demographics, markets, consumers; all are on our side. The superadministrators are ours. We realise we can more than merely defeat them: we can own them. We will build such a big thing they will have to come. The ultimate glory is now ours © Getty Images They are making for the boat from all over the world for the Indian Premier League. The Australians are lining up by the dozen. They are up for auction, like cows. Old and young, retired and not, they are being bought for heaps. They are the prized ones, the Australians, coming to bat, bowl and field; they are the coaches and the captains - kings, who are also bearers of our palanquin. There are fireworks in the sky. On television the commentators are selling things, like in the dawns of our past, but not memorabilia - pieces of cricket itself. A real-estate developer has bought the six. A mobile phone company owns the catch. We cannot arrange for bikinis in the crowd, but we can arrange Caucasian cheerleaders in short skirts who dance with pompoms, spreading glitter. A bloke called Shaun Marsh becomes the tournament's top scorer. His team is owned by an Indian film actress. Shane Warne wins the title, and the most valuable player is Shane Watson, for a team bought by another Indian film actress. Shauns and Shanes and Adams. The glory is theirs, but like labourers in tinsel and tiaras they are also glorifying us, doing our bidding. This is what the supermedia is telling us: that the ultimate glory is ours. But it is hollow. It feels impure somehow. We have mutated into something that we, the kids in the building compound, now old, can barely recognise. We are rising and rising. Our ambition has bloated us into a giant, or perhaps a monster. Australia is falling and falling. They were the standard; they gave us something to aim at. We are thinking, fools in nostalgia, of the epic battles, of the days when we ennobled each other, when we were peeling the layers and seeing what we were made of. The hardest years, the roarin' years, we think: those should not be forgotten years. This article first appeared in Australia: Story of a Cricket Country, published November 2011. Rahul Bhattacharya is the author of the cricket tour book Pundits from Pakistan and the novel The Sly Company of People Who Care © ESPN Sports Media Ltd. |
From . Huang said plans to wed her partner of seven years on August 11 at a Buddhist altar in Taoyuan county in northern Taiwan. Both brides will wear white wedding gowns and listen to lectures given by Buddhist masters about marriage, accompanied by a series of chanting and blessings from monks and nuns. Although same-sex marriages are not legally recognized in Taiwan, Huang insisted on tying the knot because she wants to make her relationship complete and raise awareness about the adversities faced by people of non-heterosexual orientation. Non-traditional forms of marriage have yet to receive wide acceptance by the general public in the country, despite years of effort by activists to secure equality. The first public gay marriage in Taiwan took place in 1996 between a local writer and his foreign partner. The event drew widespread media attention and inspired many gay people to follow in his footsteps. But Huang's wedding will be the first with a Buddhist theme. While planning for her wedding, Huang found out to her surprise that some of her Buddhist friends were hesitant about attending the ceremony. "They are not sure if it would break their vows and expressed anxiety," Huang said. She messaged a Buddhist master on Facebook, asking her if she could find grounds in the religion for condemning the practice of homosexuality. To Huang's surprise, the master quickly replied that Buddhism shows no bias regarding homosexuality. In a demonstration of support, the master is willing to host a ceremony for the couple — the first public same-sex Buddhist wedding in Taiwan. "It is meaningful to us that our wedding can give hope to other homosexuals and help heterosexuals understand how Buddhism views sexuality," said Huang. The Buddhist master Shih Chao-hwei, who is also a professor at Hsuan Chuang University, said Buddhist teachings do not prohibit homosexual behavior. Compared to western religions, Buddhism on the whole is more tolerant toward homosexuality because there is no concrete rule banning the practice in Buddhist scriptures, Shih said. Two Taiwan women will be the first lesbian couple to have a Buddhist wedding as they push on with their effort to legalize gay marriages in Taiwan.Fish Huang told CNA in a phone interview “We are not only doing it for ourselves, but also for other gays and lesbians.” |
More about this loan Business Description We are a community gathering place disguised as a coffee shop. In the few months since we've been open, the Baltimore community has been extremely welcoming and receptive. We have been referred to as a "safe space", one that can be entered by anyone without judgments based on outward appearance, to get work done, or hang and have a meal with friends. Our Baltimore community focused model, and welcoming nature, provides a platform to other entrepreneurs encourages and facilitates collaboration, creativity and learning -- allowing community members to come together and support one another. We stand behind this by sourcing many of our products such as breads and pastries from local bakers, fruits and vegetables from city farms, and use locally roasted Fair Trade coffee. Even in our build out, we were determined to work with other small businesses based in the city. We feel this is critical in keeping dollars churning locally, and will help in combating the city's high unemployment and poverty rate. What is the purpose of this loan? With a loan from Kiva, we can grow our business by purchasing a high speed oven which would give us the ability to bake our own goods, expanding our menu and creating a more sustainable model, continuing to provide good city jobs. |
A Harvard University student whose father escaped Romanian Communism recently called out her liberal classmates for casually endorsing the murderous ideology. In an essay for The Harvard Crimson, sophomore Laura Nicolae warns that widespread student sentiment on campus paints communism as an “idealistic or revolutionary” ideology, glossing over the fact that millions of people have died as a result of it. "Roughly 100 million people died at the hands of the ideology my parents escaped...We owe it to them to recognize that this ideology is not a fad, and their deaths are not a joke." [RELATED: POLL: Millennials would prefer to live in a socialist country] “Roughly 100 million people died at the hands of the ideology my parents escaped,” she writes. “They cannot tell their story. We owe it to them to recognize that this ideology is not a fad, and their deaths are not a joke.” Nicolae argues that for many students, “casually endorsing communism is a cool, edgy way to gripe about the world,” citing the rise of students wearing Ché Guevara shirts, the formation of student clubs dedicated to Marxism, and noting that her campus is “saturated with Marxist memes and jokes about communist revolutions.” In an interview with Campus Reform, Nicolae explained that she was inspired to write the piece because she hopes to “remind people of the historical truth that every time communism has been tried, it has resulted in misery, starvation, and violence.” Students don’t learn this in school, she explained, adding that “communist theory and rhetoric have been separated from communism’s historical consequences.” [RELATED: Pro-Antifa students give the finger to victims of communism] “College culture generally looks favorably upon the idea that we should be mindful of the historical context and consequences of our political speech,” she said. “It’s a mystery to me why political speech about communism doesn’t get that same treatment. That’s a double standard.” While Nicolae noted that many students whom she met “actually do have a deep understanding of communist theory,” they often remain too “hopeful and idealistic.” The fact that communism has resulted in over 100 million deaths, Nicolae argued, “should be a warning bell that this view is wrong. “As responsible scholars, we shouldn’t just ignore communism’s long and robust correlation with oppression, starvation, and violence,” she continued. “Overlooking that history in order to exclusively focus on the idealist theory omits a huge part of communism’s story.” [RELATED: Socialist group calls for 'extermination' of capitalists] According to Nicolae, students who embrace communism are “gambling with people’s lives on the hope that sometime in the future it will be ‘done right.’’ “That kind of political calculus is opportunistic, and in my view, immoral,” she told Campus Reform. “But we can’t have a discussion about whether making that sacrifice is worth it if we simply ignore that the sacrifice exists.” Follow the author of this article on Twitter: @Toni_Airaksinen Disclosure: Ms. Nicolae is a Campus Correspondent for Campus Reform. |
Installing temporary seats for the Grey Cup football game at Lansdowne has meant taking out one of the site’s multimillion-dollar works of art in a way that might have ruined it, according to the artist who created it. “In my honest estimation, I will be very surprised if it ever goes back, or can go back the way it was before,” said Jill Anholt, the Vancouver artist who made Moving Surfaces, the gigantic screen made of steel piles and electronic lights that crowned Lansdowne Park’s big hill next to TD Place stadium until a couple of weeks ago. Anholt designed the sculpture and oversaw its installation three years ago, along with the trickling spire Uplift in the park’s water plaza. Together they cost about $4 million. Now, Moving Surfaces is in pieces again, its largest sections wrapped in plastic and stashed between some trees and a construction trailer at the edge of the park. In its place, workers are assembling the metal lattice that will hold up thousands of extra seats for the Canadian Football League’s championship game at the end of November. Just taking out a signature piece of public art for this is symbolic of Lansdowne Park as a whole. We spent a lot of money to redevelop it and we keep allowing its gradual crappification because it turns out that polishing crown jewels is difficult and expensive. Painted lines for traffic in supposedly pedestrian-oriented areas. A “water plaza” that got crummier with each iteration. Relatively nice metal bollards replaced with cheap plastic ones because people kept driving into them. Now tens of thousands of people will be at Lansdowne for one of the biggest events it’ll ever host and let’s just clear this junk out of the way. The stands will stay up for an outdoor hockey game in December, said the city’s general manager of parks, Dan Chenier, in an email on Tuesday relayed through the city’s communications staff. The sculpture is to go back up in the spring. Moving Surfaces was never designed to be taken out, Anholt said. Everybody knew TD Place would get temporary bleachers for very big events and they and the nearby sculpture would have to fit together. “As part of our design process, the issue of the Grey Cup temporary stands came up,” she said. “The architects did a full detailed model proving the artwork could stay in position and the stands could be built around the artwork. It was settled.” Installing the sculpture was a huge job. The vertical pieces that rise from the ground went in one by one and the arched portion was installed in two massive pieces, using welded-on lifting brackets removed after each piece was in place. The lights can glitter, flash, undulate gently in different colours; Anholt’s work evokes the water of the Rideau Canal. The system can be reprogrammed to show different patterns and artistic designs but its functioning depends on its being put together properly. “It’s stainless steel, it has a specialized finish on it. It has LEDs that were installed in the site, because they were so delicate. It has an enormous arch that was site-welded because it was so difficult,” Anholt said. “I was there on site checking every inch of it to make sure it was right.” Wiring the lights would have much easier indoors in a studio but Anholt said she couldn’t come up with a way of doing the delicate work without risking its destruction while the steel pieces were installed. So when Anholt got wind — via the city’s public-art department, not the people arranging the work — that Moving Surfaces might be taken out, she wrote to the city to raise her worries, she said, but never heard anything back. “I don’t feel like my concerns have been heard,” Anholt said. Putting it back together could be like assembling an artificial Christmas tree that you tore down and stuffed in a closet in a hurry last January, if the tree were tonnes of steel and instead of four or five tangled strings of lights you had a hundred. The fact that the big arch portion is “kind of just dumped at the side of the site” (the other parts are at a city works yard) and at first they didn’t even throw a tarp over it doesn’t inspire confidence, she said. It’s an outdoor piece but not meant to lie on its side with its guts exposed. The city got an Ottawa-based art conservator to monitor the disassembly, Chenier said. Anholt agreed that’s better than nothing, but someone who wasn’t familiar with the structure and its components couldn’t have done as good a job as someone who knows the piece inside and out. The concrete footings are still in the ground, Chenier said. “Reassembly plans and timelines have not been finalized but will include involvement of the required expertise, including the artist as required, to ensure a successful reassembly.” Which seems to be news to Anholt. She’s an award-winning artist with commissions for big pieces across North America, including one for the new Hurdman light-rail station. If the sculpture can’t be put back in the right configuration and with its lights working, she said she’ll take her name off the work. “We spent so long to get it just perfect,” she said. “All an artist has is the integrity of their work. If you put substandard works out there it eats away at your integrity. If this doesn’t go back just right, it’s not going to be art. It’s going to be just a thing.” dreevely@postmedia.com twitter.com/davidreevely |
Last week, U.S. government pressure shut down three encrypted email services -- including one supposedly used by National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden -- and created an opportunity for onetime U.S. government gadfly Kim Dotcom. In February 2013, Dotcom, creator of online storage locker Mega and its ill-fated predecessor MegaUpload, announced that his company was going to launch an encrypted email service. Then the declaration had the weight of history behind it: Dotcom himself was arrested in 2012 on piracy charges in New Zealand based on information gathered illegally by the New Zealand government at the behest of U.S. authorities. (A New Zealand judge later ruled the search warrants invalid.) Now, in the wake of yet more government spying revelations and the loss of other encrypted options, Mega CEO Vikram Kumar reminded ZDNet's Rob O'Neill that Mega is still committed to building an encrypted email service. According to Kumar, Mega is "doing some hugely cutting-edge stuff." Kumar's statement has generated a lot of attention on tech blogs across the web -- not all of it complimentary. Evan Dashevsky of TechHive called the rumored email service just the latest resume padding in Dotcom's "history of troublemaking." But Lauren Hockenson of Gigaom remarked that Dotcom was really going all-in on privacy. In addition to filling the void left by other shutdown services, she wrote, he's also "creating a VC [venture capital] firm that brings up encryption-focused companies." Admittedly, the news seems far more exciting in the current context than it was when Dotcom first announced he was building encrypted email in February. Back then, the world was awash in encrypted email services: Tormail; Silent Mail; Lavabit, Snowden's reported service. Now those services are gone, and Lavabit's webpage bears a warning from Ladar Levinson, its founder: "Without congressional action or a strong judicial precedent, I would strongly recommend against anyone trusting their private data to a company with physical ties to the United States." Mega's email service, if it comes to fruition, might tempt many of the privacy-conscious now bereft of a satisfactory alternative. Since his unfortunate brush with spying, Dotcom has started making a name for himself as an encryption advocate. Mega calls itself "the Privacy Company" and automatically encrypts every file uploaded to it. In a January interview with the English-language TV station Russia Today, Dotcom spoke strongly about online privacy. "My goal is, within the next five years, I want to encrypt half of the Internet," he said. "Just reestablish a balance between a person -- an individual -- and the state." |
Moments after the Congress Working Committee announced the bifurcation of a separate Telangana state, Reliance industries Ltd chairman Mukesh Ambani has made a similar demand, that his residence Antilla, dubbed as the world’s most expensive residence, be granted statehood. Speaking to The UnReal Times business correspondent Dharubhai Manghnani the tycoon said, “Why not? Antilla is like a state in itself. Each floor is like a district and each room on a floor is like a city. It is only right that this be made a separate state, so that it makes it easier for me to ..err..the government to govern it. Mumbai can be the joint capital of Maharashtra and Antilla, until I decide which floor of Antilla to adjudge as the capital of the state.” “The Mumbai Indians team name can stay intact as long as Mumbai is the capital of Antilla. Once I make my decision on the capital, the team name will have to be changed, of course” Ambani hastened to add. The UPA government has reacted positively to the demand, saying that it will be fulfilled ASAP. “It is widely believed that Antilla, not Delhi, is India’s real seat of power. So the least we can do is grant it statehood replete with its own assembly, dummy Prime Minister and even a Pappu,” said Finance Minister Chidambaram. “With a state like Antilla, no one can claim anymore that Gujarat is India’s most prosperous state,” added Mani Shankar Aiyar. “That honour will belong to Antilla which will also be India’s most secular state.” |
Four years of filming near the Earth’s poles have yielded some amazing footage in the new series Frozen Planet. Brought to you by the same crew that created the incredible Planet Earth series, this new epic includes unparalleled views of the Arctic and Antarctic landscapes as well as beautiful, enlightening and even suspenseful looks at polar wildlife. The exclusive clip above shows two enormous male musk oxen charging at each other into head-on collisions in a battle for a group of females. The crew also managed to capture some animal behaviors that have never before been filmed, including a team of killer whales catching a minke whale, killer whales creating waves to wash seals off of ice floes, a pack of 25 wolves bringing down a bison, and a truly bizarre and deadly 9-foot-long ice stalactite. If you loved Planet Earth, which of course you did, you will love this too. And if you still need an excuse to buy an oversize flat-screen TV, this is it. The series has been airing recently on the Discovery Channel, narrated by Alec Baldwin. As of today, you can buy the BBC version, narrated by Sir David Attenborough. Video courtesy of BBC Home Entertainment. Available on DVD/Blu-ray. |
These nutritionally dense foods are packed with fiber. You might think that slice of bread on your plate is necessary to get the fiber you need to be healthy. Think again. Bread isn’t all it’s cracked up to be, and there are plenty of foods that can give you all the fiber you need on a daily basis. These 10 fiber-filled all-stars including avocados, cinnamon, raspberries and eggplant have far more fiber and nutrition per calorie than wheat, and lots of other health benefits, too. Combine as many as you can in one dish, like black beans with oregano, mustard greens, avocados and barley, for one of the healthiest meals of your life. Figs Figs are a deliciously high-fiber fruit, containing 6.58 grams in an eight-ounce serving. You can get dried figs year-round but there’s nothing quite like a juicy, fresh fig. These fruits are a great source of calcium and are also high in potassium and manganese. According to a 2008 study, there’s another compelling reason to consume figs as often as possible: fiber from fruits may help prevent post-menopausal breast cancer. Avocados Rich and creamy, avocados can seem like a splurge. While they are dense in fat and calories, spreading a little bit on your tortilla or chopping it up for salad not only adds a lot of flavor to your meal, it also boosts your fiber intake. At 14 grams apiece, avocados contain more fiber per ounce than any other fruit. Of a single avocado’s 24 grams of fat, only 4 are saturated, so they help lower “bad” LDL cholesterol and raise “good” HDL levels. They’re also rich in lycopene, beta carotene, lutein, magnesium and the vitamins B, E and K. Beans Beans pack the biggest fiber punch of any food, with navy beans topping the charts at over 76% of your daily value per one-cup serving. Dried peas, lentils, pinto beans, black beans and lima beans are also fiber all-stars, providing over half of your daily value. Most types of beans are high in protein, folate, iron and B-vitamins, and very low in fat. Legume consumption has been associated with increased heart health. Barley This grain doesn’t get a lot of love. Always in the shadow of its more famous counterparts wheat, oats and rye, barley is used more often as animal fodder or to make beer than it is in our daily diets. But barley is appealingly chewy and sweet, and when it comes to fiber, it’s right up there with beans. A cup will provide over 54% of your daily fiber requirements. The fiber in barley is insoluble, so it provides bulk as it passes through your body, improving the health of your intestines and lowering cholesterol. It’s a great source of selenium, which lowers risk of colon cancer and helps metabolize thyroid hormones. Eggplant This deep purple-skinned vegetable is often cooked down to such a mushy state, it’s hard to believe there’s much fiber in it. But in fact, eggplant has nearly three grams of fiber for every 19.7 calories. This means that unlike bread, which is high in calories for just a few grams of fiber, eggplant is an ultra-efficient means of reaching your daily requirements. Nutritionally dense, eggplant will provide you with lots of manganese, potassium, folate, B6, K and C per serving. Raspberries So plump and juicy, ripe raspberries are hard to resist – and you shouldn’t even try. With just 63 calories, a cup of raspberries will give you over half your vitamin C and manganese, and a third of your fiber. Their low calories and nutrient density make them another high-value fiber-filled food, and all those phytonutrients with antioxidant, antimicrobial and anti-carcinogenic properties just make them taste even sweeter. Greens Mama says eat your greens, and you should heed her wisdom. A cup of mustard greens is one of the healthiest additions to your dinner plate, with 11.2% of your daily value of fiber, 524% of your vitamin K, 177% of vitamin A and 59% of vitamin C and just 21 calories. Collard greens have even more fiber at 5.32 grams per 49.4-calorie serving, Swiss chard boasts 3.67 grams, spinach has 4.32 and kale has 2.6. Even romaine lettuce has nearly 2 grams of fiber in a 16-calorie, 2-cup serving. Cinnamon Who would have thought that a spice could contain so much fiber? Sprinkling a teaspoon of cinnamon on your cereal, oatmeal or fruit will provide 5% of your daily fiber needs. Cinnamon also has anti-microbial properties and can help lessen a food’s impact on your blood sugar levels by slowing the rate at which the stomach empties, which is why adding it to a sweet treat is always a good idea. It’s also got lots of calcium and manganese, and research has found that it boosts brain function. Ground cloves come close to cinnamon in fiber content with nearly 3% of your daily value in a teaspoon. Pears Seasonal variations in different varieties of pears make them available year-round, and though they seem to be cousins of the apple, pears are actually in the rose family. There are 5.2 grams of fiber in a single, roughly 100-calorie pear. Try baking them into a pie with raspberries and cinnamon, or pair them in a salad with mustard greens and walnuts. Herbs Load up on the parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme, not to mention oregano, dill, coriander and fennel. Herbs are an easy way to add extra fiber to any savory meal, and oregano should be your top choice as it’s got 1.53 grams in two teaspoons. Thyme and rosemary each pack over a gram, while coriander seeds have 2.12. You might want to check out these articles as well: Bad Fiber: Why Bread Isn’t Best 15 Best Foods to Boost Your Metabolism Can You Stomach Wheat? How Giving Up Grain Might Be Better For Your Health Photos: 3liz4, bad, bad lechery brown, fotopedia |
SETIAWAN: The name R. Saravanan may not ring the bell for most but to the villagers of Kampung Spynie here, he is known for his selfless acts. Just recently he took to building a home for a financially troubled family on his own land. The 39-year-old odd-job worker has built a 300 sq ft house for a Chinese family of two, Siew Eng, 81 and her son, Ng Kem Leng, 55. Siew whose house completely perished in a fire two years ago had nowhere to go since she has no other family members other than her son, Ng, who is partially blind. "I didn't expect to be treated like this by Saravanan and his family. Although we are of different race and religion, he treats me just like his own mother. "His family is helpful too and always share their food with us especially breakfast. I thought there are no longer any good people in this world, but I was wrong," she said, adding that she do not even know how to repay Saravanan and his family's good deeds. Saravanan said it didn't matter if the person was Chinese, Malay or Indian because essentially everyone are human beings who need each other. "I just want to help Siew who I call 'amma'. She is my mother, my 'amma'. "I built the house for her since she has nowhere to go and she could not salvage anything during the incident. Every morning, I will bring her to the wet market to buy some fishes and vegetables. "I love her just like my own mother," he said, adding that he could not wait to celebrate the Chinese New Year with Siew and her son. State Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Dr Zambry Abd Kadir who spent about half and hour at Siew's home, also announced another windfall for her. He said that the state government through Yayasan Bina Upaya (YBU) will be building a new home for Siew, which is expected to be completed this year. Zambry said Saravanan's selfless act and generosity is exemplary for all, showcasing extraordinary neighbourly spirit. For Siew, the announcement made by the Menteri Besar was a big surprise for her even though she had been secretly waiting for someone to grant her a new home. "This is like the best Chinese New Year gift for me. I could never afford it and I know that by just saying thank you, it is not enough. "I will finally get to stay in my own home but I will never forget what Saravanan's family has done for my family," she said with a broad smile on her face. © New Straits Times Press (M) Bhd |
Man charged over alleged West Melbourne hit-and-run Updated A 25-year-old man has been charged following an alleged hit-and-run collision which left a cyclist with life-threatening injuries in West Melbourne. Paramedics were called to the intersection of Dryburgh Street and Dynon Road in West Melbourne on Thursday night to find the cyclist, 18-year-old Ben Tyrrell from Cloverlea in Gippsland, with serious head injuries. A man from Footscray presented at a police station just after 5:00pm. He was later charged with failing to report the collision to police, failing to stop and failing to render assistance. He was bailed by police to appear in the Melbourne Magistrates Court on November 22. Mr Tyrrell remains in a serious condition in the Royal Melbourne Hospital. His parents made an emotional appeal for the driver to turn themselves in to police. Julie and Kevin Tyrrell said their son had just finished celebrating completing a flooring job in Melbourne when he was hit. Topics: road, west-melbourne-3003 First posted |
A 19-year-old says he was fired from his job at a Jack-in-the-Box in Bakersfield, Calif. after serving an army veteran two free tacos. Alex Mesta admitted to previously giving several cups of coffee to the regular customer, reports Fox News Edge. "Since he's a vet, I don't think I should charge him for his coffee. It's like not even a dollar for a coffee," says Mesta. But one night, the teen server decided to give the veteran two tacos-- which retail for just $0.99. He says that the food items were leftover at the end of the day and destined to the thrown out. But Mesta’s actions were caught on store surveillance cameras—and someone from corporate wasn’t happy with what they saw. Mesta says he was fired for his altruistic actions, with corporate claiming he had "mishandled funds." A Facebook post about the incident has now gone viral and many are calling for a boycott of Jack-in-the-Box. The fast food chain's corporate communications office released a statement claiming that Mesta's termination was based on previous employee infractions-- not the incidents regarding the veteran. “We too are grateful to our veterans and to the men and women currently serving in the armed forces. Regarding this incident, while it would not be appropriate to provide complete details on an internal disciplinary issue, our actions in this case were not based on just one incident and had nothing to do with the guest’s military experience." |
Finding a mobile wallet for Bitcoin Cash has been pretty difficult so far. Although the ecosystem has only been around for some time now, one would expect such a wallet to exist by now. One of the world’s most prominent Bitcoin wallets has enabled BCH support already. Bitcoin.com’s Bitcoin wallet for IOS is now fully Bitcoin Cash compatible. A big development for this popular altcoin, that much is certain. Finding a mobile wallet supporting your favorite altcoin isn’t easy. This is especially true when it comes to Bitcoin Cash. Although most wallet providers can easily support this fork if they want, most still don’t. That is pretty surprising considering support for BCH has grown in all other areas. More mining pools are on board, exchanges have finally listed it, and the value seems to be holding its own quite well. A mobile wallet is more than overdue. Even More Bitcoin Cash Support on iOS To access the BCH portion of this iOS wallet, simply set up a new wallet and move the slider to Bitcoin Cash. It is that simple, and it does the job quite well. The app works for both iPhone and the iPad, depending on which device you prefer to use. Do keep in mind there is no built-in exchange functionality at this time, although this may be integrated in the future. Anyone who used this app prior to the fork will now also have access to their BCH coins if they hadn’t been claimed yet. Although there are two other iOS wallets for BCH as well, it is good to have more options. Both Free Wallet and BTC.com have their own respective clients for Bitcoin Cash as we speak. A few options to choose from is never a bad idea in this regard. It is also a validation of how much this altcoin’s ecosystem has grown. For a currency very few people gave a fighting chance, Bitcoin Cash has done pretty well. In the end, it is good to see some mobile wallet provides step up their game. It remains a mystery why some other major providers have not enabled BCH support so far. Whether or not that situation will change in the future, remains to be seen. Mobile solutions are the future of cryptocurrency, that much is evident. It is a safe, secure, and convenient concept for novice and advanced users alike. Header image courtesy of Shutterstock |
A New York judge says Ivanka Trump must testify in a dispute with an Italian shoemaker over one of her company's shoe designs. Judge Katherine Forrest ruled Friday in the trademark infringement lawsuit brought by Aquazzura Italia SRL against Trump and her company IT Collection LLC. The Florence, Italy-based company sued President Donald Trump's daughter last year, saying her Hettie shoe was a "virtually identical" knockoff of its popular Wild Thing Shoe, including nearly the same color, shape and tassel on the heel. Its lawsuit seeks unspecified damages. The judge says Ivanka Trump must submit to questions posed during a deposition lasting no more than two hours, "given Ms. Trump's competing professional obligations," and occurring in Washington, if that's Trump's preference. The judge said the deposition should occur by the end of October on a mutually acceptable schedule. In ruling, the judge said "Ms. Trump's public statements regarding active and comprehensive brand management lead to a reasonable inference that the shoe at issue would not have been released without her approval." "In such a situation," she said, "a deposition is appropriate." In a declaration filed with the court last week, Trump described herself as the former president of the company, saying she is now an assistant to the Republican president of the United States and maintains an office in the White House. |
Has Washington forgotten about us? One year passes with no US ambassador to Australia Updated For one year, the United States embassy in Canberra has had no ambassador and people are starting to wonder why. Key points: It is not normal for an embassy to go for longer than a year without an ambassador, analysists say There is speculation Admiral Harry Harris has been lined up for the Canberra role Kim Beazley says not having an ambassador makes no difference, in a technical sense, but it represents an American presence in the region "It's not ideal, that has to be said," former Australian ambassador to Washington Kim Beazley told AM. "But there are mitigating circumstances." Analysts said it is not normal for an embassy to go longer than a few months without an ambassador. The Lowy Institute's Aaron Connelly told AM: "We haven't heard much out of Washington about who they're thinking about for this post, which is unusual for this time in a presidency." It has been speculated the US military's top commander in the pacific Admiral Harry Harris has been lined up for the job. He was due to retire at the end of the year, clearing the way for him to take up the post early in the new year. But it appears there has been a setback to that plan because his presumed replacement Admiral Scott Swift retired this week after learning he would not be getting the job. That means Admiral Harris may have to stay on longer than planned. "I wouldn't think that this would delay things too much, but it obviously delays it a bit," Mr Beazley said. "I would think that, from our point of view, hanging on for Harry Harris, we ought to, even if it's the middle of next year." With military tensions in Asia on the rise, Mr Beazley and other diplomatic veterans view Admiral Harris and his deep defence relationships in the region as highly valuable. And Mr Beazley said the embassy's current Charge d'Affaires James Carouso is performing well in representing US interests in the interim. Missing ambassador 'makes technically no difference' Asked what difference it makes not having an ambassador in the embassy, Mr Beazley said: "In a technical sense, nothing at all." "In the sense of a substantial American presence, something." The ambassador vacancy in Canberra is not the only diplomatic post in the region that has not been filled. There is still no word from US President Donald Trump's administration about who will fill two key regional appointments. Assistant Secretary of State for South-East Asia-Pacific Affairs is the US State Department's top regional post, while the Assistant Defence Secretary for Asia-Pacific Security Affairs is the top Pentagon post for the region. Pro-China former foreign minister Bob Carr said the vacancies show Mr Trump's administration is not focussed on this part of the world. "It confirms that China is going to be bigger than the US as a force in South-East Asia," he told AM. "Australians might bridle at that, because it's not the most comfortable thing for a country that is part of the British Empire and is now part of the US alliance system — but it is a fact of life." Topics: defence-and-national-security, world-politics, foreign-affairs, australia, united-states First posted |
One of Against The Clock‘s most requested artists steps up for the 100th episode. Best known by his stage name Daedelus, Alfred Darlington is an L.A. beat scene veteran who’s spent the past 16 years exploring the boundaries of rave, hip-hop, found sound and strange samples on labels like Brainfeeder and Ninja Tune, carving out a unique space in electronic music. Darlington’s home studio is an extension of his flamboyant style, a treasure trove of circuit-bent one-offs (he’s even released his own custom delay unit) and modern classics such as the Monome controller, all housed in a room decked out with floral wallpaper. FACT TV headed to LA to watch him do what he does best, as he created a track in 10 minutes that combines modern technology with vintage Rhodes piano. Listen to the finished track below and check out his latest album, Labyrinths. As well Daedelus’ ATC, to celebrate 100 episodes we’ve also run down our 10 favorite ATCs so far and pieced together a killer mix from the best ATC tracks. Read next: Daedelus on Daedelus: LA’s beat scene vanguard traces his musical evolution |
During the Video Podcast last night (video here), I brought up the fact that I had seen several recent mock drafts from around the internet that predicted the San Diego Chargers would draft a pass-rusher in the first round of the 2013 NFL Draft. I thought it was an absurd notion. You, the fans, did not. As someone who is usually willing to admit when he's wrong, I decided to start digging through the types of pass rushers that the Chargers might be able to land early in the draft to see if that could change my mind: Barkevious Mingo, LSU - 6'4", 241lbs Mingo made a name for himself, a really cool name at that, in 2011 when he racked up 8 sacks 14 games while starting only four games with the Tigers. In 2012, he mostly failed to live up to the hype when he recorded just 4.5 sacks in 12 games. Still, his size and speed makes him a tempting prospect. Barkevious is very skinny, with long arms and long legs. This gives him plenty of potential to grow and add muscle, but also means that he'll struggle as a run defender. He played 4-3 DE in college, but is a better fit for 3-4 OLB in the NFL. However, he has no experience playing coverage and there's concerns about him being able to change directions (important for a Linebacker). Expected Draft Position: Mid-1st Round Jarvis Jones, Georgia - 6'3", 245lbs This former USC Trojan became a well-known name in his first year with the Bulldogs when he recorded 13.5 sacks in 14 games. In 2012, he topped that by sacking opposing QBs 14.5 times in 12 games. Jones is an elite playmaker and pass-rusher on the same level as Von Miller. He can completely change an NFL defense as soon as he is drafted. So, why is he not a Top 5 pick in the NFL Draft? He has an injury history. Notable, he's been diagnosed with the same spinal stenosis condition that just forced Marcus McNeill into early retirement. He's been cleared by several doctors since that diagnosis, but many teams fear that his neck will become a problem again in the near future. Expected Draft Position: Mid-1st Round Jamie Collins, Southern Miss - 6'4", 250lbs Your token "sleeper" pick right here. Collins has played CB, LB and DE in his four years at Southern Miss. In 2012, he recorded 10 sacks, 92 total tackles, 5 defended passes and forced 4 fumbles in just 12 games. He could possibly be the best athlete in the entire draft. Collins reminds me a bit of Shaun Phillips. He possesses the ability to do anything on the defensive side of the ball, and do it well. The only thing holding him back is that he sometimes lacks the effort, relying on his physical gifts, and can sometimes lose track of what is happening around him. With the right coaching, Collins could be a dominant 3-4 OLB. Expected Draft Position: 1st Round (after a great showing at the Combine) Trevardo Williams, Connecticut - 6'1", 241lbs An interesting prospect. Williams collected 13.5 sacks in 10 games in 2012, played as a 4-3 DE. His height will keep him from ever playing DE in the NFL, but his natural pass-rushing ability could help him make it as a 3-4 OLB. Although he's never played Linebacker, and therefore never covered anyone, he could be this year's "Melvin Ingram" pass-rushing specialist that plays only on passing downs. This is the type of player that could be a Rookie of the Year candidate if he's put in the right situation. Expected Draft Position: 2nd or 3rd Round Corey Lemonier, Auburn - 6'4", 255lbs An explosive pass-rusher and a high-motor guy that will wear down opposing offensive linemen over the course of a game. Was downright dominant in 2011 and the first half of 2012 before almost disappearing in the second half of his Junior season. Lemonier's talents are awesome. Big, strong, fast, powerful, smart....you name it. However, he has just as many flaws. He tends to overpursue plays. If he doesn't beat the first block, he tends to get "hung up". Needs to improve tackling technique. Most important, he needs to be more aware of run plays to stay in position to defend them. He's a project with a lot of upside. Expected Draft Position: 3rd Round |
Meet Oliver. Like many of his friends, Oliver thinks he is an expert on 9/11. He spends much of his spare time looking at conspiracist websites and his research has convinced him that the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington, DC, of 11 September 2001 were an inside job. The aircraft impacts and resulting fires couldn’t have caused the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center to collapse. The only viable explanation, he maintains, is that government agents planted explosives in advance. He realises, of course, that the government blames Al-Qaeda for 9/11 but his predictable response is pure Mandy Rice-Davies: they would say that, wouldn’t they? Polling evidence suggests that Oliver’s views about 9/11 are by no means unusual. Indeed, peculiar theories about all manner of things are now widespread. There are conspiracy theories about the spread of AIDS, the 1969 Moon landings, UFOs, and the assassination of JFK. Sometimes, conspiracy theories turn out to be right – Watergate really was a conspiracy – but mostly they are bunkum. They are in fact vivid illustrations of a striking truth about human beings: however intelligent and knowledgeable we might be in other ways, many of us still believe the strangest things. You can find people who believe they were abducted by aliens, that the Holocaust never happened, and that cancer can be cured by positive thinking. A 2009 Harris Poll found that between one‑fifth and one‑quarter of Americans believe in reincarnation, astrology and the existence of witches. You name it, and there is probably someone out there who believes it. You realise, of course, that Oliver’s theory about 9/11 has little going for it, and this might make you wonder why he believes it. The question ‘Why does Oliver believe that 9/11 was an inside job?’ is just a version of a more general question posed by the US skeptic Michael Shermer: why do people believe weird things? The weirder the belief, the stranger it seems that someone can have it. Asking why people believe weird things isn’t like asking why they believe it’s raining as they look out of the window and see the rain pouring down. It’s obvious why people believe it’s raining when they have compelling evidence, but it’s far from obvious why Oliver believes that 9/11 was an inside job when he has access to compelling evidence that it wasn’t an inside job. I want to argue for something which is controversial, although I believe that it is also intuitive and commonsensical. My claim is this: Oliver believes what he does because that is the kind of thinker he is or, to put it more bluntly, because there is something wrong with how he thinks. The problem with conspiracy theorists is not, as the US legal scholar Cass Sunstein argues, that they have little relevant information. The key to what they end up believing is how they interpret and respond to the vast quantities of relevant information at their disposal. I want to suggest that this is fundamentally a question of the way they are. Oliver isn’t mad (or at least, he needn’t be). Nevertheless, his beliefs about 9/11 are the result of the peculiarities of his intellectual constitution – in a word, of his intellectual character. Usually, when philosophers try to explain why someone believes things (weird or otherwise), they focus on that person’s reasons rather than their character traits. On this view, the way to explain why Oliver believes that 9/11 was an inside job is to identify his reasons for believing this, and the person who is in the best position to tell you his reasons is Oliver. When you explain Oliver’s belief by giving his reasons, you are giving a ‘rationalising explanation’ of his belief. The problem with this is that rationalising explanations take you only so far. If you ask Oliver why he believes 9/11 was an inside job he will, of course, be only too pleased to give you his reasons: it had to be an inside job, he insists, because aircraft impacts couldn’t have brought down the towers. He is wrong about that, but at any rate that’s his story and he is sticking to it. What he has done, in effect, is to explain one of his questionable beliefs by reference to another no less questionable belief. Unfortunately, this doesn’t tell us why he has any of these beliefs. There is a clear sense in which we still don’t know what is really going on with him. Now let’s flesh out Oliver’s story a little: suppose it turns out that he believes lots of other conspiracy theories apart from the one about 9/11. He believes the Moon landings were faked, that Diana, Princess of Wales, was murdered by MI6, and that the Ebola virus is an escaped bioweapon. Those who know him well say that he is easily duped, and you have independent evidence that he is careless in his thinking, with little understanding of the difference between genuine evidence and unsubstantiated speculation. Suddenly it all begins to make sense, but only because the focus has shifted from Oliver’s reasons to his character. You can now see his views about 9/11 in the context of his intellectual conduct generally, and this opens up the possibility of a different and deeper explanation of his belief than the one he gives: he thinks that 9/11 was an inside job because he is gullible in a certain way. He has what social psychologists call a ‘conspiracy mentality’. The gullible rarely believe they are gullible and the closed-minded don’t believe they are closed-minded Notice that the proposed character explanation isn’t a rationalising explanation. After all, being gullible isn’t a reason for believing anything, though it might still be why Oliver believes 9/11 was an inside job. And while Oliver might be expected to know his reasons for believing that 9/11 was an inside job, he is the last person to recognise that he believes what he believes about 9/11 because he is gullible. It is in the nature of many intellectual character traits that you don’t realise you have them, and so aren’t aware of the true extent to which your thinking is influenced by them. The gullible rarely believe they are gullible and the closed-minded don’t believe they are closed-minded. The only hope of overcoming self-ignorance in such cases is to accept that other people – your co-workers, your spouse, your friends – probably know your intellectual character better than you do. But even that won’t necessarily help. After all, it might be that refusing to listen to what other people say about you is one of your intellectual character traits. Some defects are incurable. Gullibility, carelessness and closed-mindedness are examples of what the US philosopher Linda Zagzebski, in her book Virtues of the Mind (1996), has called ‘intellectual vices’. Others include negligence, idleness, rigidity, obtuseness, prejudice, lack of thoroughness, and insensitivity to detail. Intellectual character traits are habits or styles of thinking. To describe Oliver as gullible or careless is to say something about his intellectual style or mind-set – for example, about how he goes about trying to find out things about events such as 9/11. Intellectual character traits that aid effective and responsible enquiry are intellectual virtues, whereas intellectual vices are intellectual character traits that impede effective and responsible inquiry. Humility, caution and carefulness are among the intellectual virtues Oliver plainly lacks, and that is why his attempts to get to the bottom of 9/11 are so flawed. Oliver is fictional, but real-world examples of intellectual vices in action are not hard to find. Consider the case of the ‘underwear bomber’ Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, who tried to blow up a flight from Amsterdam to Detroit in 2009. Abdulmutallab was born in Lagos, Nigeria, to affluent and educated parents, and graduated from University College London with a degree in mechanical engineering. He was radicalised by the online sermons of the Islamic militant Anwar al-Awlaki, who was subsequently killed by an American drone strike. It’s hard not to see the fact that Abdulmutallab was taken in by Awlaki’s sermons as at least partly a reflection of his intellectual character. If Abdulmutallab had the intellectual character not to be duped by Awlaki, then perhaps he wouldn’t have ended up on a transatlantic airliner with explosives in his underpants. Intellectual character explanations of questionable beliefs are more controversial than one might imagine. For example, it has been suggested that explaining peoples’ bad behaviour or weird beliefs by reference to their character makes us more intolerant of them and less empathetic. Yet such explanations might still be correct, even if they have deleterious consequences. In any case, it’s not obvious that character explanations should make us less tolerant of other peoples’ foibles. Suppose that Oliver can’t help being the kind of person who falls for conspiracy theories. Shouldn’t that make us more rather than less tolerant of him and his weird beliefs? A different objection to character-based explanations is that it’s just not true that people have questionable beliefs because they are stupid or gullible. In How We Know What Isn’t So (1991), the US social psychologist Thomas Gilovich argues that many such beliefs have ‘purely cognitive origins’, by which he means that they are caused by imperfections in our capacities to process information and draw conclusions. Yet the example he gives of a cognitive explanation takes us right back to character explanations. His example is the ‘hot hand’ in basketball. The idea is that when a player makes a couple of shots he is more likely to make subsequent shots. Success breeds success. Gilovich used detailed statistical analysis to demonstrate that the hot hand doesn’t exist – performance on a given shot is independent of performance on previous shots. The question is, why do so many basketball coaches, players and fans believe in it anyway? Gilovich’s cognitive explanation is that belief in the hot hand is due to our faulty intuitions about chance sequences; as a species, we’re bad at recognising what genuinely random sequences look like. And yet when Gilovich sent his results to a bunch of basketball coaches, what happened next is extremely revealing. One responded: ‘Who is this guy? So he makes a study. I couldn’t care less.’ This seems like a perfect illustration of intellectual vices in operation. The dismissive reaction manifested a range of vices, including closed-mindedness and prejudice. It’s hard not to conclude that the coach reacted as he did because he was closed-minded or prejudiced. In such cases as this, as with the case of Oliver, it’s just not credible that character traits aren’t doing significant explanatory work. A less closed-minded coach might well have reacted completely differently to evidence that the hot hand doesn’t exist. Could we explain the dismissiveness of the coach without referring to his personality in general? ‘Situationists’, as they are called, argue that our behaviour is generally better explained by situational factors than by our supposed character traits. Some see this as a good reason to be skeptical about the existence of character. In one experiment, students at a theological seminary were asked to give a talk elsewhere on campus. One group was asked to talk about the parable of the Good Samaritan, while the rest were assigned a different topic. Some were told they had plenty to time to reach the venue for the lecture, while others were told to hurry. On their way to the venue, all the students came across a person (an actor) apparently in need of help. In the event, the only variable that made a difference to whether they stopped to help was how much of a hurry they were in; students who thought they were running late were much less likely to stop and help than those who thought they had time. According to the Princeton philosopher Gilbert Harman, the lesson of such experiments is that ‘we need to convince people to look at situational factors and to stop trying to explain things in terms of character traits’. You say that Oliver is gullible for believing his 9/11 conspiracy theory; he retorts that you are gullible for believing the conclusions of the 9/11 Commission The character traits that Harman had in mind are moral virtues such as kindness and generosity, but some situationists also object to the idea of intellectual virtues and vices. For example, they point to evidence that people perform much better in problem-solving tasks when they are in a good mood. If trivial situational factors such as mood or hunger are better at explaining your intellectual conduct than your so-called intellectual character, then what is the justification for believing in the existence of intellectual character traits? If such traits exist, then shouldn’t they explain one’s intellectual conduct? Absolutely, but examples such as Oliver and Gilovich’s basketball coach suggest that intellectual character traits do explain a person’s intellectual conduct in an important range of cases. People don’t believe weird things because they are hungry or in a bad (or good) mood. The view that people don’t have character traits such as gullibility, carelessness or prejudice, or that people don’t differ in intellectual character, deprives us of seemingly compelling explanations of the intellectual conduct of both Oliver and the basketball coach. Suppose it turns out that Oliver lives in a region where conspiracy theories are rife or that he is under the influence of friends who are committed conspiracy theorists. Wouldn’t these be perfectly viable situational, non-character explanations of his beliefs about 9/11? Only up to a point. The fact that Oliver is easily influenced by his friends itself tells us something about his intellectual character. Where Oliver lives might help to explain his beliefs, but even if conspiracy theories are widespread in his neck of the woods we still need to understand why some people in his region believe them, while others don’t. Differences in intellectual character help to explain why people in the same situation end up believing such different things. In order to think that intellectual character traits are relevant to a person’s intellectual conduct, you don’t have to think that other factors, including situational factors, are irrelevant. Intellectual character explains intellectual conduct only in conjunction with a lot of other things, including your situation and the way your brain processes information. Situationism certainly would be a problem for the view that character traits explain our conduct regardless of situational factors, but that is not a view of character anyone has ever wanted to defend. In practical terms, one of the hardest things about dealing with people such as Oliver is that they are more than likely to accuse you of the same intellectual vices that you detect in them. You say that Oliver is gullible for believing his 9/11 conspiracy theory; he retorts that you are gullible for believing the conclusions of the 9/11 Commission. You say that he dismisses the official account of 9/11 because he is closed-minded; he accuses you of closed-mindedness for refusing to take conspiracy theories seriously. If we are often blind to our own intellectual vices then who are we to accuse Oliver of failing to realise that he believes his theories only because he is gullible? These are all legitimate questions, but it’s important not to be too disconcerted by this attempt to turn the tables on you. True, no one is immune to self-ignorance. That doesn’t excuse Oliver. The fact is that his theory is no good, whereas there is every reason to believe that aircraft impacts did bring down the Twin Towers. Just because you believe the official account of what happened in 9/11 doesn’t make you gullible if there are good reasons to believe that account. Equally, being skeptical about the wilder claims of 9/11 conspiracy theorists doesn’t make you closed-minded if there are good reasons to be skeptical. Oliver is gullible because he believes things for which he has no good evidence, and he is closed-minded because he dismisses claims for which there is excellent evidence. It’s important not to fall into the trap of thinking that what counts as good evidence is a subjective matter. To say that Oliver lacks good evidence is to draw attention to the absence of eye-witness or forensic support for his theory about 9/11, and to the fact that his theory has been refuted by experts. Oliver might not accept any of this but that is, again, a reflection of his intellectual character. the aims of education should include cultivating intellectual virtues and curtailing intellectual vices Once you get past the idea that Oliver has somehow managed to turn the tables on you, there remains the problem of what to do about such people as him. If he is genuinely closed-minded then his mind will presumably be closed to the idea that he is closed-minded. Closed-mindedness is one of the toughest intellectual vices to tackle because it is in its nature to be concealed from those who have it. And even if you somehow get the Olivers of this world to acknowledge their own vices, that won’t necessarily make things any better. Tackling one’s intellectual vices requires more than self-knowledge. You also need to be motivated to do something about them, and actually be able to do something about them. Should Oliver be condemned for his weaknesses? Philosophers like to think of virtues as having good motives and vices as having bad motives but Oliver’s motives needn’t be bad. He might have exactly the same motivation for knowledge as the intellectually virtuous person, yet be led astray by his gullibility and conspiracy mentality. So, both in respect of his motives and his responsibility for his intellectual vices, Oliver might not be strictly blameworthy. That doesn’t mean that nothing should be done about them or about him. If we care about the truth then we should care about equipping people with the intellectual means to arrive at the truth and avoid falsehood. Education is the best way of doing that. Intellectual vices are only tendencies to think in certain ways, and tendencies can be countered. Our intellectual vices are balanced by our intellectual virtues, by intellectual character traits such as open-mindedness, curiosity and rigour. The intellectual character is a mixture of intellectual virtues and vices, and the aims of education should include cultivating intellectual virtues and curtailing intellectual vices. The philosopher Jason Baehr talks about ‘educating for intellectual virtues’, and that is in principle the best way to deal with people such as Oliver. A 2010 report to the University College London Council about the Abdulmutallab case came to a similar conclusion. It recommended the ‘development of academic training for students to encourage and equip them not only to think critically but to challenge unacceptable views’. The challenge is to work out how to do that. What if Oliver is too far gone and can’t change his ways even if he wanted to? Like other bad habits, intellectual bad habits can be too deeply entrenched to change. This means living with their consequences. Trying to reason with people who are obstinately closed-minded, dogmatic or prejudiced is unlikely to be effective. The only remedy in such cases is to try to mitigate the harm their vices do to themselves and to others. Meanwhile, those who have the gall to deliver homilies about other peoples’ intellectual vices – that includes me – need to accept that they too are likely very far from perfect. In this context, as in most others, a little bit of humility goes a long way. It’s one thing not to cave in to Oliver’s attempt to turn the tables on you, but he has a point at least to this extent: none of us can deny that intellectual vices of one sort or another are at play in at least some of our thinking. Being alive to this possibility is the mark of a healthy mind. |
You can use results of the 23andMe genetic testing service to predict how you will respond to cannabis. Here’s how. [Sep 2018 update: At the time this article was written, there were no genetic testing services focused on cannabis. That is no longer the case! If you have already taken 23andMe, you can upload your data directly to EndoCanna Health for a prediction of your cannabinoid response. Use the code prof10 for $10 off!] Much of the future of science and medicine lies in genetics. The Human Genome Project sequenced the first human genome about 15 years ago to much fanfare. However, the impact of this landmark achievement has not yet truly been felt. Little by little, progress has been made. Scientists are determining the link between specific polymorphisms (sites of genetic variation) and complex diseases. This knowledge can then be translated into diagnostics that predict risk for disease or which treatments will work best for a specific person. Cannabinoids are no exception to this. Preliminary evidence has linked genetic variation in the endocannabinoid system to specific diseases. Other studies have shown that we may be able predict your risk for side effects of THC, such as cognitive deficits, psychosis, and dependence. In the future, we may be able to determine who will benefit from cannabinoid therapy and also who should avoid it (or change dose, cannabinoid ratios, etc.) due to side effects. I believe that much of the trial and error in medical cannabis (and really, medicine in general) will eventually become a thing of the past. Home Genetic Testing With 23andMe What many people don’t realize is that you can already get a sneak preview of the future. Home genetic testing services such as 23andMe allow you to determine which common genetic variants you have. There are two huge caveats though: These tests have not been approved by the FDA, at least not for anything I talk about below. You should know that all of this research is preliminary and it may be confirmed or refuted by future studies. You should not actually use any of this information to determine diagnosis or treatment. This service does not give you a report for genes related to cannabis! So once you receive the test results, it is not very obvious how to find out which genes are important and which version of the genes you have. This guide will help you determine your cannabinoid-related genetic variants using the 23andMe site. I do realize that there are other genetic testing services, but since 23andMe is the most common (and it is the one that I have used myself), it is the one I will focus on. Steps for Checking Your Genotype with 23andMe Go to the 23andMe website and sign in Hover over Tools in the top menu and then click on Browse Raw Data You will now be in the Raw Data Tool . From here, you can access any variant that is genotyped by 23andMe by searching or browsing. . From here, you can access any variant that is genotyped by 23andMe by searching or browsing. There is a box in the middle that says “Search for a specific gene or marker (SNP)”. You can use this to search for a specific SNP ID number (the SNP ID numer usually starts with “rs”). I list the SNP ID numbers below for several important genes. As an example, I have searched for the *3 variant of the CYP2C9 gene (SNP ID = rs1057910). The results show the possible variants (A or C). In my case, I have two copies of the A version. Below, I will show how to check several important variants in different genes that may affect how you respond to cannabis. I will be adding more in the future! CYP2C9 CYP2C9 is a gene for a drug metabolizing enzyme. It is the most important enzyme for metabolism of THC. Genetic variants of CYP2C9 have been associated with: Relevant variant: *1 vs. *3 (rs1057910) A/A (*1/*1) = Fast metabolizer. Weaker effects of THC and more likely to fail a urine drug test. A/C (*1/*3) = Intermediate metabolizer. C/C (*3/*3) = Slow metabolizer. Stronger effects of THC and more likely to pass a urine drug test. COMT COMT is a gene for a dopamine-metabolizing enzyme present in your neuronal synapses. It is one of the most important genes for determining side effects of cannabis use. Genetic variants of COMT have been associated with: Relevant variant: Val158Met (rs4680) A/A (Met/Met) = Low COMT activity. Generally more protected from certain side effects of cannabis use. A/G (Met/Val) = Intermediate COMT activity. G/G (Val/Val) = High COMT activity. General more susceptible to certain side effects of cannabis use. ABCB1 The ABCB1 gene encodes the P-glycoprotein (P-gp) drug transporter, which controls THC brain penetration. Genetic variants of ABCB1 have been associated with: Relevant variant: C3435T (rs1045642) G/G (C/C): High P-gp expression. Higher risk of cannabis dependence. G/A (C/T): Intermediate P-gp expression. A/A (T/T): Low P-gp expression. Lower risk of cannabis dependence. More genes to come! As I cover details of other genes, I will add them here. [Don’t forget – $10 off at EndoCanna Health with the code prof10!] [Featured image: 23andMe] |
Subsets and Splits
No community queries yet
The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.