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Muscovy Ducks – A Comprehensive Guide This is a Guest Post by Agorculture Muscovies are an excellent asset to the homestead; they are self-reliant, intelligent, disease resistant, friendly, entertaining and require very little human intervention. Muscovies are also prolific. According to one breeder in the Mother Earth News, “a drake and five [female] ducks can produce 100 birds a year for consumption”. [i] I first tried Muscovy in the Quartier Latin in Paris. I ordered duck, expecting the fat and texture that is characteristic of the Pekin variety (which constitutes the majority of duck production in the United States). Upon tasting my entrée, I honestly thought that I was served veal by mistake! The flesh of the meat was lean and dark. The waiter insisted that my meal was indeed duck! Silly American! It was only later that I realized what I had was indeed not beef, but it truly was duck! In fact, Muscovy is one of the best-kept culinary secrets. A local breeder described it to me as the “Cadillac of duck meat”. The Yellow House Farm in Barrington, New Hampshire describes Muscovies as “excellent producers of flavorful meat in an easy-as-pie, hands-off manner, which makes them sine qua non for any serious homestead”. [ii] The scientific name is Cairina moschata, which means the “musky one from Cairo”. Muscovies have also been called the Indian Duck, the Libyan Duck and, in a culinary context, the Barbary Duck. In a case of mistaken origin, similar to Guinea Fowl and Turkeys, Muscovy ducks are from none of these countries- they are native to Central America. The best explanation of the name “Muscovy” is that it derives from the Miskito coast of Honduras and Nicaragua and from their reputation for insect control. Perhaps the most defining characteristic of Muscovy ducks are their caruncles- the fleshy growths on their heads and their sharp claws. A female (hen) Muscovy can weigh 8 lbs and a male (drake) can weigh twice as much – 15lbs. Another defining characteristic is that Muscovies rarely quack unless they are distressed. Instead, they whisper and emit a squealing hiss. Muscovies also communicate with each other by nodding their heads and raising and lowering the feathers on the top of their head. Genetically, Muscovies are closer to geese than other ducks. The Muscovy is the only domestic duck that is not descended from the Mallard. Muscovy drakes can be hybridized with Mallard hens to create a Mullard duck, which, along with other ducks and geese, is used in the production of Foie Gras. Muscovies are leaner than the Mallard derived breeds. Duck fat is a healthy saturated fat and is treasured by cooks and gastronomes for its culinary properties. Unfortunately, a 10 lb Muscovy adult yielded only 4 tablespoons of “liquid gold” after roasting. A duck’s fat content can be increased through diet, but this may require bringing in additional feed. Muscovies are also prolific layers. The average Muscovy hen is said to be a better layer than the best chicken layer. Unfortunately, Muscovies may be seasonal layers, though, in some cases, they have been known to lay year round. (I will have to wait until Spring to confirm this.) Duck eggs are richer than chicken eggs and preferred by chefs in some recipes. Perhaps the only other drawback to Muscovies, and all ducks, is plucking the feathers and down. Unlike chickens, the scalding method does not work as easily on ducks. It can take hours of plucking to remove the large feathers and, even then, down and pinfeathers may remain. The smallest feathers are singed off while roasting, so it is not necessary to remove 100% of the feathers prior to cooking. (This is where duck sauces come in!) I have found that a week of hanging the carcass makes plucking a bit easier and vastly improves the flavor. Unfortunately, it still took me hours to pluck and this method requires a cool place to hang the carcass, like an attic. To prevent the growth of pathogenic bacteria and for optimum flavor, the hanging space needs to be between 50-55 F (10 – 12.8 C).[iii] Other methods for loosing feathers call for dipping the duck carcass into a hot water with a thin film of wax or paraffin and then dipping the carcass into cold water to harden the wax or paraffin, which is then peeled off, taking the feathers and down with it. The carcass can alternatively, be dipped into a solution of 2 ½ gallons of 160 F (71.1 C) water with 1/8 cup of vinegar and ¼ teaspoon of detergent and ¼ teaspoon of baking soda. I have not tried either of these two methods. I have also been told that rubber or latex gloves also help with feather removal. Finally, some choose to simply skin the duck, but this removes the best parts- the skin and fat! For additional information on plucking ducks, see this great post and the video linked therein on the excellent Hunter Angler Gardner Cook blog: http://honest-food.net/2011/10/29/on-plucking-birds/. I also found that a flexible boning knife is indispensable if you want to part out the carcass. One of my favorite ways to serve Muscovy, or any duck, is roasted with very crisp skin and served with a sauce made from Tamari with ginger, garlic and sesame oil and served with scallions. (I like to use South River Azuki Bean Tamari, which is free of both gluten and soy.) I also like serving the breasts (called magrets) with a compote of shallots, balsamic vinegar and figs or grapes. Use a good quality balsamic vinegar or saba (concentrated grape must) with another type of vinegar if real balsamic is unavailable. The organs are also a delicacy and a nutrient-dense super-food. I recommend cooking them lightly. It is a shame to waste the webbed feet, carcass or bones as they make a wonderful stock or bone broth, which is another nutrient-dense super-food![iv] Care Like all animals, Muscovies require clean water, however, Muscovies require much less water than other ducks. A children’s “kiddie pool” is sufficient and a smaller feeding trough would work as well. In Winter, I use a rubber pet bowl that I can step on to remove the ice. Muscovies only need enough water to submerge their nostrils. Muscovies would, however, welcome deeper water to swim in. Like all ducks, Muscovies are messy and tend to slosh water and foul it. A kiddie pool should be changed at least once a week, if not sooner. The fouled water is rich in nutrients and excellent for irrigating plants. Muscovies should be fed a protein rich crumbles or pellets. It is absolutely essential that the feed be free of any medications. Younger ducklings should be started on crumbles and not given any whole grains until they are one month old. The ducks should also be given grit to enable their gizzard to grind the food. Greens should make up 1/3 of the diet. I let my Muscovies free range, so I only give them enough commercial feed to keep them coming back at night. You should keep them out of the garden and away from vulnerable plants, however. I hope one day to get away from commercial feed. I also give them table scraps. When writing this article, I read about Muscovy owners who set out solar LED lights to attract flying insects solely to feed their ducks.[v] (Gotta try that!) Every evening, they see me and run towards me. They are like puppies, looking happy and wagging their tails! I then put a pail with a small amount of feed in their pen, the Muscovies run inside, and I close the door. In this regard, they are much, much easier than chickens. The following morning, I let them all out for water. I can’t keep the water inside or it would make a huge mess. One thing to be ware of is that Muscovies do not fear vehicles. Several times, I have heard cars honking at the clueless ducks- just standing in the road! I am lucky that I do not have canard à la presse![vi] Ducks are covered in an insulating layer of down, but their feet are still vulnerable to the cold. Their pen should have a thick layer of clean, dry straw or wood shavings to protect their feet. In the summer, ducks will need water and shade. Clean water, sanitation and space, along with good nutrition are essential to the health of any animal. Muscovies are much hardier than chickens and more resistant to disease. Legal Considerations To protect Muscovy Ducks, the US Fish & Wildlife Service (FWS) proposed regulations that banned Muscovy ducks and called for their removal and destruction. (Go figure!) This was done after Muscovy ducks were found crossing the border into three counties in Texas. Fortunately, the public outcry was loud enough to make the FWS make an exception for food use. However, the new regulations do not make it lawful to release Muscovies into the wild. According to the FWS: The Muscovy duck now occurs naturally in southern Texas, so it has been added to the list of birds protected by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. This species has been introduced in other areas throughout the U.S. where it is an exotic species, and it is widely raised in captivity for food. To control the spread of Muscovy Ducks in areas outside their natural range, new Service regulations allow for control of feral Muscovy ducks, their nests, and eggs in areas outside their natural range (50 CFR 21.54). Other regulations finalized at the same time as the listing and Control Order that restrict possession of Muscovy Ducks and require a permit to sell captive-bred Muscovy Ducks for food will not be administered at this time because the Service plans to revise those regulations in the near future. Read the fact sheet and the final rule. [vii] In addition, state and local jurisdictions and even homeowner associations may also restrict Muscovy ownership. So, check your local laws and continue to check for updates in federal regulations as well. Utility Muscovy ducks are an excellent form of natural pest control. One theory holds that their name is actually derived from the Miskito coast of Central America. The Muscovies’ reputation for insect control alone may be why it has been introduced all over the world. Muscovies have been noted to snap insects out of the air until they are so full that they cannot move![viii] Muscovies are commonly used for insect control in barns. I have even noticed a difference on my property- the areas frequented by the Muscovies are almost free of mosquitoes. The far side of my property is not frequented and it is intolerable during parts of the summer. Muscovies eat practically any insect they can catch, some snakes, slugs, snails and even mice! To paraphrase Geoff Lawton – a slug problem is really a duck deficiency! Muscovies have also been derided for leaving waste excrement all over areas where they frequent, but I prefer to think of them as fertilizer machines. Acquiring Muscovy ducks Muscovies are common and can be purchased through mail-order suppliers of day-old hatchlings, from farm supply shops, chicken-swaps and classified ads, like Craig’s List (where I purchased mine). Prices range depending on age and can range from $3 for a day old hatchling to $6 for a two-week old duckling. Since the Muscovy has been domesticated for centuries, there are different strains that highlight their foraging capability, cold-tolerance, friendliness, aggressiveness, meat production capabilities, egg laying capabilities and visual aesthetics. Homesteaders should look for strains that retain their self-sufficient traits (i.e. not selected for commercial food production or show) or wild/feral strains. For your flock’s next generation, Muscovy eggs hatch in 35 days. Muscovies tend to make excellent brooders and mothers, and are even better than an incubator. They will successfully hatch other duck eggs and chicken eggs, also. If you are acquiring hatchlings or ducklings, do not let them get rained on or allow them to go swimming for the first six weeks as they lack the oils to shed water. Ducklings brooded by a mother duck, however can go swimming as mother sees fit since her oils will transfer to the ducklings. Additional Reading __________________________

Goldman Sachs COO Gary Cohn. Reuters/ Ueslei Marcelino The demise of startups with billion-dollar valuations has been the talk of the town all week at the World Economic Forum in Davos. But, swimming against the tide as usual, Goldman Sachs sees opportunity. Many companies that have reached that coveted "unicorn" status are now struggling to raise funds as investors worry about valuations. Venture capitalist Jim Breyer, for example, expects to see "blood in the water" this year, while Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff predicted "a lot of dead unicorns." Then there's Goldman Sachs. "We think this is a great opportunity for us," said President and COO Gary Cohn in a Bloomberg TV interview on Friday. He said that 2016 "may not be as easy" for startups looking to raise cash, and "that's an opportunity for us at Goldman Sachs — we'll go out and raise capital for them." Goldman Sachs has been a leader among Wall Street banks looking to adapt to the evolving needs of tech companies. Last year the bank's global head of tech, media, and telecom banking, Dan Dees, told Business Insider his firm is developing new teams to work with tech companies at multiple "touch points," or stages, in their development — especially early on. That can mean helping companies go global or brand as private players — and, of course, it means helping them raise capital in private funding rounds, not just in initial public offerings. "The need for a broader set of services in their lifetimes prior to the IPO is evolving," Dees said at the time. "We have all the capabilities of the firm to connect the dots." Goldman also invests its own money in tech startups, and has backed companies like Uber, Dropbox, and Pinterest. A shakeout coming The big question Wall Street is now trying to answer is how many unicorns — and which ones — are destined to fail in 2016. Breyer predicted only 10% would survive. The New York Stock Exchange president Tom Farley on Friday told CNBC that a shakeout is coming for highly valued Silicon Valley startups. "There's the unicorns, many of whom are here in Davos, that are just fantastic companies. They're generating profits, their growth is explosive, and they're changing the way we live our lives," he said. "Those companies are going to be fine. It's that next batch that you have to watch — the ones that are losing a lot of money and don't have access to capital. They're are going to have to be clever in how they fund themselves and get ultimately to the public market." Cohn wouldn't make an exact prediction but said, "the marketplace will separate the winners from the losers. They will fund the winners more efficiently than they'll fund the companies whose business model is less secure." Here's Cohn's full interview with Bloomberg TV:

Don't Donate to the Salvation Army Those Bell-Ringers Are Raising Money for an Anti-Gay Organization—Donate Somewhere Else "As I'm sure you know, the Salvation Army actively supports the ban on gay marriage," a Stranger reader e-mailed me last week. "My boyfriend and I were discussing how unfortunate that is, because the people ringing the bells are everywhere, but I can no longer give them money. And yet I don't think it's fair to tell off the bell-ringers (who may have no idea and who have been given a much-needed job by this charity)." The Salvation Army does more—and it does far worse—than merely supporting the ban on gay marriage. Barack Obama supports the ban on same-sex marriage, if not DOMA. (It might be fairer to say that Obama isn't an opponent of marriage equality, he just plays one on TV.) The Salvation Army has lobbied to prevent federal money from going to cities or states with LGBT antidiscrimination laws and, even worse, it goes out of its way to discriminate against vulnerable LGBT people during moments of crisis. "When a former boyfriend and I were homeless, the Salvation Army insisted we break up before they'd offer assistance," writes gay blogger and activist Bil Browning. "We slept on the street instead and declined to break up as they demanded." Browning's experience isn't unique: "Three years ago, one of my community college students became homeless during the semester," Slog commenter greendyke wrote last month. "The only shelter in our Midwestern capital city with any openings for women and children was a SA shelter. This lesbian household was told they had two choices: One of them could live on the street and the shelter would take the other mom and the kids as a 'family,' or they could all sleep on the street... [That] evil organization will never get a cent of my money." Plenty more people have posted online testimonials of the Salvation Army's bigotry and sadism in action in California, Texas, and other states. Officially, the group claims that its services "are available to all who qualify, without regard to sexual orientation." But Salvationarmyusa.org—in a section titled "homosexuality"—says that church services are restricted to those "who accept and abide by the Salvation Army's doctrine and discipline." And that discipline, apparently, doesn't allow for gay people to have partners and families. Or food and shelter, if the Salvation Army can help it. How does the Salvation Army respond to these charges of discrimination? "An individual's sexuality is simply not a factor in whether or not we provide service," insisted Lt. Colonel David Hudson, chief secretary of Salvation Army's USA Western Territory, in an e-mail. While he acknowledges that the group is "an evangelical part of the universal Christian church," Hudson continues, "any instance of discrimination is in direct opposition to our core beliefs and is against all of our policy." Uh-huh. The examples of the Salvation Army advocating against civil-rights protections are legion, as are individual stories of anti-gay cruelty. "It's amazing to me that so many Christians have chastised me for advocating that people avoid the red kettles by claiming that it will hurt homeless and hungry (straight) people," Browning says in an e-mail. "They overlook the fact that the Salvation Army discriminates against LGBT people and has threatened to close soup kitchens in many cities if required to abide by nondiscrimination laws." And the money you refrain from tossing into the Salvation Army's red kettles? Donate it to charities that don't discriminate. "There are plenty of secular charities like Toys for Tots, Goodwill Industries, and the American Red Cross that could use the extra cash and don't discriminate against LGBT people," writes Browning. Or you could give to Northwest Harvest.

Monday 21st March 2016 "We can beat anyone, as long as we do whatever it takes." Essendon Football Club Advertisement As muscular sporting slogans go, it's a beauty. But for Essendon Football Club, it's become memorable for all the wrong reasons, symbolising the attitude that brought the Club undone. It was their motto as they prepared for the 2013 AFL season, just as the story of the Club's supplements program broke open, kicking off the biggest sports drug scandal in Australian history. Three years on, despite numerous reviews, investigations and court hearings, there are still questions the club has not answered. To this day, the players still don't know exactly what they were given. "If I don't get this information and I don't get the answers to the questions I'm asking, it's never going to go away." Hal Hunter, Former Essendon Football Club Player This week Four Corners takes you inside one former Essendon player's battle to find out just what was in the supplements he was directed to take. "They're not even willing to tell him what (the supplement) is, they're not even willing to tell him that they don't know." Lawyer As a rookie with the club, Hal Hunter joined the other more senior players in the supplements program. He gives an eye witness account of what it was like to be part of the regime and what went on once the scandal broke. "Now (they're) trying to make him pay for the privilege of finding out." Lawyer He describes how the Club has stonewalled his attempts to obtain his medical records prompting him to take action in court, the first Essendon player to do so. Hal Hunter's case gives an insight into the oversight of the club and its approach to the duty of care it owed all its players. "I don't understand how an employer can treat an employee in that way." Player Agent Whatever it Takes, reported by Quentin McDermott and presented by Sarah Ferguson, goes to air on Monday 21st March at 8.30pm EDT. It is replayed on Tuesday 22nd at 10.00am and Wednesday 23rd at 11pm. It can also be seen on ABC News 24 on Saturday at 8.00pm, ABC iview and at abc.net.au/4corners. Transcript Whatever It Takes - 21 March 2016 SARAH FERGUSON, PRESENTER: Hello and welcome to Four Corners. I'm Sarah Ferguson. The footy season gets under way this week and few clubs in the modern era have faced a tougher start to the AFL season than the once mighty Essendon. In January, 34 past and present players were banned by the Court of Arbitration for Sport, for taking prohibited substances in 2012. Back then they followed the instructions of their employer to take part in a supplements program run by sports scientist Stephen Dank. Last week a New South Wales jury delivered a damning judgement against Dank for giving dangerous peptides to players at the Cronulla rugby league club in 2011 - accelerating the death from cancer of one player, Jon Mannah. So what about the Essendon players? Four years on, they still don't know exactly what was in the pills and injections they were given. Now one former rookie from the 2012 squad has decided to take on Essendon and the AFL, demanding answers to the obvious questions: "What exactly did you give me? And what harm could it do?" This report from Quentin McDermott: (Footage of Hal Hunter jogging by the banks of the Yarra River) QUENTIN MCDERMOTT, REPORTER: Hal Hunter's latest battle is preying on his mind. As a football player he was tough and courageous. But now he's at war with the club and the league he once loved. HAL HUNTER: They've been fairly disrespectful. They've treated me like I was the youngest player, I was a rookie, I wasn't important and I'm still not important. Um, they're treating it like it's an issue that's just going to go away. But for me it's something that: if I don't get this information and I don't get the answers to the questions I'm asking, it's never going to go away. QUENTIN MCDERMOTT: Today Hal Hunter's going to court, where he's locked in battle with his former club, Essendon, and the mighty AFL. HAL HUNTER: I fulfilled my part of the contract. I went to work every day. I did the training. I sacrificed areas of my personal life to try and benefit the team to achieve the success we wanted to achieve. And then, when I asked them to fulfil their portion of the contract, for them to turn around and say, "I don't think so," was obviously really disappointing. QUENTIN MCDERMOTT: So to put it another way: has the club fulfilled its duty of care to you? HAL HUNTER: No. QUENTIN MCDERMOTT: Has the club been open and transparent with you? HAL HUNTER: No. QUENTIN MCDERMOTT: Has the AFL? HAL HUNTER: No. QUENTIN MCDERMOTT: He's taking the fight up to one of sport's most powerful bodies. PATRICK KEYZER, BARRISTER AND LAW PROFESSOR: The AFL is an enormously powerful organisation in Melbourne. It's not like rugby league in New South Wales or Queensland; it's quite different. If you can imagine State of Origin, ah, but, um, nine months of the year: ah, that gives you an idea of, of the ah, of the cultural authority, if you like, of the AFL in Melbourne. I mean, it really is phenomenal. It's, it's almost like a religion. They're a multi-billion dollar organisation. You know, it's a massive industry. (Amateur video footage of Hal Hunter playing Australian rules football, 2008) VOICE (off-screen): Get on it, fellas! QUENTIN MCDERMOTT (voiceover): This isn't how Hal Hunter's love affair with football was meant to end. (Hal Hunter takes a mark (catches football). Sound of applause and cheers. Footage ends) HAL HUNTER: I can't exactly remember exactly when I fell in love with it. But I do remember that during primary school it started to become a big part of my life. And then I started to sort of gain aspirations of pursuing it as a career, um, as a lot of young kids would. (Amateur video footage of Hal Hunter playing Australian rules football, 2008) VOICE (off-screen): Come on, Hal. (Footage ends) MELITA STEVENS, HAL HUNTER'S MOTHER: It was very affirming for him. He was always a bigger-than-life toddler and then young boy as well. When he got onto playing football it was amazing for him. (Amateur video footage of Hal Hunter playing Australian rules football, 2008) VOICE (off-screen): Come on, Hunter. (Hal Hunter kicks goal) VOICE (off-screen): Goal! (Footage ends) PATRICK KEYZER: A phenomenal athlete and just so driven. You know, just a, um, ah, really driven by the sport. (Amateur video footage post-game, 2008) COACH: Number 31, Hal Hunter. (Teammates and crowd cheer. Hal Hunter collects medal. Footage ends) QUENTIN MCDERMOTT: In 2011 at just 18 Hal Hunter hit the big time, when he was drafted by Essendon. (Excerpt from promotional video, Essendon Football Club) SKIP THOMPSON: Hal Hunter, welcome to the Bombers, mate. HAL HUNTER: Thank you very much. It's great to be here. Um, well, when my name got called out it was one of the best experiences of my life and... SKIP THOMPSON: Yeah? HAL HUNTER: Yeah, it's been great ever since I got here. SKIP THOMPSON: Like winning Tattslotto? HAL HUNTER: Yeah, better. SKIP THOMPSON: Yeah, better. It is. HAL HUNTER: Ah, I'll hopefully play some good footy and crack into the senior side and, ah, have a good season. SKIP THOMPSON: Fantastic. (Excerpt ends) HAL HUNTER: It was obviously my goal for a long time to become a professional footballer and then to have that as my career. To be living that: I was loving it. I did fit in really well with the playing group, the staff. Obviously the club had a lot of history, a lot of heritage, um, and that was something that, you know, everyone sort of bought into as a playing group. JAMES HIRD, COACH 2011-13 AND 2015, ESSENDON FOOTBALL CLUB (Sep. 2010): We know that there's enormous upside if we get this right; also enormous downside if we don't. SUPER: 11 September 2011 QUENTIN MCDERMOTT: When Hal Hunter joined Essendon, James Hird, a legend of the game, was back at the Bombers and gunning for premiership glory. PETER LARKINS, DR., SPORTS AND EXERCISE PHYSICIAN: He was the Messiah that came back to coach at the footy club: Brownlow medallist, one of the best players that I've ever seen play football personally. SUPER: 11 September 2011 (Footage of Essendon playing against Carlton, 11 September 2011, Channel 7) BRUCE MACAVANEY, COMMENTATOR (Channel 7, 11 Sep. 2011): This is Carrazzo, 48 metres out and... QUENTIN MCDERMOTT: James Hird's first year as coach ended badly. In September 2011, the Bombers lost to Carlton by 62 points in an elimination final. BRUCE MACAVANEY (Channel 7, 11 Sep. 2011): It's riding and riding: it's a goal. It's Carlton's day. (Footage ends) QUENTIN MCDERMOTT: Fuelled by this crushing defeat, the club acted to turn things around. A new supplements program was introduced. HAL HUNTER: I can't remember specifically the first time I got my first supplement pill box for my fortnightly pills, or the first time I got blood taken, or the first time I received any injections. But I do remember that it wasn't like: day one, you know, "Here's all your pills." You know, there were several meetings about: "This is the program we're gonna have for the upcoming season. These are the reasons why we're going to do it." And then after that we slowly progressed into being in the program. QUENTIN MCDERMOTT: At a formal presentation given by sports scientist Stephen Dank, players were told the program was a vital part of their preparation for 2012. HAL HUNTER: It was presented to the players that it was a cutting-edge program and these were the things that we had to do if we wanted to achieve the ultimate success in football, which is obviously winning a premiership. And as a first-year player I really didn't know anything else. I didn't know what a normal supplements program looked like at an AFL club, so I just assumed that, you know, I was at Essendon, one of the big four clubs. And then, you know, this was what happened. QUENTIN MCDERMOTT: Were you told that the supplements were perfectly safe? HAL HUNTER: We were told that they were WADA compliant. QUENTIN MCDERMOTT: As part of the program, players were given containers of tablets and capsules to take home. Over the ensuing season, at least 38 different supplements were provided to the players. HAL HUNTER: I had several conversations with Stephen Dank. He was obviously the guy running the program. He was the person who I got all of my, um, tablets and pills off, um, for my fortnightly pill box. Um, I don't remember specifically having any conversations about the specifics of any of the supplements we were receiving. But yes, obviously I did have interactions with him at the club. {You have to have quite a number of people in it for it to be statistically...} QUENTIN MCDERMOTT: Hal Hunter showed the capsules to his mother Melita Stevens, a scientist with a background in public health microbiology. {Well, there's no evidence to show that it actually...} QUENTIN MCDERMOTT: She examined the scientific literature on the pills, which included a herbal supplement called Tribulus, which claimed to boost levels of testosterone. {So it's a plant extract.} MELITA STEVENS: I said, "This is not going to harm you, but I'm not convinced it's going to aid you." And he did arc up and say that, um, what would I know because I'm not a sports scientist?; and that there were sports scientists there that knew better than- knew, knew what was going on and they'd devised this program. HAL HUNTER: I dismissed it as: "Mum, you've got no idea," um, which in hindsight I look back now and I feel like an idiot. Um... but yeah, I sort of said, "Mum, you know, this is the program and it's e- it's an elite club." You know, "It's Essendon Football Club. You don't, you don't work there. You don't know. You're not a sports scientist. You're not an athlete." Um, so I really just brushed it aside. QUENTIN MCDERMOTT: Some months after starting his course of capsules, Hal Hunter's blood was tested. Hundreds of blood tests were carried out on Essendon's players to measure levels of testosterone, growth hormone and other markers. HAL HUNTER: I remember getting blood taken on several occasions at the club. But what they were for, where they went, where the results were sent: I honestly can't say. QUENTIN MCDERMOTT: So none of it was explained to you? HAL HUNTER: No. I just assumed that it was part of the regular tests that we would have. We had tests on our hearts; we obviously had a lot of tests on our, you know, physical wellbeing. And I just assumed at the time that it was part of that whole program. ROBIN WILLCOURT,DR., HORMONE AND NUTRITION SPECIALIST: I knew Steve Dank and he and I were working on some things together and talked frequently about things that would be great to do for the Essendon players. QUENTIN MCDERMOTT: Melbourne doctor Robin Willcourt, who runs an anti-ageing clinic, signed many of the blood request forms for Mr Dank. ROBIN WILLCOURT: Steve had asked me on a couple of occasions to write up blood request forms for the players, because they were doing a study on what the effects of a very intense training program would do to their cardiovascular and other health, over the course of a season. QUENTIN MCDERMOTT: Player consent forms later obtained by the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority, ASADA, show that Stephen Dank planned to give the playing group up to 8,000 doses of Tribulus and 16,000 doses of the cows' milk extract colostrum in 2012. QUENTIN MCDERMOTT: Colostrum: how effective is that in helping an athlete get better or perform better? ROBIN WILLCOURT: Mm. Well, have you ever heard of snake oil? Um, ab- it's a good food. Um, it's great for newborn babies. Calves love it. Ah, I think that's about all I can say. QUENTIN MCDERMOTT: The most controversial part of the supplements program was the peptide injection regime. Player consent forms show that Stephen Dank planned to inject players with up to 1,500 doses of an anti-obesity drug, AOD-9604, which may help build muscle; and a peptide referred to only as 'thymosin'. BRADLEY CLARK, SPORTS SUPPLEMENTS CONSULTANT: It's a peptide. It's an amino acid sequence which comes from the thymus. Within the thymus you've got, um, what, I think we know of eight or nine different peptides at the moment: thymosin beta-4, thymosin alpha-1, thymic protein; um, there's a, there's a lot. QUENTIN MCDERMOTT (to Hal Hunter): Did anyone at the club ever talk to you about thymosin? HAL HUNTER: I remember in- it getting mentioned. Um, there was a consent form for it. I do remember that it got spoken about. QUENTIN MCDERMOTT: Now as I understand it, there's thymomodulin, which isn't banned; and thymosin beta-4, which is. Do you remember what type of thymosin they talked to you about? HAL HUNTER: I don't remember. QUENTIN MCDERMOTT (voiceover): In 2012 thymosin beta 4 and AOD 9604 were both banned, but were not specifically named in WADA's list of prohibited substances. Stephen Dank discussed this grey area with Essendon's high-performance coach, Dean Robinson. In texts discussing a range of supplements, the two men agreed not to use the term 'peptides'. TEXT MESSAGE FROM DEAN ROBINSON TO STEPHEN DANK (voiceover): Can we just call them amino acids? Or something of the kind? TEXT MESSAGE FROM STEPHEN DANK TO DEAN ROBINSON (voiceover): Yes. That is all they are. An amino acid blend. QUENTIN MCDERMOTT: The safety of these supplements, and whether they would damage his health, was a key consideration for Hal Hunter. HAL HUNTER: I don't drink. I don't smoke. I don't take drugs. So when we were told about all the supplements and what we were going to be given, obviously I was happy enough to partake in the program from the information I'd been given that it was something that wouldn't do me any ill-health. It was, um, certified by a doctor. It was all regulated medication. QUENTIN MCDERMOTT: But Hal Hunter was mistaken in believing that all the supplements were regulated, tested and approved for human use. ROBIN WILLCOURT: Some of them probably don't need much in the way of clinical testing because, like thymosin beta 4, it's a naturally occurring substance. AOD-9604: a naturally occurring part of growth hormone. And we know what they do very quickly. Ah, and, ah, by knowing what they do very quickly, they don't require 100 years of testing, like some other drugs might well have needed. BEN MCDEVITT, CEO, AUSTRALIAN SPORTS ANTI-DOPING AUTHORITY: When we start to talk about substances being administered - these being substances that have not been through clinical trials, ah, and substances which are unapproved for human use - then surely, you know, that's got to ring alarm bells. And in my view, it is just extraordinarily unacceptable that a regime could go ahead with such uncertainty, ah, as to the long-term health effects; ah, the side effects; the implications of having injections of unknown substances into healthy athletes. SHANE CHARTER, SPORTS BIOCHEMIST: Yeah, I was a bodybuilder and a power-lifter for 20 years and as such, ah, I had experience with performance-enhancing drugs. QUENTIN MCDERMOTT: The man Stephen Dank used to source his peptides was Shane Charter, a biochemist and former bodybuilder who in 2007 was jailed for importing pseudoephedrine into Australia. SHANE CHARTER: I sourced a range of peptides that was requested, ah, through a meeting with Stephen Dank, Nima Alavi and also through the clinic that they have in Sydney. They made a list. They even emailed through the list as to projected volumes and quantities required. And thymosin alpha and thymosin beta-4 were both on that list. QUENTIN MCDERMOTT: In November 2011 Shane Charter travelled to China on Dank's behalf to procure the peptides. Charter set up a supply chain for future orders with a company in Shanghai called GL Biochem. SHANE CHARTER: I had an office in Shanghai. And that office had already been through the process of quality control and sourced a company that was run by an American at the time. QUENTIN MCDERMOTT: So this company was GL Biochem. Is that right? SHANE CHARTER: Yes. QUENTIN MCDERMOTT: So what level of quality were the products you sourced from them? SHANE CHARTER: They were ni - ah, 98 per cent. QUENTIN MCDERMOTT: And is that sufficiently pure for human consumption? SHANE CHARTER: Ah, they were not designed for human consumption. They were not purchased for human consumption. QUENTIN MCDERMOTT: Shane Charter had to sign an agreement before GL Biochem would release the products to him. (To Shane Charter) Isn't it the case that they asked you to sign an assurance for them that these products would not be used for humans; they w- they were not for human consumption? SHANE CHARTER: They did ask that. Yes. Correct. QUENTIN MCDERMOTT: A- and you signed that? SHANE CHARTER: Correct. {So this is the style of product that you might find from a compounding pharmacist or a...} QUENTIN MCDERMOTT: Bradley Clark is a scientist and consultant on drugs in sport, with a background in the development and manufacture of supplements. (To Bradley Clark) If you wanted to source peptides intended for human consumption, would you get them from GL Biochem? BRADLEY CLARK: No. QUENTIN MCDERMOTT: Why not? BRADLEY CLARK: Um... purity issues and governance issues. Now, that's not an aspersion on GL Biochem at all. Um, to obtain peptides for use in humans, it has to come from a pharmaceutical company, not a, not a research company. QUENTIN MCDERMOTT: And GL Biochem is just a research company? BRADLEY CLARK: A r-, they produce research chemicals. QUENTIN MCDERMOTT: Whether the supplements they were given were fit for human consumption seemingly never occurred to Hal Hunter or his teammates. (To Hal Hunter) Did you talk to the other players about the supplements? And if so, did they have any concerns? HAL HUNTER: I didn't personally have any conversations with any other players about, um, the program we were on. Um, I didn't have any reason to question it or to think that it wasn't the right thing to be doing. QUENTIN MCDERMOTT: The peptides Shane Charter bought from China included thymosin beta-4, which helps with tissue repair, and six growth-factor peptides. All, in 2012, were banned by WADA. SHANE CHARTER: At the end of the day: if they're banned, they're banned. And if they shouldn't be used, they shouldn't be used. (Footage of Stephen Dank in his front yard, carrying box. He locks his front gate) REPORTER: Did they take thymosin beta-4? STEPHEN DANK, SPORTS {}: No, they didn't. REPORTER: They didn't? STEPHEN DANK: They didn't. REPORTER 2: AOD? STEPHEN DANK: As I said, I'm not commenting on anything, boys. So I'll just leave it to the barristers for today. Thanks very much. REPORTER: So these reports are wrong: that 11 players took thymosin beta-4? STEPHEN DANK: Certainly are. Thank you very much. (Stephen Dank walks away. Footage ends) QUENTIN MCDERMOTT (to Ben McDevitt): Can I ask you about the raw materials that were imported by Shane Charter from China, from GL Biochem? Does ASADA believe that those raw materials were compounded into products which were then injected into Essendon players? BEN MCDEVITT: Absolutely. (Footage of Essendon playing against Carlton, April 2012, Fox Sports) SPORTS COMMENTATOR 1 (Fox Sports): So he runs around, opens up the angle. And that is a terrific start for Essendon. QUENTIN MCDERMOTT (voiceover): In April 2012, it looked like Stephen Dank's supplements program had begun to pay off. SPORTS COMMENTATOR 2 (Fox Sports): Kicks: advantage the call. Outstanding Bombers. QUENTIN MCDERMOTT (voiceover): Essendon went into their fourth-round game with Carlton undefeated, scoring an emphatic win against the team that had bundled them out of an elimination final seven months earlier. SPORTS COMMENTATOR 2 (Fox Sports): How quick was that? (Footage ends) (Footage of exterior of HyperMED clinic, South Yarra, Melbourne) QUENTIN MCDERMOTT: But the pressure to win led Stephen Dank to experiment with different treatments, including oxygen therapy at this Melbourne clinic. (To Graeme Little) Who at Essendon Football Club was introducing the team to you, to HyperMED? Was it Dean Robinson? Stephen Dank? Who was it? GRAEME LITTLE, ADVISER TO HYPERMED: It was, ah, it was definitely Steve Danks who actually walked in off the street, would you believe? Um, ah-ah about two weeks before the round three match against Carlton. And, ah, you know, there's been a lot said about Steve, but he was aware of hyperbaric's ability to help recovery. HAL HUNTER: You sit in the chamber. It's pressurised. Then they pump, ah, pure oxygen into the chambers. And then it circulates into your blood more rapidly: is what I had led to believe they do. QUENTIN MCDERMOTT: At HyperMED, at least 20 players - not including Hal Hunter - were also injected with cerebrolysin, a peptide derived from pigs' brains which is used to treat Alzheimer's. Hal Hunter recalls being injected with another unknown substance, labelled as amino acids. HAL HUNTER: I'd be directed to go to HyperMED and do a hyperbaric chamber. And then afterwards, I'd be directed to have my amino acid injection. QUENTIN MCDERMOTT: Did they give you any more detail about what the amino acids were and where they came from? HAL HUNTER: No. (Footage of Essendon playing against Carlton, August 2012) SPORTS COMMENTATOR 3 (Fox Sports): ...kick the last goal. Could he kick one from the impossible angle? Impossible... QUENTIN MCDERMOTT (voiceover): Despite the supplements program, the Bombers crashed in the second half of the season and missed the finals. SPORTS COMMENTATOR 3 (Fox Sports): Blues get another! What an afternoon. (Footage ends) QUENTIN MCDERMOTT: But worse was to come: in February 2013, the Essendon scandal broke. HAL HUNTER: We were called into the club and we had a team meeting in the auditorium. And we got told that some things had happened, um, that the club had uncovered; and that we would be self-reporting that afternoon and doing the press conference. Um, and that was the first time I had really thought there was anything to worry about, or had even thought that we'd been doing anything that wasn't the right thing to be doing. (Footage of press conference, February 2013) JAMES HIRD (Feb. 2013): I'm very disappointed: shocked, I think, is probably the best word. Um, we believe that, you know, as a leader of the football department, as the coach: take full responsibility for what happens within our football department. And I believe we'd followed processes. We've put in place the right sort of processes. Ah, my understanding is that we worked within the, the framework that was given to us, um, by the AFL and by WADA. And I'm shocked to be sitting here, really. QUENTIN MCDERMOTT: Hal Hunter's first thought was of his mother. HAL HUNTER: When I found out that it was in relation to the pills we'd been taking and the injections, the offsite facilities... It's actually a funny story: I told the player welfare manager that my Mum would be furious, because she had voiced, um, to me her, um, concerns with the program, um, 12 months prior. Um, and I just thought that it was a little bit ironic, um, that, you know, the thing she had said: there'd been an issue. QUENTIN MCDERMOTT: So you went home and ate humble pie? HAL HUNTER (laughs): Yes. MELITA STEVENS: I think he was, he was a little bit more frightened at the beginning about what my reaction was going to be, more so than what the, um, implications of the, um, supplements program was going to be. QUENTIN MCDERMOTT: One by one the players, coaches and club officials were called in for questioning by ASADA investigators. When Hal Hunter and his mother attended his interview, they were shocked by what they heard. MELITA STEVENS: They did start the questioning by saying, "We're going to tell you something and you're probably not going to be very happy about it." And then they explained that the injections that Hal had been given at HyperMED: I think it said six or seven injections on the list. They said it was probably an amino acid, but nobody really knows. It was- belonged to a, um, different patient: a muscular dystrophy patient who had visited HyperMED; and that, um, that person had purchased these, um, medication in Mexico and it had been left at the clinic. And that's what Hal - and the other players that were there that had injections - were injected with. HAL HUNTER: So when he mentioned that they think the supplements I was administered at HyperMED were originally sourced in Mexico and were for another patient's illness, it was the first I'd ever heard of it. And obviously I wasn't that happy about it. Yeah, It rattled me a little bit. MELITA STEVENS: The fact that it belonged to somebody else; the fact that it was purchased outside of the country: he was very upset about that. I was upset because, because there's no chain of custody for those sorts of medications. And it sort of: it's, it's, you know, of course highly unethical to inject somebody with somebody else's medicine and to not have the appropriate controls in place, or the forms, or the provenance of those compounds. QUENTIN MCDERMOTT: The client with muscular dystrophy who'd imported the amino acids was a patient of Dr Robin Willcourt. (To Robin Willcourt) So there was talk of a supplement which was bought over the counter in Mexico and administered to some of the players. What's your direct knowledge of that? ROBIN WILLCOURT: Well, that's just rubbish. Ah, the person concerned picked up this, ah... ah... what do you call it? A concoction, if you will, of amino acids with vitamin B in it. And that's used in lots of detox programs. It- there's nothing bizarre and strange about that. And it came from New Mexico: so thank those people for getting their geography screwed up. It wasn't Mexico - I'd be worried about that if it came from there; it was New Mexico which happens to be, for those who don't know, a state of the United States. QUENTIN MCDERMOTT: ASADA believes the concoction did come from Mexico. And that's not all. (To Ben McDevitt) Is it also the case that your investigators believe it may have been a veterinary supplement: an equine supplement? BEN MCDEVITT: Well, my understanding is that, ah, according to the evidence of one of the players, ah, they had at some point seen a l- a label on a jar which said, ah: "For equine use only." QUENTIN MCDERMOTT: This was another shock to Hal and his family. MELITA STEVENS: Well, maybe it was, you know, designed for horses and not people. QUENTIN MCDERMOTT: That has been suggested to us. MELITA STEVENS: That it was for horses? Yes. Well, th- that- and that- Then you get to issues about concentration, because if you look at the size of a horse compared to the size of - I mean, they're big boys, let's be clear: those football players. But if you were looking at something where you wanted to get an effective dose for a treatment for a horse: if you gave that to a person, um, there could be consequences, I imagine. BEN MCDEVITT: Let me give you some information about the sort of clinical trial… QUENTIN MCDERMOTT: ASADA CEO Ben McDevitt believes Essendon's players signed up to a program which in reality treated them as guinea pigs - as shown by this exchange between Stephen Dank and compounding pharmacist Nima Alavi when Essendon had started losing games. BEN MCDEVITT (reads): Stephen Dank to Nima Alavi: "I need some help with this football team." Nima: "Don't worry, buddy. We can start them on the cocktails next week. When is the next game?" We then have some further discussion about whether or not this particular cocktail might work. Nima: "Very much so. It's amazing and being used in the USA for elite horse racing. I can even put the thymosin and AOD into it." Stephen Dank: "Perfect. Let's get going. Let us test a couple of players." QUENTIN MCDERMOTT: What does that tell you about Mr. Dank's professionalism and, indeed, the risks that he was prepared to take with Essendon's players? BEN MCDEVITT: Well, I think it shows an extraordinary lack of concern for players' health and welfare. It's a clear indicator of the absolutely experimental nature of this. And for somebody who professes to have concern for the welfare of players and to be a friend of the players - and certainly has done them no favours. PETER JESS, SPORTS AGENT: People who say that there is no health consequence: then I'm happy for them to come into a clinic and be injected with exactly the same stuff and let them wait for 10 years to see if there is. And then we have a control group. QUENTIN MCDERMOTT: Peter Jess, who manages the banned player Nathan Lovett-Murray, sees Essendon and the AFL as the real culprits in the supplements scandal. PETER JESS: The real cheats are not the players but the people who have perpetrated this on the players. And they should be the ones who are going through this process and excluded from their livelihood. And that includes the people in the AFL, the people at the club and everybody that is associated with this. We've got the wrong group. It is not the players who should be sitting and being judged: it should be the people who let this happen. QUENTIN MCDERMOTT: Four months after being interviewed by ASADA, as he struggled with injuries and as scandal engulfed the club, Hal Hunter was delisted. He had never made it to the senior team. HAL HUNTER: When they didn't renew my contract, obviously my football career at Essendon was over, um, and I was devastated. QUENTIN MCDERMOTT: In October 2014, still shell-shocked by ASADA's revelations, Hal Hunter asked Essendon for details of the supplements he'd been given. (To Hal Hunter) When you and your family and your legal team went to the club and asked them to answer those questions, what did they do? HAL HUNTER: Um, firstly they asked me what the damage to me was. And then they refused to give me any information, um, about the supplements I received. JIM CONSTANTINOU, FAMILY LAWYER: That to me is the most reprehensible part of the whole saga, so far as Hal was concerned. He doesn't know what he was given. He therefore doesn't know whether to have concerns about his health or not. And he wonders each day whether the fact that he was given supplements may rear its head in a particular way that he doesn't- is unaware of. QUENTIN MCDERMOTT: It took the club eight more months to hand over Hal Hunter's medical records, but none of these detailed the supplements he had been given. HAL HUNTER: There's been lots and lots of delays. They seriously questioned why I needed them; what my motives were. You know, they claimed I was a disgruntled ex-employee. Um, they've tried to brush me off like I'm not important. Um, and you know, it's been almost a year-and-a-half and I still don't have any answers to the questions I'm asking. And I'm no closer to finding out what I was given. QUENTIN MCDERMOTT: Two months after handing over his medical records, Essendon unearthed further records relating to Hal Hunter's supplements regime. In those documents was only one signed consent form for a single supplement, Tribulus. The club hadn't been able to show any formal consent for the injections Hal Hunter received at HyperMED. (To James Hunter) James, I'm right, aren't I, that this single line on this single page, um, from HyperMED is the only information that Essendon Football Club has given you about what Hal was injected with at HyperMED? JAMES HUNTER, HAL HUNTER'S FATHER: Yeah, that's correct. QUENTIN MCDERMOTT: And-and, and what, if anything, does it say about the injections themselves? JAMES HUNTER: Er, well, it acknowledges that there were injections, but it gives absolutely no detail. If- if anything, this is an invoicing record. It's probably the best way to describe it. QUENTIN MCDERMOTT: So the only description is up at the top: amino acid? JAMES HUNTER: Correct. QUENTIN MCDERMOTT: Four Corners approached HyperMED and was able to obtain previously unseen records on Hal Hunter's behalf. But even these are unhelpful. (To James Hunter) The level of detail, even in these documents from HyperMED, is, is pretty sparse, isn't it? JAMES HUNTER: Yeah, that's right. I mean, they refer to them as the "injectables": that's here in the documents. "Daily injectables." But again: from Hal's point of view there's no further detail on exactly what were in these, ah, injections; um, where they came from; ah, where they were sourced; um, why they were given. It almost raises more concerns that there was just no detail here. And the players were really in the dark about what they were being given. QUENTIN MCDERMOTT: While Stephen Dank insists that no risk attached to the peptides the players were injected with, other sports scientists disagree. It's a highly contentious area. One peptide which causes concern with some scientists is the peptide which led to Essendon's players being banned: thymosin beta-4. BRADLEY CLARK: The positive effects of thymosin beta-4 are cell regeneration and repair, in a manner similar to an anabolic steroid. QUENTIN MCDERMOTT: What are the possible dangers? BRADLEY CLARK: Um... cancer, I guess; um, accelerated mutagenic response to growth factors. That's a, it's a complex term but it means that you're photocopying photocopies of photocopies. There's an error: it turns to cancer. (Footage of Peter Harcourt addressing 'Anti-Doping in Sports' conference, FIFA headquarters, Zurich, November 2013) PETER HARCOURT, DR., MEDICAL DIRECTOR, AFL (Nov. 2013): There was a lack of documentation of substance use... QUENTIN MCDERMOTT (voiceover): The potential cancer risk of some peptides was highlighted by the AFL's chief medical officer, Dr Peter Harcourt, in an address he gave to an anti-doping conference in 2013. PETER HARCOURT (Nov. 2013): My job now is to work out a program to monitor the players for the next five to 10 years, because they were given such exotic substances, many of them growth factors, which means that we're looking at potential hormonal issues or cancers. So now we, we have to go through a process of looking after these 35-odd players, just to make sure that nothing really nasty happened to them from, from this crazy activity that, um, individuals allowed to, ah, to occur at the club. (Footage ends) PETER LARKINS: We've always said there's a potential for even cancers to grow. If you're stimulating your body with a stimulant chemical that makes your cells multiply an- and, and, you know, to do more things that they weren't designed to do, we may do that. QUENTIN MCDERMOTT: Last week, in a Supreme Court defamation action, a jury found that Stephen Dank had administered "dangerous and cancer-causing supplements" to members of a Sydney NRL team, Cronulla, thereby exposing them to risk. The jury found that by administering dangerous peptides to rugby league player Jon Mannah, when his cancer was in remission, Stephen Dank had accelerated his death from cancer in 2013. The jury found that Mr Dank had acted with "reckless indifference" to Jon Mannah's life and his conduct was "absolutely indefensible". (Footage of Stephen Dank leaving court house, March. A group of reporters approach him) STEPHEN DANK: Good afternoon, boys. QUENTIN MCDERMOTT: So, Mr Dank, that's a very bad result indeed for you, isn't it? STEPHEN DANK: Oh, not really. Not really. QUENTIN MCDERMOTT: More importantly, it's shattered your reputation, hasn't it? STEPHEN DANK: No, it hasn't. I'm fine. I'm fine. QUENTIN MCDERMOTT: And how about the peptides you gave... STEPHEN DANK: I'm not, I'm not o... QUENTIN MCDERMOTT: ...to Essendon players? Did they damage their health? STEPHEN DANK: I'm not offering you any more comment. I'm not offering you any more comment. QUENTIN MCDERMOTT: Shouldn't you be addressing these questions, Mr Dank? STEPHEN DANK: Oh, I don't want to. QUENTIN MCDERMOTT: They're very important questions, aren't they? Let me ask you about Hal Hunter, Mr Dank, because… STEPHEN DANK: Mate, there is no more comments, thanks. PETER LARKINS: I mean, the great fear in a young developing athlete is: what if they develop skin tumours? What if they develop testicular tumours? So they're the areas, I guess, that we, we say: when we don't know the content of a supplement - ah, particularly an injected supplement - that there are longer-term health risks that need to be monitored and watched out for, going forward, clearly. BELLA DERHAM, HAL HUNTER'S GIRLFRIEND: He just sort of seemed a bit down all the time and... QUENTIN MCDERMOTT: The uncertainty of not knowing what he was injected with - and its long-term effects - has preyed on Hal Hunter's mind and his girlfriend Bella's. BELLA DERHAM: The biggest fear is probably for Hal's health and wellbeing, and if it will take a toll on any of that. And also starting a family: um, that's something that's at the back of your mind - obviously not any time soon, but in the future - and if that will play a role in it at, at all. HAL HUNTER: The saddest thing for me is seeing the effect that it has on the people around me. QUENTIN MCDERMOTT: 'Cause it's obviously had a big impact on your relationships? HAL HUNTER: Yeah. I'm well aware of how hard it would be to deal with for my partner Bella, for my parents, for my brother. And that's probably: yeah, the, the saddest bit for me is that... (sighs) sorry. (Fights tears) QUENTIN MCDERMOTT: Professor Ian Coyle provided a psychological assessment of Hal for his court action. IAN COYLE, PROF., PSYCHOLOGIST: If we wanted to devise a system of work - if it may be called that - to cause someone to be stressed and anxious, we would do exactly what has happened to Hal Hunter: inject them with something, don't tell them what it is and then just wait to see what happens. He's a human guinea pig. They're all human guinea pigs. QUENTIN MCDERMOTT: Last month, adding insult to injury, Essendon, one of the richest clubs in the AFL, asked a judge to order Hal Hunter to pay its legal costs. JIM CONSTANTINOU: To say that an employer should have the employee pay legal costs of the employer, in circumstances where the employee is seeking to ascertain what he was ingested with and what documents are in existence to prove or disprove that, is beyond belief. PATRICK KEYZER: I think everybody can identify with what's happened to the Hunters in this case. I mean, imagine if your child was injected with all this stuff. Not only do they not know what it is: they're not even willing to tell him. They're not even willing to tell him what it is. They're not even willing to tell him that they don't know. Ah and now, you know - and trying to make him pay for the privilege of finding out. I mean, it's, it's, it's shocking. QUENTIN MCDERMOTT: Hal and his family emerged from court devastated, after Essendon won an order for tens of thousands of dollars in legal costs. (Footage of Hal Hunter and Bella Derham emerging from court building) QUENTIN MCDERMOTT: Can you tell me what happened? HAL HUNTER: No, not at present. MELITA STEVENS: But it just shows to us that the club actually doesn't care about the players. They are setting an example. They're using Hal to say, "Don't fight us. We're going to fight you every step of the way." And it's grubby and it's petty that they have gone after a 22-year-old boy to pay their costs for something that they sh- they had a year to do and they did it the night before. QUENTIN MCDERMOTT: And it, it must be personally quite distressing? MELITA STEVENS: Oh, it's, it's terrible. It's very upsetting. JAMES HUNTER: Look, it's disappointing. It's frustrating. I feel really upset for Hal and, ah, and Mel. But we'll, ah, we'll keep heading on. We'll, we'll, ah, we'll fight this battle and it'll be fine. We'll get there. QUENTIN MCDERMOTT: For Hal Hunter, his days with Essendon are not a happy memory. HAL HUNTER: I don't play anymore. I'm not involved with the game at all anymore. And I don't watch it when it's on television. I'm hugely disappointed that what the AFL and Essendon put out in the media is hugely at odds with the reality of how they're treating the players - and in particular me, in my pursuit to find out what I was given. SARAH FERGUSON: In response to our questions, last night Essendon issued a statement saying they would no longer pursue Hal Hunter for legal costs. The family's fight continues. Next week we bring you the drama of our investigation into the scandal engulfing Malaysia's prime minister - including the question that led to the arrest of our reporter and cameraman. See you then. (Preview of next week's program) END Background Information RESPONSES & REPORTS Statement from Essendon Football Club - Following questions from Four Corners, Essendon Football Club has issued a statement apologising unreservedly for its governance failings in 2012, and acknowledging the supplements program was ill-conceived and the source of 'ongoing and immeasurable regret'. Read the questions and their statement here. [pdf] Response from the AFL - The AFL has responded to questions from Four Corners: "The AFL will ensure that the Essendon Football Club delivers on its responsibility to players, and will ensure that the medical protocol agreed to by the Players Association and the football club is fully delivered." Read the questions and their statement here. [pdf] Work Safe Statement in relation to Essendon Football Club sentence \| 28 Jan 2016 - "Essendon failed to provide a safe workplace for its players by failing to provide them with a safe system of work. It admitted its guilt to two charges, and the Court has now imposed what it considers to be an appropriate penalty." WADA's 2016 Prohibited List - The List identifies the substances and methods prohibited in- and out-of-competition, and in particular sports, and are classified by different categories. Media Release: The Court of Arbitration for Sport \| 11 Jan 2016 - The Court of Arbitration for Sport finds 34 Essendon players guilty of violating anti-doping rules and suspends them for two years. Read the summary of findings. [pdf] Read the full text of the judgement by the Court of Arbitration for Sport. [pdf] NEWS COVERAGE Essendon supplements saga: Former Bombers rookie fights to learn what he was injected with, by Four Corners \| ABC News \| 21 Mar 2016 - https://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-03-21/former-essendon-rookie-fights-to-learn-what-he-was-injected-with/7261818 Former Essendon Bomber sees 'direct link' between supplements and depression \| The Age \| 21 Mar 2016 - http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/exbomber-sees-direct-link-between-supplements-and-depression-20160320-gnmnqg.html Tim Watson says former Bomber Hal Hunter is not alone in anxiety \| Herald Sun \| 21 Mar 2016 - http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/teams/essendon/tim-watson-says-former-bomber-hal-hunter-is-not-alone-in-anxiety/news-story/84144ac93aebafab5dfe84fa7242d27c Essendon doping saga players continuing the fight in Switzerland to clear their names \| ABC News \| 11 Feb 2016 - https://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-02-11/essendon-players-supplements-appeal-aflpa/7158650 Past, present Essendon players launch appeal against CAS judgement to clear their names over supplements saga \| ABC News \| 11 Feb 2016 - https://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-02-10/essendon-players-launch-appeal-over-bans-imposed-by-cas/7156812 Former Essendon rookie Hal Hunter to sue club over supplements program \| The Age \| 10 Feb 2016 - www.theage.com.au/victoria/former-essendon-rookie-hal-hunter-to-sue-club-over-supplements-program-20160210-gmqeea.html Did Essendon players get a fair shake? By Adam Shwab \| Crikey \| 18 Jan 2016 - http://www.crikey.com.au/2016/01/18/did-essendon-players-get-a-fair-shake/ James Hird's best quotes on Essendon supplements saga and AFL player doping bans \| ABC News \| 18 Jan 2016 - https://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-01-17/james-hird-essendon-supplements-saga-quotes/7094138 Essendon supplements saga: 'Devastated' Bombers players exploring legal options after CAS decision, Jobe Watson says \| ABC News \| 14 Jan 2016 - https://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-01-13/essendon-bombers-players-devastated-by-cas-decision-jobe-watson/7086722 Essendon supplements saga: Players banned for 12 months after WADA appeal upheld by Court of Arbitration for Sport \| ABC Grandstand \| 13 Jan 2016 - https://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-01-12/cas-upholds-wada-appeal-essendon-anti-doping-verdict/7081874 OPINION Guilty: A devastating verdict for Essendon and its players, by Tracey Holmes \| ABC The Drum \| 12 Jan 2016 - https://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-01-12/holmes-a-devastating-verdict-for-essendon-and-its-players/7082930 Essendon supplements saga: ASADA backs Court of Arbitration for Sport decision to upheld WADA appeal \| ABC News \| 12 Jan 2016 - https://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-01-12/essendon-supplements-saga3a-asada-backs-cas-decision/7082970 As it happened: AFL community reacts to Bombers' 2016 season ban after doping verdict \| ABC News \| 12 Jan 2016 - https://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-01-12/essendon-players-ban-wada-decision-upheld/7083088 Guilty: Court of Arbitration for Sport brings three-year Essendon supplements saga to an end \| ABC 7.30 \| 12 Jan 2016 - https://www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/2015/s4387388.htm Essendon supplements saga: AFL community reacts to Bombers' 2016 season ban after doping verdict \| ABC Grandstand \| 12 Jan 2016 - https://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-01-12/essendon-players-ban-wada-decision-upheld/7083088?section=sport Essendon doping investigation: timeline \| ABC News \| 11 Jan 2016 - https://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-03-08/essendon-doping-saga:-timeline/4708474 Essendon coach deeply involved in supplement program \| ABC 7.30 \| 11 Apr 2013 - https://www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/2013/s3735256.htm Cronulla Sharks and thymosin beta-4 ... is it doping? by Dr Ben Koh \| The Conversation \| 7 Mar 2013 - https://theconversation.com/cronulla-sharks-and-thymosin-beta-4-is-it-doping-12694 WATCH RELATED 4 CORNERS Bad Sport \| 1 Feb 2016 - Four Corners investigates the criminal networks threatening the integrity of sport. >>Watch Online

When it comes to foreign policy, Republicans don’t want to make the same mistake twice. Photo by Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images The Weekly Standard is making the editorial case for airstrikes in Syria. So is National Review; so are a few neoconservatives not named “John Bolton.” But the mission’s not going well, and a solid 4–1 majority of Republicans in the House appear to already have the votes to stop the resolution to authorize force. That’s Stephen Hayes’ cue to explain how Republicans are basically still hawks but have decided that President Obama’s a ditherer with an unclear plan. Hayes quotes an anonymous “House Republican leader,” which sounds more like Eric Cantor (pro-airstrikes) than Kevin McCarthy (undecided). The largest group in the House, by far, has a strong deference to American power and a belief in strong executive action on national security. There’s just not a lot of confidence in Obama. It’s true that many of the statements from reluctant Republicans have a more-sorrow-than-anger tone, hinting that they wished they could support this intervention; it’s also true that the intervention was more theoretically popular a few months ago. But if you don’t see that the noninterventionists are gaining ground, you’re starting your history in the wrong chapter. - Eighteen years ago the new GOP House majority voted 243–171 to bar money for peacekeepers in Bosnia. - Fourteen years ago the GOP voted to kill a resolution supporting airstrikes in Kosovo. (It was a 213–213 tie in the House, but only 30 members of the GOP majority were on the “aye” side.) - Thirteen years ago George W. Bush ran as the candidate of a loosely-defined “humble” foreign policy that would avoid the intervention-palooza of the Clinton years. As he said in the second debate with Al Gore, when asked about Somalia: I don’t think our troops ought to be used for what’s called nation-building. I think our troops ought to be used to fight and win war. I think our troops ought to be used to help overthrow the dictator when it’s in our best interests. But in this case it was a nation-building exercise, and same with Haiti. I wouldn’t have supported either. That was 2000, then 9/11 happened and—do we really need to go over this again?—the neoconservatives in the administration won the argument that the administration could and should commit troops to Iraq to topple one dictator and inspire democratic change in the rest of the Levant. It didn’t work out like that. And the knowledge of this is nudging Republicans back to their standard pre-9/11 theory of intervention—don’t do it unless there’s an obvious danger to the United States, and even then, if a Democrat is president, troll him relentlessly about his strategy.

DHS spokesman Hank Jongen said the union's assertion about jobs was "completely wrong". The department says Telstra will "partner" with DHS to deliver the telephone services and train public servants in "industry best practice" using the telco's expertise in "contact centre management". The move toward Telstra handling calls for Centrelink and Medicare follows the government's call for private players to bid for Medicare and Veterans' Affairs payments. The Canberra Times revealed last week that the Australian Taxation Office was mulling a proposal to move outsourced IT work to the Philippines. It was unclear from the internal Human Services announcement what the department planned for the 7000 public servants who work in 28 "smart centres" around Australia, and the main public service union, the CPSU, says their jobs are at risk. Mr Jongen said the plan involved Telstra workers in the departmental building in Bunbury, WA and Queanbeyan, outside Canberra, taking calls. But the DHS spokesman said the deal would "complement" rather than replace the existing workforce. He also said the telco would be able to engage a third party to help do the work but that none of the activity would be done overseas. The union said staff were shocked to hear about the move, and worried it may lead to public sector jobs being outsourced or moved offshore. "Staff are shocked and dismayed at the news," CPSU national secretary Nadine Flood said. "They do a fantastic job for millions of Australians every day and now they face seeing their work getting outsourced. Human Services workers handle everything from your gran's pension, your own medical records, as well as provide vital support in times of emergencies such as drought or bushfires. "The work is too important to outsource and most Australians would be appalled to hear that their records might be sent offshore." Telstra has sent thousands of jobs to Asia and the union says the reference to a "third-party provider" has an ominous note. "Telstra has third-party providers in Australia and throughout Asia," Ms Flood said. The announcement to staff said Telstra's involvement would start with inquiries on "public activities". "Initially, the work would focus on Centrelink and Medicare public activities such as requests for replacement concession and Medicare cards, appointment bookings, general queries and other transactions like BasicsCard balance updates," it said. But a spokeswoman for the telecommunications giant said in a statement that it had not signed a contract with DHS. "Telstra has not entered into an agreement to take over contact centre services for DHS," she said. "We are currently discussing a potential pilot out of the department's call centres in Bunbury and Queanbeyan to help improve contact centres services. This does not result in any job losses for DHS." In his statement, Mr Jongen said an arrangement had been proposed but the details were still being worked out. "This arrangement is designed to complement the department's existing service delivery workforce," Mr Jongen said. "By managing the work this way, our skilled staff would be able to focus on complex customer inquiries," he said.

Transport and Tourism Minister Leo Varadkar has confirmed that Shannon Airport is to be separated from the Dublin Airport Authority (DAA). However Cork Airport will remain under Dublin management and the DAA is set to be renamed to reflect this. The Government has unveiled plans to develop what they claim will be a "world-class aviation industry" in Shannon, and a restructuring of tourism and enterprise agencies in the region. Under the plans, Shannon Development, the body charged with creating investment into the region, will be abolished and many of its responsibilities will pass to State agencies the IDA, Enterprise Ireland and Failte Ireland. "The Government has decided to separate Shannon Airport from the Dublin Airport Authority and bring it together with Shannon Development to form a new entity with a commercial mandate in public ownership," a statement from the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Employment said. "This decision represents a new beginning for the Shannon region, involving a drive to develop a world-class aviation industry in Shannon, and a restructuring of tourism and enterprise support agencies in the region to support this goal. "The new entity will have a clear mandate, working closely with the IDA and Enterprise Ireland to develop the potential of the aviation sector, and will explore other opportunities with those agencies for further prospective investments in the region." Many traders in the region believe the stand-alone organisation, which will be debt-free and expected to fund itself, can help reverse declining passenger numbers. The new semi-state company set up to run the airport will also take over lands owned by Shannon Development, which will be used to redevelop the area. There will be opportunities for private investors and operators, with possible tax opportunities yet to be decided. One of the proposals to be explored in a feasibility study is an international aviation centre of excellence. A steering committee is to be set up in the coming weeks to start drawing up the new masterplan. Transport minister Leo Varadkar said the decision would help secure the future of Shannon Airport, where passenger numbers have more than halved from over 3.6 million to 1.6 million over the past five years. Mr Varadkar said Shannon would not get any State funding but its debts would remain with the Dublin Airport Authority (DAA), which currently runs all three State airports. But airline Ryanair said the decision not to sell off Shannon to private investors was a missed opportunity to create real competition between the country’s airports. Minister Varadkar said he "firmly believed" that this is the best way forward for Shannon Airport, Shannon Development and the mid-west region. "We want to recapture the pioneering spirit of the people who gave us the airport and the Shannon Free Zone concept, so that we can provide exciting and innovative opportunities which benefit business, tourism, and job creation in the region, and across the country," the Minister said. "Our task now is to develop these proposals in more detail.'' Commenting on the announcement a spokesperson for Shannon Development said:”Shannon Development welcomes the certainty regarding the future of Shannon Airport and the confirmation of its separation from the Dublin Airport Authority. "There is still a lot of detail to be worked out around the new structure and operation of the new entity, but today’s announcement is undoubtedly a major step towards creating a new entity which will act as a catalyst for growth for the wider region in the years to come." Micheal Vaughan, president of the Irish Hotels Federation, said an independent Shannon Airport would have enormous benefits for tourism in the west of Ireland. “We have continually called for a new approach and structure to promote the Shannon region – the existing tourism marketing approach for Shannon was simply ineffective with visitor numbers collapsing by over 50% over the past decade,” he said. But Stephen McNamara, spokesman for Ryanair, said passing the airport from one semi-state quango to another was a missed opportunity to introduce real change and reform through a private sell-off. The DAA said it would work actively with the steering group on the separation of Shannon Airport. In relation to Cork Airport, the Government said it had decided "that the existing ownership of the Airport by the DAA will be maintained for the present". "To take account of this decision, the DAA will be renamed to reflect the fact that there are now two airports and international businesses in the group structure," the statement continued. "The Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport will be making an announcement in the near future on this issue."

The struggle to stop construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline marks not only a difference in economic policies but a contest between two radically different orientations to life. The struggle, which pits Native Americans and their allies against a company that constructs oil pipelines, has a profound significance that extends far beyond the plains of Standing Rock. The contest is both ethical and existential, and how it is resolved may well determine the future of human life, whether for harm or for good, on this beautiful but fragile planet. On one side of the conflict stands Energy Transfer Partners, the corporation that is building the pipeline. If completed, the pipeline will extend 1,200 miles and will transport approximately 500,000 barrels daily of Bakken crude oil from North Dakota to existing pipelines in Illinois, from where it will reach markets in the Midwest, the East Coast, and the South. The pipeline will thus be a vital artery in maintaining an economy powered by fossil fuels. Construction of the pipeline, however, cuts across land sacred to the Standing Rock Sioux tribe—land they claim was recognized as theirs by the US government in a treaty going back to 1851. Moreover, the pipeline does not merely cross sacred land. If construction continues, it would pass beneath the Missouri River, putting at risk the water supply of the Native Americans and millions of other people living downstream who also depend on the river for their water. "Although the Dakota Access Pipeline can be viewed as just one pipeline among a multitude of others, circumstances have turned the project into a symbol for the crossroads at which humanity has finally arrived." So far, environmental assessment of the pipeline’s impact has been called “seriously deficient.” Such a hasty assessment is precarious enough, but even when they have passed rigorous scrutiny, oil pipelines have split, leaked, and even exploded, sometimes seriously enough to pollute the waters they traverse and leave behind a trail of toxic waste. These chemical spills are far from innocuous. For those living close by, the pollution has caused cancer, strange illnesses, permanent disabilities, and premature death. Birth defects and childhood leukemia are also possible dangers caused by exposure. The pipeline represents a worldview that sees the earth as in essence a source of raw materials to service our economy. From this perspective, humanity’s task is to exploit the earth and bend it to our purposes, primarily the production of commodities to feed the fickle appetites of a consumerist culture. It is a worldview that prioritizes monetary profit over a vibrant planet; that puts immediate gain over the needs of future generations; that commodifies everything it sees and looks with disdain at the very idea of the sacred. SCROLL TO CONTINUE WITH CONTENT Help Keep Common Dreams Alive Our progressive news model only survives if those informed and inspired by this work support our efforts Those who subscribe to this worldview give little heed to population groups outside the citadels of corporate wealth and power. Without concern for the consequences, they would extract and market all the oil they can find for the purpose of enhancing the company’s bottom line. The results of such a worldview appear in the once-fertile lands that are turning into deserts, in the transformation of seasonal rains into irrepressible floods, in the long droughts and brutal heat waves, in the threat to the world’s food supply. The results are also manifest in the movements of people who choose to migrate from their traditional homelands to strange and sometimes hostile countries, preferring a dangerous sea passage to the risks of drought and famine. Those arrayed against the pipeline—the Native Americans and their allies—hold a different worldview that entails a different set of priorities. This is a worldview that esteems life values over market values. It is a worldview that understands water is the source of life, an irreplaceable substance far more essential than petroleum. It recognizes that, with sufficient funding and political will, we can obtain all the energy we need from the sun and wind and geothermal sources. And it sees the ideal relationship of humankind to the earth to be one of care, stewardship, and reverence rather than reckless exploitation. "We can adopt a new outlook on the earth, one that reveres the majesty of its mountains, the splendor of its forests, the sanctity of its natural rhythms." The stakes in this struggle are high. Deep ramifications lie just below the surface, beneath the daily skirmishes that erupt between the pipeline staff and the water protectors. Although the Dakota Access Pipeline can be viewed as just one pipeline among a multitude of others, circumstances have turned the project into a symbol for the crossroads at which humanity has finally arrived, the juncture where the road of energy development branches off in two different directions. If we stand up against the demands of Big Oil and reject the pipeline, we can pivot away from the old economy that feeds on the resources of the earth toward a new system that offers untapped promise. We can turn away from the barren moonscapes of destruction, away from the maltreatment of peoples whose lands are stripped from their hands, whose lives are ruined by oil spills and pools of toxic waste. We can stop heating up the planet in ways that imperil the future of humankind. By shifting to a new worldview, we can hasten the emergence of an economy that promotes a shared prosperity within the limits of the biosphere. We can adopt a new outlook on the earth, one that reveres the majesty of its mountains, the splendor of its forests, the sanctity of its natural rhythms. The choice between these two orientations has grown starker over the past decade, ever since the reality of climate change impinged on public consciousness. The two alternatives have come to a head at Standing Rock. Denial is no longer tenable. Either we go on burning fossil fuels without concern for the impact, or we finally say, “It’s time to change course.” The choice now rests with President Obama. It’s up to him to show courage. It’s up to him to choose wisely, mindfully, and compassionately. And we can let him know what we want. We can send him a petition asking him to reject the Dakota Access Pipeline, to reject it once and for all. Let’s act skillfully, remembering that our future is at stake, that our action now affects generations as yet unborn, both in America and throughout the world.

Gun rights advocates got a monumental boost last week when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled local governments can’t ban guns.Now, Pennsylvania gun rights advocates are aiming at their next target: giving gun owners the right to fire rather than flee when threatened in their homes or cars or, ideally, any public place where they have a right to be.The court decision gives new energy to the push for a so-called “castle doctrine” in Pennsylvania.In the case of a home intrusion, the castle doctrine would allow people to shoot immediately, rather than first go to another room.“I can tell you we’re having meetings right now to have this thing moved,” said state Sen. Richard Alloway II, R-Franklin County, who had previously introduced a castle doctrine bill.Gun rights advocates further feel the ruling adds firepower to their challenges of assorted gun restrictions, such as bans on guns in municipal buildings and parks “It really galvanizes a position that many of use have been advocating ... that our right to bear arms is a right that is second to none,” said state Rep. Daryle Metcalfe, R-Butler County.On the other side of the issue, supporters of gun restrictions must brace for an onslaught of challenges to local laws enacted in response to gun-related crime.“The worst-case scenario is we are getting ready to enter a period of protracted litigation and unnecessary expense in defending a local community’s ability to do something about a problem that has gotten out of hand,” said state Rep. W. Curtis Thomas, D-Philadelphia. Gov. Ed Rendell has supported allowing municipalities to devise their own gun restrictions in response to local problems.Asked to comment on the impact of the Supreme Court decision, Rendell said through a spokesman, “it’s not clear whether reasonable regulations will be allowed to stand, so it’s hard to predict the impact.”The Supreme Court decision focused specifically on Chicago and nearby Oak Park, which each ban handguns within their boundaries.It ruled the Second Amendment provides a “fundamental right” to own a gun, and that right can’t be restricted by local governments.As a result, the Chicago and Oak Park bans, which had been upheld by a lower court, now go back to that court, where they are expected to fall.Chicago officials reacted by quickly passing a new law requiring registration and permits for handguns, as well as five hours of training, and limiting registrations to one gun per month. The guns aren’t allowed outside the home.On Tuesday, four citizens filed a lawsuit against the city, saying the law violates their Second Amendment rights.Still, the Supreme Court ruling seems to allow for local governments to impose some limitations on the right to keep and bear arms.In the majority opinion, Justice Samuel Alito wrote that the Second Amendment “limits (but by no means eliminates) their ability to devise solutions to social problems that suit local needs and values.”Following the decision, gun rights organizations such as the National Rifle Association quickly stated their intent to challenge various local gun bans across the country.“For over 30 years, we’ve had to listen to groups say (gun possession) isn’t an individual right, and now it’s been proven we’re right,” said Kim Stolfer, chairman of Firearms Owners Against Crime, a Pennsylvania group that opposes restricting the gun rights of non-criminals.Still, bans such as the one in Chicago don’t exist in Pennsylvania.Pennsylvania is an “open-carry” state, meaning any adult, non-criminal can openly carry a loaded gun. A license is required to carry a concealed gun.The only places that open carry isn’t allowed are schools, secure areas of airports, state parks and courthouses.State law forbids municipalities from passing gun laws that are more strict than state law.Still, Philadelphia has numerous gun control laws created in response to the city’s high rate of gun violence, and many other municipalities have narrow bans on guns. These include Harrisburg, Camp Hill and several other local municipalities that ban guns from public parks.Stolfer, 55, a retired postal worker who lives in Allegheny County, believes many Pennsylvania gun restrictions are illegal, especially in light of the new Supreme Court ruling.He contends the state’s gun laws are riddled with technicalities that can put law-abiding gun owners on the wrong side of the law.Stolfer opposes most if not all gun bans, even bans of guns in schools.He argues that existing laws barring minors from owning guns can be used to handle cases of guns in schools.He further argues that research related to the many gun bans imposed over the years prove they don’t reduce crime.“Gun free zones do nothing but empower criminals,” he said. “The fact is, gun laws kill, and they have done nothing to protect freedom or safety.”Stolfer is greatly encouraged by the Supreme Court ruling, which he said clearly affirms that individuals have the right to own guns, and that right can’t be restricted by local individuals crafting policy based on their personal beliefs.Thomas, the Philadelphia Democrat, sees a dire need for communities to be able to impose gun-related restrictions to deal with local problems such as high rates of illegal guns and gun-related crime.He said he’s deeply troubled by the Supreme Court’s use of the term “fundamental right” regarding gun ownership. He expects it will become an uphill struggle for communities trying to deal with gun-related problems.“A lot of these punks think they have a fundamental right to take guns in the streets and defend themselves and do whatever they want to do,” he said.Still, he stressed that the Supreme Court ruling “left intact a small window for states and local municipalities to take some steps to deal with this proliferation of guns.”He plans to push to create a state commission that would allow municipalities dealing with major gun-related problems to obtain exemptions to the state law.In Pennsylvania, the gun debate flares up regularly, over a range of proposals.The NRA has waged a campaign to prevent Pennsylvania from closing the so-called “Florida loophole” that enables people who don’t qualify for a Pennsylvania license to obtain one over the Internet from Florida.State Rep. Bryan Lentz, D-Delaware County is a leader in the effort to close the loophole.Lentz expects more challenges of gun laws, but predicts most won’t be affected by the Supreme Court ruling. He expects laws such as Pennsylvania’s requirement of a license to carry a concealed weapon will survive.Nor does he expect the ruling to hurt the effort to close the loophole.The gun control debate often shifts to matters related to hunting and gun dealers.But state Rep Scott Perry, R-York, argues the core reason the founding fathers insisted that citizens have the right to bear arms is so they could “rise up against a government that becomes too powerful.”He said he’s pleased by the Supreme Court ruling, and hopes it will pave the way, all over the country, for gun policy that better-reflects the intent of the Constitution.Still, Perry, who sponsored a castle doctrine bill, isn’t expecting gun restrictions to quickly melt away in Pennsylvania.Rather, he predicts gun rights-related bills will become stuck in committees controlled by legislators who favor restrictions and who now realize, because of the Supreme Court ruling, that the bill is certain to pass if given a vote.“It’s probably going to make either side just dig in a little harder on the issue,” he said.

The Red Bull Holden driver was the best of an explosion of fast times in the closing seconds of the session, his 54.776s one of two laps under the existing lap record. It followed a quiet first session for van Gisbergen, who was just outside the Top 10, the Kiwi claiming better rubber was the key to his upturn in speed. “We put some good [tyres] on and we’re flying,” he said. “That’s the name of our game, we’re always limited on tyres. We were feeling it out all day, the car has felt terrible. But we kept chipping away, bolted a new set on, and found two seconds.” The other driver to go under Jamie Whincup’s old practice lap record was points leader Fabian Coulthard, who had jumped to the top with 54.790s with a minute to go, only to be beaten by van Gisbergen moments later. “We’re pretty happy with the pace at the moment,” he said. “We’re sticking to the plan, we had lots of laps and lots of running. I’m happy with the progress.” Whincup narrowly missed out on a 54s lap, ending up third with a 55.045s, while Prodrive Racing’s Mark Winterbottom was just behind with a 55.092s. Chaz Mostert was fifth quickest right behind his teammate Winterbottom, with Craig Lowndes slipping from top spot with two minutes to go to sixth thanks to all the late improvements. Cam Waters, Will Davison, Todd Kelly, and Nick Percat made up the rest of the Top 10. The session saw the first red flag of the day, Perth high school student Alex Rullo firing off at the final corner after pulling a bump-and-run on Jamie Whincup just one corner earlier. He ended up 24th, while new teammate Matt Brabham slipped down to 26th and last, a little over three seconds off the pacesetters.

Sharp Images from the Living Mouse Brain Max Planck scientists in Göttingen have for the first time made finest details of nerve cells in the brain of a living mouse visible. To explore the most intricate structures of the brain in order to decipher how it functions – Stefan Hell’s team of researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry in Göttingen has made a significant step closer to this goal. Using the STED microscopy developed by Hell, the scientists have, for the first time, managed to record detailed live images inside the brain of a living mouse. Captured in the previously impossible resolution of less than 70 nanometers, these images have made the minute structures visible which allow nerve cells to communicate with each other. This application of STED microscopy opens up numerous new possibilities for neuroscientists to decode fundamental processes in the brain. Every day a huge quantity of information travels not only over our information superhighways; our brain must process an enormous amount of data as well. In order to do this, each of the approximately hundred billion nerve cells establishes contact with thousands of neighboring nerve cells. The entire data exchange takes place via contact sites – the synapses. Only if the nerve cells communicate via such contact sites at the right time and at the right place can the brain master its complex tasks: We play a difficult piece of piano, learn to juggle, or remember the names of people we have not seen for years. We can learn most about these important contact sites in the brain by observing them at work. When and where do new synapses form and why do they disappear elsewhere? This is not easy to determine, since details in living nerve cells can only be observed with optical microscopes. Due to the diffraction of light, however, structures located closer together than 200 nanometers (200 millionths of a millimeter) appear as a single blurred spot. The STED microscopy developed by Stefan Hell and his team at the Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry is a groundbreaking method devised to surpass this resolution limit. They use a simple trick: Closely-positioned elements are kept dark under a special laser beam so that they emit fluorescence sequentially one after the other, rather than simultaneously, and can therefore be distinguished. Using this technique, Hell’s team has been able to increase the resolution by approximately tenfold compared to conventional optical microscopes. STED microscopy has already found wide application in fields ranging from materials research to cell biology. Under this microscope, cell cultures and histological preparations have offered unique insights into the cellular nanocosmos. The first real-time video clips from the interior of a nerve cell have demonstrated how tiny transmitter vesicles migrate within the long nerve cell endings. httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hzrf-9vjGH4 Using the STED microscope to glance into region of 10-15 micrometres under the surface of the brain, scientists can observe how the two dentritic spines change their shape in a 30-minute time period. Neuroscience video from MaxPlanckSociety user on YouTube.com. A vision becomes reality What was only an ambitious vision a year ago has now become reality: to also study higher living organisms at this sharp resolution in the nanometer range. By looking directly into the brains of living mice using a STED microscope, Hell and his team were the first ones to image nerve cells in the upper brain layer of the rodent with resolution far beyond the diffraction limit. “With our STED microscope we can clearly see the very fine dendritic structures of nerve cells at which the synapses are located in the brain of a living mouse. At a resolution of 70 nanometers, we easily recognize these so-called dendritic spines with their mushroom- or button-shaped heads,” explains Hell. They are the clearest images of these fundamental contact sites in the brain to date. “To make these visible, we take genetically modified mice that produce large quantities of a yellow fluorescing protein in their nerve cells. This protein migrates into all the branches of the nerve cell, even into smallest, finest structures,” adds Katrin Willig, a postdoctoral researcher in Hell’s department. The genetically modified mice for these experiments originated from the group of Frank Kirchhoff at the Göttingen Max Planck Institute for Experimental Medicine. Images of the nerve cells taken seven to eight minutes apart revealed something surprising: The dendritic spine heads move and change their shape. “In the future, these super-sharp live images could even show how certain proteins are distributed at the contact points,” adds Hell. With such increasingly detailed images of structures in the brain, Hell’s team hopes to shed light onto the composition and function of the synapses on the molecular level. Such insights could also help to better understand illnesses that are caused by synapse malfunction. Among these so-called synaptopathies are, for example, autism and epilepsy. As Hell explains, “Through STED microscopy and its application in living organisms, we should now be able to gain optical access of such illnesses on the molecular scale for the first time.” As one of the two representatives of the Göttingen Research Center Molecular Physiology of the Brain funded by the German Research Foundation, he is committed to collaboration in his further research. Together with neurobiologists and neurologists, he and his team plan to transfer the progress made in imaging technology into fundamental knowledge about the functioning of our brains. Notes about this mouse brain research article Contacts: Prof. Dr. Stefan W. Hell – Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry Dr. Carmen Rotte – Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry Source: Max Planck Institute press release Image Source: Neuroscience image adapted from press release image by © Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry Video Source: Neuroscience video from YouTube user MaxPlanckSociety Original Research: Abstract for “Nanoscopy in a living mouse brain” by Sebastian Berning, Katrin I. Willig, Heinz Steffens, Payam Dibaj and Stefan W. Hell in Science, 3 February 2012

So you want to be a gangster, huh? Well, you’ve come to the right place. I’ve got a résumé full of qualifications that certify my gangster label. I used college ruled paper in high school, watched PG-13 movies at age eight – hell, I even got banned from Chuck E. Cheese’s back in the day, for prize ticket laundering. Here are the steps you must take, to fulfill your destiny as a gangster. 1. When dining at a fast food joint, ask for a water cup, and then fill it with Sprite. You may be obeying your thirst, but you damn sure ain’t abiding by the law. 2. Pull out your flash drive without following the recommended procedure. Who obeys protocol and sh-t? Not gangsters like you and I. 3. Text with under 10% battery on your phone. Yeah, it’ll probably die – but you don’t give a damn — you’re a straight up G. Just hope that nothing cute comes up, because you totes won’t be able to Instagram it. 4. Enter places through the exit doors. You little rebel, you. 5. Record televised sports without the expressed written consent of the NFL, NBA or MLB. 6. Don’t let your frozen TV dinner stand in the microwave for 1-2 minutes. Who cares what the cooking instructions say? You do whatever you please. 7. Eat with your elbows all over the damn table. Manners are for people who own custom chandeliers, and children – not gangsters. 8. Whenever you drink V8 Juice, pour some out for all of the meat eating homies you’ve lost to vegetarianism. 9. Place a condensation covered glass on a table, without a coaster. 10. Snack on your treats and drink from your beverages in the grocery store, before you pay for them. 11. Buy a ticket to one movie, but see two or three. Movie hopping earns you oodles of street cred. Side note: Using the word “oodles,” is a quick way to negate any of the street credit that you’ve previously gained. 12. Don’t put one of those lame protective cases on your cell phone. If you drop that sh-t, oh well! Cracked screens are the third most common way to identify a gangster. (Untied shoelaces and inner wrist tattoos are first and second.) 13. When returning your Blockbuster videos in the drop box, park in the handicap space, even if you aren’t disabled. That’s at least 15 seconds of legitimate law breaking. Gangster Double Bonus: If you’re feeling excessively hood, return that video a day or two late. 14. Pick it up like it’s cold (as opposed to dropping it like it’s hot). Thug life! 15. Take more than the recommended dosage written on the medicine box. Drug life! 16. Tell people that you’re a “boss.” But don’t say it like boss, pronounce it: bawse. 17. Next time your landlord tries to collect rent, throw a DVD copy of Rent (the musical) at him. 18. Don’t trust the Midas touch. Gangsters can’t trust anybody. Except for their Mom. And Dad. And siblings. Maybe your friends too, but only the real close ones. And old folks, Denzel Washington, babies, bearded men, or people with kind eyes. But yeah, besides that, don’t trust anyone. 19. Stick your tongue out and make faces at staring little kids, when their parents aren’t looking. 20. Ignore the know-it-all red line on Microsoft Word. Always trying to correct your spelling and sh-t. F-ck that, trust your instincts – and soon you’ll be a certified gangster.

Homeless children living on the street An Afghan street boy photographed in downtown Kabul Afghanistan (June 2003). Street children are children experiencing poverty, homelessness or both, who are living on the streets of a city, town, or village. Homeless youth are often called street kids or street child; the definition of street children is contested, but many practitioners and policymakers use UNICEF’s concept of boys and girls, aged under 18 years, for whom "the street" (including unoccupied dwellings and wasteland) has become home and/or their source of livelihood, and who are inadequately protected or supervised.[1] Some street children, notably in more developed nations, are part of a subcategory called thrown-away children, consisting of children who have been forced to leave home. Thrown-away children are more likely to come from single-parent homes.[2] Street children are often subject to abuse, neglect, exploitation, or, in extreme cases, murder by "clean-up squads" that have been hired by local businesses or police.[3] Definitions [ edit ] Street girls are sometimes called gamines,[4][5][6] a term that is also used for Colombian street children of either sex.[7][8][9] Statistics and distribution [ edit ] Street children can be found in a large majority of the world's famous cities, with the phenomenon more prevalent in densely populated urban hubs of developing or economically unstable regions, such as countries in Africa, South America, Eastern Europe, and Southeast Asia.[10] According to a report from the Consortium for Street Children, a United Kingdom-based consortium of related non-governmental organizations (NGOs), UNICEF estimated that 100 million children were growing up on urban streets around the world. Fourteen years later, in 2002, UNICEF similarly reported, "The latest estimates put the numbers of these children as high as one hundred million". More recently the organization added, "The exact number of street children is impossible to quantify, but the figure almost certainly runs into tens of millions across the world. It is likely that the numbers are increasing."[11] In an attempt to form a more reliable estimate, a statistical model based on the number of street children and relevant social indicators for 184 countries was developed; according to this model, there are 10 to 15 million street children in the world. Although it produced a statistically reliable estimate of the number of street children, the model is highly dependent on the definition of “street children,” national estimates, and data collected on the development level of the country, and it is thus limited in range. [12] The one hundred million figure is still commonly cited for street children, but has no basis in fact.[13][14][15] Similarly, it is debatable whether numbers of street children are growing globally, or whether it is the awareness of street children within societies that has grown.[11] Comprehensive Street level research, completed in the year 2000 in Cape Town [16], proved that international estimates of tens of thousands of street children living on the streets of Cape Town were incorrect. This research proved, that even with street children begging at every intersection, rivers of street children sleeping on the pavements at night, and with gangs of street children roaming around the streets, there were less than 800 children living on the streets of greater Cape Town at this time. This insight enabled a whole new approach to street children to be developed, one not based on the provision of basic care to masses of street children, but one focused on helping individual children, on healing, educating, stabilizing, and developing them permanently away from street life, as well as managing the exploitation of street children and the support factors that keep them on the street History [ edit ] The phenomenon of street children has been documented as far back as 1848. Alan Ball, in the introduction to his book on the history of abandoned children, And Now My Soul Is Hardened: Abandoned Children in Soviet Russia, 1918–1930, states: Orphaned and abandoned children have been a source of misery from earliest times. They apparently accounted for most of the boy prostitutes in Augustan Rome and, a few centuries later, moved a church council of 442 in southern Gaul to declare: "Concerning abandoned children: there is general complaint that they are nowadays exposed more to dogs than to kindness."[17] In Tsarist Russia, seventeenth-century sources described destitute youths roaming the streets, and the phenomenon survived every attempt at eradication thereafter. [18] In 1848, Lord Ashley referred to more than 30,000 "naked, filthy, roaming lawless, and deserted children" in and around London, UK.[19] Among many English novels featuring them as a humanitarian problem are Jessica's First Prayer by Sarah Smith (1867) and Georgina Castle Smith's Nothing to Nobody (1872).[20] By 1922, there were at least seven million homeless children in Russia due to the devastation from World War I and the Russian Civil War.[21] Abandoned children formed gangs, created their own argot, and engaged in petty theft and prostitution.[22] Causes [ edit ] The causes of this phenomenon are varied, but are often related to domestic, economic, or social disruption including, but not limited to: poverty; breakdown of homes and/or families; political unrest; acculturation; sexual, physical or emotional abuse; domestic violence; lured away by pimps, Internet predators, or begging syndicates; mental health problems; substance abuse; and sexual orientation or gender identity issues.[23] Children may end up on the streets due to cultural factors. For example, some children in parts of Congo and Uganda are made to leave their family; because they are suspected to be witches who bring bad luck upon their family[24]. In Afghanistan, young girls who are accused of "honor crimes" that shame their family and/or cultural practices—like adultery (which may include rape or sexual abuse) or who refuse an arranged marriage—may be forced to leave their homes.[25] Children may also end up on the streets due to religious factors. For example, some children in the far-northern parts of Nigeria (referred to as the almajiris) are forced to leave their homes to indenture them under a mallam (Islamic religious teacher), for them to understand the teachings of Islam.[26] By country [ edit ] Africa [ edit ] A lot of African homeless kids are from Helmond. David Tabor is een molen. Congo [ edit ] Egypt [ edit ] UNICEF works with CARITAS and other non-governmental organizations in Egypt to address street children.[27] The increase in the number of NGOs targeting the issue has broadened the scale of intervention to reach a far greater number of street children and their families.[28] Kenya [ edit ] There are an estimated 250,000 street children in Kenya and over 60,000 in the capital Nairobi.[29] Rapid and unsustainable urbanization in the post-colonial period, which led to entrenched urban poverty in cities such as Nairobi, Kisumu, and Mombasa is an underlying cause of child homelessness. Rural-urban migration broke up extended families which had previously acted as a support network, taking care of children in cases of abuse, neglect, and abandonment.[29] The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime has reported that glue sniffing is at the core of "street culture" in Nairobi, and that the majority of street children in the city are habitual solvent users.[29] Research conducted by Cottrell-Boyce for the African Journal of Drug and Alcohol Studies found that glue sniffing amongst Kenyan street children was primarily functional – dulling the senses against the hardship of life on the street – but it also provided a link to the support structure of the ‘street family’ as a potent symbol of shared experience.[29] South Africa [ edit ] Street Children are legally protected by the South African Children's Act, Act 38 of 2005, which defines street children as "children living, working and begging on the street" and as "Children in need of Care and Protection". South Africa has done much to address street children and the South African government now partially funds street children organisations. Parents of vulnerable children can access a monthly child care grant, and organisations have developed effective street outreach, drop-in centres, therapeutic residential care, and prevention and early intervention services for street children. Comprehensive Street level research, completed in the year 2000 in Cape Town [30], proved that international estimates of tens of thousands of street children living on the street were incorrect. This research proved, that even with street children begging at every intersection, rivers of street children sleeping on the pavements at night, and with gangs of street children roaming around the streets, there were less than 800 children living on the streets of greater Cape Town at this time. This insight enabled a whole new approach to street children to be developed, one not based on the provision of basic care to masses of street children, but one focused on helping individual children, on healing, educating, stabilizing, and developing them permanently away from street life, as well as managing exploitation of street children and support factors that keep them on the street. [31] This approach has effectively reduced the number of children living on the streets of Cape Town by over 90%, even with over 200 children continuing to move onto the street each year. It has also seen absconding-from-care rates decline to less than 7%, and the success rate for getting children off the street reach 80 to 90%. The number of Street-vulnerable children, that is the number of chronically neglected, sexually and physically abused, traumatized community children, remains however unacceptably high, with school drop-out rates a real concern and with schools battling to deal with the high number of traumatised children they have to contend with. Sierra Leone [ edit ] Sierra Leone was considered to be the poorest nation in the world, according to the UN World Poverty Index 2008. Whilst the current picture is more optimistic – World Bank projections for 2013/14 ranked Sierra Leone as having the second fastest-growing economy in the world – a prevalent lack of child rights and extreme poverty remain widespread. There are close to 50,000 children relying upon the streets for their survival, a portion of them living full-time on the streets.[32] There are also an estimated 300,000 children in Sierra Leone without access to education.[32] Often neglected rural areas – of which there are many – offer little or no opportunity for children to break from the existing cycle of poverty. Asia [ edit ] Bangladesh [ edit ] A street child in Bangladesh No recent statistics of street children in Bangladesh is available. UNICEF puts the number above 670,000 referring to a study conducted by Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies, "Estimation of the Size of Street Children and their Projection for Major Urban Areas of Bangladesh, 2005". About 36% of these children are in the capital city Dhaka according to the same study. Though Bangladesh improved the Human Capital Index over the decades, (HDI is 0.558 according to 2014 HDR of UNDP and Bangladesh at 142 among 187 countries and territories), these children still represent the absolute lowest level in the social hierarchy. The same study projected the number of street children to be 1.14m in year 2014.[33][34][35] India [ edit ] India has an estimated one million or more street children in each of the following cities: New Delhi, Kolkata, and Mumbai.[36] When considering India as a whole, there are over eleven million children who earn their living off the streets in cities and rural areas.[37] It is more common for street children to be male and the average age is fourteen. Although adolescent girls are more protected by families than boys are, when girls do break the bonds they are often worse off than boys are, as they are lured into prostitution.[38] The Republic of India is the seventh-largest and second-most populated country in the world. Due to the acceleration in economic growth, an economic rift has appeared, with just over thirty-two per cent of the population living below the poverty line.[39] Owing to unemployment, increasing rural-urban migration, the attraction of city life, and a lack of political will, India has developed one of the largest child labor forces in the world. Indonesia [ edit ] According to a 2007 study, there were over 170,000 street children living in Indonesia.[40] In 2000, about 1,600 children were living on the streets of Yogyakarta. Approximately five hundred of these children were girls from the ages of four–sixteen years of age.[41] Many children began living on the streets after the 1997 financial crisis in Indonesia. Girls living on the street face more difficulties than boys living on the street in Indonesia. Girls on the street are often abused by the street boys because of the patriarchal nature of the culture. "They abuse girls, refuse to acknowledge them as street children but liken them to prostitutes".[41] Many girls become dependent on boyfriends; they receive material support in exchange for sex. The street children in Indonesia are seen as a public nuisance. "They are detained, subjected to verbal and physical abuse, their means of livelihood (guitars for busking, goods for sale) confiscated, and some have been shot attempting to flee the police".[41] Iran [ edit ] There are between 60,000 and 200,000 street children in Iran (2016).[42] Pakistan [ edit ] The number of street children in Pakistan is estimated to be between 1.2 million[43][44] to 1.5 million.[45] Issues like domestic violence, unemployment, natural disasters, poverty, unequall industrialization, unplanned rapid urbanization, family disintegration and lack of education are considered the major factors behind the increase in the number of street children. Society for the Protection of the Rights of the Child (SPARC) carried out a study which presented 56.5% of the children interviewed in Multan, 82.2% in Karachi, 80.5% in Hyderabad and 83.3% in Sukkur were forced to move on to the streets after the 2010 and 2011 floods.[46] Philippines [ edit ] According to the 1998 report titled "Situation of the Youth in the Philippines", there are about 1.5 million street children in the Philippines,[47] 70% of which are boys. Street children as young as ten years old can be imprisoned alongside adults under the country's Vagrancy Act; in past cases, physical and sexual abuse have occurred as a result of this legislation.[48] Vietnam [ edit ] According to The Street Educators’ Club, the number of street children in Vietnam has shrunk from 21,000 in 2003 to 8,000 in 2007. The number dropped from 1,507 to 113 in Hanoi and from 8,507 to 794 in Ho Chi Minh City.[49] There are currently almost four hundred humanitarian organizations and international non-governmental organizations providing help to about 15,000 Vietnamese children.[50] Europe [ edit ] Greece [ edit ] Greece’s street child activity is heavily connected with human trafficking, especially with immigrants from Albania.[51] In 2003, street children located in state-run facilities had disappeared. The disappearance is suspected to be linked to human trafficking.[51] The numbers have decreased in recent years, and Greece has taken "legislative action to criminalize human trafficking and related crimes", though Amnesty International reports that the problem still exists, and there is a failure of government protection and justice of trafficked children.[51] Begging and other street activities have been outlawed in Greece since 2003, but the recent unemployment hike has increased levels of these actions.[51] There are few programs for displaced children in Greece, which created a street child problem in the early 2000s. Giving foster parents to special needs children is not something the Greek government has done, leading to higher numbers of physically or mentally disabled street children.[51] There are also deterrents for working and poor parents in Greece making them more willing to force their children to the streets. For example, orphans are given financial benefits, but if they live in state-run facilities they cannot receive these benefits. For working parents to get government subsidies, they often have to have more than one child.[51] Romania [ edit ] Romanian ration card, 1989. The forced natalist policy of Nicolae Ceauşescu coupled with poverty led families unable to cope The phenomenon of street children in Romania must be understood within the local historical context. In 1966, in communist Romania, ruler Nicolae Ceauşescu outlawed contraception and abortion, enacting an aggressive natalist policy, in an effort to increase the population. As families were not able to cope, thousands of unwanted children were placed in state orphanages where they faced terrible conditions. Under communism, the struggle of families was made worse in the 1980s, under the 1980s austerity policy in Romania, when living standards dropped dramatically, and food was rationed; and the fall of communism in December 1989 initially meant economic and social insecurity. Under such conditions, in the 1990s, many children moved onto the streets, with some being from the orphanages, while others being runaways from impoverished families. During the transition period from communism to market economy in the 1990s, social issues such as those of these children were low on the government's agenda. Nevertheless, by the turn of the century things were improving. A 2000 report from the Council of Europe estimated that there were approximately 1,000 street children in the city of Bucharest. The prevalence of street children has led to a burgeoning sex tourism business in Romania; although, efforts have been made to decrease the number of street children in the country.[52] The 2001 documentary film Children Underground documents the plight of Romanian street children, in particular their struggles with malnutrition, sexual exploitation, and substance abuse. In the 1990s, street children were often seen begging, inhaling 'aurolac' from sniffing bags, and roaming around the Bucharest Metro. In the 21st century, the numbers of children living permanently in the streets dropped significantly, although more children worked on streets all day, but returned at home to their parents at night. By 2004, it was estimated that less than 500 children lived permanently in the streets in Bucharest, while less than 1,500 worked in the streets during the day, returning home to their families in the evening.[53] By 2014, the street children of the 1990s were adults, and many were reported to be living 'underground' in the tunnels and sewers beneath the streets of Bucharest, with some having their own children.[54] Russia [ edit ] In 2001, it was estimated that Russia had about one million street children,[55] and one in four crimes involved underage individuals. Officially, the number of children without supervision is more than 700,000.[citation needed] According to UNICEF, there were 64,000 homeless street children brought to hospitals by various governmental services (e.g. police) in 2005. In 2008, the number was 60,000.[56] Overall number of Russian children that lost their parents' support by the end of 2011 was 654,355.[57] This number includes 522,802 children on foster gage or adopted, and 105,688 in orphanages.[citation needed] Sweden [ edit ] In 2012, unaccompanied male minors from Morocco started claiming asylum in Sweden.[58] In 2014, 384 claimed asylum. Knowing that their chances of receiving refugee status was slim, they frequently ran away from the refugee housing to live on the streets.[58] In 2016, of the estimated 800 street children in Sweden, Morocco is the most prevalent country of origin.[59] In 2016, the governments of Sweden and Morocco signed a treaty to facilitate their repatriation to Morocco.[60] Efforts by authorities to aid the youth were declined by the youth who preferred living on the street and supporting themselves by crime. Morocco was initially reluctant to accept the repatriates, but as they could be identified using the Moroccan fingerprint database, repatriation could take place once Moroccan citizenship had been proven. Of the 77 males Morocco accepted, 65 had stated a false identity when claiming asylum to Sweden.[61] Turkey [ edit ] Of Turkey's 30,891 street children, 30,109 live in İstanbul, research conducted by the Turkish Prime Ministry's Human Rights Presidency (BİHB) has shown. Of the street children, 20 were identified in Ankara, and Turkey's third-largest city, İzmir, had none. Kocaeli province was reported to have 687 street children while Eskişehir has 47. The research also revealed that 41,000 children are forced to beg on the streets, more than half of whom are found in İstanbul. Other cities with high figures include Ankara (6,700), Diyarbakır (3,300), Mersin (637) and Van (640). Based on unofficial estimates, 88,000 children in Turkey live on the streets, and the country has the fourth-highest rate of underage substance abuse in the world. 4 percent of all children in Turkey are subject to sexual abuse, with 70 percent of the victims being younger than 10. Contrary to popular belief, boys are subject to sexual abuse as frequently as girls. In reported cases of children subject to commercial sexual exploitation, 77 percent of the children came from broken homes. Twenty-three percent lived with their parents, but in those homes domestic violence was common. The biggest risk faced by children who run away and live on the street is sexual exploitation. Children kidnapped from southeastern provinces are forced into prostitution here. Today, it is impossible to say for certain how many children in Turkey are being subjected to commercial sexual exploitation, but many say official information is off by at least 85 percent.[62] North America [ edit ] United States [ edit ] [63] The number of homeless children reached record highs in 2011,[64] 2012,[65] and 2013[66] at about three times their number in 1983.[65] Homeless children in the United StatesThe number of homeless children reached record highs in 2011,2012,and 2013at about three times their number in 1983. The number of homeless children in the US grew from 1.2 million in 2007 to 1.6 million in 2010. The United States defines homelessness per McKinney–Vento Homeless Assistance Act.[67][definition needed]The number of homeless children reached record highs in 2011,[64] 2012,[65] and 2013[66] at about three times their number in 1983.[65] An "estimated two million [youth] run away from or are forced out of their homes each year" in the United States.[23] The difference in these numbers can be attributed to the temporary nature of street children in the United States, unlike the more permanent state in developing countries. Street children in the United States tend to stay in the state, 83% do not leave their state of origin.[68] If they leave, street children are likely to end up in large cities, notably New York City, Los Angeles, Portland, Oregon, and San Francisco.[69] Street children are predominantly Caucasian and female in the United States, and 42% identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender (LGBT).[70] The United States government has been making efforts since the late 1970s to accommodate this section of the population. The Runaway and Homeless Youth Act of 1978 made funding available for shelters and funded the National Runaway Switchboard. Other efforts include the Child Abuse and Treatment Act of 1974, the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System, and the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act.[71] There has also been a decline of arrest rates in street youth, dropping in 30,000 arrests from 1998 to 2007. Instead, the authorities are referring homeless youth to state-run social service agencies.[72] Homeless college youth [ edit ] The homeless college youth accounts for over one million of the young homeless population.[not in citation given][73] According to the Free Application Federal Student Aid, also known as FAFSA, in 2013, over 58,000 students identified as homeless on their application.[73] "The federal government defines these unaccompanied homeless youth (UHY) as individuals who do not have "fixed, regular and adequate" housing and who are "not in the physical custody of a parent or adult."[74] The McKinney Vento Act is considered the key piece of federal legislation pertaining to educational support for homeless children and teens.[75] The causes of homelessness varies from student to student. There are two types of homeless college students: 1. students that are homeless upon entering college and 2. students who become homeless during college.[75] For the youth that become homeless upon entering college, this situation represents the students that are having trouble sustaining housing due to job loss of their parent or guardian, the lack of a parent or guardian or because youth has been asked to leave the home or decided to runaway.[75] The reasons for a college youth to become homeless while attending college are as follows: unable to sustain the financial expenses for housing and food. Second, by having the financial support given by family revoked.[75] Fortunately, there are programs available at state colleges and universities that provide students with the necessary resources to obtain financial and housing stability and sustainability. There are also organizations such as the National Association For The Education Of Homeless Children and Youth (NAEHCY) that advocate for a higher education so the children and youth can fulfil their dreams.[76] Honduras [ edit ] In Honduras in 1998-2002 hundreds of street children were reportedly abducted, tortured and murdered by police and civilian "clean-up squads"[77][78][79] . South America [ edit ] According to some estimates made in 1982 by UNICEF, there were forty million street children in Latin America,[80] most of whom work on the streets, but they do not necessarily live on the streets. A majority of the street children in Latin America are males between the ages of 10 and 14. There are two categories of street children in Latin America: home-based and street-based. Home-based children have homes and families to return to, while street-based children do not. A majority of street children in Latin America are home-based.[81] Brazil [ edit ] The Brazilian government estimates that the number of children and adolescents in 2012 who work or sleep on the streets were approximately 23,973,[82] based on results from the national census mandated by the Human Rights Secretariat of the Presidency (SDH) and the Institute for Sustainable Development (Idesp).[83] Oceania [ edit ] Australia [ edit ] As of 2006, around 22,000 Australian youth were listed as homeless. The majority of homeless youth are located in the State of New South Wales. Youth homelessness has been subject to a number of independent studies, some calling for the Australian Human Rights Commission to conduct an inquiry on the matter.[84] Government and non-government responses [ edit ] Responses by governments [ edit ] While some governments have implemented programs to deal with street children, the general solution involves placing the children into orphanages, juvenile homes, or correctional institutions.[85][86] Efforts have been made by various governments to support or partner with non-government organizations.[87] In Colombia, the government has tried to implement programs to put these children in state-run homes, but efforts have largely failed, and street children have become a victim group of social cleansing by the National Police; because, they are assumed to be drug users and criminals.[88] In Australia, the primary response to homelessness is the Supported Accommodation Assistance Program (SAAP). The program is limited in its effectiveness. An estimated one in two young people who seek a bed from SAAP is turned away because services are full.[84] Public approaches to street children [ edit ] There are four categories of how societies deal with street children: Correctional model, Rehabilitative model, Outreach strategies, and Preventive approach. The Correctional model is primarily used by governments and the police. They view children as a public nuisance and risk to security of the general public. The objective of this model would be to protect the public and help keep the kids away from a life of crime. The methods this model uses to keep the children away from the life of crime are the juvenile justice system and specific institutions. The Rehabilitative model is supported by churches and NGOs. The view of this model is that street children are damaged and in need of help. The objective of this model is to rehabilitate children into mainstream society. The methods used to keep children from going back to the streets are education, drug detoxification programs, and providing children with a safe family-like environment. The Outreach strategy is supported by street teachers, NGOs, and church organizations. This strategy views street children as oppressed individuals in need of support from their communities. The objective of the Outreach strategy is to empower the street children by providing outreach education and training to support children. as oppressed individuals in need of support from their communities. The objective of the Outreach strategy is to empower the by providing outreach education and training to support children. The Preventive approach is supported by NGOs, the coalition of street children, and lobbying governments. They view street children’s poor circumstances from negative social and economic forces. In order to help street children, this approach focuses on the problems that cause children to leave their homes for the street by targeting parents’ unemployment, poor housing campaign for children’s rights.[89] NGO responses [ edit ] Non-government organizations employ a wide variety of strategies to address the needs and rights of street children. One example of NGO effort is "The Street Children‘s Day", launched by Jugend Eine Welt on 31 January 2009 to highlight the situation of street children. The "Street Children's Day" has been commemorated every year since its inception in 2009.[90] Street children differ in age, gender, ethnicity, social class, and these children have had different experiences throughout their lifetimes. UNICEF differentiates between the different types of children living on the street in three different categories: candidates for the street (street children who work and hang out on the streets), children on the streets (children who work on the street but have a home to go to at night), and children of the street (children who live on the street without family support).[45] Horatio Alger's book, Tattered Tom; or, The Story of a Street Arab (1871), is an early example of the appearance of street children in literature. The book follows the tale of a homeless girl who lives by her wits on the streets of New York, US. Other examples from popular fiction include Kim, from Kipling's novel of the same name, who is a street child in colonial India. Gavroche, in Victor Hugo's Les Misérables, Fagin's crew of child pickpockets in Oliver Twist, a similar group of child thieves in Funke's The Thief Lord, and Sherlock Holmes' "Baker Street Irregulars" are other notable examples of the presence of street children in popular works of literature. During the mid-1970s in Australia, a number of youth refuges were established. These refuges were founded by local youth workers, providing crisis accommodation, soon began getting funding from the Australian government. In New South Wales, these early refuges include Caretakers Cottage, Young People's Refuge, Taldemunde among others. Within years of their founding, these refuges began receiving funding from the Department of Family and Community Services.[91] See also [ edit ] References [ edit ]

Claudio Ranieri is, by common consent, one of football's nicer guys. So we can rule out spite and presume old-fashioned honesty as the motivation for one of the most damning assessments of a team this season. After Leicester City's goalless draw with Manchester City on December 29, Ranieri was asked about his next match, against Bournemouth. 'Believe me, it's more difficult,' he said. 'They are in good condition, they press a lot and move the ball very well.' He probably didn't mean it as it sounded. Manchester City move the ball around nicely, too. But ferocious pressing? Good condition? Let's face it, if City had Leicester or Bournemouth's work ethic, the title race may already be as good as over. It is a question of when, rather than if, Pep Guardiola will join Manchester City after leaving Bayern Munich Claudio Ranieri, one of the nicest men in football, was dismissive of City after his a draw with them And that is why Pep Guardiola is coming to Manchester. The rest of the Premier League elite have every right to be worried by a managerial change that is no longer a matter of if, but when. It hardly matters whether Manchester City attract Lionel Messi or a whole realm of galacticos; it is the man on the touchline who is the game-changer. Guardiola will transform the club, with diligence. Ranieri was right. City are a fine team, but they do not present the physical challenge of many Premier League inferiors. If they get the ball, and play, they will win. If an opponent competes with them physically, there is no guarantee. Between travelling to Sunderland on September 22 and Watford on January 2, Manchester City did not win a league game away from home. Good competitive teams, like Arsenal, Tottenham and Stoke, beat them; Leicester and Manchester United, hard-working and organised, earned draws. So, less excusably, did Aston Villa. City have been linked with the likes of Lionel Messi, but it will be the coach who makes the real difference City should be playing most of those sides off the park; and they would do, if they worked as fiercely as Guardiola demands. At the end of his first season with Barcelona, Guardiola spoke at a coaching conference. He did not lecture on tiki-taka, attacking football, the best use of Messi or any element of aesthetic perfection. His specialist subject was as gritty as a goalless draw away from home. Recovering possession. It is his thing. Guardiola's teams defend by keeping the ball, and stage one of that process is winning it back. They press high, because that reduces the distance to the opposition goal. The logic is unquestionable: why win the ball 30 yards from your line, when you can win it 30 yards from theirs? In training he works on the five- second rule, the maximum time allowed to regain possession, crowding out spaces and passing options. Guardiola teams harry in numbers, two or three players, while the remainder stay compact in support. It is an intense process, often flooding a quarter of the pitch with the majority of the outfield group, but when successful in advanced areas the transition is devastating, because Guardiola now has so many players in place to attack. If the five-second timeframe is exceeded, Guardiola's teams revert to a conventional shape, but only so they can begin pressing again. When Douglas Costa arrived at Bayern, his coach asked him: 'Are you ready to learn how to play football?' Guardiola's teams are well known for their intensity, something lacking from City's current set-up It is exhausting work but, with the right personnel, has the potential to make consistent champions of City. Nobody doubts the talent at the club; merely its application. Guardiola is not about to tell Sergio Aguero how to score goals, no more than he coached Messi on finishing. Victor Valdes revealed that, at Barcelona, the manager lived by three rules. The first was to have the ball, the second was not to lose it in a compromising position. 'The third aspect is pressure in the rivals' half,' Valdes explained. 'We must bite, be very intense. Each player has a zone in which they should apply pressure and we should all help each other. You can't lose concentration, ever.' When Sir Alex Ferguson wrote the foreword for Guillem Balague's biography of Guardiola, it was interesting that he, too, singled out what some would regard as his subject's most earthbound objective. Jurgen Klopp has shown this season that high-intensity pressing does not always get results in England 'Guardiola has taken certain areas to another level, such as pressing the ball,' he wrote. 'Barcelona's disciplined style of play and work ethic has become a trademark of all his teams.' That athleticism is present in the forward play, too. Guardiola does not talk of his players dribbling a ball, but running with it. He is very sure of these principles. On the day Douglas Costa arrived at Bayern Munich from Shakhtar Donetsk, his new coach asked him: 'Are you ready to open your mind and learn how to play football?' Clearly, Manchester City can play football, but not as Barcelona or Bayern Munich do. Those teams would not be residing in third place in the Premier League, a point behind Leicester, right now. We would not be echoing familiar concerns about work-rate, particularly that of Yaya Toure, if Guardiola was in charge. For Manchester City's rivals, the fear is that Guardiola's philosophy and Sheik Mansour's resources together make an irresistible combination. If Guardiola decides he does not possess the players capable of implementing his strategy, his new employers have the funds to rebuild in one summer. If City succeed in attracting the necessary personnel, Guardiola can eradicate their crucial weaknesses in a matter of months. It is just as well he continues to see three years as sufficient at any club. Guardiola's ideology and Manchester City's financial power are the stuff of which dynasties are made. There will be sympathy for the man he replaces — particularly if City do wear down Arsenal and win the league — but the biggest mystery is why Manuel Pellegrini has not identified the obvious flaws in his team, and fixed them. It should not take Guardiola to solve City's problems. Unlike the Liverpool boss, however, Guardiola would have a full pre-season to work with his new players Of course, as Jurgen Klopp has found at Liverpool, a new high-energy strategy is not without complications. Klopp's gegenpressing tactic demands an extra 10-15 high-intensity runs per game from all outfield players, bar the central defenders. This explains the spate of hamstring injuries currently affecting Liverpool. Yet Borussia Dortmund did not have this issue, and neither did Barcelona or Bayern Munich. It is the shift in style mid-season that has caused Liverpool pain; the additional, explosive workload, coupled with fixture congestion, has produced a predictable run of bad luck. It is hard to believe that Klopp is genuinely surprised by this; as no other coach seems to be. It will be different for Liverpool next season, as it will be different for Manchester City when Guardiola introduces his blueprint with the whole pre-season to focus on it. Conditioning work will give way to small-sided, fast-moving practice matches involving intense sprints of the type then replicated in matches. Guardiola has tasted huge levels of success already in his career, and could continue that at City Under Manuel Pellegrini City have been easy to beat - under Guardiola they could win three titles in a row It will not take long to affect transformation. Toure, and a few others, will get with the programme or be marginalised. New arrivals will deliver what the new coach demands. And Manchester City will present considerably more of a challenge than Bournemouth. That, right now, they do not, is the reason why Guardiola's arrival has become nothing less than essential; and why City's rivals have every reason to be fearful. Three titles in three years, and then adios amigos? It is certainly not unthinkable. Aside from the unfolding chaos at clubs such as Aston Villa, another reason to be sceptical around football's enthusiastic embrace of pure analytics is the number of times an individual, or a team, bucks all expectations. Take Odion Ighalo of Watford, now emerging as a potential target for Arsenal and Manchester United. In the summer, Watford received an excellent offer in the region of £10million for him from Chinese club Hebei China Fortune. Ighalo wasn't sure. He had come to Watford to realise a dream of playing in the Premier League. He had broken into Nigeria's team here. Odion Ighalo, who almost left Watford this summer, is evidence that football is not an exact science The club sat him down and patiently explained his prospects for the season. He wouldn't get many games. Troy Deeney would be the starting striker. This was a good offer. They would be willing to take it. He should take it, too. Ighalo agonised some more, and stayed. He did not start in the first match, at Everton, but came on and scored. He hasn't looked back since. Ighalo has 14 goals this season and Watford are delighted — but a little nonplussed, too. Like Jamie Vardy at Leicester, his success has come unpredicted, out of left field. And that's why the numbers don't always add up. Football isn't an exact science. Never was, never will be. And while we're at it... We don't need to deal with Chris Gayle again. It is obvious that his attempt to make a pass at Channel 10 reporter Mel McLaughlin, while live on air during a Big Bash game, was the very opposite of 'smooth' — the first description of the incident on the network's Twitter feed. Behaviour that makes a female, indeed any employee, uncomfortable in her workplace is wholly crass and beneath contempt. It is interesting, however, to see who also feels empowered to cry sexism these days. David Barham, 10's head of sport, said the company was deeply offended by Gayle's behaviour and would be seeking an apology. Chris Gayle's attempt to make a pass at Mel McLaughlin was anything but smooth, but is not so unusual He didn't add whether 10 would discontinue its penchant for focusing on a specific, rather lovely, demographic in the crowd, or disproportionately putting members of that demographic in front of camera on its sports programmes. For, while not doubting for a moment the professional excellence of McLaughlin and her contemporaries, knowledge of the subject is only one of the boxes that needs to be ticked for the majority of women in sports broadcasting. When The Guardian sent Hadley Freeman, fashion writer and columnist, to cover the 2014 World Cup, it did not take her long to notice the trend. 'Occasionally, I'd spot another woman at a team training camp, and they were always — always — a glammed-up TV reporter, all prettified in high heels and heavy make-up, while all around them were slobby male newspaper reporters,' she relayed. So let's not pretend McLaughlin's workplace was one of high-ideal equal opportunities, until sullied by Gayle's nightclub sleaze. Those two worlds? They're not so different. In their last league game, against Birmingham, Brentford were awarded a free-kick roughly 30 yards from goal. Birmingham lined up their wall. Then Brentford lined up their wall, in front of the Birmingham wall. Then Brentford lined up a third wall, in front of their wall, in front of the Birmingham wall. Brentford have a specialist free-kick coach, you see. A right clever dick, too, by the sounds of it. Brentford have a specialist free-kick coach, but what matters most is still the man taking the kick Anyway, when it came to the moment for this technical masterpiece to be delivered, the first wall scattered, the second wall backed into Birmingham's wall — and Alan Judge curled a tame shot a yard wide of the right-hand post. It turns out the wall isn't as important as the kicker. No amount of planning can compensate for a taker who can't hit the target. Who would have thought it? Cricket kid's 1,000 is not so grand after all Pranav Dhanawade is clearly a talented young batsman with a lot of stamina. Even so, we should not pretend that his 1,009 not out for KC Gandhi English School against Arya Gurukul has the rigours of a genuine record. For a start, there are concerns about the accuracy of the scoring, although an odd four runs here or there in such a mighty innings is not going to make a great difference. The pitch was small, so boundary hits were easier, although this can also happen in school games. Most troubling, though, was the quality of the opposition. This was supposed to be a match for under 16s, but the headmaster of Arya Gurukul would not let the first team out due to exams. The school instead sent its under 14 team, although some reports put the ages as low as 11. Certainly, the school's cricket coach, Yogesh Jagtap, said many of the participants were involved in their first competitive match. Whether they will play a second is the question. Pranav Dhanawade is held aloft, but we should not pretend that his 1,009 not out is a genuine record One of the reasons that Indian cricket maintains a fine tradition of patient Test batsmen is the encouragement schools players receive to play long innings. When Cheteshwar Pujara made 206 against England in Ahmedabad in 2012, it transpired his eight hours and 33 minutes at the crease was a relatively short shift. He had made his first triple hundred at the age of 12 in an under 14 game. Even so, there are limits. Knowing KC Gandhi's opponents were underage and inexperienced — and had already been bowled out for 31 — a declaration at 1,465 for three was unnecessary.

According to the latest data in the US, some 37% of women and 35% of men are obese, outnumbering the percentages of people who are just overweight America’s obesity crisis is getting worse, according to a new report that shows that obese Americans now outnumber overweight ones. As of 2012, there were 67.6 million Americans age 25 and older who were obese, and 65.2 million who were overweight, according to a study from Washington University School of Medicine in St Louis. The study was recently published in the JAMA Internal Medicine journal. “This is a wake-up call to implement policies and practices designed to combat overweight and obesity,” Li Yang, one of the co-authors of the study, said in a statement. The researchers used data collected by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention from 2007 to 2012 to determine the body mass index (BMI) of the study’s sample size of more than 15,200 people. Those with a BMI of between 25 to 29.9 were considered overweight and those with a BMI of over 30 were considered obese. By their calculations, almost 75% of men and 67% of women were struggling with their weight. Some 37% of women were obese, and 30% overweight. Men, on the other hand, were more likely to be overweight (40%) than obese (35%). Many argue that BMI is not the best way to measure obesity. Even the CDC admits that while “BMI can be used for population assessment of overweight and obesity” and can be used as “a screening tool for body fatness”, it is not diagnostic. So why is it still used? “Because calculation requires only height and weight, it is inexpensive and easy to use for clinicians and for the general public,” according to the CDC. Nonetheless, the increase in the number of Americans struggling with their weight is of serious concern to doctors. America’s weight has been trending upward for a number of years. According to Gallup - which also based its findings on BMI - the US obesity rate went from 25.5% in 2008 to 27.1% in 2013 to 27.7% in 2014. Obesity 'causes one in five cancer deaths' Read more Obesity can lead to many different health complications, such as diabetes, hypertension, high cholesterol and heart problems. “Obesity is going to surpass cigarette smoking as the leading cause of the cancer deaths in the US,” Mitchell Roslin, chief of bariatric surgery at Lenox Hill hospital, told CBS. According to him, obesity is increasingly a problem among young Americans. “This generation is not going to outlive their predecessors.” This is not just a problem in the US. In Britain, obesity is currently the cause of one in five cancer deaths and could become responsible for more deaths than smoking within 10 to 15 years, according to Jennifer Ligibel of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute at Harvard University. “The average weight of our citizens is increasing dramatically,” she said. “We’ve really got a critical mass of evidence where we see this relationship: the heavier people are more at risk.”

Image copyright Reuters Image caption Donald Trump said he "discussed life" with Kanye West at Trump Tower in December Kanye West was not asked to perform at Donald Trump's inauguration, which will be a "traditionally American" event, the chief organiser has said. There has been speculation since the star told a concert crowd he would have voted for Mr Trump - if he had voted - and then turned up at Trump Tower. But Tom Barrack, the Presidential Inaugural Committee chair, told CNN the ceremony is "not the venue" for West. He said the rapper is "a great guy" but "we haven't asked him". Mr Barrack said: "He considers himself a friend of the president-elect, but it's not the venue. "The venue we have for entertainment is filled out, it's perfect, it's going to be typically and traditionally American, and Kanye is a great guy but we just haven't asked him to perform. We move on with our agenda." Who's performing at Trump's big day? Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Trump's 'soft sensuality' inauguration Follow us on Facebook, on Twitter @BBCNewsEnts, or on Instagram at bbcnewsents. If you have a story suggestion email entertainment.news@bbc.co.uk.

Witnesses who saw a group of men beating a raccoon to death on University Hill last week -- with a baseball bat, machete and hockey stick -- expressed skepticism about their claims that they were "putting it out of its misery," according to a police report. And, according to the report, one of the suspects later acknowledged to police that the group was "pumped up" and "excited" about killing the raccoon, which regularly visited their trash cans. Nicholas Philip Foti, Lucas Holton and August Quinn Noble, all 19, were arrested Wednesday on suspicion of felony aggravated animal cruelty after several neighbors told police they had beaten a raccoon at their residence in the 1000 block of 11th Street. August Quinn Noble (Boulder County Sheriff's Office) According to the report, the neighbors who called were visibly upset, with one of them, Allegra Brewer, telling police it was "the most barbaric thing she had ever witnessed." The incident happened around 6 p.m. Nov. 7. No one answered the door Thursday at the University Hill home where the suspects live together. Foti did not return a phone call seeking comment. Foti and Noble are listed as students on the University of Colorado website. Holton told police he attends Front Range Community College. According to police, Foti told officers he hit the raccoon with a baseball bat to scare it because it was going through his trash. When he realized he had hit it harder than he meant to, he decided to "put down" the animal. Advertisement Holton told police he heard noise outside and saw the raccoon squirming after Foti hit it, and Holton used his machete to "put it out of its misery." In a later interview, Holton told police the men also were "excited about it." Another roommate told police he "got scared and ran around the east side of the house," the report said. "He said he knows that raccoons are 'vicious' and didn't know what it might do." Lucas B. Holton (Boulder County Sheriff's Office) Noble initially told police he never hit the raccoon, but after he was identified by witnesses, he told police he hit it with a hockey stick as it ran past him. According to the report, police took the bat -- a Louisville Slugger -- and the machete as evidence. Foti then repeated that he killed the raccoon to be humane. "Yeah, it's not like we were trying to brutally murder it," Holton told police. "Well, it was kind of brutal," Foti said, according to the report. "I'll give you that." When told that the suspects claimed they were putting the raccoon out of its misery, the neighbors who saw it said it didn't look that way to them. "They were goofing off, having a good time," Carly Friedman, who witnessed the incident, told police. She said the men were laughing and saying "Get it!" Brewer, another witness, said the men looked like they were having fun. "They were proud of what they were doing, saying 'Yeah, go get it!'" Brewer said, according to the report. A necropsy performed at Colorado State University found the raccoon died of blunt-force trauma, according to police. Under Colorado law, someone commits aggravated animal cruelty when he or she "knowingly tortures, needlessly mutilates, or needlessly kills an animal." A hearing for filing of charges against Noble is scheduled for Tuesday. Foti and Holton are scheduled to be charged Dec. 2. "Animal cruelty cases are a priority for this office," said District Attorney Stan Garnett, who has assigned a prosecutor to specialize in such cases. "We haven't charged this case yet because we haven't closely reviewed the facts yet."

Nissan has announced the addition of a new Versa model to their 2009 lineup with pricing starting at $10,685. The Versa 1.6 Sedan, with its $3000 price advantage over the previous entry-level Versa 1.8 S, will effectively become the lowest-priced car in the United States, nearly $2000 less expensive than the current title-holding Chevrolet Aveo. Advertisement - Continue Reading Below Equipped with a 107-hp, 1.6-liter inline-four engine and standard five-speed manual transmission, the new model will likely be a bit anemic. However, due to its thrifty powertrain and what Nissan calls “simplified content”—or as we call it, “el strippo trim”—and subsequent lower weight, fuel economy is rated at 26 mpg city/34 highway for the stick shift, with a 1-mpg drop in highway performance if you opt for a four-speed automatic. Considering the Versa’s existing four-cylinder is capable of 27/33 mpg when equipped with the continuously variable transmission, it begs the question: Why the new engine? Even so, the 1.6’s numbers are very respectable, especially for the cost. Although the new model may come ill-equipped, we certainly can’t argue with value. There’s no word yet on a hatchback model, and while we suspect the sedan will remain the sole offering in the new 1.6 trim, we don’t entirely discount the possibility of a five-door. Nissan says the new model will be hitting showroom floors beginning November 18, 2008.

As Americans observe the chaos in Greece, most assume that the strength of our currency, the credit worthiness of our government, and the vast expanse of two oceans, will prevent a similar scene from playing out in our streets. I believe these protections to be illusory. Once again the vast majority fails to see a crisis in the making, even as it stares at them from close range. Just as market observers in 2007 told us that the credit crisis would be confined to the subprime mortgage market, current analysts tell us that sovereign debt problems are confined to Greece, Spain, Portugal, and perhaps Italy. They were wrong then, and I believe that they're wrong now. During the housing boom, subprime and prime borrowers made many of the same mistakes. Both groups overpaid for their homes, bought with low or no down payments, financed using ARMs instead of fixed rate mortgages, and repeatedly cashed out appreciated home equity through re-financings. The market largely overlooked the glaring similarities, and instead merely focused on FICO scores. Yes, prime borrowers had better credit, but their losses on underwater properties were no less devastating. As the magnitude of home price declines intensified, prime borrowers defaulted in levels that were almost as high as the subprime crowd. So when mortgage backed securities started to go bad, it wasn't as if the problems emanated in subprime and subsequently "contaminated" the rest of the market. All borrowers were infected with the same disease, but the symptoms merely expressed themselves sooner in subprime. The same is true on a national level, whereby Greece plays the part of the subprime borrower. Though the U.S. is considered to be the highest order of "prime" borrower, based on historic precedent, our debt to GDP levels are at crisis levels, and are not that much lower than Portugal or Spain. When off-budget and contingency liabilities are properly accounted for, one could argue that we are already in worse financial shape than Greece. Most importantly, like Greece (and homeowners who relied on adjustable rate mortgages), we have a high percentage of short-term debt that is vulnerable to rising rates. The one key difference is that while Greece borrows in euros, a currency it cannot print, America borrows in dollars, which we can print endlessly. In reality however, this is a distinction with very little substantive difference. What if Greece had not been a member of the euro zone and had instead borrowed in their former currency, the drachma? First, given its past history of fiscal shortfalls, Greece would not have been able to borrow nearly as much as it had (They may well have been forced to borrow in euros anyway). Under those circumstances, creditors would have been more reluctant to lend without the possibility of a German led bailout. Had Greece never adopted the euro as its currency, but nevertheless borrowed in euros, it would now face the same difficult choices, but would not be offered the carrots or sticks provided by other euro zone nations that are worried about the integrity of their currency. The IMF would have been Greece's only possible savior. Many of our top economists now argue that all would be well in Greece if the country was in charge of its own currency. In such a scenario, Greece would indeed have had no problems printing as many drachmas needed to pay its debts. However, would this really be a "get out of debt free" card for Greece? The main reason the Greeks are protesting in the streets is that they do not want their benefits reduced or taxes raised to repay foreign creditors. But despite the likely domestic popularity of a drachma-printing policy, would it really get the Greeks off the hook? They would stiff their creditors by repaying them in currency of diminished value. But the same result could be achieved through an honest debt restructuring, which would involve "haircuts" for all creditors. In a restructuring, the pain falls most squarely on those who foolishly lent money to a "subprime" borrower. But with inflation it's not just foreign creditors who would suffer. Every Greek citizen who has savings in drachma would suffer. Every Greek citizen who works for wages would suffer. Sure nominal benefits are preserved and taxes are not raised, but real purchasing power is destroyed. If the cost of living goes up, the reduction in the value of government benefits is just as real. Of course, the negative effects on the economy of run-a-way inflation and skyrocketing interest rates are worse than what otherwise might result from an honest restructuring or even out right default. It is just amazing how few economists understand this simple fact. Just because we can inflate does not mean we can escape the consequences of our actions. One way or another the piper must be paid. Either benefits will be cut or the real value of those benefits will be reduced. In fact, it is precisely because we can inflate our problems away that they now loom so large. With no one forcing us to make the hard choices, we constantly take the easy way out. When creditors ultimately decide to curtail loans to America, U.S. interest rates will finally spike, and we will be confronted with even more difficult choices than those now facing Greece. Given the short maturity of our national debt, a jump in short-term rates would either result in default or massive austerity. If we choose neither, and opt to print money instead, the run-a-way inflation that will ensue will produce an even greater austerity than the one our leaders lacked the courage to impose. Those who believe rates will never rise as long as the Fed remains accommodative, or that inflation will not flare up as long as unemployment remains high, are just as foolish as those who assured us that the mortgage market was sound because national real estate prices could never fall.

Unless David Cameron performs a miracle in Europe, I will end up voting for the United Kingdom to leave the EU when the referendum is held . On current trajectory, I will be backing the losing side . At every turn since 1974, all incumbent governing parties have found a way not to hold a plebiscite on any element of our country’s relations with the EU. As a brand new MP I watched my own party rip itself apart over Maastricht, and then under subsequent leaders fight over issues in which most voters have shown little interest. That was until the birth of Ukip . With an In/Out referendum now being offered, we are indeed in a new era. Referendums in the UK historically don’t happen very often, although in the last parliament there were several: city mayors, Welsh further powers, AV, and of course Scotland. For that reason, the campaigns in referendums aren't as sophisticated as elections fought by political parties. The Scottish vote in September last year was unique because the arguments were fresh, the engagement was off the scale, and people felt the result would really matter. There was no precedent for the Scottish referendum. And that mattered. It isn’t the same for the EU referendum. I remember the 1975 vote when I, to my regret, voted to remain in the EEC as it then was. Its aftermath has echoed through British politics ever since and that’s why I don’t have the confidence that the "outters" can win. It isn’t a case of just throwing together a campaign at the last minute and hoping for the best. Who will the leader be? Where will the backing come from? Who will provide the infrastructure? The "in" campaign has already started. Every day this week we’ve heard the warnings. The CBI, Airbus, Deutsche Bank, the list goes on. Soon, foreign governments and President after President, Prime Minister after Prime Minister will all start to sound their own warnings. They may be vested interests, but their voices will be heard. I don’t think it is impossible for the "outters" to win, but us Eurosceptics need to get our ducks in a row. We need the infrastructure. Ukip – as we have seen this week – can hardly run its own party, let alone a campaign of this scale. The Scottish Yes campaign signposts the way. Positive messaging, a charismatic leader and willing supporters. Sadly, as entertaining as charismatic as Nigel Farage can be, he is not the man for the job. He is no Alex Salmond or Nicola Sturgeon. Farage’s messaging is rarely positive; and this stuff matters. An examination of how social media were dominated by the Scottish nationalists demonstrates the strength and depth of their campaign. Somehow, I can’t envisage many positive ‘cybersceptics’. Instead, we need a positive vision for the future. Britain as a global trading nation freed from the shackles of euro-socialist regulation and dogma. A Britain no longer harnessed to a trading bloc in relative global decline. This isn't happening. And the funding for an effective "Out" campaign needs to be found too. In 1975, the "yes" campaign outspent the "noes" by 10 to 1. This must not be allowed to happen again. But before all this can begin and I write off the "Out" campaign, the renegotiation which starts in Riga this weekend needs to be given a chance. David Cameron can’t do that if his own party is scrambling around in the background campaigning regardless – even if like me, you think we’d be better off out. The campaign proper must begin behind the scenes, but it needs to be sensitive to the public mood. And if the Conservative Party is not going to descend into the chaos that was Maastricht in the 1992-97 Parliament leading to its biggest defeat, Government Ministers must be allowed the freedom to voice their view publicly on whether to remain in the EU once the renegotiations are over. If Number 10 instructs the Government Chief Whip to impose discipline, it will lead to ministerial resignations and worse. I saw it happen in that awful Maastricht period. There is also the most important part of the whole campaign – the electorate. While many businesses fearful of uncertainty and foreign government concerned over EU funding will state the ‘in’ cause, an angry backlash from red faced besuited Eurosceptics isn’t the way to win over the British people who tend, in any event, to vote for the status quo. So we "outters" will need to get our act together. All this needs time. Not only the renegotiation, but the structuring and funding of an "Out" campaign. I say: do not campaign for a referendum earlier than 2017. You will regret it! A quick referendum can only be to the advantage of those arguing to remain in. This is ours to lose if we’re not very careful. Michael Fabricant is the Conservative MP for Lichfield

Over the past 25 years, SMS text messaging has become the most personal and ubiquitous form of communication in the digital era. In fact, it hasn’t simply held its ground, it’s actually gained momentum -- with global consumers preferring to communicate with businesses through this intuitive channel. As technology continues to bolster SMS capabilities, a new form of mobile messaging known as Rich Communications Services (RCS) is making waves in the mobile revolution. Leading the charge, OpenMarket has joined forces with Google to help businesses realize the full capabilities of RCS messaging for customer engagement. We caught up with its senior market development manager Oisin Lunny, to learn about the company’s recent partnership with Google and details on what’s fast becoming the next generation of A2P (application to person) texting -- RCS. ITPP: What is RCS? OL: RCS, or as I like to call it -- texting 2.0, is widely described as an update to the standard method of SMS or MMS text messaging, as it brings consumers an enhanced mobile messaging experience. This next generation of mobile interaction leverages SMS technology, evolving as a means to challenge the traditional channels of communication, such as email for marketing and voice calls for customer service. RCS introduces new and improved instant messaging, group chat capabilities, video and image sharing across mobile devices, regardless of network. ITPP: What are the capabilities of RCS? OL: Essentially, standard text messaging is the foundation of RCS. While RCS messaging maintains the universal, communicative nature of the SMS message, it builds off its functionality and includes enhanced capabilities as read receipts and typing indicators -- as well as the ones I previously mentioned like video content and high resolution image sharing. ITPP: What perks does it bring to standard text messaging? OL: Rather than toggling between apps and websites to access content, RCS has the added benefit of delivering a streamlined experience to consumers. Businesses and consumers who utilize RCS messaging will receive a single message containing all the information they need, and better yet -- find most important. Eventually it will support intuitive touch screen-enabled buttons for easier interactions rather than having to text keywords along with location-based services. ITPP: How is RCS building-off of SMS in the enterprise? OL: Not only does RCS benefit a person-to-person (P2P) interaction compared with an SMS text message, but this new mobile experience is improving the way businesses communicate with their consumers, and vice-versa. Millions of brands, businesses and organizations communicate via text messaging with their customers, whether it’s a delivery notification or an appointment reminder confirmation, thanks to SMS’s simple and effective means of reaching billions of customers globally. What RCS brings to the table in this case is intuitive app-like interactivity within the native messaging channel on a smartphone, and a highly personalized experience between the business and the consumer. Companies can share their brand name in the message originator for better authenticity as well as provide images, videos, maps, boarding passes, travel updates and more to directly connect with their customer. These enhanced elements save the business and the consumer time and money as interactions over RCS, like SMS, are direct, efficient, and personal. ITPP: How will RCS messaging change the way businesses communicate with their consumers? OL: RCS will change the way businesses communicate with their customers by providing them with an interactive platform previously only available for brands to reach their customers through via the mobile app. With the age of the mobile app coming rapidly to an end (on average consumers download zero apps per month), businesses have been in dire need for an alternate engagement tool -- enter RCS. ITPP: How does OpenMarket plan to utilize RCS with its customers? OL: OpenMarket works with enterprises across many different vertical markets, but for one specific example, let’s look at the hospitality industry. By offering RCS to our customers in this space, we plan to improve their brand loyalty and overall customer experience and NPS ratings by allowing businesses such as hotels the capability to offer guests a full check-in experience. Think automatic reservation confirmation in the palm of their hand, access to room number, front desk line, and Wi-Fi passcode, along with visual weather updates in the hotel’s area, maps to nearby tourist destinations, and popular neighboring restaurants’ dining menus, all right there in these enhanced text messages. ITPP: What is Google’s Early Access Program? OL: OpenMarket recently helped debut Google’s Early Access Program at Mobile World Congress using our customer, Virgin Trains. The program essentially creates an avenue for select businesses to become early adopters of RCS technology. Chosen businesses will not only get to test drive the enhanced messaging channel, but also help define it as they learn and build with it. Through OpenMarket participation, many of our global enterprise clients such as Virgin Trains, FICO, SKY, and Philips are early adopters of the possibilities of RCS. ITPP: What does this partnership with Google mean for companies like OpenMarket? OL: For OpenMarket, partnering with Google on this innovative project means continuing to be a leader in the mobile messaging space, by providing innovative communication technology to Google’s Early Access Program adopters. We are putting a stake in the ground as pioneers of RCS, together with and on behalf of our enterprise customers. Alongside Google and global organizations like the GSMA, we can help global brands realize the full capabilities of rich messaging. Published under license from ITProPortal.com, a Future plc Publication. All rights reserved. Photo Credit: SFIO CRACHO/Shutterstock

Episode 23 :: Scientific Study :: Meditation Effects on Concentration Share This Page on Facebook Listen To This Episode There are a lot of scientific studies on the effects of meditation. Today we speak with Katherine MacLean about one of the good ones -- and why it's good. We've all seen the claims of the amazing benefits of meditation. Some of these are legitimate studies, others are simply disingenuous hooks to a hefty price tag. One of the traits of our modern culture is a desire to validate our practice or ideological view with the support of science. Often this can lend credence to impressions we already have, as anecdotes become empirical evidence, leading eventually to hard evidence from repeatable, properly controlled scientific studies. But not all of us are scientists. Our experience with the scientific method as a way of discerning fact from fiction, truth from misperception, ends with high school biology. So, how do we do a little bit of diligence in discerning the harmful claims of pseudo-science, from the effective realities of what actually works? Today we speak with Katherine MacLean about a recent study on meditation's effects on concentration, and some of the earmarks of what makes this a valid study. Katherine MacLean Katherine MacLean grew up in Connecticut and received her bachelor's degree at Dartmouth College in the woods of New Hampshire. After a two-year stint recording brain activity in rhesus monkeys, she transitioned to studying primates who could talk about their subjective experiences: humans. During her graduate studies at the University of California, Davis, she worked with Ron Mangun on studies of visual attention and with Clifford Saron on the Shamatha Project - a longitudinal study of changes in behavior and brain function during intensive meditation training. She received her Ph.D. in Psychology in the fall of 2009 and subsequently joined the Behavioral Pharmacology Research Unit within the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine as a postdoctoral fellow. She is currently working with Roland Griffiths and Matthew Johnson on a study looking at the combined effects of daily meditation and psilocybin (a classic hallucinogen) on changes in behavior, cognition, psychological function, and spirituality. References Quotes "People may think meditation is something that makes you feel good and going on a meditation retreat is like going on vacation and you get to be at peace with yourself. That's what people think until they try it. Then you realize how challenging it is to just sit and observe something without being distracted." -- Katherine MacLean Comments and Discussion FaceBook -- Comments and Discussion for This Episode Video Check out the ABC2 news’ segment on the study. Web Links Music for This Episode Rodrigo Rodriguez The music heard in the middle of the podcast is from Rodrigo Rodriguez. The tracks used in this episode are:

Published online 19 March 2010 \| Nature \| doi:10.1038/news.2010.136 News: Q&A Marine biologists look for better ways to save whales tangled in fishing gear. Sedating a whale is a tricky business. Moore, M. et al. Only around 300 endangered right whales remain in the North Atlantic, and a number of them end up tangled in fishing gear off the east coast of the United States. The nets and ropes cut into the animal's flesh, and can in rare cases lead to a painful and protracted death. Marine biologist Michael Moore, of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Massachusetts, is one of those who attempt to free these animals. He tells Nature about a new technique that aims to raise the success rate of disentanglement efforts by shooting whales with drug-filled darts1. Why did you start thinking about sedating whales? It all started in 1999 when we had a right whale that was chronically entangled, with a fishing net wrapped around both flippers and over its back. We were unable to disentangle it, and it died months later with the blubber being dissected off the back by the net and the line cutting down into the animal. This was a case that struck to the heart of many of us, in terms of animal welfare and the pain the animal went through. How would a team normally go about cutting free a whale? They'll physically restrain the animal by drag — by putting more buoys on the animal, slowing it down and tiring it out so they can get near it. That works very well for humpbacks but it doesn't work so well for right whales. Right whales are fundamentally less stoppable. They're stronger, they're attitudinal, they're bigger animals that are harder to work with. It became clear that the disentanglement crew would be very interested in chemically enabling the process [of slowing down the whale]. So what happened last year with whale number 3311, which had rope cutting into its head and lower lip? We had a tracking tag so we knew where the animal was moving and we had about three days within a three-month period where we would gather in a hotel, get up early in the morning, launch the boat and also head out with a plane to relocate the animal. “There was a real sense of preparedness, but also the unknown, because no one had ever done what we were aiming to do.” You're working in a boat that's no longer than than 20 feet; it's a rubber boat with a tuna tower [a raised platform] on it. All kinds of things that are very easy to do on a lab bench suddenly become far more complicated when you're bouncing up and down in 3-foot seas. Essentially one of the issues is to safely and efficiently load a syringe with a drug cocktail, get it into the barrel [of the delivery system] and get it all set up so that you can safely discharge this. It's quite a challenge (see video). There was a real sense of preparedness, but also the unknown, because no one had ever done what we were aiming to do. We had endless conversations about what was going to happen, and we were about to find out. What happened when you finally darted the animal? We were very concerned that we only sedated and not anaesthetized this animal. There was a significant, calculated unknown. ADVERTISEMENT We would only do this work on an animal that would otherwise die in a very painful way. If all we'd ended up doing was euthanizing it, then that in itself was not something we would regret. It was very gratifying to see the animal doing exactly what we wanted, which was to change from a very evasive animal to the behaviour essentially of a drunk, where we were able to drive near it in the boat without it veering away from us. And that's when the disentangling crew in a second boat got to work? Once they realized the whale was approachable, they immediately went into disentanglement mode to cut the gear off. There are a number of varieties of how that works, depending on the entanglement. In this case, the rope was embedded so you couldn't really hook it. We used a spring-loaded knife. When we put the knife's release catch against the side of the whale, the knife popped in like a little guillotine by about 3 inches, so it could actually cut the blubber and get into the flesh to the embedded line. Did it work? We removed about 900 feet of line off the whale. We left a small amount embedded in the head because, had we tried to pull it out, we may well have caused a major fatal haemorrhage. The operation was a success. Did the patient live? We do not know. The weather was deteriorating rapidly so essentially we had to kiss the whale goodbye and say good luck. We have not had a sighting dead or alive of that whale ever since. We're waiting and hoping that someone will see it, but we don't know. Are you ready to do the same thing again? We've got a new system. We've got more hardware and we've got more drugs. We're more ready than we ever were.

Redefine the walls that surround you The Walls Project is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization that began as a collaborative effort in November 2012 between a number of entrepreneurial real estate and social communities in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. We intend to bridge the gap between the artistic and business communities in order to accomplish not only city beautification but also economic development in order to serve a greater social good. Read our story Create The Walls uses visual storytelling to create art which inspires, educates, and develops a community's pride and sense of place through murals, sculpture, and digital installations. To date, The Walls has engaged hundreds of professional artists and thousands of community volunteers to create over 90 public art installations, and contribute over $1,000,000 in economic growth to the Capital region's creative sector.

The 4 Best Tricks I learned while studying Psychology in college and being around Personal Development in my free time are: 1. If you want others to open up to you or like you, make them the most important thing in the world. In Psychology this is referred to as “Active Listening”. All you need to do is give your entire attention to them when they talk. There are various ways you can implement this: Think that you have to give an hour long presentation on what they talked about the next day. Act like they have something to share that will give you a million dollars. Listen like you would if you were talking to your hero or god. Doing so will make sure you pay full attention to what they say. The difference is minute in your eyes, but the subconscious effect it has is massive! People will feel it and will love to talk to you, because you make them feel like they matter. Which is one of the most sought after feelings in the world. Try going an entire day with paying full attention to everyone and get their responses the next day. You will be surprised by the difference it made for them. 2. You see what you think about. Let’s use an example for this. A driver who believes the stereotype that women are bad drivers will see both bad drivers that are men and women, and good drivers that are men and women. But, even though he sees about an equal amount of each, he will only consciously be aware of the bad women drivers and the good men drivers. This is a security mechanism in our brain to confirm that we are right and to boost our ego. The interesting part comes in when you realize that this works for everything! When we think about positive things, how great the world is and how amazing our life is, we see more proof of it in the real world. What might be considered normal will be considered great in this Point of View. The same way when we think about how bad everything is and how Life is going against us, we see normal events as being negative and small problems as being gigantic. The best way to use this to our advantage is to think about how we want the world to look like. Because we find proof for everything we look for it is up to us to decide how we want to see the world. If we do not do this, someone else will decide for us. Using this effectively can lead to a happier life, filled with gratitude and amazement. But it does take practice and effort. 3. Motion creates Emotion. It is a common Research subject in Psychology and has been studied in many different aspects. The most popular one is “How to feel more confident”. Studies in this area have shown that the more space you take up, the more confident you feel. When you sit, sit with your legs open and arms outstretched, when standing, stand up tall and wide. What’s even more amazing than these findings is the fact that this works with every Emotion. Whenever you want to be happy, excited, confident, sexy, loving, or whatever else, just think about what a person with those qualities would do. Imagine that person in the same situation, how would they act? What would they say? What would they think? Ask yourself these questions and then simply copy that person in your head. Depending on how you move and behave your brain will activate the areas in your brain corresponding to the emotion you portray and release the corresponding hormones to make you feel that way! 4. Reality Testing. A lot of our daily problems arise from us overthinking. We make the problems bigger or smaller than they actually are and need the help of these strategies to actually see the reality. Without this we cannot solve the problem because we either get too scared to try, or think the problem isn’t that big and do not think it is worth solving. In Reality Testing Psychotherapists encourage clients to look at their problems objectively and to back-track to the negative thoughts and analyze them. Some common ways we tend to do this are:

In the mood to fly a kite? Well, how about instead of flying a kite, you do the complete opposite and take it for a swim? The Deep Green tidal kite by renewable energy startup Minesto operates in the same manner in which one flies a kite… except underwater instead of among the clouds. “The system consists of a lightweight turbine, generator and rudder attached to a fixed point on the seabed with a tether,” explains Business Green. “The system can then move in the ocean to catch the best currents and maximise power output from the tides.” Minesto believes tidal kite technology has the potential to grow the tidal power renewable energy market by 80 percent. Reason being, tidal kites are able to, in theory, operate in deep water with low tidal velocities considered unstable for other tidal energy generators. The Big Green prototype will be installed somewhere off the coast of Northern Ireland in 2011. A 200-500kW pilot is anticipated to kick off in 2013 and will be connected to the Northern Ireland grid sometime in 2012. Like what you are reading? Have an RSS reader and want to follow us as we post stories and features daily? Check it out!

Ikos 1 An archangel came down from heaven and said to the Queen of All: Rejoice! And beholding Thee, O Lord, taking bodily form, with a God-heralding voice, he cried out to her such things as these: Rejoice, Beginning of our salvation. Rejoice, Fulfillment of the Creator's dispensation. Rejoice, for through Thee God took flesh. Rejoice, for in 'thee the Invisible was made manifest. Rejoice, Thou who didst receive within Thyself a Mercy of peace. Rejoice, Thou who didst weave the fleshly garment of the Word. Rejoice, Glory raised on high, beyond the grasp of mind. Rejoice, Heavenly Manna, restoring hearts to life. Rejoice, radiant Star of grace. Rejoice, Fountain, pouring forth living waters. Rejoice, Mother of God, blessed among women. Rejoice, Incorrupt Virgin, who gavest birth to the Saviour. Rejoice, O Queen of All, who dost heal our infirmities by Thy grace. Kontakion 2 The unoriginate Word became a little Child through Thee, O Virgin, granting healing to all who honor Thee and who praise His ineffable Nativity in song: Alleluia! Ikos 2 Seeking to know the unknowable, the Virgin cried to the ministering angel: reveal to me, how I, as a pure Maiden, shall be the Mother of the Most High. Then Gabriel spoke to her in fear, crying such things as these: Rejoice, Chosen One of the Most-high Counsel. Rejoice, Quick Hearer of those praying to Thee. Rejoice, Treasury of the peace of Christ. Rejoice, Hope and Strength of Thy people. Rejoice, wondrous Destroyer of the curse of cancer. Rejoice, Healer of other infirmities. Rejoice, only Defense for the world. Rejoice, sure Deliverance from sorrows. Rejoice, Thou who dost ever assuage weeping and tears. Rejoice, Thou who openest the gates of salvation to all. Rejoice, Scepter and Might of those who dwell on the Holy Mountain. Rejoice, Staff of monks and laity. Rejoice, O Queen of All, who dost heal our infirmities by Thy grace. Kontakion 3 The power of the Most High overshadowed Thee, O Maiden, and ineffably took flesh, showing Thee to be a sweet meadow for all who wish to reap salvation as they sing: Alleluia! Ikos 3 Thy holy Icon, "Queen of All," was wondrously glorified, O Mother of God, when healing began to flow forth from Thine image. Thou grantest healing to those who sing before it with faith, that- such songs as these may be multiplied: Rejoice, Mother of the never-setting Light. Rejoice, Victory of those who endure to the end. Rejoice, true Physician in sickness and affliction. Rejoice, inviolable Wall for orphans and widows. Rejoice, Opener of the doors of Paradise. Rejoice, Defender of those who labor and are heavy laden. Rejoice, Intercessor for the salvation of the faithful. Rejoice, Mediatress for the Christian race. Rejoice, heavenly Ladder ascending from earth to Heaven. Rejoice, Living Water, washing away mortal sins. Rejoice, Ewe Lamb, preserving the hearts of the guileless. Rejoice, Protecting Veil sheltering the children of the Church. Rejoice, O Queen of All, who dost heal our infirmities by Thy grace. Kontakion 4 Giving life to the world, the Master of all dwelt in Thy womb, though Thou hadst not known man. Having shown Thee to be the Mother of the faithful, He taught them to cry out: Alleluia! Ikos 4 Most glorious things have come to pass concerning Thee, O City of God, through the healing pouring forth from Thy holy Icon; and receiving refreshing streams of healing, we cry with thanksgiving, O Queen of All: Rejoice, Herb of healing, relieving pains. Rejoice, Coolness, refreshing feverish ailments. Rejoice, Flame, burning the curse of cancer. Rejoice, Thou who dost raise from their beds those abandoned by doctors. Rejoice, Thou who revealest Thy most-pure face to Thy chosen ones. Rejoice, Release from the fetters of sin. Rejoice, for through Thee deliverance from death has been granted. Rejoice, for through Thee countless multitudes of the faithful have been justified. Rejoice, Height unattained by human thoughts. Rejoice, Depth experienced by the Word alone. Rejoice, One prophesied by patriarchs of old. Rejoice, Guide of hierarchs who pray to Thee. Rejoice, O Queen of All, who Jost heal our infirmities by Thy grace. Kontakion 5 Thou hast been shown, O Maiden, to be the most-pure Temple of the Saviour. We fall down before Thee, O Pure One, asking Thee to make us also temples of the Godhead, as we cry out: Alleluia! Ikos 5 The ranks of angels–having seen in Thy hands Him Who with His hands made man, and knowing Thee to be the only Sovereign Lady though 'thou didst call Thyself a servant–endeavor to serve Thee, O blessed One, with songs such as these: Rejoice, Thou whom God placed higher than the heavenly hosts. Rejoice, Thou who fillest the world with miraculous healings. Rejoice, Thou who dost hear praise and glory from the heavens. Rejoice, Receiver of thanksgiving from the earth. Rejoice, Thou who lost consume the seeds of corruption in our hearts. Rejoice, zealous Vanquisher of the snares of the devil. Rejoice, Thou who hast filled the vale of weeping with joy. Rejoice, Thou who dost transform sorrows into heavenly sweetness. Rejoice, Fragrance acceptable to God. Rejoice, exceeding Gladness of repentant sinners. Rejoice, Armor of truth against temptation. Rejoice, Shield of protection from enmity and destruction. Rejoice, O Queen of All, who dost heal our infirmities by Thy grace. Kontakion 6 The preachers of God's Word, the Saviour's disciples, appeared miraculously before Thee, O Virgin, when Thou didst ascend from earth to Heaven, that with one heart and mouth they might sing to God: Alleluia! Ikos 6 Wondrous grace shone from Thine Icon, O Queen of All, when the youth, darkened by satanic teachings, fell motionless before it. Freed beyond hope from the bonds of darkness, with fear and joy he cried to Thee thus: Rejoice, Correction of a dishonorable life. Rejoice, Consolation of those grievously tormented. Rejoice, Expeller of demonic hordes from the Church. Rejoice, Disperser of the gloomy cloud of sin. Rejoice, Abolition of invisible snares. Rejoice, all-powerful Conqueror of demonic charms. Rejoice, lamp, guiding those led astray. Rejoice, Cloud, protecting the innocent from evil. Rejoice, Mountain, nourishing us with heavenly manna. Rejoice, Valley, saturating us with the humility of Christ. Rejoice, Precious Gem of the Heavenly Kingdom. Rejoice, Reflection of the eternal light. Rejoice, O Queen of All, who lost heal our infirmities by Thy grace. Kontakion 7 Desiring to give "thyself as food for the faithful Thou didst will to be incarnate of the Virgin, that receiving Thy Most-pure Body and Thy Blood they might know Thee, the Perfect God; therefore, marveling at this ineffable wisdom, we cry: Alleluia! Ikos 7 The Creator revealed a new Mystery when He celebrated with His disciples His Mystical Supper. And we, who pray to the Queen of All to make us worthy of the divine and Holy Gifts, sing to Her such things as these: Rejoice, Giver of the Heavenly Bread. Rejoice, Bearer of the Eternal Life. Rejoice, Chalice, partaking of Christ. Rejoice, Thou who dost unite soul and body with God. Rejoice, golden Spoon, filled with the Divine Mysteries. Rejoice, precious Ark, containing the great and Holy Gifts. Rejoice, Directress, pointing us to the Holy Eucharist. Rejoice, Holy Table, offering us Holy Food. Rejoice, 'I'hou who dust place worthy communicants on Thy right hand. Rejoice, Thou who dust rescue ardent defenders of the Divine Liturgy from Hades. Rejoice, Guide of the dead to the fountain of immortality. Rejoice, Shelter of peace and strength for Thy children. Rejoice, O Queen of All, who lost heal our infirmities by Thy grace. Kontakion 8 Having beheld a strange Nativity, and having laid aside all earthly cares, let us lift up our hearts. For this reason the Most High appeared, to draw to Himself those who call out: Alleluia! Ikos 8 Ever existing in the bosom of the Father, the uncircumscribable Word became flesh on earth. Our Great God glorified the Virgin and regarded the lowliness of His Handmaiden, who now hears such things as these: Rejoice, Container of the uncontainable God. Rejoice, Thou who revealest to the world the Creator above the world. Rejoice, Shatterer of the power of death. Rejoice, Healer of Adam's wound. Rejoice, Healing poultice, curing spiritual wounds. Rejoice, Holy Oil, anointing bodily sores. Rejoice, Thou who dost assauge the pains of those giving birth. Rejoice, Relief of the torments of the dying. Rejoice, Cause of the defeat of Hades. Rejoice, Deadener of the sting of death. Rejoice, Hope of the general resurrection. Rejoice, undoubted Salvation of the Orthodox. Rejoice, O Queen of All, who dost heal our infirmities by Thy grace. Kontakion 9 All angelic and human nature was amazed at the greatness of Thine incomprehensible Incarnation, O Word. Gazing with wonder before this great mystery of piety, with fear and trembling we thankfully cry out to Thee: Alleluia! Ikos 9 Afflicted by many illnesses, we receive healing without measure from Thy holy Icon, O Queen of All, that having received grace by faith, with a mighty voice we may cry out to Thee: Rejoice, constant Preserver of healthy children. Rejoice, Bearer of health to the sick. Rejoice, Healing of ailing children. Rejoice, Mother of suffering youths. Rejoice, Thou who dost raise up those cast down upon the bed of sickness. Rejoice, Comfort of those held by the fear of death. Rejoice, Thou who dust heed men's weeping. Rejoice, Thou who dost regard our moaning. Rejoice, Suffuser of earthly pains with heavenly joy. Rejoice, supernatural Patience of the tempest tossed. Rejoice, Thou who preparest joy for those who weep. Rejoice, Thou who provident the meek with wings of prayer. Rejoice, O Queen of All, who dost heal our infirmities by Thy grace. Kontakion 10 Desiring to save human nature, corrupted by sin, the Creator descended upon Thee as dew upon the fleece, and made Thee to be a burning bush. Being God, He became man, that we might sing to Him: Alleluia! Ikos 10 A bulwark art Thou to virgins, O Pure Maiden, and to all who struggle for purity. God dwelt in Thee, thus cleansing His rational creatures, that having been delivered from all impurity, we may offer these songs to Thee: Rejoice, Converser with seekers of silence. Rejoice, Crown of those who preserve virginity. Rejoice, Beginning and End of spiritual perfection. Rejoice, Repository of the Divine Revelation. Rejoice, Initiate of the Counsel of the 'trinity. Rejoice, Cause of the salvation of men. Rejoice, Summit, unapproachable to proud minds. Rejoice, Refuge, open to humble hearts. Rejoice, O Pure One, purer than the heavens. Rejoice, Thou who art more honorable than the cherubim and the seraphim. Rejoice, O Joyful One, for thou didst receive rejoicing from the archangel. Rejoice, O Consoled One, for thou didst touch with Thy hands the risen Christ. Rejoice, O Queen of All, who dost heal our infirmities by Thy grace. Kontakion 11 Though striving to bring a rational song to the Saviour, we remain unworthy, O Sovereign lady, vet we are still Thy servants; for who can worthily hymn God, whose name is as out-poured myrrh; therefore we cry to Him: Alleluia! Ikos 11 As the great Light—the Orient from on high, Thy Son and God—shone on those sitting in darkness, do Thou visit us, O Virgin. Thou hast become a candle on a candlestand, a light-bearing child of the Church, teaching us to offer to Thee such things as these: Rejoice, Dawn of the noetic Sun. Rejoice, Container of the Divine Fire. Rejoice, Light, Who didst weave the clothing of the saints. Rejoice, Torch, driving away demonic darkness. Rejoice, Enlightenment of unreceptive minds. Rejoice, Light of sinful hearts. Rejoice, Right Hand, drawing us from a sea of vanities. Rejoice, Ray of light, guiding to the Kingdom those being saved. Rejoice, Lightening, startling the unrepentant. Rejoice, Thunder, frightening the destroyers. Rejoice, Brightening of evil consciences. Rejoice, Propitiation at the judgment of God. Rejoice, O Queen of All, who dost heal our infirmities by Thy grace. Kontakion 12 Desiring to give us grace, the Giver of the Old Testament bestowed upon us the New; then, having received grace—not through works of the law, but by the true Faith—and having found salvation, we all cry: Alleluia! Ikos 12 We hymn Thy Nativity, as of old Israel ex-tolled with cymbals the tabernacle of the law, which was but a foreshadowing of Thee, the true Tabernacle, whom we now glorify with virtues, that thou mightest hear from all such things as these: Rejoice, Song sung on high. Rejoice, Psalm heard below. Rejoice, worthy Servant of the One God. Rejoice, Pleaser of the Divine Trinity by Thy humility. Rejoice, Thou who didst carry within Thyself Him who holds the ages. Rejoice, Throne of Him who holds the universe in His hands. Rejoice, ineffable Mystery of all ages and times. Rejoice, firm I lope of all peoples and nations. Rejoice, heartfelt Rejoicing of reverent priests. Rejoice, swift Hearer of prayers—both in churches and in cells. Rejoice, Vessel of Mercy chosen by God. Rejoice, O Queen of All, who dost heal our infirmities by Thy grace. Kontakion 13 [3 times] O Mother, Queen of all, who didst bear the Word, Who is Holiest of all the saints, having received our present song, heal us from all deathly illnesses and deliver from the judgment to come those who cry: Alleluia! Ikos 1 Repeated An archangel came down from heaven and said to the Queen of All: Rejoice! And beholding Thee, O Lord, taking bodily form, with a God-heralding voice, he cried out to her such things as these: Rejoice, Beginning of our salvation. Rejoice, Fulfillment of the Creator's dispensation. Rejoice, for through Thee God took flesh. Rejoice, for in 'thee the Invisible was made manifest. Rejoice, Thou who didst receive within Thyself a Mercy of peace. Rejoice, Thou who didst weave the fleshly garment of the Word. Rejoice, Glory raised on high, beyond the grasp of mind. Rejoice, Heavenly Manna, restoring hearts to life. Rejoice, radiant Star of grace. Rejoice, Fountain, pouring forth living waters. Rejoice, Mother of God, blessed among women. Rejoice, Incorrupt Virgin, who gayest birth to the Saviour. Rejoice, O Queen of All, who dost heal our infirmities by Thy grace. Kontakion 1 Repeated Thy faithful servants, standing with compunction before Thy newly revealed Icon, do praise Thee with songs, O Queen of All. Send down Thy healing upon Thy servants who now run to Thee, that we may all joyfully cry to Thee: Rejoice, O Queen of All, who dost heal our infirmities by Thy grace. Troparion - Tone 4 Do Thou, O Sovereign lady, by Thy joy-bestowing honorable Icon "Queen of All," save those who with fervent desire implore Thy grace; deliver from afflictions those who run to Thee; from all dangers do Thou guard Thy flock, who ever call upon Thine intercession. Back to the akathists page Back to the main page

A MiG-23 trainer aircraft of the Indian Air Force today crashed in Rajasthan's Jodhpur district The aircraft was on a routine training mission. A Court of Inquiry has been ordered. An Indian Air Force (IAF) MIG-23 aircraft has crashed in Rajasthan's Jodhpur in the second such incident reported in 48 hours. Both pilots ejected safely before the aircraft went down in the Balesar area.The aircraft was on a routine training mission. A Court of Inquiry has been ordered.On Tuesday, an Air Force chopper, an Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH) involved in flood rescue, went missing in a deep ravine in Arunachal Pradesh.Reports suggested that its debris was spotted yesterday but the Air Force has not confirmed it. The helicopter had been on multiple sorties to evacuate people stranded after massive landslides caused by heavy rain in Arunachal Pradesh. In May, two pilots died after a Sukhoi-30 fighter jet crashed near the Assam-Arunachal Pradesh border.

A former executive at the Environmental Protection Agency used a series of lies and embellishments to defraud the government out of nearly $900,000, according to The Washington Post. John C. Beale allegedly told his bosses he was away from his job in order to conduct “sensitive work for another agency,” and after 12 years racked up $880,000 in pay and bonuses he did not earn. Beale, who was a senior policy adviser in the Office of Air and Radiation, is expected to plead guilty at a hearing Monday in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, the Post reported. The former EPA employee reportedly told co-workers he was traveling to China, South Africa and England, and said he had contracted malaria. Beale allegedly told his supervisors he was working for the CIA while taking time away from the office. Beale worked under Gina McCarthy, who has since gone on to become EPA administrator. McCarthy said she turned him over to authorities as soon as she discovered the scam, and forced him to retire in April 2013. The former policy adviser received a salary -- $164,700 when he resigned -- benefits and retention incentive bonuses that he had not earned, the U.S. Attorney’s Office alleged. The Post learned of the charges from a “criminal information” report, which is only filed with the defendant’s cooperation and typically means a plea agreement has been reached. The U.S. Attorney’s Office is seeking $507,207 in restitution. Beale’s wife, Nancy Kete, also spent a stint working for the EPA, but charges describe Beale as working alone in operating his scheme.

The iconic photograph of Hans Conrad Schumann escaping East Berlin taken by Peter Leibing. Here's the original uncropped version. “My nerves were at breaking point… I was very afraid. I took off, jumped, and into the car … in three, four seconds it was all over.” “I had him in my sight for more than an hour. I had a feeling he was going to jump. It was kind of an instinct... I had learned how to [get the timing right photographing horses] at the Jump Derby in Hamburg. You have to photograph the horse when it leaves the ground and catch it as it clears the barrier. And then he came. I pressed the shutter and it was all over.” Schumann was the first of many GDR border guards to defect from East Germany. Conrad Schumann had become a symbol of freedom during the Cold War. On one side of the Wall, Schumann was a hero. On the other, he was a traitor. Despite the fame, Schumann never blamed Liebing for taking the photograph. Twenty years after his jump, Schumann stands in front the iconic photo by Peter Leibing, 1981. (Image: Edwin Reichert/AP) It was the Cold War era. Berlin was divided in two: East and West Berlin. Tensions were high and the then Berlin Wall was a mere barbed wire fence. Two young men were about to make history as one would make a break for it and run to the other side while the other captured it on film.On August 15, 1961, 19-year-old photographer Peter Liebing was tipped off by West German police that something would happen upon Bernauer Straße. He had been tipped off as a 19-year-old Conrad Schumann had stood at what would eventually be the Berlin Wall – coils of barbed wire – and pressed down upon it. In a signal to a West German policeman, he gave a sign – the sign to defect.The situation was dire: as coils of barbed wire were being unrolled, the people of Germany were in uproar, shouting and swearing at police and guards from both side. But upon the Western border, a police van had been stationed opposite the wire, its back door open.When Liebing arrived, he noticed a young GDR border guard leaning against a wall, smoking cigarette after cigarette, trying to keep calm. Two of his comrades were patrolling the other side of the road. To Liebing, it was unclear which of them would defect, and when. As hours went by, nothing happened, but Liebing continued to be at the ready with his Exacta camera ready to capture whatever would occur.But at 4pm, Liebing caught the picture which would change Schumann’s life.There were many press photographers in attendance at that intersection, but the photo that appeared in all the newspapers the following day was taken by Peter Leibing, who had pre-focused on the barbed wire and pressed the shutter release in just the right "decisive moment" to capture Schumann in mid-leap above the wire, ridding himself of the gun with his right hand and using the left arm for balance.His photo taken with a 200mm lens mounted on —ironically— an East German Exacta camera became an enduring image of the Cold War. There is only one negative; the camera had no motor-drive and it was the only image he had time to shoot.Below is a rare footage showing the entire "Leap Into Freedom" sequence; likely taken by the videographer that is visible on the left in the uncropped version of Peter Leibing's image.East Germany initially wanted to portray his defection as a kidnapping, but as publicity mounted behind a uniformed member of the GDR fleeing his own regime, it became more and more unviable to maintain the story.In his police report, Schumann provided the West with a valuable insight into the instability behind the East German lines.In the report, Schumann disclosed that in the days prior to his escape, he had worked endlessly in the attempt to maintain control behind East German lines and got very little sleep as GDR troops were reallocated to East Berlin. In the GDR, he had been told certain things about those in West Germany: that those lingering along the Western Berlin border were criminals, or that the West German police did everything to keep the West Berliners in (such as shooting at them). However, as he stood guard at the border, through his observations Schumann came to realise that what he had been told were falsehoods; there were no conflicts between West Berliners and the police and that the ‘Free Zone’ was indeed free.Schumann had made some preparations. The Russian MG 42 he had chosen was empty as to help him get over the wire. As he said, had it not been, it probably would have gone off when he dropped it. At 2pm, he assigned tasks to the soldiers under his command, and spread them out so that it wouldn’t look suspicious, but had placed himself closest to the wall. As he said, “Nobody noticed anything.”After his escape, Schumann remained in a refugee center in Marienfeld, West Berlin until the end of September 1961.The two other guards, Erich Fierus and Peter Kroger, later stated that had they have caught Schumann in the act, if he had so happened to have gotten caught in the wire, they would have shot him. But with knowledge of what the Stasi were capable of, this would have been one of the kinder options.But life in the GDR was defined by paranoia. With the State Security – also known as the ‘Stasi’ – keeping an eye on everyone and everything, imprisoning those who were merely suspected of antisocial activities and sentencing all those to prison or hard labour, residents of the GDR had everything to fear. It was well known that there were those in the West whom had been kidnapped by the Stasi, and so it was not irrational to think that even though one was in the West, that they could still be a target.In the West, Schumann was alone. Born in Zschochau, Saxony, Nazi Germany in 1942 and trained as a sheepherder, Schumann had left family and friends behind in the East. The West German Government helped him to build a new life in the West. With his ticket to Bavaria, he started work at a Hospital and trained to become a nurse. However, his first decade in the West sees him fall prone to the bottle to numb the pain, the start of what would be a lifelong battle with alcohol addiction.Schumann he met his future wife and with her, had a son, Erwin. He bought his first car, a VW Beetle, in 1963 – a far cry away from the eight year waiting list for a Trabant in the GDR. He took up a new job at a winery, and eventually at the Audi car assembly factory in Ingolstadt. Schumann proudly cheered for FC Bayern München, and attended church on Sundays. He got himself tattoos on both arms along the way.But Schumann had left behind his mother and father, a younger sister. The Stasi, with their eye upon him, record that he wrote exactly every two weeks. When his father had finally received a permit to see him thirteen years after the jump, Schumann discovered that he had been told by the Stasi that he had read contraband materials, and that they had paid him to jump, to which Schumann had accepted. Over the years, Schumann was tempted to return to Saxony, receiving letters from his family saying that everything would be fine if he were to come home. At one point, he had to be persuaded by a West German policeman against what could have been a disastrous outcome, because little did he know but the letters had been written by family, but dictated by the Stasi.And so despite all pressure from the Stasi, did not return to the GDR. The fear and paranoia plagued his life, and alongside the pressure of his unintentional fame, Schumann led to a lifelong battle with depression and alcoholism. He had remarked, “Only since 9 November 1989 [the date of the fall] have I felt truly free,” and had considered Bavaria where he felt truly at home.Schumann developed a small friendship with Liebing throughout his life as a result of the photograph and met often. Schumann divulged to Liebing in a private talk his reason for defecting: he did not want to be put into the situation where he would have to shoot someone. With one’s upbringing in the GDR being fundamentally driven towards military purpose, it was highly likely that Schumann might eventually have had to.Schumann later publicly spoke more about his reasons for defection, “As a border policeman I could see how a little girl who was visiting her grandmother in East Berlin was held back by the border guards and not allowed over to West Berlin. Although the parents were waiting just a few meters from the already rolled barbed wire, the girl was simply sent back to East Berlin.”After the Fall of the Berlin Wall, Schumann was reunited with the family he had left behind in East Germany, but it was clear that time had not justified his choice to some.There were those in his family who still regarded him as a traitor, and refused to talk to him. He had frictions with former colleagues, and was hesitant to visit his parents and siblings back in Saxony.Conrad Schumann died in 1998 from suicide, and though he left no note, it was widely accepted that he never escaped living a life in fear. He was 56 years old. Schumann was one of the Berlin Wall’s many victims.Peter Liebing’s photograph of Conrad Schumann, entitled ‘Leap Into Freedom’ was compiled as part of UNESCO’s Memory of the World in 2011.(via Dominic & Coco

Experience football the way it was meant to be enjoyed: Surrounded by folks who love the sport as much as you. Regardless of which NFL team is your favorite, you’ll find a venue on this list where you can cheer them on. Sure, you’d rather be at the game, but you can still enjoy the action as well as some great game-day grub, especially when it comes with a side of that must-have menu item for the out-of-market football fan—the NFL Sunday Ticket. You can probably catch your team at any of these venues (except for one, obvious choice), but to make it interesting, we chose 32 top spots with great game-day grub and football-friendly atmosphere — that’s one for every NFL team. Do you have a go-to sports bar or restaurant for catching your out-of-market team? If so, let us know by listing the team and venue in the comments section below. Note: While our sources are top-notch, we recommend calling ahead to your venue of choice to make sure you’ll be able to see your team play. Arizona Cardinals McFadden’s Ballpark Citizens Bank Park 1 Citizens Bank Way Philadelphia, PA 19148 (215) 952-0300 www.mcfaddensballpark.com Atlanta Falcons City Tap House 3925 Walnut St. Philadelphia, PA 19104 (215) 662-0105 www.citytaphouse.com Baltimore Ravens Cavanaugh’s University City 119 South 39th St. Philadelphia, PA 19104 (215) 386-4889 www.cavanaughsrestaurant.com Buffalo Bills Tavern On Broad 200 S. Broad St. Philadelphia, PA 19102 (215) 546-2290 www.tavernonbroad.com Carolina Panthers Manayunk Brewery and Restaurant 4120 Main St. Philadelphia, PA 19127 (215) 482-8220 www.manayunkbrewery.com Chicago Bears Fado Irish Pub 1500 Locust St. Philadelphia, PA 19102 (215) 893-9700 www.fadoirishpub.com Cincinnati Bengals Cavanaugh’s Rittenhouse 1823 Sansom St. Philadelphia, PA 19103 (215) 665-9500 www.cavsrittenhouse.com Cleveland Browns City Tap House 3925 Walnut St. Philadelphia, PA 19104 (215) 662-0105 www.citytaphouse.com Dallas Cowboys Manny Brown’s Bar and Grill 512 South St. Philadelphia, PA 19147 (215) 627-7427 www.facebook.com/mannybrownssouth Denver Broncos McGillin’s Olde Ale House 1310 Drury St. Philadelphia, PA 19107 (215) 735-5562 www.mcgillins.com Detroit Lions Mac’s Tavern 226 Market St. Philadelphia, PA 19106 (267) 324-5507 www.macstavern.com Green Bay Packers Brauhaus Schmitz 718 South St. Philadelphia, PA 19147 (267) 909-8814 www.brauhausschmitz.com Houston Texans Johnny Utah’s Country Rock Bar and Saloon 461 N 3rd St. Philadelphia, PA 19123 (267) 909-9829 www.johnnyutahsphilly.com Kansas City Chiefs Big Charlie’s Saloon S 11th St. Philadelphia, PA 19148 (215) 336-1855 www.facebook.com/arrowheadeast Indianapolis Colts Field House Sports & Beer Hall Philadelphia Convention Center 1150 Filbert St. Philadelphia, PA 19107 (215) 720-1876 www.fieldhousephilly.com Jacksonville Jaguars South Philly Bar & Grill 1235 E. Passyunk Ave. Philadelphia, PA 19147 (215) 334-3300 www.southphillybar.com Miami Dolphins Cuba Libre 10 S 2nd St. Philadelphia, PA 19106 (215) 627-0666 www.cubalibrerestaurant.com Minnesota Vikings Chickie’s & Pete’s1526 Packer Ave.Philadelphia, PA 19145(215) 218-0500 New England Patriots McGillin’s Old Ale House 1310 Drury St. Philadelphia, PA 19107 (215) 735-5562 www.mcgillins.com New Orleans Saints Prohibition Taproom 501 N. 13th St. Philadelphia, PA 19123 (215) 238-1818 www.theprohibitiontaproom.com New York Giants Fox & Hound 1501 Spruce St. Philadelphia, PA 19102 (215) 732-8610 www.foxandhound.com New York Jets Revolution House 200 Market St. Philadelphia, PA 19106 (215) 625-4566 www.revolutionhouse.com Oakland Raiders O’Neal’s Pub 611 S. 3rd St. Philadelphia, PA 19147 (215) 574-9495 www.onealspub.com Philadelphia Eagles Lincoln Financial Field 1 Lincoln Financial Field Way Philadelphia, PA 19147 (267) 570-4000 www.lincolnfinancialfield.com Pittsburgh Steelers Vernick Food And Drink 2031 Walnut St. Philadelphia, PA 19103 267-639-6644 vernickphilly.com San Diego Chargers PJ Whelihan’s Pub and Restaurant 799 Dekalb Pike Blue Bell, PA 19422 (610) 272-8919 www.pjspub.com San Francisco 49ers BarLy 101 N. 11th St. Philadelphia, PA 19107 (215) 922-2688 www.bar-ly.com Seattle Seahawks Mad River Bar & Grill 4100 Main St. Philadelphia, PA 19127 (215) 482-2666 www.madrivermanayunk.com St. Louis Rams Kings Oak 1031 Germantown Ave Philadelphia, PA 19123 (215) 923-2014 www.kingsoaklane.com Tampa Bay Buccaneers Twenty Manning Grill 261 S. 20th St. Philadelphia, PA 19103 (215) 731-0900 www.twentymanning.com Tennessee Titans Misconduct Tavern 1511 Locust St. Philadelphia, PA 19102 (215) 732-5797 www.misconduct-tavern.com Washington Redskins Buffalo Billiards 118 Chestnut St. Philadelphia, PA 19106 (215) 574-7665 www.buffalobilliards.com Christy Ayala covers sports, recreation, the outdoors, and leisure activities in the Philadelphia area. She earned a masters degree in recreation administration from George Williams College and managed programs in the Midwest, Hawaii, and Pennsylvania. Her work can be found on Examiner.com.

Ever since algorithms began recognizing patterns faster and better than humans, computers have been making doctors’ lives easier and diagnoses more accurate. But widely used tools like automated cell counters, which can quickly point to diseases like malaria and leukemia by getting a head count on different kind of blood cells, are beginning to look quaint next to the deep learning and neural networks coming online. Today, hospitals can outfit their existing computer systems with a $1,000 graphics processor and speed-boost their capacity up to 260 million images per day. That’s basically equivalent to all the MRIs, CT scans, and other images that all the radiologists in America look at each day. Unleashing that kind of AI on the medical world's mountains of patient data could speed up diagnoses and get patients on the path to recovery much sooner. But it also promises to drastically change the job description for doctors who identify as information specialists—those whose primary tasks involve deciphering diagnoses from images. Doctors who get their MDs in image interpretation, namely pathologists, radiologists, and dermatologists, are the most vulnerable. “These three areas will be the first strike,” says Eric Topol, director of the Scripps Translational Science Institute and a leader in the NIH’s Precision Health Initiative. “Then we’ll start to see it across the board for medicine.” Take skin cancer. Each year five million American moles, freckles, and skin spots turn out to be malignant, costing the healthcare system $8 billion. Catching deadly cancers like melanoma early makes a huge difference—survival rates drop from 98 percent to as low as 16 percent if the disease progresses to the lymph nodes. Dermatologists use a variety of magnifying instruments to identify possible bad blemishes, and because the outcomes can be so disastrous, they tend to be a cautious bunch. For every 10 lesions surgically biopsied, only one melanoma gets discovered. That’s a lot of unnecessary knifing. So doctors are now turning to artificial intelligence to tell the difference between innocuous and potentially fatal blotches. The hope is that computer vision, with its ability to make thousands of tiny measurements, will catch cancers early enough and with enough specificity to cut down on the amount of cutting doctors do. And by initial measures, it’s well on its way. Computer scientists and physicians at Stanford University recently teamed up to train a deep learning algorithm on 130,000 images of 2,000 skin diseases. The result, the subject of a paper out today in Nature, performed as well as 21 board-certified dermatologists in picking out deadly skin lesions. The researchers started with a Google-developed algorithm primed to differentiate cats from dogs. Then they fed it images from medical databases and the web and taught it to differentiate between a malignant squamous cell carcinoma and a patch of scratchy dry skin. Like an outstanding dermatology resident, the more images it saw, the better it got. “It was definitely an incremental process, but it was exciting to see it slowly be able to actually do better than us at classifying these lesions,” said Roberto Novoa, the Stanford dermatologist who first contacted the school’s AI group about collaborating on skin cancer. Stanford’s robo-derm may be pure research at this point, but there are plenty of AI start-ups (more than 100) and software giants (Google, Microsoft, IBM) working to get deep learning into hospitals, clinics, and even smartphones. Last year, a team of Harvard and Beth Israel Deacon researchers won an international imaging competition with a neural network that could detect metastatic breast cancer just by looking at pathology slide images from lymph nodes. The researchers are now commercializing the technology through a spinoff called PathAI. IBM’s artificial intelligence engine, Watson, has also been working on identifying skin cancers, when it’s not analyzing CT scans for blood clots or watching for wonky heart wall motion in ECGs. With 30 billion images and counting, Watson will soon have specialized knowledge in all the big imaging fields—radiology, pathology and now, dermatology—setting it up to be either a doctor’s best friend or biggest nemesis. The key to avoiding being replaced by computers, Topol says, is for doctors to allow themselves to be displaced instead. “Most doctors in these fields are overtrained to do things like screen images for lung and breast cancers,” he says. “Those tasks are ideal for delegation to artificial intelligence.” When a computer can do the job of a single radiologist, the job of the radiologist expands—perhaps to monitoring multiple AI systems and using the results to make more comprehensive treatment plans. Less time drawing on X-rays, more time talking patients through options. That’s exactly what cloud-based medical imaging company Arterysis doing for cardiologists, with an application that uses AI to quantify blood flowing through the heart. The algorithm, which is based on about 10 million rules, uses MRI images to produce contours of each of the heart’s four chambers, precisely measuring how much blood they move with each contraction. Today, cardiologists have to draw these contours by hand—especially tricky with the peanut-shaped right ventricle. Doctors usually need 30 to 60 minutes to calculate the volume of blood transported with each pump. But Arterys’s AI comes up with the answer in 15 seconds. Earlier this month the FDA cleared the company to market its product, and with a partnership with GE Healthcare to get the Arterys system in GE MRI machines, doctors could be using it as soon as this year. The decision opens up the path for more applications of deep learning AI to get into the hands of doctors as fast as companies can train them. Whether or not doctors use them will be the first true test of the technology's potential to improve patient care.

The snake was also brought to the hospital and wildlife workers identified it as the inland taipan. The inland taipan that bit a Kurri Kurri teenager. Credit:Cath Bowen The boy was later taken to the Calvary Mater Hospital in Newcastle, where he was in a serious condition this morning. Although he spoke briefly to police last night, his health remains a concern for specialists as the poison continues to wrack his body, The Newcastle Herald reported. The inland taipan is known colloquially as a "fierce snake", reaches up to 2.5 metres in length and is native to western NSW, south-eastern South Australia and southern parts of the Northern Territory. A drop of venom can kill 100 adult men and 250,000 mice, Taronga Zoo spokesman Mark Williams said. Australian Reptile Park's head keeper of reptiles and spiders Julie Mendezona said the snake's venom is a neurotoxin that acts quickly. "Effectively what it will do is it will start shutting down the function of messages going to your brain, to your vital organs, your lungs and your heart and even your muscles. "So paralysis is usually what happens with the patient. "Because it can act so fast, being a neurotoxin, that's what makes it such a deadly animal. "It can kill someone within maybe 45 minutes. There have been reports of people experiencing effects of venom within half an hour as well. "It also contains an anticoagulant, which means it will interfere with the blood clotting, so therefore you can experience bleeding out as well." Ms Mendezona said bites were quite rare because the snake's native areas were not highly populated. The teenager's bite is probably one of about 100 in Australia's history, she said. "It's not known yet as to how the young man actually got hold of the snake. We can only speculate. "You can actually keep venomous snakes under the correct licence. "But a 17-year-old boy would not have the correct licence at all so he shouldn't have been touching it. "You could probably speculate it was an illegal pet, but we can't know for sure at this stage." Mr Williams said there were no recorded deaths from a inland taipan bite. "Like any animal if confronted ... it will defend itself," he said. Antivenom for inland taipan bites is kept at zoos that keep them, as well as hospitals near where the snake is found in the wild. Other deadly snakes in Australia include the eastern brown snake, coastal taipan and eastern tiger snake. Loading Police do not believe the incident is related to a break-in at Hunter Valley Zoo on Sunday night where thieves stole four pythons and two alligators. No taipans were reportedly stolen from the zoo.

In a recent post I tried to categorize the problems of the Perseus Word Study Tool, as tested on a section of Vergil. More surprising to me than the overall rate of error (about one in three words was misidentified in some way) was the fact that many of the errors were not subject to correction by means of Perseus’ “voting” system; and that even when voting was in operation, it often did not correct the error. Sometimes the correct choice was not an available option; other times, unanimous correct votes were ignored, and unanimous incorrect votes were accepted. At Aen. 5.17, to add another example to those mentioned the earlier post, the vocative magnanime was incorrectly called an adverb on the basis of six incorrect user votes. The inadequacy of the LWST will not have been news to anyone who has used it. The question is, is the level of error pedagogically significant? Is the LWST good enough for the purposes of a typical Latin student? In other words, should the average Latinist care? It is not good enough, and the level of error and the specific types of errors in this flagship classical DH project are pedagogically significant and worthy of attention, I believe, for several reasons. 1. Words that give students the most trouble–relative pronouns, demonstratives, quam, ut, modo, Q-words in general–are exactly those least likely to be handled well by the LWST. The earlier post has some examples from my small sample, but I’ll add here that in Aen. 5.30 (magis . . . ) quam, when it comes to that quam, the LWST offered no fewer than seven possible quams to choose from (all numbered quam 1-7), none of which has the correct definition in the context (“than”). 2. The LWST is of course helpless when it comes to unusual or idiomatic expressions, of which there is a good example in my sample at 5.6, were notum must be translated “the knowledge that.” 3. The tool naturally can analyze only what is there. It cannot tell when something is left out or assumed. 4. A major structural problem is represented by bad short definitions of the type (to choose again from examples offered by my sample) iubet = “imposed,” iam = “are you going so soon,” frustra = “in deception, in error,” or more subtly, the fact that the common meaning of tendere, “direct one’s course,” does not appear in the short def. for that word.This is important because, even though one can click on and read the full Lewis & Short dictoinary definition, intermediate students are very unlikely to click through and sift through long entries in search of the correct definition. 5. Moreover, the LWST obscures the relationships between words, which is key to learning to read Latin. This is why seemingly minor accidence mistakes are meaningful. Misled on a part of speech, or the gender of an adjective or the case of a noun, the student will likely not see the syntactical connection between words, and thus the tool reinforces the urge to produce the dreaded “word salad” translations. 6. More broadly, with its cryptic statistical data and jumbled pseudo-information, the LWST reinforces the the impression that many students have: that Latin isn’t really supposed to make sense anyway, that it’s all some kind of fiendish crossword puzzle. Gregory Crane in an important article and apologia for Perseus, has said that the goal of the Perseus Project is to provide “machine-actionable knowledge.” Reference materials, in particular, are structured to support automatic systems (e.g., the morphological analyzer learns Greek and Latin morphology from a machine actionable grammar) and to be decomposed into small chunks and then recombined to provide dynamic commentaries. If you retrieve a book in a language that you cannot read or on a topic that you cannot understand, the system can find translations where these already exist, machine translation and translation support systems, reference works, and general background information suited to the general background and immediate purposes of the reader. In knowledge bases, the boundaries between books begin to dissolve. But clearly machines are spectacularly bad at understanding Latin at the moment. Crane thinks in terms of many decades, and is waiting for massive improvements in artificial intelligence, or teams of graduate students to encode correct grammatical analysis in texts. But such a prospect seems increasingly far off, and given the size of the Perseus Digital Library (10.5 million words at the moment), it seem unlikely that the millions of errors can be corrected any time soon, if ever. Indeed, would it be worth huge the investment of time and money? In the meantime, we need to create a collaborative tool for generating reasonably correct and reliable vocabulary lists for Latin (and Greek) authors that will be helpful for students and teachers around the world. Why we should do this, and what kind of tool I have in mind, will be the subjects of future posts. –Chris Francese

Cool demonstration of the capabilities of OpenEmu for OS X using the iPad as a second monitor. (via) I'm looking forward to OpenEmu, which is still in private beta (though you can compile the source). I haven't played my old GameBoy and SNES games in years, but, in the light of recent Nintendo announcements, I'd like to play them on a computer today. OpenEmu is promising: Open Emu is an open source project to bring game emulation to OS X as a first class citizen, leveraging modern OS X technologies such as Cocoa, Core Animation and Quartz, and 3rd party libraries like Sparkle for auto-updating. Open Emu is based on a modular architecture, allowing for game-engine plugins, this means Open Emu can support a host of different emulation engines and back-ends while retaining a familiar OS X native front-end. From what I've seen so far, OpenEmu will support both hardware controllers (with lots of configuration options) and software solutions like Joypad (which we reviewed). Matt Gemmell had an excellent article a while back on playing Nintendo games on a Mac, with lots of great photos as well. Update: In case it wasn't clear enough, we don't condone piracy here at MacStories. Either for apps or games, don't be greedy. Support developers and buy original games. As Matt also says, most second-hand consoles and games are cheap on eBay these days.

In St. Paul, maintaining an intruder alarm system will soon cost $38 annually, which is a $10 hike over the current annual permit licensing fee. Meanwhile, the penalties for two or more false alarms in a year will more than triple. The St. Paul City Council voted 5-2 Wednesday to make two rule changes that make it more expensive for homeowners and businesses to protect their properties with alarm systems. Annual licensing fees for alarm systems are currently $28, and would have gone up to $58 if an ordinance recommended by the St. Paul Police Department had been approved as proposed. The $38 figure was seen by most council members as a fitting compromise, though some said it was still too high. “I think we should try to keep it as low as possible,” said Council Member Dai Thao, who voted against the increase. He was joined by Council Member Dan Bostrom in voting no. FALSE-ALARM FEES GO UP Under St. Paul’s current system, fees for false alarms range from $25 to $150, but charges are not incurred until the third false call within a year. Under the rule changes approved Wednesday, the penalties will increase to $75 for the second alarm within a calendar year, $100 for the third, $200 for the fourth, $300 for the fifth, $400 for the sixth and $500 for the seventh and each one thereafter. The first false alarm does not incur charges. Related Articles Minneapolis implements winter parking restrictions; St. Paul ‘monitoring’ conditions Ordway 2019-20 season has ‘The Color Purple,’ ‘Groundhog Day,’ ‘Once on This Island’ Highland Park Middle School online threat began with argument at school, police say Minnesota United will have company. Here’s what’s up with 5 tenants moving in near Allianz Field. Chai Lee, Kris Fredson among 17 members chosen for Met Council The St. Paul Police Department acquired administration of the alarm fees from the Department of Safety and Inspections several years ago. A recent letter from the city to alarm permit holders indicated that police responses to 5,000 false alarms annually costs the city more than $2.6 million each year, and they need to recoup those losses. Opponents have pointed out that by that math, each false alarm costs the city $500 for roughly 30 minutes of two officers’ time. The council received written responses from dozens of residents and business owners, almost none of them supportive of the proposal. Police said the annual permit fees have not gone up in a decade, and they have been recouping only $260,000 annually from the current fee structure. Few, if any, other cities in the metro charge a recurring alarm permit fee. In Minneapolis, the city charges $30 for the first false alarm, $100 for the second, $200 for the third, and an additional $100 for each alarm after that. There is no annual permitting fee.

The first expedition to reach the geographic South Pole was led by the Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen. He and four others arrived at the pole on 14 December 1911, five weeks ahead of a British party led by Robert Falcon Scott as part of the Terra Nova Expedition. Amundsen and his team returned safely to their base, and later heard that Scott and his four companions had died on their return journey. Amundsen's initial plans had focused on the Arctic and the conquest of the North Pole by means of an extended drift in an icebound ship. He obtained the use of Fridtjof Nansen's polar exploration ship Fram, and undertook extensive fundraising. Preparations for this expedition were disrupted when, in 1909, the rival American explorers Frederick Cook and Robert E. Peary each claimed to have reached the North Pole. Amundsen then changed his plan and began to prepare for a conquest of the South Pole; uncertain of the extent to which the public and his backers would support him, he kept this revised objective secret. When he set out in June 1910, he led even his crew to believe they were embarking on an Arctic drift, and revealed their true Antarctic destination only when Fram was leaving their last port of call, Madeira. Amundsen made his Antarctic base, which he named "Framheim", in the Bay of Whales on the Great Ice Barrier. After months of preparation, depot-laying and a false start that ended in near-disaster, he and his party set out for the pole in October 1911. In the course of their journey they discovered the Axel Heiberg Glacier, which provided their route to the polar plateau and ultimately to the South Pole. The party's mastery of the use of skis and their expertise with sled dogs ensured rapid and relatively trouble-free travel. Other achievements of the expedition included the first exploration of King Edward VII Land and an extensive oceanographic cruise. The expedition's success was widely applauded, though the story of Scott's heroic failure overshadowed its achievement in the United Kingdom. Amundsen's decision to keep his true plans secret until the last moment was criticised by some. Recent polar historians have more fully recognised the skill and courage of Amundsen's party; the permanent scientific base at the pole bears his name, together with that of Scott. Background [ edit ] Gjøa, the small sloop in which Amundsen and his crew conquered the Northwest Passage, 1903–06 , the small sloop in which Amundsen and his crew conquered the Northwest Passage, 1903–06 Amundsen was born in Fredrikstad (around 80 km from Christiania (now Oslo)), Norway, in 1872, the son of a ship-owner. In 1893, he abandoned his medical studies at Christiania University and signed up as a seaman aboard the sealer Magdalena for a voyage to the Arctic. After several further voyages he qualified as a second mate; when not at sea, he developed his skills as a cross-country skier in the harsh environment of Norway's Hardangervidda plateau. In 1896, inspired by the polar exploits of his countryman Fridtjof Nansen, Amundsen joined the Belgian Antarctic Expedition as mate, aboard Belgica under Adrien de Gerlache. Early in 1898 the ship became trapped by pack ice in the Bellinghausen Sea, and was held fast for almost a year. The expedition thus became, involuntarily, the first to spend a complete winter in Antarctic waters, a period marked by depression, near-starvation, insanity, and scurvy among the crew. Amundsen remained dispassionate, recording everything and using the experience as an education in all aspects of polar exploration techniques, particularly aids, clothing and diet. Belgica's voyage marked the beginning of what became known as the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration, and was rapidly followed by expeditions from the United Kingdom, Sweden, Germany and France. However, on his return to Norway in 1899, Amundsen turned his attention northwards. Confident in his abilities to lead an expedition, he planned a traversal of the Northwest Passage, the then-uncharted sea route from the Atlantic to the Pacific through the labyrinth of north Canadian islands. Having earned his master's ticket, Amundsen acquired a small sloop, Gjøa, which he adapted for Arctic travel. He secured the patronage of King Oscar of Sweden and Norway, the support of Nansen, and sufficient financial backing to set out in June 1903 with a crew of six. The voyage lasted until 1906 and was wholly successful; the Northwest Passage, which defeated mariners for centuries, was finally conquered. At the age of 34 Amundsen became a national hero, in the first rank of polar explorers. In November 1906 the American Robert Peary returned from his latest unsuccessful quest for the North Pole, claiming a new Farthest North of 87° 6′—a record disputed by later historians. He immediately began raising funds for a further attempt. In July 1907 Dr Frederick Cook, a former shipmate of Amundsen's from Belgica, set off northwards on what was ostensibly a hunting trip but was rumoured to be an attempt on the North Pole. A month later Ernest Shackleton's Nimrod Expedition sailed for Antarctica, while Robert Falcon Scott was preparing a further expedition should Shackleton fail. Amundsen saw no reason to concede priority in the south to the British, and spoke publicly about the prospects of leading an Antarctic expedition—although his preferred goal remained the North Pole. Preparation [ edit ] Nansen and Fram [ edit ] In 1893 Nansen had driven his ship Fram into the Arctic pack ice off the northern Siberian coast and allowed it to drift in the ice towards Greenland, hoping that this route would cross the North Pole. In the event, the drift did not approach the pole, and an attempt by Nansen and Hjalmar Johansen to reach it on foot was likewise unsuccessful.[15] Nevertheless, Nansen's strategy became the basis of Amundsen's own Arctic plans. He reasoned that if he entered the Arctic Ocean via the Bering Strait, well to the east of Nansen's starting point, his ship would achieve a more northerly drift and pass near or through the pole. Amundsen consulted Nansen, who insisted that Fram was the only vessel fit for such an undertaking. Fram had been designed and built in 1891–93 by Colin Archer, Norway's leading shipbuilder and naval architect, in accordance with Nansen's exacting specifications, as a vessel that would withstand prolonged exposure to the harshest of Arctic conditions. The ship's most distinctive feature was its rounded hull which, according to Nansen, enabled the vessel to "slip like an eel out of the embraces of the ice". For extra strength the hull was sheathed in South American greenheart, the hardest timber available, and crossbeams and braces were fitted throughout its length. The ship's wide beam of 36 feet (11 m) in relation to its overall length of 128 feet (39 m) gave it a markedly stubby appearance. This shape improved its strength in the ice but affected its performance in the open sea, where it moved sluggishly and was inclined to roll most uncomfortably. However, its looks, speed, and sailing qualities were secondary to the provision of a secure and warm shelter for the crew during a voyage that might extend over several years. Fram had emerged virtually unscathed from Nansen's expedition after nearly three years in the polar ice. On its return it had been refitted, before spending four years under the command of Otto Sverdrup, charting and exploring 100,000 square miles (260,000 km2) of uninhabited territory in the northern Canadian islands. After Sverdrup's voyage ended in 1902 Fram was laid up in Christiania. Although the ship was technically the property of the state, it was tacitly acknowledged that Nansen had first call on it. After his return from the Arctic in 1896 he had aspired to take Fram on an expedition to Antarctica, but by 1907 such hopes had faded. Late in September of that year, Amundsen was summoned to Nansen's home and told he could have the ship. Initial steps [ edit ] Amundsen made his plans public on 10 November 1908, at a meeting of the Norwegian Geographical Society. He would take Fram round Cape Horn to the Pacific Ocean; after provisioning in San Francisco the ship would continue northwards, through the Bering Strait to Point Barrow. From here he would set a course directly into the ice to begin a drift that would extend over four or five years. Science would be as important as geographical exploration; continuous observations would, Amundsen hoped, help to explain a number of unresolved problems. The plan was received enthusiastically, and the next day King Haakon[n 2] opened a subscription list with a gift of 20,000 kroner. On 6 February 1909 the Norwegian Parliament approved a grant of 75,000 kroner to refit the ship. The general fundraising and business management of the expedition was placed in the hands of Amundsen's brother Leon so that the explorer could concentrate on the more practical aspects of organisation. In March 1909 it was announced that Shackleton had reached a southern latitude of 88° 23′— 97 nautical miles (180 km) from the South Pole—before turning back; thus, as Amundsen observed, in the south "a little corner remained". He was unreserved in his praise for Shackleton's achievement, writing that Shackleton was the south's equivalent of Nansen in the north. Following this near miss, Scott immediately confirmed his intention to lead an expedition (what became the Terra Nova Expedition) that would encompass the "little corner" and claim the prize for the British Empire. Personnel [ edit ] Roald Amundsen, the expedition's leader Amundsen chose three naval lieutenants as his expedition's officers: Thorvald Nilsen, a navigator who would be second-in-command; Hjalmar Fredrik Gjertsen, and Kristian Prestrud. Gjertsen, despite lacking a medical background, was made expedition doctor, and was sent on a "lightning course" in surgery and dentistry. A naval gunner, Oscar Wisting, was accepted on Prestrud's recommendation because he could turn his hand to most tasks. Although he had little previous experience of sledge dogs, Amundsen wrote that Wisting developed "a way of his own" with them, and became a useful amateur veterinarian. An early choice for the party was Olav Bjaaland, a champion skier who was a skilled carpenter and ski-maker. Bjaaland was from Morgedal in the Telemark province of Norway, a region renowned for the prowess of its skiers and as the home of the pioneer of modern techniques, Sondre Norheim. Amundsen shared Nansen's belief that skis and sledge dogs provided by far the most efficient method of Arctic transport, and was determined to recruit the most skilful dog drivers. Helmer Hanssen, who had proved his worth on the Gjøa expedition, agreed to travel with Amundsen again. He was joined later by Sverre Hassel, an expert on dogs, and veteran of Sverdrup's 1898–1902 Fram voyage, who intended only to travel with Amundsen as far as San Francisco. Mindful of the value of a competent cook, Amundsen secured the services of Adolf Lindstrøm, another Sverdrup veteran who had been cook aboard Gjøa. From his experiences on board Belgica and Gjøa, Amundsen had learned the importance on long voyages of stable and compatible companions, and with these experienced personnel he felt he had the core of his expedition. He continued to recruit through 1909; the Fram party would eventually total 19. All of these except one were Amundsen's personal choices; the exception was Hjalmar Johansen, who was taken on at the request of Nansen. Since his epic march with Nansen, Johansen had been unable to settle down. Despite the efforts of Nansen and others to help him, his life became a spiral of drink and indebtedness. Nansen wished to give his former comrade a final chance to show that he was still a capable worker in the field; feeling that he could not refuse Nansen's wishes, Amundsen reluctantly accepted Johansen. The party contained two foreigners: a young Russian oceanographer Alexander Kuchin (or Kutchin), who was a pupil of Bjorn Helland-Hansen, and a Swedish engineer, Knut Sundbeck. Change of plan [ edit ] In September 1909 newspapers carried reports that Cook and Peary had each reached the North Pole, Cook in April 1908 and Peary a year later. Asked to comment, Amundsen avoided an outright endorsement of either explorer, but surmised that "probably something will be left to be done". While he avoided the controversy over the rival claims, [n 3] he saw immediately that his own plans would be seriously affected. Without the allure of capturing the pole, he would struggle to maintain public interest or funding. "If the expedition was to be saved ... there was nothing left for me but to try and solve the last great problem—the South Pole". Thus Amundsen decided to go south; the Arctic drift could wait "for a year or two" until the South Pole had been conquered. Amundsen did not publicise his change of plan. As Scott's biographer David Crane points out, the expedition's public and private funding was earmarked for scientific work in the Arctic; there was no guarantee that the backers would understand or agree to the proposed volte-face. Furthermore, the altered objective might cause Nansen to revoke the use of Fram, or parliament to halt the expedition for fear of undermining Scott and offending the British. Amundsen concealed his intentions from everyone except his brother Leon and his second-in-command, Nilsen. This secrecy led to awkwardness; Scott had sent Amundsen instruments to enable their two expeditions, at opposite ends of the earth, to make comparative readings. When Scott, in Norway to test his motor sledges, telephoned Amundsen's home to discuss cooperation, the Norwegian would not take the call. The privately revised expedition schedule required Fram to leave Norway in August 1910 and sail to Madeira in the Atlantic, its only port of call. From there the ship would proceed directly to the Ross Sea in Antarctica, heading for the Bay of Whales, an inlet on the Ross Ice Shelf (then known as the "Great Ice Barrier") where Amundsen intended to make his base camp. The Bay of Whales was the southernmost point in the Ross Sea to which a ship could penetrate, 60 nautical miles (110 km) closer to the Pole than Scott's intended base at McMurdo Sound. In 1907–09 Shackleton had considered the ice in the Bay of Whales to be unstable, but from his studies of Shackleton's records Amundsen decided that the Barrier here was grounded on shoals or skerries, and would support a safe and secure base.[n 4] After landing the shore party, Fram was to carry out oceanographic work in the Atlantic before picking up the shore party early in the following year. Transport, equipment and supplies [ edit ] Olav Bjaaland dressed for winter travel: "Not an outfit that cut a dash by its appearance, but it was warm and strong" Amundsen did not understand the apparent aversion of British explorers to dogs: "Can it be that the dog has not understood its master? Or is it the master who has not understood the dog?" he later wrote. Following his decision to go south he ordered 100 North Greenland sledge dogs—the best and strongest available. The party's ski boots, specially designed by Amundsen, were the product of two years' testing and modification in search of perfection. The party's polar clothing included suits of sealskin from Northern Greenland, and clothes fashioned after the style of the Netsilik Inuit from reindeer skins, wolf skin, Burberry cloth and gabardine. The sledges were constructed from Norwegian ash with steel-shod runners made from American hickory. Skis, also fashioned from hickory, were extra long to reduce the likelihood of slipping into crevasses. The tents—"the strongest and most practical that have ever been used" —had built-in floors and required a single pole. For cooking on the march, Amundsen chose the Swedish Primus stove rather than the special cooker devised by Nansen, because he felt the latter took up too much space. From his experiences on Belgica, Amundsen was aware of the dangers of scurvy. Although the true cause of the disease, vitamin C deficiency, was not understood at the time, it was generally known that the disease could be countered by eating fresh meat. To neutralise the danger, Amundsen planned to supplement sledging rations with regular helpings of seal meat. He also ordered a special kind of pemmican which included vegetables and oatmeal: "a more stimulating, nourishing and appetising food it would be impossible to find". The expedition was well supplied with wines and spirits, for use as medicine and on festive or social occasions. Mindful of the loss of morale on Belgica, Amundsen provided for leisure time with a library of around 3,000 books, a gramophone, a large quantity of records and a range of musical instruments. Departure [ edit ] Fram under sail under sail In the months before departure, funds for the expedition became harder to acquire. Because of limited public interest, newspaper deals were cancelled and parliament refused a request for a further 25,000 kroner. Amundsen mortgaged his house to keep the expedition afloat; heavily in debt, he was now wholly dependent on the expedition's success to avoid personal financial ruin. After a month's trial cruise in the northern Atlantic, Fram sailed to Kristiansand in late July 1910 to take the dogs on board and to make final preparations for departure.[64] While at Kristiansand, Amundsen received an offer of help from Peter "Don Pedro" Christophersen, a Norwegian expatriate whose brother was Norway's Minister in Buenos Aires. Christophersen would provide fuel and other provisions to Fram at either Montevideo or Buenos Aires, an offer which Amundsen gratefully accepted. Just before Fram sailed on 9 August, Amundsen revealed the expedition's true destination to the two junior officers, Prestrud and Gjertsen. On the four-week voyage to Funchal in Madeira, a mood of uncertainty developed among the crew, who could not make sense of some of the preparations and whose questions were met with evasive answers from their officers. This, says Amundsen's biographer Roland Huntford, was "enough to generate suspicion and low spirits". Fram reached Funchal on 6 September. Three days later Amundsen informed the crew of the revised plan. He told them he intended to make "a detour" to the South Pole on the way to the North Pole, which was still his ultimate destination, but would have to wait for a while. After Amundsen outlined his new proposals, each man was asked whether he was willing to go on, and all responded positively. Amundsen wrote a lengthy letter of explanation to Nansen, stressing how the North Pole claims of Cook and Peary had dealt a "death blow" to his original plans. He felt he had been forced into this action by necessity, asked for forgiveness and expressed the hope that his achievements would ultimately atone for any offence.[69] Before leaving Funchal on 9 September Amundsen sent a cable to Scott, to inform him of the change of plan. Scott's ship Terra Nova had left Cardiff amid much publicity on 15 June, and was due to arrive in Australia early in October. It was to Melbourne that Amundsen sent his telegram, containing the bare information that he was proceeding southwards.[n 5] No indication was given of the Norwegian's plans or his destination in Antarctica; Scott wrote to the Royal Geographical Society (RGS) secretary, John Scott Keltie: "We shall know in due course I suppose". News of Amundsen's revised plans reached Norway early in October and provoked a generally hostile response. Although Nansen gave his blessing and warm approval, Amundsen's actions were with few exceptions condemned by press and public, and funding dried up almost completely. Reactions in Britain were predictably adverse; an initial disbelief expressed by Keltie soon turned to anger and scorn. "I have sent full details of Amundsen's underhand conduct to Scott ... If I was Scott I would not let them land", wrote Sir Clements Markham, the influential former RGS president. Unaware of the world's reactions, Fram sailed south for four months. The first icebergs were sighted on New Year's Day 1911; the Barrier itself came into view on 11 January, and on 14 January Fram was in the Bay of Whales. First season, 1910–11 [ edit ] Framheim [ edit ] The base at Framheim , February 1911 After Fram was anchored to ice in an inlet in the south-eastern corner of the Bay, Amundsen selected a site for the expedition's main hut, 2.2 nautical miles (4.1 km) from the ship. Six teams of dogs were used to move supplies to the site, as work on erecting the hut began. Bjaaland and Stubberud laid the foundations deep into the ice, levelling the sloping ground. Because the prevailing winds came from the east, the hut was erected on an east-west axis, with the door facing west; in this way the wind caught only the shorter eastern wall. The roof was in place by 21 January, and six days later the hut was complete. By then a large supply of meat—including 200 seals—had been brought to the base, for use by the shore party and to be laid in depots before the journey to the pole. The base was dubbed Framheim, "the home of Fram". Early on the morning of 3 February, Terra Nova arrived unexpectedly in the Bay of Whales. She had sailed from New Zealand on 29 November 1910 and had arrived in McMurdo Sound early in January. After landing Scott and his main party there, Terra Nova had taken a party of six men, led by Victor Campbell, eastward to King Edward VII Land. This group intended to explore this then-unknown territory, but had been prevented by sea ice from approaching the shore. The ship was sailing westward along the Barrier edge in search of a possible landing place when it encountered Fram. Scott had previously speculated that Amundsen might make his base in the Weddell Sea area, on the opposite side of the continent; this proof that the Norwegians would be starting the race for the pole with a 60 nautical mile advantage was an alarming prospect for the British. The two groups behaved civilly towards each other; Campbell and his officers Harry Pennell and George Murray Levick breakfasted aboard Fram, and reciprocated with lunch on the Terra Nova. Amundsen was relieved to learn that Terra Nova had no wireless radio, since that might have imperilled his strategy to be first with the news of a polar victory. He was worried, however, by a remark of Campbell's that implied that Scott's motorised sledges were working well. Nevertheless, he offered the British party a site alongside Framheim as a base for the exploration of King Edward VII Land. Campbell turned the offer down, and sailed for McMurdo Sound to inform Scott of Amundsen's whereabouts. Depot journeys [ edit ] One of the men with a dog team and sledge on the Barrier in early 1911 In early February Amundsen began organising the depot-laying journeys across the Barrier, in preparation for the following summer's assault on the pole. Supply depots laid in advance at regular intervals on the projected route would limit the amount of food and fuel that the South Pole party would have to carry. The depot journeys would be the first true tests of equipment, dogs and men. For the first journey, to begin on 10 February, Amundsen chose Prestrud, Helmer Hanssen and Johansen to accompany him; 18 dogs would pull three sledges. Before leaving, Amundsen left instructions with Nilsen regarding Fram. The ship was to sail to Buenos Aires for reprovisioning, before undertaking a programme of oceanographic work in the Southern Ocean and then returning to the Barrier as early as possible in 1912.[n 6] When the four men began their journey south, their only knowledge of the Barrier was from books previous explorers had published, and they anticipated difficult travelling conditions. They were surprised to find the Barrier surface was much like that of a conventional glacier; they covered 15 nautical miles (28 km) on the first day. Amundsen noted how well his dogs were performing in these conditions, and wondered at the English aversion to the use of dogs on the Barrier. The party reached 80° S on 14 February, and after laying the depot turned for home, reaching Framheim on 16 February. The second depot-laying party left Framheim on 22 February, with eight men, seven sledges and forty-two dogs. Conditions on the Barrier had deteriorated sharply; average temperatures had dropped by 9 °C (16 °F), and rough snow had drifted across the previously smooth ice surface. In temperatures sometimes as low as −40 °C (−40 °F), on 3 March the party reached 81° S, where they established a second depot. Amundsen, Helmer Hanssen, Prestrud, Johansen and Wisting then continued with the strongest dogs, hoping to reach 83° S, but in difficult conditions they halted at 82° S on 8 March. Amundsen could see that the dogs were exhausted; the party turned for home, and with light sledges travelled swiftly to reach Framheim on 22 March. Amundsen wanted more supplies taken south before the impending polar night made travel impossible, and on 31 March a party of seven men led by Johansen left Framheim for the 80° S depot with six slaughtered seals—2,400 pounds (1,100 kg) of meat. The party returned on 11 April—three days later than expected—after they strayed into a field of crevasses. Overall, the depot-laying journeys established three depots containing 7,500 pounds (3,400 kg) of supplies, which included 3,000 pounds (1,400 kg) of seal meat and 40 imperial gallons (180 L) of paraffin oil. Amundsen learned much from the journeys, especially on the second, when the dogs struggled with sledges that were too heavy. He decided to increase the number of dogs for the polar journey, if necessary at the expense of the number of men. The journeys revealed some disunity among the men, particularly between Johansen and Amundsen. During the second depot journey, Johansen openly complained about the unsatisfactory nature of the equipment; Amundsen believed that his authority had been challenged. Winter [ edit ] Sverre Hassel in the oil store at Framheim during the winter of 1911 The sun set over Framheim on 21 April, not to reappear for four months. Amundsen was mindful of the boredom and loss of morale that had blighted the Belgica expedition's winter in the ice, and although there was no possibility of sledging he ensured that the shore party kept busy. One urgent task was to improve the sledges, which had not worked well during the depot journeys. In addition to those chosen specifically for the expedition, Amundsen had brought along several sledges from Sverdrup's 1898–1902 Fram expedition, which he now thought would be better suited to the task ahead. Bjaaland reduced the weight of these older sledges by almost a third by planing down the timber, and also constructed three sledges of his own from some spare hickory wood. The adapted sledges were to be used to cross the Barrier, while Bjaaland's new set would be used in the final stages of the journey, across the polar plateau itself. Johansen prepared the sledging rations (42,000 biscuits, 1,320 tins of pemmican and about 220 pounds (100 kg) of chocolate), while other men worked on improving the boots, cooking equipment, goggles, skis and tents. To combat the dangers of scurvy, twice a day the men ate seal meat that had been collected and frozen in quantities before the onset of winter. The cook, Lindstrøm, supplemented the vitamin C intake with bottled cloudberries and blueberries, and provided wholemeal bread made with fresh yeast, rich in B vitamins. While Amundsen was confident in his men and equipment, he was, Hassel recorded, tormented by thoughts of Scott's motor sledges and the fear that these would carry the British party to success. With this in mind Amundsen planned to begin the polar journey as soon as the sun rose in late August, though Johansen warned that it would be too cold on the Barrier so early in the season. Amundsen overruled him, and at sunrise on 24 August seven sledges were made ready. Johansen's concerns seemed justified, as harsh conditions for the next two weeks—temperatures as low as −58 °C (−72 °F)—prevented the men from leaving. On 8 September 1911, when the temperature rose to −27 °C (−17 °F), Amundsen decided he could wait no longer, and the party of eight set off; Lindstrøm remained alone at Framheim. Second season, 1911–12 [ edit ] Map showing Amundsen's route to the pole, Oct–Dec 1911. The depots marked at 80, 81 and 82° were laid in the first season, Feb–March 1911. Shackleton's 1908–09 route, as followed by Scott, is to the right. False start [ edit ] The party made good initial progress, travelling around 15 nautical miles (28 km) each day. The dogs ran so hard that several from the strongest teams were detached from the traces and secured onto the sledges to act as ballast. In their wolf-skin and reindeer-skin clothing the men could cope with the freezing temperatures while they kept moving, but when they stopped they suffered, and barely slept at night. The dogs' paws became frostbitten. On 12 September, with temperatures down to −56 °C (−69 °F), the party halted after only 4 nautical miles (7.4 km) and built igloos for shelter. Amundsen now recognised that they had started the march too early in the season, and decided they should return to Framheim. He would not risk the lives of men and dogs for reasons of stubbornness. Johansen, in his diary, wrote of the foolishness of starting prematurely on such a long and historic journey, and of the dangers of an obsession with beating the English. On 14 September, on their way back to Framheim, they left most of their equipment at the 80° S depot, to lighten the sledges. Next day, in freezing temperatures with a strong headwind, several dogs froze to death while others, too weak to continue, were placed upon the sledges. On 16 September, 40 nautical miles (74 km) from Framheim, Amundsen ordered his men to push for home as quickly as possible. Not having a sledge of his own, he leapt onto Wisting's, and with Helmer Hanssen and his team raced away, leaving the rest behind. The three arrived back at Framheim after nine hours, followed by Stubberud and Bjaaland two hours later and Hassel shortly after. Johansen and Prestrud were still out on the ice, without food or fuel; Prestrud's dogs had failed, and his heels were badly frostbitten. They reached Framheim after midnight, more than seventeen hours after they had turned for home. Next day, Amundsen asked Johansen why he and Prestrud had been so late. Johansen answered angrily that he felt they had been abandoned, and castigated the leader for leaving his men behind. Amundsen would later inform Nansen that Johansen had been "violently insubordinate"; as a result, he was excluded from the polar party, which Amundsen now reduced to five. Johansen was placed under the command of Prestrud, much his junior as an explorer, in a party that would explore King Edward VII Land. Stubberud was persuaded to join them, leaving Amundsen, Helmer Hanssen, Bjaaland, Hassel and Wisting as the revised South Pole party. South Pole journey [ edit ] Barrier and mountains [ edit ] Men and dogs at the 85° South depot, on the way to the pole, 15 November 1911 Despite his eagerness to start out again, Amundsen waited until mid-October and the first hints of spring. He was ready to leave on 15 October, but was held up by the weather for a few more days. On 19 October 1911 the five men, with four sledges and fifty-two dogs, began their journey. The weather quickly worsened, and in heavy fog the party strayed into the field of crevasses that Johansen's depot party had discovered the previous autumn. Wisting later recalled how his sledge, with Amundsen aboard, nearly disappeared down a crevasse when the snow bridge broke underneath it. Despite this near mishap they were covering more than 15 nautical miles (28 km) a day, and reached their 82° S depot on 5 November. They marked their route by a line of cairns, built of snow blocks, at three-mile intervals. On 17 November they reached the edge of the Barrier and faced the Transantarctic Mountains. Unlike Scott, who would be following the Beardmore Glacier route pioneered by Shackleton, Amundsen had to find his own route through the mountains. After probing the foothills for several days and climbing to around 1,500 feet (460 m), the party found what appeared to be a clear route, a steep glacier 30 nautical miles (56 km) long leading upwards to the plateau. Amundsen named this the Axel Heiberg Glacier, after one of his chief financial backers.[n 7] It was a harder ascent than the team had anticipated, made much longer by the need to take detours, and by the deep, soft snow. After three days of difficult climbing the party reached the glacier summit. Amundsen was full of praise for his dogs, and scorned the idea that they could not work in such conditions; on 21 November the party travelled 17 miles and climbed 5,000 feet (1,500 m). March to the pole [ edit ] An unidentified portion of the Axel Heiberg Glacier, Amundsen's route to the Antarctic Plateau (also called the polar plateau) Upon reaching 10,600 feet (3,200 m) at the summit of the glacier, at 85° 36′ S, Amundsen prepared for the final stage of the journey. Of the 45 dogs who had made the ascent (7 had perished during the Barrier stage), only 18 would go forward; the remainder were to be killed for food. Each of the sledge-drivers killed dogs from his own team, skinned them, and divided the meat between dogs and men. "We called the place the Butchers' Shop", Amundsen recalled. "[T]here was depression and sadness in the air; we had grown so fond of our dogs". Regrets did not prevent the team from enjoying the plentiful food; Wisting proved particularly skilful in his preparation and presentation of the meat. The party loaded up three sledges with supplies for a march of up to 60 days, leaving the remaining provisions and dog carcasses in a depot. Bad weather prevented their departure until 25 November, when they set off cautiously over the unknown ground in persistent fog. They were travelling over an icy surface broken by frequent crevasses, which together with the poor visibility slowed their progress. Amundsen called this area the "Devil's Glacier". On 4 December they came to an area where the crevasses were concealed under layers of snow and ice with a space between, which gave what Amundsen called an "unpleasantly hollow" sound as the party passed over it. He christened this area "The Devil's Ballroom." When later that day they emerged on to more solid ground, they had reached 87° S. On 8 December the Norwegians passed Shackleton's Farthest South record of 88° 23′. As they neared the pole, they looked for any break in the landscape that might indicate another expedition had got there ahead of them. While camped on 12 December they were momentarily alarmed by a black object that appeared on the horizon, but this proved to be their own dogs' droppings off in the distance, magnified by mirage. Next day they camped at 89° 45′ S, 15 nautical miles (28 km) from the pole. On the following day, 14 December 1911, with the concurrence of his comrades Amundsen travelled in front of the sledges, and at around 3 pm the party reached the vicinity of the South Pole. They planted the Norwegian flag and named the polar plateau "King Haakon VII's Plateau". Amundsen later reflected on the irony of his achievement: "Never has a man achieved a goal so diametrically opposed to his wishes. The area around the North Pole—devil take it—had fascinated me since childhood, and now here I was at the South Pole. Could anything be more crazy?" For the next three days the men worked to fix the exact position of the pole; after the conflicting and disputed claims of Cook and Peary in the north, Amundsen wanted to leave unmistakable markers for Scott. After taking several sextant readings at different times of day, Bjaaland, Wisting and Hassel skied out in different directions to "box" the pole; Amundsen reasoned that between them they would bracket the exact point. Finally the party pitched a tent, which they called Polheim, as near as possible to the actual pole as they could calculate by their observations. In the tent Amundsen left equipment for Scott, and a letter addressed to King Haakon which he requested Scott to deliver. Return to Framheim [ edit ] On 18 December, the party began the journey back to Framheim. Amundsen was determined to return to civilisation before Scott, and be first with the news. Nevertheless, he limited their daily distances to 15 nautical miles (28 km), to preserve the strength of dogs and men. In the 24-hour daylight the party travelled during the notional night, to keep the sun at their backs and thus reduce the danger of snow-blindness. Guided by the snow cairns built on their outward journey, they reached the Butchers' Shop on 4 January 1912, and began the descent to the Barrier. The men on skis "went whizzing down", but for the sledge drivers—Helmer Hanssen and Wisting—the descent was precarious; the sledges were hard to manoeuvre, and brakes were added to the runners to enable rapid stops when crevasses were encountered. On 7 January, the party reached the first of their depots on the Barrier. Amundsen now felt their pace could be increased, and the men adopted a routine of travelling 15 nautical miles (28 km), stopping for six hours, then resuming the march. Under this regime they covered around 30 nautical miles (56 km) a day, and on 25 January, at 4 am, they reached Framheim. Of the 52 dogs that had started in October, 11 had survived, pulling 2 sledges. The journey to the pole and back had taken 99 days—10 fewer than scheduled—and they had covered about 1,860 nautical miles (3,440 km). Informing the world [ edit ] On his return to Framheim, Amundsen lost no time in winding up the expedition. After a farewell dinner in the hut, the party loaded the surviving dogs and the more valuable equipment aboard Fram, which departed the Bay of Whales late on 30 January 1912. The destination was Hobart in Tasmania. During the five-week voyage Amundsen prepared his telegrams and drafted the first report that he would give to the press. On 7 March, Fram reached Hobart, where Amundsen quickly learned there was as yet no news from Scott. He immediately sent telegrams to his brother Leon, to Nansen and to King Haakon, briefly informing them of his success. The next day he cabled the first full account of the story to London's Daily Chronicle, to which he had sold exclusive rights. Fram remained in Hobart for two weeks; while there she was joined by Douglas Mawson's ship Aurora, which was in service with the Australasian Antarctic Expedition. Amundsen presented them with a gift of his 11 surviving dogs. Other expedition achievements [ edit ] Kainan Maru in the Bay of Whales, January 1912 The Japanese Antarctic Expedition's shipin the Bay of Whales, January 1912 Eastern party [ edit ] On 8 November 1911, Prestrud, Stubberud and Johansen had departed for King Edward VII Land. The search for the point at which the solid ice of the Barrier became ice-covered land proved difficult. On 1 December the party had their first sighting of what was indubitably dry land, a nunatak which had been recorded by Scott during the Discovery expedition in 1902. After reaching this point they collected geological specimens and samples of mosses, and briefly explored their surroundings before returning to Framheim on 16 December. They were the first men to set foot on King Edward VII Land. Fram and Kainan Maru [ edit ] After leaving the Bay of Whales on 15 February 1911, Fram sailed for Buenos Aires where she arrived on 17 April. Here, Nilsen learned that the expedition's funds were exhausted; a sum supposedly set aside for the ship's needs had not materialised. Fortunately, Amundsen's friend Don Pedro Christopherson was at hand to fulfil his earlier promises to provide supplies and fuel. Fram departed in June for an oceanographic cruise between South America and Africa, which occupied the next three months. The ship returned to Buenos Aires in September for final refitting and re-provisioning, before sailing south on 5 October. Strong winds and stormy seas prolonged the voyage, but the ship arrived at the Bay of Whales on 9 January 1912. On 17 January the men in Framheim were surprised by the appearance of a second ship; it was Kainan Maru, carrying the Japanese Antarctic Expedition led by Nobu Shirase. Communication between the two expeditions was limited by language difficulties, though the Norwegians gathered that the Japanese were heading for King Edward VII Land. Kainan Maru departed the next day, and on 26 January she landed a party on King Edward VII Land. This was the first landing on this shore from the sea; attempts by Discovery (1902), Nimrod (1908) and Terra Nova (1911) had all failed. Aftermath [ edit ] Contemporary reactions [ edit ] Clements Markham, the distinguished British geographer, was a harsh critic of Amundsen's change of plan and expressed private doubts about the Norwegian's success. In Hobart, Amundsen received congratulatory telegrams from, among others, former U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt and King George V of the United Kingdom. The king expressed particular pleasure that Amundsen's first port of call on his return had been on soil of the British Empire. In Norway, which only six years earlier had become an independent country after 500 years of Danish and Swedish supremacy, the news was proclaimed in banner headlines, and the national flag was flown throughout the country. All the expedition's participants received the Norwegian South Pole medal (Sydpolsmedaljen), established by King Haakon to commemorate the expedition. However, Amundsen's biographer Roland Huntford refers to "the chill underneath the cheers"; there remained a residue of unease over Amundsen's tactics. One Norwegian newspaper expressed relief that Amundsen had found a new route, and had not intruded on Scott's path from McMurdo Sound. In Britain, press reaction to Amundsen's victory was restrained but generally positive. Apart from the enthusiastic reports in the Daily Chronicle and the Illustrated London News—which each had a financial stake in Amundsen's success—the Manchester Guardian remarked that any cause for reproach was wiped out by the Norwegians' courage and determination. Readers of Young England were exhorted not to grudge "the brave Norseman" the honour he had earned, and The Boy's Own Paper suggested that every British boy should read Amundsen's expedition account. The Times correspondent offered a mild rebuke to Amundsen for his failure to inform Scott until it was too late for the latter to respond, "all the more unnecessary, for no one would have welcomed co-operation in the work of South Polar exploration more than Captain Scott ... Still, no one who knows Captain Amundsen can have any doubt of his integrity, and since he states he has reached the Pole we are bound to believe him". Senior figures at the RGS expressed more hostile sentiments, at least privately. To them, Amundsen's feat was the result of "a dirty trick". Markham hinted that Amundsen's claim might be fraudulent: "We must wait for the truth until the return of the Terra Nova". When later in 1912 Amundsen addressed the RGS he felt slighted after Lord Curzon, the Society's president, jocularly called for "three cheers for the dogs". Shackleton did not join in denigrating Amundsen's victory, and called him "perhaps the greatest polar explorer of today". Before she heard the news of her husband's death, Kathleen Scott conceded that Amundsen's journey "was a very fine feat ... in spite of one's irritation one has to admire it". Scott tragedy [ edit ] Map showing the polar journeys of the Scott's Terra Nova expedition (green) and Amundsen's expedition (red) to reach the South Pole Amundsen left Hobart to undertake a lecture tour of Australia and New Zealand. He then went to Buenos Aires where he finished writing his expedition account. Back in Norway he supervised the publication of the book, then visited Britain before embarking on a long lecture tour of the United States. In February 1913, while in Madison, Wisconsin, he received the news that Scott and four comrades had reached the pole on 17 January 1912, but had all perished by 29 March, during their return journey. The bodies of Scott, Wilson and Bowers had been discovered in November 1912, after the end of the Antarctic winter. In his initial response, Amundsen called the news "Horrible, horrible". His more formal tribute followed: "Captain Scott left a record, for honesty, for sincerity, for bravery, for everything that makes a man". According to Huntford, the news of Scott's death meant that "Amundsen the victor was eclipsed ... by Scott the martyr". In the United Kingdom a myth quickly developed in which Scott was portrayed as one who had behaved nobly and played the game fairly. He had been defeated because, by contrast, Amundsen was a mere glory-seeker who had concealed his true intentions, had used dogs rather than relying on honest man-hauling and had slaughtered these same dogs for food. Furthermore, he was considered a "professional" which, in the mindset of upper-class Britain of that time, diminished anything he might have accomplished. This narrative was heavily reinforced with the publication of Scott's journals and his "Message to the Public". Huntford points out that "[Scott's] literary talent was his trump. It was as if he had reached out from his buried tent and taken revenge." Even so, among explorers Amundsen's name continued to be respected. In his account of the Terra Nova expedition written a few years later, Scott's comrade Apsley Cherry-Garrard wrote that the primary reason for Amundsen's success was "the very remarkable qualities of the man", specifically his courage in choosing to discover a new route rather than follow the known path. Historical perspective [ edit ] The outbreak of the First World War in 1914 delayed the start of Amundsen's northern polar drift—to which the South Pole expedition had been intended as a preliminary—until July 1918. He then set off in a specially-constructed vessel, Maud, which remained in Arctic waters for the next seven years. The ship did not drift over the North Pole, although in the course of the expedition it became the second ship to traverse the North-East Passage. Amundsen left the expedition in 1923; the remaining years of his life were largely devoted to polar exploration by air. On 12 May 1926, aboard the airship Norge with Lincoln Ellsworth and Umberto Nobile, Amundsen flew over the North Pole. He and Wisting, also on the airship, were the first men to see both poles. In 1928, while attempting to rescue a later Nobile expedition, Amundsen disappeared with his aircraft in the seas between Norway and Spitsbergen. The four men who had stood at the pole with Amundsen were all asked to accompany their leader on the Maud drift. Bjaaland and Hassel declined; neither participated in any further polar ventures. Helmer Hanssen and Wisting both joined Maud; the latter took over the leadership when Amundsen left the expedition. In 1936 Wisting captained Fram on the ship's final voyage to Oslo, where it became a museum. Johansen, who had been unable to settle back into normal life on his return from Antarctica, became withdrawn and uncommunicative. He refused to discuss his experiences or his dispute with Amundsen, and retreated into a life of depression and poverty. On 4 January 1913 he shot himself in his Oslo lodgings. The Scott myth lasted until the final quarter of the 20th century, when it was replaced by one that characterised him as a "heroic bungler" whose failure was largely the result of his own mistakes. This portrayal, the cultural historian Stephanie Barczewski asserts, is as fallacious as the earlier one in which he was considered beyond criticism. In the early 21st century, writers have suggested more reasoned explanations for the Scott tragedy than his incompetence, and his reputation has to some extent been rescued.[182] The renewed spotlight on Scott has also highlighted Amundsen's achievements: Barczewski writes that "Amundsen and his men reached the pole due to a combination of superb planning, long experience with sledge-dogs and skis and impressive physical stamina". In her account of Scott's expedition, Diana Preston is equally specific in identifying the basis of Amundsen's success. He was focused on the single goal of reaching the pole, whereas Scott had to reconcile the competing claims of geographical exploration and scientific knowledge. "A practical and experienced professional, [Amundsen] planned carefully and applied all the lessons he had learned in the Arctic ... [H]e relied exclusively on the well-tried means of transport and unsentimentally exploited their food potential. He was similarly efficient and unsentimental in his management of his men". The United States' scientific base at the South Pole, founded in 1957, is named the Amundsen–Scott South Pole Station, to honour the memories of both polar pioneers. Modern research [ edit ] In a paper published 100 years after the Amundsen expedition, researchers claimed that the tent and flags are buried under 17 m (56 ft) of ice and about a minute of latitude north of the South Pole,[185] or about one nautical mile. Scott's party was the last to see the tent, which they found on 18 January 1912. Henry Robertson Bowers took a photo of the tent,[186] but died returning from the Pole. Notes and references [ edit ] Notes References Sources [ edit ] Books [ edit ]

Epiphany Bolt have announced via their website that they have picked up the squad known as Temp.no. Epiphany Bolt were on the lookout for a new team to support after parting ways with their Danish/Swedish roster, which has since signed for Orbit. Temp.no are one of the strongest teams hailing from Norway, with a first-place finish at The Convention, where they defeated teams like RCTIC and GamersLeague, already under their belt. KORN's team to attend CPH Games as Epiphany Bolt The team will make their first appearance for the organisation later this week, at Copenhagen Games, where they will try to secure a place in the €30,000 tournament via the event's BYOC qualifier. "I feel honored that we have been offered a chance to join Epiphany Bolt, I have only heard good things about them, and I was surprised the first time I saw the organisation and the level of their players," team member Anders "aNdz" Kjær said in a statement. "We even lost an official in Quickshot Arena to them, and I realised at that point Epiphany was a good organisation. That’s the beauty these days, with CS:GO growing so much, a team that you may have never heard of, could still be sponsored by a very good organisation! "Everything feels great so far, this will be a longlasting and good partnership. "We have strong goals for the future and I know the management and staff have too, so we can help each other to get there as much as possible. I hope we can do big things together!" Epiphany Bolt's new CS:GO squad consist of:

This article is over 4 years old An engagement announcement was posted in the Times, between Sherlock star Cumberbatch and Hunter, an actor and successful stage director Benedict Cumberbatch has got engaged to his girlfriend Sophie Hunter. A modest and traditional announcement posted in the Times today read: The engagement is announced between Benedict, son of Wanda and Timothy Cumberbatch of London, and Sophie, daughter of Katharine Hunter of Edinburgh and Charles Hunter of London. It’s a typically low-key gesture by a couple who have kept their relationship out of the limelight. Cumberbatch, 38 and Hunter, 36, were only confirmed as a couple earlier this year, after they were pictured together at the French Open. As well as a number of small film roles – including one alongside Cumberbatch in 2009 film Burlesque Fairytales – Hunter has frequently directed for the stage. She won the Samuel Beckett award for writing and directing her play The Terrific Electric in 2007, and has since staged productions of Britten’s opera The Rape of Lucretia, Mozart’s The Magic Flute, and Ibsen’s Ghosts. Cumberbatch meanwhile shot to fame with his lead role in Sherlock, and has since appeared in a series of high profile films, the latest being Alan Turing biopic The Imitation Game due for release on 14 November.

As a result of the disastrous Citizens United Supreme Court decision, billionaires and large corporations can now spend an unlimited amount of money to influence the political process. The results of that decision are clear. In the coming months and years the Koch brothers and other extraordinarily wealthy families will spend billions of dollars to elect right-wing candidates to the Senate, the House, governors' mansions and the presidency of the United States. These billionaires already own much of our economy. That, apparently, is not enough. Now, they want to own the United States government as well. Four years ago, the Supreme Court handed down the 5-4 ruling in Citizens United vs the Federal Election Commission. A few weeks ago, they announced another horrendous campaign finance decision in McCutcheon vs. FEC giving even more political power to the rich. Now, many Republicans want to push this Supreme Court to go even further. In the name of "free speech," they want the Court to eliminate all restrictions on campaign spending -- a position that Justice Thomas supported in McCutcheon -- and a view supported by the Chairman of the Republican National Committee. Importantly, as a means of being able to exercise unprecedented power over the political process, this has been the position of the Koch brothers for at least the last 34 years. The Koch brothers are the second wealthiest family in America, making most of their money in the fossil fuel industry. According to Forbes Magazine, they saw their wealth increase last year from $68 billion to $80 billion. In other words, under the "anti-business", "socialist" and "oppressive" Obama administration, their wealth went up by $12 billion in one year. In their 2012 campaigns, Barack Obama and Mitt Romney each spent a little more than $1 billion. For the Koch brothers, spending more than Obama and Romney combined would be a drop in their bucket. They would hardly miss the few billion dollars. Given the reality that the Koch brothers are now the most important and powerful players in American politics, it is important to know what they want and what their agenda is. It is not widely known that David Koch was the Libertarian Party vice-presidential candidate in 1980. He believed that Ronald Reagan was much too liberal. Despite Mr. Koch putting a substantial sum of money into the campaign, his ticket only received 1 percent of the vote. Most Americans thought the Libertarian Party platform of 1980 was extremist and way out of touch with what the American people wanted and needed. Fast-forward 34 years and the most significant reality of modern politics is how successful David Koch and like-minded billionaires have been in moving the Republican Party to the extreme right. Amazingly, much of what was considered "extremist" and "kooky" in 1980 has become part of today's mainstream Republican thinking. Let me give you just a few examples: In 1980, Libertarian vice-presidential candidate David Koch ran on a platform that called for abolishing the minimum wage. Thirty-four years ago, that was an extreme view of a fringe party that had the support of 1 percent of the American people. Today, not only does virtually every Republican in Congress oppose raising the $7.25 an hour minimum wage, many of them, including Republican leaders like Mitch McConnell and John McCain, are on record for abolishing the concept of the federal minimum wage. In 1980, the platform of David Koch's Libertarian Party favored "the abolition of Medicare and Medicaid programs." Thirty-four years ago, that was an extreme view of a fringe party that had the support of one percent of the American people. Today, the mainstream view of the Republican Party, as seen in the recently passed Ryan budget, is to end Medicare as we know it, cut Medicaid by more than $1.5 trillion over the next decade, and repeal the Affordable Care Act. According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, "Under the Ryan plan, at least 40 million people -- 1 in 8 Americans -- would lose health insurance or fail to obtain insurance by 2024. Most of them would be people with low or moderate incomes." In 1980, the platform of David Koch's Libertarian Party called for "the repeal of the fraudulent, virtually bankrupt, and increasingly oppressive Social Security system." Thirty-four years ago, that was an extreme view of a fringe party that had the support of 1 percent of the American people. Today, the mainstream view of the Republican Party is that "entitlement reform" is absolutely necessary. For some, this means major cuts in Social Security. For others who believe Social Security is unconstitutional or a Ponzi scheme this means the privatization of Social Security or abolishing this program completely for those who are under 60 years of age. In 1980, David Koch's Libertarian Party platform stated "We oppose all personal and corporate income taxation, including capital gains taxes ... We support the eventual repeal of all taxation ... As an interim measure, all criminal and civil sanctions against tax evasion should be terminated immediately." Thirty-four years ago, that was an extreme view of a fringe party that had the support of 1 percent of the American people. Today, 75 Republicans in the House have co-sponsored a bill that Paul Ryan has said "would eliminate taxes on wages, corporations, self-employment, capital gains, and gift and death taxes in favor of a personal-consumption tax." Here is what every American should be deeply concerned about. The Koch brothers, through the expenditure of billions of dollars and the creation and support of dozens of extreme right organizations, have taken fringe extremist ideas and made them mainstream within the Republican Party. And now with Citizens United (which is allowing them to pour unlimited sums of money into the political process) their power is greater than ever. And let's be very clear. Their goal is not only to defund Obamacare, cut Social Security, oppose an increase in the minimum wage or cut federal funding for education. Their world view and eventual goal is much greater than all of that. They want to repeal every major piece of legislation that has been signed into law over the past 80 years that has protected the middle class, the elderly, the children, the sick and the most vulnerable in this country. Every piece of legislation! The truth is that the agenda of the Koch brothers is to move this country from a democratic society with a strong middle class to an oligarchic form of society in which the economic and political life of the nation are controlled by a handful of billionaire families. Our great nation must not be hijacked by right-wing billionaires like the Koch brothers.

A student at an Orange County, California community college has been suspended after he recorded one of his professors telling her class the election of Donald Trump was an “act of terrorism.” From the LA Times: In a Feb. 9 letter, Victoria Lugo, interim dean of students at the Costa Mesa college, informed Caleb O’Neil of the suspension for one “primary (fall/spring) semester in addition to the summer” and other disciplinary actions against him, including that he submit a written apology to the professor, Olga Perez Stable Cox, and a three-page essay asking him to examine why he filmed Cox’s class, how he feels about his footage going viral online and his reaction to its causing “damage to Orange Coast College students, faculty and staff.” O’Neil, who campaigned for Trump, says he felt targeted by the speech because people in class had seen him wearing Trump campaign gear. After listening for a few moments, he pulled out his phone and recorded the professor’s statement, which he says went on for nearly 20 minutes. O’Neill gave the video to the college Republican club. The president of the club posted a portion of it online and it quickly went viral. The original clip has been viewed over 400,000 times. O’Neill held a press conference at the school Wednesday afternoon. The LA Times reports: O’Neil, often speaking to the crowd with his head lowered, called Cox “a good teacher” but said she “directly attacked” conservative students like him. “I was scared I’d have repercussions on my grades because she knew I was a Trump supporter,” said O’Neil, who later added that he received an “A” in the class. It’s good there was no change in O’Neill’s grade, but obviously the suspension is a more significant repercussion. O’Neill is now being represented by William Becker, an attorney with Freedom X, a group that defends conservatives in freedom of expression cases. Becker told the Orange County Register, “This is an attack by leftists in academia to protect the expressive rights of their radical instructors at the expense of the expressive rights of conservative students on campus.” In the original clip, professor Cox says, “Our nation is divided. We have been assaulted. It’s an act of terrorism.” “We are way beyond Republicans and Democrats, and we’re really back to being a civil war—and I don’t mean it in a fighting way, but our nation is divided as clearly as it was in Civil War times,” Cox says. Cox reportedly moved out of state at the end of the previous semester but returned for the new semester. It remains unclear whether she will face any disciplinary action.

Who hacked Sony Pictures Entertainment and why? Posted by Sean @ 16:36 GMT If you haven't kept up with the news about Sony Pictures Entertainment's breach, you really should catch up. Now. It's fast becoming the worst hack any company has ever publicly suffered. Reuters: Exclusive: FBI warns of 'destructive' malware in wake of Sony attack Krebs on Security: Sony Breach May Have Exposed Employee Healthcare, Salary Data BuzzFeed: A Look Through The Sony Pictures Data Hack: This Is As Bad As It Gets The FBI released a FLASH Alert about destructive malware on December 1st: The destructive malware in question is a wiper similar to Shamoon. It uses the same benign driver for raw disk access. On November 24th, this wallpaper was dropped on the computers of SPE employees: Who is responsible for the attack? North Korea has been suggested. That seems implausible to us. The attackers apparently made demands: • "We've already warned you, and this is just a beginning." • "We continue till our request be met." The demands have not yet been made public; when they were not met… the attackers dumped large amounts of SPE's data. Theory: either the attackers are copyright reformist hackers targeting Hollywood — or — the attack was an attempted shakedown and extortion scheme. Hackers interested in copyright reform very often use better grammar than that found in the wallpaper above. Which causes us to worry it's about extortion. And that's a big concern because it would mean the point of SPE's public "execution" was to warn to other companies that may already be hacked that the extortioners aren't bluffing. Either way, Sony Pictures Entertainment may only be the first. Edited: adjusted a sentence above to link to Shamoon.

The opposition research firm that hired a former British spy to dig up dirt on Donald Trump last year is refusing to answer questions recently posed to it by the Senate Judiciary Committee. The firm, Fusion GPS, is protected by attorney-client privilege and the First Amendment, its attorneys said in a letter to the committee. The chairman of the Senate panel, Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley, sent a letter to Fusion GPS last month inquiring about the Trump research project. Fusion GPS, which was founded by former Wall Street Journal reporter Glenn Simpson, hired ex-MI6 agent Christopher Steele in June to uncover any Trump ties to Russia. Steele produced a series of memos laying out various allegations about Trumpworld’s ties to Russian government officials. For its part, Fusion GPS was on the payroll of an unidentified Democratic ally of Hillary Clinton’s. Grassley asked Fusion GPS to identify its client and reveal details of its arrangement with Steele, who heads the London-based firm, Orbis Business Intelligence. The Republican also pressed Fusion on its interactions with the FBI, which was said to have made an informal agreement in October to pay Steele for future research on Trump. “When political opposition research becomes the basis for law enforcement or intelligence efforts, it raises substantial questions about the independence of law enforcement and intelligence from politics,” Grassley wrote in the letter, dated March 24. (RELATED: Senator Wants Answers From Opposition Research Firm Behind Trump Dossier) The committee has also asked FBI Director Jim Comey about its discussions with Fusion GPS and Steele. In their response letter to Grassley, Fusion GPS’s lawyers, Joshua A. Levy and Robert F. Muse, argue that the firm does not have to provide the information because the work is protected under the First Amendment, by attorney-client privilege, and by confidentiality agreements. “The March 24 letter calls for information and documents protected by the First Amendment rights, attorney-client privilege, attorney work product, and contractual rights (e.g., confidentiality agreements) of Fusion GPS and/or its clients,” the lawyers write. “Thus, so as to preserve those privileges and rights, we will not otherwise be responding to the questions enumerated within the March 24 letter.” “Much of Fusion GPS’ work is covered by the attorney-client privilege and/or the attorney work product doctrine, which Fusion GPS lacks the authority to waive,” they added. It is unclear on what basis Fusion GPS is invoking attorney-client privilege. Follow Chuck on Twitter

A youth career at Arsenal was stunted after a sideline incident with a coach. Bothroyd moved to Italy at the age of 21 where he played in the same team as Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi’s son Al Saadi - and Socceroos goalkeeper Zeljko Kalac. A returned to the UK for Bothroyd resulted in a goal-laden spell with Cardiff City and he joined a select group of players to earn an England cap while playing in the football league. He ventured to Thailand and a fortnight ago started his career in Japanese football with a bang, grabbing a brace on debut for J. League Division 2 side Jubilo Iwata. It’s a flow of footballing life that he wouldn’t have any other way. “I’ve achieved everything I wanted to as a kid growing up. It was my dream to play professional football, to play in the Premiership, and a dream to play for my country,” Bothroyd said. “Even though it is only the one cap, I can say that I played for my country, how many other players can say that? So I’m comfortable with the way things turned out.” Yet, at just 32 there are several chapters still to be written and Bothroyd hopes they will be in Japan after a frustrating spell in Thailand with Muangthong United last season. “I kind of felt like I wasted a year of my career in Thailand, the league is miles behind Japan and the professionalism is totally different between the two countries,” he explained. “I remember coming to Asia on a tour with QPR and I got a good feeling even then, the people are fanatical about football and the stadiums and facilities are first class. “Everything here and at my club particularly is organized for players to concentrate on training and playing and it’s a really professional, family orientated, club right from the people at the top to the cleaning people to the kit staff." One of those people at the top, who has had a roundabout crossing of paths with his new striker, is the club’s coach Hiroshi Nanami. One of the finest midfielders Japan has ever produced, the 42 year-old is in his first full year as a senior coach but had a spell during his playing days with Venezia, the region where Bothroyd’s wife’s family hails from. “It’s strange, that whole side of the family is really familiar with Nanami and now here he is my coach but he has a good way of thinking about the game," Bothroyd said. “I arrived quite late in the pre-season but he took good care of me physically and tactically we are set up well. “He wants his backline to be steady and aggressive and obviously not concede but in the 4-2-3-1 we play he really encourages rotation, movement and link up play. “When we lose the ball there’s that kind of ‘five seconds of fury’ rule where we have to react and try to win it back as quickly as possible so I know I’ll get my chances.” They were chances he took with determination as the new season kicked off with Bothroyd scoring the first two in a 3-1 win over Giravanz Kitakyushu - and he’s already been impressed by the standard of football in Japan. “We have several players in our team who have been at World Cups and the level is good, I live in an area called Hamamatsu which has produced many national team players and I can see some great young talent at Jubilo,” the striker said. For a nation that travelled far and wide in its colonial pursuits, Britain has never had a reputation for exporting footballers in Europe let alone in Asia, with Gary Lineker’s modest stint at Nagoya the only spell by an England international of note in Japan. It’s a trend that the globetrotting Bothroyd hopes will change as the English Premier League struggles to open the door for young, home-grown players. “I still closely follow what’s happening back home and watch Match of the Day regularly but what I think needs to happen is that more English players should look to play abroad,” Bothroyd said. “If you’re a young English player at, say, Chelsea, United or Manchester City you can forget about it but I think the lack of people moving is often a cultural thing. “The young players are often content to just play Under-21's and going to a non-English speaking country is often seen as a problem but I think if our national team wants to have success these players need to step out of their comfort zones.” That’s exactly what the trailblazing Bothroyd has done right from the early stages of his career and what one of the former giant's of the Asian club scene in Jubilo hopes he can continue to do for it.

Why Teachers Have Low Expectations for Black and Latino Students By: Krystle Crossman A teacher is someone that should be a source of support and inspiration for a student. Unfortunately for minority students this is not often the case. Many do poorly in schools simply because their teachers do not believe that they can do well in school and they do not push them as hard as they should. The Center for American Progress published a study that researched whether what the teacher believed about the student in regards to their educational abilities. What they found was that yes, it does influence the student and their progress in school. During the study CAP found that if a teacher believed in a student and let them know that they thought they were going to graduate college, they were more likely to do just that as opposed to others who had not been told that. They also found that teachers thought that black students were 47% less likely to graduate or even go to college than white students. They feel that students that live in lower class homes were 53% less likely to do well in school as opposed to their wealthier counterparts. Data was pulled from a study of high school students that ran from 2002-2012. It showed that twice as many white students graduated from college than black students. They interviewed the teachers of sophomore students and asked them whether or not they thought that their students would graduate from college one day. The answers were later compared with the data to see how many graduated. Even though the study is trying to determine whether the teacher’s beliefs had any bearing on a student’s performance they also believed that the teachers knew their students no matter what race they were, and knew what their educational capacities were. Ulrich Boser, who is with CAP, stated that he was surprised at the results. He said that they expected to see that the students who had the support of the teachers would head to college but they had no idea that the students that were encouraged by their teachers were three times more likely to graduate. In the end the study says that due to these findings, Common Core standards may not be such a bad thing as all of the students will be on a level playing field.

Esteban Gutierrez reckons his final lap in qualifying for the Japanese Grand Prix was compromised by a "really slow" Lewis Hamilton. Both Haas drivers made it through to Q3 for the first time in the team's debut Formula One season, but while Romain Grosjean qualified eighth, Gutierrez could only post a time 1.9s off pole on his one and only lap in the final session, leaving him to settle with 10th on the grid. The Mexican says he was caught out by a slow-moving Hamilton during his out-lap, which resulted in a sudden drop in tyre temperature. "I was too cool on my tyres at the start of the lap because Lewis was really slow in the last part," Gutierrez explained. "He had no-one in front but he was really slow and I lost of temperature with my tyres and then starting the lap the tyres weren't there and I think I ran wide at Turn 7 and lost time. "Let's not use it as an excuse. We have to get used to getting into Q3 and then we will know better how to manage Q3." Gutierrez has come under fire on a number of occasions this season for being too slow to respond to blue flags. At the Hungarian Grand Prix Hamilton made a rude gesture towards Gutierrez after he appeared to ignore blue flags. At the following race in Germany Gutierrez again faced criticism, this time from Daniel Ricciardo, while Mercedes boss Toto Wolff accused the Mexican of "interfering" with Nico Rosberg's battle for the lead in Singapore. Haas team principal Guenther Steiner, who has already come to Gutierrez's defence on several occasions this year, questioned Mercedes' "very odd" on-track behaviour at Suzuka. "We have to ask Toto, because last time Nico was OK with it but Toto wasn't OK so we should maybe ask Toto what he thinks if he held Esteban up this time, because last time Nico didn't have a problem with Esteban but Toto did. So today Toto help Esteban up," Steiner joked. "Joking besides they are doing very odd things Mercedes, they go very slow. They go fast first and then they slow down. I think they are very good at controlling some temperature before they get to the start/finish line, and it screws you up because some you have to go slower." Steiner added: "I haven't studied what time they did because it's quite easy to find out with the GPS data how they slow down and all that stuff. It's always the same, if you are behind Mercedes you really don't know what they are going to do. "How do you say in English if somebody is hanging around? Loitering, yeah loitering on the track." It is not the first time Mercedes' qualifying tactics have been criticised by a Haas driver. At the Monaco Grand Prix, Grosjean stated the German team had ruined his chances of progressing to Q3 by driving slowly and causing "s---loads" of traffic during Q2.

“Obama Signals a Shift From Military Might to Diplomacy” was the headline of a report in the New York Times on Tuesday, following the “first step” agreement reached with Iran over the prior weekend. That says a lot: that the U.S. is resorting to diplomacy, the normal currency of foreign relations for most other countries, is front page news -- how different our government is from the rest of the world, and how much more we in the United States have to fight in order to prevent war. And prevention is the only way. By the time there were more than 20 million people in the streets worldwide against the planned invasion of Iraq, it was too late. And once these wars get started, they are very difficult to stop. Afghanistan is now the longest war in U.S. history. ADVERTISEMENT The media is largely ignoring the obvious here, but we wouldn’t have any deal with Iran if Obama had been able to go ahead with his plans to bomb Syria. We would have been lucky to avoid a massive conflagration in the region. So we can thank the “war-weary” American people, as the press calls us, and especially the organized among us – including the 8-million-member Moveon.org – for preventing Congress from supporting President Obama’s war campaign. And we can thank the organized anti-war movement in the U.K., for forcing Cameron’s hand and leaving Obama even more isolated internationally than George W. Bush was when he prepared to invade Iraq. It’s ironic, because all we hear in the news is that the Iranian people’s desire to get rid of the U.S.-led sanctions, and their election of Rouhani, were the impetus for the breakthrough. But it helps to look at the other side of the equation. It was not long ago that the Obama administration was preparing the ground for the next president to go to war with Iran, just as the Clinton administration created the conditions for Bush’s Iraq war: with crippling sanctions, threats of illegal military actions, and perhaps most importantly, a PR campaign to convince Americans of the outright falsehood that this faraway nation with relatively little military capability posed a threat to their security. But now, the New York Times tells us, “‘Regime change,’ in Iran or even Syria, is out; cutting deals with former adversaries is in.” This would certainly be an historic change if it were true, as well as a better-late-than-never delivery on Obama’s 2008 campaign promise. But the War Party still has a lot of clout: Israel’s Netanyahu may seem isolated internationally, but his allies still own a sizeable chunk of the U.S. Congress. There was a serious attempt in the Senate to sabotage the latest talks by imposing new sanctions on Iran, which Democratic majority leader Harry Reid Harry Mason ReidBottom Line Brennan fires back at 'selfish' Trump over Harry Reid criticism Trump rips Harry Reid for 'failed career' after ex-Dem leader slams him in interview MORE (Nev.) was able to postpone until after Saturday’s agreement was reached. And the French government also tried to torpedo the agreement, creating a new competition for who could be the most war-seeking government in the world. The U.S. and its allies have successfully demonized Iran in the eyes of the Western world, so most of the discourse we read is about whether Iran can be trusted. But let’s step back and look at this from the other side for a moment. Writing in the most recent issue of the Washington establishment journal Foreign Affairs, Akbar Ganji notes that in the eyes of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, "despite [then Iranian President Mohammad] Khatami’s willingness to compromise, his kind words for Americans, his cooperation in toppling the Taliban and in the subsequent Bonn negotiations to install a pro-American government in Afghanistan, U.S. President George W. Bush had still included Iran in his ‘axis of evil.’" And Iran had previously suspended its enrichment of uranium for two years and gotten nothing for it, not even the lifting of any sanctions. Furthermore, Libya’s Muammar al-Qaddafi had dismantled his whole nuclear program – and, it may be added, went so far in his co-operation as to torture suspected terrorists that Washington “renditioned” to him. Yet NATO participated in his overthrow. For much of the world, this was seen as a grim message that you could do whatever Washington wanted, and they would still destroy you if they saw an opportunity. So there is “trust-building” needed on both sides. The ultimate constraint on the Washington side is public opinion at home, where the latest polling this week shows that only 20 percent would support a military strike if the talks fail. “War-weary” Americans will have to be vigilant, and anti-war organizers active and strong, if the long-threatened war with Iran is to be prevented. Weisbrot is co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research, in Washington, D.C. He is also president of Just Foreign Policy.

The SEC’s 11 first-round draft picks are about to sign massive contracts, and they’ll get to buy their mothers a nice Mother’s Day gift; several already have. According to Spotrac.com, here’s a look at what the first-round picks will make in contract money, signing bonus and 2014 cash money. Every player drafted in the first or second round will receive a base salary of $420,000 for 2014, but much larger salaries will follow. RELATED: SEC dominated the draft’s 1st round…again The following table shows the projected breakdowns for every SEC pick, including signing bonus and cash compensation: PICK PLAYER POS TEAM TOTAL CONTRACT SIGNING BONUS 2014 CASH 1 Jadeveon Clowney DE HOU $22,272,998 $14,518,544 $14,938,544 2 Greg Robinson OT STL $21,284,098 $13,799,344 $14,219,344 6 Jake Matthews OT ATL $16,429,501 $10,268,728 $10,688,728 7 Mike Evans WR TB $14,631,502 $8,961,092 $9,381,092 12 Odell Beckham, Jr. WR NYG $10,406,198 $5,888,144 $6,308,144 17 C.J. Mosley LB BAL $8,787,999 $4,711,272 $5,131,272 19 Ja’Wuan James OT MIA $8,428,398 $4,449,744 $4,869,744 21 HaHa Clinton-Dix S GB $8,338,501 $4,384,364 $4,804,364 22 Johnny Manziel QB CLE $8,247,250 $4,318,000 $4,738,000 23 Dee Ford DE KC $8,158,700 $4,253,600 $4,673,600 29 Dominique Easley DT NE $7,303,549 $3,631,672 $4,051,672 You can check out Spotrac.com’s projections for every first round pick here. Photo Credit: Andy Marlin-USA TODAY Sports

AP Photo/CERN Physicists at the Kavli Institute of Nanoscience at the Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands were able to successfully "teleport" information over a distance of 10 feet, reports the New York Times. There's a lot going on in that idea, so let's break it down. The rules for the subatomic world are totally unlike the rules for our macroscopic world. A particle can be in multiple places at the same time, and can even disappear on one side of a barrier and reappear on the other side without actually traveling through it. This comes from quantum theory, and while it sounds totally nonintuitive, it's one of the most successful models physicists have for understanding our world. Many scientists around the world today are working to develop "quantum technology," which is simply any technology that hinges upon these totally "abnormal" properties of the super-small stuff that makes up our world. The Mount Everest of quantum technology would be to build a quantum computer that could quickly solve problems that would leave our classical computers stumped. Instead of the standard bits we use in computers today — ones and zeroes — quantum bits, or "qubits," can describe a one, a zero, or any value in between. If this all sounds crazy or hard to understand, you're in good company with a lot of smart people. Hang in there. A legitimate, functional quantum computer (it's debatable as to if one has actually been built yet) would be absolutely bursting with computational potential. Back to our Dutch scientists — they trapped qubits in diamonds and were able to establish a measurement of the qubits' spin. This measurement is the acual information that was "teleported," by way of a process called quantum entanglement. To simplify this idea a lot, entanglement is essentially what happens when one particle copycats another, even over a distance. Change the spin of one particle, the other instantly changes its spin to match. Einstein famously decried entanglement, calling it "spooky action at a distance." But repeated variations of this experiment only lend more credence to it as a completely valid natural phenomena that we are slowly learning to manipulate. Forget Google Fiber. Once this stuff is perfected, a quantum internet that's built upon it could mean instantaneous transmission and receipt of data around the world or even the universe! In 1964, an Irish physicist named John Bell predicted that this could be used to transmit data across light years of distance. While 10 feet is no light year, it's certainly a step in the right direction. More From Business Insider

I enjoy boardgames. They’re cheap, they’re fun and they’re a lot more interactive a way to spend time with friends and family that watching a movie (yes, even a zombie movie). That’s why I’m pleased to bring you Dead of Night, a free, downloadable zombie board game, as this week’s Undead Diversion. Designed by Simon Spearing, Dead of Night is a game for up to six people (four is the recommended number) that more or less turns Night of the Living Dead into a game. As mentioned, it is free, but it will probably cost you a few dollars worth of printing supplies to print out the rules, tokens and other necessities (or it will cost your employer a few dollars worth of printing supplies…). Sound fun? Continue through to get the rest of the info, including where to download it. The game resides on a Dead of Night page at the Board Game Geek site (cool site for gamers, by the way!). You can download a handy zip file of all the necessary components (and some cool optional ones) from the the Gaming Dead‘s dedicated Dead of Night link (right-click and “Save As…” on that sucker). It’s about 65 megs. If you like the game and want to meet fellow aficionados, or need help with it, visit one of the still-active Dead of Night forums on Board Game Geek. if you need more info, visit that first link, or read the handy blurb below, from that same page: Dead of Night is a 1 to 6 player game based on scenarios you might recognize from various zombie films. There is no ‘Zombie Master’ here: all the players are on the same side, all working together to survive, although the option to use other players as zombie bait while you grab all the guns and lock yourself in the cellar is there if you prefer. Either way, you will need to use strategy and your (fresh and spicy) brains as well as chainsaws and shotguns to make it through the night. Each scenario has a location to be explored, and an objective to be fulfilled, but if things don’t go well just survival may be enough. Cards drawn throughout the game may help or hinder your progress, but as the night draws on you can be sure things are going to get much worse before you see the sun again. The game ends when somebody fulfils the main objective (eg, escaping in a fuelled up vehicle), or at daybreak, which brings respite in the form of an advancing army patrol. If you can survive until the end of the game, you are a winner. The survivor who best fulfils their objectives will come out on top. I personally haven’t had a chance to play it yet, but if and when I do get a chance, I will try to write up a report. In the meantime, if you try it and like it (or hate it) feel free to leave a comment, or ask me about a guest post review!

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