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So, Boeing just patented a force field. Technically, the patent is for a “method and system for shockwave attenuation via electromagnetic arc,” but that’s just a long way of writing out something unbelievably futuristic: protective force fields may one day make their way onto the battlefields of the future. The device as patented only protects against the shockwave of an explosion, but most of the vehicles it’d be mounted on are already armored enough to protect people inside from the shrapnel that comes with a bomb blast. The concept uses a sensor to detect an explosion in water or air--say, an IED on the side of the road--then estimates the time and location of the explosion. Next, the signal from the sensor triggers a laser (or a blast of electricity or microwave energy) that heats up a section of air or water, creating a plasma shield in between the explosion and the vehicle. The plasma's temperature and density help deflect and absorb the shockwaves from the explosion. In the patent illustration, the force field protects a military HMMWV, but the design is written broadly enough that it can potentially protect everything from ships to submarines, offshore platforms, ground vehicles, buildings, and even humans. For blasts of different magnitudes, calculating the size and strength of the force field may be tricky. For example, a lightly armored vehicle like a HMMWV might use the force field against a small explosion, while heavier-armored tanks and MRAPs could save their plasma blasts for only larger threats. The system will have a database of bomb explosion signatures so it knows just which strategy to use. This patent promises a lot, but we’ll have to wait until it’s tested before we can tell if it’s the future of war or just a bunch of hot air. Watch this strange Star Wars-themed explainer below: |
Written by by Kate Springer, Sol Han, CNN In Tokyo, 14% of commuting traffic is on bike, according to the Japanese Transport Ministry. But you'd never guess it. That's because the Japanese capital is burying thousands of bikes in underground parking vaults, in a bid to keep its sidewalks tidy. From street level, an Eco Cycle looks like a small kiosk --a 560-square-foot hub with a door that seemingly leads to nowhere. In reality, these stations are gateways to futuristic subterranean parking lots, which each plummet nearly 40 feet into the ground and are home to hundreds of tightly stacked bikes. Storage solution In Japan, 78% of households own a bike, compared with 50% of those in Britain, according to a 2014 study by the Pew Research Center "It's a blessing and a curse," says Chad Feyen, of The Cycling Embassy of Japan , which is devoted to promoting cycling and improving bike infrastructure. An Eco Cycle elevator in Tokyo, Japan. Credit: Keith Tsuji/Getty Images AsiaPac/Getty Images "You have a lot of cyclists, but you also have a lot of bikes clustered around Metro stations. It can be dangerous, or at the very least take up space." Eco Cycle aims to encourage cycling, but free-up space on Tokyo's crowded streets. "In Japan, there are many illegally parked bicycles in city centers," says Tsunenobu Nozaki, manager of construction design and planning at Giken , the Japanese company which invented Eco Cycle. "If a bicycle park is far away from the cyclists' destination, no one will use it. " Gone in 8 seconds Cyclists can store or retrieve a bike at an Eco Cycle station in just eight seconds. These efficient subterranean parking lots also protect bikes from rain and theft, while the seismic-resistant shaft is designed to withstand earthquake tremors. A man loads his bike at an Eco Cycle. Credit: Keith Tsuji/Getty Images AsiaPac/Getty Images The first time a cyclist uses one of these facilities, a smart locator device -- called an IC Tag -- is fitted to the front of their bike, which correspondents to the smart card they are provided with. Cyclists swipe their cards at a check-in booth to activate the loading mechanism. Their bike then disappears through a small entryway and is lowered into the compact storage system below. slot in Tokyo. An Eco Cycle parking space costs about $25 a month, compared with over $700 a month for car parking slot in Tokyo. Subterranean success Today, there are 50 Eco Cycle stations across Japan, with a global expansion in the works. The bikes are stacked underground. Credit: Keith Tsuji/Getty Images AsiaPac/Getty Images "We regularly receive inquiries from other cities," says Nozaki. "(We plan to) license the design and manufacture of Eco Cycle so that local manufacturers can design and build units in their country." However, the design is not without its skeptics. "I think (Eco-Cycle) is a great idea and the technology is fascinating. But I personally don't feel comfortable with my bike going underground," says Feyen. "If there's an earthquake or an emergency, and I want to get my bike out -- I want my bike to be near me." |
An Arab-Israeli man accused of carrying out a pair of deadly shooting attacks in the northern city of Haifa in January reportedly punched an Israel Prisons Service guard during a court hearing on Sunday. According to Channel 2, after Muhammad Shinawi struck the guard from the prison services Nahshon unit, he was tackled by several officers and removed from the Haifa District Court. Despite being restrained by the officers, Shinawi continued to try and hit the guards, the TV report said. An unnamed witness to the incident told Channel 2 that Shinawi also urged onlookers to help him fight the guards, including after he had been removed from the courtroom. Get The Times of Israel's Daily Edition by email and never miss our top stories Free Sign Up Shinawi’s lawyer Alaa Suleiman told Channel 2 that although his client first struck the guard, the officers continued to beat him even after he was subdued. “Although my client did attack the IPS guards, and even punched one of them, after they had subdued him in front of the judges they continued to hit him, even after he was removed outside,” he said. “They needed to stop these theatrics from the moment they restrained him,” he added. Channel 2 noted that Shinawi’s girlfriend was in the courtroom during the incident. At the time of his arrest in January, the Shin Bet security agency said that Shinawi was motivated to carry out the two shooting attacks — which left one Israeli man dead and another seriously wounded — after she called him a “Zionist Jew” and a “Jew lover.” The 21-year-old Shinawi has been charged with murder and attempted murder for the attacks. Two other men are also accused of helping him. Channel 2 reported that Shinawi denied the charges against him during Sunday’s hearing. Yehiel Iluz, 48, a senior judge on a Haifa rabbinic conversion court, was wounded at 9:30 a.m. on January 3, in the first shooting on the city’s Haatzma’ut Road. A few minutes later, the shooter opened fire at a Jewish woman, but missed. And a few minutes after that, Guy Kafri, 47, a van driver from Haifa’s Nesher neighborhood, was shot and killed on the nearby Hagiborim Street. Shinawi was caught several days later after a large manhunt. During his interrogation, Shinawi said he carried out the attacks “out of a nationalist motivation and hatred of Jews,” the Shin Bet said in January. After the attack, Shinawi allegedly hid the Carlo-style submachine gun — an illegal, cheap improvised firearm — used in the attack, along with other belongings, in a grove near his parents’ house, the Shin Bet said. According to the Shin Bet, before the attacks, Shinawi adopted more radical Islamic beliefs, considering Jews to be “unbelievers whose judgment is death.” The “catalyst” for the attack, the Shin Bet said, was Shinawi’s girlfriend calling him “Jew lover” and “Zionist Jew.” First reports indicated a case of mistaken identity in a possible gangland shooting, but as the investigation went on, police increasingly began to suspect it was a terror attack. At the time, neighbors and local residents expressed surprise that Shinawi was suspected of carrying out the attacks. Rafat Asadi, a lawyer who lives in Shinawi’s neighborhood, told Ynet that he was surprised by the identity of the suspect, “an honors student” who comes from a “completely normal family, an exemplary family, that has had no run-ins with the law.” The Shin Bet said Shinawi set fire to a Jewish family’s car during the Second Lebanon War in 2006. Judah Ari Gross contributed to this report. |
Home on the range ... Bob Brown and Paul Thomas at their cottage in Liffey, south of Launceston, in March this year. Credit:Angela Wylie "I am having a ball," says Brown, 66, as we talk in his Parliament House office. He's a man who often forgets to eat and so his face is all sinew and smile. "I am having too much fun to retire." He flippantly says that Rupert Murdoch - his nemesis - is somewhat of an icon, still going strong at 80. You might need to get a younger boyfriend, to truly emulate Rupert, I say. "Ha, ha," he bellows. "Ha. No, I am very happy with the one I've got, thank you very much." By any reckoning his has been a remarkable life. He was born a twin, the shy son of a country policeman, who went to university to become a doctor. He moved to Tasmania in a mad search for the thylacine. As a 32-year-old doctor in conservative rural Tasmania, way back in 1976, when even Elton John had girlfriends, he publicly declared his homosexuality so others might be spared his "years of misery". He turned his back on a medical career to lead the seven-year campaign to save the Franklin River from being dammed. He was the driving force behind The Wilderness Society. He transformed the Tasmanian Greens, and then the Australian Greens, into an electoral power and has fostered new Green parties around the world. Along the way he has been bashed with a tyre lever, shot at and jailed. In 1990, he won a $50,000 environment prize and donated the money to save a patch of Tasmanian forest from loggers, and Bush Heritage Australia was born. The organisation has since raised more than $100 million to buy almost one million hectares of high-conservation-value private land in Australia. The Canadian scientist and conservationist Dr David Suzuki describes Brown as a global treasure, up there with "Mandela and the Dalai Lama - a person of the greatest integrity and courage, a person who has inspired others through his lifetime commitment". Conversely, the Nationals senator Barnaby Joyce says behind Brown's public image as a "benevolent uncle" there's a "ruthless, pragmatic, artful politician", while the Liberal senator Eric Abetz says he wrecked the Tasmanian economy and is now causing the same havoc on the mainland. There's venom in Abetz's voice when he talks of Brown. The veteran political commentator Alan Ramsay says this is typical, as Brown is widely loathed by politicians from both major parties. "He represents everything that they are not," Ramsay tells me. "He is a man of conviction, a thoroughly honest man, a man of principle. They see in him what they want to be and they hate him for it." Ramsay adds, "The big put-down is always, 'Oh, Bob Brown, he's too f...king good to be true.' They all want to find a dark corner there somewhere - well, there isn't any." The Tasmanian writer Richard Flanagan, a friend of Brown's, says that in 2004 he was on the election trail with both prime ministerial contenders, John Howard and Mark Latham. Along the way, he asked all the political staffers and journalists to tell him one positive human story about either man. He came away without a single anecdote. "It was at that point I sort of realised that people like Bob are not so common in politics," he says. "Bob is a man before he is a politician - he exists for other people. Like anyone who knows him, I can tell you dozens of lovely stories about him doing things for others ... Look at what he did for Nigel Brennan." In 2008 Brennan, an Australian photographer, was kidnapped in Somalia along with a Canadian reporter, Amanda Lindhout. Almost a year later Brown heard through a journalist friend about the kidnapping and the family's desperate attempts to raise a ransom. He sought them out. The family had already contacted many of Australia's wealthiest people, but had been turned away. Brown tried the media giants - James Packer, Kerry Stokes and John Hartigan - to see if they'd help their stricken colleagues. Packer offered a small sum and said he'd ask 60 Minutes to do a story. Stokes was in London for the filming of Robin Hood and his staff said he couldn't be contacted. Hartigan, Brown says, was unmoved, and said to him, "Do you want me to pirouette on a sixpence?" In this neck of the woods, telling people that I was having a relationship with Bob Brown was more of an ordeal than telling people I was gay Brown's partner, Paul Thomas, owns a farm south of Hobart, and the senator was out in the paddocks one afternoon, chipping thistles, when there was a call on his mobile phone from Nigel Brennan's distraught mother. She desperately needed money to pay hostage negotiators - the situation for her son was rapidly deteriorating. After the call he mulled things over in his mind, hacking away at the burrs. That night, after a meal of chops and vegies, as he and Thomas were standing at the sink doing the dishes, Brown explained the situation. "Paul," he said finally, "would you mind coming to the bank with me tomorrow to borrow $100,000?" Thomas, a softly spoken, thoughtful man, tells me that at first he was reluctant and said he'd sleep on it: "I thought, 'Well, that'll blow the 10-year financial plan out to 20.'" By morning he'd come round, and the pair drove to Hobart and met with their bemused bank manager, extended their mortgage and transferred the money to the Brennans. All this might have remained secret, but when Brennan was finally released, Dick Smith, who had also contributed money at the senator's urging, talked of Brown's generosity in an interview. Bob Brown and I are on the way to Tasmania's magnificent and scarred Styx Valley in his parliamentary Prius when I mention what Thomas had told me. His face lights up. "I didn't think I could love that man any more," he beams. "But, gee, when he said yes to that loan ... well, what more could you want from a partner?" Luckily for Brown the relationship is a good one, for it was a long time coming. It began, fittingly, with a bushwalk on the eve of the 1996 federal election. Brown was then 52 and Thomas was a campaign worker, 10 years his junior. After much trauma and soul-searching - including submitting himself to aversion therapy, during which he was wired to a machine that delivered electric shocks each time a picture of a nude man was shown in order to cure his "urges" - he had finally accepted he was gay and had come out to his friends and family 25 years earlier. Paul Thomas is his very first boyfriend. "He was a bit of a martyr to the cause," Thomas, 56, says drily. Thomas is from a fifth-generation Tasmanian farming family and says, "In this neck of the woods, telling people that I was having a relationship with Bob Brown was more of an ordeal than telling people I was gay." Brown tells me that he always thought having a partner would be an impediment to public life - but it was the opposite and it gave him the support he needed to keep going. Paul, says Richard Flanagan, "liberated Brown from his sense of duty". On the day that I was in Canberra his staff were enthralled by the latest episode of Craig Thomson and the Magic Union Pudding. As Sky News reported the besieged Labor MP's woes, Brown quietly slipped away into his office for 10 minutes. He emerged with an envelope. "My daily missive," he said. It was a letter to Paul. He sends one each day they are apart. ("Mostly they say he is looking forward to getting home," Thomas tells me. "He tells me how he's feeling and then there are little observations, like there was snow on the mountains as he flew over.") At the heart of Brown is an angst and an optimism. He works his way through his turmoils, be it about his own sexuality or the future of the planet, as he has always done, by resolving to do something to somehow make it better. His mother, Marjorie, the daughter of a dairy farmer, and his father, Jack, a policeman, were loving, caring people, and although he was close to them and his brothers and twin sister, he was also an outsider in the family. He was the dreamy kid who found solace wandering the bush or reading and remembering endless facts from encyclopaedias. "At a high-speed-rail conference the other day I could still rattle it all off: 'Sydney 1947, population 1.4 million, 24th biggest city in the world. Australia's population 7.7 million ...' " His mother loved the bush and would gently scold the kids if they picked wildflowers, saying they looked better and would last longer where they were. Brown remembers his father as a straight-up-and-down country policeman who would storm home to fetch a coat and tie, incensed that a snooty magistrate had belittled a poor defendant for being improperly dressed. Brown spent much of his youth in an excruciating internal battle with his sexuality. "I couldn't talk about it with anyone," he says. "Never." The family moved around rural NSW to wherever his father was posted: Oberon, Trunkey Creek, Armidale. Then, to add to the confusion, he was one of a group of boys who were fondled by a teacher at an Armidale primary school when he was 12. The police were called, the teacher was charged and, of course, everyone in town knew of the scandal. "My good, good parents," he says as we pass through a one-teacher village like those of his early years, "they didn't make a fuss. They didn't talk about it, but my father got a transfer and moved the family to Bellingen." Judy Henderson, a life-long friend whom he met as a teenager, tells me that while Brown was very shy, he was a popular student and a good athlete and would befriend kids who were bullied. The pair would catch the train each day to high school in Coffs Harbour and would have long and earnest conversations about what they wanted to do with their lives. Brown, she says, always wanted to do something worthy and thought medicine would be a good way of helping others. She was unaware of his struggle with his sexuality, even at university. "It was a different age and something we'd never have conceived of," she says. Several times he considered killing himself. "I remember walking down Parramatta Road to Sydney University and thinking, 'If I ever get out of this alive I am going to speak up about it,'" Brown says. He moved to London for a few years and talked to a counsellor who suggested that rather than trying to cure himself, he may be better off just accepting that he was gay. He worked through his angst and in 1976 gave an interview, at a time when homosexuality was still illegal in Tasmania, to The Examiner in Launceston under the headline Doctor Says He's Gay: "Many young people are going through a great deal of trauma over something for which they are not to blame," Dr Brown told the newspaper. "I have seen such an immense change from the total repression and criminality of homosexuality in my lifetime," he explains now. "It does make me much more buoyant and optimistic about the future. If that change can occur in that time there's hope for many other changes." He moved to Tasmania for a quiet life. He'd bought a little cottage out in the country at Liffey, south of Launceston, was working a few days a week as a doctor and wanted to spend his time bushwalking and writing philosophy. Then, in February 1976, a friend convinced him to take a two-week rafting trip down the remote and dangerous Franklin River. It was to change his life. He was overcome by the awesome beauty of the river, but devastated to find survey pegs along its banks revealing plans for it to be dammed. His concern mobilised him, and in turn tens of thousands of supporters, into action, and he dedicated seven years of his life to saving the river. The Prius motors higher into the Styx Valley and we pass through a clear-felled logging area. The landscape looks like a World War I battlefield. Every living creature has been obliterated. He sighs deeply. "We are wrecking the planet, you know..." He rattles off a long list: extinct species, dead reefs, collapsed fisheries, polluted drinking water, acid oceans, plummeting krill stocks, melting ice caps, rising temperatures ... Can it be saved? "I am very sanguine about it," he says cheerily. "We have the intelligence in the global community to work together to bring ourselves into check. The carbon tax is not going to stop us going beyond two degrees, but it is a step in the right direction ... and remember, there wouldn't be a carbon tax if it wasn't for us Greens." I think Brown is probably the cleverest politician in Australia," says the Labor hard-man Graham Richardson, "and the thing that makes him even more dangerous is he is a decent fella and he believes in what he is doing, and that's a very powerful combination: belief and ability." Brown's great political skill, says Dr Nick Economou, a lecturer in politics from Monash University, is that he has always been able to leverage enormous political advantage from a small political base. "Just think about it," Economou says; "who would have thought that a gay conservationist from Tasmania would become one of the most influential political figures in Australia?" It began with the Franklin River campaign. In 1983 Brown met with the newly elected leader of the Labor Party, Bob Hawke. Brown told Hawke The Wilderness Society and his supporters would throw their weight behind Labor if Hawke would give a guarantee to stop the dam. It was thought this could make a difference to Labor's chances in one or two seats. "This was not some airy-fairy concept," Economou says. "It was a guarantee of support for action on a specific policy." Brown operated in the same pragmatic way when the Greens went into a power-sharing agreement with Labor after the 1989 Tasmanian state election. And it is happening again now. The Greens agreed to support Julia Gillard's legislation through parliament if she agreed to a carbon tax. "It is much harder to get Australia to extricate itself from [the] ANZUS [treaty], or to not sell uranium, to stop new coalmines, or not participate with the Americans on the War on Terror, or to change immigration policy," Economou says of some of the Green's broader aims. Brown shrewdly worked out his main goal and what could be achieved, a carbon tax, and it was on that issue that he signed a deal to support Gillard. Phillip Toyne, the former head of the Australian Conservation Foundation, is a friend and admirer of Brown but says he can be too idealistic and dismissive of those who he feels have strayed from the true path. "He was extremely judgmental about Peter Garrett," Toyne tells me. "He thought Garrett had abandoned his principles by joining the ALP. Peter took the pragmatic decision that joining the ALP meant a ministry rather than being a minority commentator. Bob always took the view that he was not willing to compromise in that way." The once close friendship between Garrett and Brown has never recovered. Garrett is whisper-faint in his praise and tells me that while Brown had made a "significant contribution" on environmental issues in earlier times, his efforts of late have been "more about cleverly riding the news cycle". He offers nothing more. Toyne says the Greens' biggest challenge is to find a way to maintain a strong commitment to the environment while working out an intelligent way for the economy to operate. "Some of their earlier attempts to explain what Tasmania would look like without a timber industry were a bit naive and somewhat fanciful," he says. And while they have made great improvements in their efforts to explain how a green economy would operate, "there's still a way to go". The Murdoch empire argues there's more than just "a way to go". The Greens, Rupert Murdoch said when he jetted into Australia last year, were a threat to prosperity and, oddly, scarce resources. "Whatever you do, don't let the bloody Greens mess it up," he urged his former countrymen. The Australian newspaper encouraged its readers to "destroy the Greens at the ballot box ... they are bad for the nation" and their "flaky economics should have no place in the national debate". When I ask Chris Mitchell, the editor of The Australian, why they are so dangerous, he tells me it's because they oppose developments and policies that would benefit the poor. He points to the Greens' opposition to development in Cape York and the Kimberley that, he says, would greatly benefit Aborigines. He says Gillard's carbon tax, "which our paper supported quite strongly", was hindered by the "$10-billion Greens package that got bolted on". The Greens insisted on the $10-billion fund to invest in clean and renewable energy that Mitchell says will go to projects such as "Cate Blanchett's $80,000 solar system at the Sydney Theatre Company". The Greens, Mitchell claims, are a "party for the post-materialist wealthy people happy to sacrifice the well-being of the least privileged people in Australia". Robert Manne, in a critique of The Australian in the September issue of Quarterly Essay, writes that The Australian's coverage of Bob Brown and the Greens was unbalanced in the extreme and that the newspaper's attacks on the Greens amounted to a "jihad". Brown tells me that a "Green economy wouldn't look all that different to what we see now". He continues, "We are for free enterprise, innovation and the individual's ability to contribute to the economy. What we are saying is let's gently brake and, if necessary, we are going to have to brake harder down the line." Would this mean a cap on the use of resources? "Well, the others have a cap on resources; their theory is, 'Let's use them to exhaustion and then move on to the next thing.'" The big parties, he says, haven't realised that the debate is how we transition our economy to use fewer resources while maintaining our standard of living. "It is much the same as the formation of the Labor Party a century ago, when the debate was about a centralised economy or a market economy. The debate now is between an ecological politics and a rampaging, destructive politics as we head, full-steam, towards a brick wall." This may be so, but Graham Richardson says Brown's big failing is that he has "an insatiable appetite". "I remember negotiating for three days about the Tasmanian forests and getting cabinet to agree," he says. "I came out and said to him, 'Bob, I got 23 per cent of Tasmania declared World Heritage, isn't that fantastic?' He just looked at me and said, 'It's not enough.'" Bob Brown recently gave away his beloved cottage at Liffey and the land around it to Bush Heritage Australia. It was in that cottage that the Franklin River campaign was planned, where The Wilderness Society was born and where the Greens in Australia were conceived. It is also where he nursed both his mother and father to their deaths. Until he began his relationship, Liffey was his solace. He and Paul Thomas have a small bush block on the water facing out to Bruny Island, south of Hobart, and have just finished building an eco-friendly house. There appears to be a degree of getting-things-in-order swirling about in Bob Brown's life. I meet Thomas at a cafe in the village of Cygnet, not far from where they've built their house. He tells me that when Brown is home they spend a lot of time just enjoying the comfort of being together. "Neither of us are big talkers," he says. "Bob does a lot of reading and we go for long walks but there's not much chat." He says in all their time together they've never had a fight. So when does he think Brown will retire? "Well, I would like him to retire tomorrow, if I was being selfish," he says, "so that we could spend more time together. But he has a job to do and he has to think of both himself and the party." And the planet? "Yes, and the planet." Bob Brown may joke that he would like to emulate Rupert Murdoch and work until his 80s, but it seems unlikely. His current term is due to end in 2014 when he will be 69. And when he does go, even Paul Thomas concedes there will be "a period of adjustment". Others think things will be more dramatic than mere adjustment. "Without Bob they are f...ked," says one long-time Canberra journalist. "You've got the old-style conservationists like Christine Milne. Then you have [Sarah] Hanson-Young with her gay-marriage thing. Then you've got that mad Lee Rhiannon - an old communist! Without Bob they'll self-implode." Graham Richardson says Milne - the 58-year-old environmentalist and former schoolteacher from Tasmania, and Brown's deputy and preferred successor - is competent but lacks his gravitas, and the "talent pool drops off pretty sharply after that". Pundits compare the Greens to the Australian Democrats, a party fashioned around a strong, dynamic leader - Don Chipp - which shrivelled and died due to the weak leadership that followed. But Dr Narelle Miragliotta, a lecturer in politics from Monash University, says the Greens are in a better position than the Democrats ever were and have a strong presence in local and state governments, where candidates learn the art of campaigning and party politics and where future leaders are born. Richardson concedes Labor is losing a generation of talented and idealistic people to the Greens - people who, in the past, would have joined Labor. Their rise has been a "slow burn", building year on year, says Miragliotta, and "their success can only be partly explained by Bob Brown". It is not just disillusionment with the major parties and admiration for Brown that has people voting Green, she says; a sizeable proportion of the population now believe that the Greens offer better policies. The taciturn Labor senator John Faulkner tells me that he can't predict how the Greens will go post-Brown, but says they appear to be a permanent fixture. "For the first time since the existence of the Commonwealth of Australia, the Labor Party has found itself in a parliament where it has an electoral force on its left-wing flank and it appears to be quite a viable electoral force. That is a new thing for the Labor Party to grapple with." He is less willing to talk about the reasons for this. Brown, of course, is positive about the future. He points out that the organisations he has moved on from - The Wilderness Society, the Tasmanian Greens, Bush Heritage - have all gone on to bigger and better things without him. Maybe it was him holding them back, he jokes. "I am surrounded by terrific people," says Brown, between slowing down to point out red-breasted robins that dart about beside the road or Tasmanian rosellas high in the trees. "There are now 10 Green members of parliament. We have been sitting in on their maiden speeches and the quality of the speeches is just phenomenal. We are 10 people in a parliament of 226. We are producing outcomes that are much greater than our numbers." We round a bend up a freshly cut track into the forest. The road comes to a halt in front of a stand of magnificent Eucalyptus regnans, the tallest of them possibly 70 metres high - the height of a 10-storey building and the width of a living room. "Get a load of it!" Brown says as we crane our necks to see the crown. "You know, these are among the biggest living things on the planet, ever. They are much bigger than dinosaurs and they're much bigger than whales. They're just so stunning." Loading And so doomed. This ancient coupe of forest has been earmarked for oblivion and yet again, four decades after he began, Bob Brown will be involved in a campaign to try to save it. 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“The amount transacted through Vice President Jejomar Binay’s accounts originated from illicit and/or undeclared activities. Moreover because of the near equivalence of deposits and withdrawals his bank accounts were used as mere conduits of funds derived from such activities.” This was the conclusion of the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) in its petition to the Court of Appeals to freeze 242 bank accounts and other assets of Binay, his family and alleged dummies. On Monday, the court granted the petition, effective for six months. ADVERTISEMENT The report said that from 2009 to 2014 Binay’s large and frequent deposit transactions with several banks totaled at least P263 million, while subsequent large withdrawals reached P266,731,454.47. The AMLC explained that withdrawals were made almost simultaneously with almost equal amounts of deposits which made it appear that the accounts were “mere conduits.” “There is a wide gap between his legitimate income and his total bank accounts,” the AMLC said, indicating income from illegitimate sources. The conclusion stemmed from the computation of Binay’s statement of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALN) as of 2009 as Makati mayor and Dec. 31, 2010, as Vice President—P937,773 and P541,930, respectively. His salaries from 2007 to 2014 totaled P13 million—P6 million as mayor and P7 million as Vice President. The AMLC said the Vice President did not declare any business interests. Remittances to Canada banks Binay also had joint accounts with his longtime financial adviser Gerry Limlingan, which it said also showed that it was also used as conduits for remittances abroad, particularly to two banks in Canada—The Bank of Nova Scotia and the Toronto Dominion Bank. The AMLC found deposits in the joint accounts totaled P29,189,150 and withdrawals of almost the same amount, P29,156,189. The report showed that listed as beneficiaries of the remittances were Synovate, Synovate LTD., DJR research and Lily Cristal Hernandez, said to be the Limlingans’ longtime assistant now based in Canada. ADVERTISEMENT Baloloy, Limlingan accounts Former Makati Vice Mayor Ernesto Mercado said that Limlingan and another former Binay aide, Eduviges “Ebeng” Baloloy, held the key to the cash and stock holdings outlined in the AMLC report. In a phone interview, Mercado said that Limlingan and Baloloy, who had not been seen in public since the Senate blue ribbon subcommittee started its investigation into the allegedly overpriced Makati City Hall Building II 10 months ago, accounted for the lion’s share of the 242 bank, stocks and trust accounts ordered frozen. Mercado said that Limlingan, his relatives and staff controlled 110 of the 242 frozen accounts, excluding 12 more he owned with Baloloy. Baloloy and her relatives controlled 44 of the 242 frozen accounts. “I’m very happy with the AMLC report because it confirmed all of the things that I told the Senate. At least we now know who has been lying,” Mercado said. Limlingan Limlingan is the longtime financial adviser and campaign adviser of Binay. He is the president of JC Binay Foundation Inc., a board member of the University of Makati, a managing director of Omni Security Investigation (which cornered the security and janitorial contracts in Makati City Hall), original stockholder of Agri-Fortuna Inc. (which owned the alleged “Hacienda Binay”). His brother, Victor S. Limlingan, is a codepositor in two of the accounts frozen by the CA. Victor is the managing director of DMCI Holdings Inc., director of Landco Pacific Corp., and owner and manager of Regina Development Corp., a stock brokerage firm. Mercado also identified Limlingan’s children, Melissa Gay and Gerardo Martin, and his second wife, Marguerite E. Lichnock, among those whose accounts were put on hold by the CA. Mercado said that one of Limlingan’s codepositor in the frozen accounts, Lily H. Crystal, was also his executive assistant before she migrated to Canada in 2006. Mercado said Crystal was replaced by Mitzi O. Sedillo who also owned some of the bank accounts ordered frozen by the CA. He pointed out that Crystal’s migration to Canada should explain the AMLC’s finding that a significant amount of US dollars were transferred from the monitored accounts to Canada from 2008 to 2014. Next to Limlingan, Mercado said the only person Binay trusted with his money was Baloloy who was a distant relative of the Vice President. The AMLC report showed that she had 44 accounts under her name and with her kin Francisco B. Baloloy, Frederick D. Baloloy and Jennifer Baloloy. “She (Baloloy) started out as a maid in the Binay household and worked her way up first as secretary in Binay’s law office and personal secretary in the Office of the Mayor. She (Baloloy) knows more secrets of Binay than his wife, Elenita,” said Mercado. RELATED STORIES Binay: I don’t have hidden wealth AMLC: Binay, allies deposits reach P11B Read Next LATEST STORIES MOST READ |
Journalists would do well to read a 7,700-word article by Peter Maass in the New York Times magazine headlined How Laura Poitras helped Snowden spill his secrets. It underlines just why the former NSA computer specialist Edward Snowden is so deserving of the status of whistleblower. He has revealed that what we journalists might have suspected about government surveillance to be true was indeed so. The article tells how Snowden first tried to win the attention of Guardian journalist Glenn Greenwald by anonymously emailing him to say he had sensitive documents he wanted to share. He followed that up with a step-by-step guide on how to encrypt communications, and then sent a link to an encryption video. Greenwald ignored the approaches. In frustration, Snowden contacted documentary filmmaker Laura Poitras. And it was she who eventually got in touch with Greenwald, drawing the three of them together. Maass asked Snowden, in an encrypted email exchange, what he thought about Greenwald's initial silence in response to his requests and instructions for encrypted communications. Snowden replied that he understood journalists were busy "and had assumed being taken seriously would be a challenge". And then he added: "At the same time, this is 2013, and [he is] a journalist who regularly reported on the concentration and excess of state power. I was surprised to realise that there were people in news organisations who didn't recognise any unencrypted message sent over the internet is being delivered to every intelligence service in the world." And that's a killer point, surely. We might have thought that our emails were not secure. But Snowden's leaks confirm that they were not, and are not. And he thought us naive for believing otherwise. There is much more to appreciate in Maass's article in which Poitras emerges as a crucial figure in the leaking process. She first met Greenwald in 2010, when she became interested in his work on WikiLeaks and was planning to make a documentary on surveillance. Before that, she had already been subjected to unwelcome attention from the US authorities. After filming the effects of the invasion of Iraq on its citizens, she discovered in June 2006 that her tickets on domestic flights were marked "SSSS" – Secondary Security Screening Selection. It meant that she faced extra scrutiny at airports. The article details several examples. In all, she was stopped for questioning on more than 40 occasions. Eventually, in April 2012, Greenwald – then writing for Salon.com – told of her tribulations in a piece headlined US filmmaker repeatedly detained at border. That article piqued Snowden's interest too. That was why he first attempted to contact Greenwald and why, having been ignored, he then tried Poitras. Once the links were made, Snowden began to provide documents to both of them. Then, in May this year, Snowden sent encrypted messages telling them to go to Hong Kong. Greenwald flew to New York from Rio, and Poitras joined him for meetings with the editor of the Guardian's US edition. It was decided that they should be accompanied on their trip to Hong Kong with the veteran Guardian reporter, Ewen MacAskill. What follow was a classic cloak-and-dagger operation. Maass picks up the story: "Snowden had instructed them that once they were in Hong Kong, they were to go at an appointed time to the Kowloon district and stand outside a restaurant that was in a mall connected to the Mira hotel. There, they were to wait until they saw a man carrying a Rubik's Cube, then ask him when the restaurant would open. The man would answer their question, but then warn that the food was bad. When the man with the Rubik's Cube arrived, it was Edward Snowden." They followed Snowden to his room. Poitras began filming and Greenwald began questioning. It went on for a week during which the first article "NSA collecting phone records of millions of Verizon customers" was published on 6 June by the Guardian. Poitras told Maass: "We were all surprised at how much attention it was getting … we could see on TV that it was taking off." After Poitras made a video of Snowden, duly posted on 9 June, he checked out of his hotel and went into hiding. A week later, Poitras flew to Berlin, "where she could edit her documentary without worrying that the FBI would show up with a search warrant." And two weeks after that she flew to Brazil. It was there, in a Rio de Janeiro hotel, that Maass met her along with Greenwald, where they were working with MacAskill and another Guardian journalist, James Ball. It was several days before they all discovered that Snowden had arrived at Moscow airport. In Maass's encrypted conversation with Snowden the whistleblower explained why he went to Poitras with his secrets: "Laura and Glenn are among the few who reported fearlessly on controversial topics throughout this period, even in the face of withering personal criticism, [which] resulted in Laura specifically becoming targeted by the very programmes involved in the recent disclosures. She had demonstrated the courage, personal experience and skill needed to handle what is probably the most dangerous assignment any journalist can be given — reporting on the secret misdeeds of the most powerful government in the world — making her an obvious choice." Snowden's revelations, unsurprisingly, are now the centre of Poitras's surveillance documentary. Meanwhile, she is also assessing her legal vulnerability. Poitras and Greenwald are not facing charges, at least not yet. They do not plan to stay away from the US forever, but have no immediate plans to return. With at least one member of Congress having accused them of treason, they are also aware of the Obama administration's pursuit of both leakers and the journalists who receive leaks. |
Nvidia says its new mobile processor will help power a particularly mobile machine: the self-driving car. Over the weekend, the chip maker unveiled its new Tegra K1 mobile processor at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. The chip is based on the company's Kepler architecture, which is traditionally used by the chips that power some of the world's most efficient supercomputers, but the K1 consumes even less power than previous Kepler models, making it suitable for phones, tablets, and, yes, autonomous cars. Autonomous cars may seem like something in the distant future. But Google has spent years testing self-driving cars on public roads, and your own car is at least approaching this brave new world. "You already have some autonomous elements in cars, like cruise control, pedestrian detection, parking assistance and blind spot monitoring," says Nvidia director of automotive marketing Danny Shapiro. Nvidia already offers chips that can help with such automobile applications, and its new chip, he says, will serve a similar role – at least initially. But the company harbors even bigger ambitions. Some cars are already equipped with pedestrian detection systems. Photo: NVIDIA Truly autonomous vehicles require sophisticated machine vision engines that can do stuff like detect a pedestrian in the middle of the street. Your brain handles this sort of visual processing by splitting the task among billions of brain cells, and Nvidia aims to do much the same thing with its new supercomputing chip, which can spread tasks across dozens of processor cores. The company will also offer programming tools that let automakers build a wide range of applications that run on the new chip. Right now, most parking assistance and blind spot detection tools run on their own specialized hardware and software, Shapiro says, and this complicates things for automakers. With the Tegra K1, the company aims to create a common set of tools for car software, much as Apple has done with the iPhone and the iPad. The K1 will come in two varieties: a 32-bit chip and a 64-bit chip – Nvidia's fist mobile 64-bit processor. While Nvidia's existing Kepler supercomputer chips include 2,880 processors cores, the K1 will have only 192. But that's enough, Shapiro says, to provide sophisticated processing on cars as well as smartphones. The K1 should be available for tablets, mobile phones, and the like during the first quarter of this year. But Shapiro says the automotive version will take some more time due to the industry's rigorous certification requirements. The self-driving car is coming, but it's not here yet. |
A violent serial rapist, sentenced to 20 years in prison after his last victim in Belleville, has decided to make Kingston his home. Alexander Casselman, 56, appeared in Kingston’s Ontario Court of Justice on Friday, the day he was released from penitentiary, and voluntarily entered into a two-year public safety peace bond requested by Kingston Police after they learned he’s decided to take up residence on Montreal Street. Casselman served every day of his sentence and assistant Crown attorney Elisabeth Foxton said he refused to participate in sex offender treatment while in prison. She told Justice Allan Letourneau that his last prison assessment, in January 2013 ranked him as having a high risk of re-offending. She also disclosed that Casselman once told a correctional officer that he was going to go on "a killing spree" when he got out and would become known as "the phone book killer," because he intended to randomly select a page and murder the people listed until he was caught and sent back to the penitentiary. Casselman was 36 the last time he was able to walk free in 1994 and already had an extensive criminal rap sheet reaching back to 1977. It includes at least nine burglary convictions; a variety of other crimes including drinking driving, common assault and thefts; two indecent assaults, one conviction for having sexual intercourse with a 12-year-old; a sexual assault on a former girlfriend in the mid-1980s that included an extended, gratuitous beating and demand that she write him a cheque for $4,000, which she did even though she didn’t have that kind of money; and the aggravated sexual assault on a 74-year-old Belleville woman that resulted in his 20-year sentence. The victim of his last crime had thought Casselman was a friend, according to Foxton. But on the day he decided to prey on her, the senior opened her apartment door to his knock and was immediately attacked. During the vicious beating and rape that followed he even used her cane to batter her face and head, inflicting severe injuries that sent her to hospital. And after he was done, Foxton said Casselman attempted to set the woman’s apartment on fire with her still in it. It was only later learned that at the time of the attack — about 10 days before Christmas 1994 — there had been a Canada-wide warrant out for Casselman for most of that year. In February 1994, he’d been released in British Columbia on parole from an eight year sentence he’d been serving and almost immediately he’d disappeared. British Columbia issued its warrant for his arrest only three days after he’d walked out of prison, after he failed to report to his parole officer. Belleville Police weren’t alerted however, even though Casselman, at the time, was believed to have family living in the area. Under the terms of the peace bond he signed Friday, Casselman is required to report weekly to Kingston Police Det. Brian McCormick or his designate and must observe a 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. daily curfew, unless he’s working or specifically authorized by Kingston Police to be absent from his residence. He must keep police informed at all times of where he’s living and his phone number and report any change in either within 24 hours. Likewise, if he obtains employment, he’s obliged to report where he’s working and when to police, as well as any subsequent changes in his employment status within 24 hours of its occurrence. He’s forbidden from possessing firearms and other weapons, can’t drink alcohol while subject to the peace bond, and is specifically forbidden from possessing or using street drugs. If he plans to leave Kinston for any reason, Justice Letourneau has ordered that Casselman must notify Kingston Police 24 hours in advance of going and he must provide an itinerary of his trip. He must also inform Det. McCormick of his personal contacts and identify anyone with whom he’s contemplating a relationship or cohabitation, so the detective can ensured they’re aware of his background. Casselman is forbidden contact with anyone under 16, except under the supervision of an informed adult pre-approved by McCormick and he’s strictly forbidden from being in various public places where children under 16 are or are likely to be present such as school grounds, parks and swimming areas. He can’t work in any capacity, paid or unpaid that would place him in a position of trust or authority over persons under 16. He’s forbidden, as well, from associating with anyone he knows to have a criminal record or to be involved in a criminal lifestyle. And violating any of his peace bond conditions would be a criminal offence that could send him back to jail. sue.yanagisawa@sunmedia.ca |
Last week I attended the KDE sprint at CERN to discuss the next steps in Wayland development with my fellow Plasma developers and our awesome crew of the visual design group. With the feature freeze just behind us it’s a good time to look at where we stand and what still needs to be done. For me it was a quite exciting sprint as it meant one week of working on Wayland. My notebook is my Wayland test system, so also during the sprint I worked on Wayland. The only exceptions to be on X11 was to investigate problems in Wayland which is still easier from a nested setup on X11 (mostly due to the fact that my notebook has only Qt 5.5 which doesn’t support pressing Ctrl+C in a Konsole). But I was not the only one testing Wayland: my fellow developers did as well and reported interesting bugs I never hit (if you hit a Q_UNREACHABLE something is seriously wrong) due to running a Qt release build. At some point we had the majority of attending Plasma devs running a Plasma Wayland session. While using a full session one realizes what’s missing in the workflow. As a result we have KRunner working on Wayland now (including a nice improvement for X11) and Yakuake working (with the Ctrl+C exception mentioned above). Some devs also need Ctrl+Alt+Backspace to kill the windowing system in their workflow. So that’s now also implemented – don’t be afraid: it follows the X-server settings and is by default disabled in the keyboard layout. One problem we noticed is that our possibilities to debug a running Wayland session is rather limited. Especially we are lacking tools like xprop and xwininfo. A window is misplaced, why is that? Currently answering that is still rather tricky. So for the next event cycle I want to improve here to make it very easy for debugging a running KWin instance without needing external tools like xprop and xwininfo. As a start I hacked together a small debug console which can be invoked through DBus: Of course we did not just hack, but also plan the future. Most importantly we had a session together with the visual design group to explain what new possibilities are there on Wayland. The VDG will hopefully soon come up with some new ideas on how to improve the workflows 🙂 Also we had a good discussion about dynamic window decorations – Ken is going to report about that, so I won’t steal the show on that. KWin was not just a topic for the Plasma crowd. Also WikiToLearn has a very interesting setup with KWin in the cloud. This is really exiting and looking promising. It might be that some of my crazy ideas might finally get implemented as I now see use cases for KWin streaming textures into a HTML5 web socket. And of course we saw KWin in the CMS control room 🙂 Thanks to CERN for hosting us and making it possible to visit the LHC. Thanks to KDE e.V. for sponsoring the sprint. WikiToLearn and especially Riccardo for organizing the sprint. If you want to support our sprints in future consider becoming a supportive member. |
This new image of super-cluster Abell 2744 captures the wreckage of a collision between four smaller galaxy clusters. New data let astronomers map the positions of three different kinds of matter in the system, which may offer clues to how dark matter behaves when it smacks into ordinary matter. The cluster, nicknamed "Pandora's Cluster" for its bizarre complexity, is as massive as 1.8 quadrillion suns and contains trillions of stars. Only about 5 percent of that mass is made up of galaxies that glow in visible light. The rest of the mass is gas (20 percent, shown here in pink) that's so hot it's only observable through the X-rays it emits, and dark matter (75 percent, blue), which is utterly invisible. To figure out dark matter's location, astronomers looked for the telltale stretching of galaxies located far behind the cluster. Huge masses warp the shape of space-time in their vicinity and bend the path of light, a phenomenon called gravitational lensing. By carefully plotting how galaxies in the background are distorted, astronomers can map where the invisible mass of dark matter lies. To make this map, the most detailed to date, astronomers used new data from the Hubble Space Telescope and the Very Large Telescope in Chile. They used pre-existing data from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory to locate the hot gas in the cluster. "We find that it is even more complex than previously thought, unleashing a variety of exciting effects," the researchers wrote in a paper to be published in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society (PDF). The researchers identified four distinct sub-clusters, each with a mass of about 100 trillion suns. They suggest that the cluster is the result of two near-simultaneous mergers between four separate galaxy clusters around 350 million years ago. The smash-up sent galaxies, dark matter and gas flying in all directions. Some sections were left with lots of galaxies and dark matter but no gas, others with lots of dark matter but no regular matter. "The separation between all three mass components makes this a real puzzle," the researchers write. "It should be stressed that such a peculiar configuration is observed for the first time." Near the center of the image lies a bullet-shaped clump where the gas of one cluster collided with that of another to create a shock wave – but dark matter passed right through the collision unaffected. This separation of dark matter and ordinary matter was previously observed in the Bullet Cluster, but the two types of matter are much further separated in Pandora's Cluster. Another weird feature is the lone chunk of gas toward the upper right of the image, which the researchers call the "ghost" cluster. Typically, astronomers expect dark matter to take the lead after a collision, and gas to follow after it. But the ghost cluster somehow got ahead of its associated dark matter. The researchers think the gas could have been flung outward as the dark matter slowed down and cooled after the collision. "However, this scenario needs further confirmation," they write. More detailed studies of Pandora's puzzling configuration could help pin down what exactly dark matter is, and how it helped shape the evolution of the universe. Image: NASA, ESA, ESO, CXC & D. Coe (STScI)/J. Merten (Heidelberg/Bologna) See Also: |
Dear fans of Middlesbrough FC To those who fans who are not heading to MK Dons tonight, I am writing to appeal for your support on the same evening when our Under-19s host Dynamo Kiev in the UEFA Youth League knock out round at the Riverside Stadium (7pm). The lads have reached this position by winning the U18 Premier League in 2015 finishing points ahead of the likes of Man City and Chelsea and thus qualifying for the UEFA Youth League Domestic Champions Pathway. Since embarking in the competition in September they have beaten Stade De Reims, the French National Champions, 6-5 on aggregate and the Italian National Champions, Torino FC, 6-3 on aggregate, meaning they have now merged with the Champions League Pathway, drawing Dynamo Kiev from the Champions League Path runners up. The Kiev tie is a single leg which, if we progress, will put us in the round of 16 with potential opponents such as Real Madrid, Sevilla and Roma either home or away. All the games so far have been high scoring edge of the seat experiences reminiscent of the first team's UEFA Cup run 10 years ago, when many of the lads who will be involved on Tuesday would have just signed as an U9 or potentially have been in the stands cheering on their heroes dreaming of a day when they would be able to play in a prestigious European tournament at the Riverside in front of devoted fans. It would be fantastic if you could be part of making their dreams a reality and creating an atmosphere deserving of the level of completion it is. Games such as these should be seen as a huge achievement for the club as a whole. Middlesbrough is once again "just a small town in Europe" showing footballing giants such as Torino what we have to offer. It is an essential part of the young player's development to be exposed to competitive games such as these in front of proper crowds - it is these sort of experiences that will hopefully allow the lads to eventually progress into the first team. The last Middlesbrough Youth team to achieve such success was the 2004 FA Youth Cup winners, a team which consisted of Tony McMahon, Matthew Bates, Andrew Taylor, James Morrison, Adam Johnson and Lee Cattermole, to name a few. Hopefully this experience will enable some of the players involved in the game on the 9th to go on to achieve careers such as the boys from 2004 so please come down to show your support and help facilitate our next generation of players achieve their potential! David Parnaby, Academy Manager. General admission prices are £3 adults, £2 over-65s and £1 Under-16s. |
Right now, the idea…to say nothing of the reality…of someone opening fire at a shopping mall induces layers of fear. The shooting at East Towne Mall was terrifying. And then Tuesday it happened again at a mall in New York. We are a nation of hostages to anyone with a gun and it really doesn't make a difference if it is legally or illegally. The dangerous and irresponsible comments from a Republican state lawmaker, too bizarre to repeat, are sadly tolerated by an unfortunate number of people in this state and this country. For them the answer is more guns. More guns, when there is nowhere we are safe anymore. We didn't think of this, but someone recently put it perfectly for us, saying – correctly – that if more guns made us safer we would be the safest place on earth. We clearly are not. |
Manchester United will sign Zlatan Ibrahimovic and could complete deal before Euro 2016 - Sky sources Sky Sports News HQ's Andy Burton explains the potential deal that would bring Zlatan Ibrahimovic to Manchester United Sky Sports News HQ's Andy Burton explains the potential deal that would bring Zlatan Ibrahimovic to Manchester United Manchester United will complete the signing of Zlatan Ibrahimovic and could conclude a deal before the start of Euro 2016, according to Sky sources. It is understood United's executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward and Ibrahimovic's representatives are finalising terms on a one-year contract, with Jose Mourinho determined to make the Sweden international his first marquee signing at Old Trafford. And a free transfer following the expiration of his current Paris Saint-Germain deal is expected to be completed before Sweden's first Group E match against Ireland on June 13. Sky sources understand Ibrahimovic is the only striker Mourinho wants to sign this summer, with the Portuguese convinced Marcus Rashford can make a significant impact at Old Trafford next season. Zlatan Ibrahimovic confirms he has had several offers to join Premier League clubs Zlatan Ibrahimovic confirms he has had several offers to join Premier League clubs While Mourinho believes Ibrahimovic is a key signing that United need if they are to challenge for the Premier League title next term, he is also keen to give Rashford plenty of opportunities to continue his rapid development. Sky Sports News HQ has been told that Mourinho is conscious of the need to continue United's legacy of bringing through young players into the first team, and even passed on the opportunity to sign Leicester's Jamie Vardy this week so as to protect Rashford's progress. Ibrahimovic is a free agent after leaving Paris Saint-Germain Sky sources first reported United's interest in the former Malmo FF, Ajax, Juventus, Inter Milan, Barcelona and AC Milan star back in May, ahead of Mourinho's appointment to replace Louis van Gaal. Talks between United and Ibrahimovic's agent Mino Raiola gathered pace following Mourinho's arrival at Old Trafford, and Sky sources subsequently reported last week that they were only Premier League club Ibrahimovic was considering. It is understood the 6ft 5in, Malmo-born Swede wants to add the Premier League to his array of titles that includes the Spanish La Liga, Italian Serie A, French Ligue 1 and Dutch Eredivisie. Ibrahimovic had more lucrative offers from Chinese Super League clubs and options in Italy, but it appears he has been convinced to move to Manchester for a reunion with Mourinho, and that it's the right move to make at this stage of his illustrious career. |
Arvind Kejriwal had gone to Kolkata this morning to attend the Global Business Summit organised by the West Bengal government. A man allegedly attempted suicide by consuming some poisonous substance outside the residence of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in north Delhi's Civil Lines today.The man, aged between 40-45 years, lives with his family in southwest Delhi's Dabri area. He was wanted by the police in connection with a rape case registered at a police station in Dwarka yesterday, said a police official.From preliminary investigation, it seems that the man wanted to meet the Chief Minister claiming that he was being framed in the rape case by some persons he had personal enmity with, the official said.The incident took place in the morning and eye-witnesses told police that the man first threw an object inside the compound of the Chief Minister's residence.When the guards opened the gate for few seconds, he tried to force his way inside, said an official, adding that the exact sequence of events is yet to be ascertained.Failing in his attempt to enter the premises, the man collapsed and guards there saw froth coming out of his mouth.They called up the police and the man was rushed to Lok Nayak hospital, where his condition is now reported to be out of danger, said the official adding that the time when he consumed the poisonous substance is also yet to be ascertained.He is likely to be arrested by the local police in connection with the rape case as soon as he is discharged from the hospital. He may also be booked in a separate case of attempt to commit suicide, the official added. Mr Kejriwal was in Kolkata to attend the Global Business Summit organised by the West Bengal government. |
Friday morning through early afternoon, anti-Trump and anarchist rioters calling themselves #DisruptJ20 took to the streets of Washington D.C. to protest Trump’s inauguration. Their protest took several forms, from blocking entrances and freeways, to violence in the forms of vandalism, destruction and throwing concrete at police officers. While many in the media expressed dismay at the violence, some still justified the violence as a legitimate form of protest, including one Washington Post reporter. As rioters downtown were hurling chunks of concrete at police officers, the White House condemned anti-police violence in a new post on its website. Washington Post reporter Wesley Lowery expressed outrage on Twitter, claiming it didn’t “acknowledge” “legitimate dissent:” Note no acknowledgement of any legitimate dissent. Those protesting are "rioter," "looter," or "violent disrupter," according to Trump — Wesley Lowery (@WesleyLowery) January 20, 2017 Even claiming that this policy would inspire “Zimmerman-like vigilantes.” given the context, hard to read this as anything but a call for more George Zimmerman-like vigilantes pic.twitter.com/XaWPO5y9k5 — Wesley Lowery (@WesleyLowery) January 20, 2017 But the worst tweet came in response to Democratic Congresswoman Claire McCaskill, after she condemned the violent riots. Lowery responded that the riots were very much American, even comparing them to the Boston Tea Party: Nothing is more unAmerican than protesters who are not peaceful. Disgusting. — Claire McCaskill (@clairecmc) January 20, 2017 The participants in the Boston Tea Party would likely beg to differ https://t.co/DsxII9elS9 — Wesley Lowery (@WesleyLowery) January 20, 2017 <<< Please support MRC's NewsBusters team with a tax-deductible contribution today. >>> DONATE |
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Sign up for Take Action Now and we’ll send you three meaningful actions you can take each week. Thank you for signing up. For more from The Nation, check out our latest issue Travel With The Nation Be the first to hear about Nation Travels destinations, and explore the world with kindred spirits. Be the first to hear about Nation Travels destinations, and explore the world with kindred spirits. Sign up for our Wine Club today. Did you know you can support The Nation by drinking wine? Donald Trump’s indefinite ban on resettling Syrian refugees is not only a shining model of moral cowardice, it’s also premised on a falsehood that’s every bit as egregious and readily debunked as his claims that he won the popular vote or that God parted the clouds for his inauguration speech. Ad Policy Throughout the campaign, Trump claimed that resettling refugees, especially from Syria, in the United States posed dangers. Calling Syrians fleeing the bloodshed we helped create a potential “Trojan Horse,” Trump repeatedly claimed, as he put it at a campaign stop in Rhode Island last spring, that “we don’t know anything about them. We don’t know where they come from, who they are. There’s no documentation. We have our incompetent government people letting ’em in by the thousands, and who knows, who knows, maybe it’s ISIS.” But nothing could be further from reality, says Rebecca Hamlin, an assistant professor of legal studies at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and author of Let Me Be a Refugee: Administrative Justice and the Politics of Asylum in the United States, Canada, and Australia. “Refugees are the most carefully vetted visa category out there. They already go through a process that can take up to two years.” In an interview for my show, Politics and Reality Radio, Hamlin described the process: First, what happens is the United Nations high commissioner for refugees goes through its very careful and thorough screening process, trying to understand what circumstances led the person to try to seek asylum or refuge. Once they’ve gone through their clearance process, they designate a set of people who they recommend to the United States for resettlement. Then we begin our own vetting process, which includes high-level security clearance. It includes medical checks. It even includes a cultural orientation. Our refugee program really puts a lot of priority on families, small children, the elderly. Of the just under 2,000 Syrian refugees we’ve taken in over the past few years, 48 percent of those are minors. They are under 18 years old. A good percentage are also elderly people. The remaining, many of them are the mothers of the children that we’re talking about. Really, the most vulnerable people are the ones that are prioritized. In 2015, when congressional Republicans passed legislation that would have blocked virtually all Syrian refugees, a State Department spokesperson said that only 2 percent of them were “military-aged males” traveling without family. “Our emphasis is on admitting the most vulnerable Syrians—particularly survivors of violence and torture, those with severe medical conditions, and women and children—in a manner that is consistent with U.S. national security,” he said. “Refugees are the most carefully vetted visa category out there.” Hamlin says the current vetting process “is already so thorough that for the security checks to be increased any more, it would really make it all but impossible for anyone to actually succeed through this program.” She added: “These people are not just vulnerable people to whom we may owe some moral duty to protect. They’re also people who are fleeing the exact terrorists that we’re talking about targeting. They’re fleeing ISIS. They’re fleeing Al Qaeda. They are victims of terrorism themselves.” It should go without saying that a heavily vetted population largely made up of women and children and the elderly and infirm poses little threat to our national security. Indeed, an analysis conducted by The Economist in the fall of 2015 found that the United States had resettled 750,000 refugees from around the world, and not one had been responsible for an act of terror in this country (one had been arrested on a terror charge, but a court found him not guilty). Last year, a Somali refugee who, according to law-enforcement officials, had been influenced by ISIS propaganda, was the first to be charged for an act of terror in the United States, but officials say he was a “lone wolf” who had not been in contact with any organized terror groups. He wounded several people with a knife, but there were no fatalities. (Some media incorrectly reported that the Tsarnaev brothers were refugees, but their parents entered the country on a tourist visa and then applied for asylum—a very different process.) All of this has been confirmed by State Department officials and widely reported in the mainstream media (according to CNN’s Brian Stelter, the State Department’s “Myths and Facts on Refugees” page was recently removed from State.gov). But as Caitlin Dickerson reported for The New York Times, “ultraconservative websites like Breitbart News and Infowars have published a cycle of eye-popping stories with misleading claims about refugees.” Dickerson details how these outlets have offered horrifying takes “about a refugee rape crisis, a refugee flesh-eating disease epidemic and a refugee-related risk of female genital mutilation—none of it true.” The fear-mongering may have reached a zenith—or nadir—with a piece in The Federalist titled, “Why Women And Child Refugees Are A Threat.” Ready to Fight Back? Sign Up For Take Action Now As a result, Trump isn’t alone in embracing the idea that these desperate civilians fleeing the carnage in Syria or other combat zones pose a serious security threat—it’s a view, based on false claims and a dubious “study,” that’s widely held throughout the conservative movement. And just as the specter of widespread “voter fraud” wasn’t shaken when the Bush administration pursued a five-year investigation that found that in-person fraud is exceptionally rare, this “alt-fact” appears to be unshakable. And with this mendacious premise in hand, Trump issued a sprawling executive order that wasn’t reviewed by any of the relevant agencies, and which caused a weekend of chaos in the United States and abroad. Benjamin Wittes, a senior fellow in Governance Studies at the Brookings Institution, wrote, “The malevolence of President Trump’s executive order on visas and refugees is mitigated chiefly—and perhaps only—by the astonishing incompetence of its drafting and construction.” None of the 9/11 hijackers’ four countries of origin are included in the ban. In addition to refugees, it barred green-card holders and those who’d risked their lives working side by side with US troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. It’s entirely possible that some of them will be killed as a result—it’s happened before. As such, Trump’s ham-fisted executive order only undermines our national security—why would anyone in these countries work with our troops when they know there’s a good chance they’ll be left out to dry by our leaders when they need our help? And of course, it’s reportedly a boon to jihadist groups, confirming the late Al Qaeda leader Anwar al-Awlaki’s prediction that the “West would eventually turn against its Muslim citizens.” It’s no wonder that, as The Washington Post reported, jihadist groups “celebrated the Trump administration’s ban on travel from seven Muslim-majority countries.” |
For those who aren’t aware of it, Ubuntu 14.04.3 already has a partially unified apt package. This is a welcome change to simplify the apt family of commands. For example, the following command works: $ sudo apt install leafpad Other simplified commands: $ apt install package(s) -> replaces apt-get install package $ apt remove package(s) -> replaces apt-get remove package $ apt search query -> replaces apt-cache search query $ apt show package(s) -> replaces apt-cache show package(s) $ apt update -> replaces apt-get update $ apt upgrade -> replaces apt-get upgrade $ apt list –installed -> replaces dpkg –get-selections | grep -v deinstall -> replaces dpkg -l $ apt list –upgradable (sudo not required) -> replaces apt-get -u upgrade –assume-no (sudo required) $ apt edit-sources -> replaces echo 'text' | sudo tee -a /etc/apt/sources.list -> replaces sudo nano /etc/apt/sources.list However, the process is not complete. Options like autoremove doesn’t work yet. The good news is, Linux Mint has been working on some python wrapper scripts to make this happen. The following work at the time of writing: $ apt autoclean -> replaces apt-get install package $ apt autoremove -> replaces apt-get remove package $ apt purge package(s) -> replaces apt-get remove –purge package(s) $ apt depends package(s) -> replaces apt-cache depends package(s) $ apt rdepends package(s) -> replaces apt-rdepends package(s) $ apt policy package(s) -> replaces apt-cache policy package(s) $ apt held -> replaces dpkg –get-selections | grep hold $ apt hold package -> replaces echo package hold | sudo dpkg –set-selections $ apt unhold package -> replaces echo package install | sudo dpkg –set-selections $ apt download package (downloads the deb file of a package) -> replaces LC_ALL=C apt-cache depends package |grep -v “Conflicts:\|Replaces:”|awk ‘{print $NF}’|sed -e ‘s/[<>]//g’|xargs aptitude download -r The scripts work great on Mint and we tried them out on Ubuntu. To get the scripts, run: $ wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/linuxmint/mintsystem/master/usr/local/bin/apt $ chmod +x apt $ sudo mv apt /usr/local/bin/aptr $ wget https://github.com/linuxmint/mintsystem/raw/master/usr/local/bin/highlight $ chmod +x highlight $ sudo mv highlight /usr/local/bin/ Note that we changed the file name to aptr to avoid conflicts. Some options depend internally on aptitude or Mint package source specific files. For example: $ aptr search leafpad sh: 1: aptitude: not found However, most of the regular options work with this script. Update apt 1.1 comes with many unification features. Ubuntu 15.10 and 16.04 users can install it using: $ sudo add-apt-repository ppa:deity/sid $ sudo apt-get update $ sudo apt-get install apt |
Sonos just announced that it’s opening a public beta for Alexa support for its connected speakers, and to go along with Amazon’s voice assistant, the company also announced that it’ll be adding support for Google Assistant to its newly announced, voice-controlled Sonos One speaker next year. According to Google, Assistant on Sonos One will be the same Google Assistant that it offers on all of its other devices, although Sonos hasn’t clarified exactly how Assistant and Alexa will work side by side on the One just yet. When released sometime in 2018, it’ll make Sonos’ new speaker the first major product to support both Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant. Add in Siri support through AirPlay 2 on a connected iPhone — also coming next year — and there’s a argument to be made that the Sonos One will offer the most widespread support for virtual assistants ever. |
LOS ANGELES | The head of the California Highway Patrol said he was shocked and the agency’s reputation is hurt by a video showing an officer repeatedly punching a woman he pinned on the side of a Los Angeles freeway. CHP Commissioner Joe Farrow vowed to complete a comprehensive investigation in weeks instead of the usual months. The CHP said the woman was walking on Interstate 10 west of downtown Los Angeles, endangering herself and people in traffic, and the officer was trying to restrain her. The woman had begun walking off the freeway but returned when the confrontation occurred. The now-viral video shot by a passing freeway driver shows Marlene Pinnock, 51, being repeatedly punched as she’s straddled by the officer on the shoulder of the freeway. “This is one of the most significant events of my 34-year career that I’ve ever dealt with,” Farrow said. “We’ve never seen this before.” Farrow spoke at a news conference Tuesday after a two-hour meeting with community and civil rights leaders, the second involving CHP officials since the July 1 incident occurred. “I heard them loud and clear,” he said. “We put the issue right on the table in front of us. We’re dealing with it. We’re not going to run and hide.” Farrow said state law prevents him from revealing the officer’s name. The officer has been with the department for a year and a half and has been assigned to desk duty pending the investigation’s completion. Sgt. Denise Joslin said officials are working in conjunction with the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office on the investigation. Members of the Los Angeles Police Department were also present at Tuesday’s meeting and offered their support, she said. The investigation will primarily focus on the video itself, Farrow said. “The whole issue … comes down to what happened when the encounter got into a physical altercation,” Farrow said. “What was the cause for (the officer) to use force? And that’s where we are right now.” No other video was taken. The in-car video didn’t capture the incident, which took place behind the highway patrol vehicle, Farrow said. Rev. K.W. Tulloss, who heads the Los Angeles chapter of the National Action Network, said he appreciated Farrow and other top CHP officials meeting with community activists but said they wouldn’t back down from pushing for more answers and an outside investigation. “He’s a CHP officer not an MMA fighter. It was truly excessive, it was visible, and it was just devastating,” Tulloss said. “There’s no excuse. CHP officers are trained law enforcement officers. They should know how to deal with (all types of) individuals.” The department implemented a new “crisis intervention” training program this year to help officers deal with mentally disabled individuals, Farrow said. All personnel were required to complete it by June 30. Pinnock remains in the hospital under a psychiatric hold. Her family found her covered in bruises, ice packs and taking pain medication. “I’m just so overwhelmed,” daughter Maisha Allums told reporters Tuesday. “I can’t believe a CHP officer that was supposed to protect my mom and help my mom beat her like a — I can’t even say like a dog because if it was a dog getting beat like that he would have been in jail.” Tami Abdollah can be reached at http://www.twitter.com/latams |
A man who threw himself off a bridge onto a Doncaster motorway had just been told he would have to undergo an intimate examination by police as part of a historic sex abuse inquiry. Garry Parnell, aged 51, had vehemently denied the allegations by a woman dating back to her childhood - and his family told a Doncaster inquest she had demanded a large sum of money to drop the case. The former salesman had suffered depression for many years, since the suicide of his mother and the amputation of his right leg following complications from a motorcycle accident. And the woman, who cannot be identified, was aware he was hoping to win a substantial compensation payment from Doncaster Council as the result of an accident in which his electric wheelchair fell down an uncovered manhole. Mr Parnell, of Priestley Close, Balby, died instantly from a severe head injury when he climbed over the barrier on the Broomhouse Lane bridge over the A1(M) on March 31 and plunged onto the hard shoulder. Less than an hour earlier he had received a call from Det Con Becky Braithwell telling him he would need to attend the police station later that week for another interview and an examination for evidential reasons. Mr Parnell immediately phoned his brother, Mark, and told him: “I ain’t doing that, they’ve destroyed my life enough already.” Mary Parnell, Garry’s wife, said he was continually upset by the allegations and the time it was taking police to investigate. She added: “In our minds it was clearly a false allegation. I think it was out of order the police took so long to sort this out. I am devastated, and so are his children.” Mrs Parnell said the woman had told Mark she would ‘stop the allegation’ - if she received £50,000. DC Braithwell said it was not abnormal for a case of this type to take several months and Mr Parnell didn’t seem ‘unduly distressed’ when she spoke to him on the afternoon of his death. The Crown Prosecution Service had asked for the intimate examination. Eyewitnesses told the inquest Mr Parnell ‘showed no emotion’ as he jumped. Assistant Coroner Mark Beresford said Mr Parnell had vehemently denied the allegations. He recorded a suicide verdict. |
This chart shows 380 of the top 1000 most commonly used words in profiles on OkCupid. The color-coding shows the average attractiveness rating of the people using those words. Click here to enlarge. Upper middle class sports appear to be more desirable. It's sexier to play against gender stereotypes, than to fall prey to them. One of the clearest findings: Higher-brow preferences make you sexier. Click here to enlarge. Sad but true: For men, age seems to equal money. For women, age equals age. To figure out the elements of a perfect profile pic, we asked OkCupid for the photos of 400 of the highest-rated profiles in 10 major US cities. Click here to enlarge. ...such as looking approachable but not goofy. Click here to enlarge. Yes, these people are hot. But they're also conforming to a few rules of engagement. Click here to enlarge. Selfies by women? Acceptable. Selfies by men? Not so much. Click here to enlarge. Here's a look at what Match.com users describe as their most attractive feature, and what their suitors are actually looking for. People often say their eyes are their best feature, but that's not what singles care about. Men appraise women's bodies below the neck and above the knee. Lesbians, by contrast, are more attuned to the entire package. Mormon men are the most likely to contact singles outside of their religion. Money is the elephant in the room in all dating profiles. |
What's the first thing you did when you arrived in the office this morning? Before even checking your email or launching into a 10-minute rant on how two-day weekends just aren't long enough, you probably made yourself a cup of tea. Around 165m cups of tea will be consumed today in the UK, accounting for 40% of the nation's fluid intake. Given our long working-hours culture, that means an awful lot of tea is drunk in the office. And according to dietician Dr Carrie Ruxton, who has studied the impact on health of the consumption of black tea, this is no bad thing. "Tea contains polyphenols that mop up the free radicals that can damage blood cells," says Ruxton (favourite tea: Assam, lots of milk, no sugar). "Three cups of tea a day is associated with an 11% decrease in the risk of heart attack. That's a pretty significant statistic. And tea flavonoids can also help control surges in blood pressure." Leave the colleague yabbering about how tea dehydrates you to her latest health fad, and get a brew on. Both tea and coffee are beneficial to hydration. "You'd need to drink about five cups of tea within an hour for it to have a diuretic effect," explains Ruxton. "Drinking tea is a legitimate way of getting the recommended one-and-a-half to two litres of fluid a day." Tea might even have a positive impact on dental health if it has been grown in a fluoridated area or is made with fluoridated water, she says. It also reduces levels of the bacteria that cause tooth decay. Coffee, like tea, is a source of polyphenols, but contains caffeine levels of around 75mg to 100mg a cup, compared with 40mg for tea. A moderate intake of caffeine can improve your work as it increases concentration and alertness - you would need to consume around 500mg of caffeine a day to risk side-effects such as headaches. That could equate to as few as five cups of coffee, but it's more than 12 cups of tea (at which point bladder-ache would presumably be as big an issue). Stuart Payne (favourite tea: PG Tips, milk, one sugar) runs celebrated website NiceCupOfTeaAndASitDown.com. "Making a cup of tea is that excuse you need to get away from your computer screen and have a break," he says. "I think that wise employers recognise that people aren't actually wasting their time at work when they go off for a cup of tea. Whatever hectic stuff is going on around you goes on hold for a minute while you go through what is a familiar and comforting routine." People have been doing things with tea (if not tea bags, which weren't invented until 1908) in Britain since the 17th century. Both black and green tea derive from the tea bush, camellia sinensis. The drink's association with the workplace dates from the mid-18th century, when benevolent employers would provide a their workers with a separate room in which they would be allowed to drink tea twice a day. "By the end of the 19th century, tea had become our national beverage because everybody had come to see it as a drink they could rely on when they were tired or stressed," says Jane Pettigrew (favourite tea: jasmine, taken at the Dorchester), who has written 11 books on the subject. "In 1916, the Ministry of Munitions health committee even stated in a booklet on working hours that an 'opportunity for tea is regarded as beneficial both to health and output.'" Tea has now become so central to the modern workplace that Stuart Payne believes the corporate recruitment process ought to take a candidate's tea-making prowess into consideration. And he's only half-joking. "The first time you go into the kitchen with a new employee and they do something dreadful like put the milk in with the tea bag before they put the water in, you think, 'I'm going to have to re-evaluate everything I thought about you. Because you really are out of order making the tea like that.'" Perhaps over-zealous milk-pourers should take note. One lump or two? · Few aspects of the working day are as fraught with office politics as making the tea. If you remember one thing, it should be this: don't ever use another person's special mug. Doing so, is an office faux pas akin to head-butting the boss. · It's more socially acceptable to keel over from dehydration than it is to use someone else's milk. · Some of your colleagues will resolutely fail to ever get their round in. This is an immutable fact of office life about which nothing can be done. · If a mug with a tea bag and spoon in it has been abandoned next to a just-boiled kettle, you're within your rights to use the water (ignore this rule if it's the managing director's mug). · You don't always have to undertake a massive tea-run: nipping off and making yourself a beverage is perfectly reasonable, according to Stuart Payne, author of Nice Cup of Tea and a Sit Down. "Tea rotas can be a real burden," he says. "They're always driven by some basically lazy person who sits at the back and goes, 'Aaah, whose turn is it to put the kettle on?' And you think to yourself, 'You were probably spoilt by your mother, weren't you?'" |
qxc Profile Blog Joined May 2009 United States 550 Posts Last Edited: 2015-06-10 15:07:00 #1 This blog will analyze Starcraft's social features and propose solutions for some long term problems. Initially I wrote an outline of all the social functionality missing from Starcraft 2. As I continued writing and looked into it further, I realized that almost all the social functionality in terms of chat channels and so on is actually in Starcraft 2. Starcraft 2 has chat channels with moderation, kicking/banning, custom logos and so on. The primary issues with Starcraft 2's social features are presentation/UI related problems rather than a lack of functionality. Social features are important for player retention and improving the overall experience. People tend to do what their friends do, whether those are pre-existing friends, or friends made through the game. By improving the social experience, I expect that more people would login to hangout without the express goal of playing. Out of game social features are more important in Starcraft than in many other popular games for a few reasons. The first is that Starcraft's main gameplay mode, 1v1, is inherently anti-social. Laddering for hours on end is one of the most anti-social experiences I've ever had. There's virtually no time during the games to speak to your opponent, even when playing vs friends, due to the pace of the game. Thus, it's very hard to socialize while actually playing which means the social aspect outside an actual game needs to be stronger to encourage people to stick around before/after ladder sessions. The second main reason that Starcraft needs social features more than some other games is because the gameplay itself is incredibly stressful and intense. Starting a few minutes into the game, there is basically no downtime to do anything at all until the game ends. Social interaction tends to destress people and would make the whole playing experience more bearable for many. The experience in Starcraft has always been lonely. Although the addition of groups and chat channels has alleviated that slightly, often logging in to Starcraft feels like being isolated. That said, chat has no place in an actual game of Starcraft 1v1 ladder. There simply isn't enough time or energy to make that happen. So the changes I propose will all be focused on the out of game experience. As I mentioned at the beginning of this blog, the issue with Starcraft's social features is not their functionality but their presentation and usability. Instead of being thrust into the player's face as one of the primary functions of battle.net as in the original b.net, players must make a specific effort to even engage in the social features. The above screenshot is from Starcraft 1's battle.net. Notice how chat channels cannot be minimized. It is literally impossible to be online without being in some chat channel, even if it's just an empty one that you created. Starcraft 2's approach is similar to being dropped in an MMO in a desert rather than a city. Obviously, the analogy isn't perfect, but the social features should be pushed a bit harder onto the player. If someone doesn't want to use them, that's fine. It's easy enough to close out and put up the social barrier settings, but the majority of people will like being put in a chat channel initially. At least they would know they exist and how they work to some extent. The hardest part about analyzing all the social features is that they don't appear to be lacking any concrete functionality. Multiple chat windows means you can talk with many people at once easily without being confused no matter what part of the interface you're on. If you could combine multiple chats into a single window that allowed you to tab or /reply or /whisper to decide who specifically you were talking to that might be easier to manage. It's a bit annoying to maintain several low frequency conversations in multiple chat windows. One of the issues with the chat interface is that here are 3 types of 'chat' things when the functionality could be slightly combined to be simpler. There exist channels, groups and clans. Channels have no moderation or control. Groups have moderation, control, invite/kick/ban etc... Clans have all the same as groups but put a clan tag at the front of your name and you can be in at most 1 clan at a time. The overall experience would be cleaner if channels were merged with groups. One of the biggest uses for chat channels is forming a hangout spot where people know to return to to find their friends and so on. The problem with regular chat channels is that without moderation, a channel is bound to be overrun by malicious user(s) eventually. It only takes 1 person to ruin a channel. Thus, there is little reason for unmoderated channels to even exist in the first place. An unmoderated chat channel can never be 'home' for long while still allowing for new people to find it and participate. The only unmoderated channels could be the default ones that you are automatically placed in when you log in. Unmoderated channels are throwaway meet up spots. The group search functionality is really cool. It lets you actually hone in on a specific group without having to know exactly what you're looking for beforehand. The problem is that for a brand new player, they aren't really going to know what to search for. In addition, this functionality is not immediately thrust at them so it may not find some people. To summarize, Starcraft 2 has virtually all the functionality we could ask for in its social features. The issues have to do with presentation and an abundance of features rather than the functionality itself. New players need to be thrust into the social features more aggressively, because many don't know how to even use them or that they exist. Unmoderated chat channels are not very helpful because they are too vulnerable to malicious users and thus do not easily form a long term meet up spot. Combining chat channels with groups/clans while making the process more omnipresent would help toward making people actually use the features more. Chat channels are important enough that you should be able to join them from any page. Starcraft could benefit from more unified social experience by imposing groups onto players. My parting thought with you is that Starcraft's social features appear to be hard to use and almost hidden within the interface. The fact that I began writing a blog about what features were lacking and ended up realizing part way through that the functionality was not actually lacking can be testament to that. I had planned this blog for about a week and had mentally written up an outline. I thought I had a good handle on what Starcraft's social features included and what they lacked. Through actually writing down my ideas I realized that Starcraft has basically all the social features we could ask for. Groups and clans do exactly what people want and more. Thus, somewhere in the writing process the blog turned into an analysis of why starcraft still feels so incredibly lonely and isolated which is a harder problem to pin down. Unfortunately, my specialty lies in functionality and more concrete things rather than the presentation and usability. ***Everything stated here is my opinion unless noted and/or cited otherwise. As a progamer for several years now, I have a wealth of personal experience and observation to draw upon. That said, sometimes I have to speculate due to lack of studies/concrete facts.***This blog will analyze Starcraft's social features and propose solutions for some long term problems.Initially I wrote an outline of all the social functionality missing from Starcraft 2. As I continued writing and looked into it further, I realized that almost all the social functionality in terms of chat channels and so on is actually in Starcraft 2. Starcraft 2 has chat channels with moderation, kicking/banning, custom logos and so on. The primary issues with Starcraft 2's social features are presentation/UI related problems rather than a lack of functionality.Social features are important for player retention and improving the overall experience. People tend to do what their friends do, whether those are pre-existing friends, or friends made through the game. By improving the social experience, I expect that more people would login to hangout without the express goal of playing.Out of game social features are more important in Starcraft than in many other popular games for a few reasons. The first is that Starcraft's main gameplay mode, 1v1, is inherently anti-social. Laddering for hours on end is one of the most anti-social experiences I've ever had. There's virtually no time during the games to speak to your opponent, even when playing vs friends, due to the pace of the game. Thus, it's very hard to socialize while actually playing which means the social aspect outside an actual game needs to be stronger to encourage people to stick around before/after ladder sessions.The second main reason that Starcraft needs social features more than some other games is because the gameplay itself is incredibly stressful and intense. Starting a few minutes into the game, there is basically no downtime to do anything at all until the game ends. Social interaction tends to destress people and would make the whole playing experience more bearable for many.The experience in Starcraft has always been lonely. Although the addition of groups and chat channels has alleviated that slightly, often logging in to Starcraft feels like being isolated. That said, chat has no place in an actual game of Starcraft 1v1 ladder. There simply isn't enough time or energy to make that happen. So the changes I propose will all be focused on the out of game experience.As I mentioned at the beginning of this blog, the issue with Starcraft's social features is not their functionality but their presentation and usability. Instead of being thrust into the player's face as one of the primary functions of battle.net as in the original b.net, players must make a specific effort to even engage in the social features.The above screenshot is from Starcraft 1's battle.net. Notice how chat channels cannot be minimized. It is literally impossible to be online without being in some chat channel, even if it's just an empty one that you created. Starcraft 2's approach is similar to being dropped in an MMO in a desert rather than a city. Obviously, the analogy isn't perfect, but the social features should be pushed a bit harder onto the player. If someone doesn't want to use them, that's fine. It's easy enough to close out and put up the social barrier settings, but the majority of people will like being put in a chat channel initially. At least they would know they exist and how they work to some extent.The hardest part about analyzing all the social features is that they don't appear to be lacking any concrete functionality. Multiple chat windows means you can talk with many people at once easily without being confused no matter what part of the interface you're on. If you could combine multiple chats into a single window that allowed you to tab or /reply or /whisper to decide who specifically you were talking to that might be easier to manage. It's a bit annoying to maintain several low frequency conversations in multiple chat windows.One of the issues with the chat interface is that here are 3 types of 'chat' things when the functionality could be slightly combined to be simpler. There exist channels, groups and clans. Channels have no moderation or control. Groups have moderation, control, invite/kick/ban etc... Clans have all the same as groups but put a clan tag at the front of your name and you can be in at most 1 clan at a time. The overall experience would be cleaner if channels were merged with groups.One of the biggest uses for chat channels is forming a hangout spot where people know to return to to find their friends and so on. The problem with regular chat channels is that without moderation, a channel is bound to be overrun by malicious user(s) eventually. It only takes 1 person to ruin a channel. Thus, there is little reason for unmoderated channels to even exist in the first place. An unmoderated chat channel can never be 'home' for long while still allowing for new people to find it and participate. The only unmoderated channels could be the default ones that you are automatically placed in when you log in. Unmoderated channels are throwaway meet up spots.The group search functionality is really cool. It lets you actually hone in on a specific group without having to know exactly what you're looking for beforehand. The problem is that for a brand new player, they aren't really going to know what to search for. In addition, this functionality is not immediately thrust at them so it may not find some people.To summarize, Starcraft 2 has virtually all the functionality we could ask for in its social features. The issues have to do with presentation and an abundance of features rather than the functionality itself. New players need to be thrust into the social features more aggressively, because many don't know how to even use them or that they exist. Unmoderated chat channels are not very helpful because they are too vulnerable to malicious users and thus do not easily form a long term meet up spot. Combining chat channels with groups/clans while making the process more omnipresent would help toward making people actually use the features more. Chat channels are important enough that you should be able to join them from any page. Starcraft could benefit from more unified social experience by imposing groups onto players. My parting thought with you is that Starcraft's social features appear to be hard to use and almost hidden within the interface. The fact that I began writing a blog about what features were lacking and ended up realizing part way through that the functionality was not actually lacking can be testament to that.I had planned this blog for about a week and had mentally written up an outline. I thought I had a good handle on what Starcraft's social features included and what they lacked. Through actually writing down my ideas I realized that Starcraft has basically all the social features we could ask for. Groups and clans do exactly what people want and more. Thus, somewhere in the writing process the blog turned into an analysis of why starcraft still feels so incredibly lonely and isolated which is a harder problem to pin down. Unfortunately, my specialty lies in functionality and more concrete things rather than the presentation and usability. Progamer Designer of Aeon's End Grumbels Profile Blog Joined May 2009 Netherlands 6921 Posts #2 Are you writing these blogs to refer to on your CV or so? For theories and schools, like microbes and globules, consume each other and, through their struggle, ensure the continuity of life Falling Profile Blog Joined June 2009 Canada 10082 Posts Last Edited: 2015-06-10 17:36:55 #3 I thought of the UI in terms of a Hub. What is the screen that you go back and forth by default. What is the central room by which you enter all other rooms. Three years ago? I considered writing on this subject and took two screen shots to illustrate. I don't think I ever wrote on it, but the pictures might be helpful in explaining the issue.I thought of the UI in terms of a Hub. What is the screen that you go back and forth by default. What is the central room by which you enter all other rooms. iCCup On iCCup chat is the hub. Chat channels are the room by which you must enter all other (multiplayer) rooms. The greatest amount of UI real estate is taken up by people and their chat. To enter any sort of game, you must go back into a room of people (Unless you choose to make your own private channel.) You cannot help but feel that there are people online because you always must pass in and out of the central hub. You need not interact with them, but the UI always places you in a social setting by default. Without even thinking or being intentional you enter a buzzing marketplace or forum of people. On iCCup chat is the hub. Chat channels are the room by which you must enter all other (multiplayer) rooms. The greatest amount of UI real estate is taken up by people and their chat. To enter any sort of game, you must go back into a room of people (Unless you choose to make your own private channel.) You cannot help but feel that there are people online because you always must pass in and out of the central hub. You need not interact with them, but the UI always places you in a social setting by default. Without even thinking or being intentional you enter a buzzing marketplace or forum of people. SC2 (Screen shot from Liberty, but I don't think the placement of chat is much different)- if I wasn't feeling lazy, I'd make a new screen shot and write on it in paint... The Hub of SC2 is the menu screen. The Menus screen is the room by which you must enter all other multiplayer rooms. The people are all buried in a tiny corner. You can go from Single Player, to Ladder, to Arcade without seeing a soul beyond your opponent. Rather than passing through a bustling hub, you must intentionally go into a back side office. Or maybe chat is the janitor closet, I don't know. The point is the UI does not revolve around people and chat, it revolves around menus. The architecture of the building is very nice and you can easily get to and from your work, but the building echoes with emptiness. That is unless you go down the side passage to seek out the people. (Screen shot from Liberty, but I don't think the placement of chat is much different)- if I wasn't feeling lazy, I'd make a new screen shot and write on it in paint...The Hub of SC2 is the menu screen. The Menus screen is the room by which you must enter all other multiplayer rooms. The people are all buried in a tiny corner. You can go from Single Player, to Ladder, to Arcade without seeing a soul beyond your opponent. Rather than passing through a bustling hub, you must intentionally go into a back side office. Or maybe chat is the janitor closet, I don't know. The point is the UI does not revolve around people and chat, it revolves around menus. The architecture of the building is very nice and you can easily get to and from your work, but the building echoes with emptiness. That is unless you go down the side passage to seek out the people. Moderator "Words are just words until action actually starts. And actions speak louder than words... but at the same time words speak louder than actions because sometimes it's the right thing to do." Overpass John TiberiusAk Profile Joined August 2011 United States 122 Posts #4 I agree with the whole writeup pretty much, but I had a question about this paragraph: On June 11 2015 00:02 qxc wrote:If you could combine multiple chats into a single window that allowed you to tab or /reply or /whisper to decide who specifically you were talking to that might be easier to manage. It's a bit annoying to maintain several low frequency conversations in multiple chat windows. Is this design you are proposing similar to the chat in Heroes of the Storm, which is a bit more like WoW's chat and was recently ported to Legacy of the Void beta? If the new chat in LotV/Heroes is not the same as what you proposed, how would you tweak it? Is this design you are proposing similar to the chat in Heroes of the Storm, which is a bit more like WoW's chat and was recently ported to Legacy of the Void beta? If the new chat in LotV/Heroes is not the same as what you proposed, how would you tweak it? "I like the new weapon, it's solid removal with a really nice deathrattle in a mech deck. The murloc is a little confusing though, not sure why they thought shamans needed a murloc." qxc Profile Blog Joined May 2009 United States 550 Posts Last Edited: 2015-06-10 21:59:35 #5 The problem with Heroes's chat is that there is no option to have multiple windows. What I'm proposing is the ability to consolidate specific chats while maintaining isolation from others. So, I could have a 'personal chat' window where I can hit tab to cycle through all the individuals I'm currently talking with, but there would be no chat channel messages there. Then each chat channel I join would open its own window, that unless specified, maintains only that channel's messages. Hopefully that conveys the idea. It's a bit messy in my head, but that's the jist. I don't write these for a cv or anything similar. I set a goal for myself when I took a break from Starcraft to maintain weekly blogs. I enjoy writing and discussing topics so I find the whole process enjoyable and by keeping myself to a schedule I actually do them consistently. Progamer Designer of Aeon's End DarkNetHunter Profile Joined October 2012 1224 Posts #6 One of the biggest uses for chat channels is forming a hangout spot where people know to return to to find their friends and so on. The problem with regular chat channels is that without moderation, a channel is bound to be overrun by malicious user(s) eventually. It only takes 1 person to ruin a channel. Thus, there is little reason for unmoderated channels to even exist in the first place. An unmoderated chat channel can never be 'home' for long while still allowing for new people to find it and participate. The only unmoderated channels could be the default ones that you are automatically placed in when you log in. Unmoderated channels are throwaway meet up spots. I take it you never spent any time on U.S. East in )v( or other unmoderated channels? Unmoderated channels are fine, you can still squelch a malicious user and everything goes on without probs and is definitely the best way for new users to find themselves into groups. The unmoderated channels don't necessarily have to be default ones, those can be moderated. Overall battle.net 1.0 definitely provides the better social experience and recreating that interface would be so easy and good.. I take it you never spent any time on U.S. East in )v( or other unmoderated channels?Unmoderated channels are fine, you can still squelch a malicious user and everything goes on without probs and is definitely the best way for new users to find themselves into groups. The unmoderated channels don't necessarily have to be default ones, those can be moderated.Overall battle.net 1.0 definitely provides the better social experience and recreating that interface would be so easy and good.. Learn from the mistakes of others. You can't live long enough to make them all yourself. iClipse Profile Joined May 2015 8 Posts #7 I definitely agree. I remember on Bnet 1.0 that I often logged in just to discuss with some people who I already know were going to be in the channel. Because they were always there around that time. Not having a nice social experience is what helped make me stop playing SC2. I definitely agree that having a preset channel which you join when you start up the game would be a vast improvement to the game. TiberiusAk Profile Joined August 2011 United States 122 Posts #8 On June 11 2015 06:58 qxc wrote: The problem with Heroes's chat is that there is no option to have multiple windows. What I'm proposing is the ability to consolidate specific chats while maintaining isolation from others. So, I could have a 'personal chat' window where I can hit tab to cycle through all the individuals I'm currently talking with, but there would be no chat channel messages there. Then each chat channel I join would open its own window, that unless specified, maintains only that channel's messages. Hopefully that conveys the idea. It's a bit messy in my head, but that's the jist. That makes sense, thanks. From what I remember, you can do what you describe in WoW's chat, but it's vastly more configurable than the other games. That makes sense, thanks. From what I remember, you can do what you describe in WoW's chat, but it's vastly more configurable than the other games. "I like the new weapon, it's solid removal with a really nice deathrattle in a mech deck. The murloc is a little confusing though, not sure why they thought shamans needed a murloc." marvellosity Profile Joined January 2011 United Kingdom 33767 Posts #9 I very much agree. I stopped playing ladder because it was too lonely and hard work. The only other game I played extensively online was AoE1, which was an intensely social experience and far, far more enjoyable as a result. [15:15] <Palmar> and yes marv, you're a total hottie eeZe Profile Joined April 2011 United States 52 Posts #10 I think the biggest thing that would help the social aspect of sc2 would be near real time public observation games. Allow "delayed" observation for all games played by players ranked in top 8 of every league in a HLTV fashion. virpi Profile Blog Joined August 2009 Germany 3040 Posts #11 When I got dragged into playing BW by a friend of mine in 2008, the first thing he told me was to go to a specific bnet channel, where other german noobs were hanging out. It took about 10 minutes to find my first practice partners, I even got coached by a good player over TS that day. All it needed was a simple chat UI, nothing more nothing less. Chilling in the channel was a huge part of playing BW. You could talk about games, you could hop into a quick custom game, you could ask to observe etc. I know that SC2 also offers those Features, but there are no places to go to. The chat window is too tiny and due to its size, it's easy to ignore it. In BW, it was impossible to ignore chat, unless you joined an empty channel. The divide between MMR play and custom games is useless. Imho, the whole UI should be unified. ONE big chat window with buttons attached to switch between channels / game modes. The matchmaking Screen may look pretty, but it's basically consisting of a few buttons and lots of nothing. I don't think we'll ever see a real overhaul of the SC2 interface again. The fact that they've implemented the Heroes chat tells a lot. After the release of LOTV, there'll be some balance patches, and that'll be it. There are so many possiblities, yet None will ever be part of the game. Coaching Features, in-game spectating, a good voice / Video chat plug-in (why no Skype Integration?), etc. SC2 will continue to be a lonely experience, and that's sad. first we make expand, then we defense it. Ovid Profile Blog Joined October 2013 United Kingdom 948 Posts #12 On June 11 2015 19:43 eeZe wrote: I think the biggest thing that would help the social aspect of sc2 would be near real time public observation games. Allow "delayed" observation for all games played by players ranked in top 8 of every league in a HLTV fashion. So everyone can have a friend obs their game and then know what is going to happen? So everyone can have a friend obs their game and then know what is going to happen? I will make Yogg Saron priest work... BisuDagger Profile Blog Joined October 2009 Bisutopia 16636 Posts #13 Having a more ideal chat interface is nice, but that will only be useful to the people currently playing the game. I find it hard to convince any of my gamer friends to jump back into SC2. It's already called "Old" "Same stuff" "Not any different the WoL". How you get people interested in the game again is hard and with the state of LoTV I don't have enough to get people I know re interested. Moderator Ofiicial Afreeca Starleague Caster: http://afreeca.tv/ASL2ENG2 tili Profile Joined July 2012 United States 1314 Posts #14 @BisuDagger, even though chat rooms obviously won't pull anyone back into sc2, the ones you can drag in will be much more likely to feel like the game was 'alive' and has an energy and therefore more likely to stick around (hopefully!) The prevalence of seeing (or not seeing) other people chatting, almost regardless of the quality of conversation, makes it FEEL like you're in a hub of activity, rather than a lonely pursuit of ladder grinding... I completely agree with the analyses above@BisuDagger, even though chat rooms obviously won't pull anyone back into sc2, the ones you can drag in will be much more likely to feel like the game was 'alive' and has an energy and therefore more likely to stick around (hopefully!) eeZe Profile Joined April 2011 United States 52 Posts #15 On June 11 2015 22:28 Ovid wrote: Show nested quote + On June 11 2015 19:43 eeZe wrote: I think the biggest thing that would help the social aspect of sc2 would be near real time public observation games. Allow "delayed" observation for all games played by players ranked in top 8 of every league in a HLTV fashion. So everyone can have a friend obs their game and then know what is going to happen? So everyone can have a friend obs their game and then know what is going to happen? I think I said delayed. I think I said delayed. RouaF Profile Joined October 2010 France 2406 Posts #16 Do you REALLY want chat channels ? swag_bro Profile Blog Joined July 2014 Japan 782 Posts #17 You mention that ladder in 1v1 for hours makes you antisocial? Are you going to go kill some people or what? As far as I know, SC2 isn't violent enough to make anyone antisocial. In fact, there are numerous studies showing how video games dont make people into killers. They hate us 'cause they ain't us. Chef Profile Blog Joined August 2005 10670 Posts Last Edited: 2015-06-12 20:40:21 #18 iirc Blizzard's response to the original criticism when new bnet came out was something like "why would you want to talk to other people?" or at least something like why would you talk to people you don't already know. And the idea there is that the internet is full of jerkoffs and annoying people who have dumb conversations, and talking to them is a waste of time and maybe you'll spend a whole hour arguing about politics with a troll. But my answer to that is "so what?" It's not that bad. Yeah, there were channels on old bnet full of spam bots that just make it impossible to talk. And there's always people who are super rude and offensive. But a couple of bad apples doesn't stop people who want to have a good conversation or play the game or whatever from doing it. Making a new channel is dead simple, and for the entire existence of Bnet Blizzard Chat 1 and Public Chat 1 were completely usable. Original Bnet's moderated channels frequently just became weird and tiny, because no fresh faces are likely to come around. They're alright if you have like 4 people you want to chat with, they're no good long term and you shouldn't only talk to the same 4 people all the time anyway. I think the real plague of the internet comes out when the chat is secondary to something else, like a video stream or an article. That's when it's all throw aways and no one is there to actually meet people (and you would be crazy to). But for the most part people kind of normalize when they're having a conversation and not just throwing comments into the void. BNET2 is definitely aggressively trying to protect people from the internet experience. Maybe that helps their PR and maybe it even helps the image of gamers when you can't sign into a gaming portal only to read hate speech as soon as you log in. But at the same time it deprives you of those opportunities to meet people who don't suck as well. I think you're way too harsh on unmoderated channels.iirc Blizzard's response to the original criticism when new bnet came out was something like "why would you want to talk to other people?" or at least something like why would you talk to people you don't already know.And the idea there is that the internet is full of jerkoffs and annoying people who have dumb conversations, and talking to them is a waste of time and maybe you'll spend a whole hour arguing about politics with a troll.But my answer to that is "so what?" It's not that bad. Yeah, there were channels on old bnet full of spam bots that just make it impossible to talk. And there's always people who are super rude and offensive. But a couple of bad apples doesn't stop people who want to have a good conversation or play the game or whatever from doing it. Making a new channel is dead simple, and for the entire existence of Bnet Blizzard Chat 1 and Public Chat 1 were completely usable.Original Bnet's moderated channels frequently just became weird and tiny, because no fresh faces are likely to come around. They're alright if you have like 4 people you want to chat with, they're no good long term and you shouldn't only talk to the same 4 people all the time anyway.I think the real plague of the internet comes out when the chat is secondary to something else, like a video stream or an article. That's when it's all throw aways and no one is there to actually meet people (and you would be crazy to). But for the most part people kind of normalize when they're having a conversation and not just throwing comments into the void.BNET2 is definitely aggressively trying to protect people from the internet experience. Maybe that helps their PR and maybe it even helps the image of gamers when you can't sign into a gaming portal only to read hate speech as soon as you log in. But at the same time it deprives you of those opportunities to meet people who don't suck as well. On June 13 2015 01:32 swag_bro wrote: You mention that ladder in 1v1 for hours makes you antisocial? Are you going to go kill some people or what? As far as I know, SC2 isn't violent enough to make anyone antisocial. In fact, there are numerous studies showing how video games dont make people into killers. Antisocial != sociopath. Also I think he says that 1v1 sc2 laddering is antisocial, not makes you antisocial. Antisocial != sociopath. Also I think he says that 1v1 sc2 laddering is antisocial, not makes you antisocial. LEGEND!! LEGEND!! TheBloodyDwarf Profile Blog Joined March 2012 Finland 7154 Posts Last Edited: 2015-06-12 21:41:42 #19 To me its weird that somebody isnt Im always auto connected to bunch of channels.To me its weird that somebody isnt Fusilero: "I still can't believe he did that, like dude what the fuck there's fandom and then there's what he did like holy shit. I still see it when I close my eyes." <- reaction to the original drunk santa post which later caught on Xyik Profile Blog Joined November 2009 Canada 727 Posts #20 Seriously, add full-screen chat channels back, there's so much wasted real-estate in their current UI. 1 2 Next All |
FELIETON Co roku 1 marca w Szczecinku przy skrzyżowaniu ulic 1 Maja i Szkolnej, obok Zespołu Szkół numer 2, odbywają się obchody Narodowego Dnia Pamięci Żołnierzy Wyklętych - gloryfikujące partyzantów Narodowych Sił Zbrojnych, Narodowego Zjednoczenia Wojskowego i Narodowej Organizacji Wojskowej (oraz pomniejszych, bliskich im ideowo związków taktycznych). Działające w Szczecinku media, partie polityczne i inne organizacje, nie próbują ani potępiać samych w sobie obchodów, ani nie zwracają uwagi na dość prowokacyjny ich charakter (odbywają się naprzeciw prawosławnej cerkwi stojącej przy ulicy Szkolnej). Dziwić może przy tym fakt, że nie reaguje na to szczecinecka społeczność prawosławna - kult Żołnierzy Wyklętych potępiany był w końcu wielokrotnie choćby na łamach "Przeglądu Prawosławnego". Niewiedza? Przemilczanie tematu by nie zwracać na siebie uwagi? Nie byłoby to zjawisko odosobnione. Pisarka Katarzyna Bonda (autorka powieści kryminalnej, której tłem były prawdziwe wydarzenia związane z działalnością NZW) na spotkaniu, które odbyło się w Szczecinku w lipcu 2015 roku, opowiadała że w jej rodzinnych stronach nawet wnuki samych ofiar NZW potrafią nosić bluzy z Żołnierzami Wyklętymi. Wyznawcy prawosławia to jednak tylko niewielki fragment problemu, bo kult Żołnierzy Wyklętych uderza w znacznie szersze kręgi społeczne. Co więcej, nadal wielu ludzi - zwłaszcza młodych - nie rozumie czego naprawdę on dotyczy, jaki jest jego cel i kto za nim stoi. Dlaczego jest tak szkodliwy i czemu służy? Zacznijmy od początku. Określenie Żołnierze Wyklęci zostało wymyślone przez Leszka Żebrowskiego - publicystę m.in. "Naszego Dziennika" i "Gazety Polskiej Codziennie". Po raz pierwszy oficjalnie zostało użyte w 1993 roku przez stowarzyszenie nazywane Ligą Republikańską, kiedy to zorganizowano w Warszawie wystawę zatytułowaną "Żołnierze Wyklęci - antykomunistyczne podziemie zbrojne po 1944 r.". Jak tłumaczył Grzegorz Wąsowski - jeden z twórców wystawy i były członek Ligi Republikańskiej, żołnierze ci byli "wyklęci" ponieważ po upadku komunizmu nadal byli zapomniani - a podmioty opiniotwórcze, czyli władze, media itp. nie starały się przywrócić (odpowiedniej) pamięci o nich. Tak więc wykorzystując potencjalne poczucie winy, żołnierzy tych postanowiono przedstawiać jako podwójne ofiary - najpierw sowieckiego terroru a potem milczenia panującego już po zmianach ustrojowych. Według oficjalnych komunikatów, termin Żołnierze Wyklęci miał odnosić się do ogółu żołnierzy walczących z komunistami po zajęciu Polski przez Związek Sowiecki. Pierwotnym więc skutkiem wypromowania go - i najprawdopodobniej zakładanym celem jego twórców - było wrzucenie do jednego zbioru i traktowanie jako jedności, wszystkich antykomunistycznych partyzantów działających wtedy w Polsce. Rozmyto w ten sposób wiele dotyczących ich kwestii: idee jakimi się kierowali, ich cele, wizję Polski o jaką walczyli, działania których się podejmowali - wraz z etyczną ich oceną. Do jednej grupy wrzucono zarówno tych, którzy rzeczywiście chcieli żyć w wolnym i demokratycznym kraju, jak i członków Narodowych Sił Zbrojnych oraz Narodowego Zjednoczenia Wojskowego - którzy marzyli o nacjonalistycznym państwie katolickim i mordowali niczemu winnych obywateli polskich, niepasujących do tej wizji. Tym samym zaczęto zacierać granicę pomiędzy walczącymi o wolność i zbrodniarzami - po to by na ideach tych pierwszych, przepchnąć kult tych drugich. Tak więc faktycznym beneficjentem funkcjonowania terminu Żołnierze Wyklęci są członkowie organizacji partyzanckich o katolickim charakterze (najczęściej NSZ - które, były organizacją narodowo-katolicką, czerpiąca swoją formę polityczną m.in. z przedwojennego ONR). To do nich zasadniczo odnosi się to pojęcie - i to oni są pod nim gloryfikowani. Trudno oczekiwać innych intencji związanych z kultem Żołnierzy Wyklętych, jeżeli weźmie się pod uwagę działalność Leszka Żebrowskiego - który zajmuje się właśnie promowaniem historii "narodowych" organizacji zbrojnych - NSZ, NZW, NOW - oraz samą Ligę Republikańską, która była organizacją również odwołującą się do katolicyzmu. Jej deklaracja stanowiła, m.in. że: "Nierozłącznym elementem polskiej tradycji jest katolicyzm. Kościół jako część narodowej przeszłości pozwala jednostce nawet przy zagubieniu przez nią kontaktu z sacrum na trwanie w świecie niezmiennych wartości". Deklaracja więc w pewien sposób utożsamia polskość z katolicyzmem czym skłania się w kierunku idei państwa katolickiego. Polska jakiej chciała Liga Republikańska, mogłaby być więc docelowo podobna do państwa, jakiego chciały NSZ i NZW (a przed wojną Obóz Narodowo Radykalny, Ruch Narodowo-Radykalny Falanga, Pogotowie Patriotów Polskich czy Polska Organizacja Faszystowska) - gdzie nazywana była Katolickim Państwem Polskim, Katolickim Państwem Narodu Polskiego lub Wielką Polską. Jak wyglądałaby taka Polska, można zobaczyć na przykładach innych państw tamtego okresu, w których opcja katolicka przejęła władzę: Chorwacji pod rządami Pavelicia. Węgier pod rządami Szálasiego, Hiszpanii władanej przez Franco czy Słowacji pod wodzą Tiso. Sam Kościół Katolicki stał się zresztą jednym z czołowych promotorów kultu Żołnierzy Wyklętych. Jeżeli mówi się o nich z zaangażowaniem, w duchu rzeczywistego poparcia i utożsamiania się z nimi - to w mediach katolickich, na katolickich marszach, w katolickich kazaniach (jak np. homilia ks. bp. Jerzego Mazura wygłoszona podczas pogrzebu żołnierzy NZW w Orłowie, 15 lutego 2014 roku). Promocja Żołnierzy Wyklętych nie stanowi odkłamywania historii - jak twierdzą ludzie związani z ich kultem - ale jest dalszym jej przekłamywaniem, tyle że na modłę katolicką a nie komunistyczną. Odkłamywanie historii polega na rzetelnym przedstawianiu faktów, z użyciem terminów ściśle definiujących historyczne desygnaty. Nie jest na pewno odkłamywaniem dorabianie dodatkowych pojęć, których celem jest mieszanie niezwiązanych, czy nawet przeciwnych sobie ludzi i idei. Zwłaszcza pojęć stworzonych na rzecz peryferyjnej drogi perswazji - niejasnych, odwołujących się do emocji, mitologizujących rzeczywistość. Stosowanie w debacie publicznej takiego określenia jak Żołnierze Wyklęci jest manipulacją, stworzoną na cele historycznego rewizjonizmu. Jest podobnym narzędziem, jak stosowane w propagandzie komunistycznej etykiety w postaci "bandytów" i "zaplutych karłów reakcji", które przyczepiano wszystkim antykomunistycznym działaczom. Podobne formy manipulacji nie są zresztą ani nowe, ani rzadkie. Arystoteles wskazał, że na skuteczność retoryki ważny wpływ mają fakty, na które argumentujący nie ma bezpośredniego wpływu - i ustalił możliwości obejścia tej przeszkody (atechnoi). Rzymski filozof i mówca - Cicero, rozwinął myśl Arystotelesa, formując technikę, którą obecnie nazywa się perswazją wstępną - a która stosowana jest powszechnie m.in. przez obrońców w sądach. Jej celem jest wpoić odbiorcy, co powinien wiedzieć i uznawać za oczywiste, dobrać definicje, wygodnie sformułować problem, odpowiednio zarządzić wiarygodnością - tworząc dogodne warunki dla perswazji właściwej. Termin Żołnierze Wyklęci jest właśnie tego rodzaju kreacją - a służy ona pośredniej promocji ugrupowań takich jak Prawo i Sprawiedliwość czy Ruch Narodowy. Ma uwiarygodniać ich działalność - poprzez wskazywanie, że kontynuują one tradycję jakichś powszechnie cenionych dawniej organizacji. Legitymizować agresywny bunt przeciw liberalnemu porządkowi - utożsamiając go z "patriotyzmem". Krzewić awersję i nienawiść do ludzi o innych poglądach czy pochodzeniu - już na płaszczyźnie definicji i z wykorzystaniem pokrętnie przedstawianej historii. Mówi się, że istotą kultu Żołnierzy Wyklętych ma być ich walka z komunizmem. Należy więc tu przypomnieć, że w katolickiej retoryce mianem "komunistów" określa się nie tylko faktycznych komunistów, ale po prostu ludzi wyraźnie niepodzielających katolickich poglądów lub wywodzących się z pewnych grup etnicznych - a szczególnie zadeklarowanych liberałów, demokratów, lewicowców, ateistów, wyznawców prawosławia, ludzi o żydowskim, białoruskim, rosyjskim lub ukraińskim pochodzeniu. Na przykład w wywiadzie dla „Naszego Dziennika” w 2012 roku, kard. Stanisław Nagy stwierdza, że „komunizm nie zginął, ale przedzierzgnął się w inteligencką ideologię nazywaną liberalizmem”. Ks. Marek Dziewiecki w artykule Ateizm, czyli urojona wizja człowieka, sugeruje że wszyscy ateiści są odpowiedzialni za komunistyczne zbrodnie i powinni za nie przepraszać. Takie etykietowanie "komunizmem" pozwala przedstawiać niegroźne, niezwiązane ze sobą osoby, jako zorganizowane, poważne zagrożenie - a za tym, umożliwia zachęcanie do walki z nimi i usprawiedliwianie wszelkich krzywd im wyrządzonych. Każdy bowiem atak, stanie się tym samym "obroną" - siebie, państwa, wolności - przed "komunistyczną tyranią". Strona katolicka etykietowała swoją opozycję "komunizmem" nie tylko w Polsce. Bardzo wyraźne było to na przykład w Hiszpanii w czasach rządów Franco. To właśnie zjawisko było też jednym z motywów zbrodni dokonywanych przez Żołnierzy Wyklętych oraz jest nieodłączną częścią ich obecnego kultu. Dokument IPN - Informacja o ustaleniach końcowych śledztwa S 28/02/Zi w sprawie pozbawienia życia 79 osób - mieszkańców powiatu Bielsk Podlaski w tym 30 osób tzw. furmanów w lesie koło Puchał Starych, dokonanych w okresie od dnia 29 stycznia 1946r. do dnia 2 lutego 1946 - zaznacza: »Nie sposób podejrzewać dzieci i starców, którzy zginęli przy pacyfikacji o współpracę z komunistami. Należy zatem uznać, że przyjęcie tezy o sprzyjaniu komunistom znajdowało tylko oparcie w ogólnym i upowszechnionym wówczas stereotypie, iż osoby deklarujące swoją narodowość jako białoruską mają przekonania komunistyczne, częściej w odróżnieniu od Polaków zapisują się do PPR i pełnią służbę w organach bezpieczeństwa.« Wspomniany dokument zawiera też dość obrazowy opis zbrodni dokonanych przez tych, których gloryfikuje się jako Żołnierzy Wyklętych - w tym wypadku NZW. »Wieczorem 1 lutego 1946 r. odbyła się odprawa dowódców plutonów. Kpt. Rajs przydzielił dowódcom zadania zniszczenia po jednej ze wsi: Zanie, Szpaki, Końcowizna. Wymienione wsie były w przeważającej części zamieszkałe przez ludność wyznania prawosławnego. [...] W godzinach wieczornych do wsi Szpaki wkroczył pluton pod dowództwem „Wiarusa”. Żołnierze zaczęli podpalać zbudowania i strzelać do mieszkańców. Śmierć od kul lub w płomieniach oraz od odniesionych od tego ran poniosło 7 osób. [...] W jednym z domów dokonano gwałtu na kobiecie (zeznanie k. 1939 ). Wymieniona poddała się napastnikom, gdyż wcześniej Maria Pietruczuk (18 lat), która stawiała opór napastnikom została postrzelona w okolicy klatki piersiowej i pleców. Zmarła w wyniku odniesionych ran w dniu 6.02.1946 r. w szpitalu w Bielsku. [...] Drugi pluton, dowodzony przez „Bitnego” po przybyciu do Zań zajął następujące pozycje. Z jednej strony wieś została otoczona przez drużynę „Gołębia”, a z drugiej – przez drużynę „Szczygła”. Trzecia drużyna pod dowództwem „Ładunka” weszła do wsi, gdzie zaczęto podpalać poszczególne zabudowania. Nie podkładano ognia pod domy należące do osób wyznania katolickiego, jak też nie podpalano zabudowań tych prawosławnych, którzy zamieszkiwali w bezpośrednim pobliżu gospodarstw, należących do rodzin katolickich (według zeznań świadków wówczas w Zaniach mieszkały 4 rodziny katolickie). Mieszkańców, którzy usiłowali wydostać się z płonących domów zapędzano z powrotem lub strzelano do ludzi wybiegających z palących się budynków i próbujących uciec ze wsi. Przed oddaniem strzałów niektórych mieszkańców pytano o narodowość i wyznanie. [...] Szczegóły dotyczące usiłowania zastrzelenia Piotra Nikołajskiego podała jego żona: „Po chwili zauważyliśmy, że domy we wsi zaczynają się palić. Nasz dom też zaczął się palić. Wszyscy, którzy byli w tym domu zaczęli wybiegać na zewnątrz. Mąż zabrał jedno dziecko, a ja drugie. Ola miała wówczas pół roku, a Maria 2 i pół roku. Wybiegaliśmy na ulicę. Mąż został wówczas ranny w nogę – w udo. Nie mógł uciekać. Ja widziałam jak się przewrócił na ziemię z dzieckiem na ręku. Wówczas, to podbiegło do niego kilku partyzantów. Słyszałam, że któryś z nich mówił, że trzeba go zabić, słyszałam jak inni oświadczyli, że nie mają z czego. Natomiast jeden z nich powiedział a ja mam. Wyjął pistolet i strzelił z boku w skroń. Nie zabił męża bo kula przeszła przez oczy, wybijając je. [...] Córka zabitego Daniela Olszewskiego z Zań, gdy zobaczyła leżącego na drodze ojca to stwierdziła, że tato jeszcze żył. „Był ranny w głowę. [...] Ja nie zauważyłam wtedy, że obok między drzewami leży siostra Marysia. Ją trafili w usta. Potem Romualda Siennicka mówiła, że Marysia bardzo się męczyła i musieli ją dobić z bliska”. Córka Kseni Antoniuk, zeznała , iż udało się jej uciec do pobliskiego lasu, gdzie spędziła noc. Gdy wróciła, to mama, jak i brat Jan Antoniuk i 4 letni syn siostry Jan Sielewończuk zostali już pochowani. Jej ojciec Aleksander został ranny w obie ręce, z których jedną amputowano. Jak się dowiedziała od mieszkańców kule trafiły go gdy usiłował wynieść z płonącego domu swojego wnuczka Jana Sielewończuka. [...] Józef A. złożył następujące zeznania opisujące zabójstwo matki Nadziei. [...] Matka wyjrzała na zewnątrz domu i powiedziała wracając do izby, że wschodnia część wsi się pali. Po kilku minutach matka wzięła obraz katolickiej Matki Boskiej oraz gromnicę i wyszła na zewnątrz, a my za nią, łącznie 5 osób, to znaczy te dwie dziewczyny, dwie moje siostry i ja. W tym samym czasie z ulicy, podeszło 3 osobników. Jeden zapytał w naszym kierunku - prawosławni, czy katolicy. Matka odpowiedziała - panowie jesteśmy Polakami, jak nie wierzycie, to może to potwierdzić sąsiadka, która jednak nie potwierdziła, że jesteśmy katolikami. Wówczas to jeden z tych trzymających pistolet w ręku strzelił do matki. Ja w tym momencie zacząłem uciekać za dom, a potem w pole do lasu. Słyszałem kilka strzałów. Wywróciłem się i udałem zabitego. Siostry i sąsiadki zostały wepchnięte do domu. Dom podpalono.« Tak w bardziej szczegółowym ujęciu wyglądały działania, które obecnie w ramach kultu Żołnierzy Wyklętych są przedstawiane jako "bohaterska walka z komunizmem" i "walka o wolną Polskę". Tego rodzaju akcje przeprowadzano w wielu miejscach. W niektórych wypadkach żołnierze próbowali grożąc śmiercią, zmusić swoje ofiary do przyjęcia katolicyzmu - np. akcja NZW we wsi Drochlin. Podobną działalność prowadziły NSZ. Przykładem może być tu mord na ludności żydowskiej w Przedborzu oraz mord na ludności pochodzenia ukraińskiego w Wierzchowinach (najstarsza ofiara miała w tym wypadku 92 lata, najmłodsza 2 tygodnie). Ponadto sporo osób - w tym działaczy Armii Krajowej - wyłącznie za żydowskie pochodzenie czy wyraźne liberalne poglądy, trafiło na listy proskrypcyjne NSZ. Promocja Żołnierzy Wyklętych, ich kult - stanowią tym samym pośrednie szerzenie nienawiści. To nie tylko promowanie ksenofobicznych, antywolnościowych idei którymi kierowały się NSZ czy NZW, ale i wskazywanie przykładu "właściwych" postaw. Sugerowanie, że jacyś ludzie są "bohaterami" i "patriotami", ponieważ zabijali za samą odmienność - jest publiczną sugestią, że takie działania są słuszne i pożądane. Z drugiej strony, wskazuje się w ten sposób, że każdy współczesny człowiek o podobnych cechach jak ofiary Żołnierzy Wyklętych - jest też zły, że jest "wrogiem ojczyzny" i nie powinno być dla niego miejsca w otaczającej rzeczywistości a krzywdzenie go nie jest niczym niestosownym. Z tego względu kult Żołnierzy Wyklętych upodobały sobie środowiska kibicowskie. Niegdyś, agresja ich była związana prawie wyłącznie z barwami klubowymi oraz wątkami nazistowskimi. Kult Żołnierzy Wyklętych tymczasem, nie dość że uzasadnia nienawiść i przemoc wobec odmienności, to jeszcze został wypromowany w Polsce jako coś pozytywnego. Tak też kibice zaczęli utożsamiać się z Żołnierzami Wyklętymi. Bywa więc, że groźby, agresja fizyczna i akty wandalizmu są przez nich uznawane za wyraz "patriotyzmu". Wszelkie działania policji, polityków, organizacji społecznych czy publicystów wymierzone w tych kibiców - są natomiast przez nich przedstawiane jako działania uderzające w "patriotów" i za tym porównywanie do prześladowań komunistycznych. Przekaz niesiony przez kult Żołnierzy Wyklętych stanowić może bezpośrednią motywację do aktów agresji, racjonalizację takich zachowań lub usprawiedliwienie dla zwykłego bandytyzmu. Przykładem skutków tego rodzaju propagandy - utożsamiającej mordowanie ludzi z "patriotyzmem" - niech będzie sprawa z Legnicy, gdzie w 2015 roku pewien mężczyzna dokonał morderstwa na dwóch starszych małżeństwach. W lutym zaatakował parę z ulicy Oświęcimskiej. Starszego mężczyznę obalił na ziemię uderzeniem młotka w głowę. Potem zabił nim jego żonę. Kiedy usłyszał, że leżący mężczyzna wydaje z siebie jakieś dźwięki, wrócił do niego zadając mu kolejne ciosy młotkiem - łącznie około 12. W sierpniu zaatakował zaś starsza parę z ulicy Głogowskiej, której remontował dom. Kobietę tłukł młotkiem w głowę i inne części ciała. Dodatkowo zadał jej kilka dźgnięć przy pomocy noża kuchennego. Łącznie wykonał około 31 ciosów. Podobnie przy pomocy młotka i noża zabił jej niepełnosprawnego męża, leżącego w łóżku w pomieszczeniu obok. Przed sądem twierdził, że zrobił to bo został "wychowany w duchu patriotycznym". Bronił się usprawiedliwiając swój czyn tym, że wykonał egzekucję na "zdrajcach" narodu, "komunistach" i ludziach obrażających "patriotów". Kult Żołnierzy Wyklętych jest więc nie tylko wypaczaniem historii, ale zakamuflowaną pozytywnymi pozorami - formą promocji ksenofobii, antywolnościowych idei, nienawiści i agresji (w tym narzędziem racjonalizacji różnego rodzaju nadużyć). Dzięki temu kultowi, z jednej strony - pewne środowiska, które są świadome zbrodni Żołnierzy Wyklętych, mogą je oficjalnie pochwalać. Z drugiej - mogą reagować pozorowanym oburzeniem gdy ktoś te zbrodnie potępi - nazywając to atakiem na polskich "patriotów". Aby w podobny sposób uciszyć krytyków i mieć niekrępowaną możliwość promocji organizacji takich jak NSZ - Prawo i Sprawiedliwość próbowało wprowadzić w 2013 roku prawny zakaz jakiegokolwiek publicznego oskarżania polskich "antykomunistycznych" partyzantów o udział w masowych zbrodniach. Wyrazem politycznego niechlujstwa i daleko posuniętej hipokryzji jest uczestnictwo w szczecineckich obchodach członków Platformy Obywatelskiej. W przypadku PiS, kult ten jest spójny z ideowym kierunkiem partii. Burmistrz Jerzy Hardie-Douglas (podobnie jak cała PO) stara się natomiast przedstawiać swoje ugrupowanie jako liberalną siłę oporu wobec ksenofobii i mowy nienawiści PiS. Czym w tej kwestii różnią się obydwie partie, skoro obydwie wspierają kult zbrodniarzy i zwolenników totalitaryzmu? Szczecinecka PO (i nie tylko szczecinecka) albo dała się nabrać na element propagandy PiS i bezmyślnie go kopiuje, albo całkowicie jej członków nie obchodzi co wspierają - byle się tylko pokazać publicznie podczas jakichś obchodów. Kult Żołnierzy Wyklętych jest kulturowym nośnikiem promocji postaw i idei wrogich wobec liberalizmu - tak faktycznego jak i udawanego. Przyczynił się choćby do utożsamiania PO z komunizmem. PO więc wspierając gloryfikację Żołnierzy Wyklętych, nie tylko zawodzi idee których wedle swoich deklaracji chce bronić, ale i uderza w samą siebie. Akceptując i wspierając ten kult, przyczyniła się m.in. do oddania wychowawczego elementu edukacji historycznej w ręce ugrupowań takich jak PiS i RN. Elementu kształtującego świadomość polityczną młodzieży - tej która głosuje i tej która wkrótce będzie mogła głosować. Brak reakcji na kult Żołnierzy Wyklętych, akceptowanie go czy nawet wspieranie - m.in. przez podmioty, które sugerowały być opozycją wobec opcji katolickiej - buduje patologiczną sytuację w sferze społecznej i politycznej, zaburza funkcjonowanie prawa i wypacza debatę publiczną. Doprowadzono w ten sposób do stanu, w którym można legalnie promować totalitarne dążenia, agresję i uprzedzenia - jednocześnie zamykając usta tym, którzy to potępiają. Ludzie nieświadomi historii organizacji takich jak NSZ, mogą natomiast w pozorowanym duchu patriotyzmu i oporu wobec totalitaryzmu komunistycznego - być łagodnie przeciągani na stronę zwolenników ksenofobii, nacjonalizmu i alternatywnej tyranii. Kult Żołnierzy Wyklętych przemyca bowiem przez barierę akceptacji tych ludzi, pochwałę czynów i idei, z którymi normalnie by się nie zgodzili. Dzięki opakowaniu tego kultu w patriotyzm i pozytywny wydźwięk, takie osoby nawet jeżeli faktycznie nie pochwalają jego obiektu, to przynajmniej będą go akceptować a w ich umysłach powstanie filtr, skutkujący odrzucaniem jakiejkolwiek krytyki bojówkarzy nazywanych Żołnierzami Wyklętymi. Krzysztof Serafiński |
A Republican state lawmaker in Georgia on Thursday introduced a bill that would relax gun restrictions on people who have been treated for mental illness. State Rep. Rick Jasperse (R) told The Associated Press that his bill — titled the “Safe Carry Protection Act” — would allow people who have voluntarily sought out treatment for mental illness and substance abuse to get a firearm license. The measure would also do away with fingerprinting requirements for license renewals and permit guns in bars, churches and college campuses. “Simply being hospitalized doesn’t make a person a criminal or a threat,” Jasperse explained. Under the proposed bill, a probate judge would be required to accept written statements from permit applicants claiming that they had not been involuntarily hospitalized, unless the state could prove otherwise within 30 days. The move to loosen gun restrictions goes against a national trend of increasing gun control after the December mass shooting in Newtown, Connecticut. Georgia Democrats vowed to oppose the bill, but admitted that they did not have the votes to block it. “More than anything in the wake of not just one, not just two, but a series of tragedies, for our reaction to be an expansion of the places where people can feel unsafe, to increase the efficiency of evil, I find that be just a flabbergasting decision to make as a Legislature,” Democratic minority leader Stacey Abrams said. The Second Amendment advocacy group GeogriaCarry.org claimed that the bill was “designed to enhance the safety of all Georgians through the safe carrying of firearms by responsible citizens. “ [Photo: Facebook] |
Volumetric capture is a cutting edge immersive technology enabling more believable avatars and environments in VR. Unlike a 360 degree video, with volumetric capture you can walk around a practically photorealistic scene or, in theory, talk to a more believable avatar. 8i is one of the companies focused on volumetric human capture and, in an announcement today, revealed it signed an intriguing first customer. 8i will produce a a VR experience for cosmetics company L’Oreal using its in-house technology. 8i’s website includes a variety of examples of the technology and you can check them in VR or on a traditional monitor. L’Oreal is an intriguing customer for 8i because the cosmetics brand is so reliant on accentuating the detail of the human face. Using purely computer generated techniques, the face is one of the hardest things in the universe to make look believable to humans. Maybe you’ve heard of the uncanny valley? It’s still a problem. So I’m really curious to see how L’Oreal and 8i are able to use volumetric capture in a professional setting, and what that might look like in VR. The company is also partnering on content with VR journalism-focused Emblematic Group and River Studios. A new studio called REALTRA will also be using 8i technology “to provide volumetric studio services” as a step toward opening up the capture technology to more creators. 8i also announced the hire of Steve Raymond as President of Studios to help grow the business and that, in addition to offices in Los Angeles and Wellington, New Zealand, the company is opening a San Francisco presence at the Upload Collective. Disclosure: 8i is a member of the Upload Collective, a creator space for VR and AR companies in downtown San Francisco. Neither UploadVR, nor any of its staff, have any stake in 8i. Tagged with: 8i, avatars, photorealism |
Welcome to The Blue Casket! - Providing You With Grim Fandango Guitar & Bass Tablature On A Rather Sporadic Basis Since August 2005! =D Recent Updates/Coming Soon The Blue Casket is devoted to the musical aspect of Grim Fandango and aims to eventually produce guitar and bass tablature for all of the songs featured on the game's eclectic and diverse soundtrack; if not the whole game. Grim Fandango's soundtrack, which can be downloaded from various Grim Fandango sites; contains no less than 32 tracks from the game, covering such musical genres as Swing, Jazz, Big Band, Bebop and Mexican Folk music. Ever since I first played Grim Fandango, I have absolutely adored the music, and hoped that one day I would at least be able to play some of it. I spent forever searching the Internet in the hope of finding guitar and bass tablature to satisfy me; however in the end after searching fruitlessly, I decided that I should tab out the songs myself. This led me to create The Blue Casket, which (as I've already stated) main purpose is to produce guitar and bass tablature for the game's soundtrack. Originally starting off on Freewebs; The Blue Casket has since then been re-designed and kindly been given a sub-domain under the popular Grim Fandango fan website: The Department of Death. The whole idea of producing tablature for the game's soundtrack is now around 4 and a half years old, having been planted in my brain around August 2005. Take a look around and enjoy! =) Now, I try to ensure that all songs I produce tablature for are more or less correct before I add them to the website. This is a time-consuming process for me alone as I don't use any sort of crazy tablature software to aid me. All I use are Notepad, and my ears. With each piece of tablature, I will include the track name and number, and where it can be heard in the game; for those who may not have access to the soundtrack, and for those of you who are just curious. Bass Tabs / Guitar Tabs / Links Any comments or kind words? Want to submit your own Grim Fandango tablature for me to have a look at? Drop me a line at daniel_goodman@hotmail.com The Soundtrack Grim Fandango's soundtrack can be downloaded from a number of places; most notably: The Grim Fandango Network, Ninth World, and of course The Department of Death. The official soundtrack (OST) features 32 tracks from the game and covers a number of different musical genres. Some of you may have heard of the PC soundtrack, which is essentially made up of literally every single piece of music in the game, including the songs already found on the official soundtrack. The goal of this site is to tab out the official soundtrack, although if and whenever that may be completed; the PC soundtrack would be next. Recent Updates 28th October 2008 - I've been quite busy so I've only had time to do a few tabs. I know I said I'd do Companeros, but I've been working on Bone Wagon instead, since it's one I've been wanting to do for a long time. I've got the actual guitar part worked out for it. All that's missing is the guitar tab for the saxophone solo and the crazy clarinet solo, which I've yet to do. I've added it to the site, but will edit it once I've worked out the rest. I've also added "This Elevator Is Slow" for bass guitar. 31st March 2009 - Haven't updated for a long while. I said I'd do Companeros for guitar and I shall over the next week or two, providing I have the time. I've added a little melody draft for it that I'm using as a guide. It's by no means 100% correct as I was literally playing from memory on an out of tune guitar. The rest will come soon. I've also added Hector Steps Out for bass. Only 57 seconds long, but near impossible to hear that walking bass line. I've wanted to do it for a while, as walking bass lines are my favourite kind of bass line =) 1st April 2009 - Second melody draft added for Companeros. Not 100% complete but accurate for the most part, especially since I tuned my guitar and listened to the song this time =) 22nd February 2010 - Haven't updated in a looooong time. Life has this little habit of constantly getting in the way and over the last few months I've just found less and less time to update the site and produce some new Grim Fandango tablature; which is very time consuming I might add. I've ever so slightly up-dated the ever so slightly out-dated homepage, and am considering opening up the floor to anyone who wants to start giving me a hand in tabbing out some more of the soundtrack. I'll go away and attempt to create some cool-looking graphic to capture your attention and try to write a body of text explaining the finer points of this. In the mean time, here is a favourite song of mine... They Might Be Giants - Birdhouse In Your Soul They Might Be Giants | MySpace Music Videos The Blue Casket Needs You! In a recent update I mentioned considering opening up the floor to those of you who might like to contribute tablature to the site. Essentially what I'm saying is if you have any Grim Fandango tablature or you'd like to tab out a song or two and send it to me; you can. However, I must stress that anything you send must be correct, or at least 95% correct. I'm sure we've all had experiences where we've heard a song and gone to a tablature website only to find the tablature that's been submitted by a user is way off, and sometimes just completely and utterly wrong. Obviously I do not wish for that to happen here; for the benefit of everyone. If you're sending a tab, include a name that you'd like to go with it; because I'm not going to stick it on the site a pretend it's mine. That would be plagiarism. It would also be very naughty. Be sure to put "The Blue Casket" as the subject line. I get a lot of email at my address and this'll help me distinguish it better. Email: daniel_goodman@hotmail.com |
Talk about making a federal case of it. When a gray Dodge Caravan collided with a white Toyota 4Runner in May while looping around Sheridan Circle in Northwest Washington, it appeared to be a run-of-the-mill fender bender that occurred during the morning rush hour. The only damage was to the Toyota’s left rear bumper. D.C. police Officer Jenae Ross wrote the Caravan’s driver a $100 ticket, citing “changing lanes without caution.” But the driver of the Caravan, Benjamin Huff, works for the FBI as a civilian investigative specialist, and he was on the clock when the accident occurred. Either he or his bosses decided to fight the ticket. But the federal government doesn’t like its agents tried before local judges. Not even, it turns out, for a traffic ticket. A case against a federal agent has to be, well, a federal case. And so Friday, an assistant U.S. attorney filed in U.S. District Court case 14-cfv-01399, a “notice of removal” in what has become the District of Columbia, Office of the Attorney General v. Benjamin Huff, Federal Bureau of Investigation. In essence, the papers “remove” the case from the D.C. Department of Motor Vehicles’ Adjudication Services office — which had scheduled a hearing on the matter for this coming Friday at 7:30 a.m. — and put it into the hands of the federal court. It was done, the filing says, “to ensure that federal officers or agents shall not be forced to answer for conduct assertedly within their duty in any court except a federal court.” Bill Miller, the chief spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the District, declined to comment, a stock phrase good enough, it turns out, for high-level corruption cases as well as lowly traffic citations. Ted Gest, the spokesman for the D.C. attorney general’s office, representing the DMV, wouldn’t speak on the matter, either. Just what is all the fuss about? The driver of the Toyota, Mark Andrew McCoy, of Alexandria, told police that the Caravan, driven by Huff, tried to move from the right lane to the left lane, striking his car. The officer issued Huff a ticket but wrote in the report that she had cited McCoy. The U.S. attorney’s office contends in its court filing that the report is one-sided, giving only McCoy’s account of the accident. It also mentions the officer’s notation about who was cited, arguing she ticketed the wrong person. Huff’s version of the accident isn’t provided, but his government attorney assures the court that “after conducting its own internal investigation, the FBI finds no basis for the Notice of Infraction. Therefore, based on the above facts, the U.S. Department of Justice authorized representation of Huff.” A court date hasn’t been scheduled. Get updates on your area delivered via e-mail |
Tempo Storm have defeated TSM 2-0 (Dust2 16-6, Cobblestone 16-14) in the consolidation final of MLG Americas Minor, which secured them a spot at the ESL One Cologne Main Qualifier, taking place on June 9-12 in Katowice. The series for the second spot from the Americas Minor and overall the last one for ESL One Cologne's Main Qualifier started on TSM's pick, Dust2. It was Tempo Storm who started off the better though, as they built up their economy by winning the first three rounds quite comfortably on the back of Ricardo "boltz" Prass's three kills in the CT pistol round. The number two team in Brazil kept racking up rounds as all of their players were going off in several gunrounds, especially Lucas "LUCAS1" Teles who got two triples on the way to a dominating 9-0 lead. TSM got their very first opening kill in the tenth round and managed to capitalize on it with two rounds as Null element got three kills. The remaining four rounds were split two to two after another triple from boltz and Tempo's unsuccessful aggression in upper dark. hen1 and boltz played an amazing series The game of triples continued as Hunter "SicK" Mims started off the second pistol with another one from B platform, but boltz found a reply with one of his own, including a 1v2 clutch. At that point map one was nearly over, and while TSM found their way to two more rounds, they were traded for two on the side of Brazil, who won map one at 16-6. Cobblestone started with OpTic performing a clean retake for an early 2-0 lead, but three kills from João "felps" Vasconcellos kicked off a four-round streak for his team. The next couple of rounds went back and forth before Tempo Storm took over with five in a row due to individual performances from boltz and Henrique "HEN1" Teles for a 10-5 half. TSM barely survived the pistol round, and that time around they were the ones to win clutches on the Terrorist side, starting with one from SicK in the 12th round. Kory "SEMPHIS" Friesen then followed it up with a 1v2 in the first gunround, and the North American side soon took the lead back at 11-10. After boltz and felps combined for five, TSM were quick in breaking their opposition's economy and took it to 13-11. Despite TSM getting one round away from match point just after boltz found his way to four kills, Tempo Storm were the ones to close it down at 16-14, all thanks to HEN1's monstrous performance in the last four rounds. 13 kills from him in those four rounds as well as two 1v2's single-handedly secured his team the grand final and a place at the ESL One Cologne Main Qualifier. MLG Regional Minor Championship Americas Best of 3 TSM Matchpage 0 2 Tempo Storm 6 Dust2 16 14 Cobblestone 16 TSM K - D +/- ADR Rating 2.0 Hunter 'SicK' MimsSicK 45 - 40 +5 90.4 1.26 Timothy 'autimatic' Taautimatic 33 - 41 -8 72.1 0.84 Pujan 'FNS' MehtaFNS 30 - 44 -14 71.4 0.81 Russel 'Twistzz' Van DulkenTwistzz 32 - 42 -10 68.6 0.79 Kory 'SEMPHIS' FriesenSEMPHIS 22 - 41 -19 49.5 0.70 Tempo Storm K - D +/- ADR Rating 2.0 Ricardo 'boltz' Prassboltz 60 - 31 +29 116.5 1.73 Henrique 'HEN1' TelesHEN1 53 - 27 +26 91.5 1.62 João 'felps' Vasconcellosfelps 33 - 36 -3 75.2 1.04 Lucas 'LUCAS1' TelesLUCAS1 33 - 31 +2 70.4 1.02 Gustavo 'SHOOWTiME' GonçalvesSHOOWTiME 28 - 37 -9 70.5 0.96 The full team list for ESL One Cologne Main Qualifier is now following: The grand final of the MLG Americas Minor is now ahead, scheduled to begin at 20:20, but it will likely take longer to start, and it will be a rematch of the upper bracket final between Tempo Storm and OpTic. |
Today I found out American “buffalo” are not actually buffalo. The American “buffalo” are actually bison. Specifically, they are “Bison bison”. The only true buffalo are the Asian water buffalo and the African buffalo. The American bison are actually very closely related to the Wisent, which are European bison. American bison are also somewhat closely related to cattle. In fact, they can interbreed readily with cattle, something that buffalo have never been observed to do. Even in lab experiments, buffalo-cattle embryos have failed to ever reach maturity. So why do we call American bison “buffalo”? There is some speculation that this simply came from Europeans associating them with African and Asian buffalo, giving them the same name. But this seems unlikely as American Bison strongly resemble the European wisent bison, much more so than the African or Asian buffalo. A more likely scenario is that they were named such because the American “buffalo” were primarily prized by Europeans for their hides. “Buffe” or “bufle” were commonly used as names, at that time, for any animal that provided a good hide for buff leather. Bonus Facts: Another common myth surrounding American Bison is that there were massive herds, before the “white man” came to America, on the scale that Americans eventually encountered them at. In fact, evidence suggests that the Native Americans kept the bison populations regulated by various means. After the European diseases wiped out most of the Native Americans, the American Bison population exploded, becoming the most numerous large wild mammal on Earth until eventually hunted to near extinction within a few centuries after this population explosion. At their peak, it was estimated that there were nearly 100 million American Bison in existence, only a few centuries ago. Before horses and guns were introduced to Native Americans, hunting bison was a dangerous affair, with the bison being quite aggressive and hard to kill. One of the methods of hunting them that the Native Americans would use was to attempt to herd a large group of bison into chutes of rock, which lead to a cliff. They’d then incite a stampede with most of the herd falling to their deaths. The meat and skins could then be easily gathered. American bison were eventually brought to near extinction by the late 19th century. The U.S. army sanctioned the whole-sale slaughter of the bison herds to allow cattle ranchers to establish themselves without competition. This also hurt the Native American tribes who depended on the bison herds for survival. The Native American tribes themselves, now armed with guns and horses, also contributed to the demise of the bison, killing about 1/3 of a million Bison per year in the southern plains alone. The bison hides were also extremely valuable around this same time. One single hide in good condition would bring in about $3. Made into a winter coat, it could bring in as much as $50. A single skilled hunter, such as Buffalo Bill Cody, could kill and skin as many as 100 bison in one day’s work. Around this same era, a common worker would only make a little under $1 a day. Buffalo Bill Cody is estimated to have killed around 20,000 bison in his lifetime. Ironically, he was one of the most outspoken supporters of plans to protect the bison populations through legislation. In the end, President Grant vetoed the bill that would have protected the herds, due to the frequent small wars the U.S. had to fight with the Plains Indians. By getting rid of the bison herds, it took away the Plains Indians primary food and clothing source. American Bison meat is lower in fat and cholesterol than beef. This is largely why efforts have been made to cross-breed them, creating “beefalo”. Wild American bison are one of the most dangerous animals to encounter in the United States. In Yellowstone National Park alone, nearly five times as many people are killed by bison than by bears every year. The bison can reach speeds of up to 35 miles per hour and are surprisingly nimble, making them difficult to avoid if they attack. Because of the cross breeding, while it’s estimated there are a few hundred thousand American bison remaining in the world, only about 14,000 or so of them are pure bison, the rest being mixed with cattle. The “American” bison has only been in America for around 10,000 years, having migrated across the Bering Strait. There are currently around 150 million water buffalo in the world today, with nearly all of them being in Asia. African buffalo are extremely aggressive. So much so, that they have never been successfully domesticated. They also have no common predators outside of humans as an adult African buffalo is fully capable of killing a single adult lion, crocodiles, and the like, making them one of the most dangerous animals in Africa along with Hippos. Lions will occasionally manage to get an adult buffalo on its own and then, together, can sometimes bring it down. But typically the herd will stick together to prevent this from happening. The herd will also attack any threat to any part of the herd. When a distress call is heard from a member of the herd, the buffalo will mob the attacker. African buffalo kill around 200 people a year. Expand for References |
Steam adds non-gaming software starting September 5th. Valve is opening up Steam to non-gaming software, the company announced today, bringing applications ranging from "creativity to productivity" to the digital distribution platform. The first software titles will be released on September 5th. Non-gaming software sold via Steam will take advantage of the platform's Steamworks features, which include simplified installation, auto-updating, and the ability to save work to the Steam Cloud for cross-platform access from multiple computers. "The 40 million gamers frequenting Steam are interested in more than playing games," said Valve's Mark Richardson in a press release. "They have told us they would like to have more of their software on Steam, so this expansion is in response to those customer requests." In July, the Steam mobile application leaked Valve's plans to add non-gaming software to its vast library, with application categories for accounting, animation and modeling, audio production, design and illustration, education, photo editing, software training and more. Valve says that developers of non-gaming software titles will be able to submit applications via the company's recently announced Steam Greenlight initiative. |
Gamers are easy pickings for comedians, especially out-of-touch comedians who fail to recognize the fact that a vast majority of people in the developed world (as well as many in the developing world) play video games as one of their favorite pasttimes. I shouldn't even need to mention how the video game industry is the fastest growing, and has become—in recent years—larger even than the music, television and movie industries. Video games are big, and they're here to stay. Leading the forefront of video game popularity is the newly launched YouTube Gaming service, which takes all of the gaming-related videos from the most popular video streaming platform on the internet and makes them easy to access. On YouTube Gaming, you'll find everything from popular channels like our own, video game commentators like TotalBiscuit, live streamers, and let's players like PewDiePie and Markiplier. It's a multi-million dollar industry developed by gamers that caters to gamers of every ilk, and there's a lot of us. Late night talk show host Jimmy Kimmel, whose staff apparently never even bothered to watch the recent episodes of South Park that focused on the popularity of YouTube gaming, decided to run a skit mocking the newly launched service as well as the millions of gamers who watch game streams. Despite earning over 500,000 views, the video has since become the channel's most downvoted and unpopular video. Today, Kimmel uploaded a new video where he talked about the angry comments that viewers left on the previous video, mocking them for their spelling errors (choosing of course to only read comments by viewers who don't have the best grasp of spelling) and their hobby, once again. Obviously, what Kimmel says about games doesn't diminish gaming or streaming. Kimmel has every right to do this, of course, but it betrays how out of touch the guy and his writing staff really are to be making fun of gamers. It's not the 1980's anymore. As for why people watch other people play video games: it's for a wide variety of reasons. They might not own the game that they're watching and intend to see if it's worth buying. They might enjoy watching a particularly skilled player show them how to play the game. They might enjoy watching competitive players go up against each other in a match or a tournament. Or they might simply be entertained by a witty commentator whose amusing reactions and commentary makes the videos worth watching. Many sports struggle to see the the kind of prize pools and viewership garnered by the likes of eSports like Dota 2, League of Legends, and Counter-Strike. Only last month, the winners of the Dota 2 tournament The International picked up $18 million in winnings. Meanwhile, the fighting game tournament Evo 2015 saw 18 million total viewers. There's no word yet on how many concurrent viewers The International 5 drew, but it's expected to be in the millions. It goes without saying that it's possible to enjoy video games without spending the vast majority of your time actually playing them. How is it any different from watching people—whether professionally or on a local field—play soccer and not personally participating? Many hardcore sports fans spend a good chunk of their time reading about sports, studying the players, listening to podcasts and watching ESPN talk about the sports. When it comes down to it, it's really no different from video gaming as a hobby. Just as ESPN's SportsCenter serve as a platform for well-respected hosts, commentators and reporters, so too do the gaming communities on YouTube and Twitch feature personalities known for their expertise in certain video games or the industry at large. Once again, Kimmel and his writing staff have every right to hold and express opinions that betray their ignorance of the gaming community. But by doing so, his skits and his already-outdated jokes will serve as cringe fodder for gamers to laugh at in the years to come. |
Google is going full force into the health and fitness market. Most fitness-related apps are getting Google Fit integration or being updated to accommodate Fit. This time, Google has teamed up with Withings, Polar, and Google Fit to launch the Google Fit Developer Challenge. Nope, the Google Fit Developer Challenge isn’t a sports and physical competition. Well, sort-of but developers are only required to submit smart fitness apps. No need to flex those unused muscles, geeks. Just develop health and fitness apps for Android Wear to Google. The apps must be optimized for Android Wear-powered wearables especially those smart devices from Polar, Withings, and Adidas. Google will accept app submissions until February 17. More details are listed on the official Google Fit Developer webpage. Developers are required to submit Google Play store link to app. You need to register and be an official Google developer first before submitting the app. Winners will be chosen and announced the following month. Google will also be promoting the apps immediately. Here’s a list of all the prizes for the top 6 updated apps and top 6 new apps: • Promoted and shared by Google Play via email newsletter, social accounts, etc. • Featured on Google Play • Withings smart scale • Android Wear smartwatch selected by Google • Polar Loop activity tracker and H7 heart rate sensor • Adidas X_CELL and SPEED_CELL On the other hand, the runners-up will receive smart devices from Adidas, Polar, and Withings—new Google Fit partners. The next 50 new and 50 updates apps will win all the devices listed whle the next 100 new and 100 updated apps will receive Adidas sensors and a Wear device. VIA: Slashgear |
Women have made their mark in the world of music since time immemorial. Be it classical or commercial genres, they have come out with flying colours. However, there has been little scope for budding female artistes who seek a platform to showcase their talent in the world of Disk Jockeying. Recognizing this need, ‘Dance Music Event’ had launched the ‘Women In Music’ festival last year where women musicians from different parts of the world gathered to perform their genre of music. Continuing the spirit of music this year as well, DME recently launched the second edition of the annual ‘Women In Music’ festival at the Claridges. The festival will last for five days, beginning 16th May. Monica Dogra was announced as the Brand ambassador for ‘DME Women In Music’. An American singer of Indian origin, Monica’s band Shaa'ir and Func has been recognized internationally and is known for the electro rock music. Dogra also made her debut in Kiran Rao’s Dhobhi Ghat and has hosted a musical collaborative show called ‘Dewarists.’ Suvidha Dhalwani, Head of the ‘Dance Music Event’ was also present on the occasion. “We have got a number of female artists approaching us since the inception of WIM festival last year. Last time we had 12 DJs from across the world and this year we have 22 DJs who would be performing at different venues. So, it is bigger and better this time.” The idea is to explore the dynamic progress of women in music and to recognize the musical prowess of the upcoming female artists. DJing is considered to be a male dominated area but now women DJs are creating their space among DJs. “There is a very famous quote that I would like to mention here - ‘feminism is not about equality but reprieve.’ We women have definitely moved forward but DJing still needs that feminine touch,” says Monica. On being asked as to why she chose to be the brand ambassador of WIM, Monica said, “DME has created this platform for the upcoming female talent in the music world. For me it’s being a feminist musically, so why not?!” A visibly excited Dogra announced names of participants who will be performing during the 5 day festival and includes DJs from Mumbai, Pune, Delhi, Goa and places such as Italy, Germany, Brussels and Kiev. These DJs would be performing at 12 different venues including Aura, Blue Frog, Smoke House Grill, Shroom, Hype, Urban pind, Fbar, Capitol, Jynxx, and Clarion. However the show stopper this year will be British musician/singer/DJ Sonique who will be performing live for her fans in a special appearance exclusively at the festival. Some of her biggest hits include 'it feels so good' and 'sky'. |
Known for his seminal but immensely controversial book, Why I am not a Hindu (1996), Kancha Ilaiah, does not mollify his audience — an experience I have lived firsthand, having attended Ilaiah’s lecture series at the Asian College of Journalism. Currently, the Director of the Centre for Social Exclusion and Inclusive Policy at Maulana Azad National Urdu University and former associate professor at the Department of Political Science in Osmania University, Ilaiah’s works have often been described by his critics as “cheap rhetoric”, provocative, while some others point to the inconsistencies in methodology, lack of academic rigour. He acknowledges that he has been told be “mild” and that he “should not be writing what he does” by many in his lifetime. Perhaps that is true for most writers who write on Hinduism, Hindu Culture and Brahminism: Wendy Doniger’s Hinduism: An Alternate History drew ire from the religious right wing outfits, Perumal Murugan’s book about ritual, One Part Woman was not accepted by right wing groups and the author decided to withdraw books from sale. Late MM Kalburgi, noted scholar on Vachana literature was shot dead; he found that the worship of Ganesha was not prescribed in texts, but a myth. Last year, a case was filed against Ilaiah by the VHP for hurting religious sentiments over his article published in a Telugu daily titled — Devudu Prajasamya Vada Kada (Is God a democrat?); around the time IIT Madras clamped down hard upon Ambedkar Periyar Circle, a student group that engages in socio-political discussions. More recently, Rohith Vemula’s suicide exposed the seedy cracks in the walls of higher education, where caste discrimination is bona fide. Ilaiah circles around a miscellany of topics when he speaks — he has examples, stories and tales, ready for your eager consumption. Ilaiah also keeps his ears to the ground and reacts whenever there is a need. Soon after Rohith Vemula’s suicide, Ilaiah wrote in an op-ed that dalit students like Vemula were creating a “new cultural idiom” and by that he meant engaging in a quest for transformation. Ilaiah is quick to correct me when I drop the word, identity: The struggles at JNU, University of Hyderabad, Jadavpur University, IIT-Madras’s issue with Ambedkar Periyar Circle, beef festivals in Osmania or EFLU are “not a struggle for identity” according to Ilaiah — these are about “transformative, political, ideological issues.” The eating of beef, exercising the right to freedom of speech and being a human without the politics of caste, is the “transformation” he means. “I am more bothered about transformation of society where equality is the goal. These are not identity issues, but equality issues, these are issues of Indian democracy becoming mature. Identity is just a low grade of that, transformation is the next level,” he asserts. A conversation with Ilaiah is never linear, but one that meanders. Elaborating upon Ambedkarism, Ilaiah decides to make a point about democratic food culture being a pertinent aspect of the doctrine. To illustrate this point, however, Ilaiah resorts to grand rhetoric that unabashedly trespasses into the absurd — “vegetarianism is anti-nationalism...if a whole (sic) nation becomes vegetarian, its protein levels will go down. You know why West Indies won all the games? It is because they eat protein rich food.” Despite such digressions, Ilaiah tells me, “everyone should be free to consume what they want, pork or beef,” — an appropriate critique of the State that is currently obsessed with regulating its citizens’ lunches and dinners. As far as Ambedkarism is concerned, it is hard to miss that political parties across all leanings have embraced Ambedkar in the recent past, including the RSS. Most posters have his image and speeches are not made without invoking his name. How does Ilaiah understand this? “Ethicality of equality is missing in Hinduism” and the RSS cannot pick and choose ideas. The Congress, Ilaiah feels is on the heels of repositioning itself into importance by deploying Ambedkar’s thoughts into their political strategy. “Rahul Gandhi has taken a radical position, he likely to become a reformist politician.” Ilaiah’s beef with most parties is with their dilly-dallying on aspects of Indian history and not taking a solid stand on any of those aspects, especially Buddha and Ambedkar’s relationship with Buddhism. Again, always one to poke the grizzly, he makes statements about how the RSS must embrace Buddhism. Ilaiah is also not particularly enthused by Communism’s tepid treatment of ancient Indian history — “they want to take everything combined from (sic) Hinduism is good, Vedas are also good...Socialism is good and Vivekananda is also good or that Shankaracharya is also good...no! This doesn’t work. This puts them in a confused status.” Caste politics are updating across the country, protests have sparked in various regions over gaining the ‘Backward Caste’ tag — Jats, Harayana’s farming community members sought to be included in the OBC list in 2008, Kapus from Andhra Pradesh, Gujjars from Rajasthan, Patels from Gujarat, Marathas from Maharashtra also demanded the reservation tags. This renewed interest in claiming the backward caste tag, according to Ilaiah is “dalitisation” — a term he coined in his 1996 book, he had ideated that a time would emerge when people would look for spiritual equality — “Dalitised mode of thinking, God has made all humans equal,” he explains. “Today the caste which did not want want reservations, Jat, Gujjars, Patels and Kapus are asking for reservations,” and the solution he says is to give them their position in society, in the community. “What is an open quota? In essence it is a Brahmin quota,” he slickly pronounces. The Dalitisation process “will happen more and more, labour will be respected” he says. When I ask him about how things have changed since Independence, he says that while there has been gradual progress, the oppressed are still oppressed. “There is a quantitative change, but there is no qualitative change,” says Ilaiah, his disenchantment is manifest. He attributes positives to the Constitutional provisions, such as the right to vote, employment and education but strongly espouses the idea that the caste system is “rigid” and benefits those in the upper echelons: Brahmins. The Shudras, according to Ilaiah have been kept away from the spiritual and intellectual domain — Brahmins still have a tight grip on areas of “policy formulation and transformation.” He says in an exasperated tone, “change is very little,” and explains that if men and women are burnt alive for marrying into other castes, there is no change; “Shankaracharya saying women entering temples will increase rape is not Ambedkar’s India,” he adds. Often understood as a staunch anti-Brahmin or one that is looking to annihilate an entire race through his “venomous” writings, Ilaiah addresses these with ease, “We are not saying that there Brahmins should have no place in this country or that we should be violent. In our religion, as Ambedkar has given, equality in every sphere.” The envelope needs to pushed — “where we are free equal human beings.” Firstpost is now on WhatsApp. For the latest analysis, commentary and news updates, sign up for our WhatsApp services. Just go to Firstpost.com/Whatsapp and hit the Subscribe button. |
Five Israelis were injured after a firebomb was thrown at their car near Beit El late on Friday afternoon, amid a day of clashes between Palestinians and security forces Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter Reports indicated that one of the victims, a four-year-old girl was moderately wounded. The four other victims were lightly wounded as a result of their burns. The infant's car seat (Photo: Hatzola) The attack took place on route 60 in the West Bank near Beit El, and all five were evacuated to Haddasah Ein Karem hospital for further treatment. According to MDA reports, the youngest victim, the 4-year-old girl, was suffering from burns to her upper body, while the other 4 victims: The girl's father, mother, brother and sister, had sustained burns on their extremities. Video from the scene (צילום: הצלה יו"ש) X Authorities had lifted age restrictions for Muslim worshippers on the Temple Mount on Friday and afternoon prayers ended without incident, but Palestinian riots began shortly after in several locations across the West Bank and Gaza including Hebron, Beit Umar, Ramallah and Bethlehem. Clashes in Hebron Palestinians involved in the violence burned tires and threw stones at security forces, lightly injuring one border policeman in Beit El who received treatment at the scene. Clashes in Gaza (צילם: רועי עידן) X Clashes also erupted between masked youths and security forces on the northern and southern portions of the Gaza strip, adjacent to the border fence. In the northern portion of the strip, dozens of youths threw rocks at the Erez crossing, while youths threw stones and lit tires on fire on the portion of the border fence that sits adjacent to Khan Younis. The border clashes have become common place in recent weeks, and Palestinian medical sources had reported that four Palestinian man had been wounded by live fire during clashes near the Gaza border fence. A Gazan man had also reportedly succumbed to his wounds at Gaza's Shifa hospital on Friday, as a result of wounds sustained during clashes on the border last week. Gaza protests (Photo:Reuters) Friday was designated by Hamas as a "day of rage" and protesters began marching in the Gaza Strip but have not yet reached the border fence where Palestinians have clashed with IDF troops several times in the last few weeks. Youths before the clashes in Gaza (Photo: Reuters) Earlier in the day, a Palestinian stabbed a soldier in the West Bank and was shot by troops, the military said. The soldier was wounded in the stabbing, and the 16-year old assailant was shot and injured. |
London: BBC staff turned a blind eye to the sexual abuse by star presenter Jimmy Savile of up to 1000 girls and boys in the corporation's changing rooms and studios. An internal inquiry by former judge Janet Smith found Savile's behaviour had been recognised by executives at the world's biggest public broadcaster, but they took no action to stop him, according to the Observer newspaper on Sunday. Findings: The Smith inquiry suggests up to 1000 people were abused by Jimmy Savile. Credit:Getty Images A police investigation concluded last year that the television and radio presenter, who died in 2011 aged 84, was a predatory sex offender who abused children as young as eight over more than 50 years. It identified 450 victims, but the Smith inquiry suggests up to 1000 people were abused by Savile while he was working for the BBC, the Observer reported. |
UPDATED: The $100 million sci-fi epic is losing the Easter weekend race to holdovers "Captain America: The Winter Soldier" and "Rio 2," as well as new Christian film "Heaven Is for Real." Sci-fi epic Transcendence is bombing in its Easter weekend debut, marking another major box-office disappointment for Johnny Depp after The Lone Ranger and Dark Shadows. The $100 million movie is even losing to Heaven Is for Real, the latest faith-based title to prosper at the box office. Transcendence, coming in No. 4 on Good Friday with an opening-day gross of $4.8 million from 3,455 theaters, may have trouble crossing $13 million for the weekend after receiving scathing reviews and a dismal C+ CinemaScore. Transcendence intends to make up ground overseas, where it is getting a coveted day-and-date release in China. PHOTOS: 25 of the Most Anticipated Foreign Films of 2014 Marvel and Disney's Captain America: The Winter Soldier placed No. 1 on Friday with $9.7 million from 3,825 locations, and is tipped to win its third consecutive weekend with $25 million (to boot, it should hit the $200 million mark at the domestic box office on Sunday). Fox's Rio 2 came in No. 2 Friday with $9.7 million from 3,975 theaters for a projected $23 million weekend, pushing its domestic total to $76 million through Sunday. Heaven Is for Real, opening on Wednesday, continues to exceed expectations. The Christian film, released by Sony's TriStar label and earning an A CinemaScore, came in No. 3 Friday with a stellar $7.8 million from 2,417 locations for a projected $20 million weekend. That would put its five-day debut at $27 million. Produced by influential pastor T. D. Jakes, director Randall Wallace and Hollywood veteran Joe Roth, Heaven Is for Real stars Greg Kinnear. The drama is doing strong business in the country's Bible Belt, but is also appealing to mainstream audiences. Heading into the weekend, no one expected Heaven Is for Real to beat Transcendence. Alcon Entertainment co-financed Transcendence with China's DMG Entertainment, while Warner Bros. is handling domestic distribution duties. Summit International sold Transcendence overseas to independent distributors, covering much of the budget. Straight Up Films developed the project, and brought it to Alcon. Outside of Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides in 2011, Depp's most recent films -- Lone and Ranger, Dark Shadows and The Rum Diary -- have struggled badly in the U.S. Generally speaking, he remains a far more potent star overseas, although Lone Ranger and Dark Shadows still bombed. Depp was paid a reported $20 million for Transcendence. Marking the directorial debut of cinematographer Wally Pfister -- a favorite of Christopher Nolan's -- Transcendence stars Depp as a brilliant scientist whose mind is uploaded into a computer after he is gunned down. Rebecca Hall and Morgan Freeman also star, while Nolan and his wife, Emma Thomas, served as executive producers. Easter weekend sees two other new nationwide offerings -- A Haunted House 2 and Disney documentary Bears. FILM REVIEW: Transcendence IM Global's Haunted House 2 placed No. 5 Friday with an estimated $4 million from 2,310 theaters for a projected three-day debut in the $9 million to $11 million range, compared to roughly $18 million for the first film. Open Road Films is distributing the comedy-horror title, which reteams director Michael Tiddes and star Marlon Wayans. Haunted House 2, a follow-up to the 2013 box office hit, cost just $3 million to produce. Wayans co-wrote the script with his longtime filmmaking partner Rick Alvarez. Bears is doing slightly less than expected, placing No. 9 Friday with $2.3 million from 1,720 theaters for a projected $5 million weekend. Directed by Alastair Fothergill and Keith Scholey, the nature documentary follows a family of grizzly bears living in Alaska. John C. Reilly narrated the film. |
Looking gift horsemen in the mouth. THE DEPROLIFERATOR — Many of us hoped for more from the Nuclear Posture Review (of government policy on nuclear weapons) — such as that it stand up like a man instead of continue to work from the crouch. Still, as with the new START treaty, it may not be transformational, but it is transitional. As Jeffrey Lewis, these days one of the media’s automatic go-to guys (and deservedly) when it comes to nuclear weapons, writes about the details, “none of that will matter a year from now. I suspect we will look back at this period — the release of the Nuclear Posture Review, the signing of the Prague Treaty, the Nuclear Security Summit and the NPT Review conference — and say that this was a pivot point, the moment when we began talking about nuclear weapons on terms that are different from those of the Cold War.” But just because we’re talking about nukes in terms different from those of the Cold War doesn’t mean that there aren’t many of us who aren’t on good terms with the new NPR. Let’s begin by reviewing one of the circumstances that helped pave the way for President Obama to negotiate the new START, revise the NPR, and arouse hopes for an international security meeting this month and the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty review conference that has just begun. We’re speaking about the celebrated series of Wall Street Journal op-eds written by the “Four Horsemen.” (Yeah, I know — kind of silly when groups of four people are reflexively termed “horsemen” or “gang of.” Still, the of-the-Apocalypse implication comes at the expense of the reputations of at least three of them.) They, of course, were Henry Kissinger; another former secretary of state, George Schultz; a secretary of defense, William Perry; and long-time senator and chairman of the Committee on Armed Services, Sam Nunn. Their first op-ed, which appeared in January of 2007, with its call for the gradual abolition of nuclear weapons, caught many by surprise. Heck, they were even willing to eventually throw the baby — deterrence — out with the bathwater. Disarmament, they claimed, was “consistent with America’s moral heritage.” The aging equestrians renewed their call in January of 2008 when they presented a soon to be oft-quoted analogy: “In some respects, the goal of a world free of nuclear weapons is like the top of a very tall mountain. … We must chart a course to higher ground where the mountaintop becomes more visible.” But as Darwin Bondgraham, Nicholas Robinson, and Will Parrish wrote of the four horsemen in a blockbuster article for Z Magazine in 2009: The novelty of such a hawkish [aside from Nunn, noted for his co-authorship of the Nunn-Lugar Cooperative Threat Reduction program — RW] and bipartisan coalition. . . promoting the goal of nuclear disarmament, has curiously been spared critical reflection by long-time anti-nuclear activists. Indeed, many of the more established arms control, disarmament, and peace organizations. . . have fallen over themselves with eagerness to cite the WSJ essay and the supposedly new political terrain it maps out. Indeed, the third 4-H op-ed, “How to Protect Our Nuclear Deterrent,” published after the Z piece, finally gave the disarmament community pause. Shortly afterwards, the same trio wrote of the Four Horsemen that they: . . . have gone so far as to call for a surge in nuclear weapons spending at the national laboratories. The Four Horsemen endorse the view of a recent Congressional committee on nuclear weapons policy. . . which concluded that “investments are urgently needed. . . in the laboratories’ budgets for the science, technology, and engineering programs that support and underwrite the nation’s nuclear deterrent.” In fact, they maintain: With their direct links to the corporations that manage the weapons labs. . . the Four Horsemen are the chief negotiators working through public forums to limit the extent of arms control treaties and extract the biggest pro-nuclear lab concessions. [The] technocratic corps of [the Los Alamos and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratories] have long been known as powerful bulwarks against international treaties that limit nuclear arms development. Or, as Jonathan Schell, less than thrilled by the new START, wrote in the Nation: “If this trend continues, it is entirely possible that the ultimate mockery will occur: nuclear arsenals will march forward into the future under a banner that reads Ban the Bomb.” Kindly Keep Your Thoughts About Conspiracy Theories to Yourself Meanwhile, what about those “direct links to the corporations that manage the weapons labs”? Rather than allowing a neat policy process carried out at the executive level to determine the future of the nuclear weapons complex, forces with financial. . . stakes in nuclear weaponry, working through think tanks like [the Hoover Institute], or corporate entities like Bechtel and the University of California, are actively attempting to lock in a de-facto set of policies by building a new research, design, and production infrastructure that will ensure nuclear weapons are a centerpiece of the US military empire far into the future. The crux of their argument: Their ability to accomplish this is dependent on [in part] the illusion, strongly held among arms controllers. . . that the future will ultimately be shaped by what the Nuclear Posture Review says, and whether. . . nonproliferation treaties result in reducing arsenal counts. In other words, we’re watching the wrong hand in the shell game — the political instead of the economic. What’s with the Hoover Institution, the University of California, and Bechtel then? In their their first article, the authors write: For roughly four decades, this influential right-wing think tank has enjoyed a little-known, but fateful. . . affiliation with. . . . the University of California [which] has managed the Los Alamos and Lawrence Livermore nuclear weapons laboratories since their inceptions in the mid-20th century. … In 2003 [after, among other things] a series of revelations concerning security violations and managerial corruption at the labs. . . the U.S. Department of Energy. . . put the lucrative management contracts up for bid. … In response, the UC formed a limited liability corporation (LLC) with the Bechtel Corporation [and later] Lawrence Livermore. Hoover’s Board of Trustees includes current Bechtel CEO Riley Bechtel and aforementioned horse-person William Perry is a senior fellow at Hoover. George Schultz, president of Bechtel for eight years before he became secretary of state, is now a senior fellow at Hoover. In their second article, the authors quote a retired Livermore physicist to the effect that “the new ‘nuclear weapons-zero’ evangelism at the Hoover Institution is another in a long line of carefully crafted excuses to keep open the pipeline from the U.S. Treasury to the nuclear weapons intelligentsia subsidy, and particularly its California contingent.” The Strategic Defense Initiative, itself hatched at Hoover, was an early attempt at what the authors call “anti-nuclear nuclearism” designed to, “disempower the movement for nuclear abolition by seizing the moral high ground from under them, while simultaneously providing huge long-term flows of funding to Los Alamos and Livermore Labs. … These practical agendas are more or less obscured behind the rhetorical agenda of disarmament.” For example: A litmus test for the sincerity of the four horsemen’s desire to pursue nuclear abolition occurred shortly after publication of their initial op-ed. Since 2005, the directors at Los Alamos and Lawrence Livermore had been promoting a program called the Reliable Replacement Warhead (RRW), which they hoped would take the place of Stockpile Stewardship as the raison d’etre of the nuclear weapons complex. Under the rubric of “replacing” existing nuclear warheads and enabling a quantitative reduction in the U.S. arsenal, the labs sought to develop a new model nuclear weapon, receive billions of dollars in funding for production infrastructure, and train cadres of weapons scientists for future careers in the nuclear enterprise. Also enmeshed in the Bechtel-UC web, they write, is, “none other than Obama’s own undersecretary of Arms Control and International Security. . . Ellen Tauscher. … During her tenure in Congress, Tauscher represented California’s conservative 10th Congressional District which includes the Lawrence Livermore Laboratory [and] Lockheed Martin’s Sandia Lab campus in Livermore. … When all is said and done, her role as a US Rep. and now State Department official is to boost nuclear weapons spending at the labs.” Procure pork, that is. To reiterate, thus far, they write that “statements of politicians and elder statesmen about a world free of nuclear weapons. … has served to fix the attention of disarmament and antiwar activists on abstract levels of policy declaration and international negotiation. This has unfortunately blinded them to the political deal-making process at hand.” In other words, disarmament advocates give more weight to the political than the porcine at their own risk. First posted at the Faster Times. |
Info 20 years of Double Decker 15 years of Square of Opposition Saturday 7/16 Doors at 4 MARGE (whig, weiss, and gabby) THE BROOD (ex witchhunt) PHET PHET (ex paramedic, get bent) THE HEADIES (delaware, ex martin) CRYBABY (philly emo, better than beach slang) GLITTER (philly psych pop, ex snow fairies) SUMMER VACATION (Winter Break/only east coast set ever!) DIGGER (travel back in time to the 90's LV pop punk scene) MISCHIEF BREW (alternative tentacles recording stars) IRON CHIC (side one dummy/bridge 9/dead broke rekerds) SNOWING (one more go 'round for the fam, then back to the grave) Sunday 7/17 Doors at 2:30 BROSKI (lehigh valley twerpcore) HORSEBURNER (wester virginia doom) SOUL GLO (philly hc) ORDINARY LIVES (ex bridge and tunnel, off minor) THIN LIPS (member of 1994!, ex dangerous ponies) NONA (one-shot reunion, ex-spraynard) WHITE PISCES (brooklyn, ex street smart cyclist) CASSILIS (semi annual live outing, ex snowing/boy problems) ULTRAMANTIS BLACK (relapse records, nazi killers) NAH (beats and samples, ex 1994!) THE BEDS (everyone from slow warm death) LITERATURE (austin/philly pop sensations, slumberland rec) SLINGSHOT DAKOTA (LV prom king and queen) PLOW UNITED (the best live band on the planet) PISSED JEANS (sub pop, ex gatecrashers) (more details forthcoming) (card subject to change) -------------- Friday 7/15 (PreFest/*NO advanced tickets*) Doors 6:30 [Venue TBA/not merchants square] DOGS ON ACID (jade tree, ex algernon/snowing) SPILL (broken world media, ex we were skeletons) FLORENCE & LIBBY (penns woods hardcore) CASUAL (nj pop punk) KIDS (pocono woods hardcore) + more tba -------------- |
LANSING -- A fan-made Photoshopped image of Michigan State's football uniforms has caused quite a stir. The Detroit Free Press on Wednesday , including a rendering of MSU's football threads created by a user at , an interactive MSU forum and news website. The image where posters discussed MSU's new uniforms, some even taking their own shot at what the finished product will look like. This particular idea took a self-aggrandizing approach, including Spartan Tailgate's logo on MSU's helmet. Free Press writer Steve Schrader asked whether the uniform represented in the Photoshopped image will be donned by the Spartans during their Oct. 15 clash with archrival Michigan. MSU's Athletic Department took little time to put that to rest. "It's definitely not," said Associate Athletic Director John Lewandowski. "People will just have to wait for the official announcement, sometime after Labor Day." Schrader blogged, though, that a member of the Downtown Coaches Club circulated the rendered image to a number of MSU supporters, saying it resembles the football uniforms MSU will roll out against U-M. Spartan Tailgate forum user Hunter Stair admitted to Photoshopping the image and publishing the rendered photo on Spartan Tailgate's Red Cedar Message Board July 23. Hunter, a longtime forum user on Spartan Tailgate, said he was surprised the image was picked up by local and national media outlets. "I wasn't surprised that it fooled anybody," Hunter said. "I have some experience making things go viral. I knew when I made it that it would probably be passed around, but i never thought it would ." An email sent to the Downtown Coaches Club was not immediately returned. Hunter, whose forum username on Spartan Tailgate is , is a video editor and website content creator based in Los Angeles. The 31-year-old said he previously released three doctored versions, but it was the fourth incarnation that received attention. "I was going a little more with what Nike was going for," Hunter said. "This was purely off rumors, but I knew there was going to be black and bronze in it. I was trying to make it look modern and limit the green and white. "I also did a helmet design and that's where I put the logo from the Red Cedar Message Board -- and that's how I wanted to identify that it was fake." For Trevor Barnes, , it was deja vu all over again. Large-scale outcry from fans against began on Spartan Tailgate's Red Cedar Message Board when one user found the logo on an online patent and trademark registry. Barnes said he wasn't shocked his website is at the center of another online episode. He also said he understands how some might have misconstrued a particular forum-goer's personal Photoshop as MSU's official new uniform. "It's not surprising," he said. "I could see someone passing it along to a friend or family member, not knowing it wasn't official." Barnes did say, though, he was surprised to see media outlets conflate fans' discussion with news, adding that duping others into buying fans' renditions as official uniforms was never a goal. "We have 40-some pages in this thread of fans speculating what the uniforms will look like," he said. "It's just speculation, and people are having fun with it." MSU plans in July. The Spartans are one of nine teams selected to wear the special uniforms during the 2011 season. Nike says it worked with each university "to bring relevant elements of the school's rich heritage into a distinguished, modern uniform design." |
Christchurch residents will be able to say how they want the central city rebuilt at a two-day forum next month. The community expo, to be held at the CBS Canterbury Arena on May 14 and 15, will ask residents to share their ideas on how to tackle the massive project. The Christchurch City Council has been charged with leading the inner-city recovery. The expo will be one of the first chances residents have to share their ideas on shaping the central city. Mayor Bob Parker said he wanted as many people there as possible. "We need everyone's ideas if we are to create a central city where people want to live, work and play," he said. "The economic and social success of Christchurch relies on us having a vibrant and prosperous central city, and we can only have that if everyone shares their ideas." Parker said there would be a range of views. From this "wealth of ideas", a draft plan would be crafted to reflect the city's vision. Residents had until the end of June to share their ideas before the draft plan was released for public feedback. The final plan would be given to the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority in December for sign-off, Parker said. |
Neoconservative pundit Robert Kagan and his wife, Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland, run a remarkable family business: she has sparked a hot war in Ukraine and helped launch Cold War II with Russia – and he steps in to demand that Congress jack up military spending so America can meet these new security threats. This extraordinary husband-and-wife duo makes quite a one-two punch for the Military-Industrial Complex, an inside-outside team that creates the need for more military spending, applies political pressure to ensure higher appropriations, and watches as thankful weapons manufacturers lavish grants on like-minded hawkish Washington think tanks. Not only does the broader community of neoconservatives stand to benefit but so do other members of the Kagan clan, including Robert’s brother Frederick at the American Enterprise Institute and his wife Kimberly, who runs her own shop called the Institute for the Study of War. Robert Kagan, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution (which doesn’t disclose details on its funders), used his prized perch on the Washington Post’s op-ed page on Friday to bait Republicans into abandoning the sequester caps limiting the Pentagon’s budget, which he calculated at about $523 billion (apparently not counting extra war spending). Kagan called on the GOP legislators to add at least $38 billion and preferably more like $54 billion to $117 billion: The fact that [advocates for more spending] face a steep uphill battle to get even that lower number passed by a Republican-controlled Congress says a lot — about Republican hypocrisy. Republicans may be full-throated in denouncing [President Barack] Obama for weakening the nation’s security, yet when it comes to paying for the foreign policy that all their tough rhetoric implies, too many of them are nowhere to be found. … The editorial writers and columnists who have been beating up Obama and cheering the Republicans need to tell those Republicans, and their own readers, that national security costs money and that letters and speeches are worse than meaningless without it. … It will annoy the part of the Republican base that wants to see the government shrink, loves the sequester and doesn’t care what it does to defense. But leadership occasionally means telling people what they don’t want to hear. Those who propose to lead the United States in the coming years, Republicans and Democrats, need to show what kind of political courage they have, right now, when the crucial budget decisions are being made. So, the way to show “courage” – in Kagan’s view – is to ladle ever more billions into the Military-Industrial Complex, thus putting money where the Republican mouths are regarding the need to “defend Ukraine” and resist “a bad nuclear deal with Iran.” Yet, if it weren’t for Nuland’s efforts as Assistant Secretary of State for European Affairs, the Ukraine crisis might not exist. A neocon holdover who advised Vice President Dick Cheney, Nuland gained promotions under former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and received backing, too, from current Secretary of State John Kerry. Confirmed to her present job in September 2013, Nuland soon undertook an extraordinary effort to promote “regime change” in Ukraine. She personally urged on business leaders and political activists to challenge elected President Viktor Yanukovych. She reminded corporate executives that the United States had invested $5 billion in their “European aspirations,” and she literally passed out cookies to anti-government protesters in Kiev’s Maidan square. Working with other key neocons, including National Endowment for Democracy President Carl Gershman and Sen. John McCain, Nuland made clear that the United States would back a “regime change” against Yanukovych, which grew more likely as neo-Nazi and other right-wing militias poured into Kiev from western Ukraine. In early February 2014, Nuland discussed US-desired changes with US Ambassador to Ukraine Geoffrey Pyatt (himself a veteran of a “regime change” operation at the International Atomic Energy Agency, helping to install US yes man Yukiya Amano as the director-general in 2009). Nuland treated her proposed new line-up of Ukrainian officials as if she were trading baseball cards, casting aside some while valuing others. “Yats is the guy,” she said of her favorite Arseniy Yatsenyuk. Disparaging the less aggressive European Union, she uttered “Fuck the EU” – and brainstormed how she would “glue this thing” as Pyatt pondered how to “mid-wife this thing.” Their unsecure phone call was intercepted and leaked. Ukraine’s ‘Regime Change’ The coup against Yanukovych played out on Feb. 22, 2014, as the neo-Nazi militias and other violent extremists overran government buildings forcing the president and other officials to flee for their lives. Nuland’s State Department quickly declared the new regime “legitimate” and Yatsenyuk took over as prime minister. Russian President Vladimir Putin, who had been presiding over the Winter Olympics at Sochi, was caught off-guard by the coup next door and held a crisis session to determine how to protect ethnic Russians and a Russian naval base in Crimea, leading to Crimea’s secession from Ukraine and annexation by Russia a year ago. Though there was no evidence that Putin had instigated the Ukraine crisis – and indeed all the evidence indicated the opposite – the State Department peddled a propaganda theme to the credulous mainstream US news media about Putin having somehow orchestrated the situation in Ukraine so he could begin invading Europe. Former Secretary of State Clinton compared Putin to Adolf Hitler. As the new Kiev government launched a brutal “anti-terrorism operation” to subdue an uprising among the large ethnic Russian populations of eastern and southern Ukraine, Nuland and other American neocons pushed for economic sanctions against Russia and demanded arms for the coup regime. [See Consortiumnews.com’s “What Neocons Want from Ukraine Crisis.”] Amid the barrage of “information warfare” aimed at both the US and world publics, a new Cold War took shape. Prominent neocons, including Nuland’s husband Robert Kagan, a co-founder of the Project for the New American Century which masterminded the Iraq War, hammered home the domestic theme that Obama had shown himself to be “weak,” thus inviting Putin’s “aggression.” In May 2014, Kagan published a lengthy essay in The New Republic entitled “Superpowers Don’t Get to Retire,” in which Kagan castigated Obama for failing to sustain American dominance in the world and demanding a more muscular US posture toward adversaries. According to a New York Times article about how the essay took shape and its aftermath, writer Jason Horowitz reported that Kagan and Nuland shared a common world view as well as professional ambitions, with Nuland editing Kagan’s articles, including the one tearing down her ostensible boss. Though Nuland wouldn’t comment specifically on her husband’s attack on Obama, she indicated that she held similar views. “But suffice to say,” Nuland said, “that nothing goes out of the house that I don’t think is worthy of his talents. Let’s put it that way.” Horowitz reported that Obama was so concerned about Kagan’s assault that the President revised his commencement speech at West Point to deflect some of the criticism and invited Kagan to lunch at the White House, where one source told me that it was like “a meeting of equals.” [See Consortiumnews.com’s “Obama’s True Foreign Policy ‘Weakness.’”] Sinking a Peace Deal And, whenever peace threatens to break out in Ukraine, Nuland jumps in to make sure that the interests of war are protected. Last month, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande hammered out a plan for a cease-fire and a political settlement, known as Minsk-2, prompting Nuland to engage in more behind-the-scenes maneuvering to sabotage the deal. In another overheard conversation — in Munich, Germany — Nuland mocked the peace agreement as “Merkel’s Moscow thing,” according to the German newspaper Bild, citing unnamed sources, likely from the German government which may have bugged the conference room in the luxurious Bayerischer Hof hotel and then leaked the details. Picking up on Nuland’s contempt for Merkel, another US official called the Minsk-2 deal the Europeans’ “Moscow bullshit.” Nuland suggested that Merkel and Hollande cared only about the practical impact of the Ukraine war on Europe: “They’re afraid of damage to their economy, counter-sanctions from Russia.” According to the Bild story, Nuland also laid out a strategy for countering Merkel’s diplomacy by using strident language to frame the Ukraine crisis. “We can fight against the Europeans, we can fight with rhetoric against them,” Nuland reportedly said. NATO Commander Air Force Gen. Philip Breedlove was quoted as saying that sending more weapons to the Ukrainian government would “raise the battlefield cost for Putin.” Nuland interjected to the US politicians present that “I’d strongly urge you to use the phrase ‘defensive systems’ that we would deliver to oppose Putin’s ‘offensive systems.’” Nuland sounded determined to sink the Merkel-Hollande peace initiative even though it was arranged by two major US allies and was blessed by President Obama. And, this week, the deal seems indeed to have been blown apart by Nuland’s hand-picked Prime Minister Yatsenyuk, who inserted a poison pill into the legislation to implement the Minsk-2 political settlement. The Ukrainian parliament in Kiev added a clause that, in effect, requires the rebels to first surrender and let the Ukrainian government organize elections before a federalized structure is determined. Minsk-2 had called for dialogue with the representatives of these rebellious eastern territories en route to elections and establishment of broad autonomy for the region. Instead, reflecting Nuland’s hard-line position, Kiev refused to talks with rebel leaders and insisted on establishing control over these territories before the process can move forward. If the legislation stands, the result will almost surely be a resumption of war between military forces backed by nuclear-armed Russia and the United States, a very dangerous development for the world. [See Consortiumnews.com’s “Ukraine’s Poison Pill for Peace Talks.”] Not only will the Ukrainian civil war resume but so will the Cold War between Washington and Moscow with lots of money to be made by the Military-Industrial Complex. On Friday, Nuland’s husband, Robert Kagan, drove home that latter point in the neocon Washington Post. The Payoff But don’t think that this unlocking of the US taxpayers’ wallets is just about this one couple. There will be plenty of money to be made by other neocon think-tankers all around Washington, including Frederick Kagan, who works for the right-wing American Enterprise Institute, and his wife, Kimberly, who runs her own think tank, the Institute for the Study of War [ISW]. According to ISW’s annual reports, its original supporters were mostly right-wing foundations, such as the Smith-Richardson Foundation and the Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation, but it was later backed by a host of national security contractors, including major ones like General Dynamics, Northrop Grumman and CACI, as well as lesser-known firms such as DynCorp International, which provided training for Afghan police, and Palantir, a technology company founded with the backing of the CIA’s venture-capital arm, In-Q-Tel. Palantir supplied software to US military intelligence in Afghanistan. Since its founding in 2007, ISW has focused mostly on wars in the Middle East, especially Iraq and Afghanistan, including closely cooperating with Gen. David Petraeus when he commanded US forces in those countries. However, more recently, ISW has begun reporting extensively on the civil war in Ukraine. [See Consortiumnews.com’s “Neocons Guided Petraeus on Afghan War.”] In other words, the Family Kagan has almost a self-perpetuating, circular business model – working the inside-corridors of government power to stimulate wars while simultaneously influencing the public debate through think-tank reports and op-ed columns in favor of more military spending – and then collecting grants and other funding from thankful military contractors. To be fair, the Nuland-Kagan mom-and-pop shop is really only a microcosm of how the Military-Industrial Complex has worked for decades: think-tank analysts generate the reasons for military spending, the government bureaucrats implement the necessary war policies, and the military contractors make lots of money before kicking back some to the think tanks — so the bloody but profitable cycle can spin again. The only thing that makes the Nuland-Kagan operation special perhaps is that the whole process is all in the family. Reprinted with permission from ConsortiumNews.com. |
Ty Cobb won more batting titles than any other player, though the precise number is unclear because of the race in the 1910 American League. In baseball, batting average (AVG) is a measure of a batter's success rate in achieving a hit during an at bat. In Major League Baseball (MLB), it is calculated by dividing a player's hits by his at bats (AB). In MLB, a player in each league[L] wins the "batting title" each season for having the highest batting average that year.[1][2] The American League (AL) winner is known as the "Rod Carew American League Batting Champion", while the National League (NL) leader is designated the "Tony Gwynn National League Batting Champion". Under current rules, a player must have 3.1 plate appearances (PA) per team game (for a total of 502 over the current 162-game season) to qualify for the batting title.[3] However, if a player's lead in AVG is sufficiently large that enough hitless at bats can be added to reach this requirement and the player still would have the highest batting average, he wins the title.[3] Tony Gwynn, for example, had 159 hits in 451 ABs in 1996 (.353 average) but only 498 PAs.[4] Gwynn's batting average would have dropped to .349 (159 hits in 455 ABs) with four hitless ABs added to reach the 502 PA requirement, but this would still have been higher than the next-highest eligible player (.344 average), so he was awarded the 1996 NL batting title.[5] The first batting average champion in the NL was Ross Barnes; in the league's inaugural 1876 season, Barnes batted .429 for the Chicago White Stockings.[6] The AL was established in 1901, and Hall of Fame second baseman Nap Lajoie led that league with a .426 average for the Philadelphia Athletics.[7] Ty Cobb of the Detroit Tigers, who also holds the highest career batting average of .366, led the AL in average in 11 (or 12) seasons.[8] Honus Wagner and Gwynn are tied for the second-most titles, with eight apiece in the NL.[4][9] It is unclear whether Lajoie or Cobb won the 1910 AL title, with some sources attributing the title to each man.[1910a] If Cobb is credited with the 1910 title, he won 9 consecutive titles from 1907 to 1915 and 12 total titles for his career. Otherwise, Rogers Hornsby won the most consecutive titles, with six from 1920 to 1925. Without the 1910 title, Cobb still led the league in five consecutive seasons from 1911 to 1915. Cobb holds the record for highest average in two and three consecutive seasons (.414 from 1911 to 1912 and .408 from 1911 to 1913), but Hornsby holds the record for four and five consecutive seasons (.404 from 1922 to 1925 and .402 from 1921 to 1925).[10] Wagner, Rod Carew, Wade Boggs, and Gwynn have each won four consecutive titles. Lajoie also had a streak of four league-leading seasons from 1901 to 1904 if he is credited with the contested AL title in 1902.[1902a] At the 2016 MLB All-Star Game in San Diego, MLB announced that the AL and NL batting champions would henceforth be named in honor of Carew and Gwynn, respectively. Gwynn won all eight titles in the NL with the San Diego Padres, while Carew was a seven-time AL batting champion.[11][12] Barnes' initial NL-leading average of .4286 in 1876 set the single-season record which stood for a decade.[13] Tip O'Neill topped this total with a .4352 average in 1887 (that batting average had to be calculated without counting walks as hits, because of the walk-as-base-hit rule being in effect that year only), and Hugh Duffy set the current record mark in 1894 by posting a .4397 batting average.[13] Under the current 3.1 PA qualification, players have posted a .400 batting average for a season 28 times.[14] Ted Williams' .4057 in 1941 is the most recent such season, one of 13 to occur since 1900.[14] George Brett in 1980 is the only player to maintain a .400 average into September since 1941.[15] Additionally, only Brett and John Olerud in 1993 maintained such an average into August.[15] With the modern scarcity of .400 hitters, recent players who have been above .400 early in the season, such as Chipper Jones in 2008, have drawn significant attention in the media.[15][16] Brett's .390 in 1980 and Gwynn's .394 in 1994 are the only seasons in which a player reached .390 since 1941. Carl Yastrzemski's .301 in the 1968 American League was the lowest batting average ever to lead a league. Willie Keeler's 1897 and Zack Wheat's 1918 are the only two title seasons in which the winner hit no home runs.[17][18] Joe Mauer's 2006 title made him the first catcher to ever win an AL batting title, and his third title in 2009 surpassed Ernie Lombardi's previous record of two titles for a catcher in any league.[19][20][21][22] The closest finish in a batting race came in 1945 when Snuffy Stirnweiss batted .309, topping Tony Cuccinello's .308 average for the American League title by .00008.[23][24] George Kell beat out Williams in 1949 by .00015.[23] The closest race in the National League came in 2003 when Albert Pujols held off Todd Helton on the last day of the season by .00022.[23][25] The closest National League race before that was in 1931 with Chick Hafey edging out Bill Terry by .00028.[23] Lajoie's .426 average in 1901 was 86 points higher than runner-up Mike Donlin's .340, the largest margin of victory for a batting champion. Cap Anson's .399 in 1881 was 71 points higher than Joe Start in 1881, the widest margin in the National League. No player has definitively won batting titles in both the American and National Leagues. However, Ed Delahanty has if he is credited with the disputed 1902 American League title, as he was also the 1899 National League champion. The only other player to win titles in multiple leagues was Pete Browning, who won American Association titles in 1882 and 1885, along with the lone Players' League championship in 1890. Barnes and Deacon White each won National Association and National League titles, but the National Association is not regarded as an official league.[L] In 1990, Willie McGee posted a .335 average over 542 at-bats in the NL before being traded to the AL on August 29.[26] Although McGee finished the season in the AL, he had enough PA's in the NL to qualify for the NL batting title, which he won narrowly over Eddie Murray's .330. However, McGee batted .274 that season in the AL, bringing down his overall average to .324 and allowing Murray to lead the majors in batting average.[26][27] Key [ edit ] Winner Player with the highest batting average (AVG) in the league AVG The winner's batting average Runner-up Player with the second-highest batting average in the league 2nd AVG The second-highest batting average League Denoted only for players outside of the modern major leagues † Member of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum National League [ edit ] Ross Barnes' .429 in 1876 set a single-season record that stood for a decade. Paul Hines won two consecutive NL batting titles in 1878 and 1879. Hugh Duffy set the current single-season record when he batted .440 in 1894. Willie Keeler won two consecutive NL batting titles in 1897 and 1898. Honus Wagner was the first batter to win eight NL batting titles and won four consecutive titles during that run. Rogers Hornsby won seven NL batting titles, including six consecutively from 1920 to 1925. Stan Musial won seven NL batting titles from 1943 to 1957. Tony Gwynn won an record-tying eight NL batting titles from 1984 to 1997. Albert Pujols won the closest NL batting race in 2003. American League [ edit ] Nap Lajoie led the American League in its inaugural season with a .426 batting average, one of just 13 seasons of a .400+ average in the 20th century. In addition, Lajoie was a part of two separate contested batting average races in 1902 and 1910. Ted Williams won six AL batting titles. He hit .406 in 1941, and that is the last time a player has hit over .400. Rod Carew won seven AL batting titles between 1969 and 1978. George Brett's .390 batting average in 1980 is the second-highest since 1941. Ichiro Suzuki won AL batting titles in 2001 and 2004. Joe Mauer won the 2006, 2008, and 2009 batting titles, becoming the first catcher to win three batting titles and the only catcher ever to win in the AL. Other major leagues [ edit ] Benny Kauff won the only two Federal League batting titles in 1914 and 1915. References [ edit ] General |
Formatting necessary for an accurate reading of this text may be shown by tags (e.g., <DELETED> or <BOLD>) or may be missing from this TXT display. For complete and accurate display of this text, see the PDF. [Pages S7263-S7265] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov] STATEMENTS ON INTRODUCED BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTIONS By Mr. CORNYN (for himself, Mr. Murphy, Mr. Scott, Mr. Blumenthal, Mr. Hatch, Mrs. Feinstein, Mr. Heller, and Mrs. Shaheen): S. 2135. A bill to enforce current law regarding the National Instant Criminal Background Check System; to the Committee on the Judiciary. Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record. There being no objection, the text of the bill was ordered to be printed in the Record, as follows: S. 2135 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. This Act may be cited as the ``Fix NICS Act of 2017''. SEC. 2. ACCOUNTABILITY FOR FEDERAL DEPARTMENTS AND AGENCIES. Section 103 of the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act (34 U.S.C. 40901) is amended-- (1) in subsection (e)(1), by adding at the end the following: ``(F) Semiannual certification and reporting.-- ``(i) In general.--The head of each Federal department or agency shall submit a semiannual written certification to the Attorney General indicating whether the department or agency is in compliance with the record submission requirements under subparagraph (C). ``(ii) Submission dates.--The head of a Federal department or agency shall submit a certification to the Attorney General under clause (i)-- ``(I) not later than July 31 of each year, which shall address all relevant records, including those that have not been transmitted to the Attorney General, in possession of the department or agency during the period beginning on January 1 of the year and ending on June 30 of the year; and [[Page S7264]] ``(II) not later than January 31 of each year, which shall address all relevant records, including those that have not been transmitted to the Attorney General, in possession of the department or agency during the period beginning on July 1 of the previous year and ending on December 31 of the previous year. ``(iii) Contents.--A certification required under clause (i) shall state, for the applicable period-- ``(I) the total number of records of the Federal department or agency demonstrating that a person falls within one of the categories described in subsection (g) or (n) of section 922 of title 18, United States Code; ``(II) for each category of records described in subclause (I), the total number of records of the Federal department or agency that have been provided to the Attorney General; and ``(III) the efforts of the Federal department or agency to ensure complete and accurate reporting of relevant records, including efforts to monitor compliance and correct any reporting failures or inaccuracies. ``(G) Implementation plan.-- ``(i) In general.--Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this subparagraph, the head of each Federal department or agency, in coordination with the Attorney General, shall establish a plan to ensure maximum coordination and automated reporting or making available of records to the Attorney General as required under subparagraph (C), and the verification of the accuracy of those records, including the pre-validation of those records, where appropriate, during a 4-year period specified in the plan. The records shall be limited to those of an individual described in subsection (g) or (n) of section 922 of title 18, United States Code. ``(ii) Benchmark requirements.--Each plan established under clause (i) shall include annual benchmarks to enable the Attorney General to assess implementation of the plan, including-- ``(I) qualitative goals and quantitative measures; ``(II) measures to monitor internal compliance, including any reporting failures and inaccuracies; ``(III) a needs assessment, including estimated compliance costs; and ``(IV) an estimated date by which the Federal department or agency will fully comply with record submission requirements under subparagraph (C). ``(iii) Compliance determination.--Not later than the end of each fiscal year beginning after the date of the establishment of a plan under clause (i), the Attorney General shall determine whether the applicable Federal department or agency has achieved substantial compliance with the benchmarks included in the plan. ``(H) Accountability.--The Attorney General shall publish, including on the website of the Department of Justice, and submit to the Committee on the Judiciary and the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate and the Committee on the Judiciary and the Committee on Appropriations of the House of Representatives a semiannual report that discloses-- ``(i) the name of each Federal department or agency that has failed to submit a required certification under subparagraph (F); ``(ii) the name of each Federal department or agency that has submitted a required certification under subparagraph (F), but failed to certify compliance with the record submission requirements under subparagraph (C); ``(iii) the name of each Federal department or agency that has failed to submit an implementation plan under subparagraph (G); ``(iv) the name of each Federal department or agency that is not in substantial compliance with an implementation plan under subparagraph (G); ``(v) a detailed summary of the data, broken down by department or agency, contained in the certifications submitted under subparagraph (F); ``(vi) a detailed summary of the contents and status, broken down by department or agency, of the implementation plans established under subparagraph (G); and ``(vii) the reasons for which the Attorney General has determined that a Federal department or agency is not in substantial compliance with an implementation plan established under subparagraph (G). ``(I) Noncompliance penalties.--For each of fiscal years 2019 through 2022, each political appointee of a Federal department or agency that has failed to certify compliance with the record submission requirements under subparagraph (C), and is not in substantial compliance with an implementation plan established under subparagraph (G), shall not be eligible for the receipt of bonus pay, excluding overtime pay, until the department or agency-- ``(i) certifies compliance with the record submission requirements under subparagraph (C); or ``(ii) achieves substantial compliance with an implementation plan established under subparagraph (G). ``(J) Technical assistance.--The Attorney General may use funds made available for the national instant criminal background check system established under subsection (b) to provide technical assistance to a Federal department or agency, at the request of the department or agency, in order to help the department or agency comply with the record submission requirements under subparagraph (C). ``(K) Application to federal courts.--For purposes of this paragraph-- ``(i) the terms `department or agency of the United States' and `Federal department or agency' include a Federal court; and ``(ii) the Director of the Administrative Office of the United States Courts shall perform, for a Federal court, the functions assigned to the head of a department or agency.''; and (2) in subsection (g), by adding at the end the following: ``For purposes of the preceding sentence, not later than 60 days after the date on which the Attorney General receives such information, the Attorney General shall determine whether or not the prospective transferee is the subject of an erroneous record and remove any records that are determined to be erroneous. In addition to any funds made available under subsection (k), the Attorney General may use such sums as are necessary and otherwise available for the salaries and expenses of the Federal Bureau of Investigation to comply with this subsection.''. SEC. 3. REAUTHORIZATION OF NICS ACT RECORD IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM. (a) Requirements to Obtain Waiver.--Section 102 of the NICS Improvement Amendments Act of 2007(34 U.S.C. 40912) is amended-- (1) in subsection (a), in the first sentence-- (A) by striking ``the Crime Identification Technology Act of 1988 (42 U.S.C. 14601)'' and inserting ``section 102 of the Crime Identification Technology Act of 1998 (34 U.S.C. 40301)''; and (B) by inserting ``is in compliance with an implementation plan established under subsection (b) or'' before ``provides at least 90 percent of the information described in subsection (c)''; and (2) in subsection (b)(1)(B), by inserting ``or has established an implementation plan under section 107'' after ``the Attorney General''. (b) Implementation Assistance to States.--Section 103 of the NICS Improvement Amendments Act of 2007 (34 U.S.C. 40913) is amended-- (1) in subsection (b)(3), by inserting before the semicolon at the end the following: ``, including through increased efforts to pre-validate the contents of those records to expedite eligibility determinations''; (2) in subsection (e)-- (A) in paragraph (1)-- (i) by striking ``and''; and (ii) by inserting before the period at the end the following: ``, and $125,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2018 through 2022''; and (B) by striking paragraph (2) and inserting the following-- ``(2) Domestic abuse and violence prevention initiative.-- ``(A) Establishment.--For each of fiscal years 2018 through 2022, the Attorney General shall create a priority area under the NICS Act Record Improvement Program (commonly known as `NARIP') for a Domestic Abuse and Violence Prevention Initiative that emphasizes the need for grantees to identify and upload all felony conviction records and domestic violence records. ``(B) Funding.--The Attorney General-- ``(i) may use not more than 50 percent of the amounts made available under this subsection for each of fiscal years 2018 through 2022 to carry out the initiative described in subparagraph (A); and ``(ii) shall give a funding preference under NARIP to States that-- ``(I) have established an implementation plan under section 107; and ``(II) will use amounts made available under this subparagraph to improve efforts to identify and upload all felony conviction records and domestic violence records described in clauses (i), (v), and (vi) of section 102(b)(1)(C) by not later than September 30, 2022.''; and (3) by adding at the end the following: ``(g) Technical Assistance.--The Attorney General shall direct the Office of Justice Programs, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation to-- ``(1) assist States that are not currently eligible for grants under this section to achieve compliance with all eligibility requirements; and ``(2) provide technical assistance and training services to grantees under this section.''. SEC. 4. REAUTHORIZATION OF THE NATIONAL CRIMINAL HISTORY IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM. (a) State Grant Program for Criminal Justice Identification, Information, and Communication.--Section 102 of the Crime Identification Technology Act of 1998 (34 U.S.C. 40301) is amended-- (1) in subsection (a)(3)-- (A) by redesignating subparagraphs (C), (D), and (E) as subparagraphs (D), (E), and (F), respectively; and (B) by inserting after subparagraph (B) the following: ``(C) identification of all individuals who have been convicted of a crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding 1 year''; (2) in subsection (b)(6)-- (A) by striking ``(18 U.S.C. 922 note)'' and inserting ``(34 U.S.C. 40901(b))''; and (B) by inserting before the semicolon at the end the following: ``, including through increased efforts to pre- validate the contents of felony conviction records and domestic violence records to expedite eligibility determinations, and measures and resources necessary to establish and achieve compliance with an implementation plan under section [[Page S7265]] 107 of the NICS Improvement Amendments Act of 2007''; (3) in subsection (d), by inserting after ``unless'' the following: ``the State has achieved compliance with an implementation plan under section 107 of the NICS Improvement Amendments Act of 2007 or''; and (4) in subsection (e)(1), by striking ``2002 through 2007'' and inserting ``2018 through 2022''. (b) Grants for the Improvement of Criminal Records.-- Section 106(b)(1) of the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act (34 U.S.C. 40302(1)) is amended-- (1) in the matter preceding subparagraph (A)-- (A) by striking ``as of the date of enactment of this Act'' and inserting ``, as of the date of enactment of the Fix NICS Act of 2017,''; and (B) by striking ``files,'' and inserting the following: ``files and that will utilize funding under this subsection to prioritize the identification and transmittal of felony conviction records and domestic violence records,''; (2) in subparagraph (B), by striking ``and'' at the end; (3) in subparagraph (C)-- (A) by striking ``upon establishment of the national system,''; and (B) by striking the period at the end and inserting ``; and''; and (4) by adding at the end the following-- ``(D) to establish and achieve compliance with an implementation plan under section 107 of the NICS Improvement Amendments Act of 2007.''. SEC. 5. IMPROVING INFORMATION SHARING WITH THE STATES. (a) In General.--Title I of the NICS Improvement Amendments Act of 2007 (34 U.S. 40911 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following: ``SEC. 107. IMPLEMENTATION PLAN. ``(a) In General.--Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of the Fix NICS Act of 2017, the Attorney General, in coordination with the States and Indian tribal governments, shall establish, for each State or Indian tribal government, a plan to ensure maximum coordination and automation of the reporting or making available of appropriate records to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System established under section 103 of the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act (34 U.S.C. 40901) and the verification of the accuracy of those records during a 4- year period specified in the plan. The records shall be limited to those of an individual described in subsection (g) or (n) of section 922 of title 18, United States Code ``(b) Benchmark Requirements.--Each plan established under this section shall include annual benchmarks to enable the Attorney General to assess the implementation of the plan, including-- ``(1) qualitative goals and quantitative measures; and ``(2) a needs assessment, including estimated compliance costs. ``(c) Compliance Determination.--Not later than the end of each fiscal year beginning after the date of the establishment of an implementation plan under this section, the Attorney General shall determine whether each State or Indian tribal government has achieved substantial compliance with the benchmarks included in the plan. ``(d) Accountability.--The Attorney General-- ``(1) shall disclose and publish, including on the website of the Department of Justice-- ``(A) the name of each State or Indian tribal government that received a determination of failure to achieve substantial compliance with an implementation plan under subsection (c) for the preceding fiscal year; and ``(B) a description of the reasons for which the Attorney General has determined that the State or Indian tribal government is not in substantial compliance with the implementation plan, including, to the greatest extent possible, a description of the types and amounts of records that have not been submitted; and ``(2) if a State or Indian tribal government described in paragraph (1) subsequently receives a determination of substantial compliance, shall-- ``(A) immediately correct the applicable record; and ``(B) not later than 3 days after the determination, remove the record from the website of the Department of Justice and any other location where the record was published. ``(e) Incentives.--For each of fiscal years 2018 through 2022, the Attorney General shall give affirmative preference to all Bureau of Justice Assistance discretionary grant applications of a State or Indian tribal government that received a determination of substantial compliance under subsection (c) for the fiscal year in which the grant was solicited.''. (b) Table of Contents.--The table of contents in section 1(b) of the NICS Improvement Amendments Act of 2007 (Public Law 110-180; 121 Stat. 2559) is amended by inserting after the item relating to section 106 the following: ``Sec. 107. Implementation plan.''. ____________________ |
System of classifying hotels according to their quality Hotel ratings are often used to classify hotels according to their quality. From the initial purpose of informing travellers on basic facilities that can be expected, the objectives of hotel rating has expanded into a focus on the hotel experience as a whole.[1] Today the terms 'grading', 'rating', and 'classification' are used to generally refer to the same concept, that is to categorize hotels. There is a wide variety of rating schemes used by different organizations around the world. Many have a system involving stars, with a greater number of stars indicating greater luxury. Forbes Travel Guide, formerly Mobil Travel Guide, launched its star rating system in 1958. The AAA and their affiliated bodies use diamonds instead of stars to express hotel and restaurant ratings levels. Food services, entertainment, view, room variations such as size and additional amenities, spas and fitness centers, ease of access and location may be considered in establishing a standard. Hotels are independently assessed in traditional systems and rest heavily on the facilities provided. Some consider this disadvantageous to smaller hotels whose quality of accommodation could fall into one class but the lack of an item such as an elevator would prevent it from reaching a higher categorization.[2] Standards of hotel classification [ edit ] The more common classification systems include "star" rating, letter grading, from "A" to "F", such as hotels and motels. Systems using terms such as Deluxe/Luxury, First Class/Superior, Tourist Class/Standard, and Budget Class/Economy are more widely accepted as hotel types, rather than hotel standard.[by whom?] Some countries have rating by a single public standard—Belgium, Denmark, Greece, Italy, Malta, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain and Hungary have laws defining the hotel rating. In Germany, Austria and Switzerland, the rating is defined by the respective hotel industry association using a five-star system—the German classifications are Tourist (*), Standard (**), Comfort (***), First Class (****) and Luxury (*****), with the mark "Superior" to flag extras beyond the minimum defined in the standard, but not enough to move the hotel up to the next tier ranking. The Swiss hotel rating was the first non-government formal hotel classification beginning in 1979.[3] It influenced the hotel classification in Austria and Germany.[3] The formal hotel classification of the DEHOGA (German Hotel and Restaurant Association) started on 1 August 1996 and proved successful with 80% of guests citing the hotel stars as the main criteria in hotel selection.[4] This implementation influenced the creation of a common European Hotelstars rating system that started in 2010 (see below). In France, the rating is defined by the public tourist board Atout France using a four-star system (plus "L" for Luxus) which has changed to a five-star system from 2009 on.[5] In South Africa, the Tourist Grading Council of South Africa has strict rules for a hotel types granting up to 5 stars. In India, the classification of hotels is based on two categories such as "Star" and "Heritage". Hotels in India are classified by Hotel and Restaurant Association Classification Committee (HRACC), Ministry of Tourism, India.[6] In New Zealand, hotels and other tourism services are graded by Qualmark, which is owned by Tourism New Zealand, a government organisation.[7] Hotel classifications by country [ edit ] Australia [ edit ] In Australia the independent accommodation rating scheme and Star Rating trademarks (the 'stars') are owned by the Australian Auto Clubs – the NRMA, RACV, RACQ, RAC, RAA and RACT. A Star Rating represents the quality and condition of guest facilities and is determined by more than 200 criteria that have been ranked by Australian travellers according to what's important to them. Star Ratings are awarded to properties across six accommodation types – hotels, motels, serviced apartments, self-catering, hosted accommodation and caravan-holiday parks – following a physical inspection by qualified reviewers. In 2015 Star Ratings Australia became one of the first independent accommodation classification systems in the world to incorporate a consumer 'voice'. An exclusive Travellers' Rating is presented in parallel to the independent Star Rating and is an aggregate of past guest ratings and reviews from more than 100 websites in 45 different languages. A property must have a minimum of 25 reviews (across all sites) to produce an aggregate Travellers' Rating. Weighting applies to the popularity of the source site and the date of the last guest review. The William Angliss Institute in Melbourne has developed an independent benchmarking framework to show if a property has met or exceeded guest expectations. Star Ratings in Australia stand for independently reviewed quality standards and are easily defined: On 28 February 2017, Michael Reed CEO Australian Motoring Services, advised clients via email of the closure of Star Ratings Australia effective from mid 2017.[citation needed] Australia's star ratings have been operating since the 1950s first with the state based automobile clubs, then about 10 years ago with AAA Tourism as a peak body. However the booking service in the motoring clubs was not continued and later the annual accommodation guide book ceased to be printed with the accommodation guide going on-line. Finally AAA Tourism closed a few years ago and Star Ratings Australia continued the inspection and star rating service only, as well as the accommodation website. Reed asked clients to remove star rating and automobile club logos from their accommodation and promotional information by mid year. Competition from international websites lead to its demise. Star Rating Overview of Criteria according to Star Ratings Australia ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ {\displaystyle \bigstar \bigstar \bigstar \bigstar \bigstar } Properties that typify luxury across all areas of operation. Guests will enjoy an extensive range of facilities and comprehensive or highly personalised services. Properties at this level will display excellent design quality and attention to detail. ★ ★ ★ ★ {\displaystyle \bigstar \bigstar \bigstar \bigstar } Properties which achieve a deluxe guest experience. A wide range of facilities and superior design qualities are typically complemented by service standards that reflect the varied and discerning needs of the guest. ★ ★ ★ {\displaystyle \bigstar \bigstar \bigstar } Properties that deliver a broad range of amenities that exceed above-average accommodation needs. Good quality service, design and physical attributes are typically fit for purpose to match guest expectations. ★ ★ {\displaystyle \bigstar \bigstar } Properties that focus on the needs of price conscious travellers. Services and guest facilities are typically limited to keep room rates affordable and competitive but may be available upon request or fee-based. ★ {\displaystyle \bigstar } Properties that offer budget facilities without compromising cleanliness or guest security. Guests may access fee-based services or facilities upon request. Half-star ratings indicate modest improvements in the quality and condition of guest facilities. United Kingdom [ edit ] In the United Kingdom hotels are rated from one-star to five stars. The RAC pulled out of accommodation grading in 2008 so the only grading schemes in operation are those operated by the AA (Automobile Association) and the national tourist boards: Visit England, Visit Wales, the Scottish Tourist Board and the Northern Ireland Tourist Board. The schemes were all 'harmonised' to ensure consistency between the schemes. This applies to all accommodation types apart from self-catering that the AA started offering in 2009. The AA criteria are available on its website.[8][9] In addition to the usual black stars (ranging from one (the lowest) to five (the highest), the AA awards red stars to the highest-rated, which are deemed 'Inspectors' Choice'. Each of the national tourist boards have grading explanations on their web sites. Philippines [ edit ] In the Philippines, the Department of Tourism has an accreditation system for hotels, apartment hotels and resorts. The current system which uses a "star system" which rates establishments from 1 to 5 stars was adopted in 2012.[10] The rating of the aforementioned facilities are determined through a points system. Hotels, apartment hotels, and resorts are graded according to their service, facility quality and condition, and business practices. The Department of Tourism classifies the criteria used into seven dimensions or "business area" namely: Arrival & Departure, Public Areas, Bedrooms, Food & Beverage, Lounge Area, Kitchen Area, Amenities, and Business Practices, all common to the three categories except Kitchen and Lounge Area which is only applicable to apartment hotels. 1,000 points is the maximum number of points an establishment can attain.[11] Department of Tourism (DOT) Star Grading System For Hotels, Resorts and Apartment Hotels [12] Rating Corresponding Points Summary Unranked 0–250 N/A ★ {\displaystyle \bigstar } 251–400 Has limited facilities and services. Appeals to "budget minded" tourists. ★ ★ {\displaystyle \bigstar \bigstar } 401–550 Appeals to tourists looking for more than basic accommodation. Has expanded facilities and "higher level" of comfort. ★ ★ ★ {\displaystyle \bigstar \bigstar \bigstar } 551–700 Accommodation is deemed "very good". More spacious public areas and higher quality facilities and a greater variety of services. ★ ★ ★ ★ {\displaystyle \bigstar \bigstar \bigstar \bigstar } 701–850 "Up-scale in all areas" and accommodation is "refined and stylish". Service is deemed responsive, and has an extensive array of facilities. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ {\displaystyle \bigstar \bigstar \bigstar \bigstar \bigstar } 851–1000 Reflects characteristics of "luxury and sophistication". Facilities are deemed "world class in every manner" and services are deemed meticulous and "exceeding all guests' expectations". European Hotelstar's Union [ edit ] The HOTREC (Hotels, Restaurants & Cafés in Europe) is an umbrella organization for 39 associations from 24 European countries. At a conference in Bergen in 2004, the partners drafted a hotel classification system in order to harmonize their national standards. In 2007 HOTREC launched the European Hospitality Quality scheme (EHQ) which has since accredited the existing national inspection bodies for hotel rating. Under the patronage of HOTREC, the hotel associations of Austria, Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Netherlands, Sweden and Switzerland created the Hotelstars Union.[13] On 14 September 2009, the Hotelstars Union classification system was established at a conference in Prague. This system became effective in these countries in January 2010, with the exception of Hungary, Switzerland and the Netherlands, who have chosen later dates for the change. Later more countries have joined the HOTREC hotelstars system: Estonia (2011), Latvia (2011), Lithuania (2011), Luxembourg (2011), Malta (2012), Belgium (2013), Denmark (2013) and Greece (2013). The European Hotelstars Union system is based on the earlier German hotelstars system that had widely influenced the hotel classifications in central Europe, with five stars and a Superior mark to flag extras. Instead of a strict minimum in room size and required shower facilities (e.g. a bath tub in a four-star hotel) there is a catalogue of criteria with 21 qualifications encompassing 270 elements, where some are mandatory for a star and others optional. The main criteria are in quality management, wellness and sleeping accommodation.[14] In the catalogue of criteria each entry is associated with a number of points – each Hotelstars level requires a minimal sum of points besides some criteria being obligatory for the level.[15] The minimum requirement for the Superior flag requires the same sum of points as for the next Hotelstars level which however was not awarded due to at least one obligatory requirement being left out.[15] For hotels with three to five stars, the Hotelstars Union will use "mystery guests" to check the service quality regularly. Hotelstar Excerpt of the catalogue of criteria ★ {\displaystyle \bigstar } Tourist 100% of the rooms with shower/WC or bath tub/WC Daily room cleaning 100% of the rooms with colour-TV together with remote control Table and chair Soap or body wash Reception service Facsimile at the reception Publicly available telephone for guests Extended breakfast Beverage offer in the hotel Deposit possibility ★ S {\displaystyle \bigstar \mathbf {S} } Superior Tourist The Superior flag is provided when the additional service and accommodation provisions are not sufficient for the next Hotelstar. The bathroom facilities are usually at the same level as for two stars hotels but built from cheaper materials. The cost for regular inspection by independent associations is waived as well. ★ ★ {\displaystyle \bigstar \bigstar } Standard In addition to the single star (*) hotels: Breakfast buffet Reading light next to the bed Bath essence or shower gel Bath towels Linen shelves Offer of sanitary products (e.g. toothbrush, toothpaste, shaving kit) Credit Cards ★ ★ S {\displaystyle \bigstar \bigstar \mathbf {S} } Superior Standard The Superior flag is provided when the additional service and accommodation provisions are not sufficient for the next Hotelstar. The Standard-Superior does usually offer the same service level as three-star hotels but the interiors of the hotel are smaller and cheaper so that the three stars were not to be awarded by the inspection body. A two-star superior does not require mystery guesting. ★ ★ ★ {\displaystyle \bigstar \bigstar \bigstar } Comfort In addition to the standard star (**) hotels: Reception opened 14 hours, accessible by phone 24 hours from inside and outside, bilingual staff (e.g. German/English) Three piece suite at the reception, luggage service Beverage offer in the room Telephone in the room Internet access in the room or in the public area Heating facility in the bathroom, hair-dryer, cleansing tissue Dressing mirror, place to put the luggage/suitcase Sewing kit, shoe polish utensils, laundry and ironing service Additional pillow and additional blanket on demand Systematic complaint management system ★ ★ ★ S {\displaystyle \bigstar \bigstar \bigstar \mathbf {S} } Superior Comfort The Superior flag is provided when the additional service and accommodation provisions are not sufficient for the next Hotelstar. The accommodation facilities for a superior hotel need to be on a modern level and fully renovated which is checked regularly. ★ ★ ★ ★ {\displaystyle \bigstar \bigstar \bigstar \bigstar } First Class In addition to the comfort star (***) hotels: Reception opened 18 hours, accessible by phone 24 hours from inside and outside Lobby with seats and beverage service Breakfast buffet or breakfast menu card via room service Minibar or 24 hours beverages via room service Upholstered chair/couch with side table Bath robe and slippers on demand Cosmetic products (e.g. shower cap, nail file, cotton swabs), vanity mirror, tray of a large scale in the bathroom Internet access and internet terminal "À la carte"-restaurant ★ ★ ★ ★ S {\displaystyle \bigstar \bigstar \bigstar \bigstar \mathbf {S} } First Class Superior The Superior flag is provided when the first class hotel has a proven high quality not only in the rooms. The superior hotels provide for additional facilities in the hotel like a sauna or a workout room. The quality is checked regularly by mystery guesting of an external inspection service. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ {\displaystyle \bigstar \bigstar \bigstar \bigstar \bigstar } Luxury In addition to the first class (****) hotels: Reception opened 24 hours, multilingual staff Doorman-service or valet parking Concierge, page boy Spacious reception hall with several seats and beverage service Personalized greeting for each guest with fresh flowers or a present in the room Minibar and food and beverage offer via room service during 24 hours Personal care products in flacons Internet-PC in the room Safe in the room Ironing service (return within 1 hour), shoe polish service Turndown service in the evening Mystery guesting ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ S {\displaystyle \bigstar \bigstar \bigstar \bigstar \bigstar \mathbf {S} } Superior Luxury The Luxury star hotels need to attain high expectations of an international guest service. The Superior Luxury star is only awarded with a system of intensive guest care. World hotel rating [ edit ] There is so far no international classification which has been adopted. There have been attempts at unifying the classification system so that it becomes an internationally recognized and a reliable standard, but they have all failed. It has been considered that, as it has been the case in other areas (e.g. international accounting standards), hotel classification standards should result from a private and independent initiative. This may be the case of the World Hotel Rating (WHR) project, which notably aims to set international classification standards and rating criteria along the lines of a world star-rating system. It will also establish an information platform on the hotel industry which will be multilingual and multicultural. WHR intends to play a key role in the development of quality hotel services, as well as equitable and sustainable tourism, and the protection of the world's cultural and natural heritage. In addition, WHR will develop labels to promote hotels distinguished by specific features, such as a family and child-friendly disposition. A test period was scheduled for 2010. More than five stars [ edit ] Some hotels have been advertised as seven star hotels. The Burj Al Arab hotel in Dubai was opened in 1998 with a butler for every room – this has been the first hotel being widely described as a "seven-star" property, but the hotel says the label originates from an unnamed British journalist on a press trip and that they neither encourage its use nor do they use it in their advertising. Similarly the Emirates Palace Hotel in Abu Dhabi (open since 2005) is sometimes described as seven star as well, but the hotel uses only a five star rating. The Galleria in Milan, Italy was opened in 2007 and it claims to have a seven star certificate from SGS Italy2008.[16] However the SGS Italy (not the official tourism agency) only has five stars in the general hotel stars categorization, with the full title of the certificate being left unknown, just as the renewal process is unknown. Overall, as no traditional organization or formal body awards or recognizes any rating over five-star deluxe,[17] such claims are meaningless and predominantly used for advertising purposes. Historically, luxury hotels have used the membership in The Leading Hotels of the World to document regular inspection on an additional level. This organization had been formed in 1928 and it reorganized in 1971 introducing a worldwide inspection service. Alternative hotel ratings [ edit ] In recent years, alternative hotel ratings are starting to appear in an effort to promote sustainability or cultural diversity in international tourism.[18] Green Key International [ edit ] Green Key International is a voluntary eco-classification awarded to around 2,900 hotels and other establishments in 57 countries by the Foundation for Environmental Education.[19] Green Key Global [ edit ] Green Key Global is a voluntary eco-classification awarded to around 1,850 hotels and venues in 15 countries.[20] In 2009, Fairmont Hotels & Resorts joined the Green Key Global program.[21] Green Globe [ edit ] Green Globe is the global certification for sustainable tourism. Membership is reserved for companies and organizations who are committed to making positive contributions to the planet.[22] The Green Building Initiative (GBI) acquired the U. S. rights to the Canadian Green Globes building assessment and certification for the program in 2004 and adapted it for the U.S. market. Salam Standard [ edit ] Salam Standard is a classification system for Muslim-friendly hotels.[23] Hotels can get certified based on certain Muslim-friendly criteria such as offering prayer mats, removing alcohol from the room and offering halal restaurant recommendations and is divided into 4 tiers (bronze, silver, gold and platinum).[24] Archipelago Hotels, Indonesia's biggest hospitality firm, is a prominent member of the Salam Standard system.[25] See also [ edit ] |
Traveling around in the Balkans is a bit frustrating in terms of connectivity and especially if you rely on your phone to understand where to go. On top of everything turn-by-turn navigation doesn’t work really well in most cases and losing your signal can happen from time to time. It’s good to have a plan ahead of these situations. The easiest way is to download maps for offline use in Google Maps. Once you’ve downloaded an area, you’ll be able to get directions and view points of interest for that region even without an Internet connection. This kind of navigations helps you move around without any internet connection and can be helpful for viewing nearby places when you’re stuck without a signal. It’s also important to remember that these maps eventually expire because Google needs to update them to make sure they’re accurate. To see the areas you’ve saved and when they expire, open Google Maps, tap the menu icon and select Offline areas. Here’s how to download an offline map: Launch the Google Maps app on your Android phone or iPhone. Make sure you’re signed into your Google account because bookmarking a location is associated to your account. Search for the city you’d like to download. Tap the bar at the bottom of the screen with the name of the place you’ve just searched for. Tap the button that says – Download. Google will then show you a map of the area and ask if you’d like to download it. Tap Download again to confirm. Additional advice: You can cache a certain area as well. Just view the area a night before traveling to a city nearby and zoom as much needed. When you’re traveling to another country and don’t have roaming internet connection then you can view that area that you need without any internet connection. Why don’t you try it out? Read also: – Google brings Prishtina in 3D on Maps – HALO Trust using Google Maps for mine clearing in Kosovo – Google Street view comes to Albania |
The original Hot Tub Time Machine was the story of four guys who travel back to the ‘80s and get a chance at "fixing" their disappointing lives. The humor was stupid-funny, buoyed by an ever-present undercurrent of self-awareness. With a name like Hot Tub Time Machine, how could it not? 100 percent Dudebro sci-fi This time around, Hot Tub Time Machine 2 (in theaters starting today) eschews the sentimental narrative altogether for a frenetic, bombastic, "dudebro sci-fi" movie. When Lou (Rob Corddry) gets shot by an assailant from the future, the original trio (which includes Corddry, Craig Robinson, and Clarke Duke) travel to the year 2025 to stop the killer before it happens. Along the way, they meet Adam Scott, who plays the son of John Cusack's character from the original (Cusack himself is nowhere to be seen). Hot Tub Time Machine 2 is unapologetically crass, absurd, and at times downright offensive. It's hard to recommend but for a very select audience — and to help figure out if you’re in that group, we’ve made a little game: |
The Gift Box off Main Street in Mount Airy, N.C., last year. (Logan R. Cyrus for The Washington Post) Since Donald Trump’s approval rating now looks like something that got stuck to the bottom of my shoe, I joined the flood of journalists who went to Real America to gloat see how the Trump supporters are getting along. In the shadow of the old flag factory, Craig Slabornik sits whittling away on a rusty nail, his only hobby since the plant shut down. He is an American like millions of Americans, and he has no regrets about pulling the lever for Donald Trump in November — twice, in fact, which Craig says is just more evidence of the voter fraud plaguing the country. Craig is a contradiction, but he does not know it. Each morning he arrives at the Blue Plate Diner and tries to make sense of it all. The regulars are already there. Lydia Borkle lives in an old shoe in the tiny town of Tempe Work Only, Ariz., where the factory has just rusted away into a pile of gears and dust. The jobs were replaced by robots, not shipped overseas, but try telling Lydia that. (I did, very slowly and patiently, I thought, but she still became quite brusque.) Her one lifeline was an Obama-era jobs training program, but she says that she does not regret her vote for Trump and likes what he says about business. She makes a point of telling me that she is not racist, but I think she probably is, a little. Next to her sits Linda Blarnik. Like the rusty hubcaps hanging on the wall behind her, she was made in America 50 years ago, back when this town made things, a time she still remembers fondly. She says she has had just enough of the “coastal elitist media who keep showing up to write mean things about my town and my life, like that thing just now where you said I was like a hubcap, yes you, stop writing I can see over your shoulder.” Mournfully a whistle blows behind her, the whistle of a train that does not stop in this America any longer. Linda’s sister, Carla Blarnik is married to an undocumented immigrant yet voted for Trump, who has vowed an increase in deportations. Asked to explain this contradiction, she shrugs. “Do not tell Bert this,” she says, “but I have been trying to find an unobtrusive way to break up the marriage for years and this seemed like just the loophole I was waiting for.” Huh. Okay. The hard power budget: Never weak, never soft, always STRONG. (Adriana Usero,Dalton Bennett,Dani Player/The Washington Post) Their waiter is David Mattress, a sentient robot who will be shut down if Trump’s budget is put into practice. He loves Trump, insofar as love is possible for him. When asked “Don’t you realize the contradiction of this position?” the other regulars leap up and shout at me because the last time this question was posed to him, David short-circuited and emitted large quantities of smoke. “First that magazine writer,” Linda scolds me, gesturing to a table in the corner where six other journalists sit writing versions of this same article, “now you.” Mark Hooglats lives inside Obamacare, don’t ask him how. He voted for Trump. He will vote for Trump again, maybe up to 10 times if he does the thing with the economy. He is excited that Trump has said “God” out loud for what he believes is the first time in the past eight years. (It isn’t.) In the corner, under a picture of George Washington that is cracked and broken and stained with tobacco juice, lies Herm Slabornik. Herm is encased in a cryogenic tube which will be unplugged if Trump gets his way. According to a note on his cryotube, he knows what Trump said about unplugging tubes but he does not think Trump would unplug him personally. He will vote for Trump again in 2020, provided he is not unplugged. Also, he hates Obamacare. Glom Pfeffernitz lives in a rusty kettle. Trump’s plan will definitely repossess his kettle, but he does not believe me when I tell him this. “I just don’t think he’d do that,” Glom repeats. Glom’s priority is filling the lakes with waste because he remembers when he was a kid and the lakes used to glow, and he wants to get back to those great days. He says his No. 1 priority is keeping telephones away from the undeserving poor. Is everyone here messing with me? Claudia Barknappen, the owner of the diner, wipes her hands on her faded God Bless America Apron. She is taken aback to see that Trump’s budget would replace her home with a sinkhole, but she says that she is reserving judgment and likes how much he hates immigrants. “We’ve got to give him a chance,” she observes. She says that one time Trump showed up at her home and hit her dog with a broom, but in her mind this amounts to no more than one strike. She knows that she can change Trump with love, not that he needs to change at all. Behind her, an eagle falls out of a tree and dies. |
crime An assistant police inspector (API) from Vasai police station sought help from a man at an ATM in the area to link his Aadhaar and bank account details, but got robbed of Rs 39,000 within minutes, on Saturday An assistant police inspector (API) from Vasai police station sought help from a man at an ATM in the area to link his Aadhaar and bank account details, but got robbed of Rs 39,000 within minutes, on Saturday. According to police sources, when API Vasant Ganpat Vayantande inserted his ATM card in the machine, it asked for his Aadhaar details. As he was not being able to understand how to go about it, he sought help from a person, who was in the queue behind him. The accused not only helped him enter his Aadhaar details, but also withdrew Rs 1,000 for him. However, at the time of returning the card to Vasant, he cleverly replaced it with a different card, which he had stolen from a person in Bhayander area the previous day. CCTV footage shows the accused (circled) helping the victim to link his Aadhaar card at the ATM. Pic/Hanif Patel Within minutes of Vasant leaving the ATM, the accused inserted his card into the machine and withdrew Rs 39,000. The victim was shocked when he received a message regarding the transaction. He immediately rushed back to the ATM, but the accused had escaped by then. Thereafter, he approached the Manikpur police station and filed a complaint in the matter. Speaking to mid-day, Anil Patil, senior inspector of Manikpur police station, said, "We have registered a case under sections 420 (cheating) and 34 (common intention) of the Indian Penal Code. CCTV footages of the ATM have been sent to different police stations. The accused will be arrested soon." Rs 1000 Amount the accused helped the victim to withdraw at the ATM Catch up on all the latest Mumbai news, current affairs from Mumbai, local news, crime news and breaking headlines here |
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