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Those fighting conditions like dystonia, Parkinson’s Disease, and chronic pain have a way of alleviating their symptoms – direct electric shocks to their brain. Since 1997, deep brain stimulation (DBS) implants have slowly been gaining US FDA approval for use in patients (2002 for Parkinson’s, 2003 for dystonia). These ‘brain-pacers’ are surgically implanted in the chest but have long lead wires that reach up through the neck and deep into the brain. Electric stimulation from the implant can dramatically lessen the tremors associated with movement disorders, and experiments suggest they may help with OCD, depression, and severe cases of Tourette’s. According to Medtronic, the largest manufacturer of these deep brain stimulation devices, over 80,000 people around the world have a DBS implant. Eighty thousand! Did the age of mental cybernetics arrive while I wasn’t looking? We’ve seen a few newsworthy brain implants in the last few years, including one designed to treat epilepsy and others that allow motor neurons to control computer cursors. But all of these devices were in the experimental phase of development. Medtronic’s DBS implants have been FDA approved for more than a decade (for some conditions) and such devices have been used tens of thousands of times. That’s beyond ‘experimental’, we’re reaching ‘well-tested’. If the number of patients treated with these devices continues to climb as it has in the past few years (we were at only 35,000 or so back in 2007) brain implants are going to become much more common in the next few years. Keep in mind that these first generation devices are still rather crude. The best Medtronic has to offer has just eight electrodes (4 per lead), and scientists can only roughly target the desired areas needed to alleviate symptoms for disorders like Parkinson’s. In many ways DBS implants are basically just pace-makers with wires leading into your head. Still, they’ve shown to reduce movement dysfunction in patients with Parkinson’s and dystonia, and to alleviate some cases of chronic pain. They’re also relatively safe, especially considering that you’re placing electrodes in the brain – the mortality rate is less than 1% And these devices are getting better. We’ve seen how the next generation of DBS implants for Parkinson’s will be able to actively monitor and respond to brain activity. In the future, optogenetics will allow doctors to use light, not electricity, to stimulate parts of the brain (as we’ve seen with rodents). How widespread might these types of devices become when they have the precision to target just a few neurons at a time, and can respond autonomously to treat patients on their own? Other companies are getting into the DBS implant market, St Jude’s Medical is gaining approval for its Libra device in Europe, and scientists are expanding the list of illnesses that may benefit from stimulation. Eighty thousand? Millions of people around the world have Parkinson’s Disease. Add in severe depression, or chronic pain and the potential number of patients for DBS implants gets very large very quickly. How long until the number of brain cyborgs passes 250,000? 1 million? Typically I get excited about the idea of brain implants transitioning from treatment/repair to augmentation/enhancement. But even if we never pursue implants that increase mental performance, the sheer size of the restorative implant market is likely to be much bigger than anticipated. We should remember, too, that many movement disorders like Parkinson’s disproportionately affect the elderly. Could the prevalence of these devices reach 1% among aged patients in industrialized nations? I think it’s possible, especially as they become more advanced and versatile in the treatments they provide. Deep brain stimulation implants are just one kind of medical implant that could find its way into our skulls. It’s already been used by more than 80,000 patients and there’s every reason to presume it will become more widespread in the near future. Other devices, as they transition out of the experimental phase of development, may find less resistance to adoption thanks to the early successes of DBS. Cybernetic implants are already here, and they’re only going to get more diverse and capable with time. [image credits: St Jude’s Medical, Medtronic, WikiCommons] [source: Medtronic, St. Jude’s Medical, NIH] |
Activists say regime authorities are turning a blind eye to scams which families of prisoners are subjected to by "brokers" and their mediators At a time when hundreds of thousands of inmates in Syrian regime prisons are suffering from every kind of human rights violation, their mothers, fathers, spouses and siblings are also suffering as they try to secure their release, or at least confirm that they are alive — and they are paying dearly as well. Exploiting the readiness of prisoners’ families to do anything to save their loved ones, those known today as “brokers” are systematically blackmailing and robbing families of huge amounts of money in exchange for news of the detainee. Over the last five years, the number of brokers has increased and their methods have developed alongside the increase in the number of prisoners and kidnapped people. The blackmailing and brokerage operations are performed by lawyers, officers or ordinary people who claim to know where the prisoners are and have the ability to release them in exchange for large sums of money. The issue has escalated to the point of private offices being established in the capital Damascus, working secretly, and claiming to be able to locate prisoners and secure their release, citing their links to the responsible security agencies. Alaa, brother of one of the inmates in a regime prison, said that “when the parents go to these offices they register information about their children. Depending on the accusation the prisoner is facing, the price ranges from $2,000 to $25,000. The prisoner from rebellious districts is not like the prisoner from a quiet district, a charge against a woman is different from a charge against a man, a charge against a young man of reservist age is different from an old man above 60 years old, and so on.” One of the regime checkpoints in Damascus arrested the husband of Umm Ammar when he was returning from work, and she heard nothing about him since. She continued to go to the military police station in Qaboun to find out where he was arrested and check on him, but to no avail. She says: “I heard from my neighbor about this office and went to register at it to find out where my husband was. After I gave them the requested information they demanded $2,000. I gave it to them after they promised to inform me of his whereabouts within days. I waited a week and received no response. When I went back to them they told me he was accused of supporting the Free Syrian Army and that he would be put on trial within a month.” Umm Ammar adds: “Every time I asked them about my husband’s fate and how I could help him, they demanded more money. A drowning man will grasp at straws, and I paid to ease my conscience, until the military police office came to me with a paper proving my husband’s death. It said he had died of bacterial poisoning, and they forced me to sign a paper confirming that. I was a victim of the lies and deception of those people who exploited my weakness and my desire to help my husband without there being any way to prosecute them or hold them to account.” Activists say that the regime authorities are turning a blind eye to the scams which families of prisoners are subjected to by the brokers and their mediators, who work to expand the charge against the prisoner to suggest that they cannot be released from prison without paying a large sum, in order to earn money in some form or another. This is considered a new and important source of income for officers and allies, ensuring their loyalty. But the biggest tragedy falls upon the families of prisoners who, after paying huge sums, are surprised by news that their loved ones have died under torture. This article was translated and edited by The Syrian Observer. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author. |
The US bishops are offering a #Bordermass today for the 6,000 migrants who have died in the U.S. desert since 1998. From USCCB: The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) Committee on Migration, joined by bishops on the border, will travel to Nogales, Arizona, March 30-April 1, 2014, to tour the U.S.-Mexico border and celebrate Mass on behalf of the close to 6,000 migrants who have died in the U.S. desert since 1998. You can watch it live in just a few moments here: His Eminence Sean Cardinal O’Malley, Archbishop of Boston Most Reverend Eusebio Elizondo, Auxiliary Bishop of Seattle and Chairman, USCCB Committee on Migration Most Reverend Gerald F. Kicanas, Bishop of Tucson Most Reverend John C. Wester, Bishop of Salt Lake City Most Reverend Mark Seitz, Bishop of El Paso Most Reverend Oscar Cantu, Bishop of Las Cruces, NM Most Reverend Ricardo Ramirez, Bishop Emeritus of Las Cruces, NM Most Reverend Luis Zarama, Auxiliary Bishop of Atlanta The following bishops are a part of this mission (Twitter links included where available): |
An estimated 4,000 low-ranked Bolivian police officers began a mutiny yesterday, demanding better wages across the nation, the AP reports. The footage coming out of the country is pretty insane. Hundreds of heavily armed police officers, barricaded in their own offices, setting files alight and generally trashing everything. It's a tense situation — a similar strike in 2003 ended with a gunfight between the police and the presidential guard that left 19 dead. The officers are demanding a meeting with President Evo Morales, who is in the Presidential Palace only 100 meters away from where the protests began. Below is footage from the ransacking of the police intelligence headquarter. WATCH: Another video from Spanish EFE News seems to show police officers torching a car and battling over officers outside a barrack. WATCH: |
The federal government plans to challenge ACT same-sex marriage laws in the high court when the territory enacts legislation. Commonwealth attorney-general George Brandis told Thursday's meeting of the standing council on law and justice the government would start legal proceedings at once. The ACT Labor government expects the law to pass with the support of Greens MLA Shane Rattenbury when the ACT Legislative Assembly sits later this month. If so, the first same-sex marriages could happen as early as December. Brandis has asked the ACT to defer the start of its law until after the high court has ruled on the matter. "It would be better for all concerned if the ACT government waited for a short time until the validity of the proposed law was determined by the high court," Brandis said. His ACT counterpart, Simon Corbell, said the territory had "declined to do that" because there was strong support for the law. "There are many same-sex couples both in the ACT and in other parts of the country who support the law and who want ... to have the opportunity to be married, even though they understand that the Commonwealth has announced that it will challenge the law," he said. He said he had had a “polite but forthright discussion” with Brandis on the matter on Thursday. If the law is struck down, any same-sex marriages would become null and void, although Corbell said the ACT would recognise those commitments in another way, such as civil unions. "We are disappointed that the Commonwealth professes concern for same-sex couples entering into marriage in case the law is struck down when it is they themselves who are seeking to have it struck down, Corbell said." "We will be robustly defending our law and asserting that our law is capable of concurrent operation with the Commonwealth law and that it is not inconsistent." Brandis said it was in Australia's interest to have nationally consistent marriage laws and the ACT's same-sex marriage bill was a threat to the current well-established position, as set out in the Commonwealth Marriage Act. Australian Marriage Equality chair and independent NSW MP Alex Greenwich said the fact the federal government was intervening would encourage same-sex couples to get married sooner rather than later. "The more people we have expressing their love and commitment will make it harder for any laws to be overturned," he said. "I would encourage as many same-sex couples to get married in the ACT as possible." Greenwich said he was confident the ACT law could withstand a high court challenge. |
"Clean coal" redirects here. For the technology, see Clean coal technology Coal pollution mitigation, often referred to by the term clean coal, is a series of systems and technologies that seek to mitigate the pollution and other environmental effects normally associated with the burning (though not the mining or processing) of coal, which is widely regarded as the dirtiest of the common fuels for industrial processes and power generation.[1] Approaches attempt to mitigate emissions of carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) and other greenhouse gases, and radioactive materials, that arise from the use of coal, mainly for electrical power generation, using various technologies. Historical efforts to reduce coal pollution focused on flue-gas desulfurization starting in the 1850s and clean burn technologies. These efforts have been very successful in countries with strong environmental regulation, such as the US, where emissions of acid-rain causing compounds and particulates have been reduced by up to 90%[2] since 1995. More recent developments include carbon capture and storage, which pumps and stores CO 2 emissions underground, and integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) involve coal gasification, which provides a basis for increased efficiency and lower cost in capturing CO 2 emissions.[3][4][5][6][7] There are seven technologies deployed or proposed by the National Mining Association for deployment in the United States:[8] Of the 22 clean coal demonstration projects funded by the U.S. Department of Energy since 2003, none are in operation as of February 2017, having been abandoned or delayed due to capital budget overruns or discontinued because of excessive operating expenses.[9] Regulations [ edit ] Since the 1970s, various policy and regulatory measures have driven coal pollution mitigation. In the US, the Clean Air Act was the primary driving force in reducing particulate emissions and acid rain from coal combustion. As regulations have increased the demand for coal pollution mitigation technologies, costs have fallen and performance has improved.[10] The widespread deployment of pollution-control equipment to reduce sulphur dioxide, NO x and dust emissions is just one example that brought cleaner air to many countries. The desire to tackle rising CO 2 emissions to address climate change later introduced Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS).[10] Within the United States, Carbon Capture and Storage technologies, also sometimes referred to as carbon capture and sequestration, are mainly being developed in response to regulations by the Environmental Protection Agency—most notably the Clean Air Act—and in anticipation of legislation that seeks to mitigate climate change. Loan guarantees and tax incentives have a long history of use in Australia, EU countries and the US to encourage the introduction of coal pollution mitigation and other technologies to reduce environmental impact.[10] Environmental impact of coal [ edit ] Greenhouse gasses [ edit ] Combustion of coal--which is mostly carbon--produces carbon dioxide as a product of combustion. According to the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the burning of coal, a fossil fuel, is a significant contributor to global warming. (See the UN IPCC Fourth Assessment Report). For 1 ton of coal burned, 2.86 tons of carbon dioxide is created.[11] Carbon sequestration technology has yet to be tested on a large scale and may not be safe or successful. Sequestered CO 2 may eventually leak up through the ground, may lead to unexpected geological instability or may cause contamination of aquifers used for drinking water supplies.[12] As 25.5% of the world's electrical generation in 2004 was from coal-fired generation (see world energy consumption), reaching the carbon dioxide reduction targets of the Kyoto Protocol will require modifications to how coal is used.[13] Combustion By-products [ edit ] By-products of coal combustion are compounds which are released into the atmosphere as a result of burning coal. Coal includes contaminants such as sulfur compounds and non-combustible minerals. When coal is burned, the minerals become ash (i.e particulate matter or PM) and the sulfur forms sulfur dioxide (SO 2 ). Since air is mostly nitrogen, combustion of coal often leads to production of nitrogen oxides. Sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides are primary causes of acid rain. For many years--before greenhouse gasses were widely understood to be a threat-- it was thought that these by-products were the only drawback to using coal. These by-products are still a problem, but they have been greatly diminished in most advanced countries due to clean air regulations. It is possible to remove most of the sulfur dioxide (SO 2 ), nitrogen oxides (NO x ), and particulate matter (PM) emissions from the coal-burning process. For example, various techniques are used in a coal preparation plant to reduce the amount of non-combustible matter (i.e. ash) in the coal prior to burning. During combustion, fluidized bed combustion is used to reduce sulfur dioxide emissions. After burning, particulate matter (i.e. ash and dust) can be reduced using an electrostatic precipitator and sulfur dioxide emissions can be further reduced with Flue-gas desulfurization. Trace amounts of radionuclides are more difficult to remove.[citation needed] Coal-fired power plants are the largest aggregate source of the toxic heavy metal mercury: 50 tons per year come from coal power plants out of 150 tons emitted nationally in the USA and 5000 tons globally. However, according to the United States Geological Survey, the trace amounts of mercury in coal by-products do not pose a threat to public health.[14] A study in 2013 found that Mercury found in the fish in the Pacific Ocean could possibly be linked to coal-fired plants in Asia. Potential financial impact [ edit ] Whether carbon capture and storage technology is adopted worldwide will “…depend less on science than on economics. Cleaning coal is very expensive.” [15] Cost of converting a single coal-fired power plant [ edit ] Conversion of a conventional coal-fired power plant is done by injecting the CO 2 into ammonium carbonate after which it is then transported and deposited underground (preferably in soil beneath the sea).[16] This injection process however is by far the most expensive. Besides the cost of the equipment and the ammonium carbonate, the coal-fired power plant also needs to use 30% of its generated heat to do the injection (parasitic load). A test-setup has been done in the American Electric Power Mountaineer coal-burning power plant. One solution to reduce this thermal loss/parasitic load is to burn the pulverised load with pure oxygen instead of air.[16] Cost implications for new coal-fired power plants [ edit ] Newly built coal-fired power plants can be made to immediately use gasification of the coal prior to combustion. This makes it much easier to separate off the CO 2 from the exhaust fumes, making the process cheaper. This gasification process is done in new coal-burning power plants such as the coal-burning power plant at Tianjin, called "GreenGen". Costs for US-wide conversion [ edit ] The projected nationwide costs for the implementing of carbon capture and storage (CCS) in coal-fired power plants in the USA (presumably using a conventional tactic, see above) can be found in the Wall Street Journal article. Credit Suisse Group says $15 billion needs to be invested in CCS over the next 10 years for it to play an important role in climate change. The International Energy Agency says $20 billion is needed. The Pew Center on Global Climate Change says the number is as high as $30 billion. Those figures dwarf the actual investments to date. In the US, the Bush administration spent about $2.5 billion on a range of mitigation technologies — a large amount, but far less than the amounts previously suggested. CCS proponents say both the government and the private sector need to step up their investments.[17] Potential financial benefits [ edit ] The coal industry in the US has the potential to make billions of dollars if clean coal technologies are pursued. It is estimated that from 2000 to 2020 the industry could make up to $15 billion in reduced fuel costs, $25 billion in avoided environmental costs, and $32 billion from exporting the equipment and licensing for use in other countries.[18] Political support [ edit ] Australia [ edit ] In Australia, carbon capture and storage was often referred to by then Prime Minister Kevin Rudd as a possible way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. (The previous Prime Minister John Howard had stated that nuclear power was a better alternative, as CCS technology may not prove to be economically feasible.) Canada [ edit ] In 2014 SaskPower a provincial-owned electric utility finished renovations on Boundary Dam’s boiler number 3 making it the worlds first post-combustion carbon capture storage facility.[19] The renovation project ended up costing a little over $1.2 billion and can scrub out CO2 and other toxin from up to 90 percent of the flue gas that it emits.[19] China [ edit ] Since 2006, China keeps releasing more CO 2 than any other country.[20][21][22][23][24] Researchers in China are focusing on increasing efficiency of burning coal so they can get more power out of less coal.[25] It is estimated that new high efficiency power plants could reduce CO2 emission by 7% because they won't have to burn as much coal to get the same amount of power.[25] Japan [ edit ] Following the catastrophic failure of the Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant in Japan that resulted from the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, and the subsequent widespread public opposition against nuclear power, high energy, lower emission (HELE) coal power plants were increasingly favored by the Shinzō Abe-led government to recoup lost energy capacity from the partial shutdown of nuclear power plants in Japan and to replace aging coal and oil-fired power plants, while meeting 2030 emission targets of the Paris Agreement. 45 HELE power plants have been planned, purportedly to employ integrated gasification fuel cell cycle, a further development of integrated gasification combined cycle.[26][27] Japan had adopted prior pilot projects on IGCC coal power plants in the early-1990s and late-2000s. United States [ edit ] In the United States, "clean coal" was mentioned by former President George W. Bush on several occasions, including his 2007 State of the Union Address. Bush's position was that carbon capture and storage technologies should be encouraged as one means to reduce the country's dependence on foreign oil. During the US Presidential campaign for 2008, both candidates John McCain and Barack Obama expressed interest in the development of CCS technologies as part of an overall comprehensive energy plan. The development of pollution mitigation technologies could also create export business for the United States or any other country working on it. The American Reinvestment and Recovery Act, signed in 2009 by President Obama, allocated $3.4 billion for advanced carbon capture and storage technologies, including demonstration projects. Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has said that "we should strive to have new electricity generation come from other sources, such as clean coal and renewables,” and former Energy Secretary Dr. Steven Chu has said that “It is absolutely worthwhile to invest in carbon capture and storage", noting that even if the U.S. and Europe turned their backs on coal, developing nations like India and China would likely not. During the first 2012 United States presidential election debate, Mitt Romney expressed his support for clean coal, and claimed that current federal policies were hampering the coal industry.[28] Criticism of the approach [ edit ] Environmentalists such as Dan Becker, director of the Sierra Club's Global Warming and Energy Program, believes that the term "clean coal" is misleading: "There is no such thing as clean coal and there never will be. It's an oxymoron." The Sierra Club's Coal Campaign has launched a site refuting the clean coal statements and advertising of the coal industry. Complaints focus on the environmental impacts of coal extraction, high costs to sequester carbon, and uncertainty of how to manage end result pollutants and radionuclides. In reference to sequestration of carbon, concerns exist about whether geologic storage of CO 2 in reservoirs, aquifers, etc., is indefinite/permanent. The palaeontologist and influential environmental activist Tim Flannery made the assertion that the concept of clean coal might not be viable for all geographical locations. Critics also believe that the continuing construction of coal-powered plants (whether or not they use carbon sequestration techniques) encourages unsustainable mining practices for coal, which can strip away mountains, hillsides, and natural areas. They also point out that there can be a large amount of energy required and pollution emitted in transporting the coal to the power plants. The Reality Coalition, a US non-profit climate organization composed of the Alliance for Climate Protection, the Sierra Club, the National Wildlife Federation, the Natural Resources Defense Council and the League of Conservation Voters, ran a series of television commercials in 2008 and 2009. The commercials were highly critical of attempts to mitigate coal's pollution, stating that without capturing CO 2 emissions and storing it safely that it cannot be called "clean coal". Greenpeace is a major opponent of the concept, because they view emissions and wastes as not being avoided but instead transferred from one waste stream to another. According to Greenpeace USA's Executive Director Phil Radford speaking in 2012, "even the industry figures it will take 10 or 20 years to arrive, and we need solutions sooner than that. We need to scale up renewable energy; “clean coal” is a distraction from that." Clean coal [ edit ] The term Clean Coal in modern society often refers to the carbon capture and storage process. The term has been used by advertisers, lobbyists, and politicians such as Donald Trump.[29] Prior terminology [ edit ] The industry term "clean coal" is increasingly used in reference to carbon capture and storage, an advanced theoretical process that would eliminate or significantly reduce carbon dioxide emissions from coal-based plants and permanently sequester them. More generally, the term has been found in modern usage to describe technologies designed to enhance both the efficiency and the environmental acceptability of coal extraction, preparation, and use. U.S. Senate Bill 911 in April, 1987, defined clean coal technology as follows: "The term clean coal technology means any technology...deployed at a new or existing facility which will achieve significant reductions in air emissions of sulfur dioxide or oxides of nitrogen associated with the utilization of coal in the generation of electricity."[30] Before being adopted in this fashion, historically "clean coal" was used to refer to clean-burning coal with low levels of impurities, though this term faded after rates of domestic coal usage dropped. The term appeared in a speech to mine workers in 1918, in context indicating coal that was "free of dirt and impurities."[31] In the early 20th century, prior to World War II, clean coal (also called "smokeless coal") generally referred to anthracite and high-grade bituminous coal, used for cooking and home heating.[32] See also [ edit ] Notes [ edit ] Further reading [ edit ] |
Kentucky center Karl-Anthony Towns won’t admit if he is rooting for a specific ping-pong ball to come up for his childhood team, the Knicks, in the May 19 NBA Draft lottery. But he does admit Knicks president Phil Jackson is exactly the kind of “presence’’ he would like to be around in the NBA. Towns, who flew in from Lexington, Ky., to appear at his high school in Metuchen, N.J., Sunday at a signing event to raise money for St. Joseph’s, told The Post how much he admires the Zen Master, who watched one of Kentucky’s practices in Lexington on Feb. 27. “It’s his presence,’’ Towns told The Post. “What he means to me, his presence is just amazing. What was so awesome as a coach, he made every player better and put them in the best position to succeed. He’s just so smart and intelligent and has so much experience. He knows how to win. At the end of the day, what every player wants to do is win. If I have the opportunity to ever play for the Knicks, that’s what I would love to do.’’ It has been evident since last month Jackson has a preference for Towns over center Jahlil Okafor, saying multiple times he prefers a defensive-oriented big man in the draft over an offensive-only center. Towns has scored high marks as a two-way player while Okafor is known as one-dimensional, with his energy on defense lagging. The Knicks, in need of a big man, have a 19.9 percent chance of winning the top pick. Towns is unsure where he will watch the lottery, but he will watch. “We’re all going to be watching it,’’ Towns said. “It’s a key moment in all of our lives.’’ He chuckled when asked if he hopes the ping-pong balls go the Knicks’ way. “A lot of my friends ask me that,’’ Towns said. “I say the same thing: Wherever the chips fall, the chips fall. I’m just happy to have the opportunity to join the elite group of players in the NBA.’’ If the center-heavy 76ers win the lottery, they may pass on Towns and Okafor and nab guard D’Angelo Russell, according to a report. Towns still has his Knicks ballcap in his bedroom in Jersey. “Yeah, in this area growing up, you don’t have the money to have the NBA League Pass, so you got the local teams,’’ Towns said. “I always got a chance to watch the MSG channel and watch the Knicks play. I grew up to have a lot of respect for the Knicks.’’ As he continued to talk to prospective agents, Towns said he has made no decision on whether to participate in the drills at the Chicago draft combine May 14-17. That is also a place where the players interview with team executives. He said he still is not over the stunning 71-64 Final Four loss to Wisconsin on April 4 that spoiled an unbeaten season. Towns scored 16 points and had nine rebounds. “I’ll never get over that game,’’ he said. “It will stay with me the rest of my life. Chalk it up as a learning experience. We all have regrets, all feel we could’ve given a little more.’’ Known for his academic excellence in high school, Towns will complete his final exams this week in Lexington and be done with a 16-credit workload. He hasn’t decided where he will work out — Lexington or Jersey. Jackson has preached this spring not to put too much pressure next season on their lottery pick because of age and freshman status. Towns, 19, isn’t backing away from early expectations. “I know I have to learn a lot,’’ Towns said. “Once you get in the league, you have to learn different schemes and learn how to play NBA basketball. I just am blessed to have played against NBA prospects [at Kentucky] every day in practice. I have all the confidence in my skill set and game that I can come in and help an organization that drafts me.’’ And he can’t wait to help his high school. “I want to give back to the school that gave me so much when I was there,’’ Towns said. |
Between 1978 and today, there’s been no great change in the rhythm of a professional footballer’s life. It has remained a routine of training and playing that runs through a nine-month long season. Of course, these days the mechanics of that process are very different. At a top-flight club such as West Brom, the act of preparing players for each season and maintaining them through it is now a forensic science loaded with minutiae on such things as heart rates, refuelling and diet. This doesn’t allow for members of the team to slope off for a cigarette and a fry-up at the end of each session. As a result, the game itself has become faster and more technical. The rapid proliferation of media has also led to an exponential increase in the amount it is broadcast and reported on and in the attendant interest in it. Yet the most evident and substantive change to the game has been to its economics, and the degree to which at the highest level this has separated those who play football from those who watch it. As well, there has been a marked shift in the demographic of football’s support. It is a general rule that the game in the English Premier League of today is played by very rich young men to an audience that is at least comfortably middle class. In this respect, the football of the late-1970s is wholly unrecognisable. It wasn’t then gentrified or brand-managed. In some regards it was a simpler, purer game, and in others an uglier one too. Clubs such as West Brom retained a position at the hub of their communities. Often as not, these were the areas of the country most affected by Britain’s economic woes. As at most other clubs, the great majority of those who stood on the terraces at West Brom worked in the factories and plants of the town and its surrounding areas. Right then, these were places and people that were commonly clinging on for survival. Money was tight and the time had passed when people could afford to go to every game. This much was clear that season in the gates at the Hawthorns. More than 33,000 saw the match against Liverpool, whereas less than 22,000 had turned out for Norwich just two weeks earlier. On 29 November, the derby with Aston Villa attracted a crowd of 35,166. A fortnight after that match the fixture with Middlesbrough brought in 19,865. The players were better off, but not by an unimaginable distance. When Laurie Cunningham left West Brom in 1979, he was on little more than £100 a week. Supporters alternately envied, admired and even idolised him and his team-mates, but they nonetheless continued to inhabit much the same world as them. For home matches, the Albion players parked their cars at a school across the road from the Hawthorns on Halfords Lane. It was a common sight to see one or other of them deep in conversation with a group of supporters on the walk from there to the ground. During the week, the players were just as likely to be spotted out together in a local pub such as the Four in Hand. It was even known for them to frequent the Marksman off Carters Green, one of the town’s roughest boozers. Cyrille Regis was a regular at a quieter pub a mile up the road in Hill Top, the Star & Garter. “Cyrille [Regis] was an electrician. He’s a man of the people,” says the supporter John Homer. “That was the thing. As a supporter you knew where the players had come from and had an affinity with them. At that time, football still had humanity. The players were of a generation that appreciated how lucky they were to be in the game. Even though the rewards were not as great, they were still getting paid more than my old man was for working in a brickyard in Netherton.” The manager, Ron Atkinson, nurtured this connection between the team and its supporters. He instituted a rota for having the players attend supporters’ club meetings throughout the season, telling them it was part of the job of being a footballer. One of his most well-used mantras was that none of them should forget who paid their wages. “Players were more respectful of supporters in those days, because we were on a level,” insists the goalkeeper Tony Godden. “It was a pretty depressed area, but we’d all of us go along together to the pub opposite the ground on a Saturday night and listen to a bloke on the piano, or a live band. It was all part of joining in with West Bromwich Albion. “Most of the time, we had Wednesdays off. You only had to go into the dressing room on a Tuesday morning and say it was your turn to go down the Dog and Duck to draw the raffle, and you’d have 15 of the lads saying they’d come along. Nothing silly, but we’d have a few beers, us and the fans.” Outside of this home environment, the same awful, yawning chasm still opened up that separated Cunningham, Regis and Brendon Batson from the others. All of the players expected stick from opposition fans, but the vitriol being directed at the trio was laced with a particular poison. The sound of it was hostile, but also now as familiar to them as radio static. This much was true of all of the black players in the English game at the time. Yet their total number was then just 50 or so. In that regard, the collective black presence in the West Brom team made it a magnet for the extremists. At the FA and in the media, the racist abuse continued to go either ignored or unacknowledged. However, it was now so obvious, so prevalent at Albion’s games, that it could be nothing but a fact of life at the club. It even drew the side closer together and gave them a common enemy, albeit one they never did comprehend in the same way. “How can I say, we talked about it but we also laughed about it,” says Ally Robertson. “The three lads were our mates and we all used to stick together, so it was nothing to us. If they were being called anything, the rest of us would just tell them to try harder to win the game and shut the crowd up. “I used to say to each of them: ‘If people call you a black so-and-so, then so what? How many times have I been told I’m a Scottish twat?’ I didn’t give two hoots. The thing was we never, ever allowed anyone to call them ‘nigger’. That’s derogative. Anyone that did, I’d be the first to punch them.’ “What shocked me when I joined West Brom was the volume,” says Batson. “The noise and level of the abuse was incredible. At times, it was almost like surround sound in the grounds. But it was such a regular occurrence, you almost got used to it. “We’d get off the coach at away matches and the National Front would be right there in your face. In those days, we didn’t have security and we’d have to run the gauntlet. We’d get to the players’ entrance and there’d be spit on my jacket or Cyrille’s shirt. It was a sign of the times. I don’t recall making a big hue and cry about it. We coped. It wasn’t a new phenomenon to us. “From when I came to England [from Grenada, aged nine], I was familiar with people shouting at me from cars or on the Underground in London. With the other players in the side, it was none of their business. It didn’t concern them and they weren’t sensitive to it. I also remember speaking to the BBC and confronting them about when they were going to say something about it. They told me it wasn’t possible to make out what was being shouted. What a load of bollocks that was. All of the excuses I got were a joke.” The three players were also now accustomed to receiving hate mail. Cunningham got the most, on account of his relationship with Nicky Brown [his white fiancee], which was well-publicised. Yet Bryan Robson also recalls being sent vile letters asking him how an Englishman could tolerate having black team-mates. One of the more regular correspondents to the club was an Everton fan, who’d send in an abusive screed each time Albion were due to play on Merseyside. He directed this at Atkinson, urging him not to select his “monkeys” for the game. It was Cunningham again who attracted the most menacing heat away from the football stadia. Death threats were posted to the house he shared with Brown in Birmingham. On one occasion, a petrol bomb was thrown through the front door. Brown remembers him calmly stamping out the flames licking at the doormat, as if it were the sort of thing that happened every day. His only recourse remained on the pitch. That season, more than any other, he was able to keep striking back and winning games. At the end of September, West Brom went to play Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. The west London club was another that had become notorious for the ferocity of its support. As at West Ham and Millwall, this was most apparent when there was a black player in the opposition team. “I wasn’t a Chelsea fan, but my brother-in-law had a season ticket and he took me along to see the game,” recalls Lord Herman Ouseley, now chairman of English football’s anti-racism campaign group Kick It Out. “Going to football as a black man was then a very uncomfortable experience. You had to keep your head down and your wits about you. “At the beginning of the game, the three West Brom players got fruit thrown at them. Each time one of them touched the ball, the booing was horrendous. After about 20 minutes, Laurie weaved his way through the Chelsea defence and Cyrille banged the ball into the net. The guys sitting around me were enraged. They stood up and the abuse reached a cacophony. “Not long after, Laurie went through again and set up another goal. They were even more livid. But then one of these gorillas sitting in front of me turned to another and said: ‘Mind you, the nigger is fucking good, isn’t he?’ This was a moment of inspiration for me and I sat there with a glow inside. It was saying, whatever the odds, you can win people over by your talent and perseverance.” This is an edited extract from The Three Degrees by Paul Rees. Published by Constable, hardback £20, eBook £12.99 |
Bitcoin News for the Week of 07/14/14 Welcome to our weekly Bitcoin news recap, where headlines and news bites get immortalized into the Blockchain blog, forever. This weekend we are in attendance at The North American Bitcoin Conference (TNABC), where we came clean about a new product re-vamp and design we’ve been teasing about over the past few weeks: our freshly designed Android wallet featuring an in-app merchant directory! Other major news includes Dell’s big announcement that they’ve begun accepting bitcoins, and Sean’s Outpost continues their amazing work at helping to feed the homeless. There’s a lot more good news that happened this week, so buckle up. **To the headlines! ** [](http://btcchicago.com) [We’re headed to TNABC!](https://blog.blockchain.com/2014/07/17/were-headed-to-tnabc/) Blockchain is excited to be a sponsor of The North American Bitcoin Conference (TNABC) this week. We’ll be there and excited to meet hundreds of other bitcoiners passionate about innovation and technology. Blockchain Releases New Android Wallet App To Put Bitcoin Into Everyone’s Hands Popular bitcoin wallet provider Blockchain.info is releasing a major new version of its Android app, allowing you to store, receive and send bitcoins directly from your Android phone. The key thinking behind the update is to make bitcoin more accessible. It hides the complexity of the protocol in order to encourage mainstream user adoption. More awesome articles about our new Android release: Blockchain Debuts Android Wallet with Searchable Merchant Directory Bitcoin wallet and block explorer provider Blockchain has unveiled its latest Android wallet update, announcing the news at The North American Bitcoin Conference (NABC), an ongoing two-day industry event taking place in downtown Chicago. Blockchain Rolls Out New Android App With Bitcoin Merchant Map Blockchain has released a new, entirely redesigned version of its Android App. The app’s design is said to be so smooth and simple, that its users will hardly know they are transacting in bitcoin. [youtube_video]kfsYd5IjSaQ[/youtube_video] LinkedIn Co-Founder: Bitcoin is in My Five-Year Investment Plan LinkedIn co-founder, early Facebook investor and Greylock Partners partner Reid Hoffman has declared his enthusiasm for bitcoin in a new interview with CNBC’s ‘Squawk Alley’. Hoffman says that he is increasingly focused on bitcoin, stating that bitcoin is an “incredible system.” Sean’s Outpost just fed their 100,000th meal to the homeless Pensacola, FL based homeless shelter, Sean’s Outpost, hit a major milestone when they fed their 100,000th meal to the homeless. And of course Sean’s Outpost is funded by bitcoins, which has had a huge contribution to the program’s success. Read more about Sean’s Outpost here. Google Adds Bitcoin Price Conversions Google rolled out a new feature as part of Google Search where the search giant will provide users with a bitcoin conversion to their local currency right in the search results. Simply type in for example, 2 BTC in USD and get the price of two bitcoins in US dollars. Bitcoin: Education can make a difference Bitcoin is a transformative new technology, which has the potential to affect everyone on the planet. However, as we all know, at times focus is directed on the sensationalist stories instead of the positive ones. In response, Naomi Brockwell started Bitcoin Girl, in an effort to help educate the public on the positive side of bitcoins. CheapAir.com has processed $1.5 million in Bitcoin sales Congratulations to cheapair.com, the online travel agency, who has processed over $1.5 million in bitcoin sales, since first implementing the option in November 2013. With $1.5 million in Bitcoin transactions processed thus far, it seems that the innovation has been a win-win. Not only do customers get a new option, but CheapAir.com has become a market leader in this regard. Dell laptop image via Dell’s Google+ profile Computer giant Dell begins accepting Bitcoin on Dell.com Now you can buy digital with digital – starting today, Dell is accepting bitcoins on Dell.com. Dell is piloting bitcoin, the world’s most widely used digital currency, as a purchase option on Dell.com for consumer and small business shoppers in the U.S. New York Reveals BitLicense Framework for Bitcoin Businesses The New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) has released its long-anticipated list of proposed rules and regulations that will be required for New York-based bitcoin businesses. The announcement came from Benjamin M Lawsky, New York State’s first Superintendent of Financial Services, who oversaw two regulatory hearings with digital currency leaders in January of this year. Reflections on the NYDFS Bitcoin Proposal and the Right of Privacy Bitcoin advocate and entrepreneur, Erik Voorhees, has responded to the new NYDFS Bitcoin Proposal, breaking down the possible implications of the proposals submitted by New York’s Superintendent of Financial Services, Benjamin M Lawsky. This is a must read for all bitcoiners. Andreessen Horowitz Leads Bitcoin Startup TradeBlock’s $2.8 Million Funding Online cryptocurrency data and research provider TradeBlock has raised $2.8m in funding as part of a new investment round led by Andreessen Horowitz that also included SecondMarket CEO Barry Silbert, Devonshire Investors and FinTech Collective. GHash.IO promises to establish 40% hashrate limit to prevent ’51% attack’ The popular Bitcoin mining pool GHash.IO – famous for raising concern about a possible ’51% attack’ on the Bitcoin ecosystem twice in the last year – has promised that in the future it will “not exceed more than 39.99% of the overall Bitcoin hashrate.” [youtube_video]tu6U-wSU5Aw[/youtube_video] Why bitcoin? Hear about it from Roger Ver and Max Keiser on The Keiser Report Max interviews Roger Ver, an angel investor in bitcoin companies like Blockchain.info, Bitpay and Kraken, about his decision to renounce his American citizenship. They also discuss why bitcoin is the best money ever and what the blockchain can do to set the ordinary person free. |
In the flashy world of social, mobile, TV and cinema, looks old fashioned. But some print ads aren’t simply sitting looking foolish. They’re crazy as hell, and outrun the in other mediums. Below, check out that offer more than great looks and great copy. Don’t miss reading our prvious posts Smart Old Lady 35 Creative print ads Latest Print ads The Airbag Ad The opening page ad of Peugot in Exame magazine asks readers to hit the front end for knowing why it provides lot more saftey. On hitting an actual airbag inflates on the inside spread. Ad agency Loducca did this in 50,000 copies of magazine. The Talking Ad QR codes made dictators speak in print ads from free-press advocacy group Reporters Without Borders. Scan the QR code with Iphone and placing it over the leader’s mouth, makes it talking—but it’s the voice of a journalist discussing media censorship in that country. The Solar-Powered Ad The solar powered ad promoted green energy. A printed black-and-white sketch in magazine blossoms into full color when held into sunlight. The Bottle-Opener Ad Following the ad instructions, you can open bottle of Carlsberg with a piece of paper. Useful! Don’t forget Social Share buttons on left hand side The Bra-Tightening Ad This Wonderbra ad lets you perform a little imprompu boob cinching—a wonderful little pick-me-up when you’re bored reading articles. Connect with us on Facebook Google+ Twitter The Bubble-Gum Ad Simple and fun The Test-Drive Ad That Norwegian ad for Volkswagen showed lengthy roads (in summer and winter versions). It asked readers in to download an app on Iphone. Hovering your Iphone over ad allows you to “drive” a car on road and test features of vehicle—lane assist, adaptive lights and cruise control. The Sunbather’s Ad Just the thing you need—a suntan-lotion ad that comes handy for face tan. The Sticky Ad The ad for Australian fertility clinic in FHM caused the magazine’s pages to stick together. When unstuck, it revealed woman posing in lingerie, with tagline “Don’t waste your sperm.” The message being—donate it at the Repromed fertility clinic instead. |
Kevin Pollak (Kevin Pollak’s Chat Show) and Faking It alumna Bailey De Young are set for recurring roles on Amazon dramedy series The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. Written and directed by Gilmore Girls creator Amy Sherman-Palladino, Marvelous Mrs. Maisel stars Rachel Brosnahan as Miriam “Midge” Maisel, a 1958 New York City woman who has everything she’s ever wanted: the perfect husband, two kids and an elegant Upper West Side apartment perfect for hosting Yom Kippur dinner. But her perfect life suddenly takes an unexpected turn and Midge discovers a previously unknown talent — one that changes her life forever. She charts a course that takes her from her comfortable life on Riverside Drive through the basket houses and nightclubs of Greenwich Village as she storms the world of stand-up comedy, a course that ultimately will lead her to a spot on Johnny Carson’s couch. Pollak will play Morris “Moishe” Maisel, Joel’s (Michael Zegen) father, a tough, streetwise man who is not afraid of anything. He feels like no one owes him anything and he owes no one anything as well. Self-made in every sense of the word, Moishe believes himself to be a man of God at home but a man of the streets at work. De Young will portray Imogene, Midge’s friend and wife of Archie (Joel Johnstone). Pollak most recently played the role of Dr. Eldrich Orbus in feature Three Christs, alongside Richard Gere and Peter Dinklage. On the TV side, he recurred as Alvin on Mom and most recently guest-starred on The Good Fight and Drunk History and was a series regular on Angel From Hell. As a director, his helming debut, Misery Loves Company, was picked up by Tribeca Film at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival. He most recently directed The Late Bloomer, starring J.K. Simmons, Maria Belloand Brittany Snow. Pollak is repped by Innovative Artists. De Young played intersex character Lauren Cooper on Faking It and most recently appeared on Gilmore Girls: A Day in the Life. She’s repped by the Talent House and Forward Entertainment. |
Product Description Henry Bennion Eyring was born on May 31, 1933, in Princeton, New Jersey, bearing the first name of his father, who was fast building a reputation as a brilliant scientist, and the family name of his mother, who didn't care for the name "Henry" and insisted that he be called Hal. In 1970, Hal received an impression to make a daily record of his activities. Years of journals form the backbone of this personal biography, a candid look at his walk through life with his beloved companion, Kathy. "The journal shows how a good-but-imperfect man works each day to win divine approval," write the authors, and this window into his past provides unforgettable insights about the man the Lord has shaped him to become. Readers will love these richly designed pages, filled with photographs, sketches from the pen of President Eyring himself, and scores of entries straight from his journals woven into an engaging depiction of his life's journey. President Henry B. Eyring's professional, academic, and personal experiences have all combined to make him uniquely qualified for his responsibilities as a member of the First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. His life story vividly demonstrates the power of the Lord and the example set by one who strives to follow His commands. |
Herodotus told us to call no man happy until he is dead. The same is true of television: no series, no season, no episode can be called good until it is over. All endings matter. And it is for this reason that the first episode of HBO’s Ballers is good, while the subsequent two are bad. The three things that you need to know before you keep reading are a) Ballers is the new Entourage, b) I do not like Entourage, but c) I kinda like Ballers. Point A is not debatable. Everyone agrees that it is the new Entourage. To be more specific, it’s the “Entourage of the NFL,” and remember that Entourage was always “Sex and the City for men.” Which makes Ballers the “(Sex and the City for men) of the NFL.” (Sex and the City, if you cannot remember it, was the Girls of the late ’90s and early oughts.) Regarding my dislike for Entourage: I have only seen two episodes. The first two. There was not a single moment during those first two during which I thought to myself that I should continue watching. I gave it two, rather than one, out of a sense of fairness,and because I’d finished The Wire and needed something else to watch. The second episode of Entourage is the worst episode of television that I can recall finishing. It’s a terrible way to spend thirty minutes. I would rather spend thirty minutes on an episode of Duck Dynasty or the first ninety pages of a Dan Brown novel. The reason that Entourage is so bad is that it is nothing but watching good things happen to bad people. (I am aware enough of Entourage to know that, yes, the show continues within the mold of bad people, good things, throughout its run). There is nothing more boring than a television show in which the characters continually get what they want. But enough about Entourage. Let’s discuss the trouble with Ballers. The trouble with Ballers is that it defies genres, but not in a good way. Television, like all stories, should fall into one of three categories: comedy, tragedy, or history. The trouble with Ballers is that it’s not funny enough to be comedy, not dramatic enough to be a drama, and not real enough to be reality. It exists in some purgatory between these worlds. There are some very funny moments, enough that I’ve been surprised by how many genuine laughs I’ve emitted while watching it. An awkward funeral, an aggressive confrontation, a painfully-rehearsed athlete interview. Most of the best lines are either from the mouth of, or at the expense of, former Daily Show correspondent Rob Corddry. But the trouble is that the show can’t decide if it wants to be funny or sad, just like it can’t decide if it’s a glorification or indictment of the lifestyles onscreen. What makes the first episode so good is that we see the protagonist’s struggle. He is being told to “monetize friendships.” He is told he has insufficient funds when trying to withdraw at an ATM. He has a sleazy, irritating boss, and a lot of prospects he can’t quite close. He still hasn’t determined who he is after leaving the NFL. It’s the insufficient funds moment that happens in the last second of the first episode, making it a good, compelling, engaging episode. But then things begin going too well for him for us to really care in the second and third episodes. The third episode is brutal, as we watch Dwayne Johnson’s protagonist throw a blow-out party for the purpose of getting new clients. The party takes up far too much of the episode. Actually, the entire episode is nothing but the party. And every potentially poignant moment is washed away with champagne, cocaine, sweat. Apparently the worst thing in his life is that one of his clients makes poor decisions off the field, and that another one has an annoying best friend trying to manage his finances. Okay, sure, both of those things seem frustrating, but we need more than that to stay interested. Stories need conflict, and all the conflicts are resolved too obviously, too quickly. The ending of the third episode is nothing more than a white guy dropping a word that white guys are not allowed to say, and then getting thrown into water. That would make for a mildly-interesting anecdote that an annoying friend would tell me during an annoying lunch. In this case, it’s sad to see The Rock and a former Daily Show cast member spinning their wheels with a story that has as little payoff as that. If we are going to watch a raucous party, then at least show us the hangover afterward. Perhaps that’s the point of the fourth episode, but when a third episode offers as little as this one did, what’s the incentive to get to the fourth? Why aren’t worse things happening? My original thesis regarding Ballers, based entirely on the trailers, was that the only thing that could get me interested would be if “the first episode ends with them murdering a guy and then the rest of the show is about them dealing with it.” And then I lightened up, gave the first episode a chance, and realized that there would be a reason to keep watching. That it would resemble Silicon Valley, where every episode is a comedy of errors and ends with a conflict intensifying, or like Bored to Death, where there might be happy endings, but they are overshadowed by the sad, bizarre, hilarious world in which the characters exist. But no, Ballers is better than I expected, but it’s not as good as it could be, and the biggest reason is because it does not know what it is and so neither do we. Is it actually a comedy? Actually, it’s possible that Ballers is a comedy, in the very classical sense. It’s nice things happening to people you don’t know, all leading up to a happy ending. But this is disappointing, as the show has real promise if it can lean into the path its suggesting and show us the dangers that come from only having dreams of “deals and dollars.” Or, on the other side of things, the tragedy of being a minor celebrity with an entourage that bleeds you dry financially. I should clarify now that there are other things I like about it, both the funny moments and some of the more touching ones: the joy that one former professional athlete has in becoming a Chevrolet salesman is actually touching. The moment when his wife tells him that no, he isn’t overweight, but is rather “robust,” is both touching and funny. And then they break an ottoman, which is good funny slapstick. The characters are surprising in their charisma, and, unlike the entourage of Entourage, you genuinely want them to win. But that doesn’t mean they should win immediately, which is what we see most of them doing. During the moments they take one step backward, when they stumble, it’s in the midst of taking twenty steps forward. And when the story loses track of their plotlines and just shows them getting drunk on a yacht, it misses the mark entirely. Ballers is most disappointing not because it’s bad, but because we are given so many hints of the better story that it could be. Enjoy this? Or disagree strongly? Check out the follow-up to it here. Advertisements Share this: Facebook Print Twitter Pinterest Email |
Three major elements of the Anzac centenary commemorations are opening in Wellington today. Source: Breakfast A week out from the 100th anniversary of the Gallipoli landings, the public will get their first look at Te Papa's exhibition Gallipoli: The Scale of Our War. The collaborative project with Weta Workshop tells the haunting stories of New Zealanders at the battle front, bringing them to life. Media and family descendants had a preview of the exhibition yesterday after it was kept secret for months and huge public interest is expected on opening weekend. Eight New Zealanders who were at Gallipoli are depicted in the exhibition as figures two-and-a-half times the size of the average person. Visitors can hear their stories and thoughts read aloud from their diaries and letters. "There's very much a need to find in anything you create to find the intimate in the epic. And this was an epic war of extraordinary scale for the soldiers that fought there," said Sir Richard Taylor, the exhibition's creative director. It took 24,000 hours of work to bring the eight characters to life in exact detail. At 11am, Pukeahu National War Memorial Park will be officially opened by Governor-General Sir Jerry Mateparae and Prime Minister John Key. There'll also be a rededication of the Hall of Memories. Tonight at 7pm, the WW1 Remembered Sound and Light Show opens. It features imagery from our military history projected onto the facades of the historic Dominion Museum Building and the Carillon. The show will run nightly until Anzac Day. Tomorrow night, Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott arrives in Wellington to take part in the Anzac centenary commemorations. On Monday, Mr Abbott and Mr Key will take part in a dedication ceremony of the Australian Memorial in the newly-opened Pukeahu National War Memorial Park. |
About Ignatius Insight Who We Are Ignatius Press Ignatius Press catalogs Catholic World Report Homiletic & Pastoral Review IP Novels site IP Religious Ed blog IP Critical Editions Practicing Chastity in an Unchaste Age | Bishop Joseph F. Martino An American bishops pastoral advice. Print-friendly version Editor's note: This pastoral letter was originally released on December 8, 2004: the 150th anniversary of the proclamation of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception; it is reprinted here with permission. My dear brothers and sisters in Christ: I write as your bishop and spiritual father on a matter of great importance and great good news: chastity. Why chastity? That is really two questions wrapped up in one. First, why do I write on this subject just now? Violations of chastity in our Church and our diocese have made some people skeptical when the Church speaks on sexual morality. But for just that reason it is more necessary, not less, to speak the truth about sexual morality. Sin and confusion cry out for honest, truthful speech. The Church has always taughtand I teach herethat we need to find our happiness and holiness in a commitment to the chastity lived out in marital love or the chastity of celibacy lived out either in the consecrated life or the life of a single layperson in the world. These are the two paths to happiness and eternal life. There are no others. Second, why is chastity so important? Is this really a virtue for our times? Dont other subjects take priority? In fact, chastity is a virtue for our times, and it does take priority. That should be clear, for instance, in the wake of the scandalous events in our own Church as well as those in secular society. One sad thing Ive read was the final paragraph of the New York Times obituary of the popular French novelist Françoise Sagan. In a 1993 interview before her second drug trial, Sagan recalled: "I had incredible luck because just when I grew up, the pill came along. When I was 18, I used to die with fear of being pregnant, but then it arrived, and love was free and without consequence for nearly 30 years. Then AIDS came. Those 30 years coincided with my adulthood, the age for having fun." In this "age for having fun," Françoise Sagan was twice married, twice divorced, twice convicted of narcotics offenses. God rest her soul. God rest the souls of all who thought as she did. And may God come to the rescue of all who now think as she did. It is the spirit of this "age for having fun" that makes the Churchs teaching on chastity so necessary today. There is a vast gulf between the secularist view of sex and the Christian view of chastity. The Catechism of the Catholic Church (2337) says: "Chastity means the successful integration of sexuality within the person and thus the inner unity of man in his bodily and spiritual being. Sexuality, in which mans belonging to the bodily and biological world is expressed, becomes personal and truly human when it is integrated into the relationship of one person to another, in the complete and lifelong mutual gift of a man and a woman. The virtue of chastity therefore involves the integrity of the person and the integrality [i.e., completeness] of the gift." Sacred Scripture says the same thing in its own way. The single most important fact about biblical anthropology may be that it views the human body as integral to the human person. In contrast with ancient and modern dualisms, the Bible makes it clear that we do not possess our bodies, as if they were apart from us; rather, we are bodily persons. God created us bodily persons and communal in nature by being related to him and one another. The biblical testimony has serious moral implications. What people do in and to their bodies touches the core of their personhood (cf. 1 Cor 6:9). Chastity, as a principle of personal integration, is crucially important to holiness and happinessto being healthy, integrated human beings. The contemporary context Chastity is closely related to the virtue of temperance, which regulates the use of food and drinkand sex. Regulation is in order precisely because these things are good. If they werent, we would be obliged to shun them, not regulate them. As it is, chastity empowers us to make right use of a great gift from God. Fully to appreciate chastity, we need to reflect on attitudes and ways of acting opposed to it. This will not be pleasant. As C.S. Lewis says in Mere Christianity, "perversions of the sex instinct are numerous, hard to cure, and frightful." But the cure begins with recognizing a perversion for what it is. The list is long and depressing. It includes pornography, masturbation, premarital sex, cohabitation, homosexual relations and unions, sexual promiscuity, adultery, divorce and remarriage without an annulment, contraception, sterilization, abortion, cloning, and the destruction of human embryos for stem-cell research. Currently, a campaign of legal pressure and media propaganda seeks to force a change in the definition of marriage so that homosexual unions will be accepted as marriages. Secular culture as it is reflected in the media not only accepts sex outside marriage but also encourages it. One result is that many people hardly even understand what the Church says about sexual morality. Many, for instance, not only do not practice modesty in dress but also have little or no idea what "modesty in dress" might mean. And how often, unfortunately, the young are left uninstructed about the evil of masturbation, with the result being a vicious habit they must truly struggle to overcome. Consent is the supreme principle supposedly legitimating virtually any sexual behavior. This radically libertarian mindset still recognizes rape as a sexual aberration, but if people are willing, virtually anything else goes. "Who am I to judge?" others say with a shrug. "Theyre old enough. Nobody else is hurt. So why shouldnt they if they want to?" Here is the rationale for the casual sexual encountersnot just loveless but without even emotional attachmentnow common on college campuses and in other settings. Many young women complain of the boorishness of men who take casual sex for granted, as if this were something they have a right to expect after paying for a meal and drinks. Women, often on the birth-control pill without any medical reason, feel under pressure to comply. Wouldnt people think them strange if they said no? Sexual harassment, stalking, and violence also are part of this ugly scene. Sometimes, of course, unmarried young women and men do say theyre "in love" when they engage in sex. Then the relationship ends, the partners enter into new relationships, they again have sex, and again they say theyre "in love." It mocks love to call serial fornication by this name. And it mocks parental responsibility for parents to imagine theyve done their duty by telling their children to avoid unprotected sex and have sex only in a caring relationship. Legalized abortion flows from the mentality I am describing. Despite dishonest chatter about making abortion safe, legal, and rare, there have been 45 million abortions in the United States since the Supreme Court gave its blessing to abortion in 1973. The destruction of 45 million human lives in a little over thirty years is not what most people would call "rare." Veterans of the abortion movement now speak of the need to preserve their daughters right to choose abortion. "If you want to kill our unborn grandchildren," they say in effect, "thats your right." Disordered sexual behavior lies at the root of this cancer in our society. Disordered sexual attitudes and practices before marriage make chastity harder after marriage. Women are encouraged to be as "liberated" as men. But disordered sex is a recipe for conflict, infidelity, self-hatred and hatred of the other, for violence, desertion, and the breakdown of relationships in marriage. This is a strange liberation that entraps, enslaves, and destroys! Sex education in the schoolsunfortunately, even in some Catholic schoolsfrequently has little or nothing to do with morality. Concentrating on the physiology of sex and contraception, its message to young people is that when they have sex, they should take steps to prevent pregnancy and disease. This destructive miseducation is reinforced by television, movies, music videos, and youth magazines. The meaning of chastity for everyone The Churchs message about chastity is simple: the great good of sex may not be separated from procreation, love, and marriage. Sexual intimacy and sexual relations are only appropriate between a man and woman united in marriage. Consent isnt enough; faith and reason should govern and guide desire and passion. My predecessor, Bishop James C. Timlin, once pointed to the likeness between the appetite for food and drink and the appetite for sex. If food and drink are to accomplish Gods purpose, the health of the body, then the appetite for them must be regulated; otherwise, they become threats to health. "The other powerful appetite given by God," Bishop Timlin wrote, "is the sexual appetite. Unlike the appetite for food and drink, which is directed to maintaining the life of the individual, the sexual appetite is provided by God to maintain the continuation of the human race. If this appetite is to do the good for which God gave it, it too must be regulated. Both individuals and society suffer when it is misused or used without regulation." Unchaste men and women can hardly say with Mary, "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be done to me according to your word." (Lk 1:38) Unchaste people do as they please, not as pleases God. They should recall Scriptures warning: "No immoral or impure man has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God" (Eph 5:5). The oldest piece of Christian writing outside the Bible is The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles. Known as the Didache, it calls abortion, infanticide, fornication, and adultery "a way of death." Certainly, someone may object: "God is a God of mercy. He doesnt condemn people. Jesus didnt condemn the woman caught in adultery, did he?" Lets see. Here is the passage from chapter 8 of Johns Gospel: Jesus looked up and said to her, "Woman, where are they [those who had wanted to stone her to death]? Has no one condemned you?" She said, No one, Lord. And Jesus said, "Neither do I condemn you; go, and do not sin again." No, Jesus did not condemn her. And neither did he excuse her. "Go, and do not sin again," he said. This is a message we all must take to heart. Chastity has never been easy, but today it is harder than ever because of the many inducements to be unchaste and the widespread ignorance of the Christian tradition and the teaching of the Church. Many people would like to do the right thingif only they knew what that was and felt up to the effort. Back in the 4th century, St. Augustine knew what wanting and not wanting to be chaste was like. He called it "sickness" for the soul to be "so weighted down by custom that it cannot wholly rise even with the support of truth." But persistence seeking chastity is crowned with success. Thanks to Gods help, Augustine succeeded. As charity increases, he wrote later, "greed diminishes; when it reaches perfection, greed is no more." Similarly the growth of charity in the soul eventually removes the lust that inclines people to act unchastely, for lust is a form of greed. Good love drives out bad. Now lets look at some specific issues. > Read Part 2 of "Practicing Chastity in an Unchaste Age" My dear brothers and sisters in Christ: I write as your bishop and spiritual father on a matter of great importance and great good news: chastity.Why chastity? That is really two questions wrapped up in one.First, why do I write on this subject just now? Violations of chastity in our Church and our diocese have made some people skeptical when the Church speaks on sexual morality. But for just that reason it is more necessary, not less, to speak the truth about sexual morality. Sin and confusion cry out for honest, truthful speech.The Church has always taughtand I teach herethat we need to find our happiness and holiness in a commitment to the chastity lived out in marital love or the chastity of celibacy lived out either in the consecrated life or the life of a single layperson in the world. These are the two paths to happiness and eternal life. There are no others.Second, why is chastity so important? Is this really a virtue for our times? Dont other subjects take priority?In fact, chastity is a virtue for our times, and it does take priority. That should be clear, for instance, in the wake of the scandalous events in our own Church as well as those in secular society.One sad thing Ive read was the final paragraph of the New York Times obituary of the popular French novelist Françoise Sagan. In a 1993 interview before her second drug trial, Sagan recalled:"I had incredible luck because just when I grew up, the pill came along. When I was 18, I used to die with fear of being pregnant, but then it arrived, and love was free and without consequence for nearly 30 years. Then AIDS came. Those 30 years coincided with my adulthood, the age for having fun."In this "age for having fun," Françoise Sagan was twice married, twice divorced, twice convicted of narcotics offenses. God rest her soul. God rest the souls of all who thought as she did. And may God come to the rescue of all who now think as she did. It is the spirit of this "age for having fun" that makes the Churchs teaching on chastity so necessary today.There is a vast gulf between the secularist view of sex and the Christian view of chastity. The(2337) says:Sacred Scripture says the same thing in its own way. The single most important fact about biblical anthropology may be that it views the human body as integral to the human person. In contrast with ancient and modern dualisms, the Bible makes it clear that we do not possess our bodies, as if they were apart from us; rather, we are bodily persons. God created us bodily persons and communal in nature by being related to him and one another.The biblical testimony has serious moral implications. What people do in and to their bodies touches the core of their personhood (cf. 1 Cor 6:9). Chastity, as a principle of personal integration, is crucially important to holiness and happinessto being healthy, integrated human beings.Chastity is closely related to the virtue of temperance, which regulates the use of food and drinkand sex. Regulation is in order precisely because these things are good. If they werent, we would be obliged to shun them, not regulate them. As it is, chastity empowers us to make right use of a great gift from God.Fully to appreciate chastity, we need to reflect on attitudes and ways of acting opposed to it. This will not be pleasant. As C.S. Lewis says in, "perversions of the sex instinct are numerous, hard to cure, and frightful." But the cure begins with recognizing a perversion for what it is.The list is long and depressing. It includes pornography, masturbation, premarital sex, cohabitation, homosexual relations and unions, sexual promiscuity, adultery, divorce and remarriage without an annulment, contraception, sterilization, abortion, cloning, and the destruction of human embryos for stem-cell research. Currently, a campaign of legal pressure and media propaganda seeks to force a change in the definition of marriage so that homosexual unions will be accepted as marriages.Secular culture as it is reflected in the media not only accepts sex outside marriage but also encourages it. One result is that many people hardly even understand what the Church says about sexual morality. Many, for instance, not only do not practice modesty in dress but also have little or no idea what "modesty in dress" might mean. And how often, unfortunately, the young are left uninstructed about the evil of masturbation, with the result being a vicious habit they must truly struggle to overcome.Consent is the supreme principle supposedly legitimating virtually any sexual behavior. This radically libertarian mindset still recognizes rape as a sexual aberration, but if people are willing, virtually anything else goes. "Who am I to judge?" others say with a shrug. "Theyre old enough. Nobody else is hurt. So why shouldnt they if they want to?"Here is the rationale for the casual sexual encountersnot just loveless but without even emotional attachmentnow common on college campuses and in other settings. Many young women complain of the boorishness of men who take casual sex for granted, as if this were something they have a right to expect after paying for a meal and drinks. Women, often on the birth-control pill without any medical reason, feel under pressure to comply. Wouldnt people think them strange if they said no? Sexual harassment, stalking, and violence also are part of this ugly scene.Sometimes, of course, unmarried young women and men do say theyre "in love" when they engage in sex. Then the relationship ends, the partners enter into new relationships, they again have sex, and again they say theyre "in love." It mocks love to call serial fornication by this name. And it mocks parental responsibility for parents to imagine theyve done their duty by telling their children to avoid unprotected sex and have sex only in a caring relationship.Legalized abortion flows from the mentality I am describing. Despite dishonest chatter about making abortion safe, legal, and rare, there have been 45 million abortions in the United States since the Supreme Court gave its blessing to abortion in 1973. The destruction of 45 million human lives in a little over thirty years is not what most people would call "rare."Veterans of the abortion movement now speak of the need to preserve their daughters right to choose abortion. "If you want to kill our unborn grandchildren," they say in effect, "thats your right." Disordered sexual behavior lies at the root of this cancer in our society.Disordered sexual attitudes and practices before marriage make chastity harder after marriage. Women are encouraged to be as "liberated" as men. But disordered sex is a recipe for conflict, infidelity, self-hatred and hatred of the other, for violence, desertion, and the breakdown of relationships in marriage. This is a strange liberation that entraps, enslaves, and destroys!Sex education in the schoolsunfortunately, even in some Catholic schoolsfrequently has little or nothing to do with morality. Concentrating on the physiology of sex and contraception, its message to young people is that when they have sex, they should take steps to prevent pregnancy and disease. This destructive miseducation is reinforced by television, movies, music videos, and youth magazines.The Churchs message about chastity is simple: the great good of sex may not be separated from procreation, love, and marriage. Sexual intimacy and sexual relations are only appropriate between a man and woman united in marriage. Consent isnt enough; faith and reason should govern and guide desire and passion.My predecessor, Bishop James C. Timlin, once pointed to the likeness between the appetite for food and drink and the appetite for sex. If food and drink are to accomplish Gods purpose, the health of the body, then the appetite for them must be regulated; otherwise, they become threats to health."The other powerful appetite given by God," Bishop Timlin wrote, "is the sexual appetite. Unlike the appetite for food and drink, which is directed to maintaining the life of the individual, the sexual appetite is provided by God to maintain the continuation of the human race. If this appetite is to do the good for which God gave it, it too must be regulated. Both individuals and society suffer when it is misused or used without regulation."Unchaste men and women can hardly say with Mary, "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be done to me according to your word." (Lk 1:38) Unchaste people do as they please, not as pleases God. They should recall Scriptures warning: "No immoral or impure man has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God" (Eph 5:5). The oldest piece of Christian writing outside the Bible is. Known as the, it calls abortion, infanticide, fornication, and adultery "a way of death."Certainly, someone may object: "God is a God of mercy. He doesnt condemn people. Jesus didnt condemn the woman caught in adultery, did he?" Lets see. Here is the passage from chapter 8 of Johns Gospel:No, Jesus did not condemn her. And neither did he excuse her. "Go, and do not sin again," he said. This is a message we all must take to heart.Chastity has never been easy, but today it is harder than ever because of the many inducements to be unchaste and the widespread ignorance of the Christian tradition and the teaching of the Church. Many people would like to do the right thingif only they knew what that was and felt up to the effort.Back in the 4th century, St. Augustine knew what wanting and not wanting to be chaste was like. He called it "sickness" for the soul to be "so weighted down by custom that it cannot wholly rise even with the support of truth." But persistence seeking chastity is crowned with success. Thanks to Gods help, Augustine succeeded. As charity increases, he wrote later, "greed diminishes; when it reaches perfection, greed is no more." Similarly the growth of charity in the soul eventually removes the lust that inclines people to act unchastely, for lust is a form of greed. Good love drives out bad.Now lets look at some specific issues. www.ignatiusinsight.com World Wide Web IgnatiusInsight.com Place your order toll-free at 1-800-651-1531 Ignatius Press | San Francisco Web design under direction of Ignatius Press. Send your comments or web problems to: Copyright © 2018 by Ignatius Press IgnatiusInsight.com catholic blog books insight scoop weblog ignatius |
Image caption Wayne Rooney before his operation to counteract premature hair loss Footballer Wayne Rooney tweeted at the weekend that he had undergone hair transplant surgery, joining a growing list of celebrities who have gone public on such procedures. But how should ordinary men break the news to their friends and family? For many men, losing their hair is an extremely sensitive issue. Whatever efforts they take to counteract the effects can be embarrassing. Telling people you have had hair transplant surgery can elicit accusations of "manity" - male vanity. But Rooney has earned some praise for his approach in going public shortly after his operation, with one commentator from the Irish Times saying he had handled the issue with great style. "I was going bald at 25 - why not. I'm delighted with the result," Rooney posted at the weekend, adding: "It's still a bit bruised and swollen." His frank approach elicited a supportive message from Manchester United and England team-mate, Rio Ferdinand: "Just don't go down the wearing a alice band route!! You'll be doing headshoulders adverts soon! Hope its gone OK. Good luck lad." On Monday, Rooney followed up the announcement by posting a picture of his post-op head on his Twitter feed. Image caption James Nesbitt in 2009 and right, in 2011, after his hair transplant surgery Italy's Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi took a different approach in 2004. He was subjected to ridicule in the national and international media after wearing a white bandana, leaving commentators and the public playing a guessing game as whether or not he had hair transplant surgery. He went public months later, saying he felt 25 years younger and that as far as he was concerned cosmetic surgery was a way of showing respect to your loved ones. Rooney, who has premature hair loss, joins celebrities such as actors John Cleese and James Nesbitt in talking publicly about having hair transplant surgery. Nesbitt, who spent tens of thousands of pounds on his operation, had been open about his fear of losing his hair. He initially discussed his transplant in a video testimonial for the Dublin clinic that carried it out at the end of 2010. Virility link In subsequent interviews, he maintained that it has changed his life and that anyone who says going bald isn't horrible "is lying". His honesty led one commentator to suggest that he had "played a blinder... a mix of matter-of-fact honesty and bewilderment that people are making so much of it". It's good if you can look confident and have a sense of humour - if you show shame of embarrassment it's the worst thing Judi James, Social behaviour expert To many men, hair loss is a sensitive issue. In many people's minds it is associated with loss of virility and vitality - counter-intuitive given that high testosterone is one of the reasons cited by medical experts for hair loss. Figures for how many hair transplant operations take place in the UK are hard to come by, but Dr Bessam Farjo, medical director of the Institute of Trichologists, estimates that the annual figure is around 10,000, compared with about 5,000 five years ago. The surgeon runs his own medical centres, where he says he has seen numbers for these procedures steadily increase, and they are now starting to spike. But hair transplant surgery is an expensive, painful procedure. Inevitably, men can face a hard time once family and friends get wind of it. "The implication is that it's a vanity thing," says Mike Shallcross, deputy editor of Men's Health magazine. "But men nowadays want to look better and they want more advice on how to do it. There is a big boom area in male grooming and people do it for different reasons." He thinks Rooney's approach to going public is a good one. "I think it was admirable that he was so upfront," he says. "It is worse having had something obvious done, but trying to pretend nothing has happened. "I don't know of any reason why one couldn't drip it into an exchange of e-mails with your friends - after all, if you turned up at the pub with your mates with a full head of hair, it could become an early talking point. Image caption In 2004 Silvio Berlusconi appeared in a bandana, sparking rumours that he had undergone hair surgery "Probably with colleagues at work, it's best to tell them in advance. It's a bit like having laser eye surgery, it's noticeable, suddenly you won't be wearing glasses anymore." Shallcross says it's better not to make too big a fuss when announcing the news. "The bigger the deal you make of it, the more dramatically people will react." But, as Shallcross points out, hair transplants are not for everyone who is losing their hair. "Male pattern baldness is common but many men are wearing it well - gone are the days of the Bobby Charlton combover - there are a lot of men who have made hair loss look cool. Actor Jason Statham is one of our most popular cover stars," he says. But for those who do go down that route, humour can be key when making the announcement. It was this element that stood out with the Rooney announcement - and his wife's follow-up tweet pointing out that the decision had not been made on account of Coleen badgering him. "Humour is very important in this kind of announcement," says social behaviour expert Judi James. "People take a lead from your own behaviour, it's good if you can look confident and have a sense of humour. If you show shame of embarrassment it's the worst thing. "You could mention it beforehand. That will avoid the sniggering, and people are more likely to speak straight to your face about what it was like etc. Wayne has done the right thing - announce it and get it over and done with, and perhaps suggest a date when you will be showing it off. "If you change your look, the reaction are mostly shock or laughter and actually laughter is not a bad response. If handled well, people will be laughing with you rather than at you." |
chrome: Add support for the acer c720p touchscreen. commit Set TLB flush tunable to sane value (33) commit New tunable for single vs full TLB flush commit Support the XSAVES instructions, used to performs a full or partial save of the enabled processor state components to a memory address specified in the destination operand (merge commit) , commit KVM: vgic: enable GICv2 emulation on top on GICv3 hardware commit gic-v3: Initial support for the Generic Interrupt Controller (version 3), which offers services that are similar to GICv2 but with a number of additional features commit KVM: support code for emulating a GICv2 on top of GICv3 hardware commit arm: add basic support for Mediatek MT6589 boards commit crypto: sha1: add ARM NEON implementation commit crypto: sha512: add ARM NEON implementation commit smp_scu: enable SCU standby support commit DRA7: hwmod: Add OCP2SCP3 module commit KVM: MMIO support BE host running LE code commit Kirkwood: Add DT descriptions for net2big and net5big. commit Kirkwood: Add setup file for netxbig LEDs commit Kirkwood: Remove mach-kirkwood commit Kirkwood: add DT support for d2 Network v2 commit OMAP2+: remove DSP platform device commit S5PC100: no more support S5PC100 SoC commit S5PV210: Add board file for boot using Device Tree commit S5PV210: Enable multi-platform build support commit add SMP support for Broadcom mobile SoCs commit berlin: add SMP support commit brcmstb: add infrastructure for ARM-based Broadcom STB SoCs commit dts: Add Device tree for s5pc110/s5pv210 boards commit dts: Add Device tree for s5pv210 SoC commit dts: Add PMU DT node for exynos5260 SoC commit dts: Add PMU to exynos5410 commit dts: Add devicetree for Gumstix Pepper board commit dts: Add hix5hd2-dkb dts file. commit dts: Add support for the cpuimx27 board from Eukrea and its baseboard commit dts: Restructure imx6qdl-wandboard.dtsi for new rev C1 board. commit dts: add initial Rex Basic board support commit dts: add initial Rex Pro board support commit dts: add rk3288 evaluation board commit dts: add support for AM437x StarterKit commit dts: enable SMP support for bcm21664 commit dts: enable SMP support for bcm28155 commit dts: imx6: add aristainetos board support commit dts: imx: add initial imx6sx device tree source commit dts: imx: add initial imx6sx-sdb board support commit dts: refactor Odroid DTS file and add support for Odroid X2 and U2/U3 commit dts: sun4i: Add new ba10-tvbox board commit dts: sun6i: Add Merrii A31 Hummingbird support commit dts: sun7i: Add board support for LinkSprite pcDuino V3 commit hisi: enable hix5hd2 SoC commit hwcap: disable HWCAP_SWP if the CPU advertises it has exclusives commit i.MX: Remove Freescale Logic Product Development i.MX27 Lite-Kit board support commit i.MX: Remove Freescale i.MX27 IP Camera board support commit i.MX: Remove i.MX1 camera support commit imx: add cpuidle support for i.mx6sx commit imx: add standby mode support for suspend commit imx: add suspend support for i.mx6sx commit mvebu: Add dts definition for Lenovo Iomega ix4-300d NAS commit rockchip: enable support for RK3288 SoCs commit shmobile: r8a7779: Initial multiplatform support commit sun8i: dt: Add Ippo-q8h v5 support commit sunxi: Add Allwinner A23 dtsi commit sunxi: Introduce Allwinner A23 support commit tegra: initial support for apalis t30 commit tegra: Add efuse driver for Tegra commit |
About Synthesizer, Art and the Future INTERVIEW WITH VANGELIS, DECEMBER 2016 Peter: In order to understand a musician, it is important to understand his motivation and the source of his musical creativity. Was there ever a key moment where your musical identity was formed? Was there ever an epiphany where you were clear this is the kind of music I want to make? Vangelis: To understand a musician is not the easiest thing. What do you try to understand? The musician as a person or his music? Maybe, try to understand him through his music. I think that is the easiest way. That as for of the first part of your question. Now, if you wish to know about me, the key moment, possible, was my first cry. And soon after, it appears that I was geared by music. And the understanding of the world around me happened through the music, which gave me the keys to unlock and decode the mysteries of nature which somehow there are endless. Peter: The unknown musician Vangelis became the famous and popular star Vangelis. Has this changed your life and the way you compose? Or in other words: do you find that this fame hinders you in exploring your creativity? Do you feel restricted/stifled by the expectation to sound a certain way? Vangelis: As far as myself, nothing has changed. I have to admit that quite early, I felt that fame seems to be a serious obstacle to creativity. Don’t you see that creativity is the fruit of freedom while fame is a result of a social system and fashion? Although it’s not easy, I chose creativity. Peter: Big record labels very often exert their influence on successful artists in order to maximize their profits. Have you ever experienced this, or were you always given free reign over your releases? Vangelis: Its obvious that the industry it will try everything possible in order to maximize profit. In the record industry nothing is given. Whatever you have, you have to fight for it and possible get it. Peter: In the past you had records like for example „Beaubourg“ that, let’s say, departed from the traditional Vangelis realm. Was that sort of a rebellion or simply an experiment or an attempt to finding yourself? Vangelis: I can’t understand how is possible to discuss and take it seriously an architecture monstrosity like Beaubourg which led me to create another monstrosity the album Beaubourg which I never took it seriously and I never felt proud of it. So, let’s not continue talking about such a crap. Peter: The music of the artist Vangelis and Synthesizers are, for many people, fused together and are synonymous even though there was a time before you used Synthesizer, and some of your work today is sounding more like a classical orchestra. What role did the Synthesizer play for you in the past, and what are they playing today? Vangelis: All my years I was saying that the music is the most important force of the Universe and its generator. The extraordinary thing is that the primitive man, having to face all the difficulties of survival, at the same time he found the time to create the first instruments. Therefore, a stretched skin became a drum, few holes in a bamboo became a flute and few tied strings became a harp and so on. I don’t consider that as a luxury for these people but as a basic need. That is something that continues until our days. All these various instruments, we consider them as acoustic or natural instruments. My question is, what about the thunder, the rain, the wind,, the forest, the sea? Even, what about our bodies or the Earth and every other planet? These sounds are not coming form nature? Everything in nature is palpitations, waves and vibrations. So, is evident that sound comes from everything in respective the source. It bores me to explain the most obvious that I don’t see any difference -if is any difference- in the way that we use the sound. The basic argument rises if we use electricity or not to produce sounds. Therefore, all the instruments that I mentioned before they are considered, in general, naturals while the synthesizers, because they need electricity to produce sounds, are not naturals. What a thought. Who can tell me that electricity is a not natural element. I consider myself very fortunate, to live in a century that science and technology offer more ways to extend the needs of music. I believe strongly, trying to separate these two sources, it would be a big mistake Peter: Coming back to Synthesizers and your past: when was the moment you discovered your fascination with Synthesizers? Do you still remember that moment? Vangelis: It was around 1973-1974 when I was given to try a couple of “CORG” monophonic synthesizers and immediately I felt the whole world to open in front of me. All thought they were very basic, I immediately imagined what will follow in the future. This is what I call a positive progress and not an inhuman architecture e.g. like Beaubourg [the Centre de Pompidou Building in Paris]. Peter: I am sure, everybody remembers their first synthesizer and we are, of course, curious to find out what your first Synthesizer was. Vangelis: It’s not difficult to answer this question, the first companies that they created synthesizers that period was CORG, ROLAND, YAMAHA, OBERHEIM, ARP, and of course the fashionable MINI MOOG. I would like also to mention, that before all these “new” instruments, there were two synthesizers, the AUDIOLINE and the CLAVIOLINE, both very advanced for their times. Can you believe that AUDIOLINE was built with a touch respond keyboard? Peter: I have been reading a lot of interviews with you, where you talked about your musical philosophy, which is very fascinating. As an artist, who utilizes music electronic as much as you do, how much are you following the technical development in this field? Was there ever a time, where you felt that you just had to have the latest equipment? How do you discover new synthesizers or technology and how do you determine that there is something new that you need for your music? Vangelis: At the synthesizer area, which became substantial since it was created, the part of marketing became more and more important but not necessary creative. Then its been a time that I found myself swimming in a middle of an incredibly amount of various types of synthesizers but frankly, with not much difference between them. And all had the same problem. A lack of playability and very poor expression. The strange thing is that those years, during the 80’s & the 90’s, all these various firms had the technology and the ability to create much better synthesizers but, as I mentioned before, the marketing it was oriented on other unnecessary things and devises in order to attract the buyers but not to help the artist, Nevertheless, I was trying to find a way to overcome those unnecessary difficulties and to obtain what do I needed to achieved at the time. We shouldn’t forget that the synthesizer issue it was a novelty that period therefore it was marketed as such. Peter: I would like to speak for a moment about the Yamaha CS80. This question probably comes up frequently because Vangelis without CS80 and vice versa is hard to imagine. No other musician before or after you was as much linked with the Yamaha CS80 as you are. This „love“ is still present today and even on your current project ROSETTA, you can be seen sitting at an CS80. Please share with us how this relationship came about and why this instrument has played such a big part for you over so many years. Vangelis: The CS80 was the first and the last serious approach and attempt to create a synthesizer with a musical and expressive approach. It was the first synthesizer that gave me the possibility to be able to express things that I couldn’t ever be able to express with any other synthesizer. When an instrument like a string instrument, or like a wooden instrument, or like a brass instrument gives the possibility of changing the sound as you play, like you do with a violin, this is what the CS80 does. This is the basic difference between the synthesizer and the acoustic instruments. At that time, the CS 80 it was not a successful synthesizer and very few people bought it, because in order to play the CS80 you have to really perform. Which means that, in order to play the CS80, you have to learn how to play it. Exactly what you have to do with a conventional instrument. And at the time, I don’t think that people had the knowledge or the patience to start learning how to play that instrument, when all the other synthesizers they been programmed already manufactured sounds. There is another reason, a silly one, it is a very heavy instrument for touring. Peter: One of the most remarkable works of music where you utilized the CS-80, was the soundtrack to Ridley Scott’s BLADE RUNNER. On this soundtrack you created an amazing expressiveness with this instrument. How did this collaboration with Ridley Scott came about, and what fascinated you in working on this project? Vangelis: At first the prophetic story. Secondly, the compatibility with Ridley and third the possibility to express thinks that I expressed with CS80 which it would have been impossible to express otherwise. Peter: In the „Making of“ documentary of BLADE RUNNER you mentioned, that you played the music live on set during the shoots. Is this just a legend or did you really play your compositions on the set? We would love to hear more about this because this seems so much like an unconventional step, that we would like to hear more about it. Vangelis: It would have been a great experience and pleasure for me, and possible for the actors, to be able to compose and perform during shooting. But unfortunately, technically creates many problems, so we don’t do that. Instead, what I did, is what I do every time with any film, I compose by watching the film and most of the times, I keep the first take. Peter: At the cinematic release of BLADE RUNNER, there was a Soundtrack album where your music was replaced with an orchestra adaptation. Only many years later the original music appeared on CD and was celebrated worldwide. What had happened? How did it come to this delay? Vangelis: Without going to details, the reason was purely at the business side and has nothing to do with artistic matters. Peter: Can we switch to a different subject: why Paris? A Grecian from the small town Agria near Volos decides to choose Paris as the place to live. What has drawn you to Paris? Vangelis: Although your question is quite poetic, life doesn’t work like this. And after all, I didn’t want to become a fisherman,. At the contrary, since my early days I was drawn by something that was stronger than me, Music & Space. This is something that led me to live in different cities. Peter: Even though you are a cosmopolitan, your music has always stayed rooted in Greece which is evident in the two records that you recorded with the Greek actress Irene Papas. For me, those two records are remarkable in the way they demonstrate how folk music and synthetic sounds can create a piece of musical art. How did it come to this new musical direction in your life in 1977 with Odes and seven two years later with the follow up Rhapsody? Vangelis: There is no why we did it. We just did it. But I must say, although that these traditional songs they have been approached with a completely different way these recordings was, and still are, very well accepted in Greece, especially from the old people at villages. Which means, that what ever we do, we should never betrayed the roots. I grab the opportunity here to mention that there are more examples, in various albums that I have recorded, that the influence and presence of my country is equally evident, Peter: Since Aphrodite’s Child, you worked with your fellow country man Demis Roussos, who was very successful in 1973 in Germany as a Pop Singer. You used his extraordinary voice also on the BLADE RUNNER soundtrack. Did you both had considered other collaborations after that? Vangelis: We had others very successful collaborations like the “Mourir Auprès De Mon Amour/Because”. Peter: With Jon Anderson, the front singer of Yes, you had a very productive collaboration between 1979 and 1991, where your music got an additional depth through the lyrics of Jon, covering love, life and death. Please take us down memory lane and tell us how you worked together. Did you create your music first and then Jon wrote the lyrics or vice versa? Vangelis: My system is not to have a system. And with Jon, I can only tell you one word. Spontaneity. Going to the studio, we never knew in advance what are we going to do and we didn’t knew after what we have done. Peter: After four remarkable records, you guys went your separate ways. How come? Was this just a lack of opportunity and time, or did you want to go in a new direction artistically? Vangelis: We never thought about it. It stopped it as it started. Without any specific plan. Peter: I want to come back to your signature sound which was in the 90’s dominated by synthesizers. With the soundtrack for 1492, this changed. Your records increasingly became orchestral with large string sections, acoustic horns and lush choirs. Were you just done with the synthesizer sound or did you have the feeling that a classical orchestra was more suitable to express your musical ideas? Vangelis: The creation of the sound that you’ve mentioned it was nothing more than what the film needed. Apart from a Spanish guitarist and a classical choir in one track, I created this soundtrack alone with no other musicians and the 90% of this soundtrack is performed by me keeping, as I mentioned, the first take without overdubbing, Peter: If you had the technical abilities of today back in the 70’s, would you have created that sound already back then? We are curious to find out what made you go for the sound of an orchestra, since it seems that synthesizers allow for a much greater flexibility Vangelis: For me, a sound is a sound no matter where it comes from. As I mentioned to you before, to put labels and to separate the acoustic sounds-as wrongly they have been called- and the synthesizers is a big mistake. Peter: Many of your most amazing pieces are so remarkable, because the soundscape was one of a kind and, at least back then, really new and innovative. On the 25th anniversary edition of the soundtrack to BLADE RUNNER released in 2007, many of the pieces were dominated by a synthetical sound, while many elements on ROSETTA are more orchestral. How would you define the sound of Vangelis today? Vangelis: Is up to you to do it. Not to me. But basically up to the time. Peter: Staying on the subject of ROSETTA … one of the astronauts supposedly contacted you directly from the ESA ISS. This sounds like a nice PR-story, but how did this really come about, and what fascinated you with this project? Vangelis: This encounter is far for being a PR story. The Dutch ESA astronaut, the physician Ande Kuipers it is a fan and he tried to get in touch with me few times at the past. Finally, we managed to speak for the first time, while I was living in London and he was “living” for few months at the International Space Station. It was a fantastic experience for both of us. We spoke for almost an hour through a connection that NASA arranged. We discussed about many things, he showed me the Space Stations, he told me about his work there, we talked about space and we find that we have an equally interest in those subjects. We agreed, than when he’ll return to Earth to meet and continue our interesting talks. And we did. He visited me and among other things he told me about ESA. Very soon after, I met ESA’s scientists where they mentioned about the Rosetta Mission. After a while, they asked me to compose the music for the meeting of Rosetta with the comet and the landing of the probe Philae on it. Gradually, we decided to make a whole album out of this to celebrate that amazing Mission. That gave me such a pleasure to support in my way Europe’s space endeavors. Because until that moment, I was doing the same thing for NASA, which I still do. Peter: The rosetta stone was for science a breakthrough in deciphering old Egyptian texts. The CD of ROSETTA includes languages of mankind and was included in the Rosetta-Mission in space. Did those aspects influence you while composing Rosetta? Vangelis: Among other things, yes. But for me the most important think is the awareness about issues they become more important for everyday life. Although technology and science started flourishing quite late due the long lasting dark ages, it is extremely important that every day we are enrich our knowledge, which is a safety valve for our future. Peter: The Rosetta history, from the Rosetta stone to the ROSETTA disc, in some aspects is about preserving something for future generations. How do you feel about the state of our world and the times that we are living in? What are your reflections on mankind, our planet and our legacy? Vangelis: When I’m thinking to the mankind, there are times that I feel deeply ashamed and appalled for our actions and other times, I feel proud for some exceptional achievements. If at the future, we calm down and avoid the dogmatic unnecessary issues, the monopoly of money making, the greed and the wrong uses of science and technology, then we might stop going against each other, and then we will survive Peter: Mr. Vangelis, thank you very much for this interview. |
WASHINGTON – Democratic Party leaders Wednesday selected former Virginia Gov. Mark Warner to deliver the keynote address at their national convention in Denver this month, positioning him prominently in a weeklong lineup that seeks to pay homage to the party of the past while ushering in a new generation of leaders under Barack Obama. The choice of Warner appeared to dim chances that the state’s current governor, Timothy Kaine, would be selected as the Democrats’ vice-presidential nominee. If Kaine were chosen as Obama’s running mate, two Virginians would have back-to-back, prime-time speaking slots, which party officials regard as an unlikely scenario. The convention, which begins Aug. 25, will be studded with old and new faces. Monday will feature an homage to the Kennedys. Tuesday, Sen. Hillary Clinton of New York will speak and Warner will deliver his keynote. Wednesday’s program will be devoted to military issues and national security, and it will feature Obama’s pick for vice president; two front-running vice -presidential candidates, Sens. Joe Biden of Delaware and Evan Bayh of Indiana, have speaking slots that day. Former president Bill Clinton also will appear Wednesday. Thursday, Obama will accept the nomination before some 80,000 people jammed into Invesco Field at Mile High Stadium. Kaine is slated to speak Tuesday, a day devoted to the economy and the environment. Democratic consultant Jenny Backus, a convention organizer, said most of the presumed vice-presidential finalists have been booked for speaking slots other than the running mate’s address. Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, for instance, also is on the Tuesday program. A source close to Kaine said Tuesday night – before Wednesday morning’s announcement about Warner – that the governor had seemed glum, and believed that he would “get the silver medal” in the vice-presidential sweepstakes. Obama’s decision to make security the theme of Wednesday night also is regarded by party observers as a subtle hint that Kaine and other governors without foreign policy credentials might be less likely choices. Kaine had become the subject of intense speculation during the past two weeks, after reports that he had provided documents to Obama’s campaign and had told friends that the conversations about the vice-presidential job were “serious.” But he quickly became the focus of sharp Republican attacks. One GOP source said on the day that story appeared that an Obama-Kaine ticket would be the “least experienced ticket in the history of the world.” |
Dr. White believes that advances he and others have made render warp speed less implausible. Among other things, he has redesigned the theoretical warp-traveling spacecraft — and in particular a ring around it that is key to its propulsion system — in a way that he believes will greatly reduce the energy requirements. He is quick to offer up his own caveats, however, saying his warp research is akin to a university science project that is just trying to prove that a microscopic warp bubble can be detected in a lab. ”We’re not bolting this to a spacecraft,” he said of the warp technology. Dr. White was an engineer with a background in the aerospace industry when he came to NASA in 2000, starting his career at the agency by operating the arms of space shuttles. He got his doctorate in physics from Rice University in 2008, and now works on a range of projects aimed at taking NASA beyond the fiery rockets that have long characterized space travel. For NASA, Dr. White’s warp speed experiments represent a rounding error in its budget, with about $50,000 spent on equipment in an agency that spends nearly $18 billion annually. The agency is far more focused on more achievable projects — building the next generation Orion series spacecraft, working on the International Space Station and preparing for a planned future mission to capture an asteroid. But it has made internal resources available for the project and freed up other engineers to assist Dr. White. It has also restored the pneumatic system in the laboratory Dr. White is using, to allow it to float. The lab was once used to test equipment for Apollo missions and has control panels underneath it that look like they belong in a fallout shelter that time forgot. Steve Stich, the deputy director of engineering at the Johnson Space Center, said, “You always have to be looking towards the future.” He held up his iPhone. “Forty years ago, this was ‘Star Trek,’ Captain Kirk talking on a communicator whenever he wanted to,” he said. “But today it exists because people made the battery technology that allows this device to exist, worked on the software technology, worked on the computational technology, the touch screen.” |
For Immediate Release Over the past week, Syrian government forces launched deadly airstrikes against six hospitals in and around Aleppo, the worst week for attacks on medical facilities in that region since the Syrian conflict began in 2011. Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) verified each attack, including three strikes on hospitals in Aleppo’s now besieged eastern half within a 24-hour period, which killed patients and further deprived nearly 300,000 people now trapped in eastern Aleppo of life-saving medical care. “Since June, we’ve seen increasing reports of attacks on civilians in Aleppo and strikes on the region’s remaining medical infrastructure. Each of these assaults constitutes a war crime,” said Widney Brown, PHR’s director of programs. “Destroying hospitals is tantamount to signing thousands of death warrants for people now stranded in eastern Aleppo. The bombings, the lack of humanitarian aid, and the failure of the United Nations to deliver any kind of assistance means the death toll may soon be catastrophic.” All six facilities hit between July 23 and July 31 were major hospitals in Aleppo governorate, including a referral hospital just outside opposition-held eastern Aleppo and a pediatric clinic inside the city where four infants died after their oxygen supply was cut. Since the beginning of the conflict, PHR has documented 373 attacks on 265 medical facilities, as well as the deaths of 750 medical personnel. The organization confirmed today that five of the six hospitals struck in the past week had previously been bombed by Syrian government forces. In addition to the fatalities, the facilities hit over the past week sustained significant structural damage, and vital medical equipment and supplies were destroyed. This comes after Syrian government forces under the command of President Bashar al-Assad closed off the last supply route into eastern Aleppo, effectively placing it under siege. Humanitarian organizations have warned that food supplies in the city could run out within weeks. “Now that the people of eastern Aleppo are stranded, Assad wants them to suffer and die,” said PHR’s Brown. “The government’s campaign to kill doctors and destroy hospitals isn’t new. The intentional starvation of civilians isn’t new. But the UN Security Council has failed to take effective action to stop these crimes, and it is civilians who are suffering as a result. By destroying hospitals – often the only hope for survival in a war zone – Assad is ensuring his own citizens will perish.” Last week, Russian and Syrian officials announced the establishment of allegedly safe corridors to allow passage of civilians out of Aleppo, but, fearing reprisals and wary of Syrian government promises, few have used the routes to flee. PHR today expressed grave skepticism that those escape routes were even passable. “It is absurd to think the people of Aleppo would trust the government that’s been trying to kill them for the past five years. They survived sniper fire, barrel bombs, and aerial assaults, and know first-hand the government’s utter disregard for their lives,” said PHR’s Brown. “These fictional escape routes are being used as a fig leaf so Russian and Syrian government forces can unleash their deadly arsenal on the people of Aleppo, claiming that civilians were given a path to escape.” PHR has called on the Syrian government to lift sieges across the country and has demanded immediate and unconditional access for humanitarian supply convoys. Aid groups estimate that one million civilians are trapped in besieged areas, the majority encircled by Syrian government forces. And PHR reiterated today that despite promises to the contrary, Syrian and Russian forces have been striking civilian targets. “With the establishment of civilian corridors from Aleppo, Russia and Syria are acknowledging that they have been attacking civilians throughout this conflict. Their lies continue to mount,” said PHR’s Brown. “The failure of the UN to get humanitarian aid to those who need it is inexcusable. Now, with hundreds of thousands of lives on the line, all eyes are on the UN to see if it will finally act, or if it will stand by and allow an already dire situation to turn even more deadly.” Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) is a New York-based advocacy organization that uses science and medicine to prevent mass atrocities and severe human rights violations. Learn more here. |
Huge demonstration in Barcelona in defence of refugees and open borders By Alejandro López 20 February 2017 Hundreds of thousands of protestors—160,000 according to the police and half a million according to the protest organisers—demonstrated on Saturday in Barcelona, Spain against the right-wing Popular Party (PP) governments’ anti-immigration policies. The march, held under the slogan “No more deaths, open the borders,” was the largest held in Europe so far in defence of refugees and open borders. Demonstrators condemned the continuing horrific treatment of refugees seeking shelter in Europe, as the European Union (EU) continues to deport thousands of refugees back to the war zones from which they are trying to escape. The EU’s anti-migrant policies led to the deaths of at least 4,500 people last year, most of whom drowned crossing the Mediterranean in small, overcrowded boats. According to the United Nations, 230 people have died so far this year. Spain bears a special responsibility for this tragedy, having helped to close down the shorter sea-crossing routes from North Africa, thereby forcing migrants to attempt the longer, more hazardous ones from Libya to Malta and Italy. Many protestors criticised the government for having only taken in 1,100 refugees—a fraction of the paltry 17,000 it had agreed to in September 2015. The demonstrators flooded onto one of the major avenues in Barcelona, Via Laietana, many holding homemade placards and banners bearing slogans including, “Enough excuses, welcome them now,” “Refugees welcome,” “Legal papers for all,” “Open the borders now,” and “No one is above another, no one is illegal.” The protest ended on Spain’s Mediterranean coast. A woman who had left Bosnia in the early 1990s during the civil war in the former Yugoslavia told El Periódico, “I see the same heart that opened to me in 1992, even stronger and with more solidarity. The only difference is the current political obstacle, and the lies that they tell us every day [about refugees and migrants.]” Mira, an 18-year-old from Syria, said, “We don’t want pity… There is no refugee crisis, we are victims of war.” Kissima, a 23-year old Gambian, told El País that “if the doors do not open, those people who are only looking for a better future will not be able to do anything.” The fact that such a large march was organized within a short space of time without any media promotion by a small volunteer-staffed NGO, Casa Nostra Casa Vostra (Our Home is Your Home) shows the huge sympathy that exists within the population for the plight of migrants and refugees. It exposes the lying claims of governments and political parties across Europe—of all political colourations—that they are responding to the “people,” who are demanding a crackdown on the entry of migrants and stronger borders. Such claims are used to shift the political climate to the right, as the post-World War II order collapses, in order to prepare the ground for more austerity, wars and attacks on democratic rights. The humane, democratic sentiments of workers and young people attending the demonstration sharply contrasted with the hypocrisy and track records of those figures, which headed the protest. Every political party, except the PP, sent their leading representatives. Not surprisingly, in a march pressuring the PP government to “open the borders,” Catalan nationalists cynically used the opportunity to promote the independence of their desired Catalan mini-state from Spain, which would lead to—more borders. Members of the separatist regional Catalan government Junts Pel Sí (Together for Yes), comprising the Catalan European Democratic Party (which until July 2016 was called the Democratic Convergence of Catalonia), the Republican Left of Catalonia (ERC), the pseudo-left Popular Unity Candidacy and the heavily state-funded Catalan nationalist organisation Òmnium Cultural, sought to channel pro-migrant sentiments behind Catalan separatism. They claimed that an independent Catalonia “would be more supportive and welcoming towards refugees and migrants.” Carme Forcadell, the president of the regional parliament, demagogically attacked the “disastrous policies of the European Union” towards people fleeing from conflicts. This is pure hypocrisy. The Catalan nationalists have devoted all their energies in recent years in trying to persuade the imperialist powers—those responsible for the bloodbath in the Middle East and the current refugee crisis—to support Catalan independence and accept it as a loyal capitalist state within the geostrategic orbit of the EU and NATO alliance. Some Catalan separatists have welcomed the election of US President Donald Trump, seeing in him an opportunity to achieve their long-desired separatist ambitions. Catalan European Democratic Party leader Víctor Terradellas declared that in the context of a “clash of civilizations, with the West engaged in several simultaneous geostrategic struggles against Islam, Russia and China,” Catalonia could play its cards as a bulwark in the Western Mediterranean, working side by side with Israel in the Eastern Mediterranean. The Catalan separatists were not the only ones to exploit the demonstration for their own purposes. Sonia Sierra from the Citizens party demanded “the government comply with the promise to take in 17,000 refugees.” This same party—a right-wing and anti-Catalan secessionist party—is a fervent defender of the EU and NATO and is attempting to become the new “incorrupt” face of the PP. In the past, it has enthusiastically defended the PP’s attempts to prevent undocumented migrants from having any right to access the public health care system. Also present at the demonstration was Miquel Iceta, the leader of the Catalan Socialist Party (sister party to the Spanish Socialist Party, PSOE). He called for a “change” in EU policies because, “The current crisis is not as innocent as it may seem; it has been caused by the presence of Western countries in the Middle East.” Anyone hearing such statements from Iceta will be rubbing their eyes in disbelief. Just 24 hours before Iceta’s remarks, some 400 African migrants managed to force their way into the tiny Spanish North African enclave of Ceuta in search of asylum. The Red Cross said it had to treat 103 of them for injuries they had sustained, which included a brutal assault by the border police. Some 25 people were hospitalised. It was the PSOE government in 2005 that began construction of the original border fence, which now consists of 11 kilometres (6.8 miles) of parallel three-meter (10 feet) high razor wire fences, equipped with watch posts, CCTV, spotlights, noise and movement sensors. Under the PSOE, Spain participated in the US-led NATO war on Libya, which killed approximately 30,000 people and destroyed the country’s infrastructure, paving the way for the current civil war and the spread of ISIS in North Africa. The response of the pseudo-left to the demonstration was typified by the pro-Podemos mayor of Barcelona, Ada Colau, who pontificated, “It is very important that in a Europe of uncertainty where xenophobia is on the rise for Barcelona to be a capital of hope.” This demagogy will not wash. Last year, the same Colau ordered the police force of the “capital of hope” to remove migrant workers from the streets. They are mainly from sub-Saharan Africa, with little chance of finding work in a country with mass unemployment, and struggle to survive by selling trinkets. Now they are in constant fear of arrest and possible deportation. Colau, as with Podemos as a whole, wholeheartedly defends the Syriza government in Greece, which is playing a key role in enforcing the EU’s reactionary Fortress Europe policy. Around 62,000 migrants are effectively trapped in Greece, barred from crossing the borders into other EU countries. In early January, three people froze to death in just one week—their tents totally inadequate in the cold weather that swept the country. Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus. |
While the Gundam mythos is known for its depth and complexity, that can put off some people. In that having to know the saga inside out is a big undertaking. Well, Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket is a standalone story and it is also entirely brilliant. Set in the last parts of the One Year War between Zeon and the Federation, it mostly deals with life on a Side 6 colony and its inclusion in the war. The latter is an important point, as Side 6 is one of the neutral parts in the conflict and it’s here where the war enters this little “pocket” of space. The premise of Gundam 0080 is that it views war through a child’s eyes. With the 11-year-old Alf Izuhura acting as the series’ protagonist. A smart but underachieving kid, he finds the war hugely entertaining and is utterly fascinated by mobile suits. With an initial battle between Zeon and Federation forces inside his colony, Alf chases a downed Zaku and meets its understandably flustered pilot, Bernie Wiseman. It seems that Alf has managed to accidentally acquire some valuable intelligence for Zeon about a new Federation mobile suit being developed at the colony. Bernie is rescued by one of his superiors but Alf is in now awe of this new Zeon pilot. It’s here we are introduced to Alf’s neighbor the redheaded Christina McKenzie, a Federation soldier, she has returned from Earth and has been stationed on this colony with her family. There’s more to this than first appears though and Chris is not just an average neighbor. Back at Granada base on the moon, Bernie’s newly discovered intelligence shows that the Federation is indeed developing something on the supposedly neutral colony. The Cyclops Team is called in and Bernie, a rookie, is mysteriously drafted into the unit. Their mission is to investigate what is going and destroy any potential threats if necessary. Upon returning to the colony, Alf bumps into Bernie and tracks him down. Instead of killing him outright, the Cyclops team make him a special member and have Bernie spy on the kid. Alf, taking his new duties very seriously, ends up discovering that a new type of Gundam is being developed on the colony and this in turn ratchets up Zeon’s response. A Gundam type mobile suit is something Zeon cannot afford to leave alone and unless it is destroyed, they will break the Antarctic Treaty and resort to a nuclear solution; wiping out the entire colony. Naturally, Alf and Bernie rise to the challenge but this series goes out of its way to show that war is brutal and Alf sadly has some very hard lessons ahead of him. Unlike much of the mainline Gundam series, Gundam 0080 is a standalone story set within the same time frame as the original Mobile Suit Gundam. So it utilizes much of the best parts from that era in the timeline, without getting bogged down in terms of the more extended narrative. Released back in 1989, Gundam 0080 was the first OVA series for Gundam and was meant to celebrate the saga’s then 10th anniversary. It also had some fascinating talent behind it. The typically Macross-related character designer Haruhiko Mikimoto penned the characters for the the series and Yutaka Izubuchi, fresh off the movie Char’s Counterattack, was tasked with updating the classic mecha designs from the old series. The result is a very human looking anime, with a deeply tragic and moving narrative but sporting some of the finest mecha designs in the entire saga. Set over six episodes, Gundam 0080 has a very concise and well-paced plot. You can easily watch the whole series in one sitting and knowing the extensive Gundam backstory is not at all necessary. In short, if you have never watched Gundam before then this is a great place to start. It has a very grounded story and avoids the Newtype-based spirituality present in the mainline Yoshiyuki Tomino series. This DVD set is also very nicely done and is based off the last Japanese release from a few years back. The fact this is a DVD set and not a Blu-ray one is also down to the simple fact that, as of the time of writing this, there is no Japanese Blu-ray release available. So those nice people at Right Stuf Anime did the smart thing and released Gundam 0080 anyway, ensuring that the Gundam saga is available in its entirety regardless of the format. In terms of extras, this set of Gundam 0080 is pretty simple. It has clean opening and ending animations, some music videos and the All That Gundam short released as a promo to the series back in 1989. You also get a decent English dub as well as the Japanese audio with solid English subtitles. Both audio tracks also come with stereo and 5.1 surround sound options. Of all the Gundam OVAs, Gundam 0080 is one of my favorites. It has a very good story that is really quite heartbreaking. Not to mention its solid production values from the period. If you want a good introduction to the captivating world of Gundam then Gundam 0080 is as good a place to start as any, just don’t get too attached to any of the characters and be prepared to cry hot tears by the time it is done. Gundam 0080 is currently released on DVD and is available via Right Stuf Anime. Disclosure: Right Stuf Anime sent me a copy of this series on DVD for this review. Follow me on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube. I also manage Mecha Damashii and do toy reviews over at hobbylink.tv. Read my Forbes blog here. |
Former Virginia Sen. Jim Webb announced on Tuesday that he is dropping out of the Democratic presidential race. He left the door open on a potential independent presidential bid, but said a decision on that would come later. Citing frustration with party leadership and what he sees as a corrupt political class, Webb announced at the National Press Club this afternoon that he is withdrawing from any consideration of being the Democratic Party’s nominee. “…For this reason I am withdrawing from any consideration of being the Democratic Party’s nominee for the Presidency.” #WebbNation — Jim Webb (@JimWebbUSA) October 20, 2015 “Some people say I am a Republican who became a Democrat, or that I often sound like a Republican in a room full of Democrats or a Democrat in a room full of Republicans,” he said. ”I fully accept that my views on many issues are not compatible with the power structure and the nominating base of the Democratic Party.” Asked if he is still a Democrat, the former Ronald Reagan administration appointee replied: ”We’ll think about that.” He also said he has no plans to endorse a candidate of either party. The former Virginia senator said he still has a role to play in 2016 and vowed to remain “a voice” in politics “I’m not going away,” he pledged. Webb said he will meet with voters to determine what kind of role he can best play going forward. Webb also acknowledged the difficulty of a independent run, and said he has studied the challenges. Related: Quiz: 5 key facts about Jim Webb Webb will not participate in future Democratic debates, he said, and nor will he attend this weekend’s Iowa Jefferson-Jackson dinner, a major Democratic party event featuring the party’s entire field of presidential candidates. “We’re done with the Iowa pay-for-play dinners. We’re not going to waste our small donors’ hard earned cash on elite party events for Hillary’s pals. (And you can quote me on that if you like),” said Webb spokesperson Craig Crawford. Close video Jim Webb drops out of Democratic race Jim Webb announces he is ending his quest for the Democratic nomination for president. share tweet email save Embed Webb had run a low-key campaign and had little organizational infrastructure. As a Democratic candidate, he faced a number of deadlines to get on the ballot in several states beginning in the next coming weeks. But if he were to run as an independent, Webb would not face his first filing deadlines until next summer, according to expert Richard Winger of Ballot Access News. Several independent presidential candidates have managed to get on the ballot in all 50 states in previous election cycles, even when starting later than Webb. For her part, the chairwoman of the Democratic Party didn’t seem too concerned with sending Webb on his way. “We were glad to welcome him onto the debate stage last week in Nevada and wish him well going forward,” Democratic National Committee Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz said in a statement. |
As Test cricket died, Australia's bowling and fielding showed athleticism, precision and the fruits of intense study. Under the tuition of new bowling coach David Saker, Starc and Josh Hazlewood put together a withering opening hour that raised the ghosts of this cricketing graveyard: the Lillee-Thomson, Marshall-Holding and Ambrose-Walsh new-ball assaults on this turf. The catching close to the wicket – Marsh's of Stephen Cook, Steve Smith's at second slip to remove Hashim Amla, Adam Voges' at first slip to dismiss Faf du Plessis, and Shaun Marsh's diving right-hander at bat-pad to account for Temba Bavuma – revived the imagery of Australian Test cricket at its best. Back in 1974-75 on this ground, after the cordon of Marsh-Chappell-Chappell-Edwards-Walters plucked the hopes of yet another Englishman with their poachers' hands, Doug Walters looked to the next batsman and quipped, 'Oh no, not this p---k holding us up for five more minutes'. Back then, they were impatient for Test cricket to move faster too. Shaun Marsh catches Temba Bavuma on day one of the first Test at the WACA. Credit:Cricket Australia/Getty Images As Test cricket died, Channel Nine rebirthed its funerary services. Fresh pallbearers in suits came out in pairs, and lo, cricket was rediscovered. Now cricket experts displayed their cricket expertise. Shane Warne said it's getting boring, yet he was never bored. And on the east coast, after-work audiences massed in healthy numbers to enjoy the best form of day-night cricket there ever was, a Test match on West Australian time. As Test cricket died, the South Africans refused to allow the momentum of a catastrophic first hour to sweep them away. Like an action movie mountaineer slipping down an icy cliff, they swung their picks at the face to arrest their fall. Dean Elgar and JP Duminy dug in, but lost their grip. Then du Plessis and Bavuma got a handhold for an hour or two, and kept the scoreboard moving whenever they had the chance to counter-attack. Their wickets fell, but their total kept creeping up. Australia seemed in control, but suddenly the total was 100, 120, 150, and who knew what a good score was until the second team batted? While Test cricket was dying, careers were being built on moments, sequences and sessions. Starc worked up impressive pace and wasted little of it. Hazlewood, after being the pick of the bowlers with the new ball, showed his versatility by bending it back-to-front as it got old. This kind of bowling never gets old. Peter Siddle and Nathan Lyon applied pressure without forcing the issue. Smith windmilled his arms and worked the field in such a frenzy that no spectator, let alone a teammate, could take their eye off him. But this was not necessarily Australia's day. It was cricket's. Du Plessis, Bavuma and the sparkling young wicketkeeper-batsman Quinton de Kock were not content to withstand and absorb the attack, and the South Africans' bristling counter-punch had something quietly heroic about it, as if they recognised a responsibility to play for more than merely their own survival. As so often when this dying game is played at this dying venue, the cricket fairly rattled along, almost too hard to keep up with. Throughout this reviving, resuscitating day, the game kept moving rapidly, but in which direction? Both: Australia's, South Africa's, Australia's, South Africa's again. A breathless game, Test cricket, even as it breathes its last. |
Hillary’s Service as Secretary of State: A Failure of Leadership (and a National Security Disaster) In evaluating Hillary Clinton’s competence, a good place to start is to take a close look at her tour of duty as Secretary of State. Is the U.S. safer and/or held in higher regard around the world as a result of her efforts? Perhaps it might be worthwhile to note why she got that appointment: Not because of either her acumen or experience. Rather it was Barack Obama extending the olive branch in order to bring a fractured Democratic Party together -- fractured because of a very heated and divisive Democrat primary. That said, even a cursory examination of her service in this position yields up a resoundingly negative answer to that question. As has already been frequently noted, her tour began with her screwing up the Russian reset button, and it ended with her Benghazi dereliction, leading to the death of 4 Americans. What happened in between these bookends, and what are the consequences of those happenings? Let’s start with the Middle East, that boiling cauldron of infidel hatred. Syria, where, you may recall, President Obama drew a red line (apparently in invisible ink) should Assad use chemical weapons against the insurrectionists, is in chaos -- after Syria did use chemical weapons and Obama failed to act on his red line. And now, long after Obama declared the importance of taking down the Assad government, Russia is in the country, providing support for Assad remaining in power (and thereby providing the Russians with a Mediterranean access). Note: Whenever I refer to Obama, I include Secretary Clinton, since she was the foreign policy czar as Secretary of State. Also, ISIS (Obama’s designated jayvee) is heavily engaged in the area. But the most important news would seem to be Russia’s involvement, giving it a more important position on the world stage (as well as directly preventing Obama’s takedown of the Assad regime). And here, one has to question the wisdom of taking down the Assad regime. Why? Because we have no idea of who or what would replace it. And, as our intervention in Libya demonstrated, when you create a vacuum in backward, barbarian regions, you set the stage for it to be filled by even more hostile forces. And that is exactly what happened in Libya, where the Obama/Clinton team led (from behind) a coalition of forces to depose this petty tyrant who was no more a national security threat to the U.S. than was Somalia. Indeed, as soon as we invaded Iraq when George W. Bush was president, Gadhafi abandoned any nuclear ambitions that he may have entertained. The pretext for Obama’s completely unnecessary action against Libya’s regime was that genocide was being committed by this dictator. On that basis, assuming that it was true, we could just as easily have invaded many other any Middle Eastern countries; there are no democracies in that region other than Israel. As a result of this completely unnecessary invasion, anarchy ensued; there was nothing resembling a government left when we finished. The result? Benghazi and the death of 4 of America’s finest thanks to Hillary Clinton’s abdication of duty, another of her massive failures which she then endeavored to lie her way out of. First, by claiming that the slaughter was the result of an anti-Muslim video (which she knew to be a lie at the time she uttered it), and then by arguing that there was no time to come to the rescue of these embattled agents of the U.S. As to the claim that her security people were responsible for not responding to Ambassador Steven’s requests for additional security – made many weeks before the slaughter – this boggles the mind. At her Benghazi testimony she appeared to claim no responsibility for the actions of her security people -- as if they didn’t work for her. And not only was no one ever fired for this failure, Bill Clinton came out and produced some Clintonian malarkey to the effect that no predecessor had ever been responsible for the failure of the security personnel. Hillary’s experience as secretary of state cannot be counted as a positive entry on her resume. Experience does count. This experience counts against her. |
Pest Control just got a whole lot more rewarding, with higher XP returns per commendation – now including Summoning - patches to bolster your Void Knight armour, and more. There’s also Jessika’s sword – an off-hand companion to Korasi’s sword – buyable with commendations by those who’ve completed The Void Stares Back. With a range of graphical and quality-of-life improvements too, now’s the perfect time to rejoin the Void Knights’ vigil. Play RuneScape now, or read on for more information. How to Start If you’ve never tried Pest Control, it’s a safe, co-operative combat minigame where you’ll help the Guthixian Void Knights drive back a relentless assault of otherworldly creatures known as the void pests. To win, you’ll need to destroy four portals that the pests are using to enter Gielinor, or keep a stationary, vulnerable Void Knight alive for 20 minutes by fighting off attackers and repairing defensive structures. To start, you’ll need at least combat level 50. Speak to the Void Knight squire at Port Sarim docks, or right-click her and select ‘travel’. You’ll then be taken to the Void Knight Outpost, where you can get on one of three ships – requiring level 50, 100 and 150 combat respectively – which will take you to increasingly difficult versions of the game. The higher the level of the version you pick, the more commendations you’ll earn to spend on rewards, should you win. Better Rewards First up, there’s a chance that you’ll get both a commendation and a Void Knight seal whenever you kill a void pest in the minigame. Note that you will only receive the seal if you have the inventory space, and the commendation only if you’re not at the limit – although this has been increased to 1000. Void Knight seals have been made more useful, too – dealing far more damage to void pests than before. They can also be used to teleport to the Void Knight Outpost, at the cost of one charge. There’s more to buy with your commendations, too: Summoning XP can now be purchased with commendations, from level 22. It is earned at the same rate as Prayer XP. The rate of XP gain per commendation has been increased for all skills. Void Knight armour patches can be applied to pieces of regular or elite Void Knight armour, increasing their armour value and life points by 10 levels’ worth. Note that their equip requirements are not changed. Seed, mineral and herb packs now give you a selection of resources in various amounts, with a rare chance to get higher level resources. Those of you who’ve completed The Void Stares Back can buy Jessika’s sword – an off-hand companion to Korasi’s sword – for commendations. The rewards interface has been clearly organised into four tabs, so all this is easier to find. There’s also an additional rewards vendor by the outpost’s docks. Note that the Conquest rewards interface has not yet been updated. Also, the small gold coin reward given for winning a game has been removed - replaced by the increased rewards detailed above. Better Graphics The environment of the minigame has been spruced up, with graphical updates to its landscape and to the portals. Interfaces used during the minigame are better-looking and clearer too, with invulnerable, vulnerable and destroyed portals clearly indicated. Message text shown when a portal’s status changes is now colour-coded. Better Play As well as improving the rewards and looks of Pest Control, we’ve made several other changes to make the game slicker and more enjoyable: Wait time to start a match has been reduced to three minutes. Logs for repairing barricades and doors must now be picked up from stockpiles in the minigame area. Only these logs will work, and they cannot leave the minigame. Contribution from repairing barricades and doors has been increased. Portal health, as well as pest stats and life points, have been upped for balancing reasons. Many smaller tweaks and fixes have been made, so the game looks and feels better than ever. To Battle! The Void Knights need your help, and you’ll be well rewarded for fighting alongside them. Log into RuneScape now and play Pest Control, and let us know what you think. The RuneScape Team In Other News The left-click option has been removed from all legendary and companion pets, to prevent accidental activation of its functions. The functions previously accessed in this way are now available from the familiar button on the action bar. The legendary pet functions accessed via the dialogue box have been reorganised: ‘Scavenge’ and ‘Take to Bank’ are on the first page. Emotes are activated on the second layer of options. A number of improvements have been made to the scavenging function of legendary pets: A failed scavenge will no longer trigger the cooldown. Legendary pets can now scavenge for noted items dropped as loot from enemies. This is selectable in the Pet Scavenge Options interface. The scavenging cooldown has been reduced. The Pet Scavenge Options interface now has a ‘toggle all’ option. Read the patch notes for full details of today's updates. |
116 SHARES Facebook Twitter Google Reddit Tumblr Digg Linkedin Stumbleupon Mail Print Correctional Officer Patrice Dawson – Arizona Officer Patrice Dawson has been arrested on felony charges of ‘sexual misconduct’. Though the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office has refused to say how old the officer’s victim was, Officer Dawson is a youth corrections officer. Given the fact that her job is to supervise minors, and the Class 3 felony charge, chances are this sexually deviant cop had sexual relations with an underage inmate. Department spokesman Matthew Contorelli said that allegations of her sexual misconduct surfaced on October 16. The Sheriff’s department investigated the allegations and confronted Officer Dawson – who broke down and confessed. Officer Patrice Dawson has since been fired from the department. Additionally, depending upon the age of the victim, Officer Dawson may be charged with rape/sexual assault Correctional Officer Evita Hinds – New York The New York State Police, Bureau of Criminal Investigation at Hawthorne arrested 35-year-old Evita Hinds, of Queens, New York, on the charge of Rape 3rd Degree (Class E – Felony) as a result of an investigation of an incident that occurred on May 30, 2015 at Sing Sing Correctional Facility in Ossining, NY. Hinds, while employed as a Correction Officer at the facility, did engage in sexual intercourse with an inmate. Hinds was arraigned before the Town of Ossining Court and released on her own recognizance to return before said court on December 1, 2015 at 9:00am. The case was referred to State Police by the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision Office of Special Investigations. 116 SHARES Facebook Twitter Google Reddit Tumblr Digg Linkedin Stumbleupon Mail Print EPN Rat Tailed Spud, Scepter, Baton, Mace, Colbert County, Alabama, With Coa $17000.0 Museum 1861 Military Civil War Us Army 18th Ny Infantry Band Conductor Baton $7500.0 Ferrari Factory 60th Anniversary Relay Baton #5/500 $5499.0 Ferrari Factory 60th Anniversary Relay Baton #103/500 Spectacular $4999.0 Original Repousse "toussaint Baton Fatra" Unchained Slave Haitian Primitive Art $2500.0 |
House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio, second from left, briefs reporters after lawmakers from both political parties came together on an 11th-hour deal to keep the government from shutting down, Friday, Dec. 16, 2011, on Capitol Hill in Washington. From left are, Rep. Jeb Hensarling, R-Texas, Boehner, House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy of Calif., and Rep. Peter Roskam, R-Ill. AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite Updated at 5:45 p.m ET Congress is on track to pass a budget bill and avoid a government shutdown, but Republicans and Democrats are still horse trading over a bill to extend the payroll tax cut. Leaders in the Senate have floated the idea of passing a short, two-month extension of the tax cut, but if that happens, House Republicans say they'll insist on keeping a controversial provision expediting the review of the Keystone XL oil pipeline. "These rumors that are floating around here about a two-month extension, I'll just say this," Boehner said today. "If that bill comes over to us we will make changes to it, and I will guarantee you that the Keystone Pipeline will be in there when it goes back to the United States Senate." Later on the Senate floor, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell also said he couldn't support a payroll tax cut extension without the pipeline provision. "There's bipartisan support for this project, and we need to get it done. We need to get it done now," McConnell said. "Frankly, I will not be able to support a package that doesn't include the pipeline." McConnell said the president shouldn't "let a few radical environmentalists stand in the way" of a job-creating project. If the payroll tax cut isn't extended by January 1, 160 million Americans would see their Social Security payroll tax rate jump from 4.2 percent back to 6.2 percent. The House passed a bill this week extending the tax cut, but it included a number of measures that Democrats object to. One main concern was the provision forcing President Obama to make a quick decision on the Keystone oil pipeline, which would run from Canada to Texas. Democrats also objected to the ways Republicans intended to pay for the tax cut extension. Some members have reportedly brought up the possibility of passing a two-month extension while the parties work out their differences, but a senior aide for Boehner said the speaker wants a year extension, CBS News Capitol Hill producer Jill Jackson reports, and thinks there is plenty of time to resolve this before the end of the year. Members of the House are expected to leave town for the weekend now that they have passed a $1 trillion budget bill to keep the government running. The Senate is expected to pass that bill Saturday. Boehner today noted that "this will mark for the second year in a row that we will spend less money on the operation of our government -- two consecutive years that we've cut spending." The House is expected to return to Washington once the Senate passes a payroll tax cut bill that could pass in the House. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell today both said they were making progress in the negotiations. "We're making really good progress on being able to handle the issues that everyone knows are outstanding," Reid said. "We're not there yet. But we're very very close." Added McConnell, "The majority leader and I are making significant progress and reaching an agreement on a package that will have bipartisan support, I hope." According to a senior Democratic aide, negotiations are ongoing, CBS News Capitol Hill producer John Nolen reports. Democrats have given up on paying for the bill with a surtax on millionaires, but lawmakers are still looking at curbing tax breaks that very wealthy Americans are eligible for. |
The Edmonton Oilers President of Hockey Operations and General Manager Peter Chiarelli named Scott Howson as Vice-President of Player Development. Howson has been serving as a Pro Scout/Advisor with the Oilers since 2015. A native of Toronto, Ontario, Howson was general manager of the Columbus Blue Jackets from 2007-13. Howson has been with the Oilers organization for 17 seasons in total, including 13 seasons from 1994 through 2007, prior to joining the Blue Jackets; then again from 2013 until his current tenure. He served as general manager of the organization's AHL affiliate (Cape Breton/ Hamilton) from 1994-2000, prior to serving as Assistant General Manager with the Oilers under Kevin Lowe from 2000-2007. In 2013, Howson returned to the Oilers as a Pro Scout, and Senior Vice-President of Hockey Operations from 2013 through 2015. Prior to retiring as a player, he played professionally for five seasons, appearing in 18 games with the NHL's New York Islanders. |
Like anyone else running for high office, Conservative leadership candidate Pierre Lemieux was always going to say he was running to win. But as one of two self-identified social conservatives running for the leadership of the Conservative party, he always had a secondary — but equally important — task: making his issues impossible for the mainstream candidates to ignore. “My presence in the race and my messaging in the race has helped change the race for the better,” Lemieux told iPolitics recently over lunch in Ottawa. Lemieux said that, because he’s been a voice for the party’s so-con wing in the race, other candidates are now reaching out to anti-abortion groups and “trying to talk their language.” Lemieux said that, like most so-cons, he’s fed up with the consensual cone of silence that fell over the abortion issue in Canadian politics sometime in the 1980s — and with the fact that many within his own party refuse to re-open the debate for fear of the electoral consequences. Lemieux acknowledged, though, that not all leadership candidates are keen to talk about abortion and called their refusal to re-open the debate “an infringement on our freedom of speech … and an infringement as well on democracy.” “So that’s why we run our race until the very end and seek people’s support by asking them to put my name first on the ballot,” he said. Lemieux said his involvement in the race is a “winning scenario in so many different ways,” because he’s been able to assure social conservatives and those with faith-based political values that they have a place in the Conservative party. “First of all, to see these things as strengths … that validates someone voting for me, but what a message that sends. Regardless of the outcome of this race, the more people who vote in favour of that, to say, ‘You know what, that resonates with me,’ that sends a really strong message,” said Lemieux. “I frame it this way. I say, as a leader I want a larger party. I want more people in our party.” Lemieux was a member of the Canadian Armed Forces for 20 years and rose to the rank of lieutenant-colonel. He was a member of Parliament from 2006-2015 and attributes his loss in the 2015 election to the strong “anti-Stephen Harper sentiment.” “I canvassed more doors than I’ve ever canvassed before … and the message I consistently received was, ‘Pierre, love you, you’ve done fantastic work, one of the best MPs we’ve had in terms of delivering actual change positive change and federal funding to the riding — can’t stand your leader.'” Lemieux said he’s “really optimistic” about his chances in the leadership race, but if he’s not successful he will consider running again in 2019. “I actually think no one knows the outcome of this race. People think they know the outcome of this race and you see this kind of jockeying … the race is down to two people. No, it’s not,” he said with a laugh. While the other social conservative leadership candidate in the race, Brad Trost, has told his supporters to pick Lemieux as their second choice on their ballot, Lemieux is not reciprocating. He said candidates and voters have asked him more than once who he’s naming as his second choice and who he’s asking his supporters to back as their second choice. “It’s not for Pierre Lemieux to push people into someone else’s camp. It’s for the other candidates to pull people into their camps. So if they want to win Pierre Lemieux supporters, people who are going to put Pierre Lemieux at the top of their list, it’s not like they have to win me over. They need to talk the language of the people who are voting for me,” he said. Lemieux also insists he and Trost are not cut from the same cloth. “Well, the first is I served our country for 20 years so if someone values military service, service to our country in that regard, and the leadership that comes from that — I joined when I was 17. “I learned a lot about leadership and that’s the kind of leadership I’m bringing to the race and it’s different from everyone else’s, including Brad’s.” |
MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia has proposed to the U.S.-led coalition that they stage joint air strikes on Syrian rebels, including militant Islamist group Nusra Front, who are not observing a ceasefire, but the United States responded coolly on Friday. Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) and Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu attend a meeting with top generals at the Bocharov Ruchei state residence in Sochi, Russia, May 10, 2016. Michael Klimentyev/Sputnik/Kremlin via Reuters Such action would begin as of May 25 and be coordinated with the Syrian government, Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu told a Defence Ministry meeting broadcast on state television, adding Moscow reserved the right to stage strikes unilaterally. He said joint air strikes should also target convoys carrying weapons and ammunition crossing into Syria from Turkey. “We believe the adoption of these measures will allow a transition to a peaceful process to be achieved in the entire territory of Syria,” he said. “Of course, these measures have been coordinated with the leadership of the Syrian Arab Republic.” Shoigu said discussions with U.S. military experts based in Jordan and other counterparts in Geneva had begun on Thursday. But the United States made clear on Friday it had little interest in the idea, noting Russia has floated similar proposals in the past and stressing that it expected Moscow to pressure its Syrian government ally and to avoid unilateral strikes. Washington has consistently refused to join forces with Russia in Syria ever since Moscow launched its campaign of air strikes in September last year, accusing it of acting solely to prop up Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. The United States has called on Assad to step down. Communication between the U.S. and Russian militaries on Syria has been limited to contacts aimed at avoiding an accidental clash as they carry out rival bombing campaigns and small numbers of U.S. forces operate on the ground. Western officials suggested that the proposal, which the Pentagon said had not been formally presented to the U.S. Defense Department, was an attempt by President Vladimir Putin to raise Russia’s profile on the international stage. ”There is no agreement to conduct joint air strikes with the Russians in Syria,” said U.S. State Department spokesman John Kirby. He added that the United States believed that Assad’s government was responsible for most of the violations of the fitful ceasefire that began on Feb. 27. “We look to Russia to end such (government) violations, which includes strikes that have hit civilians and civilian facilities,” he said. While Russia supports the Assad government, the United States and its allies support rebels trying to overthrow him in a civil war that has burned for more than five years and killed at least 250,000 people. However, both sides oppose the al Qaeda-linked Nusra Front, which was not included in a ceasefire deal which has failed to prevent widespread violence. A U.S. military strike killed Nusra Front’s leader, Abu Firas al-Suri, in April. White House spokesman Eric Schultz said the U.S. aim remains for Russia to persuade Assad to abide by the cessation of hostilities in Syria, saying it was not the first time Russia had made such a proposal. “You’ve seen Russia show an eagerness to cooperate with us militarily. This is not something that’s new,” Schultz said. In private, U.S. officials said the idea was a non-starter. “Don’t see it happening,” a U.S. official said, adding the U.S. military “will ensure safety of flight but nothing else.” A Western official from a coalition country also played down the proposal. “Putin has long had a strategy regarding Syria of trying to share the geopolitical stage with the United States and its allies, and his latest proposal appears to reflect that goal,” the official said. |
By: Weldon Johnson, LetsRun.com January 24, 2013 ***** “I’m given today, I’m going to do what I can with it and see what happens. I’ve accepted that I’ve got something and it’s probably going to get me in the end, but it doesn’t have me today. I’m going to keep going and see how far I can get.” – Will Steele, aka “the cancer guy”, writing about his incurable cancer in October of last year. ***** Will Steele has run his last mile. The 36-year-old married father of three lost his battle with cancer on Christmas Eve. Will became an inspiration to countless thousands on LetsRun.com when he began posting last year under the hopeful moniker of “the used to be cancer guy” chronicling his attempt to train and battle cancer in the thread, “Here’s to breaking 20 for 5k (à la EddyLee).” Will started the thread by posting he ran 2 miles in 36:48. That’s 18-minute miles for those of you who struggle with math. Never has a runner with slower times posted his or her training on LetsRun.com and never has there been a bigger inspiration. When the diagnosis got even bleaker for Will, he switched his moniker back to “the cancer guy” and continued posting and trying to run or walk. When he no longer could walk, he switched to trying to do push ups. Will talked in the frankest terms both on LetsRun and on Facebook about his diagnosis, dying, his hopes, his fears, and much, much more. Some of it was very, very heavy stuff. By doing so, Will taught us not so much about death, but what it means to truly live. ***** “God doesn’t promise us long and healthy lives” – Kerri Steele, Will’s wife talking in October. ***** You are going to die. I am going to die. That much is certain. Until I met Will Steele for the first and only time, I liked to pretend it wasn’t going to happen to me. I was aware of Will’s thread on LetsRun.com, but didn’t read much of it, because if I’m being honest, I didn’t like thinking too much about my own mortality. After meeting Will and his family for roughly two hours in October, I saw what it means to be alive, to live life like it’s meant to be lived. Will’s honesty, frankness, and grace were impressive. I’m not sure how to eulogize a man I’ve only met once, yet who was able to inspire me more than many I’ve met hundreds of times. Hopefully by letting his own words speak for themselves. ***** “I might be thinking differently, but, I have to accept I am basically at the end of my options. In other words, I need to begin accepting and preparing to die. This is a weird place. I never thought about what death would actually look like, much less, like this. Having to tell your boss, thank you for the opportunity, but, I must now leave work to go and never come back. Telling my kids I can’t play with them because if I get an infection it could kill me. Essentially having to systematically and methodically close up shop and prepare to depart. Man, what a weird scenario! We have a little time to decide, yet, even if I do therapy and it does work, the same message stands as did before: this is incurable, and, now, is twice as deadly since it’s in two bodily systems. Not sure if I’ll ever walk or run again. My body just ache more and more these days. Walking is painful. Breathing is hard. And, the thought of running is frightening. I appreciate all the support and help I have gotten from folk on the board. Thanks everyone for letting me share my story and encouraging me. I have had some low places and this is one of the few spots I have been able to be honest because I don’t fear the effects it will have on my relationships if I bare my soul here as I might in face to face conversation. Even when I was no longer a runner this place took me and made me feel like I belonged and that’s important and special. So, I will try to keep updating as time passes, but, at some point, there will be a last post and I won’t be around any more. I don’t know how far off that is, but, I suspect seeing new years would be a pretty surprising thing.” – Will Steele posting on July 31st. ***** I met Will for the first and only time this October (two plus months after the post above). Cancer survivor and former two-time USA marathon champ Ken Martin was in the Dallas area doing some work for the charity he started WorkOut Cancer, which provides financial support to researchers studying how/whether exercise can improve cancer treatments and outcomes, reduce side effects of treatments, and reduce recurrence. Believe it or not, twenty years ago in high school, Will had tried to get Ken to coach him via fax – yes, fax. They reconnected because of Will’s battle with cancer and his thread on LetsRun.com. Ken is also in the process of training to try and break the 50+ world record in the mile (at age 54 nonetheless) to raise awareness for WorkOut Cancer. Since September, Ken has been posting his training in the popular 50+ Masters Training and Racing Open Forum thread. The plan was for Ken to meet up with Will while in the Dallas area. Ken also wanted to reconnect with this long-time friend Aaron Ramirez, the 1986 NCAA Cross-Country champion, who lives in South Texas. Will invited me to join them hoping to generate some publicity for Ken’s charity. Watching Ken work out was thrown into the mix, and I headed over to meet all three of them. ***** “Do whatever you want (in terms of exercise), we’re just going to give you drugs.” – Will talking in October talking about the advice he was given by his cancer doctors about exercise. ***** I think it is fair to say Will was frustrated with his own cancer treatment as he was left searching for many answers himself. A super-fit man by the standards of normal society, yet he was treated by the cancer doctors like a sedentary couch potato? Does that make any sense? Should he exercise? Or would it just make him weaker for chemo? Could he withstand more chemo because of his fitness heading into his fight with cancer? Not a lot was known. It does not take a scientific degree to understand that running helped Will in his battle with cancer. The goal setting, the routine, pushing your body to do what seems out of reach. Will had done this all his life, for he was a runner. Running was not something he did, it was part of who he was. Just from reading his posts, one sees that continuing to be a runner, even when he could barely walk, helped Will in his cancer fight, at the very least helped him keep up the fight. Will did his own research and learned of Ken’s charity and felt exercise could do more than just inspire people in the cancer fight. It could possible help fight cancer or at least prolong the fight. “There are studies that indicate that exercise literally helps prevent cancer growth and I don’t think a lot of people realize that … Getting people to realize (exercise) is not just going to help you feel better it is going to help you fight cancer. That is revolutionary in my mind,” Will said in October. Will and Ken both had been left to search on their own for what they could and should do in terms of exercise while battling cancer. Self-coaching as an athlete isn’t the easiest thing to do. Now throw on top of it chemotherapy and in Will’s case a day-long surgery in 2011 that removed 268 tumors. “There is a little bit of information out there but it is hard to pull it all together and make sense of it while you’re going through therapy and your brain is fried,” Will said. Exercise at the very least can limit muscle wasting while undergoing chemo and can limit some of the damage to the heart from the chemo drugs. That much appears to be known. Will and Ken both believe it can do a lot more. But a lot is unknown. Ken noted that exercise science has progressed a lot in the last few decades, but exercise science as how it relates to cancer treatment is still in its infancy. “Can you use exercise to improvement the treatment and will more people have better survival? That hasn’t really been investigated,” said Ken Martin. ***** “I did a mile on Wednesday in just over 26 minutes. For me, that’s pretty good. I really thought it was going to take me about 40 minutes. Plus, that day, I was not taking pain meds, so, I was short stepping and achy. Not the best conditions for a ‘stroll.’ I could tell my heart rate was pretty elevated (maybe 150-160bpm) at that pace, but, I figure, if nothing else, it could help stimulate some blood cell production. Positive stress on the system. Hopefully, if I keep at it I can get a little better before things slip again … I really want to start doing at least a mile a day if I can help it. let’s say 30 minutes a day, bare minimum, 7 days a week. That’d give me a good 3.5-4 hours of aerobic activity. Add on top of that some weight lifting and stretching and I think I’ll see positive benefits in a few weeks. At least, that’s my hope.” – The cancer guy writing on November 16th. ***** Will Steele was a runner. He may have posted on July 31st about no longer being a runner, but he was a runner until the very end. Even if his final post about his own training on November 22nd was about walking, he was a runner. On LetsRun.com, I don’t think there is a better compliment you could give someone. In high school, Will started out as a 19 minutes for 2 miles guy. Thanks to two 1,000 mile summers (that’s more than 10 miles a day as a high schooler), he ended up as a 16 minute for 3 miles guy. His coach in high school was Pete Boudreaux, who would become the 2010 USATF Gill Athletics Coach of the Year. Pete’s expertise did not stop Will from searching for more answers and inquiring about Ken Martin coaching him via fax. In college, Will then ran at Christian Brothers University an NAIA school in Tennessee. After college, Will was a 15 minute 5ker and 33 minute for 10k guy. I don’t know Will’s exact PRs because he didn’t tell me them. At one point, Will defined himself by how fast he ran in a circle, even to the point where he lied about his PRs. Now facing what proved to be terminal cancer, Will could take pride in 26 minute miles, and the rest of us were inspired. Just as a life is not judged by how many years it lasts, Will reminded us a runner is ultimately not defined by their PRs. ***** “I don’t drink, I don’t smoke, I don’t do drugs. I run … What in the world are you talking about?” –Will recounting what he was thinking when told he was diagnosed with cancer ***** Cancer does not discriminate. The couch potato, the 33 minute 10k guy, the two-time USA Marathon champion, the seven time Tour de France champion, the founder of Apple Computer, are all victims. Exercise, organic food, “being healthy” – these are not guarantees that keep cancer from striking. Will believed his cancer was caused from a battery recycling plant near his house, but was well beyond the being pissed off stage when I met with him. Not to say anger didn’t occasionally creep into his posts, but I witnessed a man who knew what was most important to him, starting with his wife Kerri and children Paige, Emma and Liam, but extending to other areas of his life. I asked him why there wasn’t more anger and outrage, and Will made it clear that anger and outrage wouldn’t improve what little time he had left. The reality is we are all facing certain death. For the fortunate ones among us, that death is further down the road, but talk to someone facing an early death, or their loved ones, and you get a real different perspective quickly. ***** “Does that make God any less holy? If I am to be honest, no, it doesn’t. It was my mistake for assuming something that isn’t necessarily true … but, rather, something I would like to believe. Who wants to think I’ll get incurable cancer at 33 and never see my kids grow up. As someone who tries to see God as a benevolent being, presuming things like that is not near the top of the list. But, when realities like that arise, it doesn’t necessarily invalidate claims like, ‘God is good.’ As I see it, the truth is so infinitely more complex than that, we as people, fail to grasp the numbers of ways things can go wrong and theological answers still hold true. Does it mean I all happy about it? No, I am a bitter, pissed off dude. But, is it reason to abandon my faith? Again, if I am honest, no.” and “God taps us on the shoulder all the time and we are often to(o) busy to even notice. Imagine if we heard all the little ‘shoulder’ taps. There is something awesome about living a fully spiritual life to which no action movie could compare. When everything you do was sparked by some improbably, unlikely, or, impossible event and suddenly, you wake up one day, realizing, you have been alive a year and a half longer than the doctors told you would, and (you) are in touch with people from every corner of the earth sharing this story people couldn’t even dream up if they tried. Yeah, I could reject God (I have at times only to come back) at all this, but, life is just so much more awesome with him in it than without him.” –Will Steele writing on LetsRun.com about his faith. ***** Will Steele was a believer in God and he wrote honestly about his faith on LetsRun.com. Incurable cancer in his mid thirties did not diminish Will’s faith. It made him question what it means to believe and what his relationship with God was, but not to abandon his faith. The honesty, the openness, the grace that Will dealt with his cancer on LetsRun.com was amplified when he discussed his faith. Facing death, Will saw the beauty in life. Life was a gift from God that should not be wasted. ***** “I’m given today, I’m going to do what I can with it and see what happens. I’ve accepted that I’ve got something and it’s probably going to get me in the end, but it doesn’t have me today. I’m going to keep going and see how far I can get.” and “As a runner you’re in the middle of the race and you are like, ‘I am so freaking tired. My legs are burning’ and you have to choose, ‘ok pull it together, focus, get it together, let’s go.’ And I think the same type of attitude is required to deal with cancer.” and “One of the hard choices is, you have the ability every day to choose ‘Am I going to live today?’ Or I am going to let cancer determine the way my life is going.” – Will Steele talking about cancer in October. ***** Why do we run? Why do we live? The first question has been grappled with since the founding of this site and many times (1,2,3,4,5,6,7) afterwards. The second since the beginning of humanity. Will’s posts taught us or reminded us how to live. In the quotes above, Will is talking about his life and his battle with cancer, but notice the running metaphor. It was through Will’s own running and battle with cancer that he showed us how to live. Running as a metaphor for life is not a new concept, but Will in his struggle and grace made it less of a metaphor and more reality. It was through running, or his attempt to run, that Will showed complete strangers that he was still alive and what it means to live. As Oprah Winfrey once said, “Running is the greatest metaphor for life, because you get out of it what you put into it.” All of us as runners understand on some level the running as a metaphor for life concept, but we do not fully embrace it. Will was consciously aware he was living it. “Am I going to live today?” “Or I am going to let ____ (cancer in Will’s case) determine the way my life is going.” That was Will’s decision each day. Ultimately he couldn’t determine how long he lived on this earth, but he could determine each day if he was going to truly live. ***** “It doesn’t sound like much but going from where I could literally barely walk to running 16 minute miles, I was happy with that …” “I’m going to take running not as a competitive athlete as I used to be, but I’ve been blessed to have a little bit of life left …” “Running is for me becoming a distant memory. I still love it. I still check letsrun every day. I follow the news. It’s in my blood …” –Will Steele talking in October. ***** When I met Will in October, I was also talking to a LetsRunner who was hit by a suicide bomber in Afghanistan and survived the attack. For the longest time, I have wanted to have a Blue Collar Runner of the Month on LetsRun.com and the guy hit by the suicide bomber seemed to be the perfect candidate for the first Blue Collar Runner of the Month. With Will’s death, I thought of making him the first Blue Collar Runner of the Month. To do so, however, would seemingly trivialize life and death and more importantly Will’s life and his impact on LetsRun.com. Will was not just a blue collar runner. He was a runner. He represents what running is all about. So Will Steele is my Runner of the Year for 2012. Message board poster “joho” summed up Will best: “Dude, You will always be a runner. You absolutely epitomize what being a runner is all about. Don’t quit because it hurts. Never give up. One day at a time. You are truly inspiring those of us following you and your battle.” ***** An endowment has been set up in Will’s name at Christian Brothers University. The William Steele scholarship is being set up there to honor Will and to benefit (freshman) runners at CBU who have shown courage, determination and strong moral character throughout their life. You can contact Stephen Kirkpatrick: Director of Development @ CBU – [email protected] or 1-800-283-2925 for details on how to contribute to the scholarship. Alternatively, if you are short on charity funds but would like to help contribute to the Will Steele fund, LetsRun.com in conjunction with partner Road Runner Sports is donating 15% of all purchases from Road Runner Sports originating from LetsRun.com now through the end of February to the Will Steele fund. LetsRun is making zero from these sales and donating 100% of its commission. Click here if you’d like to shop and contribute that way. 15% of All Purchases from Road Runner Sports via LetsRun.com Going to Will Steele Fund From Now Through End of February More info: “Here’s to breaking 20 for 5k (à la EddyLee).” This is the thread where Will started posting his journey and is a highly recommended read. *50+ Masters Training and Racing Open Forum thread (Where Ken Martin is chronicling his training to break the 50+ world record in the mile. Wejo will have more on this in January) *WorkOut Cancer 501c charity started by Ken Martin to help use exercise to help improve cancer survival. Weldon Johnson can be reached at [email protected] Will and Ken and Aaron in their own words – |
The crash scene was next to the Shoreline Fire Station. (KOMO photo) SHORELINE, Wash. - A 14-year-old boy who is a student at Shorewood High was hit, then dragged by a semi truck Wednesday morning while riding his bicycle to school in Shoreline, emergency officials said. Police and medics responded North 175th Street and Aurora Avenue North about 7:20 a.m. after receiving reports of a serious accident involving a semi. "The only good part of this is that our headquarters station is right across the street," said Michelle Pidduck of the Shoreline Fire District. The boy was wearing a helmet. The bicyclist was dragged about 40 feet by the semi, said Pidduck. The boy was found at the scene with critical injuries and was rushed to Harborview Medical Center by ambulance. The King County Sheriff's Office says the semi truck was going west on North 175th Street and was making a right turn to north on Aurora when the bicyclist was hit. Investigators are still trying to figure out exactly what factors contributed to the accident. At least two other students witnessed the accident and said they could hear the boy screaming as he was dragged by the semi, Pidduck said. Shorewood High School had counselors available for students on Wednesday. The collision happened less than a block from the school's campus. "I guess it's kind of disturbing because it can happen to any one of us at any time," said a Shorewood High School student. The intersection where the accident happened is often busy with students going to and from school. Many were walking to campus this morning when police were still investigating. "It kind of shows us students we have to be more careful," said another Shorewood High School student. Pidduck said it's likely more people witnessed the accident and just continued their morning routine. "Trying to digest this later is more (of) our concern-- making sure that they're able to talk to someone, not just thinking this is normal and try to go on with their day without realizing the trauma that they've seen," Pidduck said. As of Wednesday afternoon, the teen remained in critical condition at Harborview Medical Center. |
In one of my last posts (An interactive Barnes-Hut tree) I talked briefly about one of the “fun” projects I’m working on, When Giants Collide (work in progress, GitHub repo), and promised myself to blog about its development as I went along. I just finished refining the algorithm for building the tree and calculating the gravitational force. The small app above is a benchmark pitting the Barnes-Hut algorithm for computing gravity (an O(N log(N)) algorithm) against a brute-force direct summation (an O(N^2) algorithm). It calculates the gravitational field of a random collection of particles using both methods for N = 256 to N = 16,384; a lower amount of time spent indicates a faster algorithm. The time used to compute the gravitational force is averaged over 12 iterations to minimize fluctuations. Results are plotted in real time. Lastly, it calculates an overall “score” for the JavaScript interpreter by only running the Barnes-Hut algorithm for N = 16,384. You can see a table of scores for a few different browsers and devices I have access to (lower is better). If you’d like, send me your score! Some observations about JavaScript optimization Chrome turned out to be the fastest browser at this particular benchmark. Surprisingly, a previous version of the same code was actually the slowest on my MacBook — almost 6x as slow as Safari! That was quite unexpected, as in my (limited) experience building web apps Chrome tends to edge out other browsers in terms of JavaScript execution speed. So I waded a little bit more into my code to understand what was making my code so inefficient. This Google optimization guide and this post on HTML5Rocks (specifically talking about optimizing for V8, the just-in-time compiler embedded in Chrome) proved very useful. What I learned: Use the idiomatic JavaScript style for creating classes (using prototypes, new, straightforward constructors etc.) instead of using an object factory and closures. Avoid creating closures, when possible. Use node.js to profile the application and identify functions that are not getting optimized (using –trace-opt). Both Safari and Firefox had good baseline scores even before these optimizations. I found it quite surprising that V8 was much more fastidious about my code than the other JavaScript engines. Another finding was how much slower alternative browsers (e.g. Chrome, Mercury) are on iOS. Alternative browsers use the same engine as Safari, but they don’t have access to Nitro’s Just-In-Time compilation — this means that they will be quite a bit slower than Safari on a computationally-intensive benchmark. How much slower? On my iPhone 5S, almost a factor of 10! Web workers are awesome The benchmark runs in a different thread, so that the page itself remains responsive. This is accomplished using Web Workers, a relatively new technology that allows the page to spin off threads to do computation-heavy work. It’s quite well supported, and I found it pretty easy to learn (aside from some surprising quirks). I plan on spinning off some of the tasks in Systemic Live — which currently either block the interface or use timers — into Web Workers (it’ll be a quite a bit of work, so don’t hold your breath). |
Though President Obama touts America as a nation of laws and evenhanded justice, there is a blatant double-standard regarding how people are punished for national security breaches whistleblowers are harshly punished but the well-connected get a pass, writes John Hanrahan. By John Hanrahan There he goes again. In recently proclaiming Hillary Clinton free of any national security breach, even as the FBI was continuing its investigation of her use of a potentially risky private email server for official business while she was Secretary of State, President Barack Obama continued his disturbing pattern of rendering his personal verdict ahead of legal proceedings in high-profile cases involving classified government information. From Private Chelsea Manning to General David Petraeus to Edward Snowden and now to Hillary Clinton, the President has sounded off with his opinions on guilt or innocence, and on any alleged damage to national security, in advance of either a trial, or an indictment, or completion of an investigation. Short version: whistleblowers Manning and Snowden clearly guilty; former high government officials Petraeus and Clinton, no problem. In April 2011, two years before court martial proceedings began and almost two years before Manning acknowledged being a source for hundreds of thousands of classified documents released by Wikileaks, Obama proclaimed Manning guilty. The materials Manning provided to Wikileaks exposed diplomatic secrets and U.S. military abuses in Iraq and Afghanistan, including showing greater numbers of civilian casualties than admitted publicly by U.S. officials. Among the most shocking was the classified “collateral murder video” that showed U.S. military personnel in an Apache helicopter in a Baghdad suburb indiscriminately firing on and killing more than a dozen people, including rescuers and two Reuters employees, and wounding others, including two children. Likewise, exiled whistleblower Edward Snowden was excoriated in absentia by Obama in January 2014 for providing to journalist Glenn Greenwald, filmmaker Laura Poitras and others a trove of frightening National Security Agency documents. The documents showed that the Big Brother State had indeed arrived via the NSA’s worldwide, dragnet surveillance and data collection programs. Petraeus received Obama’s no-harm-no-foul verdict in November 2012, while Clinton won the president’s thumbs-up during a 60 Minutes appearance by the President that was broadcast this past Oct. 11. In his public pronouncements, a double standard has been applied by the President to powerful former governmental figures caught up in investigations regarding classified information. In Obama’s eyes, neither Petraeus nor Clinton did anything wrong: Not Petraeus in providing extremely highly secretive documents to his mistress Paula Broadwell; nor Clinton, in using her personal email server to conduct official business while she was Secretary of State, a server that might have contained classified information and that critics contend could have been easily penetrated by hackers, including unfriendly foreign governments. And in both the Petraeus and Clinton cases, Obama stated his views publicly in an early stage of an investigation, sending a message that would certainly give pause to FBI investigators and federal prosecutors trying to build a case involving either of those two powerful former government officials. It’s worth revisiting some of what Obama said about these various national security investigations, and the possible impact his statements had or might have on subsequent events in these cases: Chelsea Manning On April 21, 2011, Obama was confronted, and recorded, at a political fundraiser by a Manning supporter who wanted to know why Manning was being prosecuted on such serious charges. Manning, said Obama, was “irresponsible, risked the lives of service members and did a lot of damage. He broke the law.” Remember, this was two years before Manning went to trial and almost two years before Manning acknowledged being the source for documents released by Wikileaks. Nothing had been proved against Manning in any legal forum. Obama also made further comments that have a delightful irony about them, given the subsequent investigation of Petraeus, as well as the disclosure that former CIA Director Leon Panetta had provided classified information to the makers of the torture-justifying movie, “Zero Dark Thirty.” Said Obama: “If I was to release stuff, information that I’m not authorized to release, I’m breaking the law. We’re a nation of laws. We don’t individually make our own decisions about how the laws operate.” To those of us who attended sessions of Manning’s 2013 court-martial, with the defense hamstrung by adverse national security rulings and barred by espionage law from mounting a public-interest defense, the verdict was not surprising. But the draconian 35-year sentence meted out by military judge Colonel Denise Lind was a shocker even in the context of the sham that is “military justice.” Human nature, being what it is, would suggest that when the top military boss, the commander-in-chief, publicly pronounces the defendant guilty in advance of trial, some attention is certainly paid further down the chain of command to not only winning a conviction, but imposing a stiff sentence as well. In that context, the President’s pre-trial comments amounted to exerting undue command influence, as Manning supporters and even some in the mainstream press pointed out at the time. NBC News chief Pentagon correspondent Jim Miklaszewski wrote this: “The Uniform Code of Military Justice prohibits ‘Command Influence,’ in which a superior officer up the chain of command says or does something that could influence any decisions by a military judge or jury in a criminal case. As commander in chief, there’s no one higher up the chain than the president.” In receiving that unconscionable 35-year prison term from Judge Lind, Manning may indeed be paying the price for Obama’s pre-trial comments. General Petraeus On Nov. 9, 2012, just three days after Obama was reelected, Petraeus resigned as CIA director as the news broke of his affair with Paula Broadwell. A mere five days after that, with the FBI’s investigation still in an early phase, Obama, in his first post-election news conference, all but exonerated Petraeus, saying : “I have no evidence, from what I have seen at this point, that classified information was exposed.” He also said that he had seen nothing “that in any way would have had a negative impact on our national security.” Obama then poured it on, reminding the American public that this four-star general is a unique man who deserves being left alone because of all of his service on our behalf. “We are safer because of the work that Dave Petraeus has done,” Obama said. “And my main hope right now is, is that he and his family are able to move on and this ends up being a single side note on what has otherwise been an extraordinary career.” Obama may or may not have known that just the previous month (October 2012) Petraeus had lied to the FBI that he had not provided any classified information to Broadwell (who co-authored a biography of Petraeus). He had also signed a statement upon leaving the CIA that he had no classified material in his possession, another lie. When the FBI raided Petraeus’s home in April 2013, agents confiscated from an unlocked desk drawer eight notebooks that contained what the New York Times described as “handwritten classified notes about official meetings, war strategy, intelligence capabilities and the names of covert officers.” Petraeus himself described material in some of the so-called “black books” as being “highly classified.” Petraeus subsequently admitted providing the classified notebooks to Broadwell and worked out a sweetheart plea deal under which he was not charged with a felony or covering up by lying to the FBI, but instead was allowed to plead guilty to a minor misdemeanor count of unauthorized removal and retention of classified material. For that, in marked contrast to two convicted CIA whistleblowers, John Kiriakou and Jeffrey Sterling, who received prison sentences of 30 months and 42 months, respectively, Petraeus was given no prison time. His slap-on-the-wrist “punishment”: two years probation and a $100,000 fine. In addition to having a compliant Justice Department to thank, Petraeus can certainly give a tip of his general’s hat to a president, who made his views clear early on: Namely, you do not send a world-famous general to jail for an offense that would likely land any less heralded soldier in federal prison for many years. In any event, present and future high-ranking government officials should take note: There is now an apparent “mistress exception” loophole in all those laws and regulations relating to the leaking of classified materials. Edward Snowden In a Jan. 17, 2014 speech touting what he described as his plans to reform U.S. surveillance practices, President Obama said that the “Snowden disclosures” had the effect of “revealing methods to our adversaries that could impact our operations in ways that we may not fully understand for years to come.” “Given the fact of an open investigation, I’m not going to dwell on Mr. Snowden’s actions or his motivations,” Obama said. “Our nation’s defense depends in part on the fidelity of those entrusted with our nation’s secrets. If any individual who objects to government policy can take it in their own hands to publicly disclose classified information, then we will not be able to keep our people safe, or conduct foreign policy.” Five days after Snowden revealed himself as the whistleblower source for the NSA documents, the Justice Department filed a criminal complaint against him, charging him with theft and, more seriously, with two espionage charges: “unauthorized communication of national defense information” and “willful communication of classified communications intelligence information to an unauthorized person.” In the event Snowden someday faces a trial, you can bet that some variation of Obama’s words, that Snowden’s disclosures had revealed “methods to our adversaries that could impact our operations in ways that we may not fully understand for years to come”, will be part of the prosecutor’s arsenal of charges. Just as was the case in the Chelsea Manning, Jeffrey Sterling and John Kiriakou prosecutions, whistleblowing equates to endangerment to us all. Hillary Clinton In an appearance on CBS’s 60 Minutes that was broadcast on Oct. 11, 2015, Obama said that Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server is “not a situation in which America’s national security was endangered.” While he opined that Clinton’s use of the non-governmental server was a “mistake,” Obama added: “I don’t think it posed a national security problem.” How can the President be so sure in the initial stages of an investigation that Manning is guilty and Petraeus and Clinton have done nothing to endanger national security? That Snowden and Manning, though, did endanger national security, but Clinton’s problematic private server, there for the possible picking by friendly or unfriendly nations or terrorist factions, did not? This gratuitous support for Clinton, coming smack in the middle of the FBI investigation, sends a message down the civilian chain of command: Move on. Nothing to see here. An FBI agent or Justice Department prosecutor might just want to think twice about whether it’s a great career-enhancing move to keep pursuing the Clinton email matter when the President sends such a message out to the world. (As if the pressure weren’t already enough, knowing that the woman you’re investigating could very likely be elected president next year.) Even people who believe that Clinton did nothing wrong, who feel that this is just another Republican-influenced vendetta to sabotage her presidential campaign, should be concerned that a president would interject himself thusly into an ongoing investigation. Two days after the 60 Minutes broadcast, White House press secretary Josh Earnest issued one of those statements intended for that segment of the American public that just fell off the turnip truck: The President’s comment on 60 Minutes was “based on what we publicly know” and “certainly was not an attempt, in any way, to undermine the importance or independence of the ongoing FBI investigation.” A president who taught constitutional law at the University of Chicago Law School has to know that casting such public judgments with the weight of the presidency behind them, guilty for whistleblowers who perform a true public service, exceptions for high-ranking government officials because a double standard applies, further erodes the already crumbling rule of law in this fearful post-9/11 era. John Hanrahan, currently on the editorial board of ExposeFacts, is a former executive director of The Fund for Investigative Journalism and reporter for  The Washington Post,  The Washington Star, UPI and other news organizations. He also has extensive experience as a legal investigator. Hanrahan is the author of  Government by Contract  and co-author of Lost Frontier: The Marketing of Alaska. He wrote extensively for NiemanWatchdog.org, a project of the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University. [This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 License.] |
Apple’s Director of iBooks Store Keith Moerer appeared at the Digital Book World Conference today to talk iBooks, and during the interview offered some updates on stats and insights into how Apple’s book business is going. Of note, Moerer said Apple has added about 1 million new iBooks users a week, which he said is in part thanks to Apple’s decision to preinstall iBooks on devices with its iOS 8 release in September. #DBW15 #Apple @iBookstore's Keith Moerer "Our goal is to turn those new [free] customers into paying customers." — Porter Anderson (@Porter_Anderson) January 15, 2015 The interview was covered in a number of tweets (below) by those attending event and the official Digital Book World account. The best 4K & 5K displays for Mac While preinstalling iBooks helped Apple with acquiring new customers in recent months, Family Sharing features also helped boost customer acquisition, according to Moerer. Family Sharing in iOS 8 allows up to 6 people in a household to share iBooks and other iTunes content. When it comes to iBooks plateauing, Moerer said it’s “not unexpected and something we’ve seen in other digital media businesses,” but also noted a number of areas of potential growth for iBooks through tie-ins with other iTunes content. One of those areas is “movie and TV producers to create free promotional content,” something Apple never saw as an intended use of iBooks Author. Moerer says Apple can leverage customers of @iTunes, both in movies and music, to help promote books. #DBW15 — Digital Book World (@DigiBookWorld) January 15, 2015 As for the business by region, Moerer noted that the biggest opportunities for growth outside the US are in the UK, Germany, and France, but currently Japan is iBooks fastest growing market. Latin America is slower, but Spanish-language publishing “is starting to become a bigger part” of Apple’s US business, according to Moerer. The Canadian market is also reportedly doing well with iBooks and seeing a number of French publishers having success with the platform in Canada. Moerer added that “Indie publishing is one of our biggest growth areas,” and noted “100% of our merchandising is editorially focused. We accept no co-op payments.” #Apple's Moerer: "100% of our merchandising is editorially focused. We accept no co-op payments" at iBooks. #DBW15 — Digital Book World (@DigiBookWorld) January 15, 2015 Canadian market is robust for iBooks and seeing French publishers selling well into the Canadian market #cdnpublishing #DBW15 — Publishing@SFU (@learnpublishing) January 15, 2015 Fastest growing iBooks store is Japan, mainly local language books - Moerer #DBW15 #apple — David Lamb (@lamb) January 15, 2015 At #DBW15 oppt outside US for @iBooks UK, Germany and France biggest. Fastest growing is Japan. Latin America slower. — Rachel Packman Chou (@rachelchounyc) January 15, 2015 |
Language may limit us, but a groundbreaking technology developed by researchers at the UW means communicating basic commands from one human brain to another is a new reality. Be the First Thanks to UW professor of computer science and engineering Rajesh Rao, who serves as the lead author on the team’s latest study, “great minds think alike” is no longer just a phrase, but a fact. The noninvasive technology — which currently allows one person’s brain to control another person’s hand motions from miles away via transmissions sent over the Internet — is rapidly changing the field. Next up? Putting a $1 million W.M. Keck Foundation grant toward further developing brain-to-brain technology to one day transmit complex ideas and thoughts. “The new study brings our brain-to-brain interfacing paradigm from an initial demonstration to something that is closer to a deliverable technology,” said co-author Andrea Stocco, assistant professor of psychology and researcher at UW’s Institute for Learning & Brain Sciences. The project could also eventually lead to “brain tutoring,” in which knowledge is transferred directly from the brain of a teacher to a student. Imagine someone who’s a brilliant scientist but not a brilliant teacher. Complex knowledge is hard to explain – we’re limited by language. – Co-author Chantel Prat, assistant professor of psychology and researcher at UW’s Institute for Learning & Brain Sciences Video: The UW profiles the research study |
Rey Lee-Lo made his Samoa debut against Canada in November, 2014 Centre Rey Lee-Lo has signed a new contract with Cardiff Blues. The 31-year-old Samoa centre joined from New Zealand side Hurricanes before the 2015-16 season and has since scored nine tries in 57 appearances. The Blues have not disclosed the length of the contract, but have described it as "long-term". Lee-Lo said: "I've loved my time here so far - we have a great squad and my family are really happy in Cardiff, so it was an easy decision to make." Blues also say Lee-Lo, who won the region's Peter Thomas player of the season award in 2016-17, opted to stay at the Arms Park despite "attracting widespread interest" from elsewhere. The deal comes after the recent contracts for fly-half Matthew Morgan and flankers Ellis Jenkins and Olly Robinson. Lee-Lo will be in action on Boxing Day when the Blues take on local rivals Dragons in the Pro14 derby match at Rodney Parade. "Rey has proved a brilliant addition since he arrived at Cardiff Blues and it is great to see how comfortable and happy he is here," chief executive Richard Holland added. "With more than 75% of our squad Welsh, and with so many promising youngsters coming through our academy, it is vital to have a strong core of overseas talent to supplement that and pass on their experience. "Rey has been invaluable in that respect and we are thrilled he will remain at Cardiff Arms Park for years to come." |
Star Citizen Patch v2.2.0 Alpha Patch 2.2.0 has been released to Live, and is now available for players! This patch provides access to our new flyable Sabre, the hangar-ready Khartu-al, our new Hostility, Monitored Zone and Bounty systems as well as tweaks to our FPS animations, new FPS weapons, and numerous fixes across the game. Your launcher should show “2.2.0-327398” as the client version. It is strongly recommended that players delete their USER folder for the Public client after patching, particularly if you start encountering any odd character graphical issues or crash on loading. The USER folder can be found (in default installations) at C:\Program Files\Cloud Imperium Games\StarCitizen\Public. Please review our current list of 2.2.0 Known Issues FAQ, and take full advantage of our Issue Council area of the Community site to report any bugs you encounter, as well as contribute to other players submissions. Important Issues: If you’re copying the 2.2.0 PTU /Test build into your Live folder, please be sure to delete any .cfg files from your Test build first and use the “Verify” function in the Launcher Options before accessing the game. /Test build into your Live folder, please be sure to delete any .cfg files from your Test build first and use the “Verify” function in the Launcher Options before accessing the game. Ship geometry can very occasionally disappear or turn invisible. Using the Holotable in the Revel & York hangar will cause the game client to become unresponsive. Contents: New Features Star Systems: Crusader We have increased the number of players and player-ships per instance of Crusader from 16 to 24. The scale of the system has adjusted, the planet Crusader and moons are at a more appropriate distance from one another. Comm Arrays have been re-positioned accordingly. Comm Array 8 has been removed. The Comm Arrays have been changed drastically as part of the new Monitored Space and Bounty systems and no longer unlock Research missions. For the time being, Research Missions are now offered to characters who visit ICC Probe 849. ICC probe 849 is now on the QT Nav Points list. There are three new icons on the player visor HUD while in Crusader. An icon will appear in the top-left of your screen when you are in Monitored space. This icon looks like a satellite sending off little signals. To the right of Monitored Space, there is an icon to indicate when you are in an Armistice Zone. This icon looks like a bullet with a line through it. To the right of the Armistice Zone icon, an icon will appear if you are a wanted criminal. This icon looks like a shooting range target, with a border that will become incrementally more orange with each Criminal level. while in Crusader. Game Systems: Your efforts repairing Comm Arrays in Crusader have not gone unnoticed by Crusader Industries! Monitored Space System “Monitored” space are large areas of the Crusader system that are being actively monitored by Crusader Industries. These areas are centered around any active Comm Arrays in Crusader, as well as Cryo-Astro and Port Olisar. By disabling the Comm Arrays, you can toggle monitored space off for that area. Likewise you can reactivate “Monitoring” by activating the local Comm Arrays. Comm Arrays will be active or disabled at-random when an instance is first brought up. Disabling a Comm Array has consequences, because no-one except a Criminal would ever want to go unnoticed by Crusader Industries. Players who are not currently considered a “Criminal” will receive missions for any Comm Arrays that need to be reactivated. Player character kills made in unmonitored space will go unnoticed by local authorities. Bounty System In an effort to improve security in the Crusader region while their local staffing is low, Crusader Industries has activated their “Bounty” system and encourages all pilots to hunt down any wanted criminals in their space. Destroying an empty ship, colliding with a landed ship (in Monitored space), or disabling a Comm Array gives the offending character 1 level of Wanted Criminal. However, these are not cumulative and will not take your character above 1 Criminal level. Killing a player character or destroying an occupied ship (in Monitored space) gives 1 Cumulative level of Criminal. Crusader Security AI will spawn and attack any Criminal (of any wanted level), that enters the area around Cry-Astro Station or Port Olisar. There are 5 Criminal levels available. At Level 5 point, a global bounty mission is posted to all characters on the server instructing them to hunt down and kill the character. Players who successfully complete the bounty mission for a Level 5 Criminal will find a Klaus & Werner ATT4 Energy rifle waiting for them in their bedroom on Port Olisar. Courtesy of Crusader Industries. Each Criminal level adds 30 seconds of “jail time” to your respawn. When a Criminal is killed, they will be locked into their spawn-bedroom for the duration of their penalty time. Players who die in Crusader with at least 1 level of Wanted Criminal, will respawn in a medium Outlaw loadout. Those who die with Level 4 will be respawn in a different Outlaw loadout. When a Level 5 Criminal is killed, they are removed from the server. This functionality is for the purposes of testing of the system, as consequences within current game systems is limited. When a Level 5 Criminal is killed, they are removed from the server. This functionality is for the purposes of testing of the system, as consequences within current game systems is limited. There are only two ways to reduce your Criminal level. Waiting 10 minutes without committing a crime will naturally reduce the level by 1. There is a console in Security Post Kareah that you can “hack”. Each hack you initiate and complete drops your wanted level by 1. However, each hack takes 1 minutes to complete, and other criminals can interrupt your hack by initiating their own. Hostility System Pirates and Crusader Security now recognize potential friends and foes. Pirates will spawn to protect disabled Comm Arrays from non-Criminals. Crusader Security will spawn to protect active Comm Arrays from Criminals. Both will become much more aggressive toward anyone who takes action toward them. When a character initiates combat with another character, the aggressor is flagged as “hostile” to the defender. Defenders do not receive a penalty or a Wanted Criminal level for killing a player that initiated combat in Monitored Space. Party System Revamp This encompasses a wide range of quality-of-life improvements, updates and fixes to the party system in Star Citizen. When a party is formed and a member attempts to join an instance for the first time, the matchmaking system will automatically look for a server with the “Best Fit” for the party size. Once a party member has entered an instance, the elevator UI (Hangar and Main Menu) will show those instances with a party member inside on top. Followed by instances that have contacts. Matchmaking system now takes into account the number of players in a party when selecting a server. The Matchmaking will ‘reserve’ slots on the server for the rest of your party for two minutes, to allow them time to select the instance and zone in. The party leadership will now automatically migrate to another player, if the leader goes offline. If a party member goes offline, then comes back online, the Party UI is properly restored in the Contacts list (F11). Players that go offline will remain in the party for 10 minutes, before being timed out of the party. The party will disband if all party members are offline for 5+ minutes. Party Leaders can now kick any offline members. Social System “Full” instances with contacts in them will now go to the bottom of the list of instances in the elevator screen. AR view has a new seamless overlay to prevent it from interfering with normal gameplay. It will still provide the name of characters and items. AR view is now “On” by default in all zones. You can disable it by pressing “F10”, but it will re-enable on zoning. Physical EVA Physical EVA has been re-enabled for 2.2.0, after extensive fixing and tweaks on our end. has been re-enabled for 2.2.0, after extensive fixing and tweaks on our end. Holding down the “Shift” key + a directional key while in EVA will now provide a boost of speed. The Aegis Sabre is now flight-ready and owners of this ship can access it in Arena Commander and Crusader. The Xi’an Khartu-Al is now available and owners of this fine ship can now view it in the Hangar. We have been making a number of changes to the movement behavior of manned turrets, as we are aware that they haven’t been behaving in a fluid or intuitive manner. This is still very much work in-progress. SCM and Cruise speeds have been re-balanced across the board for all ships. SCM speeds have been increased for the Retaliator, Gladius, Freelancer, Gladiator, Vanguard Warden, F7A Hornet, F7C Hornet, F7C-S Ghost, F7C-R Tracker, Mustangs (all), Vanduul Glaive, P-52 Merlin, Vanduul Scythe, M50 Interceptor and 350r. SCM speeds have been decreased for the Aurora (All), Cutlass Black, Avenger (All), F7C-M Super Hornet, 325a, 315p and 300i. Cruise speeds have been increased for the Aurora LN, Aurora CL, Aurora LX, 325a, 315p, 350r. Cruise speeds have been decreased for the Constellation Andromeda, Freelancer, Gladiator, Aurora ES, Aurora MR, Cutlass Black, Avenger (All), Vanguard Warden, Hornet (All), Mustang (all), Vanduul Glaive, 300i, P-52 Merlin, Vanduul Scythe, Gladius and M50 Interceptor. and Cruise speeds have been re-balanced across the board for all ships. Components Ship Component Update. We have begun a large update to our existing Ship component system. This is largely at a back-end level – implementing a new component class system, naming conventions and other needed functionality, as well as retrofitting all existing ships to be compatible. These changes will allow us to implement a greater range of modular internal ship components. Additionally, this allows components to interact with one another in a more direct and less “handwavium” simulation of a ships internal systems, setting the foundation for greater player interaction and future game play mechanics. These changes should not affect the performance of ships in any significant way at this point compared to 2.1, unless noted otherwise. However it is important to emphasize that this is very much a work-in-progress. A new component class – Coolers – has been added to the Holotable. Coolers are used to dissipate the active heat built up from other components. At this point, they primarily act to help cool weapon systems. All ships have been retrofitted with generic coolers to provide the same level of “cooldown” time they experienced before. Two new coolers have been implemented. The Wen/Cassel Endo and J-Span Cryo-Star, both size 1 class. These can be mounted on all variants of the following ships: Avenge, Aurora, Mustang, 300 Series, Hornet, Gladiator, Gladius, M50, P-52 Merlin. The J-Span Cryo-Star cooler will be awarded to all backers who pledged before the $56 million goal. Decreased heat per shot of the Mantis GT-220, and increased heat pool. Shield recharge rates on ships have been adjusted to help balance ships following the component revamp. First Person: We have made extensive improvements to first-person animations, specifically for FPS . These include: Added better transitional animations from “Look” to “Aim” poses. Added improved animations for when a weapon is in a “lowered” state, both while standing and while in crouch. Fixed an issue where characters would be unable to aim-down-sight during certain “transitional” animations. Added FPS “cover” animations, for exiting and entering aim-down-sights from cover while holding a weapon. Fixed some animation issues, where the reload animations would not play if the character was when reloading from aim-down-sights. Adjusted the “sway” of characters while running with a stocked rifle (P4-AR). Fixed an issue where players could “look down” while their character is prone, holding a weapon, with something solid in the way. This fixes a problem where characters could balance in the air on the front muzzle of their gun. Polished transitional animations when a character goes from prone movement, back into Idle. Animations have been added to support weapons being fired while prone, and while moving-in-prone. Added transitional animations for moving from low cover to high cover with a stocked weapon. Removed much of the helmet and HUD bob that occurred in first-person camera mode. Fixed an issue where lying prone in a tight or enclosed area caused characters to bounce back and forth off the collision. Fixed an issue where the P4-AR was not being held correctly when the character was in zero-G. . These include: Tweaked the look-pose of characters when in first person view, such that users can now see the feet of their character (rather than their chest) when looking down. The Gemini LH-86 Combustion Pistol is now available on Crusader for players who have purchased this gun. You can find it inside of your “spawn” bedroom when you first load into Crusader. The Klaus & Werner ATT4 energy rifle is now available on Crusader! It is awarded to players who complete certain scenarios of the Covalex Private Investigator mission, or on killing a Level 5 Wanted Criminal. Players on Crusader will now have a radar HUD on their visor while on foot. This radar will display the location of any nearby player characters that are also on foot. (They’re coming out of the walls!) on their visor while on foot. We have implemented a new Crash Handler to our game client with 2.2. Now when the game client crashes, a pop-window will appear asking you if you would like to report the crash to us. The handler submission will include game logs from the client and DxDiag information on the system. This will allow us to rapidly gather data on game client crashes that are occurring in our PTU and Live environments, while also vastly simplifying the process for players to report crashes to us. Updates and Fixes Star Systems: ArcCorp, Area 18 Fixed an issue where props and items in Cubby Blast, AstroArmada and Medical Unit were missing detail levels. Fixed an issue where the Cubby Blast store front marquee had props clipping into and through it. Fixed an issue where puddles in ArcCorp would disappear when standing over or near them. Fixed an issue where players could trap other characters by pushing them down the side bar of G~Loc. Fixed an issue where characters could fall out of the world by running against the railings outside of Dumper’s Depot. Fixed an issue where AstroArmada had gaps between the ceiling and walls that could allow outside light in. Fixed a lighting issue in and around the shelving in Cubby Blast. Fixed an issue with a bright light flickering on and off outside of AstroArmada. Fixed an issue where the ArcCorp pavilion would be visible from inside the Medical Unit at certain angles. Fixed an issue where light fixtures would pop in and out of view inside Dumper’s Depot. Crusader Fixed an issue where characters would get flung into space after touching ship debris. Fixed an issue where characters would occasionally get propelled through space with extreme force after colliding with walls and other rigid objects. Fixed an issue where the players HUD visor would re-initialize several times after the character has gotten out of bed. visor would re-initialize several times after the character has gotten out of bed. Fixed an issue where the Salvage encounters around Yela would spawn very, very rarely. Fixed an issue where players were not removed from Crusader after 5+ minutes of idle. Crusader, Port Olisar Fixed a typo on Port Olisar on the “Atmospheric Data” screen panel. Fixed an issue where characters would become permanently stuck in the ship spawn menu if they activated the terminal and MobiGlas at the same time. Fixed an issue where the Port Olisar airlocks would get stuck permanently cycling. Ship computers now “warn” when you enter an Armistice zone and can no longer open fire freely, and “notify” when you leave the zone. Fixed an issue where the second player to enter the proximity of the Comm Array would get redirected to the Asteroid Field instead of to Tessa at the research outpost. Fixed an issue where the decals on platform “6” and “5” on Strut B were not in the right place. Fixed an issue where ships were not landing in the correct state after being summoned to a platform at Port Olisar. This caused characters to sometimes play the incorrect (zero-g) animations while entering the ship. Fixed an issue where ships would land on Port Olisar too hard and take damage as a result. Crusader, Cry-Astro Fixed an issue where Cry-Astro refueling station would not refuel a ship, if it was the second ship a character had brought to be refueled. Fixed several issues with the Cry-Astro landing points. Fixed an issue where the repair drones at Cry-Astro would occasionally destroy the ship and kill the pilot instead of fixing the ship. Fixed several issues that would cause Cry-Astro repair systems to fail when repairing ship damage. Hangar Fixed an extraneous non-functioning scroll bar that would remain floating on the screen after using the Holotable. Fixed an issue where shield hardpoints were not displaying on the Holotable. Fixed an issue where the floor lamps in Selfland Hangar had a pixelated affect around them. Fixed an issue where “Manned” turrets did not have an “attachment” point in the Holotable, so weapons could not be added or removed to the turrets. Fixed an issue with the liquor cabinet would drop in and out of view for a player, depending on players distance from the cabinet. The spawn position for characters inside of the VFG Industrial Hangar has been moved underneath the platform so that it parallels all other Hangars. Industrial Hangar has been moved underneath the platform so that it parallels all other Hangars. Fixed an issue where the Starfarer Model in the hangar had tiny “Replace Me” textures. The Space Crab, Thorshu Grey, lives once more! Million Mile High Club Fixed an issue with texture conflicts appearing around the club bar. Fixed an issue where players would encounter a continuous loading screen when leaving MMHC and going to ArcCorp. and going to ArcCorp. Fixed an issue where the Vindel Cleaner fish were using a swim animation instead of a “suckerfish” fish tank animation that should keep it stuck to the fish tank glass. Fixed an issue where the wall art behind the MMHC bar did not fully wrap around the furthest left wall corner. bar did not fully wrap around the furthest left wall corner. Fixed an issue where the couch and stools in the back of MMHC would snap between detail levels (pop) instead of transition, depending on the player distance. would snap between detail levels (pop) instead of transition, depending on the player distance. Fixed an issue where a portion of the wall above the MMHC bar would disappear at certain camera angles. Game Systems: Arena Commander Fixed an issue where the NPC s Vixen and Warlord in Drone Sim, Vanduul Swarm were missing dialog. s Vixen and Warlord in Drone Sim, Vanduul Swarm were missing dialog. Fixed an issue where the text on the “Invite to Match” button in the Lobby will say “actionResult” instead of “Invitation Sent”. Fixed an issue where ships would sometimes stop responding if a second input is entered, before the first input is released. Physical EVA Fixed an issue where inversion controls on the mouse or gamepad was not being recognized by Physical EVA . . Fixed an issue with physical EVA , where dropping from zero-g to gravity caused your character items to lag behind in midair. , where dropping from zero-g to gravity caused your character items to lag behind in midair. Fixed a bug with physical EVA , where characters would sometimes be propelled very rapidly through space when transitioning from zero-g to gravity. , where characters would sometimes be propelled very rapidly through space when transitioning from zero-g to gravity. Fixed an issue where EVA ’ing into the back of a Freelancer would leave the character lying on the floor of the cargo bay. ’ing into the back of a Freelancer would leave the character lying on the floor of the cargo bay. Fixed some issues where Physical EVA would overreact to player input for both velocity-movement and rotation. would overreact to player input for both velocity-movement and rotation. Added improved VFX for the EVA jet packs. Quantum Travel Fixed an issue where weapons and missiles could be fired while QT was active. Fixed an issue where ships could initiate Quantum Travel while landed at Cry-Astro. Fixed an issue where passengers in a non-multicrew ship were being ejected when ship went into quantum travel. Fixed an issue where Quantum Travel targets where obstructed for no reason, for the Gladius and Hornet. Social Module We have fixed an issue where deleting the “filter” text in the Contacts window would sometimes close the Contacts Window. Fixed an issue where mobiGlas couldn’t be shut down when inside a single-seat cockpit. Fixed an issue where the default keybinding (capslock) did not initiate “RP walk” slow speed. Fixed an issue where users were not able to add contacts while in a lobby. Fixed an issue where the mobiGlas overlay would overlap with both the contacts and chat window, without closing either conflicting UI window. Activating mobiGlas will now correctly close the contacts and/or chat window if they are open. Fixed an issue where pressing backspace on the mobiGlas main menu would dismiss the screen, but the character would still have mobiGlas open on their arm. Fixed an issue where AR mode would show a 5.56mm magazine on the hip of all players in Crusader when active. Fixed an issue where the mobiGlas Scheduler could not be opened until another app had been opened and closed. Tutorial Fixed an issue where Gilly would wiggle, wobble, and eventually disappear out of sight during Chapter 1. Fixed an issue where ships weapon fire could sometimes be drastically offset from weapons when ship is in flight. Fixed several issues with camera zoom in/zoom out when exiting a turret. Individual Ships 300 (All) Fixed an issue where the ladders on the 300 series ships were not retracting when the doors closed for takeoff. 315p Fixed an issue where the Origin 315p thrusters were not visible. 350r Fixed an issue where the Origin 350r was missing its main thrusters in both Hangar and AC. Fixed an issue where the countermeasure launchers on the 350r were misaligned. Avenger Warlock Added a EMP weapon icon to the HUD of the ship. Constellation Andromeda Fixed an issue where the lower right nacelle on the Constellation Andromeda would move in the wrong direction when detached. Fixed an issue where the Constellation Andromeda would often lack interior collision and characters could clip through the rear cargo hold and hull. Fixed an issue where the Constellation Andromeda would not self-destruct. Audio for the Constellations missile racks has been added. Cutlass Black Updated the detail levels for various “damaged” states of the Cutlass Black, specifically for the nose, body and tail sections. Fixed an issue where the pilot would be stuck in their seat if the copilot exited their seat in the Cutlass first. Fixed an issue where the main thrusters of the Cutlass would continue to emit particle effects after having been destroyed. Freelancer Fixed an issue where the gunner hands did not correctly grip the turret controls in the Freelancer. Graphical detail levels for damage and destruction states have been added. Fixed an issue where the Freelancer turret could not be fired. Fixed an issue where the Freelancer turret seat had no HUD . Fixed an issue where the Freelancer bed could not be exited while the ship was in flight. Gladiator Fixed an issue where animations for entering the pilot and gunner seats were offset from the ship seats. Fixed an issue where the pilot hands did not correctly grip the controls after loading into a multiplayer AC match. Gladius Fixed an issue where the ship-lights on the Gladius would not toggle on or off. Fixed an issue where the Gladius countermeasures would not fire in Arena Commander or Tutorial. Updated the detail levels for the Gladius for better transitioning from high to low details with distance or graphical settings. Fixed an issue where the pilot of a Gladius would occasionally hear “Landing Approved” or “Landing Complete” when bordering the ship. M50 Fixed an issue where there was no animation present for the M50 landing gear being deployed or retracted. P-52 Merlin Updated the detail levels for the Merlin P-52 for better transitioning from high to low details with distance or graphical settings. Retaliator Fixed an issue where the Aegis Retaliator could not self-destruct and no HUD message would appear. Fixed an issue where there was a red “Replace Me” texture ball at the top of the Retaliator ladder, behind the cockpit. Fixed an issue where pilot animations for the Retaliator were switched when “yawing” or rolling. Fixed an issue where the Retaliator would sometimes be unable to take off after being repaired at a Cry-Astro station. Fixed an issue where the automatic doors in the Retaliator wouldn’t register correctly if a character approached the doors several times in succession. Fixed an issue where the audio for the Retaliator elevator was switched. Playing the “lowering” sound while “raising” and visa-versa. Fixed an issue where the Retaliator turrets could very easily fire into the hull of the ship. Fixed an issue where the Retaliator interior would retain a “damaged” appearance even after being repaired. Sabre Fixed an issue where the AEGIS Sabre had visible gaps in the nose and main body of the ship. Vanduul Scythe Fixed an issue where the Vanduul Scythe had no or missing HUD when in Quantum Travel mode. Fixed an issue where the Vanduul Scythe was missing weapon firing animations. Vanguard Warden The Vanguard Warden interior details and thruster VFX have received tweaks. Interior damage state have been implemented. Fixed an issue where the Vanguard could not self-destruct and no HUD message would appear. Fixed an issue where the pilot hand animations for the Vanguard flight stick were reversed. Fixed an issue where the Vanguard pilot would sometimes respawn with eyes visible in front of the camera. Fixed an issue where the Vanguard would spawn too far back on some of the Port Olisar landing pads. Fixed an issue where the player could clip through the stairs leading to the pilot chair. Components We fixed a bug with ship weapons that was causing the actual weapon damage dealt in-game to be extremely inconsistent shot-to-shot, and causing weapons to receive unintended multipliers in certain situations. As a result, ships in 2.2 may experience very different performance in combat. We are going to be monitoring this closely and will make adjustments as needed. We have started a VFX pass on ship thrusters across all ship families. This is not yet complete, but you may notice small visual changes here and there. pass on ship thrusters across all ship families. This is not yet complete, but you may notice small visual changes here and there. The thrusters for many ship families have received a pass to update their level of detail. Correct audio has been added for the Revenant Ballistic Gatling Gun. Added audio cue for when a character picks up a weapon. The overheat rate for Tarantula GT-870 and Tarantula GT-870 MK3 has been increased. Lowered fired rate and range of the Tarantula GT-870 MK3. First Person: Added additional detail levels for Marine and Outlaw loadouts. Fixed an issue where clients would desync and see other characters stuck in a looping animation instead of idle. Fixed an issue where characters would draw their weapon automatically on exiting the pilot seat in Crusader. Fixed an issue where characters could be teleported to map origin after picking up a dropped FPS weapon. P4-AR Fixed an issue where swapping from the P4-AR to the Arclight Pistol while reloading would cause the rifle magazine to clip through the pistol. Fixed an issue where the rear of the P4-AR rifle had extreme “blur” when aiming-down-sights. Fixed an issue where swapping from the pistol to an empty P4-AR would cause your character to reload an invisible gun. The P4-AR will now correctly “dry-fire” when out of ammo, instead of doing a magazine check. Fixed an issue where the targeting reticle for the P4-AR was missing when aiming from the hip. User Interface: Fixed an issue where an empty “Ship Selection” drop down would appear on the tutorial lobby. Fixed an issue where pressing backspace in the chat menu would cause the Crusader helmet HUD to re-initialize and disappear. to re-initialize and disappear. Fixed an issue where HOTAS users would find their ships going in reverse when in landing mode despite being at 0 throttle and zero-point on the joystick. Ship HUD Fixed an issue where the relative velocity indicator on ship HUD s would sometimes drop down to the lower corner of the screen and get stuck, whenever the ship strafed. s would sometimes drop down to the lower corner of the screen and get stuck, whenever the ship strafed. Fixed an issue where the ship HUD could be interacted with accidentally, outside of interactive mode. could be interacted with accidentally, outside of interactive mode. We made several fixes to ships with multi-function displays, to address visual issues and readability. Fixed an issue where ship HUD s would sometimes showed certain laser-type weapons as having ammo. s would sometimes showed certain laser-type weapons as having ammo. Fixed an issue where the “Target Status” hologram in the ship HUD were not updating to reflect the targets current damage. Keybindings Fixed an issue where some FPS controls could not be rebound in the keybindings menu. controls could not be rebound in the keybindings menu. We have updated the default profile mapping for the Saitek X-55 to support automatic landing zones, or strafing when on a manual landing. Crashes Fixed a client crash when entering the Hangar. Fixed a client crash in Arena Commander. Fixes many client crashes involved with loading into Crusader or during normal game-play. Fixed several dedicated server crashes. Fixed an issue where computers with certain quad-core CPU s were crashing to desktop if a multicrew ship loaded in. s were crashing to desktop if a multicrew ship loaded in. Fixed a crash that would occur when connecting to “Capture the Core” with a Mustang Alpha. Fixed a client crash that would sometimes occur when quantum traveling. Fixed a crash that would occur when exiting the game near the AI. Fixed an issue where the dedicated game server instances would sometimes get stuck cycling in a “accepting more players” state despite being full. Optimizations |
Image caption Mr Trichet sees more interest-rate increases ahead despite the turbulent European economy The European Central Bank (ECB) has signalled that it will raise interest rates next month, from 1.25%. Earlier on Thursday, the ECB kept rates unchanged for the second month in a row, after increasing them in April for the first time in almost two years. The central bank wants to raise rates again in July to curb inflation in some of the eurozone's 17 member states. But it has to balance that against the need to leave rates low to boost growth in nations such as Greece and Portugal. In his press conference, ECB president Jean-Claude Trichet pledged to exert "strong vigilance" on inflation, a signal to the markets that rates will be raised at the next meeting. "I would say... that it means that we are in a mode where there might be in the next meeting an increase of rates," he said. "But we are never pre-committed," he added. However, Mr Trichet added that since the ECB's May meeting there has been "continued upward pressure on overall inflation mainly owing to commodity and energy prices". Inflation in the eurozone was 2.7% in May. The ECB increased its forecast on inflation for 2011 to 2.6% from its previous prediction of 2.3%. The bank also increased its economic growth forecast for 2011 to 1.9% from 1.7%. "The most recent data confirm the positive underlying momentum of economic activity in the euro area," Mr Trichet said. A July move may prove to be the last Jonathan Loynes, Capital Economics UK interest rates remain at 0.5% The euro fell 0.6% to $1.44880 against the US dollar. The eurozone economy remains fragile with some countries grappling with high unemployment, huge debts and government spending cuts. 'Last' move? In May, the European Union approved a 78bn euro (£68bn; $110bn) bail-out for Portugal, which comes after the Irish Republic and Greece also had to be bailed out. "If we are right in expecting growth to slow further in the coming months, both in the periphery and the core, then a July move may prove to be the last," said Jonathan Loynes, chief European economist at Capital Economics. Markets have remained weak over fears that Greece's debts will still have to be restructured, a measure that the central bank opposes. Forcing Greek investors to take losses on their debt would be considered a credit default by ratings agencies, meaning the ECB could not accept Greek bonds as collateral. Mr Trichet reiterated that he opposed any restructuring of Greek debt that were not purely voluntary and created a "credit event". "We are not in favour of restructuring," Mr Trichet said. "We exclude all concepts which would not be purely voluntary, without any elements of compulsion." New president The ECB's governing council also approved the leading candidate to succeed Mr Trichet as head of the ECB. The central bank said it had "no objections" to the candidacy of Mario Draghi, the head of the Bank of Italy. Mr Draghi is a "person of recognised standing and professional experience in monetary or banking matters," the governing council said in a statement. He is the only declared candidate to succeed Mr Trichet, whose term ends in October. |
Solar 3D Looks to Integrate 3-D Solar Cells into Roof Tiles March 14th, 2012 by Zachary Shahan Solar3D announced this week that “it will conduct a study of the economics and benefits of integrated Solar3D cells directly into roof tiles.” Solar 3D is a three-dimensional solar cell technology company we’ve written about a few times here on CleanTechnica. It’s been working on preparing “super-efficient” 3-D solar cells for market and, in an analytical test, achieved a new silicon solar cell efficiency record earlier this year. (Note that it isn’t connected to MIT’s 3D solar panel project.) Now, Solar 3D thinks it’s found another niche to focus on — solar roofing tiles. “We believe that over the next decade, rooftop PV applications—whether applied or embedded—will be among fastest growing of all solar market segments,” said Jim Nelson, President and CEO of Solar3D. “The superior efficiency of our 3-dimensional solar cell is ideal for the space-constrained nature of a roof top. Additionally, because the roof tile is placed in a fixed orientation, the angle of the light being absorbed is constantly changing—which greatly diminishes the efficiency of sunlight conversion by the conventional solar cells. The Solar3D cell’s wide angle collection feature is unique in its ability to dramatically reduce the loss of efficiency resulting from the changing angle of the sunlight.” Note that Dow has been working on solar shingles (essentially the same thing) for years, and Solarcentury, in Europe, is mass marketing solar tiles. But Solar 3D may very well have an advantage with its special technology. Solar3D’s 3-D Solar Cell Advantages “In theory, the super-efficient solar cell will allow space limited rooftops to provide more power. Also, the wide-angle collection design of the new solar cell appears to be well suited for installations with a fixed orientation, because of the ever-changing relative position of the sun,” a news release this week stated. Solar 3D’s Nelson added: “The need for wide angle collection of light should be apparent to any person or organization that intends to install a solar power system. BIPV applications are a good example of such compelling products. By increasing the power output per tile using Solar3D cells, we can help companies like Redwood Renewables offer unique PV-embedded roof tiles to the housing and construction industry. Any application where direct tracking of the sun is difficult, whether it is portable or fixed, will have increased power using our solar cells.” Tom Faust, President of Redwood Renewables, commented: “One of the biggest challenges in PV integrated roof tiles is low power output from conventional cells. Buildings using high efficiency PV roof tiles will not only generate electricity for immediate use, but may even help pay the mortgage after a short payback period.” We’ll see. Solar 3D “intends to collaborate with Redwood Renewables, a solar roofing company, on this study to provide a first look at how the Solar3D silicon-based technology will perform in Building Integrated Photovoltaic (BIPV) applications.” My thoughts: I know some are very critical of solar shingles/tiles. But I think there will very well be a market for them, even if they don’t take over or dominate the home solar market — some people with money will prefer them aesthetically. Additionally, if companies like 3D solar can really offer a product that is competitive with traditional solar panel companies by partnering with roofing companies, they may do even better. I’m not sure yet how Solar3D’s costs will compare with its product’s projected high-efficiency. But, at this point, I certainly wouldn’t rule it out as a contender in this market. Source: Solar 3D |
I’m told that the Walt Disney Co is currently attempting to trademark the character name “Princess Aurora” for all media: stage, sound, film, TV, video, Internet, photographs, news. In short, everything except literature. The name comes from the 1697 Charles Perrault fairy tale and Aurora is the Princess’s daughter (and thus a princess herself). The first use of “Princess Aurora” was in the 1890 Tchaikovsky ballet “The Sleeping Beauty,” which Disney turned into the 1959 animated film. It has been used continuously since then in the ballet as the title character’s name. The problem is that, if the Disney Company is successful, it will effectively control the legal right to all future performances of the ballet. The move also could sink any movie about the ballet or that uses a scene of the ballet in another movie. “This would be like a film studio trademarking the character name “Ebenezer Scrooge” for all media (no one has) and then no one could perform “A Christmas Carol” on a stage, TV, in a film, radio, etc without first securing the right to use the name from the trademark owner,” a critic emails me. Not surprisingly, Disney is also seeking to trademark “Princess Aurora” for products. Therefore, a campaign has emerged to complain to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office if people feel this trademarking of a pre-existing character name should not be allowed. |
The Isles of Los Angeles 2089: Humanity is addicted to technology, a population of unemployed leisure seekers blissfully distracted from toxic contamination, who borrow, steal, and kill to buy their next digital fix. Getting a virtual buzz is the only thing left to live for. It’s the biggest industry, the only industry, the drug everyone needs, and gangsters run it all. And who do these gangsters turn to when they need their rule enforced? Constables Led Dent and Debbie Decay. This duo is about to be given a job that will force them out of the familiar squalor of Los Angeles to take down the last tech-less country on Earth: The Garden Nation of Tokyo. Bestselling writer RICK REMENDER (BLACK SCIENCE, DEADLY CLASS) and superstar art team SEAN MURPHY (CHRONONAUTS, Punk Rock Jesus) and MATT HOLLINGSWORTH (WYTCHES, Hawkeye) examine our growing addiction to technology while thirsting for a nature we continue to destroy. |
Nevada’s Republican Governor Brian Sandoval not only issued a scathing rebuke of the Graham-Cassidy plan to repeal Obamacare, but criticized his state’s Republican Senator, Dean Heller, a co-sponsor of the bill, for deliberately misleading Nevadans about the legislation. Whereas Sen. Heller touted the “flexibility” of the bill, for reallocating federal dollars from the ACA in the form of block grants to the states, Gov. Sandoval blasted his Republican colleague for what he calls a “false choice.” “Flexibility with reduced funding is a false choice,” Sandoval said in a statement to The Nevada Independent. “I will not pit seniors, children, families, the mentally ill, the critically ill, hospitals, care providers, or any other Nevadan against each other because of cuts to Nevada’s healthcare delivery system proposed by the Graham-Cassidy amendment.” Per an analysis of the bill by the state, Nevada would lose between $600 million and $2 billion in federal funding by 2026 should the legislation pass. “I have said many times before that I will not support legislation that may result in a cost shift to the State or result in Nevadans losing insurance coverage,” Sandoval said. “I cannot in good faith support the Graham-Cassidy amendment.” As Republicans continue to try to jam their unscored and unvetted bill through Congress with no bipartisan support, they are undoubtedly going to reach the same result as they did the last time they took this back-door approach. And the Republicans who are so blatantly putting party over country will be remembered. Add your name to millions demanding Congress take action on the President’s crimes. IMPEACH TRUMP & PENCE! |
Screenshot of Chairman Tom Wheeler from the FCC's amusingly terrible livestream of today's proceedings. The Federal Communications Commission's top officials all say the agency is committed to the open web. The only problem is, they can't agree on how, when, or even if the FCC should implement new regulations protecting net neutrality. Today, Chairman Tom Wheeler was joined by the FCC's four commissioners to vote on newly proposed rules for internet regulation. The group split 3-2 along party lines in favor of advancing the proposed rules—not implementing them—which now will be subject to 120 days of commentary. The end result has the potential to dramatically reshape the way the internet works, depending on whether or not the rules are able to firmly stem the rising tide of paid traffic prioritization and so-called internet fast lanes. "We start with an obvious premise: Protecting the open internet is important for consumers and economic growth," Wheeler said. "The speed and quality of a connection a consumer purchases must be guaranteed, independent of what content he or she is viewing." The proposed rule set advanced today essentially contains two tracks. The more ambitious of the two would reclassify broadband internet as a public utility, which has been championed by both open web advocates and the left side of the aisle. Such a reclassification would open up ISPs to far stricter regulation, including net neutrality guarantees. The second, more middle-of-the-road option is an attempt to revive the FCC's 2010 regulations, which the DC Court of Appeal's struck down in January in response to a Verizon lawsuit. That track will likely include provisions to allow prioritization of content—which could mean so-called "fast lanes," or other paid content delivery models—as long as such prioritization doesn't conflict with FCC rules against "commercially unreasonable" action. This has been expected for some time. It was previously discussed by the four commissioners during a (far less contentious) panel at CES regarding AT&T's controversial "sponsored data" plan, and has been the centerpiece of debate around new regulations. The big question is what "commercially unreasonable" actually means, as critics say the vague wording leaves room for small, less-visible anticompetitive actions from ISPs. Wheeler was emphatic that such regulation would not destroy net neutrality. "When content provided by a firm such as Netflix reaches a consumer's internet provider, it would be commercially unreasonable to charge the content provider again for capacity for which the user has already paid," Wheeler said. Those remarks reflect a vision similar to the Netflix-Comcast deal, which wasn't the end of net neutrality, but did signal a new era of wheeling and dealing for network access. "... the future of the internet is the future of everything." That type of model, in which more onus is placed on ISPs to guarantee the open web, was of concern to Commissioner Mignon Clyburn, a Democrat, who opened her remarks by saying that it became fully clear to her that the open web is of major concern to many Americans when she received a call from her mother asking about protections for net neutrality. It was the first time in her career that her mother had called about regulations. "As of January, we have no rules to prevent discrimination or blocking," she said. "Providers have publicly committed to keeping the status quo," Clyburn, who also supported the advancing of the proposed rules, said. "But for me the issue is whether or not we should let providers decide on their own whether or not the internet should be open, or whether we should instill rules to guarantee that, as we have for the last decade." That the future of the internet hangs in the balance is something all five FCC officials made clear in their remarks, a point underscored by two protesters that interrupted the proceedings on two separate occasions. The question now is how to protect it. And while Wheeler was able to add a pair of supporting votes to his own, none of the FCC commissioners seemed happy with the proposed regulations. "I support an open internet, but I would have done this differently," said Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel, who nonetheless supported advancing the proposed rules. "Before proceeding, I would have taken time to understand the future, because the future of the internet is the future of everything." Vine via Mashable Like Rosenworcel, Clyburn placed blame on Wheeler for rushing forward with proposed rules, ones that have been met with popular uproar. But she also noted that the rules are just that—proposed—and that they've already changed "significantly" at the direction of her office, and that with these rules now officially proposed, the period of public commentary can begin. Commissioner Ajit Pai, who joined fellow Republican Commissioner Michael O'Reilly in dissenting, said that the lack of public interaction in the process was most frustrating, and lamented the fact that the FCC, whose officials are not publicly elected, did not cede internet rulemaking to Congress. "The internet is the first thing humans have built that humans don't understand," he said, paraphrasing Google's Eric Schmidt. "If true, the public should be wary of five unelected officials deciding its future." Pai also said that the FCC had rushed into moving forward with proposed rules, and said that instead, the agency should have commissioned far more peer-reviewed economic and computer science studies into what potential effects new rules will have on the future of the web. In short, Pai suggested that the FCC isn't sure exactly what will happen if and when new rules are set in place. O'Reilly represents the most anti-regulatory view on the panel, and called previous net neutrality regulations "defective." O'Reilly said that content prioritization is "necessary for network management," saying emphatically that "prioritization is not a bad word." Wheeler pushed back against that viewpoint in his own remarks. "There is one internet. It must be fast, it must be robust, and it must be open," he said. "The speed and quality of a connection a consumer purchases much be guaranteed independent of what content he or she is viewing." The contentious hearing makes it obvious that there is serious tension within the FCC regarding net neutrality regulations, and it's clear that all of the agency's top officials have their own distinct opinions on how things should shake out moving forward. But officials did agree on one thing: The next 120 days will be filled with debate, and they all encouraged Americans, who have been extremely vocal so far, to continue to voice their opinions. "I've had hands-on experience on the value of an open internet," Wheeler said, referencing his time as a cable entrepreneur and venture capitalist. "I will not allow the national asset of an open internet to be compromised. I've got scars from when my companies were denied access in the pre-internet days," he said. "The consideration we're beginning today is not whether the internet will be open, but how and when we will have rules in place to ensure the open internet." |
Last night, President Obama made some pretty grand claims for the power of preschool: Every dollar we invest in high-quality early education can save more than seven dollars later on—by boosting graduation rates, reducing teen pregnancy, even reducing violent crime. In states that make it a priority to educate our youngest children, like Georgia or Oklahoma, studies show students grow up more likely to read and do math at grade level, graduate high school, hold a job, and form more stable families of their own The president is proposing a national preschool entitlement, focused on low- and middle-income families. (Though his actual preschool proposal is only slightly more detailed than what he mentioned in his speech.) If only we had some kind of large scale well-tracked pilot program that could give us some information about whether that is a good idea. Oh wait! We do! It's called Head Start, the $8 billion federal program catering to more than 1 million low-income kids. Better still, the federal government has done a huge study, tracking 5,000 kids and comparing them to kids who did not have access to Head Start. The findings are not impressive. A 2010 analysis of that group found that the cognitive, health, parenting, and social benefits of the program had vanished by first grade. And a 2012 look at the third grade outcomes was even less heartening, with no discernible academic gains and teachers reporting slightly more behavioral problems in the Head Start kids. Even if Georgia and Oklahoma have managed to formulate slightly more effective programs (Georgia is experimenting with a voucher-like system), there's still the larger evidence of the performance of American public schools overall in the last couple of decade. Spending is way, way up while academic results remain flat. The current performance of Head Start and public schools overall is not exactly making a compelling case that we should spend hundreds of billions more dollars to shovel kids into this system earlier. |
The large amounts of methane produced by cows are now a cause of concern and the subject of much scientific research. See more pictures of mammals © Photographer: Joe Gough | Agency: Dreamstime.com Agriculture is responsible for an estimated 14 percent of the world's greenhouse gases. A significant portion of these emissions come from methane, which, in terms of its contribution to global warming, is 23 times more powerful than carbon dioxide. The U.S. Food and Agriculture Organization says that agricultural methane output could increase by 60 percent by 2030 [Source: Times Online]. The world's 1.5 billion cows and billions of other grazing animals emit dozens of polluting gases, including lots of methane. Two-thirds of all ammonia comes from cows. Cows emit a massive amount of methane through belching, with a lesser amount through flatulence. Statistics vary regarding how much methane the average dairy cow expels. Some experts say 100 liters to 200 liters a day (or about 26 gallons to about 53 gallons), while others say it's up to 500 liters (about 132 gallons) a day. In any case, that's a lot of methane, an amount comparable to the pollution produced by a car in a day. To understand why cows produce methane, it's important to know a bit more about how they work. Cows, goats, sheep and several other animals belong to a class of animals called ruminants. Ruminants have four stomachs and digest their food in their stomachs instead of in their intestines, as humans do. Ruminants eat food, regurgitate it as cud and eat it again. The stomachs are filled with bacteria that aid in digestion, but also produce methane. With millions of ruminants in Britain, including 10 million cows, a strong push is underway to curb methane emissions there. Cows contribute 3 percent of Britain's overall greenhouse gas emissions and 25 to 30 percent of its methane. In New Zealand, where cattle and sheep farming are major industries, 34 percent of greenhouse gases come from livestock. A three-year study, begun in April 2007 by Welsh scientists, is examining if adding garlic to cow feed can reduce their methane production. The study is ongoing, but early results indicate that garlic cuts cow flatulence in half by attacking methane-producing microbes living in cows' stomachs [Source: BBC News]. The researchers are also looking to see if the addition of garlic affects the quality of the meat or milk produced and even if the animals get bad breath. Another study at the University of Wales, Aberystwyth, is tracking quantities of methane and nitrogen produced by sheep, which provide a good comparison model for cows because they have similar digestive systems, but are less unruly. The sheep in the study are living in plastic tunnels where their methane production is monitored across a variety of diets. Many other efforts are underway to reduce ruminant methane production, such as attempting to breed cows that live longer and have better digestive systems. At the University of Hohenheim in Germany, scientists created a pill to trap gas in a cow's rumen -- its first stomach -- and convert the methane into glucose. However, the pill requires a strict diet and structured feeding times, something that may not lend itself well to grazing. In 2003, the government of New Zealand proposed a flatulence tax, which was not adopted because of public protest. Other efforts look at the grazing lands being used by livestock farmers, which will be discussed in the next section. So we know that ruminants are producing enormous quantities of methane, but why? Humans produce gases daily, sometimes to their embarrassment, but nowhere near the extent of these animals. On the next page, we'll learn more about the source of the methane problem and some of the controversy behind it. |
game_changer Offline Activity: 57 Merit: 0 NewbieActivity: 57Merit: 0 I've compared Syscoin, Bitbay & Particl - Decentralized Markets Comparison Table November 03, 2017, 06:51:34 PM Last edit: November 03, 2017, 11:35:51 PM by game_changer #1 I did try and be as fair as possible to all 3 and apologize if I dont have all the tech they have developed but did give them the opportunity to tell me on all 3 slack groups and if the information isn't available on the websites how are investors suppose to know? Upon reflection of the table I can say I see a huge gap for growth with Bitbay. It has the most features and the cheapest by a long way and has better distribution. Im aware their marketing budget was stolen at the start so this could be the reason why its under the radar but I think I have found a highly undervalued coin. Im very interested in all 3 projects and looking forward to Particls first release, Syscoins mainnet release and Bitbays rolling peg implementation . From my understanding it will be a big competitor to Tether, but with daily gains of 1% to 3% depending on wallet owners voting. Not sure if the image will publish but if it is then it worked! lol http://i66.tinypic.com/j7vq1e.png I have spent a few days finding out about decentralized stores and markets as I see that been huge once Bitcoin hits the mainstream. I know of 3 and invested 5BTC into each. I first invested in Bay last year and recently bought into Syscoin & Particl. Interest got the better of me about what and how they work so spent some on each of these coins slack groups. All 3 groups were helpful in answering my questions . I spend hours on their websites, reading the whitepapers and forums looking at what each offer and have created and this is the graph have created.I did try and be as fair as possible to all 3 and apologize if I dont have all the tech they have developed but did give them the opportunity to tell me on all 3 slack groups and if the information isn't available on the websites how are investors suppose to know?Upon reflection of the table I can say I see a huge gap for growth with Bitbay. It has the most features and the cheapest by a long way and has better distribution. Im aware their marketing budget was stolen at the start so this could be the reason why its under the radar but I think I have found a highly undervalued coin. Im very interested in all 3 projects and looking forward to Particls first release, Syscoins mainnet release and Bitbays rolling peg implementation . From my understanding it will be a big competitor to Tether, but with daily gains of 1% to 3% depending on wallet owners voting.Not sure if the image will publish but if it is then it worked! lol |
The Most Wired Survey and Benchmarking study, conducted annually by Hospitals and Health Networks, has named the "100 Most Wired Hospitals and Health Systems" for 2009. The survey measured the use of information technology at 1,314 hospitals for quality, customer service, public health and safety, business processes and workforce issues. The magazine also released lists of the "25 Most Improved," the "25 Most Wireless" and the "25 Most Wired - Small and Rural" hospitals. The winning hospitals are listed by state below. Alaska Most Improved : Central Peninsula General Hospital Alabama Small & Rural : Cullman Regional Medical Center Most Improved: Springhill Medical Center Most Improved: Washington County Hospital and Nursing Home Arkansas Most Wired: UAMS Medical Center California Most Wired: Naval Hospital Most Improved: Rady Children's Hospital and Health Center Most Wired: Sharp Healthcare Most Wireless/Most Wired: University of California San Diego Medical Center Most Wired: Veterans Affairs Central California Health Care System Colorado Most Wired: Denver Health Medical Center Most Wired: Poudre Valley Health System Connecticut Most Wireless/Most Wired: Greenwich Hospital Most Wireless/Most Wired: Hartford Hospital Most Improved: Norwalk Hospital Most Wireless/Most Wired: Yale New Haven Health System Wasington D.C. Most Wired: Veterans Affairs Medical Center Florida Most Wired:Baptist Health South Florida Most Wired: H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute Most Wired: Health First, Inc. Georgia Most Wired: Memorial Health Most Wired: Piedmont Fayette Hospital Most Wired: Piedmont Hospital Small & Rural: Piedmont Mountainside Hospital Most Improved: South Georgia Medical Center Idaho Most Wireless/Most Wired: Kootenai Medical Center Most Improved: Steele Memorial Medical Center Illinois Most Wired: Advocate Health Care Most Wireless/Most Wired: Central DuPage Hospital Most Improved: Katherine Shaw Bethea Hospital Most Wired: Loyola University Health System Most Improved: McDonough District Hospital Most Wireless/Most Wired: NorthShore University HealthSystem Most Wireless/Most Wired: Northwestern Memorial Hospital Most Wireless/Most Wired: Rush University Medical Center Small & Rural: Sarah Bush Lincoln Health Center Most Wired: University of Illinois Medical Center at Chicago Indiana Most Wireless/Most Wired: Clarian Health Most Wired: Community Health Network Small & Rural: Marion General Hospital Small & Rural: Reid Hospital and Health Care Services Most Wired: Richard L. Roudebush Veterans Affairs Medical Center (Continued on next page) |
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