text stringlengths 0 100k |
|---|
Despite Marvel pushing Invincible Iron Man as their flagship book in the All-New All-Different Marvel branding, All-New All-Different Avengers was the book that got the Free Comic Book Day treatment this year, well in advance of this first issue. Given the crowded stable of Avengers books hitting the market at the moment, this book is perhaps the most befitting of the Avengers name, given the roster of characters that make up the veteran Avengers. Team books can be hard to launch, especially when in-story it appears that no proper team of Avengers is even active. Which means it’s up to the writer to come up with a compelling reason for the team to unite, and for an eclectic group of heroes to start working together as a unit. In the recent launch of Uncanny Avengers, Gerry Duggan hit the ground running, with his Unity Squad already put together, despite the downright strange grouping of characters he has on the team. Here, Mark Waid sets out to put the team together through an unfolding adventure, which is part of what impacts the enjoyment of this particular issue. By the issue’s end, readers still don’t have an assembled squad of Avengers, as only three of the future members of the team participate in the main story, and not much actually happens at that. As the so-called “main” Avengers book, this title has more resting on its success than the other Avengers books in the line. This title is the true heir to the adjectiveless Avengers legacy, unlike New Avengers and Uncanny Avengers; it will feature longtime Avengers stalwarts Vision and Iron Man on the team, plus iterations of Captain America and Thor; it will promote newcomers Nova, Miles Morales and Ms. Marvel to the big-time; and it has to do the heavy lifting of setting up a post-Secret Wars world, eight months removed from its conclusion, without that very same conclusion having been published yet. The main focus of the A-story here is Sam Wilson, still getting used to being Captain America, and a chance encounter with Tony Stark, which in turn leads to a car ride by the old Stark Tower and subsequently to the big fight sequence of the issue. If that sounds like a simplistic plot from an old-school Marvel adventure, you wouldn’t be too far off the mark. Waid tries to be topical with how he handles Captain America, by having his race become an issue for the media covering the aftermath of a daring rescue, but it is not deftly handled, and instead hits with a loud thud (especially when compared to the excellent work Nick Spencer is doing on his own Sam Wilson, Captain America). The place-setting nature of the book reads clumsily, as Waid explains part of Tony’s new status quo, with regards to his wealth, or rather lack of it. It would feel less out of place if it felt like it jived at all with Tony’s characterization in his own book. The notion of having an inciting event which brings all the future Avengers together in one place to assemble is a strong concept, and one which has been a driving force for the Avengers for decades. When Brian Michael Bendis relaunched New Avengers over a decade ago, he had a breakout at the Raft be the incident that brought the Avengers together. So the concept of having a major incident do the same once more isn’t a bad one, but it can feel a little lazy, depending on how it’s executed. And in the lead story here, it feels quite lazy. Miles Morales’ inclusion still doesn’t make sense to me, no matter how many times I read his sequence over. He literally shows up out of nowhere, and although there’s a throwaway line about why he’s there, it still doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. The villain here is a Chitauri warrior who was most recently used in the last Nova series, which is an interesting choice to say the least. The evil business mogul who’s more than what he seems is familiar, which will at least create a sense of mystery (sound off below with your thoughts on who you think it might be, IF it’s a returning character and not a new one, with my money being on the former). The artwork by Adam Kubert is exciting and fast-paced, with cinematic page layouts. If I have a major criticism about the art, it’s that it’s not always the clearest in terms of the flow of action in a specific panel, or even from panel to panel. The opening sequence, however, is probably the best art of the story, as the artwork felt more rushed as the story progressed. The back-up story is what makes this issue more enjoyable, and saves it from being squarely in mediocre territory. However, as good as the back-up story is, it doesn’t feel like it’s a story meant for the first issue of a new Avengers book, as it instead reads like an excellent Ms. Marvel / Nova crossover issue, showing their first meeting. Mahmud Asrar brilliantly handles the art chores, with a clean and simple style which captures the youth and vitality of the two heroes. Waid’s use of alternating internal narration isn’t something new, as it was often used in Loeb’s Superman / Batman, not to mention Matt Fraction’s Sensational Spider-Man Annual #1 (recently covered by Dan & Mark in one of their Essentials episodes of the Amazing Spider-Talk podcast), but it’s still an excellent device to keep the action moving, and making these characters’ interaction snap, crackle and pop. The way in which they interact makes me very excited to see what else Mark Waid has up his sleeve, and also makes me breathe a sign of relief as he manages to nail these characters’ core personality traits. For a debut issue of a new team book, this issue does leave a lot to be desired, as we only see a handful of the team members even get together, and it may be difficult for the various characters to assemble in a way which feels organic and not hackneyed. The focus is on characterization this time around, compared with the last re-launch of the Avengers books as handled by Jonathan Hickman, who implemented complex plots and worked out from there. There’s a lot of potential here, but thus far that’s all it is, a promise of what this book COULD be, instead of a statement about the book that it IS. Listen to our podcast, the Ultimate Spin, to hear us discuss the issue. Pin 7 Shares All-New All-Different Avengers #1 – REVIEW Adam Chapman November 16, 2015 6 / 10 All-New All-Different Avengers #1 is a somewhat slow read, focusing on characterization over plot. The back-up story is the superior read, in terms of both story and art. November 16, 2015 |
104 SHARES Facebook Twitter Google Pinterest Digg Linkedin Reddit Stumbleupon Mail Print Delicious Buffer Tumblr Not many people think about exploring Western Australia (WA), or even think to include it in their plans when first visiting Oz. As the country’s largest state that covers a gigantic 2.5 million square km – equivalent to the size of Western Europe – it also makes it hard to know and plan exactly where to go in Western Australia, especially on a first visit. As the lesser-known region of Australia, that was exactly its draw for me. Visiting Western Australia was the chance to delve into the ‘other side’, home to some of Australia’s most iconic natural attractions and underrated cities. When I was invited to travel to Western Australia to add more stories to their ‘Just Another Day in WA’ platform, it was an instant yes. Alongside the neighbouring Northern Territory (which I went to after), it was one of the last two states of Australia (and the more remote ones at that) I had yet to visit. It takes just 18 hours from the UK to travel to Western Australia’s up-and-coming Capital of Perth, which is four hours less than the quickest flight to Sydney. That in itself is a reason to jump off here, aside from curiosity. So during September and October I ventured on a journey during the start of the Australian ‘winter’ of the tropical north, and it became a trip I can never forget. What attracted me most to Western Australia was the mix of burgeoning urban cool with untouched, wild, adventurous rural. Perth, as a landing point, is a city shedding its ‘boring’ reputation to become one full of hip coffee houses, craft beer breweries and an exploding food scene. It’s a gateway to a coastal stretch of 19 white sandy beaches and to the one million square metre expanse of the north-western frontier of canyons, wild rivers, national parks and ochre orange outback roads that lead to tiny aboriginal communities and some of the earth’s last remaining untouched wilderness areas. Outside of the capital are a million and one things to see in Western Australia and exploring Broome and the Kimberley was just a patch on what there is to uncover altogether. While there’s a lifetime of adventures to be had, here is a suggested destination overview on where to go in Western Australia – the main sights, city hubs and attractions as well as off-track adventure spots, which you can easily hop between within one-two weeks. Visit Perth – The Landing Point and Gateway Perth is the capital, the gateway and the likely first landing spot. It is also worthy of a few days of your time. It may have rained for the first few days of my induction to Australia’s ‘Sunniest City’ (so-called as it has more hours of sunshine than any other in the country) but that didn’t dampen the enthusiasm for what has come to being listed as one of the world’s ‘most livable’ cities. Not only do you have a ‘Sunset Coast’ of 19 beaches including the much-loved Cottesloe and Scarborough, the island getaway of Rottnest and one of world’s largest inner-city parks (the Kings Park and Botanic Garden), but Perth is constantly expanding its urban cool offering. Where to Go in Perth: You can kick back in the street-art laneways and coffee shop-lined streets of its go-to neighbourhoods, because one of the answers to the question of what to do in Western Australia outside of the wilderness is to hone in on its areas of growth and regeneration. In Perth these areas include Northbridge – the theatre and gallery filled area behind the Central Business District (CBD), full of international food hubs and a miniature Chinatown lined with dumpling stores – and in the younger, design hub of Leederville. ‘Leedo’ thrives on the artistic regeneration of its self-proclaimed “immigrant nostalgia architecture” built upon a melting pot of Italian, Chinese, Jewish, Greek and Macedonian heritage. There’s also the central Perth city State Buildings, whose former government holdings are now an ultra-swanky and fun hub of retail and dining offering from chocolate and coffee to Asian cuisine. The area of Fremantle has its own unique offering (see below). A wander in the very heart of Perth, where you are likely to want to visit the 2.6 billion dollar public space project of Elizabeth Quay, is not without understanding the city’s native beginnings and the stories of its true origins begin in this area. An afternoon spent with Walter from Go Cultural Tours – a descendant of several Aboriginal tribal clans of the southwest region of Western Australia – provided a first-hand Aboriginal perspective and insight into the Nyungar people, who are the traditional owners of this land (for over 50,000 years). Old hunting grounds, lakes and sacred sites are now the high-rise CBD, major hotels and beaches; roads and highways cover former tribal trials. Walter highlights how Perth today is trying to reconcile its dark history and modern growth with its social, spiritual, cultural and historical significance in consultation of new offerings and ceremonial activities. Don’t believe what you hear about Perth being ‘the boring side of Australia’. It knows it doesn’t live up to Melbourne and Sydney and it’s OK with that. It’s exudes its own vibe and I had so much fun digging that out, which is a part of the experience of Perth. It’s evolving, and if you don’t know where to go in Western Australia you will not be sorry you started here, even if by default of your flight path. Where to Stay in Perth: The Alex Hotel – a creative space right in the very heart of the city and in walking distance to the creative highlights and foodie hangouts. Where to Eat and Drink in Perth: The Boatshed. Where you can dine in a replica boatshed with views across the Swan River and the Perth Central Business District skyline. For the ultimate introduction to Perth’s evolving food scene, from the up and coming culinary hangouts and local kept secrets to the best ice cream in the city, head out on a crawl of the city’s coolest venues you wouldn’t otherwise find on your own with local foodie, Laura Moseley. Petition Kitchen in the State Buildings. Dine in an iconic landmark while sampling some of the best local produce from seafood to seasoned fresh vegetables. Our share plates were devoured quickly. Be sure to also check out the ‘Gin and Tonic on tap’ from the adjacent bar. Odyssea on City Beach. Watch the sunset across the Indian Ocean with a cocktail on the terrace before sampling the gourmet options of the modern-Australian menu. Go to Freemantle – The Hip Neighbourhood Highlight A once fledging neighbourhood on the Swan River with a 19th Century shipping heritage decided to repurpose all its old spaces and turn itself into a cosmopolitan historical port city. Fremantle, on-trend with mixing the charming Gold Rush era old with the bohemian attitude new, is the number one local highlight of downtown Perth. Where to Go in Fremantle: For me, Fremantle felt like a stand-alone city very separate from Perth (despite being an outer-borough 20km south) and a dedicated stay here means really being able to take in everything on offer in such a small space and live locally. A great introduction to the history, culture and quirky corners of the city is with local, Rusty Creighton from Two Feet & a Heartbeat. You’ll soon see that ‘Freo’ is one of THE places to go in Western Australia for urbanite cool – where you can dine in reformed docks and warehouses, sleep in boutique hotels set in former sea cargo crates and brunch, market stroll and listen to live music in heritage hideouts (the largest collection of such buildings in Western Australia). My two favourite staples of local living – craft beer and coffee – are pivotal to the social scene here. The craft beer scene in Fremantle has exploded, with pubs like Sail and Anchor and Monk Kitchen sitting opposite one another. The star of the show is undoubtedly the Little Creatures Brewery at the Fishing Boat Harbour, whose huge converted boat shed interior is pulsing with hop-loving locals sampling their hometown brews. No artistic hub is complete without the staple supply of coffee houses, a varying choice found neatly aligned on the aptly named ‘Cappuccino Strip’ (South Terrace – from Bannister Street to Fremantle Markets). It’s in Fremantle that I learnt of the local order – a ‘long mac topped up’ – allowing me to gain a true mark of acceptance as a Perth local. Where to Stay in Fremantle: Hougoumont Hotel Fremantle. A quirky ‘affordable luxury’ boutique hotel in the very centre of Fremantle. Named after the last convict ship that transported convicts to Australia and situated on Bannister Street, where those new arrivals began a new journey. Freemantle YHA Prison. A modern hostel set within the World Heritage-listed former Freemantle Prison built in the 1850’s. Where to Eat and Drink in Fremantle: The National Hotel. First a shop and then a bank before being turned into a hotel in 1886. After being partially destroyed by fire in 1975, it underwent significant restoration in 2013 and re-opened as a modern bar and restaurant space, retaining its hold as one of the most historically important and most loved buildings in Fremantle. Little Creatures Brewery. Because craft beer is at the heart of the city and this ‘open’ brewery with visible cellar door gives it an added touch of cool. The Attic. For a bohemian coffee space whose hip wooden interior and instagram’able breakfast and brunch menu perfectly sums up the Fremantle spirit. Day Trip to Rottnest Island – The Local Getaway Out of all the day trip options of things to do in Western Australia, choose Rottnest Island – a local getaway that’s just 19km off the coast of Perth. Especially since it’s just a short ferry ride from Fremantle Port (the shorter distance) and Perth’s Barrack Street Jetty. The 11km island is packed full of idyllic scenery including over 60 beaches and 20 bays concealing pristine coral reefs but its main attraction is its chief inhabitants… the Quokkas! What to Do on Rottnest Island: There are so many Quokkas on Rottnest Island that it becomes complete cuteness overload to be so close to a distinct animal species native only to Australia. The best thing is, Quokkas know how to work the camera and love being the centre of attention. The rite of traveller passage here is to find the perfect Quokka selfie friend. Car-free ‘Rotto’ (as it is affectionately known by locals) is best explored by bike, which we were able to hire easily as part of a combined ferry-bike hire ticket option, ready and waiting for you when you disembark. With clear blue skies, I also got the chance take a scenic Rottnest Air Taxi flight taking in Fremantle and Perth also, which really put into perspective how close the city coastline is to this gorgeous little island. Importantly, take time to visit the Rottnest Island museum, which can be found in the area with a cluster of bakeries, coffee shops and restaurants. The island’s past as former Aboriginal prison is sobering, and a reminder of the dark history of Western Australia and the rightful ownership and past of the lands we enjoy today and often take for granted. Rottnest was also used as a military defense system during WWII. How to Get to Rottnest Island: The Rottnest Express ferry service runs daily from Perth and Fremantle, and also offers guided tour packages. Where to Eat and Drink on Rottnest Island: Hotel Rottnest – For beachside views in an iconic island location. Rottnest Bakery – For a sweet, sugary fix to help fuel your exploration. Broome – The Sleepy Pearling Town There was something so fascinating about the sleepy town of Broome – mainly in that it has a multitude of stories to tell while remaining completely laid back. Like how its spectacular beaches conceal 120 million years old preserved dinosaur footprints and why there’s camels in Western Australia – where riding them along the 22km long Cable Beach has come to mark the famous picture of the setting of the sun out across the Indian Ocean. Where to Go in Broome: Namely, Broome was once the very centre of the booming pearling trade where Malay, Chinese, Japanese, Filipino, European and Aboriginal cultures blended together in the early 1880s, working as pearl luggers who lived in what is now the Chinatown retail hub. Now its one of the places to go in Western Australia where the history is still present and remembered. You will find it in Carnarvon Street’s remaining corrugated iron Pearling Master’s houses conceal pearl shops, eateries and cafes, in the still operating Sun Pictures (which stands as the oldest outdoor movie theatre in the world), and when you walk along Streeter’s Jetty – the pivotal point of the Pearling industry in early 1900’s when the luggers dropped off their shells amongst the mangroves. Statues and streets are named after places in Asia – marking a remembrance of the many people who never made it back home during this huge trade of dangerous and prolifically hard work. Broome is picturesque on every point of its coastline. Gantheaume Point in particular is a collection of fiery orange and red rock formations and cliffs, a one-hour walk from Cable beach. Here lay hidden some the dinosaur footprints invited eager eyes when the reef is at a low tide of 2.16m or less. A plaster copy is on shown at the top of the cliffs for those who are not so lucky to find the prehistoric markings. Yet the most memorable scenes came from off-track exploring, which was only possible with the knowledge of Broome born and bred local, Brad – an Aboriginal guide from Narlijia Cultural Tours. Brad tells the stories of his Aboriginal heritage rooted in this area, alongside the modern-day issues of change and integration. He jumped in our hired 4×4 and drove us to Riddle Beach that resembled a picture of Mars, a huge sand dune mound marking an aboriginal burial site, through the shrubbery of unmarked roads that led to the secluded Bard Creek and to James Price Point – the far-stretching and secluded cliff top view to watch the sun set on another day in Western Australia. We had each and every site to ourselves, which is exactly the beauty of Broome and its surrounding outback. Where to Stay in Broome: Cable Beach Club. The only resort overlooking the infamous and beautiful Cable Beach, with everything from elegant rooms to deluxe suites and a host of on-site restaurants and bars. Where to Eat and Drink in Broome: The Aarli. A young and hip all-day dining hotspot in the heart of Chinatown with a cocktail menu as long as its tasty offering. Matso’s Brewery. An award-winning craft beer brewery that operates from one of the town’s oldest buildings standing at over 100 years old. You absolutely must try the Ginger Beer if you only have time for one. Introduction to Broome: Unique Kimberley pull together bespoke itineraries of Broome and Kimberly cruises. I met with owner, Robyn Maher who gave us an introduction to Broome’s hotspots in one afternoon that included Gantheaume Point and Matsos Brewery – areas of which you can explore in greater detail in your own time. Booking a Camel Ride on Cable Beach: Check out Broome Camel Safaris, or quite simply remembered as ‘the camels in blue’. Be sure to grab time for a chat with Matt Morton-Deakin, a Brit who has been calling Broome home for many years and who knows some of the best hangouts and photogenic spots (which he compiles on his dedicated Broome Instagram account). The Kimberly – The Last Wilderness of Western Australia Broome is the connection to the Indigenous Outback of Western Australia and home to one the last remaining wilderness areas on Earth known as the Kimberley. This region is the beautifully deserted image of the Australian Outback you’ve always dreamt about and I was able to explore this 90km stretch of the Peninsula known as ‘Dampier Land’, in a 21-man overland truck on a day-trip with an adventure company called Kimberly Wild. The road takes you through the Beagle Bay Aboriginal Community, whose Sacred Heart Church whose interior crafted from pearl shells is the star attraction and the Ardyaloon (One Arm Point) Aboriginal Community who are known as the saltwater people shell fishing traders. The drive ends at the very north of One Arm Point, home to the world-famous operational pearling farm of Cygnet Bay, where you can also take a speed boat out around the rocky Buccaneer Archipelago. Discussion about travel in Western Australia and the Outback naturally leads to the accessibility of the area, the history of this pristine native wilderness and Aboriginal rights since it is a region cultivated, protected and owned by little more than 1,000 people in tiny clusters of Aboriginal communities. I explore this in more in my article about paving the roads to the Kimberly and tourist access. I flew back to Broome in a one hour scenic Kimberley flight that started the Peninsula tip coastline of Cape Leveque, where you rally get to the swirls of colour and landscape of Australia’s isolated northwest. I talk about my time in Western Australia more than I talk about any other part of Australia, even though I only skimmed the very surface of its continent size landmass. I’m now obsessed with getting back to Broome and making inroads eastward through the state on a mega multi-week road trip. One trip to Western Australia is just the very beginning, but enough to realise that there is more to this country on the underrated ‘other side’ than you ever realised. Things to Know About Western Australia: How to Get to Western Australia: Internal Flights. If you are short on time and not able to embark on a long road trip between Perth and Broome (and the surrounds) then Qantas and Virgin are the go-to airlines that connect the cities. Also look at Airnorth for deals. Getting Around Perth and Fremantle: A CAT bus service (visitfremantle.com.au) and 25 minutes train from Perth. Tram tour, or easy to explore by foot. We used the services of Perth Luxury Tours at some points of our trip, and mostly for transfer services. They specialise also in small, private customized tours including inner city, Fremantle, Kings Park, Swan Valley, Pinnacles and Margaret River. For further information on planning your trip, visit the Western Australia tourism website and VisitPerthCity.com specifically for city exploring and Perth’s surrounding neighbourhoods and sites. From Perth there are two sealed roads to the North – The North West Coastal Highway and the inland Great Northern Highway. From Broome there is http://www.westernaustralia.com/the unsealed Gibb River Road to head east to Kununurra (the Gibb River is main water course that runs through the heart of the Kimberly). There is also the road known as the Kimberley Aerial Highway. Outback driving is not for the faint hearted and is only for the most experienced off-roaders. Therefore, you may be better off joining overland tours, ranging from day trips to multi-week itineraries. The Western Australia Climate: The seasons in Western Australia are much like the Mediterranean – hot summers and mild, dry, winters. Summer: November to April Winter: May to October Next up for me in Western Australia? A state the size of Western Europe is no mean feat, even for the most avid of adventure enthusiasts. Now the Western Australia bug has bitten, I went back to my usual map geeking to roughly plan what I would do on a future return. My first choice is to overland from Derby (in King Sound) to Kununarra following the Gibb River Road – a classic outback drive that is considered to be one of the last true Aussie outback adventures! It was constructed in the 1960s to transport cattle and is now a 660km road through the beautifully wild Kimberley Plateau. Unsealed road link Kalumburu Aboriginal Community and Mission on Northern coast. Derby was the first town settled in Kimberly (22km NE of Broome). The Pilbara region. Checking out Karijini National Park (which is 2 billion years old), the Eighty Mile Beach Marine Park and following the Warlu Way drive trail following Aboriginal stories. The Kimberley National Parks – Windjana Gorge, Tunnel Creek (Western Australia’s oldest cave system), Wolfe Creek Crater (made frightfully famous by the horror movie of the same name but home to a 300,000 year-old meteorite crater), Geikie Gorge, Mitchell River, and Purnululu (the Bungle Bungle Range) Related |
This year, I really wanted to participate in Secret Santa but after taking stock of my life, I realized I didn't need much "stuff," and my Christmas list was pretty sparse - I didn't think my Santa would want to buy me socks and shampoo. So, I challenged my Santa to just make the SS experience fun and unique instead of give them a list of things they could buy. I had no idea what to expect. Then the package came, it was large and heavy. I half expected it to be one of those gifts where everything was impossible to open, or I had to solve a riddle or something. Turns out, the package was just heavy because of the contents! filled with goodies from the great state of Michigan, which I have never visited. I got some local snack foods, none of which I'd heard of before, in addition to four craft brews and some Detroit-roasted coffee! They also included a really sweet letter that made the gift that much better. Santa, thanks for taking the time to get me a thoughtful gift. My fiancee and I will surely enjoy this stuff together - and I'll get to try elk for the first time! |
'Ugly sister' cyclone menaces Queensland Updated People in north Queensland have been warned to expect wind speeds of up to 260 kilometres per hour when a "big, ugly sister" cyclone makes landfall later this week. Emergency Management Queensland (EMQ), police and weather officials are meeting across the state's far north today to discuss the possible threat of Tropical Cyclone Yasi. The category-one system is north-west of Vanuatu but is expected to intensify before crossing the Queensland coast on Wednesday or Thursday. Authorities fear the massive cyclone could be as intense as Cyclone Larry, which devastated parts of far north Queensland in 2006. Queensland Police says it is the "big, ugly sister" to Cyclone Anthony, which caused only minor damage as it crossed the state's north coast near Bowen, south of Townsville, overnight. The weather bureau predicts Yasi's eye will cross the coast near Townsville, but it says the system is so large it could impact communities 500 kilometres away. Senior forecaster Jim Davidson says Yasi is a big threat. "It's probably going to be in the category-three to category-four range - wind gusts up to 200 to 260 [kilometres per hour]," he said. Mr Davidson is also warning there could be a large storm tide as it crosses the coast either late on Wednesday or early on Thursday. Yasi is about 2,000 kilometres north-east of Bowen but is moving west quickly. "It's certainly going to move inland into Queensland during the course of the later part of next week, with fairly widespread rain areas and heavy rain within that as well, so the flooding potential is there," bureau spokesman Rick Threlfall said. "Exactly where at this stage is just a bit too difficult to say." Superintendent Brian Connors from the Cairns Disaster Coordination Centre says it is better for people to be over-prepared. "We are treating it very seriously although there is not a defined location that it will directly impact on at this point in time, but it's best to go through those preparations nice and early." EMQ says full cyclone preparations should be put in place across north Queensland. "People should consider to be self-sufficient in their home after the impact of such an event after about 72 hours," spokesman Wayne Coutts said. "Consider what you might do if you don't have power for about that long. Consider what you might do if there's no water, if you're unable to go to the shops." Test run Townsville Mayor Les Tyrell says Cyclone Anthony was a good test run for the region's emergency services. Anthony brought down trees and caused minor damage to homes when it made landfall last night. It has been downgraded to a tropical low and is heading inland. "All the preparations we have made for Anthony will just be repeated as we find out what's happening to Yasi as it gets a bit closer," Mr Tyrell said. "Certainly it was a good run for us to threaten any glitches to the system." EMQ's acting assistant director-general, Warren Bridson, says he is using the lessons learnt from the Hurricane Katrina disaster in the US to help prepare for Yasi. "It's full-on. We don't try to second guess the predictions - that's another lesson I learnt from America," he said. Independent MP Rob Messenger says property owners should be allowed to clear trees before Yasi arrives. Mr Messenger says vegetation management laws provide an exemption when there is a risk of serious personal injury or damage to infrastructure. He has called on the State Government to clarify that the exemption applies to cyclone threats. Transport Minister Rachel Nolan says coal ports and the rail system avoided damage from Anthony but she is concerned by Yasi's potential. "There is some possibility of getting coal ships into Abbot Point today in order to commence loading before they would have to go out again in the next couple of days for the bigger cyclone to come," she said. "It hasn't been completely decided if that's possible, but there is an aim to do that." - Reporting by Kerrin Binnie, Chris O'Brien, Penny Timms and Kristy Sexton-McGrath Topics: cyclones, disasters-and-accidents, weather, cyclone, bowen-4805, australia, qld, ayr-4807, mackay-4740, townsville-4810 First posted |
AngelList Naval Co-founder Ravikant claimed that Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies have what it It takes to solve the money problems of different types of people around the world. He added that the general public is looking for alternative places to store their money and watch it grow. In his presentation at Token Summit II held in San Francisco, California on December 5, 2017, he spoke of the phenomenal trading performance of the main Bitcoin digital currency and the others. virtual currencies and the reason behind that. He claimed that the ascending movements of Bitcoin are motivated by people's thirst for alternative investment that meets their needs. He claimed that the fear of some market watchers that Bitcoin is approaching the territory of "bubbles" is unfounded. However, he did not totally exclude it, but he claimed that the fiat currencies are also a bubble that never appears "Money is a bubble that never appears, it's a consensual hallucination. " Other highlights of Ravikant's speech Ravikant also told attendees at the event that some of the things in the digital currency industry have been overmatched. He cited as an example the very high esteem shown by industry players in the concept of decentralization. He also claimed that there are a lot of virtual tokens that are traded at very high values but that do not deserve it. However, he did not name any tokens. "One indicator that we are in a very sparkling environment is that we have a lot of chips traded at very high values that are undesirable.the market does not distinguish quality." In his presentation, the co-founder of AngelList also cited some virtual currencies that interest him and the reasons he loves them. Among them, Bitcoin, for storing value, Zcash, for an easy transaction, Basecoin, for a stable unit of account, and Tezzies, for accessing Tezos' smart contracts platform. |
The Ontario Fire Marshal has been called in to investigate after firefighters found a body inside a rowhouse unit in Bells Corners after a fire ripped through the unit. The fire started in an end unit of the eight-unit, two-storey rowhouse at 421 Moodie Dr. about 10:50 a.m. Thursday. It caused two upper floors to collapse into the basement of the unit. Firefighters battled a blaze at 421 Moodie Dr. on Thursday. (Danny Globerman/CBC) The other seven units sustained smoke damage, fire officials said. Police had no further information on the identity of the person found dead. The Salvation Army and the Red Cross were called to provide assistance to the other residents affected by the fire. Those residents likely would not be able to return home on Thursday night after the electricity was shut off, according to fire officials. More than 50 firefighters were battling the blaze, which caused an estimated $400,000 damage. Moodie Drive was closed in both directions at the scene, which is close to Robertson Road near Hadley Circle. All southbound lanes and one northbound lane reopened just before 6 p.m. |
Moreno Hofland (Belkin) beat John Degenkolb (Giant-Shimano) to win stage 2 of Paris-Nice from Rambouillet to Saint-Georges-sur-Baulche on Monday. Nacer Bouhanni (FDJ.fr) finished third on the stage after a crash in the final kilometre saw the peloton fracture just before Hofland opened up for his winning sprint. Related Articles Hofland claims biggest win of young career Boom out of Paris-Nice with fractured elbow Hofland impresses with third in Tour of California opener Hofland came into the finish on Degenkolb’s wheel, and with 200 metres to go, the runner up from Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne surprised the German with a quick turn of speed. In the battle for the overall, Bouhanni now leads Degenkolb by two seconds after Gianni Meersman (Omega Pharma-QuickStep) crashed inside the final 10 kilometres and lost contact with the peloton. Meersman had picked up enough time bonuses to during the stage to lead Bouhanni by one second before the final sprint. "I'm a little surprised because with one kilometre to go today I was a little too far behind," Hofland said. "I was in the wheel of John Degenkolb and with 200 metres to go, I went a little early and I managed to surprise him. The last couple of weeks have been going pretty good for me and I hope to hold the form as long as possible." In a similar pattern to the opening day of racing, stage 2 saw an early break form with Anthony Delaplace (Bretagne-Séché Environnement) and Aleksejs Saramotins (IAM Cycling) providing the early excitement with an attack inside the opening two kilometres. With no prologue in this year’s race and a lack of traditional mountain top finishes, a cagey affair was expected to ensue with the overall contenders tightly packed together. However the peloton were in a generous mood as they rolled out from Rambouillet, allowing the escapees an advantage of 11:30. Such an allowance was enough to see FDJ.fr bustle their way to the front of the pack midway through the stage, and they gradually began to trim back the leaders' advantage. By the category 3 Côte de la Ferté-Loupière – the only climb on the stage – the leaders’ advantage had dropped to 5:40 with Delaplace, a new recruit from Sojasun, following Saramotins over the summit. Quickstep, arguably the strongest team of the season so far, soon pulled alongside Bouhanni’s squad to offer their assistance. The collaboration came with a price, though, as they had Meersman in a position to potentially usurp the Frenchman in the overall standings. Meersman had drawn level with Bouhanni in the virtual overall standings, after picking up 3rd place and one bonus second in the bonus sprint at Malesherbes after 62 kilometres and with 32km remaining the break were at a controllable four minutes. At the 20km to go banner, the gap was at still 2:55 but as Delaplace and Saramotins swung over the finish line circuit for the first time with 17km remaining, even the gentle incline proved too much for Delaplace, who began to lose contact with his IAM Cycling counterpart. The pair regrouped soon after, with Meersman picking up another third at the intermediate sprint. With the finale sprint to come the Belgian looked on course to take the race lead. Up ahead, Delaplace was unable to hold Saramotins’s wheel for the final time and with 12km remaining the Latvian found himself alone and with a lead of 1:35, as a brisk headwind began to force the break into submission. Even without the time checks, it was clear from Saramotins’s rocking shoulders that his time was almost up, his previously stonewall exterior smashed as he lurched over the bars and fought to hold his lead. Just as the bunch sprint looked inevitable, Meersman found himself on the ground after a mid-pack crash involving Lars Boom, Edvald Boasson Hagen and Tyler Farrar. Inside the final 10 kilometres and the far more predictable but debatably less welcome sight of Thomas Voeckler and his repertoire of full facial expressions appeared on the front of the peloton as Meersman began a lone chase through the convoy. Almost a forgotten man, Saramotins still led by twenty seconds as Garmin, Movistar and a collage of sprinters’ teams occupied the front of the peloton. He was finally captured with 3.3km to go, just as Meersman – after using his team car to shelter him – vied but failed to make contact with the coattails of the peloton. Giant and QuickStep were by now patrolling the front of the bunch, with Belkin and FDJ sitting closely by. Having raced through the technical and slightly uphill sprint once before, it was Hofland who charged for the line first. His turn of speed seemed to catch Degenkolb cold and although the German fought back he was unable to draw back on terms and would have to settle for the runners-up spot for the second day in a row. Full Results # Rider Name (Country) Team Result 1 Moreno Hofland (Ned) Belkin-Pro Cycling Team 4:53:46 2 John Degenkolb (Ger) Team Giant-Shimano 3 Nacer Bouhanni (Fra) FDJ.fr 4 Alexander Kristoff (Nor) Team Katusha 5 Thor Hushovd (Nor) BMC Racing Team 6 Bryan Coquard (Fra) Team Europcar 7 Armindo Fonseca (Fra) Bretagne - Seche Environnement 8 Tony Gallopin (Fra) Lotto Belisol 9 Jens Keukeleire (Bel) Orica GreenEdge 10 Jose Joaquin Rojas Gil (Spa) Movistar Team 11 Samuel Dumoulin (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 12 Nikolay Trusov (Rus) Tinkoff-Saxo 13 Borut Bozic (Slo) Astana Pro Team 14 Geraint Thomas (GBr) Team Sky 15 Marco Marcato (Ita) Cannondale 16 Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) BMC Racing Team 0:00:05 17 Ramunas Navardauskas (Ltu) Garmin Sharp 18 Carlos Alberto Betancur Gomez (Col) AG2R La Mondiale 19 Fabio Felline (Ita) Trek Factory Racing 20 Sylvain Chavanel (Fra) IAM Cycling 0:00:07 21 Romain Zingle (Bel) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 22 Bob Jungels (Lux) Trek Factory Racing 23 Davide Villella (Ita) Cannondale 24 Tom Boonen (Bel) Omega Pharma - Quick-Step Cycling Team 25 Andre Fernando S. Martins Cardoso (Por) Garmin Sharp 26 Simon Spilak (Slo) Team Katusha 27 Marko Kump (Slo) Tinkoff-Saxo 28 Romain Bardet (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 29 Koen De Kort (Ned) Team Giant-Shimano 30 Jan Bakelants (Bel) Omega Pharma - Quick-Step Cycling Team 31 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Astana Pro Team 32 Fabian Wegmann (Ger) Garmin Sharp 33 Pim Ligthart (Ned) Lotto Belisol 34 Cyril Gautier (Fra) Team Europcar 35 Arthur Vichot (Fra) FDJ.fr 36 Arnold Jeannesson (Fra) FDJ.fr 37 Gorka Izaguirre Insausti (Spa) Movistar Team 38 Enrico Gasparotto (Ita) Astana Pro Team 39 Tom Jelte Slagter (Ned) Garmin Sharp 40 Eduardo Sepulveda (Arg) Bretagne - Seche Environnement 41 George Bennett (NZl) Cannondale 42 Rafal Majka (Pol) Tinkoff-Saxo 43 Jon Izaguirre Insausti (Spa) Movistar Team 44 Alessandro De Marchi (Ita) Cannondale 45 Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Astana Pro Team 46 Lars Ytting Bak (Den) Lotto Belisol 47 Jérôme Pineau (Fra) IAM Cycling 48 John Gadret (Fra) Movistar Team 49 Stefan Denifl (Aut) IAM Cycling 50 Karsten Kroon (Ned) Tinkoff-Saxo 51 Sergei Chernetckii (Rus) Team Katusha 52 Peter Velits (Svk) BMC Racing Team 53 Rui Alberto Faria Da Costa (Por) Lampre-Merida 54 Wilco Kelderman (Ned) Belkin-Pro Cycling Team 55 Zdenek Stybar (Cze) Omega Pharma - Quick-Step Cycling Team 56 Michel Koch (Ger) Cannondale 57 Steele Von Hoff (Aus) Garmin Sharp 58 Alex Howes (USA) Garmin Sharp 59 Reinardt Janse Van Rensburg (RSA) Team Giant-Shimano 60 Maxime Monfort (Bel) Lotto Belisol 61 Mikael Cherel (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 62 Lars Petter Nordhaug (Nor) Belkin-Pro Cycling Team 63 Ivan Rovny (Rus) Tinkoff-Saxo 64 Sébastien Reichenbach (Swi) IAM Cycling 65 Damiano Caruso (Ita) Cannondale 66 Jose Rodolfo Serpa Perez (Col) Lampre-Merida 67 Francesco Gavazzi (Ita) Astana Pro Team 68 Luis Angel Mate Mardones (Spa) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:00:18 69 Grégory Rast (Swi) Trek Factory Racing 70 Sébastien Turgot (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 71 Nicki Sörensen (Den) Tinkoff-Saxo 72 Brice Feillu (Fra) Bretagne - Seche Environnement 73 Bryan Nauleau (Fra) Team Europcar 74 Jesus Herrada Lopez (Spa) Movistar Team 75 Laurent Didier (Lux) Trek Factory Racing 76 Sebastian Langeveld (Ned) Garmin Sharp 77 Aliaksandr Kuchynski (Blr) Team Katusha 78 Mathias Frank (Swi) IAM Cycling 79 Jerome Coppel (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 80 Fabio Sabatini (Ita) Cannondale 81 Alexis Vuillermoz (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 82 Nelson Filipe Santos Simoes Oliveira (Por) Lampre-Merida 83 Maxime Bouet (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 84 Simon Yates (GBr) Orica GreenEdge 85 Elia Favilli (Ita) Lampre-Merida 86 Cristiano Salerno (Ita) Cannondale 87 Kevin Ista (Bel) IAM Cycling 88 Valerio Agnoli (Ita) Astana Pro Team 89 Iurii Trofimov (Rus) Team Katusha 90 Fränk Schleck (Lux) Trek Factory Racing 91 Romain Feillu (Fra) Bretagne - Seche Environnement 92 José Ivan Gutierrez Palacios (Spa) Movistar Team 93 Peter Stetina (USA) BMC Racing Team 94 Chris Anker Sörensen (Den) Tinkoff-Saxo 95 Lieuwe Westra (Ned) Astana Pro Team 96 Jetse Bol (Ned) Belkin-Pro Cycling Team 97 Imanol Erviti Ollo (Spa) Movistar Team 98 Cyril Lemoine (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 99 Sander Armee (Bel) Lotto Belisol 100 Maarten Wynants (Bel) Belkin-Pro Cycling Team 101 Tim Wellens (Bel) Lotto Belisol 102 Danilo Hondo (Ger) Trek Factory Racing 103 Matthew Busche (USA) Trek Factory Racing 104 Florian Guillou (Fra) Bretagne - Seche Environnement 105 Vladimir Isaychev (Rus) Team Katusha 106 Florian Vachon (Fra) Bretagne - Seche Environnement 107 Gert Steegmans (Bel) Omega Pharma - Quick-Step Cycling Team 108 Mattia Cattaneo (Ita) Lampre-Merida 109 Przemyslaw Niemiec (Pol) Lampre-Merida 110 Gianni Meersman (Bel) Omega Pharma - Quick-Step Cycling Team 111 Christophe Laborie (Fra) Bretagne - Seche Environnement 112 Nikolas Maes (Bel) Omega Pharma - Quick-Step Cycling Team 113 Cédric Pineau (Fra) FDJ.fr 114 Sylvester Szmyd (Pol) Movistar Team 115 Dries Devenyns (Bel) Team Giant-Shimano 116 Simon Gerrans (Aus) Orica GreenEdge 117 Giovanni Bernaudeau (Fra) Team Europcar 118 Sébastien Hinault (Fra) IAM Cycling 119 Jerome Cousin (Fra) Team Europcar 0:00:29 120 Jos van Emden (Ned) Belkin-Pro Cycling Team 0:00:31 121 Jimmy Engoulvent (Fra) Team Europcar 122 Sébastien Chavanel (Fra) FDJ.fr 0:00:33 123 Xabier Zandio Echaide (Spa) Team Sky 0:00:36 124 Mathew Hayman (Aus) Orica GreenEdge 0:00:48 125 Sébastien Minard (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:01:01 126 Mitchell Docker (Aus) Orica GreenEdge 0:01:05 127 Julien Simon (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:01:07 128 Stephen Cummings (GBr) BMC Racing Team 0:01:09 129 Thomas Voeckler (Fra) Team Europcar 0:01:10 130 Matthew Harley Goss (Aus) Orica GreenEdge 131 Anthony Geslin (Fra) FDJ.fr 0:01:21 132 Benoît Vaugrenard (Fra) FDJ.fr 133 Bert De Backer (Bel) Team Giant-Shimano 0:01:22 134 Albert Timmer (Ned) Team Giant-Shimano 135 Niki Terpstra (Ned) Omega Pharma - Quick-Step Cycling Team 0:01:35 136 Aleksejs Saramotins (Lat) IAM Cycling 0:01:38 137 Adrien Petit (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:01:41 138 Luca Wackermann (Ita) Lampre-Merida 0:01:45 139 Anthony Delaplace (Fra) Bretagne - Seche Environnement 0:02:01 140 Perrig Quemeneur (Fra) Team Europcar 141 Alexey Tsatevich (Rus) Team Katusha 0:02:27 142 Christian Knees (Ger) Team Sky 0:05:23 143 Taylor Phinney (USA) BMC Racing Team 0:05:28 144 Alessandro Vanotti (Ita) Astana Pro Team 145 Luke Rowe (GBr) Team Sky 146 Egor Silin (Rus) Team Katusha 147 Amaël Moinard (Fra) BMC Racing Team 148 Jelle Vanendert (Bel) Lotto Belisol 149 Ramon Sinkeldam (Ned) Team Giant-Shimano 150 Jonathan Hivert (Fra) Belkin-Pro Cycling Team 151 Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) Team Sky 152 Andy Schleck (Lux) Trek Factory Racing 0:06:46 153 Matti Breschel (Den) Tinkoff-Saxo 154 Stijn Vandenbergh (Bel) Omega Pharma - Quick-Step Cycling Team 155 David Lopez Garcia (Spa) Team Sky 156 Gabriel Rasch (Nor) Team Sky 157 Julien Fouchard (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 158 Egoitz Garcia Echeguibel (Spa) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:07:04 159 Matteo Bono (Ita) Lampre-Merida 160 Thierry Hupond (Fra) Team Giant-Shimano 161 Geoffrey Soupe (Fra) FDJ.fr 162 Tyler Farrar (USA) Garmin Sharp 163 Vasil Kiryienka (Blr) Team Sky 164 Kris Boeckmans (Bel) Lotto Belisol 165 Lars Boom (Ned) Belkin-Pro Cycling Team 166 Michael Albasini (Swi) Orica GreenEdge 0:09:16 167 Michael Matthews (Aus) Orica GreenEdge Sprint 1 - Malesherbes # Rider Name (Country) Team Result 1 Anthony Delaplace (Fra) Bretagne - Seche Environnement 3 pts 2 Aleksejs Saramotins (Lat) IAM Cycling 2 3 Gianni Meersman (Bel) Omega Pharma - Quick-Step Cycling Team 1 Sprint 2 - Saint-Georges-sur-Baulche (1er passage) # Rider Name (Country) Team Result 1 Aleksejs Saramotins (Lat) IAM Cycling 3 pts 2 Anthony Delaplace (Fra) Bretagne - Seche Environnement 2 3 Gianni Meersman (Bel) Omega Pharma - Quick-Step Cycling Team 1 Sprint 3 - Finish - Saint-Georges-sur-Baulche # Rider Name (Country) Team Result 1 Moreno Hofland (Ned) Belkin-Pro Cycling Team 15 pts 2 John Degenkolb (Ger) Team Giant-Shimano 12 3 Nacer Bouhanni (Fra) FDJ.fr 9 4 Alexander Kristoff (Nor) Team Katusha 7 5 Thor Hushovd (Nor) BMC Racing Team 6 6 Bryan Coquard (Fra) Team Europcar 5 7 Armindo Fonseca (Fra) Bretagne - Seche Environnement 4 8 Tony Gallopin (Fra) Lotto Belisol 3 9 Jens Keukeleire (Bel) Orica GreenEdge 2 10 Jose Joaquin Rojas Gil (Spa) Movistar Team 1 Mountain - Côte de la Ferté Loupière # Rider Name (Country) Team Result 1 Aleksejs Saramotins (Lat) IAM Cycling 4 pts 2 Anthony Delaplace (Fra) Bretagne - Seche Environnement 2 3 Christophe Laborie (Fra) Bretagne - Seche Environnement 1 Young rider # Rider Name (Country) Team Result 1 Moreno Hofland (Ned) Belkin-Pro Cycling Team 4:53:46 2 John Degenkolb (Ger) Team Giant-Shimano 3 Nacer Bouhanni (Fra) FDJ.fr 4 Bryan Coquard (Fra) Team Europcar 5 Armindo Fonseca (Fra) Bretagne - Seche Environnement 6 Carlos Alberto Betancur Gomez (Col) AG2R La Mondiale 0:00:05 7 Fabio Felline (Ita) Trek Factory Racing 8 Bob Jungels (Lux) Trek Factory Racing 0:00:07 9 Davide Villella (Ita) Cannondale 10 Romain Bardet (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 11 Tom Jelte Slagter (Ned) Garmin Sharp 12 Eduardo Sepulveda (Arg) Bretagne - Seche Environnement 13 George Bennett (NZl) Cannondale 14 Rafal Majka (Pol) Tinkoff-Saxo 15 Jon Izaguirre Insausti (Spa) Movistar Team 16 Sergei Chernetckii (Rus) Team Katusha 17 Wilco Kelderman (Ned) Belkin-Pro Cycling Team 18 Michel Koch (Ger) Cannondale 19 Reinardt Janse Van Rensburg (RSA) Team Giant-Shimano 20 Sébastien Reichenbach (Swi) IAM Cycling 21 Jesus Herrada Lopez (Spa) Movistar Team 0:00:18 22 Nelson Filipe Santos Simoes Oliveira (Por) Lampre-Merida 23 Simon Yates (GBr) Orica GreenEdge 24 Elia Favilli (Ita) Lampre-Merida 25 Jetse Bol (Ned) Belkin-Pro Cycling Team 26 Tim Wellens (Bel) Lotto Belisol 27 Mattia Cattaneo (Ita) Lampre-Merida 28 Jerome Cousin (Fra) Team Europcar 0:00:29 29 Adrien Petit (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:01:41 30 Luca Wackermann (Ita) Lampre-Merida 0:01:45 31 Anthony Delaplace (Fra) Bretagne - Seche Environnement 0:02:01 32 Alexey Tsatevich (Rus) Team Katusha 0:02:27 33 Taylor Phinney (USA) BMC Racing Team 0:05:28 34 Luke Rowe (GBr) Team Sky 35 Ramon Sinkeldam (Ned) Team Giant-Shimano 36 Michael Matthews (Aus) Orica GreenEdge 0:09:16 Teams # Rider Name (Country) Team Result 1 AG2R La Mondiale 14:41:30 2 BMC Racing Team 3 Fdj.fr 0:00:02 4 Cannondale 5 Team Katusha 6 Tinkoff-Saxo 7 Astana Pro Team 8 Lotto Belisol 9 Team Giant-Shimano 10 Movistar Team 11 Belkin-Pro Cycling Team 12 Garmin Sharp 0:00:07 13 Omega Pharma - Quick-Step Cycling Team 0:00:09 14 IAM Cycling 15 Team Europcar 0:00:13 16 Bretagne - Seche Environnement 17 Trek Factory Racing 0:00:18 18 Lampre-Merida 0:00:20 19 Orica GreenEdge 0:00:24 20 Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:00:31 21 Team Sky 0:05:47 General classification after stage 2 # Rider Name (Country) Team Result 1 Nacer Bouhanni (Fra) FDJ.fr 8:46:43 2 John Degenkolb (Ger) Team Giant-Shimano 0:00:02 3 Moreno Hofland (Ned) Belkin-Pro Cycling Team 0:00:04 4 Geraint Thomas (GBr) Team Sky 0:00:13 5 Bryan Coquard (Fra) Team Europcar 0:00:14 6 Jose Joaquin Rojas Gil (Spa) Movistar Team 7 Alexander Kristoff (Nor) Team Katusha 8 Nikolay Trusov (Rus) Tinkoff-Saxo 9 Samuel Dumoulin (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 10 Jens Keukeleire (Bel) Orica GreenEdge 11 Marco Marcato (Ita) Cannondale 12 Tony Gallopin (Fra) Lotto Belisol 13 Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) BMC Racing Team 0:00:17 14 Fabio Felline (Ita) Trek Factory Racing 0:00:19 15 Carlos Alberto Betancur Gomez (Col) AG2R La Mondiale 16 Sylvain Chavanel (Fra) IAM Cycling 0:00:20 17 Romain Zingle (Bel) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:00:21 18 Tom Boonen (Bel) Omega Pharma - Quick-Step Cycling Team 19 Arnold Jeannesson (Fra) FDJ.fr 20 Marko Kump (Slo) Tinkoff-Saxo 21 Bob Jungels (Lux) Trek Factory Racing 22 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Astana Pro Team 23 Andre Fernando S. Martins Cardoso (Por) Garmin Sharp 24 Francesco Gavazzi (Ita) Astana Pro Team 25 Simon Spilak (Slo) Team Katusha 26 Gorka Izaguirre Insausti (Spa) Movistar Team 27 Jérôme Pineau (Fra) IAM Cycling 28 Peter Velits (Svk) BMC Racing Team 29 Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Astana Pro Team 30 Michel Koch (Ger) Cannondale 31 Rafal Majka (Pol) Tinkoff-Saxo 32 Cyril Gautier (Fra) Team Europcar 33 Arthur Vichot (Fra) FDJ.fr 34 Zdenek Stybar (Cze) Omega Pharma - Quick-Step Cycling Team 35 Rui Alberto Faria Da Costa (Por) Lampre-Merida 36 Wilco Kelderman (Ned) Belkin-Pro Cycling Team 37 Jan Bakelants (Bel) Omega Pharma - Quick-Step Cycling Team 38 Lars Ytting Bak (Den) Lotto Belisol 39 Davide Villella (Ita) Cannondale 40 Pim Ligthart (Ned) Lotto Belisol 41 Jon Izaguirre Insausti (Spa) Movistar Team 42 Sergei Chernetckii (Rus) Team Katusha 43 Tom Jelte Slagter (Ned) Garmin Sharp 44 Stefan Denifl (Aut) IAM Cycling 45 Gianni Meersman (Bel) Omega Pharma - Quick-Step Cycling Team 46 Lars Petter Nordhaug (Nor) Belkin-Pro Cycling Team 47 Karsten Kroon (Ned) Tinkoff-Saxo 48 Maxime Monfort (Bel) Lotto Belisol 49 Sébastien Reichenbach (Swi) IAM Cycling 50 Damiano Caruso (Ita) Cannondale 51 Ivan Rovny (Rus) Tinkoff-Saxo 52 Jose Rodolfo Serpa Perez (Col) Lampre-Merida 53 Reinardt Janse Van Rensburg (RSA) Team Giant-Shimano 54 Enrico Gasparotto (Ita) Astana Pro Team 0:00:31 55 Fabio Sabatini (Ita) Cannondale 0:00:32 56 Elia Favilli (Ita) Lampre-Merida 57 Cyril Lemoine (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 58 Romain Feillu (Fra) Bretagne - Seche Environnement 59 Gert Steegmans (Bel) Omega Pharma - Quick-Step Cycling Team 60 Kevin Ista (Bel) IAM Cycling 61 Vladimir Isaychev (Rus) Team Katusha 62 Maxime Bouet (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 63 Nelson Filipe Santos Simoes Oliveira (Por) Lampre-Merida 64 Jesus Herrada Lopez (Spa) Movistar Team 65 Nikolas Maes (Bel) Omega Pharma - Quick-Step Cycling Team 66 Nicki Sörensen (Den) Tinkoff-Saxo 67 Brice Feillu (Fra) Bretagne - Seche Environnement 68 Jerome Coppel (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 69 Luis Angel Mate Mardones (Spa) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 70 Simon Yates (GBr) Orica GreenEdge 71 Aliaksandr Kuchynski (Blr) Team Katusha 72 Florian Vachon (Fra) Bretagne - Seche Environnement 73 Mathias Frank (Swi) IAM Cycling 74 Maarten Wynants (Bel) Belkin-Pro Cycling Team 75 Tim Wellens (Bel) Lotto Belisol 76 Jetse Bol (Ned) Belkin-Pro Cycling Team 77 Peter Stetina (USA) BMC Racing Team 78 Imanol Erviti Ollo (Spa) Movistar Team 79 Dries Devenyns (Bel) Team Giant-Shimano 80 Laurent Didier (Lux) Trek Factory Racing 81 Jos van Emden (Ned) Belkin-Pro Cycling Team 0:00:45 82 Giovanni Bernaudeau (Fra) Team Europcar 0:00:48 83 Sander Armee (Bel) Lotto Belisol 0:00:49 84 Xabier Zandio Echaide (Spa) Team Sky 0:00:50 85 Bryan Nauleau (Fra) Team Europcar 0:00:57 86 Mathew Hayman (Aus) Orica GreenEdge 0:01:02 87 Koen De Kort (Ned) Team Giant-Shimano 0:01:09 88 Jimmy Engoulvent (Fra) Team Europcar 0:01:10 89 Borut Bozic (Slo) Astana Pro Team 0:01:17 90 Armindo Fonseca (Fra) Bretagne - Seche Environnement 0:01:23 91 Thor Hushovd (Nor) BMC Racing Team 92 Ramunas Navardauskas (Ltu) Garmin Sharp 0:01:28 93 Romain Bardet (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:01:30 94 Eduardo Sepulveda (Arg) Bretagne - Seche Environnement 95 Fabian Wegmann (Ger) Garmin Sharp 96 George Bennett (NZl) Cannondale 97 Alessandro De Marchi (Ita) Cannondale 98 John Gadret (Fra) Movistar Team 99 Mikael Cherel (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 100 Alex Howes (USA) Garmin Sharp 101 Anthony Geslin (Fra) FDJ.fr 0:01:35 102 Sébastien Turgot (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:01:41 103 Sebastian Langeveld (Ned) Garmin Sharp 104 Valerio Agnoli (Ita) Astana Pro Team 105 Grégory Rast (Swi) Trek Factory Racing 106 Lieuwe Westra (Ned) Astana Pro Team 107 Iurii Trofimov (Rus) Team Katusha 108 José Ivan Gutierrez Palacios (Spa) Movistar Team 109 Matthew Busche (USA) Trek Factory Racing 110 Chris Anker Sörensen (Den) Tinkoff-Saxo 111 Fränk Schleck (Lux) Trek Factory Racing 112 Florian Guillou (Fra) Bretagne - Seche Environnement 113 Alexis Vuillermoz (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 114 Cristiano Salerno (Ita) Cannondale 115 Simon Gerrans (Aus) Orica GreenEdge 116 Sylvester Szmyd (Pol) Movistar Team 117 Mattia Cattaneo (Ita) Lampre-Merida 118 Cédric Pineau (Fra) FDJ.fr 119 Przemyslaw Niemiec (Pol) Lampre-Merida 120 Niki Terpstra (Ned) Omega Pharma - Quick-Step Cycling Team 0:01:49 121 Jerome Cousin (Fra) Team Europcar 0:01:52 122 Adrien Petit (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:01:55 123 Sébastien Chavanel (Fra) FDJ.fr 0:01:56 124 Luca Wackermann (Ita) Lampre-Merida 0:01:59 125 Benoît Vaugrenard (Fra) FDJ.fr 126 Anthony Delaplace (Fra) Bretagne - Seche Environnement 0:02:10 127 Bert De Backer (Bel) Team Giant-Shimano 0:02:24 128 Sébastien Minard (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 129 Mitchell Docker (Aus) Orica GreenEdge 0:02:28 130 Julien Simon (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:02:30 131 Stephen Cummings (GBr) BMC Racing Team 0:02:32 132 Matthew Harley Goss (Aus) Orica GreenEdge 0:02:33 133 Thomas Voeckler (Fra) Team Europcar 134 Albert Timmer (Ned) Team Giant-Shimano 0:02:45 135 Aleksejs Saramotins (Lat) IAM Cycling 0:02:56 136 Perrig Quemeneur (Fra) Team Europcar 0:03:24 137 Danilo Hondo (Ger) Trek Factory Racing 0:03:46 138 Alexey Tsatevich (Rus) Team Katusha 0:03:50 139 Ramon Sinkeldam (Ned) Team Giant-Shimano 0:05:42 140 Christian Knees (Ger) Team Sky 0:06:46 141 Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) Team Sky 0:06:51 142 Luke Rowe (GBr) Team Sky 143 Taylor Phinney (USA) BMC Racing Team 144 Jonathan Hivert (Fra) Belkin-Pro Cycling Team 145 Egor Silin (Rus) Team Katusha 146 Alessandro Vanotti (Ita) Astana Pro Team 147 Amaël Moinard (Fra) BMC Racing Team 148 Jelle Vanendert (Bel) Lotto Belisol 149 Stijn Vandenbergh (Bel) Omega Pharma - Quick-Step Cycling Team 0:07:00 150 David Lopez Garcia (Spa) Team Sky 151 Tyler Farrar (USA) Garmin Sharp 0:07:18 152 Lars Boom (Ned) Belkin-Pro Cycling Team 153 Egoitz Garcia Echeguibel (Spa) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 154 Christophe Laborie (Fra) Bretagne - Seche Environnement 0:07:40 155 Steele Von Hoff (Aus) Garmin Sharp 0:08:06 156 Gabriel Rasch (Nor) Team Sky 0:08:09 157 Matti Breschel (Den) Tinkoff-Saxo 158 Julien Fouchard (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 159 Sébastien Hinault (Fra) IAM Cycling 0:08:17 160 Matteo Bono (Ita) Lampre-Merida 0:08:27 161 Vasil Kiryienka (Blr) Team Sky 162 Andy Schleck (Lux) Trek Factory Racing 0:08:50 163 Kris Boeckmans (Bel) Lotto Belisol 0:09:05 164 Thierry Hupond (Fra) Team Giant-Shimano 0:09:30 165 Michael Albasini (Swi) Orica GreenEdge 166 Michael Matthews (Aus) Orica GreenEdge 0:10:39 167 Geoffrey Soupe (Fra) FDJ.fr 0:26:34 Points classification # Rider Name (Country) Team Result 1 Nacer Bouhanni (Fra) FDJ.fr 24 pts 2 John Degenkolb (Ger) Team Giant-Shimano 24 3 Gianni Meersman (Bel) Omega Pharma - Quick-Step Cycling Team 16 4 Moreno Hofland (Ned) Belkin-Pro Cycling Team 15 5 Bryan Coquard (Fra) Team Europcar 10 6 Jose Joaquin Rojas Gil (Spa) Movistar Team 8 7 Alexander Kristoff (Nor) Team Katusha 7 8 Thor Hushovd (Nor) BMC Racing Team 6 9 Tyler Farrar (USA) Garmin Sharp 6 10 Anthony Delaplace (Fra) Bretagne - Seche Environnement 5 11 Aleksejs Saramotins (Lat) IAM Cycling 5 12 Armindo Fonseca (Fra) Bretagne - Seche Environnement 4 13 Luca Wackermann (Ita) Lampre-Merida 4 14 Christophe Laborie (Fra) Bretagne - Seche Environnement 3 15 Tony Gallopin (Fra) Lotto Belisol 3 16 Fabio Felline (Ita) Trek Factory Racing 3 17 Jens Keukeleire (Bel) Orica GreenEdge 2 18 Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) BMC Racing Team 2 19 Fabio Sabatini (Ita) Cannondale 2 20 Geraint Thomas (GBr) Team Sky 1 21 Sylvain Chavanel (Fra) IAM Cycling 1 22 Francesco Gavazzi (Ita) Astana Pro Team 1 23 Enrico Gasparotto (Ita) Astana Pro Team -5 Mountains classification # Rider Name (Country) Team Result 1 Christophe Laborie (Fra) Bretagne - Seche Environnement 9 pts 2 Aleksejs Saramotins (Lat) IAM Cycling 4 3 Simon Yates (GBr) Orica GreenEdge 2 4 Przemyslaw Niemiec (Pol) Lampre-Merida 2 5 Anthony Delaplace (Fra) Bretagne - Seche Environnement 2 6 Perrig Quemeneur (Fra) Team Europcar 2 Young rider classification # Rider Name (Country) Team Result 1 Nacer Bouhanni (Fra) FDJ.fr 8:46:43 2 John Degenkolb (Ger) Team Giant-Shimano 0:00:02 3 Moreno Hofland (Ned) Belkin-Pro Cycling Team 0:00:04 4 Bryan Coquard (Fra) Team Europcar 0:00:14 5 Fabio Felline (Ita) Trek Factory Racing 0:00:19 6 Carlos Alberto Betancur Gomez (Col) AG2R La Mondiale 7 Bob Jungels (Lux) Trek Factory Racing 0:00:21 8 Rafal Majka (Pol) Tinkoff-Saxo 9 Wilco Kelderman (Ned) Belkin-Pro Cycling Team 10 Michel Koch (Ger) Cannondale 11 Tom Jelte Slagter (Ned) Garmin Sharp 12 Jon Izaguirre Insausti (Spa) Movistar Team 13 Sergei Chernetckii (Rus) Team Katusha 14 Davide Villella (Ita) Cannondale 15 Sébastien Reichenbach (Swi) IAM Cycling 16 Reinardt Janse Van Rensburg (RSA) Team Giant-Shimano 17 Elia Favilli (Ita) Lampre-Merida 0:00:32 18 Nelson Filipe Santos Simoes Oliveira (Por) Lampre-Merida 19 Jesus Herrada Lopez (Spa) Movistar Team 20 Simon Yates (GBr) Orica GreenEdge 21 Tim Wellens (Bel) Lotto Belisol 22 Jetse Bol (Ned) Belkin-Pro Cycling Team 23 Armindo Fonseca (Fra) Bretagne - Seche Environnement 0:01:23 24 Romain Bardet (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:01:30 25 Eduardo Sepulveda (Arg) Bretagne - Seche Environnement 26 George Bennett (NZl) Cannondale 27 Mattia Cattaneo (Ita) Lampre-Merida 0:01:41 28 Jerome Cousin (Fra) Team Europcar 0:01:52 29 Adrien Petit (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:01:55 30 Luca Wackermann (Ita) Lampre-Merida 0:01:59 31 Anthony Delaplace (Fra) Bretagne - Seche Environnement 0:02:10 32 Alexey Tsatevich (Rus) Team Katusha 0:03:50 33 Ramon Sinkeldam (Ned) Team Giant-Shimano 0:05:42 34 Taylor Phinney (USA) BMC Racing Team 0:06:51 35 Luke Rowe (GBr) Team Sky 36 Michael Matthews (Aus) Orica GreenEdge 0:10:39 |
In the past few years I have spent a lot of time in the West Bank city of Hebron, where communal relations between Israeli Jews and Palestinian Muslims could hardly be any worse; and I have often wondered why we expect the adherents of the Abrahamic faiths to get along, when their revered ancestors, described in the Book of Genesis, plainly didn’t. The question is particularly acute in Hebron, for it is the wellspring of the three great Abrahamic faiths — Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Genesis tells us that Abraham settled in Hebron after God commanded him to leave his home in Mesopotamia and travel to the promised land, and he and his family are believed to be interred in the Tomb of the Patriarchs — the city’s holiest shrine. Hebron is holy to Jews, who regard it as their birthplace, and to Muslims, who call it Al-Khalil, the ‘friend’, in honour of the very same Abraham, whom they revere as ‘a friend’ of God. Though Christianity is also an Abrahamic faith — the first verse of the New Testament claims Jesus Christ as ‘the son of Abraham’ — Judaism and Islam place much greater emphasis on this line of descent. According to Genesis, Abraham had two sons: the older, Ishmael, became the father of the Arabs, and the younger, Isaac, became the father of the Jews. Jews and Muslims are thus ‘brothers with different mothers’, as a Palestinian man once said to me. This shared heritage has brought the faiths together in the most literal sense: Hebron is the only city in the Israeli-occupied West Bank that is home to both Israelis and Palestinians. But cohabitation has not led to reconciliation or mutual understanding. People often lament the fact that the ‘Children of Abraham’ are not at peace in the city of their birth, yet the tensions so apparent in Hebron are not out of keeping with the city’s mythic past. The Book of Genesis is not the high-minded religious tract that many people expect. As the satirical American cartoonist Robert Crumb recognised when he produced a comic-book version in 2009, it is a riotous family drama, rife with feuds and sexual rivalries of all kinds. Crumb intended to lampoon the story of Adam and Eve, yet the man famed for his counter-cultural take on the US comic — he established the iconic rag, Weirdo — found that Genesis was beyond parody: ‘It was so strange in its own way that there was no need to do any send-up or satire of it,’ he said in an interview in 2010. Unlike religious literalists whose own comic-book versions modernise and bowdlerise the book, Crumb’s view that Genesis ‘is the word of men’ allowed him to render it in all its richness, bawdiness and incoherence. Crumb is often criticised for his portrayals of women and ethnic minorities, and he drew Adam, Eve and the other Biblical matriarchs and patriarchs, in his inimitable style, with protuberant buttocks and torpedo-like breasts. His fans, hoping for a more ‘outrageous take-off’, were disappointed. But I happen to like the way Crumb adapts familiar versions of the epic and reinvigorates the old stories by reimagining not only the text, but also its conventional representations. Above all, Crumb reminds us that Genesis is a great human drama. He shows the rage on Cain’s face as he kneels above Abel, blood dripping from the stone in his murderous hand, and the bemusement of the naked Noah, staggering drunkenly around his tent after the floodwaters have receded. Of course, the familial intrigues grow more tangled once Abraham is introduced in Chapter 11, along with his wife Sarah, whom we instantly discover is ‘barren’. Although God grants her a son at the age of 90, it is her earlier and cunning attempts to produce an heir that dramatise the mythic origins of the ethnic struggle that continues to this day. At the height of her ordeal, Sarah, middle-aged and menopausal, tells Abraham to ‘go in unto’ her Egyptian maid, Hagar, saying: ‘It may be that I may obtain children by her’. Such arrangements might have been conventional when Genesis was composed, but that doesn’t mean that its authors were unaware of their power to create resentment. As soon as Hagar conceives, Sarah (in Robert Alter’s recent translation) ‘seemed slight in her eyes’. Being supplanted by Hagar is bad enough: being ‘despised’ by her (says the King James now) is more than she can bear. When a somewhat exasperated Abraham tells her: ‘thy maid is in thine hand; do to her as it pleaseth thee’, Sarah is unforgiving, harassing the pregnant Hagar until she runs away. Yet God does not abandon Hagar: an Angel of the Lord finds her wandering in the wilderness and tells her to return home. She and her unborn child, he says, are part of God’s plan — her descendants ‘will be beyond all counting’. Instructing Hagar to call her son Ishmael, he prophesies that ‘he will be a wild ass of a man — his hand against all, the hand of all against him’. Hagar duly returns to Abraham, and Ishmael is born. His significance to his father is never in doubt: when God tells Abraham that the 90-year-old Sarah will bear a son, Abraham points out that he already has one (‘O that Ishmael might live before thee!’). And when Abraham is circumcised, in the first performance of the ritual that seals the covenant between God and His people, Ishmael is circumcised with him. However, the feud between Abraham’s wives revives after Isaac’s miraculous birth. At the ‘great feast’ thrown by Abraham the day Isaac is weaned, Sarah is incensed by Ishmael ‘mocking’ something or someone (some commentators suggest that her anger was aroused by Ishmael’s ‘playing’ with his new brother, claiming that she couldn’t tolerate their intimacy). In a blaze of jealousy and vindictiveness, Sarah tells Abraham to ‘cast out this slave-girl and her son’, and God advises him to obey. ‘Whatever Sarah says to you, listen to her voice,’ He says. He is a God of the household squabble and the family row. A God you can consult about your marriage, and questions of real estate Here, as elsewhere, one gets the impression that the God of Genesis has infinite patience for the domestic affairs of matriarchs and patriarchs. He is not a remote divinity or a sky-dwelling immortal: He is as directly involved in the lives of His people as the Greek gods were in theirs. He is a God of the household squabble and the family row. A God you can consult about your marriage, and a God who gets involved in questions of real estate. He tells Abraham that he and ‘his seed’ shall receive the ‘whole land of Canaan’ – ‘through Isaac your seed shall be acclaimed’. Yet he adds that Ishmael also is his ‘seed’, assuring Abraham that he will make him ‘a nation’, too. Ishmael ‘dwelt in the wilderness’ (after Abraham banishes him and his mother once again), and never set foot in Canaan again. He married a woman from Egypt, like his mother, and had 12 sons — ‘princes according to their nations’. When he died, aged 137, he was gathered ‘unto his people’ who ‘dwelt from Havilah unto Shur’ — an area that is sometimes said to correspond to the Arabian peninsula. The same themes — infertility, sibling rivalry, female jealousy — are endlessly reconfigured throughout successive stages of Genesis’s family saga. Abraham’s son Isaac also takes a barren wife, Rebekah, and again they rely upon a divinely-aided conception. Their twin sons Jacob and Esau relive the fraternal discord that marked relations between Isaac and Ishmael, and Cain and Abel. And in the next generation, Jacob’s wife Rachel, another barren woman, relies on a surrogate handmaid, just as Sarah had done. I am particularly fascinated by the recurrence of infertility through the generations, for my son was born as a result of fertility treatment shortly before I went to Hebron for the first time. The knowledge that Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebekah, and Jacob and Rachel had suffered the same frustrations as my wife and me made them more real to me than they had ever been before. Of course, the solutions our society proposes are very different: while we enjoyed the benefits of post-enlightenment medical science, the inhabitants of ancient Judea were told that obedience to the priestly laws was the best way to satisfy the primal urge to reproduce. Yet there’s a narrative richness to the stories that goes beyond reinforcing patriarchal values, or the primacy of the temple cult. I am moved to find that the infertile women are — in every case — their husbands’ first-chosen and best-loved wives, and I’m intrigued by the way that the God of Genesis insinuates Himself into the most intimate details of peoples’ marriages — even if the idea of male infertility clearly never occurred to the Biblical authors. In her influential book Sarah the Priestess (1984), Savina Teubal suggests that the complex status of women such as Sarah and Rachel, who are infertile yet empowered, betrays the residual influence of a matriarchal order pre-existing in Mesopotamia and Egypt. Women’s marital and reproductive affairs, however, still serve God’s design, as Jacob’s complex marriages to Laban’s daughters reaffirms. To begin with, Jacob’s ‘hated’ wife Leah makes the most of God’s strategic help (He ‘opened her womb’) by having four sons, before Rachel sidesteps her barrenness, as her grandmother Sarah did, giving Jacob her handmaid Bilhah ‘as a wife’. After Bilhah has two sons, Leah gives Jacob her handmaid Zilpah, who has two sons as well. Then Leah herself has two more sons and a daughter. Finally, God takes pity on Rachel and ‘opened her womb’: she has a boy called Joseph and dies giving birth to another, Benjamin. The many to-ings and fro-ings, which Crumb believes were ‘intentionally meant to provide bedroom-comedy relief’, furnished Jacob with 12 sons who went on to found the 12 tribes of Israel. They are significant figures in the Biblical story, and Genesis devotes several chapters to them. As for Jacob’s only daughter, Dinah, she catches the eye of a local prince called Shechem, who defiles her, then decides he loves her, before finally asking Jacob for her hand. However, two of Dinah’s brothers, Simeon and Levi, oppose the marriage and attack the city of Shechem, capturing the women and children and killing ‘every male’. Jacob is furious, but Simeon and Levi are unrepentant. During a family showdown, one of them demands of Jacob: ‘Should he deal with our sister as with an harlot?’ The line might have been lifted from The Sopranos, and its startling directness reaffirms the turbulent nature of family life with which the God of Genesis is so intimately involved. The epic saga of national renewal described in the Book of Exodus via the story of Joseph, and celebrated every Passover, has its roots in Genesis’s stories of infertility and marital and fraternal rivalry. Similarly, the Hajj, or the pilgrimage to Mecca, which is one of the five duties every devout Muslim is supposed to observe, originates in Hagar’s ordeal in the desert (after her second expulsion). Her despairing hunt for water is re-enacted by the pilgrims walking back and forth along a covered promenade in the Masjid al-Haram — the mosque surrounding the Kaaba, Islam’s holiest shrine. And her moment of angelic salvation is re-enacted by drinking from the well that was supposed to have appeared when said angel struck the ground with his foot. Genesis was always intended to evoke memories of an older, purer time, when a man such as Abraham could be on intimate terms with God One reason the Abrahamic stories have transcended time and place so successfully is that they were not intended to reflect contemporary realities. Recent scholarly analysis suggests that the descriptions of Abraham’s life are more suggestive of conditions during the first millennium BCE when the stories were written down, than those of the 18th century BCE, when Abraham is supposed to have lived. In other words, they were not folk tales handed down from generation to generation, but contemporary inventions, or folk tales infused with contemporary observations. There might have been similarities between Abraham’s life and the lives of his earliest audiences in ancient Judea — and also his audience in the Arabian peninsula, introduced to his deeds 1,000 years later by the visionary who founded a new faith by reasserting the principles of the old one. Yet the stories were always intended to evoke memories of an ancestral past, an older, purer time, when a man such as Abraham could be on intimate terms with God. This intimacy is all the more remarkable given that Genesis contains many instances of God’s awesome power. When God visits Abraham to announce that Sarah will have a child at the age of 90, He arrives in the form of three men, whom Abraham treats like normal guests: he kills a calf, fetches bread and milk, and stands by while his guests sit under a tree and eat. Such domestic details makes the shift into the realms of prophecy easier to accept. The register changes when two of the three men walk across the plain to the condemned cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, leaving Abraham to his famous barter with God: he pleads with God not to ‘wipe out the innocent along with the guilty’ and drives down the number of righteous townspeople, who must be found if the town is to be saved, from fifty to ten. In the event, God cannot find ten righteous men, so He destroys the ‘cities of the plain’ with fire and brimstone. This is the work of the other God of Genesis, the God who controls heaven and earth — whose interest in household affairs coexists with the power to redeem or destroy nations. He is a God to look up to, to appeal to when the wrongs of the world go unchallenged: a God you would be advised to obey. That the matriarchs and patriarchs of old often fail to live up to His expectations only deepens the feeling that we are watching real people, who are frequently blind to their true interests. Indeed, such a turbulent background might explain why today’s Jews and Muslims, in places such as Hebron, do not treat their shared heritage as a source of commonality: in maintaining the family feud, they are preserving the spirit of the stories of Genesis — stories, moreover, in which the image of their God is found. Communal relations in Hebron have not always been as bad as they are today. The two communities lived together peaceably for 400 years during Ottoman rule. Co‑existence came to an end only in 1929, when tensions caused by Jewish immigration resulted in riots throughout Palestine. The worst violence was in Hebron: on the night of 23 August, an Arab mob killed 67 members of its Jewish community, and soon after the British authorities evacuated the rest. A small group of settlers returned to the city after Israel captured the West Bank from Jordan in the Six-Day war of 1967, and ever since the conflict has centred on the city’s religious sites and shrines. On 25 February 1994, a settler walked into the Tomb of the Patriarchs during morning prayers and shot dead 29 Muslims. Three years later, Hebron was partitioned. Today, settlers may enter the parts of the city controlled by the Palestinian Authorities only to visit a shrine, and it is not unusual to see Jewish worshippers walking through the streets escorted by soldiers, in a strange fusion of piety and militarism. The Palestinians understand how settlers can co-opt the sacred to expand their presence in the city: one day, I set off with a Palestinian guide to find a well, mentioned in the Bible, where Abraham was supposed to have watched Sarah bathing. We couldn’t find it, and it transpired that the man who owned the house behind it had built a garage over it. He wanted somewhere to park his car, but that wasn’t the only motive: he was concerned that the settlers would add the well to the list of places to which they had visiting rights, and he wanted to pre-empt the possibility of them turning up at his front door. Still, the legend of Isaac and Ishmael offers some grounds for hope. Genesis relates that Isaac met the exiled Ishmael only once, when they buried Abraham in Hebron; but Jewish tradition maintains he never forgot him. Isaac lived in the Negev beside the ‘fountain in the wilderness’ where the angel rescued Hagar for the first time. One evening, he had gone out to meditate in the field when he saw the camel train approaching, bearing Rebekah to Canaan. Tradition maintains that it was Ishmael who was on Isaac’s mind — that, thinking of his brother, he was rewarded with his wife — and yet the filial reconciliation he dreamed of never came. Perhaps it will be enacted symbolically by their heirs. If so, they will have overcome not only the entrenched political problems apparent in Hebron, but the enduring human weaknesses so graphically portrayed in the very stories in which Isaac and Ishmael were created. |
by Rod Buller purchased his Bugeye Sprite from bugeyeguy.com no differently than any of our other customers. He went to our our website, fell in love with a 1960 Iris Blue Bugeye named Howard, and then called to make his purchase. The big difference, however, is that Rod is 86 years old. The 111 Bugeyes we have sent to new homes have primarily gone to people in their Forties, fifties, sixties, and occasionally seventies. Not one of our cars has been delivered to an owner over 80, let alone someone 86 (he’ll be 87 in March). When Rod first called, I was moved by the mere fact that he had shown up for a conversation normally reserved for those most nimble. Most of his contemporaries would be more interested in a Lexus or Crown Victoria than in our pocket-sized sports cars, but he had already taken his 5’10” inch frame to the home of another Florida Bugeye owner to check his ability to enter and exit, and called me ready to go. Rod was happy to report he could get in and out of a Bugeye with ease. From the start I felt that this was a story of a elderly man who was purposely demonstrating what is possible in one’s later years. But after getting to know Rod a little better, I could see this was my story, not his… Rod is simply being Rod, living his life fully, just as he did at any other point in his life, with nothing to prove. He is simply living in the moment, as any of us strive to do, and a Bugeye is his chosen toy. He just happens to be 86. Sports cars have been a part of Rod’s life for a long time. He got his first British car in 1957. While driving his four door Studebaker Commander from Southern Mexico (where he was working as an agronomist) home to Allentown, PA, he stopped at a sports car dealership in Atlanta and traded the Commander for a new 1957 Austin Healey 100/6. He drove the Healey home to PA (in the winter!) and then 2700 miles back to Cuernavaca, Mexico. I imagine a long and dusty Mexican road in 1957 with bandits behind every mesa, and a less than reliable British car (even when new) coughing through the dust. But Rod had no issues other than a wire that came disconnected from his wiper motor, and made it home with no trouble. He eventually sold that car to a friend, but when the new 3000 came out in 1959, Rod had to have another big Healey, and paid the dealer in Mexico City for his next British car which he picked it up in London (where he was headed on a business trip). After driving that car in England and shipping it back to Mexico, Rod enjoyed that Healey until 1961, when he was invited to lead the Peace Corps in Venezuela, and so he piled into the 3000 and drove it to Washington DC, where he went to work selecting volunteers for assignment with him in Venezuela. He sold the Healey in Washington in 1962, in anticipation of his move to South America. Fast forward to 1978, when Rod’s father died, and Rod inherited dad’s 1967 Porsche 911 Soft Window Targa. Now back in America, Rod showed and drove this fine car, and in 2008 had the car completely restored, so he could return the car to the show circuit with a pristine car. When he sold the 911 last year, Rod started looking for an inexpensive sports car with which he could tinker, and thus his search led him to our website where he made his purchase. And so Rod is just like any other “car guy” who has chosen to travel through life in interesting cars. It’s not Rod’s decision to buy a Bugeye that keeps him youthful. But his Bugeye is simply the next car to share an adventurous life that has included some great classic cars, each one of which have kept him young. He and his wife Marie will celebrate their 49th anniversary in 2014, with their renamed Bugeye “Bluebird.” Look for them at car shows in and around Jupiter, Florida. |
Often called the book of life, human DNA has been no easy read for scientists, who face the staggering challenge of figuring out which genetic mutations lead to disease. People carry millions of them in their code, and there has been no efficient way to tell the ones that cause diseases such as cancer from those that simply make ear wax moist. Now, a research team led by computer engineers at the University of Toronto says it has developed a biological browser, a first-of-its-kind filtering technology that may finally solve the problem. Like a powerful search engine that mines the web for answers, the new computational system combs the human genome to seek and sort meaningful mutations. Google Inc., along with other companies, has already expressed an interest in it – raising questions about what could, or should, happen with publicly funded technology that is likely to be in demand in a growing world of Big Data. Story continues below advertisement The technology may transform medical research by pointing the way to the genetic roots of diseases. But not just diseases. The system, which has been named SPANR (short for "splicing-based analysis of variants" and pronounced "spanner"), could also be used to identify traits that make people healthier, smarter and even happier. "Ours is the first example of a tool that will be able to efficiently figure out what's going on with your genome," said Brendan Frey, the U of T professor of engineering and medicine who led the l0-year project. At its core is a computational technique known as "machine learning," in which a system is programmed to recognize mutations based on examples researchers have input. With complex forms of it – called "deep-learning" technology or artificial intelligence – the system is designed to detect and decipher. It is the kind of automated reasoning behind the latest voice-, text- and image-recognition engines, popular virtual-assistant apps such as Siri, and now SPANR. The Toronto system is designed to detect glitches in the vast areas of DNA that regulate genes and have not been extensively studied. But it has also been "trained" with data and algorithms to analyze and rank each mutation in terms of its power to change the way a cell behaves. The higher the ranking, the more likely it is that the mutation leads to disease. "Computers have been used to read the genome for quite a while, but this is using a computer to interpret and understand the genome," said Prof. Frey, who holds the Canada Research Chair in Biological Computation. "Our system is not perfect, but it works very well." In a study published online on Thursday in the journal Science Express, the Toronto researchers report that their system accurately confirmed 94 per cent of the known genetic culprits behind well-studied diseases without any information related to the patients or their conditions. It also discovered new genetic mutations linked to colorectal and pancreatic cancers, spinal muscular atrophy (a leading cause of infant mortality), and most dramatically, 39 genes never before linked to autism. Prof. Frey said the journal rushed to publish news of the system this week because it could bring much needed precision to genetic research, which has often involved collecting and comparing the genomes of sick and healthy people – "tens of thousands of them. But even those numbers haven't been enough to pinpoint patterns or mutations that might be relevant." Story continues below advertisement Story continues below advertisement Consider how many patterns of text can be created, whole books, with an alphabet of just 26 letters, he said. The genome, meanwhile, is a biochemical alphabet of three billion chemical pairs: "The number of patterns possible in DNA is greater than the number of atoms in the universe." Manolis Kellis, an expert in computational biology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who was not involved in the study, described the Toronto work as a necessary contribution to the field: "We're really learning the cellular circuitry is much more complex than the human mind can grasp." But, he noted, it would not have been possible without first sequencing many human genomes, since they contain the raw data needed "for training these [computer] models." Prof. Frey believes machine learning will usher in an age of personalized medicine, when treatments can be tailored to a patient's DNA. Doctors, he said, could theoretically use the system to quickly produce a list of the significant mutations in any patient. Or, he predicts, within a decade, when many people will have their DNA codes sequenced, it will be a tool, perhaps an app on smart phones, that allows them to share and compare mutations, and possibly crowd-source their meaning by swapping details of their ailments and traits. "People with a certain mutation in common might find out they're all scared of heights," he mused. Story continues below advertisement He said people are already uploading their genetic codes into Google's internet data-storage cloud. Last summer, the California-based internet giant revealed its research division had launched its own genome project to catalogue the biomarkers of a healthy human. This month, BlackBerry announced its new Passport smartphone will include a cancer-genome browser for doctors to access a patient's genetic data instantly. All of this Big Data will require some form of deep learning to interpret, Prof. Frey said. Social networking and video gaming have already made the field so hot that his graduate students are "heavily courted" with six-figure salaries and signing bonuses of $3-million. His students, he said, are thinking of a startup of their own. As for himself, he said, "I didn't get into this make money. I got into it transform medicine." Behind the Frey Brendan Frey wasn't always a genome man. In the 1990s, the U of T engineering professor used to apply his machine learning know-how to digital communications. But in 2001, his pregnant wife received the results of a DNA test that said their unborn child carried a number of genetic mutations. Story continues below advertisement "No one could tell us if these were serious or benign. It was frustrating. DNA is like a digital code, and I thought, 'Why can't we understand?'" It was after that experience that Prof. Frey aimed his computational expertise at the human genome. Specifically, he opted to target those sprawling sections of code once naively dismissed as "junk DNA" because they contain no genes. Genes, with the protein recipes they carry, have always been DNA's divas, telling cells what to do, and where to do it (as in, "Be a bone! Be a muscle!") Yet genes make up only about 1 per cent of DNA. The rest of the genome, scientists have more recently discovered, encode crucial instructions to direct and regulate how genes operate. "It's like a recipe book. The genes are the ingredients. But if you just have the ingredients you really don't have anything at all. You have to know the amounts, and what to do with them," Prof. Frey said. "You need the instructions." Prof. Frey studied what happens when the instructions are muddled with mutations and cannot be properly put together, or "spliced," by the genes they are supposed to regulate. With a team that included postdocs and graduate students, Babak Alipanahi, Leo Lee, Hui Xiong and Hannes Bretschneider, Prof. Frey spent a decade feeding a computer system a wide range of examples so it would know what DNA looks like, how to read and recognize its text, patterns, and mutations. And in the same way a child learns to read, he says, the system "learns" with mathematical models and algorithms to predict the biochemical effects of what it sees. He estimated the current system allows researchers to read DNA at a Grade 1 level. But like DNA itself, the system, he hopes, will be improved and evolve over time. |
CLOSE Gov. Cuomo signed a law on Nov. 11 adding PTSD to the list of conditions that can now be treated with medical marijuana. Natasha Vaughn, Albany Bureau Gov. Andrew Cuomo spoke in Manhattan on Nov. 4, 2017, before the Veteran's Day parade to announce PTSD will be a condition eligible for medical marijuana in New York. (Photo: Governor's office) ALBANY — New Yorkers who suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder will now be able to use medical marijuana as a form of treatment. Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed a law Saturday that added PTSD to the list of conditions eligible for medical marijuana in New York. “As of today, marijuana will be legalized if a doctor authorizes and finds the condition of PTSD for a veteran, and I think that can help thousands of veterans. It's something that we've been talking about for a long time, and I'm glad we're taking action,” Cuomo said. REVENUE: Money woes hamper New York's medical marijuana program LAWSUIT: NY medical marijuana companies sue over expansion plan STRUGGLES: Progress and hurdles for NY's medical marijuana program Often associated with military veterans, PTSD is medical disorder that can occur after a person experiences, witnesses or was threatened by something traumatic, life-threatening or violent, according to the American Psychiatric Association. Symptoms can include nightmares, flashbacks, aggression, intrusive thoughts, distress and insomnia, the group said. It also can be found in firefighters, police officers, survivors of rape, domestic violence and accidents, experts said. New York is now the 23rd state to allow PTSD to qualify to be treated with medical marijuana. After a sluggish start, New York's medical marijuana program has expanded the conditions eligible to receive the drug and the number of medical professionals who can prescribe it. The program started in January 2016 and does not allow smokeable forms of the drug. PTSD is now the 12th medical condition that is eligible to use medical marijuana in the state. The state Health Department added chronic pain to the list of illnesses in March. Chronic pain led to a spike in the number of medical-marijuana patients in New York. The program has about 1,300 registered practitioners and 35,000 patients. State officials estimated about 19,000 New Yorkers living with PTSD would benefit from the use of medical marijuana. Currently, the FDA approves of two different drugs to treat PTSD. Marijuana groups supported the change. “No one should have to leave the state to have access to a treatment that might help them have a better quality of life,” said Landon Dais, the political director for the Marijuana Policy Project of New York, in a statement. The measure was one of several bills Cuomo signed on Veterans Day. New York has about 770,000 veterans, Cuomo said. Others included allowing combat veterans employed by the state to take additional days off to get health services; waiving application fees for veterans taking a civil service exam; and requiring the state to maintain a public list of all not-for-profit corporations that solicit funds on behalf of the armed forces. Another bill signed into law directs the state to place a POW/MIA chair and plaque in the state Capitol. Cuomo also announced that new service branch-specific license plates are available for the Army, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard and Marines. "It’s not only an honor for the veterans who would have the license plate, but something that all New Yorkers can appreciate and thank them for," Cuomo said. Read or Share this story: http://press.sn/2hCXnab |
The second round has brought us some of the most entertaining games of the playoffs. Every series has featured two teams that were pretty evenly matched on paper and whoever got the most bounces usually had the edge. You expect this as you get further into the playoffs, as the field starts to even out as the better teams advance and the weaker ones go home. The Eastern Conference matchup between the New York Islanders and Tampa Bay Lightning, however, differs from this trend. This was a quick, five-game series and didn’t differ from most people’s predictions as the Lightning made short work of the Islanders. Tampa Bay went into this series as heavy favorites, having just beaten the Detroit Red Wings in five-games and being the stronger possession team at even strength all season. The Islanders pulled off a bit of an upset over the Florida Panthers in six games, largely thanks to goaltender Thomas Greiss having an unreal performance, but most didn’t give them a chance in this series. Even with Tampa Bay’s injury problems, most had them getting through this series. The Islanders proved some critics wrong in Game 1, defeating Tampa Bay 5-3 on the road and outplaying them for the most part. Tampa responded by winning the next four, two of them coming in overtime, and looking like the even strength powerhouse they were all year. If you remember, Ben Bishop played a big role in them beating the Red Wings, so this series was a bit of a return to form for them and after the jump, we’ll look at what they did to get past the Islanders. 5v5 Shot Attempts Tampa Bay outshot the Islanders pretty easily and they also had sizable advantage in scoring chances and creating shots off passing plays. How they won the territorial battle is a little interesting, though. Throughout the playoffs, we’ve seen most teams create over half of their shots off entries done by carrying the puck in. Tampa Bay created a majority of their shots this way, but less than other teams and a good chunk of their offense came off turnovers. Meanwhile, the Islanders were more reliant on transition play (and having some success off creating turnovers as well) for their offense. It’s interesting to see it drawn out like this because Tampa Bay seems like a team that would thrive off carry-ins, and the Islanders didn’t exactly do a great job of defending their blue line against Florida. You would expect Tampa Bay to have a field day here, especially with how badly they outshot and outchanced the Islanders. To an extent, this is what happened but Tampa Bay wasn’t as reliant on transition play as other teams and turnovers were a big part of their offense, which says a lot about the Islanders defensive zone play. To illustrate this further, we’re going to take a look at zone exits for both teams. This is something I’ve been tracking all post-season, but haven’t been able to work into my posts yet for various reasons. Since turnovers were a big factor this series, I figured that this would be a good opportunity to do so. I discussed the methodology behind tracking exits on my glossary page, so go there if you want to know more about what exactly I look for. To put it briefly, I counted the number of times a team attempted to exit the zone, how often they were successful and how often they did it with control of the puck. I also tracked how often they failed to exit the zone and if the zone exit led to a successful zone entry. It’s debatable how much this leads to in terms of winning the shot battle or goal-differential, but it’s hard to say that it didn’t play a big role in this series when you look at how both teams created their shots. You can see that Tampa had a big edge on the Islanders in this category. The Islanders had some problems in their own zone, to put it mildly. Not only did Tampa Bay do a better job of exiting their zone, they were able to do it with control more and they were able to turn those exits into successful entries, which is the overall goal. Another thing that stands out is the failed exits category, which is where the Bolts did most of their damage. One-fifth of the Islanders exited attempts resulted in a failed attempt or a turnover and the Lightning capitalized on this. Tampa had some of their own problems in this area, but this issue was more pronounced for the Islanders and ended up burning them a few times. A look at the Islanders’ individual performances shows who the guilty parties were and how shallow their depth was at this point in the playoffs. Islanders Forwards Islanders Defense The Islanders had some good showings here from their top players (Tavares & Leddy) in particular, but as you go down the depth chart, the uglier it gets. Their fourth line of Clutterbuck, Cizikas & Martin couldn’t get out of their own zone at all, let alone with possession and their second pairing of Calvin de Haan & Johnny Boychuk had a pretty rough series too. Most of the Islanders forwards had a tough time getting out of their zone cleanly, as only four regular forwards were able to do it at least 50% of the time (Bailey only played two games) and a couple of their better players (Nielsen & Strome) had disastrous showings here. Zidlicky also struggled before he was benched for Ryan Pulock in Game 4, who wasn’t much of an improvement but at least cut down on the turnovers that plagued the Islanders for most of this series. When the whole team struggles this much, it’s usually one of two things. The first case is that the team is clearly outmatched, which isn’t too out of the question when you compare regular season numbers, and the other is that it’s a system/matchup problem. Both are plausible cases. I don’t think the Islanders are this much worse than the Lightning, but Tampa seemed to be all over them in the offensive zone and cut off most of the passing lanes. All the Islanders could do most of the time was dump the puck out to center or make a “hope” play that had a better chance of being turned over. If you want to see how hard Tampa made it for the Islanders to get out of their own zone, this example from Game 1 shows it well. The Islanders sent out their top line & defense pairing against Tampa Bay’s for a defensive zone faceoff. Tampa Bay ended up creating eight shot attempts in a minute span and it all started with a couple of small, innocent looking plays that turned into a fire drill for the Islanders. Things start off well for the Islanders as they win the draw and Travis Hamonic looks to start the breakout. Note how they’re going behind the net (presumably to move the play to Leddy, who is the better puck-mover of the two) and the Lightning have two forecheckers attacking the puck. Some teams sit back and defend after they lose the draw, but Tampa Bay played this pretty aggressively. The fact that they’re trailing by two in the third period probably influenced that a little. Nikita Kucherov disrupts the Islanders breakout by intercepting the Islanders d-to-d exchange behind the net. The Islanders don’t lose possession on this play, but Kucherov threw off their rhythm just a little and this influences the rest of the play, as you’re about to see. Also take note of Tyler Johnson covering the other lane, so Hamonic didn’t have much room to work with at all. The Islanders try to work the play around the boards with Kucherov hounding Leddy as much as he possibly can. Leddy’s attempting to skate the puck out of harm’s way and possibly look for an outlet in Alan Quine (#10), but the Lightning are converging on him quickly. Kucherov’s already on his tail and the other forward, Ondrej Palat, is closing in on his other passing lane. Leddy can’t make a play in time and eventually loses possession with two Lightning players converging on him. Tampa can now get to work on a cycle with the Islanders trying to get back into position. Palat takes the puck off the wall and cuts to the center of the ice. The Islanders react to the play well, as Palat’s only options are to shoot it from where he is or move the puck back to Victor Hedman at the point. Also take note of how all five Islanders are in the picture and only three Lightning players, which means one thing…. Palat hangs onto the puck for a couple of seconds and finds Matt Carle, who came off the bench, and had an open lane on the farside of the ice. Now, Palat had to wait a couple of seconds to make this play so the Islanders had time to react to it and Hamonic was able to prevent Carle from having a clear shot at the net. Hamonic does a nice job of recovering and is able to break up the play. Unfortunately, the second he gets possession, two Lightning players are right in his face and he can’t make a quick outlet to Kyle Okposo, who would have had a free pass out of the zone if he made the pass. Okposo goes to the boards to make the play easier for Hamonic, but Palat is there to cut off the pass yet again and we’re right back where we started. The Lightning spend the next twenty seconds or so working a cycle, trying to drive the Islanders out of position and Kucherov is eventually able to find Matt Carle open in the slot. He gets a decent chance away on his backhand with Johnson screening Greiss. The Islanders are exhausted and scrambling at this point. Greiss makes the save but he is tested again with Kucherov sitting right at the side of the net. Hamonic is also there and disrupts Kucherov’s path to the net enough to prevent the shot from getting on goal. The rebound deflects to Alan Quine in the slot and he attempts to clear the puck out of the zone so the Islanders can at least get a change or a breather. Instead, the puck goes right to Victor Hedman and the Lightning get yet another shot on goal, this time with Leddy screening his own goaltender. The Lightning work yet another cycle with the Islanders exhausted from chasing them around the rink for the past 50 seconds and they are able to setup another shot with a screen in front. This process continued for another 30 seconds and the Lighting were able to get a few more shots out of it. Even though they didn’t score, the Islanders eventually got worn down from playing so much in their own zone and it played a factor as the series went on. In fact, you would see this process repeat itself many times over the next four games. The Islanders kept trying to use the boards to exit the zone when they were under pressure and it didn’t take long for the Lightning to figure this out and use it to their advantage. All of the Islanders defensemen were guilty of this (we just saw their top pair get worked in the last breakdown), but Calvin de Haan in particular had trouble with this if you refer back to the numbers. He had the second highest Failed Exit Percentage on the team and wasn’t very successful at getting the puck out of his zone with control. Here’s an example of some of the problems he had. The play starts off pretty well for the Islanders, as de Haan forces a dump-in by Kucherov, one of Tampa Bay’s more dangerous players in the neutral zone. Kucherov is a little more strategic with this dump-in, as it looks like’s directing the puck to an area where one of his teammate’s can get to it. An indirect pass if you After a short puck battle, the play eventually goes along the boards and the Islanders look to start a breakout. As you can probably guess, things don’t go as planned. The Islanders try to exit up the wall again and the play is broken off by Namestnikov and Jason Garrison, who pinched down the right wall. There’s no one there to make a recovery for the Islanders and things start to unravel shortly after. Kucherov covers up for Garrison’s spot at the point and Jonathan Marchessault reads the play well by getting himself into a shooting position. With the Islanders having just turned the puck over, no one is in position and Marchessault is left wide open for the time being. Fortunately for the Islanders, Marchessault wiffs on the shot and they dodge a bullet for now. The play isn’t over quite yet, though. After that near-disaster the Islanders try to start another breakout and de Haan is kind of nailed into a corner with two Tampa Bay players surrounding him. He tries to go around the net to his partner, Thomas Hickey, who is on the other side. There is some open space here so the play is possible if they move the puck around quick enough. Hickey goes for a short breakout pass to Shane Prince and the Isles try a similar breakout. Tampa, again, reads the play well and has a forward coming down ready to cut off Prince’s lane and force the Islanders to start over again. Prince tries to avoid this by switching gears by reversing course and moving the play around to de Haan on the other side. Kucherov closed the lane on him quickly and there’s some open space on the other side, so this looks like a smart play on his part. Kucherov quickly reads this and converges on de Haan the second he receives the puck. Prince had to take a longer round behind the net to get de Haan the puck, so this probably allowed Kucherov some extra time to get to the other side of the ice and make things tougher fort the Islander defenseman. It doesn’t take long for things to fall apart for the Islanders, as Kucherov is all over de Haan and he makes a hasty play to move the puck up the boards. Shortly after the turnover, Namestnikov retrieves the puck and quickly moves it to the front of the net. You can see the Islander forward in the neutral zone who de Haan was trying to get the puck to before Kucherov got in his face. With the Islanders, again, caught out of position after a turnover, the Lightning had an outnumbered situation in front of the net and Marchessault gets a good scoring chance away plus a rebound opportunity. There’s a lot of examples I can go over with this because it happened so often, but I think I’ve beaten the point into the ground by now. I looked to see if the Islanders adjusted at all, but they reverted to the same tactics whenever they were under pressure throughout the series. Moving it up the boards wasn’t their first option, but the Lightning kept attacking them in waves in the offensive zone that they didn’t have much of an option. Something I did notice when reviewing the games in Brooklyn, however, was that the Islanders strategy when defending zone exits was the exact opposite. Their defensemen weren’t nearly as aggressive at disrupting breakouts and when they were, it didn’t have much of an impact because their strategy was so passive that Tampa could find a lane out of the zone pretty easily. Here we see the Lightning in a situation that they forced the Islanders into many times in the first two games. Their breakout is moved to the wall and de Haan does a nice job of disrupting Andrej Sustr’s attempt to exit the zone. Sustr has some support with two forwards nearby and the Islanders have Kyle Okposo there to help block the Lightning’s path. A puck battle ensues and the Lightning have a favorable situation as they outnumber the Isles three-to-one and Okposo has backed off into the neutral zone. Pretty much conceding possession of the puck and any chance the Islanders have of creating a scoring chance, as the Lightning have the advantage and the Isles are already preparing to defend. The Lightning win the battle and Drouin has an easy path out of the zone with support coming in another forward. You can see Okposo back in the neutral zone already in defense mode. I was curious if this was a singular instance or a trend and I notice the Islanders defense do this quite a few times in the series. Here we see Ryan Callahan with the puck shortly after blocking a shot. The defenseman who took the shot, Ryan Pulock, immediately backed off into the neutral zone after Callahan blocked it and the far-side defenseman does the same. The Lightning made a breakout pass shortly after this and got a successful zone entry out of it. It’s interesting to see how different the two team’s strategies were when it came to breakouts and defending them, especially since it caused so many problems for the Islanders and they kept sticking with it. Were zone entries any different? 5v5 Zone Entries The neutral zone play is interesting because it’s basically a draw. Tampa Bay had a slight edge in entries but had to dump the puck in more often than the Islanders. They were also creating fewer shots per carry-in than the Islanders and made up for it by being more productive on entries where they had to dump the puck in. Both teams ended up creating a similar amount of shots off entries with Tampa Bay having a slight edge here. They also doubled up the Islanders in goals, which is partially due to Bishop playing so well and the Lightning being more effective at moving the puck around to create chances. The fact that the neutral zone play ended up being so even in terms of shots illustrates how big of a factor turnovers & poor breakouts were for the Islanders, as that seemed to be what was holding them back. Lightning Zone Entries If you want to know why Tampa had a lower Carry-in rate than you’d expect, look at Killorn, Callahan & most of their defense and that should explain things. Among regular forwards, Killorn was their most relied on player in the neutral zone and he dumped the puck in on most of his entries. The same can be said for Callahan, as his line with Boyle & Paquette was mostly a dump-and-chase unit that wasn’t called upon to produce much offense off the rush. Their defense wasn’t relied on to be puck-carriers either with the exception of Nikita Nesterov, who spent the last few games on the bench and Slater Koekkoek, who played more of a seventh defensemen. Victor Hedman also belongs in this category, as he had more of a role in the neutral zone than anyone else on the blue line, even though he had to dump the puck in on the majority of his entries. Aside from that, Tampa did a pretty good job of getting the puck to their more skilled players and they were able to make plays happen at the opposing blue line. Jonathan Drouin and Nikita Kucherov are the two obvious standouts here, as they were the catalysts for most of Tampa Bay’s offense in the neutral zone. Drouin in particular had an outstanding showing here and Filppula also did well for himself, balancing out some of Killorn’s play on the second line. All three members of the Triplets line also find themselves in good spots with Kucherov doing most of the heavy lifting and Johnson & Palat not far behind him. Tampa played with 11 forwards for most of the series, so their numbers are top-heavy but the top of their roster performed very well and earned any extra ice time they were given. Islanders 5v5 Zone Entries You might recall that the Islanders had to dump the puck in a lot in their first round series against Florida. This is one thing they improved on, as guys like Brock Nelson and Frans Nielsen did a much better job of finding space in the neutral zone and carrying the puck in. Both of them had to do most of the work on their lines too, as most of the Islanders wingers had rough outings. Two exceptions were Kyle Okposo, who was attached at the hip to Tavares, and Cal Clutterbuck, who was glued to the fourth line so neither provided much help for the aforementioned centers. Someone who helped a little was Shane Prince, who continued his strong play from the first round and eventually earned himself a spot on Tavares’ line in Game 4. Prince seemed to give whatever line he was on a spark and he ended up getting moved around a lot over the series, which isn’t too surprising given how much Kulemin, Strome and Bernier struggled. On defense, Nick Leddy is the standout once again, providing an extra dimension to the Islanders defense corps. I thought the Lightning contained him well and didn’t let him take over the series as much as he did against Florida, but he clearly had his moments. The pairing of Leddy and Hamonic were really all the Islanders defense had in terms of moving the puck & joining the play. At least until Ryan Pulock returned from injury in the last couple of games. Aside from that, the Isles defense played a pretty safe game. Lightning 5v5 Shots & Passes Tampa Bay has a crowded graph with no real “passengers” to speak of, as most of their roster did their part to contribute to the offense in one way or another. That said, they aren’t short of dual-threats or standouts. Both Kucherov and Palat are in the dual-threat category, doing a fantastic job of creating shots in any way, shape or form. Their versatility is what helps make the Triplets line so dangerous and it was a little surprising to see John Cooper flip Palat with Killorn for a couple of games. Adding Palat to the second line gives FIlppula & Drouin a shooter to work with, but you can tell here that Killorn brought down the line’s effectiveness just a little. Almost everyone on the team looks “weak” in comparison to how well Palat & Kucherov played, though. The same can be said for Victor Hedman and the rest of Tampa Bay’s defense, as the towering defensemen might have been Tampa Bay’s most important player all series. Hedman was very solid at breaking up plays in the defensive zone and when you combine that with his offensive contributions, it’s hard to not to ask for more out of him. He was Tampa Bay’s main source of offense from the blue line, as no one else on their defense corps came close to matching him. Matt Carle had a solid series as a play-maker while Koekkoek, Garrison & Nesterov were active as shooters, but Hedman was clearly on another level compared to them. Islanders 5v5 Shots & Passes The spread here is pretty interesting to say the very least. The Islanders fourth line actually did a pretty good job of contributing to the offense with Cal Clutterbuck being very active as a shooter and Casey Cizikas doing some work as a play-maker. Regardless, when you’re fourth line is your most effective unit at creating offense, something is clearly wrong. That’s the case here with the Islanders. As good as Tavares was as a play-maker, the first line ended up not doing much. Okposo had an underwhelming series at even strength and Alan Quine, who spent most of this series with Tavares, was very ineffective. Nielsen also struggled to find chemistry with any linemate in particular and Strome did most of his work as a passer. The Islanders top lines lacked a shooter and part of that was due to Tampa Bay taking away most of their options in the offensive zone, especially against the top line. Most of the time they had to work the play back to the point or take a low-percentage shot with no movement, which is why you have Johnny Boychuk in the spot he is on this graph. Okposo in particular struggled to get open and he ended up being pretty quiet all series. Shane Prince and Brock Nelson also probably could have done more with the ice time they were given and how solid they were in the neutral zone. The Final Word This series ended up being pretty interesting despite it being only five games long. Tampa Bay won the possession battle rather easily despite not having their best performance in the neutral zone. They made up for it in other areas by targeting certain weak points in the Islanders game and blowing up their zone exit scheme. The Islanders never adjusted and the series ended up being decided very quickly. With how big neutral zone play has been all post-season, it was interesting to see Tampa find other ways to win like they did here. Shameless Plug If you haven’t heard the news, I’m going to be tracking these kinds of stats for the entire league next season and sharing them on this blog! If you want to help me make this happen, please consider becoming a patron on my Patreon page or donate to my GoFundMe page to help me get this project off the ground. It’s a pretty ambitious project on my part and I could really use the help to get it started, to your contributions would mean a lot to me right now. Advertisements |
By George Friedman The fall of the Soviet Union ended the European epoch, the period in which European power dominated the world. It left the United States as the only global power, something for which it was culturally and institutionally unprepared. Since the end of World War II, the United States had defined its foreign policy in terms of its confrontation with the Soviet Union. Virtually everything it did around the world in some fashion related to this confrontation. The fall of the Soviet Union simultaneously freed the United States from a dangerous confrontation and eliminated the focus of its foreign policy. In the course of a century, the United States had gone from marginal to world power. It had waged war or Cold War from 1917 until 1991, with roughly 20 years of peace between the two wars dominated by the Great Depression and numerous interventions in Latin America. Accordingly, the 20th century was a time of conflict and crisis for the United States. It entered the century without well-developed governmental institutions for managing its foreign policy. It built its foreign policy apparatus to deal with war and the threat of war; the sudden absence of an adversary inevitably left the United States off-balance. After the Cold War The post-Cold War period can be divided into three parts. A simultaneous optimism and uncertainty marked the first, which lasted from 1992 until 2001. On one hand, the fall of the Soviet Union promised a period in which economic development supplanted war. On the other, American institutions were born in battle, so to speak, so transforming them for a time of apparently extended peace was not easy. Presidents George HW Bush and Bill Clinton both pursued a policy built around economic growth, with periodic and not fully predictable military interventions in places such as Panama, Somalia, Haiti and Kosovo. These interventions were not seen as critical to U.S. national security. In some cases, they were seen as solving a marginal problem, such as Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega's drug trafficking. Alternatively, they were explained as primarily humanitarian missions. Some have sought a pattern or logic to these varied interventions; in fact, they were as random as they appeared, driven more by domestic politics and alliance pressures than any clear national purpose. U.S. power was so overwhelming that these interventions cost relatively little and risked even less. The period where indulgences could be tolerated ended on Sept. 11, 2001. At that point, the United States faced a situation congruent with its strategic culture. It had a real, if unconventional, enemy that posed a genuine threat to the homeland. The institutions built up during and after World War II could function again effectively. In an odd and tragic way, the United States was back in its comfort zone, fighting a war it saw as imposed on it. The period from 2001 until about 2007 consisted of a series of wars in the Islamic world. Like all wars, they involved brilliant successes and abject failures. They can be judged one of two ways. First, if the wars were intended to prevent al Qaeda from ever attacking the United States again in the fashion of 9/11, they succeeded. Even if it is difficult to see how the war in Iraq meshes with this goal, all wars involve dubious operations; the measure of war is success. If, however, the purpose of these wars was to create a sphere of pro-U.S. regimes, stable and emulating American values, they clearly failed. By 2007 and the surge in Iraq, U.S. foreign policy moved into its present phase. No longer was the primary goal to dominate the region. Rather, it was to withdraw from the region while attempting to sustain regimes able to defend themselves and not hostile to the United States. The withdrawal from Iraq did not achieve this goal; the withdrawal from Afghanistan probably will not either. Having withdrawn from Iraq, the United States will withdraw from Afghanistan regardless of the aftermath. The United States will not end its involvement in the region, and the primary goal of defeating al Qaeda will no longer be the centerpiece. President Barack Obama continued the strategy his predecessor, George W. Bush, set in Iraq after 2007. While Obama increased forces beyond what Bush did in Afghanistan, he nevertheless accepted the concept of a surge — the increase of forces designed to facilitate withdrawal. For Obama, the core strategic problem was not the wars but rather the problem of the 1990s — namely, how to accommodate the United States and its institutions to a world without major enemies. The Failure of Reset The reset button Hillary Clinton gave to the Russians symbolized Obama's strategy. Obama wanted to reset U.S. foreign policy to the period before 9/11, a period when U.S. interventions, although frequent, were minor and could be justified as humanitarian. Economic issues dominated the period, and the primary issue was managing prosperity. It also was a period in which U.S.-European and U.S.-Chinese relations fell into alignment, and when U.S.-Russian relations were stable. Obama thus sought a return to a period when the international system was stable, pro-American and prosperous. While understandable from an American point of view, Russia, for example, considers the 1990s an unmitigated disaster to which it must never return. The problem in this strategy was that it was impossible to reset the international system. The prosperity of the 1990s had turned into the difficulties of the post-2008 financial crisis. This obviously created preoccupations with managing the domestic economy, but as we saw in our first installment, the financial crisis redefined the way the rest of the world operated. The Europe, China and Russia of the 1990s no longer existed, and the Middle East had been transformed as well. During the 1990s, it was possible to speak of Europe as a single entity with the expectation that European unity would intensify. That was no longer the case by 2010. The European financial crisis had torn apart the unity that had existed in the 1990s, putting European institutions under intense pressure along with trans-Atlantic institutions such as NATO. In many ways, the United States was irrelevant to the issues the European Union faced. The Europeans might have wanted money from the Americans, but they did not want 1990s-style leadership. China had also changed. Unease about the state of its economy had replaced the self-confidence of the elite that had dominated during the 1990s in China. Its exports were under heavy pressure, and concerns about social stability had increased. China also had become increasingly repressive and hostile, at least rhetorically, in its foreign policy. In the Middle East, there was little receptivity to Obama's public diplomacy. In practical terms, the expansion of Iranian power was substantial. Given Israeli fears over Iranian nuclear weapons, Obama found himself walking a fine line between possible conflict with Iran and allowing events to take their own course. Limiting Intervention This emerged as the foundation of U.S. foreign policy. Where previously the United States saw itself as having an imperative to try to manage events, Obama clearly saw that as a problem. As seen in this strategy, the United States has limited resources that have been overly strained during the wars. Rather than attempting to manage foreign events, Obama is shifting U.S. strategy toward limiting intervention and allowing events to proceed on their own. Strategy in Europe clearly reflects this. Washington has avoided any attempt to lead the Europeans to a solution even though the United States has provided massive assistance via the Federal Reserve. This strategy is designed to stabilize rather than to manage. With the Russians, who clearly have reached a point of self-confidence, the failure of an attempt to reset relations resulted in a withdrawal of U.S. focus and attention in the Russian periphery and a willingness by Washington to stand by and allow the Russians to evolve as they will. Similarly, whatever the rhetoric of China and U.S. discussions of redeployment to deal with the Chinese threat, U.S. policy remains passive and accepting. It is in Iran that we see this most clearly. Apart from nuclear weapons, Iran is becoming a major regional power with a substantial sphere of influence. Rather than attempt to block the Iranians directly, the United States has chosen to stand by and allow the game to play out, making it clear to the Israelis that it prefers diplomacy over military action, which in practical terms means allowing events to take their own course. This is not necessarily a foolish policy. The entire notion of the balance of power is built on the assumption that regional challengers confront regional opponents who will counterbalance them. Balance-of-power theory assumes the leading power intervenes only when an imbalance occurs. Since no intervention is practical in China, Europe or Russia, a degree of passivity makes sense. In the case of Iran, where military action against its conventional forces is difficult and against its nuclear facilities risky, the same logic applies. In this strategy, Obama has not returned to the 1990s. Rather, he is attempting to stake out new ground. It is not isolationism in its classic sense, as the United States is now the only global power. He appears to be engineering a new strategy, acknowledging that many outcomes in most of the world are acceptable to the United States and that no one outcome is inherently superior or possible to achieve. The U.S. interest lies in resuming its own prosperity; the arrangements the rest of the world makes are, within very broad limits, acceptable. Put differently, unable to return U.S. foreign policy to the 1990s and unwilling and unable to continue the post-9/11 strategy, Obama is pursuing a policy of acquiescence. He is decreasing the use of military force and, having limited economic leverage, allowing the system to evolve on its own. Implicit in this strategy is the existence of overwhelming military force, particularly naval power. Europe is not manageable through military force, and it poses the most serious long-term threat. As Europe frays, Germany's interests may be better served in a relationship with Russia. Germany needs Russian energy, and Russia needs German technology. Neither is happy with American power, and together they may limit it. Indeed, an entente between Germany and Russia was a founding fear of U.S. foreign policy from World War I until the Cold War. This is the only combination that could conceivably threaten the United States. The American counter here is to support Poland, which physically divides the two, along with other key allies in Europe, and the United States is doing this with a high degree of caution. China is highly vulnerable to naval force because of the configuration of its coastal waters, which provides choke points for access to its shores. The ultimate Chinese fear is an American blockade, which the weak Chinese navy would be unable to counter, but this is a distant fear. Still, it is the ultimate American advantage. Russia's vulnerability lies in the ability of its former fellow members of the Soviet Union, which it is trying to organize into a Eurasian Union, to undermine its post-Soviet agenda. The United States has not interfered in this process significantly, but it has economic incentives and covert influence it could use to undermine or at least challenge Russia. Russia is aware of these capabilities and that the United States has not yet used them. The same strategy is in place with Iran. Sanctions on Iran are unlikely to work because they are too porous and China and Russia will not honor them. Still, the United States pursues them not for what they will achieve but for what they will avoid — namely, direct action. Rhetoric aside, the assumption underlying U.S. quiescence is that regional forces, the Turks in particular, will be forced to deal with the Iranians themselves, and that patience will allow a balance of power to emerge. The Risks of Inaction U.S. strategy under Obama is classic in the sense that it allows the system to evolve as it will, thereby allowing the United States to reduce its efforts. On the other hand, U.S. military power is sufficient that should the situation evolve unsatisfactorily, intervention and reversal is still possible. Obama has to fight the foreign policy establishment, particularly the U.S. Defense Department and intelligence community, to resist older temptations. He is trying to rebuild the foreign policy architecture away from the World War II-Cold War model, and that takes time. The weakness in Obama's strategy is that the situation in many regions could suddenly and unexpectedly move in undesirable directions. Unlike the Cold War system, which tended to react too soon to problems, it is not clear that the current system won't take too long to react. Strategies create psychological frameworks that in turn shape decisions, and Obama has created a situation wherein the United States may not react quickly enough if the passive approach were to collapse suddenly. It is difficult to see the current strategy as a permanent model. Before balances of power are created, great powers must ensure that a balance is possible. In Europe, within China, against Russia and in the Persian Gulf, it is not clear what the balance consists of. It is not obvious that the regional balance will contain emerging powers. Therefore, this is not a classic balance-of-power strategy. Rather it is an ad hoc strategy imposed by the financial crisis and its impact on psychology and by war-weariness. These issues cannot be ignored, but they do not provide a stable foundation for a long-term policy, which will likely replace the one Obama is pursuing now. |
• Tune in to Trade Talk for LIVE trade coverage every weekday • Check out every confirmed move on the Trade Tracker WESTERN Bulldogs premiership defender Joel Hamling has joined Fremantle, effectively in exchange for pick No.35. The Dockers sent pick 35, 43 and 61 to the Bulldogs in exchange for Hamling, pick 40 and pick 63. • Indicative draft order: What picks will your club take to the draft? Hamling agonised over the decision to return to Western Australia after playing in the Bulldogs' premiership but decided to head home on what is understood to be a three-year deal. He began his career with Geelong after the Cats used pick No.32 in 2011 to select him, before joining the Western Bulldogs as a delisted free agent at the end of 2014. He made his debut in round nine, 2015 and played 23 games for the Bulldogs where he played in 16 wins. Fremantle general manager of list management Brad Lloyd said the club had been monitoring Hamling since he played for WA in the AFL Under-18 Championships in 2011. >> On the app? Tap the green headphones in the top right corner to tune in “Joel’s really grown physically over the past couple of years and we think there is more growth in him as a player,” Lloyd said. “He is a promising key defender who we believe will come in and be a long-term player for Fremantle.” Bulldogs list manager Jason McCartney wished Hamling all the best on the club website. "We believe we have reached a fair and equitable deal for Joel, and will keep our options open as to what we do with our picks ahead of the trade deadline on Thursday," McCartney said. The Bulldogs hope to recruit Collingwood forward Travis Cloke and also need to work through trades for Koby Stevens, who hopes to join St Kilda, and Nathan Hrovat, who could be traded to North Melbourne or Carlton. |
Pete Carroll, who led USC to seven Pacific 10 Conference titles and two national championships, will resign his position at the university and accept the coaching job with the Seattle Seahawks. Trojans players and coaches learned of the news via text message from an assistant coach, The Times' Gary Klein has learned. Seahawks chief executive officer Tod Leiweke was in town on Sunday to finalize the deal. Carroll will take over as coach while the organization begins its search for a new general manager. Carroll amassed a record of 97-19 in nine seasons at USC. The Trojans won national titles in 2003 (Associated Press) and 2004 (Bowl Championship Series). They finished 9-4 this season and won the Emerald Bowl, their first appearance in a non-BCS bowl in eight years. -- Dan Loumena Photo: Pete Carroll. Credit: Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times |
Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr speaks to the media after game six of the NBA Finals. (Photo11: David Richard-USA TODAY Sports) Try telling Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr to stick to sports. It’s a popular refrain often seen on social media when sports reporters wade into the dubious arena of politics or social justice. Kerr appeared on a podcast hosted by Mercury News sports columnist Tim Kawakami, a prominent voice in the Warriors’ media who was present throughout the recent NBA Finals. After the typical talk of adjustments not made against the Cleveland Cavaliers and upcoming free agency, Kerr seized the platform and gave an impassioned plea for gun control. The plea comes at the 30:00 mark. “When 90 percent of our country wants background checks on gun purchases and we’ve got our senate and our house not only voting it down but using the Bill of Rights as a reason for people to have rights to carry these automatic weapons, and we’re getting people murdered every day at an alarming rate," he said. Kerr's father, Malcolm, was assassinated in 1984 at the American University of Beirut. "I just have to get this off my chest," Kerr continued. "Our government is insane. We are insane. And what bugs me is this adherence to the right to bear arms, you know. That was back in 1776. People didn’t own automatic rifles. You had to have a musket in case the Redcoats were coming. The British were coming. And the beautiful thing about the Constitution is they left open amendments to change things because things change over time. "I kind of think that our forefathers would not have ok’d automatic weapons to be sold to everybody if they existed back then. Let’s have some checks. It’s easier to get a gun than it is to get a driver’s license. It’s insane. And as somebody who’s had a family member shot and killed, it devastates me every time I read about this stuff— like what happened in Orlando— and then it’s even more devastating to see the government just cowing to the NRA and going to this totally outdated Bill Of Rights, right to bear arms. If you want to own a musket, fine, you know, but come on. The rest of the world thinks we’re insane. We are insane. "And until we vote these senators and congressmen and women out of office, the same thing’s gonna happen. And it’s infuriating and I had to get that off my chest. "You wonder if any of these Senators and Congressmen and women who are so opposed to even holding a vote on not only the right to buy an automatic weapon but just the background checks and the lists and all the stuff, how would they feel about this if their own child, their own mother, their own father, sister, brother, wife, husband was murdered. Mass murdered. Would that change your mind? I don’t know but how many times do we have to go through this before our government actually does something about it?” The Orlando nightclub shooting occurred just a day before Game 5 of the NBA Finals. A moment of silence was held prior to tip-off. "It was very emotional," Kerr told The New Yorker. "I was thinking of my dad." "It's very personal because you've gone through it. You understand how much they are suffering, just like how our family went through that suffering. When you think of it, all of those statistics have names and these names have faces. They are peope who are now lost." |
195th Anniversary of Maine's Admission to the Union March 15 - Congress passed the Act on March 3, 1820, and President James Monroe signed it on the same day. U.S. Secretary of State John Quincy Adams (elected president of the United States in 1824) sent the Act to the State of Maine. Before becoming a state, Maine was a district of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Maine brought pressure to become independent of Massachusetts and sought admission to the union as a "free" state, that is, one that rejected slavery. Southern states objected, contending that admitting Maine would upset the political balance between free states and states that allowed slavery. Congress ultimately proposed admitting Maine as a free state and Missouri as a slave state. Although many Maine politicians objected, Congress approved the Missouri Compromise. The resulting Act of Admission states that, as of March 15, 1820, "the State of Maine is hereby declared to be one of the United States of America, and admitted into the Union on an equal footing with the original States, in all respects whatever." The full transcript of the Act is available online at http://maine.gov/sos/arc/meadmission.html. This and other historical documents are preserved at the Maine State Archives in Augusta; an image of the Act is available on the Archives' website and its Facebook page. On March 15, Maine will mark 195 years as one of the United States of America. The federal notification of the Act of Admission that made Maine part of the union is preserved at the Maine State Archives.Congress passed the Act on March 3, 1820, and President James Monroe signed it on the same day. U.S. Secretary of State John Quincy Adams (elected president of the United States in 1824) sent the Act to the State of Maine.Before becoming a state, Maine was a district of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Maine brought pressure to become independent of Massachusetts and sought admission to the union as a "free" state, that is, one that rejected slavery.Southern states objected, contending that admitting Maine would upset the political balance between free states and states that allowed slavery. Congress ultimately proposed admitting Maine as a free state and Missouri as a slave state. Although many Maine politicians objected, Congress approved the Missouri Compromise.The resulting Act of Admission states that, as of March 15, 1820, "the State of Maine is hereby declared to be one of the United States of America, and admitted into the Union on an equal footing with the original States, in all respects whatever."The full transcript of the Act is available online at http://maine.gov/sos/arc/meadmission.html. This and other historical documents are preserved at the Maine State Archives in Augusta; an image of the Act is available on the Archives' website and its Facebook page. Related Sites Maine's Act of Admission, online Maine's Act of Admission, online X |
The following blog post, unless otherwise noted, was written by a member of Gamasutras community. The thoughts and opinions expressed are those of the writer and not Gamasutra or its parent company. Most people my age are not making games anymore, and even less when they’re women. Don’t get me wrong, a lot of them are still ‘in the industry’ but a lot of them are making decisions about making games, but are not so much making them. A reasonable amount of them are thinking of how to make money with games while others are figuring out how to make addictive systems within a game, and then some on how we can get the player to pay for eternity for the game they like. But I don’t consider it as ‘making games’ anymore. I call it making business. Which is totally fine, by the way. But it’s different than making games. I’ve always liked the thought that a video game is an entertainment product, sometimes a piece of art (and when magic happens, both) and on the tertiary level, a business. As the proverb says: there is no one more blind than he who does not wish to see. I probably was that blind person (although a she). It took me a long time to get this one, that making game is MAINLY a business, and when I got – I mean really got it – well, I almost left to not come back. I ended up a few years ago as seeing games as a business, and just that. Nothing more. No more entertainment, no more art. When you enter a business you often enter a political arena where, in the long run, most of the time personal achievement goals win over everything else, with all the decision making it takes, whatever the human cost. Because ultimately, there’s that: someone, usually a higher-up, has to make a decision about the product that will have important repercussions on its production. Often forgetting that people are making the product. When the guys up there making decisions become more and more important, they tend not to look down anymore: they look at the stock options they get, the bonus they’ll get if they can sell that game to many more millions than the previous one, the raise, etc. At that point the decisions become tinted. Tinted with those sneaky questions as ‘’how can we pass the next editorial gate so the project is not canned and I look good, just before that period of year where there is attribution of stock options’’ or ‘’if I make the good move I might be Exec Producer on the next title – I must say the idea Mark had before HE says it…’’ and other similar thoughts. And if I know a lot of people have them, it’s because they told me. And THIS is the game. Real life game. I guess most of those actually enjoy it, but I didn’t. Because I also saw that passing that editorial gate meant, for a few dozen people, making free extra draining hours, knowing the product wasn’t really going anywhere but still powerless to really change the situation. Then, a lot of good employees, still in the illusion that they are making games, become cynical, or detached. They face the decision makers every day and really feel the impact of those political, business decisions. The recent adventure of some big game companies concentrating so hard on the money making and micro transactions makes me sad for all the people working hard on a project they once loved – and maybe still are, if only for the sweat they’ve put in – and saw their game becoming the center of a circle of hate and even bans. Those developers worked years on those games, putting all their knowledge and creativity in them and for what? At the end? Good game mechanics, very cool setting and fantasy, but with such a greed powered with those decision makers at the top, they’ve annihilated the product almost entirely. Imagine now how many devs will start having a cynical attitude on those teams, even if they’ve been in the game industry for just a few years? It’s what happened to me after being too close to those decision makers. I started developing a cynical attitude and that is not who I am, this is not what I want to become and most importantly, and don’t want that bile to start tinting my speech, and my attitude toward my work. That’s certainly not a cool thing to show to my kids. When I started developing the cynical attitude, I knew it was time for me to leave. At that moment, I thought I would be leaving the industry for good. I planned on taking a half-year sabbatical, being with my kids, playing, laughing with them, and also writing. My spirit was free. It was time again to be creative, and not think about the business, not for a while. I planned first to write a sci-fi novel, but turned out I wrote a comic book. My neighbour happens to be a very good illustrator, and the deal was quickly made. But then, my love for video games and the genuine, simple, sometimes disturbing pleasure I get when I play them and also the idea that we’re just, still, at the beginning of this form of art, being more in the entertainment aspect than a pure artistic creation was pulling me strong, back to it. Stronger than ever, again with eyes full of stars. That Sci-Fi universe we were starting, my neighbour and I, was too rich, too large and too deep to just be this, a comic book. A Sci-Fi game. Isn’t it every dev’s dream? Ahh, maybe not, but always has been mine. I look at the future, always. Soon enough I was talking about the beginning of an idea to ex-colleagues, friends and there we were: the design doc, developing the story, thinking of how we could make a game with just one or two friends… A year passed, and suddenly, we were five associates. Creating and incorporating Epsilon Games, to MAKE a game. Funny enough, we were making a business to be able to make a game. A piece of art (so we wish) and a piece of entertainment (in the progress of). And yes, of course, I’ve learned: it’s a business. I have to pay my mortgage, feed the kids, as almost everyone on this planet. But every morning when I wake up, the question that always comes up is ‘‘how can I make this better? How could this game be so unique, it’ll have an impact on most people that play it? And then, how can I make people aware of our IP? How can I make everybody love Primus Vita as much as we all love it?’’ Because we’re over nine people now in the office, and we do embrace a dream of developing that game in an amazing experience. We’re a business. We‘re making decisions every day, but most of those decisions are about the game we’re making. Every single decision one makes, we all make, because this is the game we want to create. On that last note: while we were at it, building up a new studio, we decided, my associates and I, to be the first dev studio with an official parity policy. Because let’s face it, I had to find a solution: at 47 to who the hell will I be able to talk about fricking pre-menopause in a few years? I have to be at least a bit political about this… but I guess that is another topic. |
Introducing Scorn, an indie game too weird for the mainstream About a month ago, I received some images in my email that depicted a horror game that was deeply inspired by H. R. Giger, and looked to be an FPS of some kind. I might have not brought this up with anyone, except about a year ago I had received a similarly ‘vague’ styled email with attached art and thought it was bullshit, only to find out a few months later that the art I had received was in question concept art for The Evil Within. I talked a bit to the crew about it, and our Managing Editor CJ took to the task of tackling this with myself. I added him to the email chain and we tried to get more answers, as we don’t like to run stories about rumors without any merit (and even then, state them as rumors), or stories we know very little information on. I did decide to ask NeoGAF, the popular internet forum, about the images to see if their detectives could help me uncover what this game actually is. And as they days strolled by, more art came in from our source. We received in-game pre-alpha screenshots and a teaser image alluding to the game being for PS4, with Morpheus VR support. As we later discovered, we probably should of watermarked the images, but it all started from this collection of concept art. For a while, we couldn’t get a peep out of the person who was leaking images to us, outside of receiving new images (that we wouldn’t run a story on without any information). And for better or worse, not naming names, but a certain website took the images I had been posting on NeoGAF and ran with a story that claimed they were leaked art and screens of Sony Bend’s unannounced game. This is completely false and was fallacious information probably to get page hits, but other news sites picked up on the article as well. But maybe it’s because of this we actually did get some information, as it was a little past this and the story blowing up that we got our answers. The game had been leaked to me specifically (a question I was greatly asking myself through a lot of this) because apparently my shown enthusiasm for horror which I show on NeoGAF and YouTube. The person was also not the same person who leaked The Evil Within concept art to me a year ago. Instead, it was a developer of the game and was sent to us in a kind of pseudo-marketing move. The game’s name is Scorn – it’s being made by a newly formed studio known as Ebb Software. They currently have 7 full-time studio members on-board, and created a demo pitch for studios with a total of 12 people directly involved, with the help of a number of freelance artists they have connections with. However, after pitching their demo and concept to several studios and investors, they were given the same response every time: the game’s too weird for mainstream appeal; it’s single-player focused and lacks hooks for the best way to monetize the project. To directly quote the email exchange: “I’m sorry for (the trickery) but we wanted to get some unfiltered impressions of our game without the “another indie game” stigma. We needed to show potential investors that even if it is a niche genre it’s not that small and that there are people interested in this kind of game and more importantly this kind of design. We haven’t had much luck with publishers and we hit the same barrier with investors that are not part of the gaming industry. They always consulted marketing experts and the so called experts always gave them the same answers: game is too weird, its single player, nowadays every game has to be online and free to play cause that’s the best way to monetize the players etc. We were not planning to go public with this for at least a year but decide to do it this in hope it will create some buzz so we can show the investors that there is market for it.“ The demo they had was created in a little under a year, made as a proof of concept developed in the Unity 4 engine, though they plan to move the project onto Unity 5. The goal of the project is to make a very different take on an atmospheric first-person horror action-adventure game, with unique mechanics in both gunplay and environment design in order to make a coherent world that’s an immersive experience. “And yes it’s inspired by artwork of Beksinski, Giger and others but we tried to make it our own style. experience.“ They didn’t go with crowdfunding as they believe a good Kickstarter needs to have people behind it who have made a great game, and a great marketing campaign, neither of which are easy to do. Kickstarter hype has cooled down, and the amount they need is maybe more than they should expect based on other Kickstarter results. However, they may result to it as a last resort if nothing else goes through. The main platform they’re developing for is PC, but PS4 is a potential option for them. For giving us the initial runaround, Ebb has agreed to hold an interview with us so that we can get some further details on the game. Personally, I hold no hard feelings over this deceit. The game industry is a tough cookie to enter sometimes, even with experience and a promising concept and tech demo. Marketers play a strong a role in trying to determine what we gamers want, and often squash things that go against current ‘trends’. As a horror enthusiast, I’m more interested to see this game get its time of day than be dropped. We’ll bring you more on Scorn as it develops, as well as an interview in the near future. You can check out all of the concept art and pre-alpha screenshots of the game in the gallery below. |
Police: Child hit by truck while 'playing chicken' with traffic in east Tulsa (KTUL) TULSA, Okla. (KTUL) -- Tulsa police say a child was taken to the hospital after being hit by a truck Wednesday evening in east Tulsa. Officers responded to 19th Street and 129th East Avenue just after 5 p.m. Police say several children around 10 years old were "playing chicken" with traffic. Two vehicles -- a truck and a PT Cruiser -- were traveling northbound. Police say the truck swerved to miss a child but was unsuccessful and also hit the PT Cruiser. The child was transported to an area hospital with a possible leg fracture. The driver of the PT Cruiser was also transported due to the airbag deployment. Traffic is down to one lane while the vehicles are towed from the scene. |
Ducks ANAHEIM, Calif. – Anaheim Ducks captain Ryan Getzlaf still sees Randy Carlyle as the same “intimidating guy” that stewarded the team during Getzlaf’s early years in the NHL. That type of ‘tough as nails’ demeanor is ingrained in Carlyle’s coaching DNA, and Getzlaf doesn’t believe that element of Carlyle’s persona has changed as he heads into his second stint with the team. Scroll to continue with content Ad “Young guys coming in and stuff, it’s a little bit different, you have to grow on him. You have to earn his trust and his respect. I think that at times Randy got a little bit too caught up in other things, but we’ll see,” the 31-year-old Getzlaf said after taking batting practice as part of a team promotion at Angel Stadium. “He’s a great coach and the best bench coach – you know one of the best bench coaches out there. So when it comes to in-game adjustments, all the things we were really looking for, he was definitely the front-runner.” The relationship of Getzlaf and Corey Perry with Carlyle will be one of the big storylines for the Ducks this season. When Anaheim hired Carlyle as a replacement for Bruce Boudreau, general manager Bob Murray said the team’s leadership was on board with Carlyle, even though the group seemed to struggle with Carlyle’s disciplinarian ways near the end of his first tenure. Getzlaf affirmed Murray’s message adding that his own personal growth should help align his views more with Carlyle’s. “(Randy and I) sat down, we had a meeting, we had lunch one day for a while and went over a few things. Randy’s leaned on me – towards the end of his stint I was kind of slowly molding into that role,” Getzlaf said. “We’ve built that trust of one another over the years and hopefully we can continue on that.” Story continues Murray requested more accountability from the team’s leadership after the decision to fire Boudreau, and Getzlaf said the message was heard, but not much action can be taken in the offseason. “I’m in the summer right now, so I don’t have a direct answer for you,” Getzlaf said on if any changes had been made based on Murray’s comments. “I can make something up for you, but until we get to the season to see where our team is at and what we need to do, then we’ll have to step up and do those things.” There is a belief that Carlyle shuns the puck possession of a game – a theory that he denied after he was hired. The Ducks said they hired Carlyle in part for his playoff success with the team along with his steady hand behind the bench. Getzlaf focused more on that part of Carlyle as a coach rather than the puck possession criticism. Part of the reason why Boudreau was fired was for his inability to win four straight Game 7s at home in Anaheim. “We were trying to get to a point where we were going to be a little bit more organized and a coach we can trust in the playoffs,” Getzlaf said. “Randy is a proven guy that in the short-term is going be a great solution and a great asset for our team.” Even though Carlyle is familiar to the Ducks organization, many of the current players haven’t had him as a coach so his message will be fresh to some players. “I think it’s a great hire in terms of what our team needs right now. I really do,” said forward Andrew Cogliano who played for Carlyle in 2011-12 for 24 games before Carlyle was let go. “I think we need an experienced coach that might be able to push us to that next step and I think his type of style, he has a hard style of coaching and he likes to play a game this team has been playing for a while, like I said, I think it’s a good fit for our team right now.” – – – – – – – Josh Cooper is an editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! |
A couple's wedding celebrations were interrupted by a brawl that is thought to have started over a pork pie. Officers from the dog section at West Yorkshire Police tweeted that they were on the way to the ''large fight'' in Bradford which led to three arrests. The tweet said: ''All started over a pork pie apparently!'' Around 30 to 40 wedding guests were involved in the disturbance at the wedding of Wendy Carter and her fiance Ryan Barraclough. Chris Sowden, 43, steward at the Harold Club said: "People had been drinking since 2pm. Apparently there was some tension building for an hour or so before it happened. "It all started with a water pistol then a pork pie got thrown. "It was completely out of control and by the end about 30 to 40 guests had got involved. "I've worked here for 14 years and I've never seen anything like it. We had to shut the bar at 7pm when it was supposed to be open until 11. "The bride was devastated. Her dress was ruined, she had a lovely big white gown and it had beer and WKD all over it. "I was downstairs when it kicked off and had to go up to try and sort it out. I spoke to some guests and they said the pork pie was thrown and it all got out of control. "The scariest thing was there was a lot of children and they all had to hide in the toilets. By the time the police got here the fight had moved to the car park. "I was amazed nothing got broken. There wasn't even a broken glass. All we had to do was straighten some tables. "There were about 70 guests in total, it was pretty much all family." "Mostly people had some cuts and bruises but one of the women involved the initial fight had her cheek bitten and her ear bitten. "We gave the bride and groom their deposit back as a gesture because they were so upset." Speaking at their home in Bradford, Mr Barraclough, 27, said: "We had a brilliant day. It was great and you've got to expect a good punch up at a wedding." Mrs Barraclough said, 27, said: "It's just funny now. We had a great wedding and it didn't spoil it." Sgt Claire Smith, of Tong and Wyke Neighbourhood Policing Team, said: "A number of officers attended and the matter was quickly brought under control. "The section of the premises open to the public was closed to prevent any further problems, however the members only area remained open for business. "Two arrests were made for assault and one for a public order matter." The public order arrest resulted in a fixed penalty and the other two people were bailed pending further enquiries. |
Pod-Canon is an ongoing tribute to the greatest individual comedy-related podcast episodes of all time. The Best Show inhabits occupies multiple layers of reality. The podcast exists both in the fictional universe of Newbridge as well as the real world, where Scharpling is a longtime broadcaster, TV writer, and cult comedy legend and Wurster leads a remarkable double life as a sought-after rock drummer and one of the funniest men alive. In much the same way, beloved Earwolf podcast Hollywood Handbook also exists in multiple layers of reality. There’s the reality where hosts Hayes Davenport and Sean Clements are television writers and beloved podcasters, sure. But there’s also the fictional universe of the show, which, perhaps not surprisingly, also involves frequent guest Tom Scharpling as well as Julie Klausner. Sometimes the show’s multiple realities overlap, as in an unforgettable episode where Hayes Davenport and guest Chris Gerhard revisit a project they worked on together earlier in their career called Big Lake. The quickly cancelled sitcom is remembered, if at all, for would-be star Jon Heder exiting the project two weeks before filming; Will Ferrell and Adam McKay executive producing through their powerhouse Gary Sanchez production company; and beloved podcaster, actor, comedian and author Gethard getting an opportunity to headline a sitcom, albeit one that did not reflect his unique comic sensibility. In the real world, Big Lake sounds like a groaningly conventional sitcom, complete with the disembodied guffaws of a braying laugh track. I have not seen it, but from what I’ve gathered, it seems to have done a terrible job of showcasing Gethard’s idiosyncratic charms. In the world of Hollywood Handbook, however, Big Lake becomes something else entirely. It becomes, if anything, a television show that was too powerful, that took control of Gethard’s fragile psyche and unleashed evil into an unsuspecting world. In the hands of Gethard and co-host Hayes Davenport (Sean Clements sits this one out for the most part, as he was not part of the Big Lake experience), Gethard’s experiences on Big Lake were a cross between Fight Club, A Scanner Darkly, Shocker and Raising Cain. The episode is a brilliant satire of the hoary old show-business trope where a role is so intense and so dark that it ends up completely inhabiting the mind and soul of the actor or actress playing them, with sometimes dark and disturbing results. Think Heath Ledger as The Joker or Kevin James as Paul Blart. In this instance the role that drives an actor to the point of madness and beyond is Josh Franklin, a disgraced Wall Street hotshot who returns to his small town looking for a fresh start and another chance in Big Lake. Josh Franklin may have been a hackneyed TV protagonist in the real world but here he is a demonic spirit that essentially takes over the mind, body, and soul of Chris Gethard and forces him to do horrible things. What kind of horrible things? Well, as Gethard casually mentions, “Josh loved paying for pussy” and shares an anecdote where Josh/Chris finished with a prostitute, who then told him, “It’s my father’s birthday.” According to the faux-confessional Gethard, Josh made a point of having intercourse with the crew and much of the top-of-the-line talent. He was obsessed with psychosexual domination and didn’t interact with the rest of the cast and crew so much as he terrorized them. But Josh/Gethard wasn’t just someone who chose to develop a sex addiction. He’s also a hopeless drug addict who begins with “the small stuff, like PCP” before graduating to marijuana, which he of course injects, as he does all his drugs. Josh isn’t a television character so much as he is a ferocious force for evil in the universe, a demon inhabiting a fragile man’s body and soul and twisting and contorting it to fill its own depraved needs. He’s also a physical danger to people around him, since he carries a gun with him at all times and is deeply involved in the world of underground fighting tournaments, something he shares with Big Lake cast-member Chris Parnell, who he used as a weapon while fighting. As a podcaster and comedian, Gethard radiates soft-spoken gentleness, intelligence, and sensitivity, so it’s hilariously incongruous to hear him utter lines like “I would stay warm as an actor by beating this elderly man” or hear him talk about how Josh’s racism would manifest itself by constantly agitating for a white answer to The Harlem Globetrotters. Gethard and Davenport play this psychosexual roller-coaster completely straight, as if Gethard making a sordid and long overdue confession, with Davenport as his unlikely Priest/confessor. At several points in the podcast, actual clips from Big Lake are played and the WASPy banality of the show’s actual content adds a whole new element to the comic book universe of transgression, insanity, and control at play in their weird, warped, funhouse mirror version of a show that lived and died as a forgettable mediocrity. Sean and Hayes are two of the funniest people alive but here Davenport expertly plays the straight man, yes-anding Gerhard’s cartoonish parade of depravity to sicker and sicker ends, until they’re discussing what they refer to as “the incident” where Josh, in full demon/anti-Christ mode, kidnaps the child actor playing his younger brother and takes him on a multi-day plane ride into the bleak unknown. Gethard and Davenport keep building up the universe of Big Lake until it’s so huge and so destructive that it eventually poses a threat to television itself, since the show is so devilishly satisfying that after watching it, viewers would be tempted to destroy their televisions, since the medium had been perfected, leaving it nowhere to go but down. To listen to The Big Lake episode of Hollywood Handbook is not just to tempt madness, but to actively invite it. But it’s worth it. Nathan Rabin is the former head writer of The A.V. Club and the author of four books, including Weird Al: The Book (with “Weird Al” Yankovic) and, most recently, You Don’t Know Me But You Don’t Like Me. |
NEW DELHI: Ending a 25-month sequence of growth, production plummeted in December with the Nikkei India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) posting below the no-change level of 50.0 for the first time since October 2013.Manufacturing PMI dipped from 50.3 in November to 49.1 in December. A reading above 50 on this survey-based index shows expansion, while a figure below that indicates contraction.December’s incessant rainfall in Chennai impacted heavily on the sector, with falling new work leading companies to scale back output at the sharpest pace since February 2009. On the price front, inflation rates of both input costs and output charges were at seven- month highs."India’s manufacturing sector took a turn for the worse at the year end, with already-gloomy internal demand further hampered by floods in the South of country. Ending a 25-month sequence of growth, production plummeted in December. Such was the extent of the decline that the rate of reduction was the sharpest since the financial crisis," said Pollyanna De Lima, economist at Markit, which compiles the survey.Consumer goods bucked the sub-sector trend and was the only category to see improving business conditions in December as production and new orders rose. Conversely, incoming new work and output fell in both the intermediate and investment goods market groups.However, the survey noted that Indian goods producers hired additional workers in December."Anecdotal evidence highlighted expectations of an improvement in domestic demand in the near term. That said, the rate of job creation was little-changed from the marginal pace seen in the previous month," the survey said. |
Venables says Jackets are biggest challenge "and it's not even close" David Hood by Senior Writer - CLEMSON – Clemson has already played Florida St. and Georgia this season, both programs with great offenses, and in both instances came home with a loss. This week, the Tigers travel to Atlanta to take on another ranked team and another program with a good offense, and defensive coordinator Brent Venables Brent Venables Def. Coordinator / Linebackers View Full Profile says this is the Tigers’ biggest defensive challenge to date and it’s not even close. Georgia Tech is ranked 22nd nationally in total offense – Georgia is 37th and Florida St. is 39th – but are third nationally in averaging 335.60 yards per game on the ground. Venables said that the Jackets lull teams to sleep with the same script of plays. “It's incredibly stressful mentally, physically and there's not a lot of margin for error. They take advantage of any mistakes you make,” Venables told the media Tuesday in the WestZone. “Fundamentally, alignment with your eyes, how you're supporting the run with the secondary. If you're late reacting or you false step, they really take advantage of you. They're very methodical in their approach. A lot of teams get bored doing basic fundamental things over and over and they get a little bit anxious and the wheels start falling off. Very uncomfortable preparation. That's a great system. They've got good players executing it whether they're throwing it outside or what. Their quarterback is a big difference. Their line is better than it was a year ago. Their QB is an instinctive decision maker, explosive and quick. He's got a good arm. It'll be a great challenge for us." He then said that while he is confident his second-ranked defense will prepare well, it will be their biggest challenge to date. "I'm confident they're going to work and prepare to do it, but that's why you play,” Venables said. “You have to do it and you have to do it snap after snap after snap. You can get your nose bloodied inside. If you're going to play well, those guys have to like it and relish that opportunity for that kind of fight inside. We'll see. I'm confident in our guys' respect for the game, respect for the opponent and respect for the job they have to do. They recognize this is the biggest challenge we have had up to this point and it's not even close. Nobody has stopped these guys. They are playing with great chemistry. You don't really see a weakness on their offense.” Clemson safety T.J. Green T.J. Green So. Safety #15 6-3, 205 Sylacauga, AL View Full Profile said Monday that his eyes will be his most important tool Saturday and Venables agreed. "If a guy is releasing and running a wheel route, you have to cover it. If he's releasing it but he's not doing that, you have to set the edge now and not later,” he said. “The softer you are at setting the edge in the run game, the bigger seams they have. You have to recognize and trust your keys. It's no different than the nose guard reading things off the center. It's no different than the MIKE linebacker reading his keys and the angle of the fullback. Those are touchdown mistakes across the board when you get lazy or when you get too casual." Sophomore quarterback Justin Thomas is the key to the Jacket attack, and he’s averaging a team-high 78 yards per game on the ground. He’s also completed 50 percent of his passes for 1,294 yards and 14 touchdowns against four interceptions. Venables said he’s the best quarterback that head coach Paul Johnson has had at Tech. "I think so. Decision making is better. Better arm. He's got great speed,” he said. “He makes good decisions. He's more mature and he understands his role. He's more comfortable and confident." Whenever talk about Georgia Tech begins, cut blocking is sure to be a topic of conversation and Venables said that practicing against the cut block is a year-round thing and isn’t limited to just Tech’s offensive linemen. “You do cut blocks everyday you're in pads. It's a year-round thing,” he said. "They have 6-4, 6-5, 230-pound receivers cracking safeties who are smaller or they're blocking a corner. A lot of outside-in blocking and they whack you from angles you're not seeing. It's a huge part of their run game. They tie guys up and get leverage on entry points to get the ball outside. The play action is set up off of it." |
Click on a image to get it in full resolution. darktable’s lighttable mode showing a collection. Notice how the collection module (left panel) is used to narrow down a bunch of images by using different metadata attributes. In the left panel we have the image information module currently expanded. It shows you information such as focal length, exposure, resolution about the image you are currently hovering. darktable’s darkroom mode with an image opened. The left panel offers you informations about the processed image and your editing history. Beside that the snapshot module can be found there – useful to compare the image (or parts of it) before and after a change in the process values – as shown here. In this example the powerful color zones module has been used to change the green hue of the leaf into orange. You can also see the mask manager and color picker with a live sample on the left. Notice also the top and bottom toolbars – you can switch the view there (top right corner) or assign color labels or rating directly to the opened image. darktable’s darkroom mode, sharpening an image. Yet another screenshot of the darkroom mode. Here you can see both the tone curve module and our equalizer in action. While the first is used to increase the contrast by changing the lightness the equalizer is here used with its “sharpen” preset that enhances the local contrasts. At the bottom you see the filmstrip allowing you to quickly switch between the images included in your current collection. darktable’s darkroom mode, split toning an image. This time, the top and bottom panels are collapsed to safe some screen space. Here we are giving the image a chocolate brownish tint with the split toning module using one of the default presets. darktable’s map mode. In darktable’s map mode you can geo tag your images by placing them on a map via drag&drop. On the right you can select between different map providers, like OpenStreetMap, Google and a few more. darktable’s print mode. In print mode you can prepare your images for printing, telling darktable where to put it on the paper. Notice that here a pseudo PDF printer is selected, but of course all printers supported by CUPS can be used. |
I’d like to start the meat of this essay series by criticizing a few of the limitations of non-indigenous totemism as it’s commonly practiced. And I’d like to start with the idea that everyone has a set number of totems, and that’s that. In years of reading of other people’s work on totems, I frequently come across the idea that everyone has a set number of totems. Some say each of us has only one, and that one totem stays with us for life. Others claims we have two, one for each of our halves (as though we are composed of nothing but dichotomies.) Or they say we have four for each of the cardinal directions, or add in another for center. Countless people are convinced that “the Native Americans”* teach that everyone has nine totems thanks to Jamie Sams’ and David Carson’s book and deck set, The Medicine Cards. I know exactly where it comes from, too: the insistence on some neat round number that signifies “Okay, you’ve finished the work, now you can relax and bask in the glory of your spiritual development!” I’ve seen people get so caught up in trying to figure out what the “missing” three or four totems in their set of nine are that they don’t actually work with the ones they’ve already identified. Moreover, if they reach that magic number nine (or four, or whatever), if yet another totem makes contact with them then they get all confounded and wonder whether they misidentified one of their totemic dream team. Folks, this ain’t Pokémon, and you don’t have to catch ’em all. You aren’t prevented from progressing to the next level of your spiritual path if you don’t have a complete set. And you don’t need to look up your totem’s stats in a spiritual Pokédex (a.k.a. the Dread Totem Dictionary, which I’ll skewer in my next essay) before you start to work with them. The Pokémon approach (“I must have X number of totems!”) is troublesome for a couple of reasons: –It’s about making totems fit your preconceived map of correspondences and meanings, rather than letting those relationships develop organically. It’s easy to get caught up in trying to shove them into pigeonholes labeled things like “North” and “South” or “left side” and “right side.” This is especially pernicious because the sorts of non-indigenous authors and teachers who perpetuate this sort of pigeonholing apply specific definitions to each category. Picking on The Medicine Cards again, Sams and Carson say that the right side animal “protects your male side” and “your courage and warrior spirit”, while the left side totem “is the protectors of your female side” and teaches you about “relationships and mothering.” Not only is this incredibly sexist and heterocentric, but what if the totem you get for your left side in your super-spiffy card reading is Loggerhead Sea Turtle, who buries her eggs in the sand and then abandons the babies to their fates while she returns to the ocean to live a largely solitary life? Moreover, what if what she wants to teach you has absolutely nothing to do with relationships and mothering, and everything to do with, say, physical endurance and longevity? I suppose if you engaged your human pattern-recognition skills long enough you could make some connection there–but why bother trying to make Loggerhead fit into that tiny little definition when she could be teaching you the wisdom in learning how to swim, figuratively and literally (or whatever she feels like showing you?) –It stays at the surface of things and entangles you in minutiae rather than allowing a more organic exploration of a deepening relationship with a totem. Like the totem dictionary, the Pokémon approach to totemism feeds you a bunch of structures you’re supposed to plug your totems into. You’re not really told what to do when things deviate outside of that neat but narrow little worldview. Sure, you can likely figure it out on your own, but there’s a surprising number of people who adhere to the stuff in these books as though they’re holy writ. Some of this is probably a result of many pagans, New Agers and the like having come from the sorts of religions that hand you a pile of dogma that outlines what you’re supposed to believe, think and do. While people in these religions can certainly have deep, meaningful relationships with their own Powers That Be, there are plenty of fundamentalists who stick to the letter rather than the spirit. And that same desire to have all the answers laid out nice and easy carries over into some totemists as well. Now, since I don’t like to complain without offering at least one solution, allow me to offer up a workable alternative. And it starts with one very simple concept: There is no single universal number of totems you’re supposed to have, and no universal structure with which to organize them. Ditch that idea. Toss it out. Right now. Because when you do, you leave yourself available to whatever totems are willing and able to work with you over the course of the rest of your lifetime, whether that’s one or one hundred or any other number. Now you’re able to let them come to you at their own pace, and you can have your initial conversations with them without worrying whether they fit in the proper slot. It’s a very liberating feeling as far as I’m concerned. How do you view your totems now that you no longer have a scaffolding to hang them in? Well, think of how you treat your friends. You likely don’t think in terms of “Bob is the friend I go to supper with every Thursday night, and Sally is the friend I go hiking with on Sundays, and when I want to go shopping I call Erica” and so forth. No, you let them be individuals and you appreciate them as such. You connect with them for different reasons, but you see them as whole people. And that’s a good way to approach your totems. Not all of them will be buddy-buddy with you, either; some of them might be quite aloof or even borderline hostile. But at least you can let those personalities and relationships grow at their own rate, and appreciate each totem on its own merits rather than whether it fits into your preconceived worldview. And you can decide what your end of the relationship will be like; if you have a totem you’re less comfortable with you can maintain a safe distance until you get more of a sense of why they showed up. One more really important benefit: you’re able to see how the totems interact with each other. Because you’re not all caught up in “Wait, does Pigeon really fit the qualities of East?” you’re more likely to notice things like how Pigeon responds whenever you call on him and Common Raven in the same ritual. And if one totem introduces you to another, you can pay more attention to how they work together because you’re not busy figuring out where in your structure this newcomer fits. This sort of observation may very well lead to you being able to coordinate your work with several totems at once, combining efforts to achieve a common goal, allowing each participant to contribute as they see fit. In the next essay, we’ll shake off more preconceived notions by picking apart the totem dictionary. A master list of Totemism 201 posts may be found here. Did you enjoy this post? Please consider purchasing one or more of my books on totemism and related topics! They include more in-depth information on working with totems, to include topics not discussed in this essay series. * Any time someone says “the Native Americans believed…” look askance at them. “Native Americans” comprise thousands of individual cultures throughout the Americas, each of which has their own set of ever-evolving cultural and spiritual traditions, not all of which include totemism. Like many non-indigenous writers, Sams and Carson have nabbed little bits of lore and practice from an assortment of indigenous cultures, mish-mashed them together with New Age frippery like the lost continent Mu (from whence all the Native cultures supposedly originated), and then call it genuine Native American spirituality. Moreover, despite five hundred years of genocide, many Native American cultures still exist today, and it’s more accurate to say members of a given culture “believe” something rather than “believed.” Share this: Share Email Facebook LinkedIn Reddit Pocket Tumblr Google Pinterest Twitter Like this: Like Loading... |
0 SHARES Facebook Twitter Google Whatsapp Pinterest Print Mail Flipboard With each new poll, the worst nightmare of the Republican Party is coming to closer to reality, as the latest poll of Ohio shows Hillary Clinton holding a two-point lead over Donald Trump. The latest Monmouth University Poll of Ohio brought more good news for Democrats: Among Ohio voters likely to cast ballots in November’s presidential election, 44% currently support Clinton and 42% back Trump. Another 5% intend to vote for Libertarian Gary Johnson, who will appear as an independent on the ballot, 1% are supporting Jill Stein of the Green Party, and 6% are undecided. In mid-August, Clinton led Trump by 43% to 39%, with Johnson at 10% and Stein registering less than a percent. Clinton is not doing quite as well as Barack Obama did four years ago among black, Hispanic, and Asian voters (73% to 15% for Trump compared with 84% for Obama to 14% for Mitt Romney in 2012). Likewise, Trump is not doing quite as well with white voters (48% to 39% for Clinton) as Romney did (57% to 41% for Obama). These results have not changed substantially since August. Clinton has a 52% to 35% lead in Democrat-leaning northeastern Ohio plus the 9th Congressional district that hugs Lake Erie from Cleveland to Toledo. However, this is not as strong a showing as Obama, who won this five-district region by 61% to 38% four years ago. The race is virtually tied at 46% Clinton and 44% Trump in the five districts covering the central and southeastern part of the state, similar to the 49% to 49% tie here in 2012. Trump has a 46% to 37% lead in the remaining part of the state north and west of Columbus, which is similar to Romney’s 55% to 44% win here in the last election. If Hillary Clinton’s performance with Democrats reaches Obama levels in the Buckeye State, Ohio will not be an option for Donald Trump. One consistency in all polls across multiple polling organization is that while Trump appears to have reached his ceiling for support, there is still upside room for growth for Hillary Clinton with the Democratic base. The presidential debates are vital for Clinton because they allow her the opportunity to increase her support with the Democratic base. Hillary Clinton is performing well enough to possibly defeat Trump with these voters, but a 5%-10%% improvement in states like Ohio would place the election virtually out of reach for the GOP. The Republican Party’s worst nightmare involved a combination of Donald Trump continuing to be himself, while Democratic voters came home to support Hillary Clinton in October. Trump has followed through on his end of the deal, and Democratic voters are coming home. The trendline is moving in their direction, but Democrats have plenty of motivation to keep working. States like Ohio and North Carolina are there for the winning, but in order to do, Hillary Clinton needs to get her support with key groups of voters up to Obama 2012 levels. If you’re ready to read more from the unbossed and unbought Politicus team, sign up for our newsletter here! Email address: Leave this field empty if you're human: |
Nevada’s graduates are not adequately prepared to enter the workforce, according to a new report commissioned by the Las Vegas Global Economic Alliance. The top five in-demand occupations in Southern Nevada — managers, general and operations managers, software developers, business operations specialists and registered nurses — could collectively support 1,733 additional workers to meet current demand, according to the report. Recent graduates or soon-to-be graduates should leverage whatever skills and training they have and “repurpose” it in a way that can help meet demand, said John Snow, principal at Baton Rouge, Louisiana-based consulting firm Emergent Method, which produced the report. Snow said a skills gap is “a function of economic success.” In most successful economies, and especially in economies, like Nevada’s, that have shifted focus in recent years, there is a workforce pipeline lag, Snow said. But success is not sustainable without the workforce needed to actualize the economy’s potential. ‘Dynamic industries’ Earlier this year, the Las Vegas Global Economic Alliance identified seven target industries as key areas for growth in the next five years: business headquarters and services; emerging technology; logistics, manufacturing and supply chain management; autonomous systems; finance, banking and insurance services; health care services and medical education; and gaming, tourism and conventions. “When you look at some of these industries and sectors that organizations like the LVGEA have targeted, they are very dynamic industries with dynamic workforce needs,” Snow said. Jonas Peterson, CEO of the alliance, said this is the first time Southern Nevada has a detailed road map for the local workforce. “We have a detailed look at occupations and skill sets that we need to support our economy today,” he said. “Southern Nevada is going to have massive needs for managers, software developers, nurses, computer systems analysts. We’re going to have a lot of opportunity for workers.” One of the most encouraging things for Southern Nevada, Snow said, is that there is a “strong level of cooperation” among different stakeholders in the state to address workforce demands. The Governor’s Office of Workforce Innovation is working to improve apprenticeship programs and help align workforce needs with offerings at educational institutions; corporations are partnering with universities; private sector leaders are partnering with Clark County School District leaders; and many training programs are underway or in the pipeline to help provide the skills needed to fill workforce demands. “Southern Nevada is really poised to address these challenges,” Snow said. Opportunity or burden And these challenges are very real for employers. The report identified a current shortage of 103 computer systems analysts in Southern Nevada. Debbie Banko, CEO of Las Vegas-based Link Technologies, an information technology consulting firm, said hiring has been “very, very difficult.” “Schools and universities are not giving students the real-world knowledge they need,” Banko said. “Students are coming out of universities not knowing enough to get the certifications that they need.” The report also identified a shortage of 164 financial managers. John Fobes, managing director of Northwestern Mutual in Las Vegas, said he sees the shortage as a great opportunity. The financial services company has an internship program, which Fobes said helps the company mold new grads into its preferred workers. “There’s a large amount of millennials and graduating students that I think are pretty well-prepared through the various business schools, and we’re just giving them more specific training in financial management,” Fobes said. Contact Nicole Raz at nraz@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-4512. Follow @JournalistNikki on Twitter. |
KABUL, Oct 19 (Reuters) - A U.S. fighter aircraft came under fire while flying in eastern Afghanistan last week, a U.S. military official in the capital Kabul said on Monday. The F-16 encountered “small arms fire” in the province of Paktia on Oct. 13, which hit the aircraft’s stabilizers and damaged one of its munitions. “The pilot jettisoned two fuel tanks and three munitions before safely returning to base,” the official said, adding that the pilot was uninjured. He declined to say at what altitude the plane had been flying or where it took off and landed. A Taliban spokesman had claimed its fighters shot an enemy plane down in eastern Afghanistan on Oct. 13. NATO said at the time there was “no operational reporting to support those claims”. It was the third safety incident involving coalition military aircraft in Afghanistan this month. On Oct.2, a U.S. military transport plane crashed after take-off, killing 11 personnel of NATO’s international mission in Afghanistan, Resolute Support, in what officials described as an accident. On Oct. 11, five members of Resolute Support were killed and five injured when a British military helicopter crashed in a “non-hostile” incident in the capital Kabul. (Reporting by Krista Mahr; editing by Andrew Roche) |
check out the post below Read the entire speech and watch it too below. YEEZUS 2020. Kanye picked a speech over a performance it seems. “Listen to the kids. Jeremy, I gotta put it down for a second. Jeremy Scott designed it. First of all, thank you Taylor for being so gracious and giving me this award this evening, thank you. And I often think back to the first day that I met you also. You know, I think about when I’m in the grocery store with my daughter and I have a really great conversation about fresh juice, you know? And at theRend they say, ‘Oh, you’re not that bad after all.’ And like, I think about it sometimes. It crosses my mind a little bit like when I go to a baseball game and 60,000 people boo me. It crosses my mind a little bit. And I think if I had to do it all again, what would I have done? Would I have worn a leather shirt? Would I have drank a half a bottle of Hennessy and given it to the rest of the audience? If I had a daughter at that time, would I have went onstage and grabbed the mic from someone else’s? You know, this arena, tomorrow, it’s going to be a completely different setup, some concert or something like that. This stage will be gone. After that night, the stage is gone but the effect that it had on people remained. The problem was, the contradiction is, I do fight for artists. But in that fight, I somehow was disrespectful to artists. I didn’t know how to say the right thing, the perfect thing. I just, I sat at the Grammys and saw Justin Timberlake and Cee Lo lose. Gnarls Barkley and the ‘Sexyback’ album… Justin, I ain’t trying to put you on blast but I saw that man in tears bro. And I was thinking like, he deserved to win Album of the Year. And the small box that we are as entertainers of the evening, how could you explain that? Sometimes I feel like, you know, all this shit they run about beef and all that, sometimes I feel like I died for the artist’s opinion, for an artist to have an opinion after they were successful. I’m not a politician bro! And look at that. You know how many times MTV ran that footage again because it got them more ratings? You know how many times they announced Taylor was presenting the award because it got more ratings? Listen to the kids bro! I still don’t understand award shows. I don’t understand how they get five people who work their entire life, one sold records, sold concert tickets, to come, stand on a carpet and for the first tie in their life, be judged on a chopping block and had the opportunity to be considered a loser. I don’t understand it bro! I don’t understand what the biggest album or the biggest video… I’m conflicted bro. I just wanted people to like me more. But f—k that bro! 2015. I will die for the art, for what I believe in, and the art ain’t always polite. Y’all might be thinking fright now, did he smoke something before he came out here? The answer is yes, I rolled up a little something. I’m not dead y’all. I don’t know what’s going to happen tonight, I don’t know what’s going ot happen tomorrow bro, but all I can say to my artists, my fellow artists, just worry about how you feel at the time. Just worry about how you feel, and don’t never… I’m confident. I believe in myself. We the millennials, bro. This is a new mentality. We not gonna control our kids with brands. We not going to teach hate to our kids. We’re going to teach our kids that they can be something, that they can believe in themselves. If my grandfather was here right now, he would not let me back down. I don’t know what I finna lose after this. It don’t matter though, because it’ snot about me. It’s about ides, bro, new ideas, people with ideas, people who believe in truth. And yes, as you probably could have guessed by this moment, I have decided in 2020, to run for president.” (Transcript Via bilboard) Thoughts? MY MOTTO IS: IF YOU WANNA WIN THE LOTTERY, YOU HAVE TO MAKE THE MONEY TO BUY A TICKET! From The 6ix,With Love Thank You For Reading Sincerely, Kid From The 6ix Write Comments Below Advertisements |
Although the term Six Sigma was coined in the 1980s, its essence can be traced as far back as 1809. It was launched with the introduction of the normal curve by Carl Frederick Gauss. However, the credit for this quality improvement tool/model goes to Bill Smith, an engineer with Motorola. Using the principles of what eventually came to be known as ‘Six Sigma’, Bill managed to standardize core processes, thereby resulting in a saving of around $16 Billion for Motorola. Six Sigma: What Show’s, What Doesn’t Six Sigma is essentially a tool for the identification and elimination of variance, which in turn helps reduce inefficiency in the organization. The concept gained immense popularity with most large companies around the world that adopted the principles of Six Sigma and built work cultures around the same. However, here’s a word of caution – like all other things, there are some negatives to Six Sigma as well. If the concept is not tweaked appropriately for each department, it can lead to lack of innovation and skewed growth in an organization. What Goes Wrong with Six Sigma The process of evolution in nature is totally based on the principles of variation and/or errors. Using this analogy, the very same organizations that achieved those lofty levels of efficiency by adopting the principles of Six Sigma, and other such similar tools, soon found themselves losing their positions as leaders, mainly due to a lack of vision. This resulted in little or no growth. Industry leaders soon found their products (and themselves) outdated due to their approach of no variance and standardized processes. Comparison Example to Explain the Outcome of Six Sigma Let us look at an organization as an organism to understand the concept of innovation through variations. The growth of an organism is due to the replication/division of cells. As each cell divides, it transfers the same code of nucleotides to its new cell. However, sometimes, there is an error in the sequencing of these codes. The very process of evolution is dictated by these errors that occur during cell division/replication. It is worth remembering that these errors in DNA replication are the reasons why single cell organisms have evolved into what we are today. On the other hand, there are organisms that have managed to retain their genetic coding without any changes and are exactly the same as they were millions of years ago. A classic example would be a species of mould - Neurospora crassa, which has remained exactly the same since the beginning. By blanketing the genetic code with point mutations, Neurospora crassa, ensures that the genetic code is disabled during the DNA duplication, thus resulting in no errors/variations. But, in the process, Neurospora crassa has remained what it was – a bread mould…….. and never evolved beyond what it started as. Organizations, which at one time were industry leaders with their products, but failed to innovate and evolve with the changing world, soon, found that they were pushed out of the game. The case of the mobile phone industry is a prime example. With the innovation of the smart phone, Motorola found itself becoming redundant. It needed to innovate to remain in the game. Efficiency in Six Sigma is Possible through Variations The mission statements of most organizations talk about innovation and vision – and yet there is an efficiency driven culture in the organization which fights tooth and nail to ensure that there are no variations from the set path. In order to evolve, organizations need to allow experimentation and errors. Unfortunately, most organizations reward those who do not make errors – promotions are based on having the right answers, not asking the right questions; on killing projects that are experimental in nature; on adapting ‘what is’ rather than ‘what should be’. While it is possible that these organizations may succeed in the short term, they eventually lose out on the long run. Like the Neurospora, they survive but only as they were – with no growth, no change, and no longer as leaders. Way Forward for Six Sigma Adaptation While organizations strive to ensure that they become error free, yet, it is these very errors that at times create the breakthrough that is required to take the organization to the leader board of the future. Does this mean that the very concept of Six Sigma is flawed? The answer is no, it is not. The flaw lies in the adaptation of Six Sigma. Let us look at Six Sigma as a piece of cloth. This cloth can protect you as you use it to cover parts of your body; but, it can also smother you if you cover your entire body with it. Organizations need to understand this when they adopt the principles of Six Sigma. While Six Sigma can be very effective in the assembly line on the factory floor, it can smother your marketing department if used the wrong way. Last Word There is a very fine line between failure and success – the ability to turn an error related to Six Sigma into an innovation is what evolution is all about – and if you don’t evolve, you eventually become extinct. |
Philadelphia Eagles vs. New York Jets Results The following is a list of all regular season and postseason games played between the Philadelphia Eagles and New York Jets. The two teams have met each other 10 times, with the Philadelphia Eagles winning 10 games and the New York Jets winning 0 games. Philadelphia Eagles lead series 10-0-0 Date Visitor Home Result Box Score 09/27/2015 09/27/15 Philadelphia Eagles PHI 24 @ New York Jets NYJ 17 W Box 12/18/2011 12/18/11 New York Jets NYJ 19 @ Philadelphia Eagles PHI 45 W Box 10/14/2007 10/14/07 Philadelphia Eagles PHI 16 @ New York Jets NYJ 9 W Box 10/26/2003 10/26/03 New York Jets NYJ 17 @ Philadelphia Eagles PHI 24 W Box 12/14/1996 12/14/96 Philadelphia Eagles PHI 21 @ New York Jets NYJ 20 W Box 10/03/1993 10/03/93 Philadelphia Eagles PHI 35 @ New York Jets NYJ 30 W Box 12/20/1987 12/20/87 Philadelphia Eagles PHI 38 @ New York Jets NYJ 27 W Box 11/12/1978 11/12/78 New York Jets NYJ 9 @ Philadelphia Eagles PHI 17 W Box 12/18/1977 12/18/77 New York Jets NYJ 0 @ Philadelphia Eagles PHI 27 W 12/09/1973 12/09/73 New York Jets NYJ 23 @ Philadelphia Eagles PHI 24 W Date Visitor Home Result Box Score 09/27/2015 09/27/15 Philadelphia Eagles PHI 24 @ New York Jets NYJ 17 W Box 12/18/2011 12/18/11 New York Jets NYJ 19 @ Philadelphia Eagles PHI 45 W Box 10/14/2007 10/14/07 Philadelphia Eagles PHI 16 @ New York Jets NYJ 9 W Box 10/26/2003 10/26/03 New York Jets NYJ 17 @ Philadelphia Eagles PHI 24 W Box 12/14/1996 12/14/96 Philadelphia Eagles PHI 21 @ New York Jets NYJ 20 W Box 10/03/1993 10/03/93 Philadelphia Eagles PHI 35 @ New York Jets NYJ 30 W Box 12/20/1987 12/20/87 Philadelphia Eagles PHI 38 @ New York Jets NYJ 27 W Box 11/12/1978 11/12/78 New York Jets NYJ 9 @ Philadelphia Eagles PHI 17 W Box 12/18/1977 12/18/77 New York Jets NYJ 0 @ Philadelphia Eagles PHI 27 W 12/09/1973 12/09/73 New York Jets NYJ 23 @ Philadelphia Eagles PHI 24 W |
Don’t Call the Pigs: An Informal Guide to Creating an Anarchist Justice System Anti-police sentiment is on the rise in America and around the world. In the wake of the death’s of Mike Brown, Eric Garner, and countless others (Rest In Power), even the DoJ admits that at least some police departments are highly racist in practice and the Black Lives Matter movement has sprung up in response. Those from all sides of the political aisle have come out against police militarization. Pigs have been routinely denied service at various business establishments across the nation. On the inside, prisoners around the country have been on strike since September 9th, the 45th anniversary of the Attica uprising, with guards having recently gone on a solidarity work strike in support of the prisoners at Holman in Atmore, Alabama. So how do we, as anarchists, help provide tactics in the here and now for dealing with the state’s armed injustice system? But more importantly in the long run, how do we build alternative defense and justice systems? How to Deal With the Pigs It’s almost inevitable, especially if you’re working class, queer, a person of color, or an activist, that you will have to interact with the pigs at some point in your lifetime. This is why it’s important to hold community “Know Your Rights” workshops such as those offered by the ACLU or the National Lawyers Guild. Hold these workshops at your local infoshop, library, church, community center, or anywhere else where people, activists and non-activists alike, can learn how to hopefully more safely interact with the police. The ACLU also has an app which allows you to film police interactions and upload them automatically to the ACLU’s database for protection in case you phone is confiscated or broken. Groups like Copwatch and Cop Block also encourage people to film the police and hold them accountable for injustice and police brutality. Movements like Black Lives Matter are currently fighting to curb police brutality by calling for police demilitarization, body cameras, community review boards, community election of police officers, disarming the police, actual punishment for pigs who break the rules, and the end of policies such as Stop and Frisk and Stand Your Ground. These demands hope to curb the worst violence on the way towards abolition. “Unarresting” people can be very risky, especially when you don’t have much support, but has been used as a tactic to free people who are being kidnapped by the pigs both at protests and elsewhere. If you’re up for the challenge then go for it! We need more people like you. And don’t believe any of that sovereign citizen crap. Some of it sounds good in theory but none of has ever really held up in court. How to Deal With Statist Courts If you are arrested and/or have to go to court, finding a lawyer is usually key. Sometimes you can luck out and find a more radical public defender who took the job to truly help poor people but chances are you’re better off crowdfunding or throwing other fundraisers or looking for a lawyer who will work pro bono. Some groups, such as the Industrial Workers of the World’s General Defense Committee, are also set up to help pay for bail and legal fees for activists victimized by the state. If you’re looking for a good radical lawyer, depending on your case you could look towards the National Lawyers Guild, the Institute for Justice, or the American Civil Liberties Union. You could also ask you other radical friends for their local recommendations. The now defunct nonviolent agorist defense agency Shield Mutual offered anarchists and libertarians protections against the state. Instead of armed protection, they promised services attuned to the needs of the individual. They could help with obtaining lawyers, crowdfunding for legal fees, setting up a public freedom campaign website, public relations, media promotion, and networking. They’ve even paid for a woman’s new plane ticket after she was detained by the TSA and missed her flight. The group operated as a friendly society where members paid monthly or yearly dues which went to the cost of helping its membership. They also had a peer-to-peer mutual aid network where members could request funds from other members for emergencies, business ideas, or other projects. Sadly this group has since disbanded (although their website is still up) but it still serves as a model for other agorist defense services. If you ever happen to be summoned for jury duty, don’t try and skip out. Instead try and use the practice of jury nullification to keep people from being thrown in the state’s cages. The Fully Informed Jury Association has plenty of materials to read and learn from and regularly canvases outside courthouses where they’re active. Join or form a chapter, spread the knowledge. We can decide their laws are not worth enforcing. How to Deal With the State’s Prisons If you get locked up, it can seem like the end of the battle but that is far from true. Groups like Books for Prisoners supply reading materials, both radical and non-radical alike, to inmates for entertainment and education. Black and Pink and other letter writing groups provide companionship through becoming pen pals with those held hostage by the state. In order to help change prison conditions and aid their eventual abolition, groups like Families Against Mandatory Minimums, the Free Alabama Movement, the Free Virginia Movement, the Prison Ecology Project, the Incarcerated Workers Organizing Committee, and the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty are essential. While some of these groups are inherently reformist, groups like FAMM and NCADP help fight against specific issues which will roll back the power of the state. Groups like the Prison Ecology Project focus on the high environmental costs of prisons. While on the inside, groups like the Black Guerrilla Family, IWOC, and other prison gangs, organizations, and unions offer a way for inmates to collectively organize against the pigs holding them hostage. IWOC, as a project of the Industrial Workers of the World, helps prisoners set up IWW branches inside prisons to organize against prison slavery and unfair living conditions. The Anarchist Black Cross is dedicated to fighting for political prisoners and prisoners of war within the radical movement. They collect dues from its membership which are used to help prisoners with little to no resources obtain them, usually in the form of a monthly donation to an inmate’s commissary fund. They also help fundraise and advocate for POWs as well as doing letter writing and in person visitation. The Black Cross is organized by both allies and inmates who control the organization through directly democratic means. For those trying to obtain freedom, having an outside network fighting for your freedom with online promotion, political pressure, phone blasts, demonstrations, etc. is a huge help. Nobody is going to pay attention to your case unless there’s enough pressure, such pressure works better in numbers, and such support comes through public awareness and media campaigns. Failing that, there’s always escape. Don’t Call the Pigs One of the biggest things we can do in the here and now is stop relying on the police for protection. Don’t call them, don’t report crimes, don’t allow them in your businesses, don’t snitch. There are better ways of dealing with crime then turning to state violence. Instead of calling the police, set up your own emergency networks. Have a network friends, family, or neighbors who are willing and able to respond to emergencies and call them instead. Apps such as Peacekeeper and Cell411 make this process simpler allowing multiple people to be contacted at once with GPS directions and everything. Choosing the right network could lead to a faster response time and more adaptive tactics ranging from arbitration and conflict resolution to armed defense. Essential to living in a society without pigs is learning self-defense. Martial arts, kickboxing, women’s self-defense courses, and firearms training allow individuals to help protect themselves and others from violence. Groups like the Sylvia Rivera Gun Club for Self Defense, Pink Pistols, and the Huey P. Newton Gun Club offer community firearms training to those in their community. The Huey P. Newton Gun Club actually promotes the idea of arming every black and brown citizen that can legally be armed in order to effectively protect themselves from police and white supremacist violence. The Huey P. Newton Gun Club also advocates Black Panther style community patrols where they both protect the community from internal crime and violence in their communities and track police activity, filming them and yelling legal advice to those being harassed by the pigs while making it known that they are fully armed just in case the pig has any violent inclinations. Other anti-statist directly democratic community watch groups have also sprung up throughout history to protect communities without the need for the pigs. In some places, especially in those where war or violence is more prevalent such as Rojava, these community watch groups take the form of voluntary militias. From the Zapatista Army to the Kurdish People’s Protection Units, community regulated militias have proven an effective response to statist military and police forces. Currently the militia movement in america is of a decidedly more right-wing viewpoint, with groups like the 3%ers, and tend to carry with them underlying statist messages of patriotism and nationalism but one can hope that a leftist militia movement will grow into a reality. Grassroots rape crisis centers offer support geared towards the needs of the survivor and most will not go to the pigs unless asked. Some already offer restorative and transformative programs to help deal with the perpetrator as well while others should be so encouraged by their communities. And as communities look towards other institutional alternatives, the creation of private detective, forensics, and arbitration services can offer attempts at filling those needs. Dispute resolution organizations (DROs) have been proposed as an alternative to police, insurance, and alternative dispute services. According to wikipedia, “The firms would be voluntarily contracted to provide, or coordinate with other firms to provide, services such as mediation, reimbursement for damages, personal protection, and credit reporting.” Don’t Use Their Courts Instead of relying on the state’s court system to solve disputes, turning to arbitration services, trained mediators, direct negotiation between either the two parties, or non-statist alternative dispute resolution between the parties’ lawyers or DRO(s) can offer solutions that are more adapted to the specific needs of the victims and the perpetrators. Community tribunals or courts could also be established in smaller communities to deal with situations directly as a community. Retribution for damaged property can be negotiated in such ways as could the establishment of a restorative and/or transformative justice process which normally takes the form of an accountability process negotiated by the victim and voluntarily fulfilled by the perpetrator. Indemnity services can also help pay for property damages in certain situations especially if no victim is caught. Don’t Fill Their Cages Establishing accountability processes for perpetrators of violent crimes helps address the needs of both the victim and perpetrator, helps to repair the damages made, and transform the perpetrator’s behavior in hopes that they do not continue to harm others. Un-cooperative perps are subject to social ostracization and denial of community services or support until they are cooperative. Repeatedly violent criminals are likely to eventually see the wrong end of a barrel of a gun in an armed anarchist community as self-defense is encouraged but in the here and now it’s best to familiarize yourself and your community with the local gun laws so as to know your rights when being attacked. Hold workshops to spread the knowledge you discover in your research or find a radical lawyer who will help you put together a workshop. Sometimes there are laws that make shooting to kill is legal while warning shots are illegal and that is just one example of such strange and backwards laws. Very rarely is shooting someone worth going to prison yourself so know the laws and weigh the options. Freely available mental health resources such as medication and counseling or even support groups such as the Icarus Project would help alleviate the crime rate as those who suffer from mental health issues won’t be left untreated. This will not only allow for a way to deal with criminals who are mentally unstable in becoming stable but will help prevent crimes before they happen. Groups like Alcoholics Anonymous, Narcotics Anonymous, and other addiction and rehabilitation programs offer a way to deal with drug and alcohol addiction without turning to punishment as the answer. Creating a Less Violent Society Moving forward we must continue the fight to demilitarize and disarm the police, to train in self-defense, and to set up our alternative justice systems but we must also get at the root of most crime in this country. Excessive laws and regulation, racism, sexism (including heterosexism and cissexism), and poverty are at the heart of most crime in this country. Repealing prohibitions on guns, drugs, prostitution, squatting, conducting business without a license, and the myriad of other prohibitions the state enacts will empty their prisons of a majority inmates who are locked up for victimless crimes. Taking care of their economic needs by making sure folks have food, shelter, medical care, and their other needs met either through better job opportunities in a freed market (or the agora as it stands today) or through mutual aid such as through groups like Food Not Bombs, free clinics, community lending programs, and grassroots labor unions will help combat economic crimes. As it stands most of those caught for theft, embezzlement, identity theft, robbery, and other economic crimes more often than not did so out of desperation to escape poverty. Taking care of the basic needs of your local community helps relieve such desperation and offers them the resources of survival so that they do not have to steal to obtain resources. Nonviolent parenting, education, nonviolent communication techniques, and conflict resolution training can help to lead us to a better future where we can solve our own problems instead of relying on the state’s goons to kidnap and throw our enemies – and friends – in cages. The Audre Lorde Project’s Safe OUTside the System campaign teaches people how to set up safe spaces where police are not needed or welcomed. All of these ideas and more are things we could establish and do in the here and now to create our own justice systems in the traditions of agorism, dual power, and “building a new world in the shell of the old.” And with people begging for solutions with both the current ongoing national prison strikes and the movements for black lives and against police militarization, now is as good a time as ever to begin building and put these ideas into practice. Spread the Word, Break the Chains! |
can easily be seen in latest projections from Benchmark Politics: x People have asked about New Jersey. Here is the current NJ Projection - Clinton 64% - Sanders 36%. pic.twitter.com/wcWelp58tC — Benchmark Politics (@benchmarkpol) May 31, 2016 The overall project of 64-38 — a 26 point margin — does not tell the complete story. Bernie is projected to lose every single county. His best performance is in Morris County, for which the projection is ONLY 55.2-44.8, or a 10.4% margin for Clinton. His worst is Essex (Newark), where he gets blown out 78.76-21.24, or a 57.52% margin. Makes all the sense that if Clinton is going to spend any time in a June 7 primary state, it should be CA and not NJ. And she is close enough for a quick trip to NM if she wants Oh and in case you forgot, here is Benchmark’s projection for CA: x New California county level projections, same state level result: Clinton 56% - Sanders 44%. pic.twitter.com/KZvnrGzzL0 â Benchmark Politics (@benchmarkpol) May 30, 2016 FWIW — the only one of the twelve biggest counties Sanders wins is Santa Clara, and that by only 2.45%, while losing larger counties by big margins: LA by 22.97%, Riverside by 24>72%, and San Bernadino by 30.15%. Benchmark has been about the most consistently accurate so far this season. I would say one week from today is likely to be a strongly positive occasion for Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton. |
ByAt a time when world leaders are furiously pushing for the use of science and technology to counter climate change, a certain section of academicians are looking towards Indian mythology to spread the message of sustainability.“Lord Shiva as a great environmentalist in the world,” is the title of a paper that will be presented at the 103rd Indian Science Congress at the University of Mysore on Wednesday. According to the two-page abstract of the paper, accessed by Mirror, followers of Hinduism understood the importance of a clean environment well in advance.The paper is part of a symposium on air quality in major cities in terms of organic and inorganic pollutants. The claims by the writer, Akhilesh K Pandey, chairman of MP Private University Regulatory Commission, Bhopal, may not go down well with modern scientists, who base their works on evidence and facts.Pandey’s paper draws inspiration from the rudraksha necklace on Lord Shiva. “The word rudra means strict or uncompromising and aksha means eye. It illustrates the fact that Shiva is firm about his cosmic laws. Thus we can say that ancient Indians were very much aware about ecology and sustainability. Therefore, the objective of the article is to create awareness about the conservation of environment without causing harm to others,” it says. From river Ganga to tiger skin, the paper tries to explain more about the God.Last year, a paper presented at the Congress held in Mumbai sparked outrage among the scientific community after it claimed the science of flying a plane had been recorded by Maharishi Bharadwaj, long before Wright brothers. Facing criticism, the authorities had promised not to allow such papers.Experts at the 103rd Indian Science Congress have said that there is no denying the fact that non-vegetarian food does ensure significantly better nutritional intake than that of a vegetarian.They said meat and fish consumption could be the answer to dealing with 194.6 million people in India who are undernourished – with 51 per cent of women in the age-group of 15-55 being anaemic and 44 per cent of children underweight as per a 2015 report from Food & Agricultural Organisation.National Dairy Research Institute (NDRI) director Dr AK Srivastava and NDRI senior scientist (animal reproduction) A Kumaresan said in a session on ‘Innovation in livestock sector for food, health and livelihood security in India’ that animal foods are an important source of high-quality protein, minerals, vitamins and micronutrients. “The importance of dietary animal protein can be well recognised because it contains essential amino acids, which are deficient in cereals,” said Srivastava.Shankh or conch has a “special relevance for every Hindu and the blowing of shankh is the best way to prevent several ailments”, stated a paper that was presented at a symposium under the section Anthropological and Behavioural Sciences at the 103rd Indian Science Congress on Tuesday.However, presentation of such papers is contrary to claims by Indian Science Congress authorities, who had last year said that only pure and evidencebased science would be discussed in the future. According to the paper, written by Rajeev Sharma, an IAS officer, blowing of shankh is the best preventive measure for psycho-somatic disorders as it accounts for both “physical and mental aspects of a performer”.Sharma told Mirror that he had been practising this for nearly two-and-a-half years, and after he recommended conch therapy to nearly 40 people, they recovered from ailments like thyroid and cervical spondylitis, among others. He insisted that it was science. |
As the star of ABC’s ’90s-set family comedy “Fresh off the Boat,” Constance Wu has emerged as one of the most critically acclaimed leading ladies on TV. The show’s third season launches this week, with an episode filmed partly on location in Taiwan. How does it feel to be heading into season three? When you start out as an actor, you try to establish a history for your character so all your choices have some roots. Now, not only do I have the history I created with my imagination, but I also have the history of playing her. It feels a little bit more intuitive for me. The toughest part for me doing a show, having never done even a pilot before is navigating the endurance that is required to do 22 episodes and take care of yourself in a physical and mental health type way. That’s a negotiation that I think only happens with experience. No matter how many people told me how to handle it you only learn how to carry a show by doing it. I feel like I’ve found that balance, which is good for my work and my health and my life. Last season you had to do 24 episodes, is that when you learned that balance? I think from both years, you learn how to negotiate self care and endurance over a long period of time. I was so used to doing indie movies — the filming schedule for those lasts a couple of weeks. It’s easy to keep up your energy for that because it’s an exciting three weeks. That’s not to say my show isn’t exciting, it is, but after three months that adrenaline is not enough. You actually have to participate in self-care to keep that energy. Related Hollywood Picks the Best Oscar Looks of All Time Asia Video Streamer Hooq to Be Integrated Into Grab App What was it like filming in Taiwan for the season premiere? The crew was wonderful; we brought a skeleton crew from America and used a lot of local talent. It was fun for me as an actor to navigate this experience of my character going back to her homeland but realizing her home has evolved into something else, and also still having an appreciation of her childhood home. That had some real strong ties to the immigrant story. So often when we talk about Asians in media, people expect Asian-Americans to be placated by Asian content. They don’t distinguish between Asian and Asian-American content — they’re very different, and that’s not to place a higher value on one or the other. It’s just to give an awareness to people that to lump us together as the same story is reductive to our experience. The fortitude it took to come here as an immigrant, with no support system in a new place, sometimes not even speaking the language, and what it must take to have the courage to build that kind of a story and home from scratch — it is a different experience. When Hollywood executives think Asian-Americans are placated by simply Asian roles, I think that’s reductive to what it means for our immigrant experience and how unique and special that is to us. Asians and Asian-Americans — not better nor worse — just different. Alan Yang recently used his platform at the Emmys to shine a light on some of that — that Italian-Americans and Asian-Americans make up the same percentage of the U.S. population but Italian-Americans have so many more diverse and highly acclaimed portrayals in pop-culture. And yet in the reactions to his comments I read things like, “Asians have ‘Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,’” which miss the exact point you just made. It’s not remotely the same. It’s not the same. There are many Asian-Americans who don’t even speak Chinese, the language of “Crouching Tiger.” They speak Korean or Japanese, and yet they’re expected to be happy with that representation? And they’re Americans — Korean-Americans or Japanese-Americans. I think what Alan Yang did was especially brilliant because one of the lazy excuses that people often give Asian-Americans is, “You only make up a small percentage of the population and that’s why you represent a small percentage of narrative content.” What Alan Yang did is he didn’t make it about black or white, he made it about the culture. It is true that Italian-Americans, though they are white, also have a wealth of content. Within that wealth there are things some Italian-Americans probably think doesn’t represent them, and some they think do represent them. But the main point is they have so many different narratives from which to choose. If you’re Italian-American, you are at the same percentage in America that Asians are, and you can probably find something that speaks to your experience. I am certain that “Fresh Off the Boat” does not speak to every Asian-American experience — some for sure, and for that I am proud and very grateful. But what he said was absolutely true, and wasn’t trying to pit anybody against anybody. It’s trying to make us think outside of color and think of culture and stories and narrative scarcity. It feels like there’s at least a growing awareness and a lot of discussion about this. Do you feel there’s also action? I definitely think there’s action being taken but action takes many forms. For some people action is writing blogs and essays or engaging in Twitter wars and for some action is making content, on YouTube or Vimeo — whatever platform you can — or writing your own short stories. For some action means having conversations with close family members who may not understand the implications of bias on the Hollywood financial market. The market was born in bias, and having those private conversations are a type of action. Sometimes we think only the people who have loud actions are truly active, but there are plenty of Asian-Americans out there making really incredible work on all sorts of platforms and I applaud that. It’s happening, but almost nothing happens overnight. The myriad ways we approach it, whether it’s by creating work or Tweeting about it — neither is better or worse, they’re just different ways of chipping through a barrier to shed some light on s—, you know? Jessica Huang is one of TV’s great moms. How has it been watching your young co-stars, like Hudson Yang, 12, grow up these past few years? It’s opened up my memories of what I was like when I was that age. I started in the theater when I was Hudson’s age. I remember how things felt. It’s awakened a dormant compassion in me, which I think is always good for any actor or artist. The richer your compassion and empathy is, the more reach you have. Being around them has really opened me up. Even being around parents, my peers don’t really have kids, so I don’t get to interact with parents. Randall has kids and the parents of the kids on the show, interacting with them is like a new experience for me. It’s good for me and I’m glad for it. You don’t have children but you do come from a family with three sisters. Do you draw on any of your personal family experiences for the show? No. Another thing [the show] has opened to me is how different the experience is growing up as a girl than it is as a boy. I don’t have any brothers. I didn’t even grow up around male cousins or nephews. The male childhood experience is one I only know through having been an adolescent, but at that time I’m boy crazy so it’s a different story. It’s very different, even the way the three boy actors interact with each other is very different from me and my sisters. I think if you look into the work that Geena Davis’ gender institute is doing, we plant those structural seeds very early on, in our cartoons and everything. It’s very hard to draw on my own personal experience because my family was so female heavy. I had male cousins but they lived in Canada and Taiwan. Do your younger co-stars ever ask you to explain the show’s ’90s pop-culture references? They don’t ask me; they have an acting coach they’ll ask. A lot of these ’90s references they use are hip-hop references. When I was a little girl, I wasn’t into hip-hop. I still don’t know much about it. But if they have a ’90s-girl teenager I might remember some of my own stuff. I don’t know if this line will make it into the show, but there was an Ani DiFranco reference recently — I was like, “OK, that one I get.” I was explaining to Hudson about “Little Plastic Castle” and everything. Some people may be surprised that you have a passion for musicals. Do you have a recent favorite? I always veer toward older musicals; I’ve always liked the Rodgers and Hammerstein kind of stuff. I’ve done a couple of Off-Broadway musicals, but I don’t promote myself as a singer. When I tell people I can sing, I think they think, “She’s one of those people who says that but can’t actually sing.” I actually went in for a meeting with one of the producers of “Little Shop of Horrors,” and I was like: “Test me. Try me. I will kill it for you.” I am never above auditioning. That excites me. I want to earn my place, show my salt. |
CLOSE Verizon's unlimited data will cost you compared to Sprint, but are relatively reasonable compared to T-Mobile and AT&T. USA TODAY NETWORK A file picture dated 12 April 2006 shows a logo sign at the Verizon buildings in New York, New York, USA. (Photo11: Justin Lane, EPA) Verizon will begin offering unlimited data plans to customers starting Monday. The largest U.S. wireless provider will let customers keep their current plans or opt for an $80 monthly plan, for a single line, with unlimited data, talking and texting. Customers must agree to AutoPay and paper-free billing. Families can also pay $45 per line for four lines (a total of $180). The move comes amid growing competition in the wireless space. Verizon had been an unlimited plan holdout as T-Mobile and, to a lesser extent, Sprint have gained ground on Verizon and No. 2 provider AT&T with their unlimited offerings. As customers use their smartphones for more video and photo sharing via social media networks, T-Mobile and Sprint have grown their user base with users who don't want to worry about using more data than their plan allows. Verizon hopes to stem any further exodus with the offerings. "Verizon is offering something nobody else can: The unlimited plan you want on the wireless network you deserve," said Ronan Dunne, president of Verizon’s wireless division, in a video posted Verizon's website Sunday. The move by Verizon was "inevitable," said Roger Entner, a telecom analyst with Recon Analytics. He had expected Verizon to begin offering unlimited wireless plans, but the company's announcement comes "a bit earlier than expected. But only by months, not by years. ... They are fighting back hard." As wireless networks have become better and able to handle more capacity, unlimited data plans make sense, Entner said. The company had said that the cost of delivering a gigabyte of data had dropped 40% to 50% as its network had evolved. "This forces AT&T also to follow suit," he said. So far, AT&T's unlimited wireless plan is available only to those who subscribe to either of their pay-TV services DirecTV or U-verse. Verizon last offered unlimited data options to customers in 2012 before killing the plans in favor of tiered data buckets where users share data with other members of their family. Last year the company made its first move back towards unlimited, introducing a "Safety Mode" where customers who exceeded their mobile data limits would see their data slowed to 2G speeds instead of being automatically billed overage charges for additional gigabytes. While the competition does still undercut it on price, Verizon's plan delivers high definition video and lets you use your smartphone as a wireless hotspot for up to 10GB of data at no additional charge. T-Mobile and Sprint limit their mobile video streams to a lower resolution, though both carriers allow for users to purchase the ability to stream in HD. Also last week, Sprint announced a new five-line unlimited data plan for $90. In comparison, T-Mobile charges $70 per month for the first line and $50 for the second. Four lines would cost $160 (each additional line is $20 monthly, up to eight lines). Under Verizon's plan (more info on verizon.com) five lines would cost $200 each month (not including taxes or other fees). Verizon charges $180 for the four lines, with each additional unlimited line costing $20 up to ten lines. Customers can add a tablet to their plan for $20 monthly and a smartwatch for $5. Verizon will send through data at full LTE speeds until a customer surpasses 22 GB for the month, then it may prioritize data during busy times to prevent network congestion that could affect other customers. Follow USA TODAY's Mike Snider and Eli Blumenthal on Twitter: @MikeSnider & @eliblumenthal. Read or Share this story: http://usat.ly/2kAvko3 |
CoinFest, the decentralised cryptocurrency events organisation, is holding the largest out of 20 or so global meet-ups in Manchester on the 8th and 9th of April, and like all CoinFest events it will be free to attend. CoinFest said it has over 20 events planned around the world between April 5-10. The movement, which began in 2013 as a small gathering of Bitcoin enthusiasts in Vancouver, is decentralised and open source meaning that anyone can participate as long as they uphold its protocol. The CoinFest organisation keeps its funds in a 10-of-15 multi-signature wallet for non-profit use, and hosts simultaneous events at venues that accept or support cryptocurrency. The long-term goal is to create a decentralised autonomous organisation on the blockchain. Previous events have included networking at the site of the world's first Bitcoin ATM, a Decentralized Doge Party, and educational events across Africa, where we shipped Botswana's first Bitcoin ATM. It has featured guest stars from Mr Bitcoin to Vitalik Buterin, with events ranging from pub nights to conferences. CoinFest 2016 is going to be the biggest one yet, with at least two dozen cities preparing to play host. The most anticipated include Toronto, Washington DC, Vancouver, Manchester, Amsterdam, Helsinki, and cities across Africa and Latin America. Many are incumbent from last year, with new events in CoinFest 2016 will also have global activities such as the International Hangout, which will beam speakers to multiple projectors around the world. Other activities may include a decentralised arcade, which showcases crypto gaming projects, said a statement. CoinFest UK will be based at MadLab in the northern quarter of Manchester on the 8th and 9th of April and run from 9am to 10pm on the Friday and 9am to 4pm on the Saturday. It will operate over two floors and host a wide range of speakers covering topics including the laws on Bitcoin, banking, cryptocurrency debit cards, and local council-run cryptocurrency projects. There will also be a range of activities, short education sessions and sponsored giveaways. "We are aiming for CoinFest UK to be a hub for people interested in cryptocurrencies at every level--a place for them to become engaged," said CoinFest. CoinFest UK opened pre-registrations in the middle of January 2016, and currently has over 300 planned visitors from more than nine different countries. CoinFest UK's ticket system will become live at the beginning of March, generating a unique cryptocurrency ID for each attendee for later use in an included raffle. |
A first appearance in the World Twenty20 cricket semifinals in nine years is firmly in New Zealand's grasp after they strangled Australia's chase in Dharamsala. Three days after they rocked tournament favourites India, Kane Williamson's Black Caps mugged the old enemy with more of the same. Defending just 142-8, spin twins Mitchell Santner and Ish Sodhi slammed on the brakes and the recalled Mitchell McClenaghan finished the job for an eight-run victory. Remarkably the Black Caps sit atop group two after felling two giants of the world game. Victory against Pakistan in Mohali early on Wednesday (NZT) will confirm their semifinal spot, otherwise Bangladesh loom as their final group hurdle to reach the playoffs for the first time since South Africa in 2007. A few more runs from the top-four and New Zealand are genuine title contenders, now on a roll in a wide open format. ADNAN ABIDI/REUTERS New Zealand's Mitchell McClenaghan (third right), who took 3-17 from three overs, high-fives teammates after a dismissal. "It's nice to show some teams that we can play in these conditions," said a beaming McClenaghan, man of the match for his return of 3-17 including a killer final over where he snared Mitchell Marsh and Ashton Agar in the space of five deliveries. READ MORE: * McClenaghan: Winning Black Caps 'going to new levels' * Recap: Black Caps v Australia in Dharamsala * Scorecard: Black Caps v Australia * Root leads England to victory in monster 230 run chase * White Ferns go two from two in women's World T20 * Sri Lanka superstar Malinga out of World T20 injured * Early exit 'heat' on India as they prep for Pakistan ADNAN ABIDI/REUTERS Black Cap Grant Elliott pumps his fist after running out Australia's Usman Khawaja for the first wicket of the innings. Corey Anderson stepped up to bowl the final over with 19 runs to play with and that was plenty, despite a Peter Nevill six causing some heart flutters. They ended 134-9. McClenaghan snuffed out Australia's faltering challenge on the slow, turning surface at the foot of the Himalayas which bore a handy resemblance to Nagpur where they beat India at their own game. It looked a risk but they omitted offspinner Nathan McCullum and recalled McClenaghan, the big left-armer whose change of angle and slow cutters were perfect for the conditions and proved another selection masterstroke by Williamson and coach Mike Hesson. RYAN PIERSE/GETTY IMAGES Ish Sodhi and Kane Williamson celebrate after New Zealand clinched an eight-run victory over Australia. "I like them [conditions], it makes me feel a bit more like a left-arm orthodox but they're good for bowling. Nathan's performance was outstanding [in Nagpur] and we're sitting two world class seamers on the bench [Tim Southee and Trent Boult]. We've got a fantastic squad," McClenaghan said. Again the spinners did the job against Australia playing their opening match, having picked three tweakers themselves. Santner is the budding star of the tournament after his man of the match 4-11 against India. This time he snared two of world cricket's biggest scalps, Steve Smith and David Warner, to rock Australia's chase for what looked a very getable total. He turned one past Smith who charged wildly, then dangerman Warner, who'd just played a part in Usman Khawaja's run out, took on the boundary rider Martin Guptill and lost. ADNAN ABIDI/REUTERS A fired-up Mitchell McClenaghan reacts after taking the wicket of Australia's Mitchell Marsh, one of his three in Dharamsala. The Black Caps fielded like demons once more, snaring six catches while Adam Milne's rocket arm beat a sluggish Khawaja (38 off 27) after he'd made a flyer. Glenn Maxwell went for every big shot in the book but could barely lay bat on it, even switching to left-handed before skying one off Sodhi to end a wretched knock. Santner ended with 2-30 off four and Sodhi 1-14 off four, another impressive, confident display from the young legspinner who took 3-18 to destroy his country of birth in Nagpur. "We were fortunate to play on two wickets that are very similar and we adopted similar tactics. It was nice to get a score on the board that in most Twenty20s probably isn't enough. On these surfaces it's a pretty tough total to chase," said Williamson who was again decisive and rotated his bowlers expertly. RYAN PIERSE/GETTY IMAGES Black Caps batsman Grant Elliott is run out for 27 during New Zealand's innings against Australia in Dharamsala. It was the first time New Zealand and Australia had met in six editions of the World T20 and the Black Caps had fresh memories of their ODI series-winning performance in Hamilton in February. It was a good toss for Williamson to win but the familiar batting story played out after he and Guptill added 61 off 7.1 overs. Guptill welcomed the recalled Agar with three big sixes but New Zealand lost their way in the middle against Australia's allrounders Shane Watson, Faulkner and Marsh. Change of pace was vital and the New Zealanders offered catching practice, before some late Grant Elliott blows got them a total that looked not quite enough. Smith was unimpressed with Australia's batting after a decent bowling performance, and could throw himself in that reckless category too. ADNAN ABIDI/REUTERS Black Caps batsman Colin Munro plays a slog sweep shot during his innings of 23 off 26 balls in front of Australian wicketkeeper Peter Nevill. "I thought around 150 was par. Their spinners bowled extremely well again though the middle and we didn't respond well. We lost wickets in clumps and you can't do that in T20 when you're chasing 140," Smith said. "We just didn't apply ourselves enough, we had to knock the ball around a bit more and get off strike and get a few ones and twos rather than go for the big shot." Australia face Bangladesh next followed by Pakistan, and it could come down to a big clash with India on March 28 to see who joins the Black Caps, the new team of the moment, in the playoffs. *Comments have now closed on this story* |
The Arizona Wildcats just wrapped up a great season that ended in disappointment. The Wildcats, who won 34 games, the Pac-12 regular season title and the Pac-12 Tournament, lost to Wisconsin 85-78 in the Elite 8. It is the second year in a row the Wildcats have fallen to the Badgers with a spot in the Final Four on the line, and the third time in six seasons Miller’s team has fallen one game shy of the Dance’s third weekend. Miller, who has quickly gained a reputation for being the best coach in NCAA hoops who has not reached the Final Four, sent out a series of tweets late Sunday addressing his squad’s “failure.” A picture that captures a lot for me. My wife and point guard saying good bye to a wonderful season #BearDown pic.twitter.com/KjaEFomvND — Sean Miller (@UACoachMiller) March 30, 2015 Thanks to a group of guys that sacrificed & became the best team that I have ever coached. From our Mile Run to 34-4. pic.twitter.com/Hq2ggrB55H — Sean Miller (@UACoachMiller) March 30, 2015 A special thank you to our diehard fans, especially the @ZonaZooOfficial, for your support in all that we do – you are simply the best. — Sean Miller (@UACoachMiller) March 30, 2015 The first three tweets were heartfelt and understandable. Arizona had a great run with a fun roster of players who just couldn’t get past the hot-shooting Badgers Saturday afternoon. But it’s the last one that has people buzzing. Miller, who has been with UA for six seasons, decided to take a bit of a shot at his school’s in-state rival. Finally to the people that try to make us feel like our season was a failure. Go cheer for ASU! #BearDown — Sean Miller (@UACoachMiller) March 30, 2015 Of course, the two teams split the season series this year — with Miller’s team winning 73-49 in Tucson and ASU coming out on top 81-78 in Tempe — so it is not as if the ‘Cats can just point to the scoreboard in this one. If nothing else this is the kind of message that is likely to fire up anyone wearing red and blue while upsetting those in maroon and gold. Is it just part of rivalry fun or a cheap shot that did not need to be taken? Your answer probably depends largely on which school you support. Follow @AZSports |
CLOSE A 9-year-old boy was fatally shot in the head in Cumberland Friday afternoon. Michael Anthony Adams/IndyStar Buy Photo A woman cries out as a man collapses behind her at the scene where a 9-year-old boy was fatally shot May 27 in Cumberland. (Photo: Michael Anthony Adams/IndyStar 2016 file photo)Buy Photo A 9-year-old boy was fatally shot in the head Friday afternoon in Cumberland, police said. Cumberland police officers responded to the 500 block of Wickerwood Drive, in the Berkshire Square apartments complex, on a report of a person shot about 3:45 p.m. When they arrived at the apartment, officers found a 9-year-old boy, later identified as Anthony Harmon Jr., who had been shot in the face. Anthony was pronounced dead at the scene. Police would not say under what circumstances the boy was shot but did confirm they were not looking for a suspect. It's also unclear whether police have found the weapon that was used. Several people were inside the apartment where the boy was shot, police said. No other injuries were reported. Ruby Hickman was upstairs in her apartment when she heard the gunshot from next door. Her brother Eric dismissed it as being from the TV, but then she heard someone banging on the door. It was the kind of banging, she said, that meant something terrible had happened. It was a teenage girl who said she had been in the apartment with the 9-year-old victim. Hickman ran next door. She started CPR on the boy, but it was too late. Hickman called 911 and tried to keep all of the other kids in the apartment calm. But they were running around, crying and screaming. Hickman said the teenage girl told her she was upstairs and ran down and saw the 9-year-old on the floor. "(His family) was devastated," Hickman said. "They were shaken up, there's no doubt about that." Hickman was shaken up, too. "It's just a horrible, horrible situation," she said. This story is breaking and will be updated. Call IndyStar reporter Michael Anthony Adams at (317) 444-6123. Follow him on Twitter: @michaeladams317. Read or Share this story: http://indy.st/1Vm7Q4U |
DNA Origami is a technique for folding strands of DNA into very precise shapes to make objects that are 1/10,000th the size of a human hair. DNA strands are much like strands of pearls made up of chains of 4 amino acids: cytosine, guanine, adenine and thymine abbreviated as C, G, A, and T. Units on one strand interact with units on a second strand, binding together to create the double helix shape. There are rules for the interaction though, A only binds to T and C only binds to G for example. Because of these rules scientists have been able to create DNA strands with a precise sequence that allows them to interact with each other to form 2 and 3 dimensional shapes. For example if you fold a sequence so that an A comes into contact with a T they’ll bind and that fold will be held together. A scientist name Hadrian Seeman came up with the idea of DNA origami in 1982 after looking at an MC Escher Painting called Depth. In 1991 he created his first cube made out of folded DNA. In 2006 another scientist named Paul Rothemund developed with a much easier method and coined the phrase “DNA Origami”. His method involved folding large DNA sequences that were obtained from viruses and holding the folds in place using small “sticky” DNA sequences that acted like glue. The method was so effective that scientists were able to fold squares, triangles, stars and even smiley faces. An entire object could be folded in a matter of hours as well. These folded DNA shapes were even featured at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Since then scientists have been folding much more sophisticated shapes and testing them for all kinds of different applications. For example, one group of scientists created a box with a “lock” that would open when the lock was bound with a specific molecule, the “key”. This box could then be used to carry specific medicines to specific locations in the body. DNA origami can also potentially be used to create microscopic components for tiny electric chips since it’s possible for metal particles and other materials to stick to the DNA strands. Another group of scientists at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland is researching DNA to fight cancer. Many conventional chemotherapy drugs attack the DNA of cancer cells by inserting themselves into their DNA structure and then blocking their ability to transfer information. However a lot of cancer cells have adapted to this treatment and are able to detox the chemotherapy drugs through special channels they’ve developed. DNA Origami however can be used to deliver chemotherapy drugs in a way that can’t be blocked and should have no problems killing chemotherapy-resistant cancer cells. Their method has already been tested in the laboratory and has been successful against both Breast Cancer and Leukaemia cells. The results are incredibly promising and it looks like DNA origami could be incredibly promising for fighting cancer and saving lives. |
LOS ANGELES -- Jordan Adams' freshman season ended early when he broke his foot, and UCLA's postseason hopes crashed soon afterward. He has come back with a vengeance. Adams scored a career-high 30 points, the third time in four games that he has topped 20, and No. 22 UCLA pulled away from pesky Morehead State in the second half to win 81-70 on Friday night. Kyle Anderson had a big night, too, notching his first career triple-double. The sophomore finished with 13 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists for the school's first triple-double since Toby Bailey had one in 1995, when UCLA won the last of its record 11 national championships. "The sky's the limit for both of us," Adams said. "We're the captains, so with us going out there and putting up these numbers, we have to bring it every night with the same intensity." Freshman Zach LaVine added 12 points for the Bruins (4-0) in a regional game of the Las Vegas Invitational. They play Chattanooga on Sunday before heading to Sin City for their final two tournament games over Thanksgiving weekend. Asked whether he ever had a triple-double, new UCLA coach and former Indiana star Steve Alford replied, "I don't know that I had one. I didn't pass a whole lot." Chad Posthumus had a career-high 21 points and 18 rebounds while playing all 40 minutes for the Eagles (4-2) in their first meeting with UCLA. Brent Arrington added 17 points, including five of his team's 10 3-pointers. "It's tough when they are hitting as many shots as they did, and we had a couple of turnovers," Posthumus said. "If we had gotten a couple of more shots we could have won the game." Morehead State matched UCLA on the boards with 36 rebounds but shot just 37 percent and had 13 turnovers. The Bruins, who led by 17 points in the first half, missed their first three shots and had a turnover to start the second half. Posthumus continued on his shooting tear that began with seven minutes left in the first half, when the Eagles faced that 17-point deficit. He scored 10 of Morehead State's first 16 points during a stretch in which it closed to three points four times. "Chad was the best post player on the court," Eagles coach Sean Woods said. "If we make a couple of plays then it would be a different outcome." The Eagles suddenly went cold, and the Bruins capitalized with a 12-3 spurt that extended their lead to 71-57. Anderson scored five points, and Travis Wear, playing his first game since having an appendectomy Oct. 28, dunked and got fouled, making the free throw. Wear finished with 11 points. "It was like 100 mph. I got out there and I was kind of like a deer in the headlights," said Wear, who first practiced Wednesday. "I kept trying to tell myself, slow down. I was excited to get out there." Morehead State hit three 3-pointers in the final 2:47 to get back within single digits. The Eagles haven't beaten a ranked team since 2011, when they upset Louisville 62-61 in the NCAA tournament. Morehead State took its second lead of the game, 18-17, on a 3-pointer by Angelo Warner. Arrington hit a 3-pointer to open the game. The Bruins answered with a 20-2 run, including four 3-pointers, to go up 37-20. LaVine hit two of the 3s while scoring eight points. Adams had five and Wear four. "Anytime you're on runs like that you get defensive stops," Alford said. "When this team gets defensive stops, we're very good in transition." The Eagles had the last run of the half, an 18-9 spurt that drew them to 46-38 at halftime. Posthumus scored eight points, and Warner had five. |
Digital Album Digital Album Streaming + Download Includes high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more. Paying supporters also get unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app. Purchasable with gift card Buy Digital Album name your price You own this Send as Gift Share / Embed about Selected works from 2012-2015, remixed and remastered. This album is a tribute to the video game music that has moved and inspired me. To all my listeners, friends, and family. I could not continue producing music without your support. I wholeheartedly thank you. credits released March 1, 2015 Produced, mixed and mastered by Dj CUTMAN Thank you to the game composers: Revo, Jake "Virt" Kaufman, Manami Matsumae, Takashi Kumegawa, Yoshio Hirai, Masashi Kageyama, Mahito Yokota, Toru Minegishi, Yasuaki Iwata, Koji Kondo,Hiroshi Kawaguchi, Minako Hamano, Kozue Ishikawa, David Wise, Eveline Fischer, Robin Beanland, Manaka Kataoka, Atsuko Asahi, Fumito Tamayama,Yoko Suzuki, Shigenori Masuko, Brad Buxer, Cirocco Jones, Michael Jackson, Sachio Ogawa, Tatsuyuki Maeda, Tomonori Sawada, Jun Senoue,Miyoko Takaoka, Masanori Hikichi, Shinobu Tanaka, Kenta Nagata, Mario Gonzalez & Javier Perez, Nu Romantic Productions (Mark Steven Miller and Jason Scher), Ryo Nagamatsu, Yasunori Shiono, Hirokazu Ando, Jun Ishikawa, Yasunori Mitsuda, Masato Nakamura, Naofumi Hataya, Masafumi Ogata, Spencer Nilsen, David J. Young, Mark "Sterling" Crew, Keiichi Suzuki, Hirokazu Tanaka, Kinuyo Yamashita, Koji Kondo, Shota Kageyama, Minako Adachi, Hitomi Sato, Junichi Masuda, Kenji Yamamoto, Minako Hamano, and Nobuo Uematsu Special thanks to Brad the GameChops Intern Volume III is an fan-made project made in honor of the video game producers and musicians that inspired these tracks. This album is not licensed or endorsed by any game company. license |
I assume I was aware of this when the new playoff formats were announced, but if so I totally forgot about it. From Buster Olney: The wild-card games will be conducted under circumstances we’ve never seen before in the postseason. The participating teams will set 25-man rosters for this one-game, winner-take-all extravaganza — rosters that don’t have to carry over to the Division series matchup. So the Braves and the other wild-card entrants don’t have to carry multiple starting pitchers. Just more distortion from a setup that already distorts all that is important in baseball: depth, stamina and the ability to win a majority of games as opposed to EVERY GAME MATTERING like it does in other sports. It’s quite possible that we’ll have a wild card games with starters going three innings, followed by seven relievers used over the course of the next six innings with every quasi-critical situation leading to some matchup-optimizing pitching change. All of the anti-excitement of an All-Star Game except the outcome matters way more. Why on earth are the rules this way? If the wild card game is the playoffs, why aren’t teams required to use their postseason rosters? This makes zero sense to me and just underscores how contrived the play-in game is. |
ES News Email Enter your email address Please enter an email address Email address is invalid Fill out this field Email address is invalid You already have an account. Please log in or register with your social account A Southern Rail train has caused unexpected delays on a road in south-east London. South London commuters may have become accustomed to delays on the railways following a year blighted with strikes. However, unsuspecting motorists faced being delayed by one of the train company’s carriages in Crystal Palace on Wednesday. Bemused drivers took to social media to share pictures of the carriage, being transported on a truck, jammed at a junction between Westow Street and Central Hill around 8.30pm. Laura Whitwell shared a snap of the incident on Twitter and said it delayed traffic for up to 15 minutes. She wrote: “#southernrail are as inept on the road as on the tracks. Stuck at a junction in Crystal Palace.” Luke Alexander tweeted: “Truck carrying a Southern train carriage has jammed itself in at the top of Crystal Palace and is holding up all traffic. Oh the irony.” A Southern spokesman said: "The carriage on the lorry was fire damaged earlier this month due to an electrical fault and was being transported for repairs. “These road movements generally take place by specialist hauliers when the roads are at their quietest to minimise any potential disruption. “Negotiating the roads of south London is always a challenge with a 20m long vehicle, but in the years we have moved carriages by road, this is the first time that an incident of this nature has occurred." |
Prevent and treat osteoperosis with Fosamax Fosamax strengthens joints and increases bone mass, treating and preventing osteoporosis in men and women. Osteoporosis is a disease that causes bones to become more porous, gradually making them weaker and more brittle (‘osteo’ means bone, ‘porosis’ means porous.) Our bodies go through a continuous bone-building cycle, in which old bone is broken down and new bone is formed. Osteoporosis is caused by an imbalance in this cycle, in which too much bone is broken down and not completely re-built. Today, over 10 million individuals have or are at risk of osteoporosis – 80% are women. Almost 34 million more people have low bone mass, placing them at increased risk for osteoporosis. Yet only a relatively small number of men and women with osteoporosis have been diagnosed or treated. This is largely because few people experience symptoms in the early stages. Fosamax is a medicine that is primarily used to prevent and treat osteoporosis in postmenopausal women. It is also used to increase bone mass in men with osteoporosis, and is prescribed for both men and women who have developed a form of osteoporosis sometimes caused by steroid medications such as prednisone. This drug can also be used to relieve Paget's disease, a painful condition that weakens and deforms the bones. Caution: You should not use Fosamax if you have certain disorders of the esophagus, are unable to stand or sit upright for 30 minutes, have severe kidney disease, low blood calcium, or are allergic to Fosamax. [productalsobuy] |
Viking's Choice: InTechnicolour, 'We Are Losing Sleep' Enlarge this image toggle caption Konrad S Leader/Courtesy of the artist Konrad S Leader/Courtesy of the artist InTechnicolour works in that strain of stoner-metal that's less atmospheric and weed-fueled and more progressive — you know, for the kids who banged heads to Kyuss and nerded out on Rush. It's well-trod territory, with more than a decade of records looking to ISIS' Panopticon, Mastodon's Leviathan and Baroness' Red Album. On its debut EP, InTechnicolour's members don't so much reinvent the wheel as rebuild it. "We Are Losing Sleep" settles into a desert groove quickly, but its pulse owes more to the frantic chug of Fugazi than it does to peyote-induced riffage. Tobie Anderson channels the soulful vocals of someone like Josh Homme or even Mark Lanegan, and is capable of belting one moment and cooing the next, as heard in a middle section that drops out save for his voice and sparse cymbals. But, as the band gears up for the final minutes, InTechnicolour begins to break down the groove in subtle counterpoint that, upon deeper focus, is quite thrilling. The choppy, palm-muted figure locks in and out the main riff, sped along by a smoldering rhythm section, doubling back on the anthemic chorus. With an assist from members of the math-rock-ish bands Delta Sleep and The Physics House Band, the musicianship is tight and technical, but also aware that melody drives the song. It's an extremely impressive first outing for InTechnicolour, making the Brighton, U.K., band one to keep an eye on. Lend Me A Crushed Ear comes out Nov. 20 on Small Pond. |
The covers of most men's and women's magazines have similar headlines: "Get Great Abs" and "Have Amazing Sex." From the looks of it, these two issues have been recycled over and over (with some other stereotypically gender-relevant articles thrown in) on every Men's Health, Maxim, Cosmopolitan and Glamour cover since the dawn of time. In fact, I'd bet that if we could get a better translation of cave drawings, they would read something like "Grok get flat belly. Make girl Grok moan with joy." And we keep buying them. We keep buying this lie that these things will make us happy. I've had washboard abs (past tense) and I've had some pretty phenomenal sex. Neither one made me a better person. Neither one completed me or made my life more fulfilling. We chase this idea of "I will be happy when... " I will be happy when I have a new car. I will be happy when I get married. I will be happy when I get a better job. I will be happy when I lose five pounds. What if instead we choose to be happy -- right now? If you can read this, your life is pretty awesome. Setting aside our first-world problems and pettiness, if you are online reading this, you have both electricity and WiFi or access to them. Odds are you are in a shelter of some sort, or on a smart phone (and then kudos to you for reading this on the go). Life might bump and bruise us, it may not always go the way we plan and I know I get frustrated with mine, but here's the thing: You are alive. Because you are alive, everything is possible. So about those eight tips... 1. Stop believing your bullshit. All that stuff you tell yourself about how you are a commitment phobe or a coward or lazy or not creative or unlucky? Stop it. It's bullshit, and deep down you know it. We are all insecure 14 year olds at heart. We're all scared. We all have dreams inside of us that we've tucked away because somewhere along the line we tacked on those ideas about who we are that buried that essential brilliant, childlike sense of wonder. The more we stick to these scripts about who we are, the longer we live a fraction of the life we could be living. Let it go. Be who you are beneath the bullshit. 2. Be happy now. Not because The Secret says so. Not because of some shiny happy Oprah crap. But because we can choose to appreciate what is in our lives instead of being angry or regretful about what we lack. It's a small, significant shift in perspective. It's easier to look at what's wrong or missing in our lives and believe that is the big picture -- but it isn't. We can choose to let the beautiful parts set the tone. 3. Look at the stars. It won't fix the economy. It won't stop wars. It won't give you flat abs, or better sex or even help you figure out your relationship and what you want to do with your life. But it's important. It helps you remember that you and your problems are both infinitesimally small and conversely, that you are a piece of an amazing and vast universe. I do it daily -- it helps. 4. Let people in. Truly. Tell people that you trust when you need help, or you're depressed -- or you're happy and you want to share it with them. Acknowledge that you care about them and let yourself feel it. Instead of doing that other thing we sometimes do, which is to play it cool and pretend we only care as much as the other person has admitted to caring, and only open up half way. Go all in -- it's worth it. 5. Stop with the crazy making. I got to a friend's doorstep the other day, slightly breathless and nearly in tears after getting a little lost, physically and existentially. She asked what was wrong and I started to explain and then stopped myself and admitted, "I'm being stupid and have decided to invent lots of problems in my head." Life is full of obstacles; we don't need to create extra ones. A great corollary to this one is from The Four Agreements, by Don Miguel Ruiz: Don't take things personally. Most of the time, other people's choices and attitudes have absolutely nothing to do with you. Unless you've been behaving like a jerk, in which case... 6. Learn to apologize. Not the ridiculous, self-deprecating apologizing for who you are and for existing that some people seem to do (what's up with that, anyway?). The ability to sincerely apologize -- without ever interjecting the word "but" -- is an essential skill for living around other human beings. If you are going to be around other people, eventually you will need to apologize. It's an important practice. 7. Practice gratitude. Practice it out loud to the people around you. Practice it silently when you bless your food. Practice it often. Gratitude is not a first world only virtue. I saw a photo recently, of a girl in abject poverty, surrounded by filth and destruction. Her face was completely lit up with joy and gratitude as she played with a hula hoop she'd been given. Gratitude is what makes what we have enough. Gratitude is the most basic way to connect with that sense of being an integral part of the vastness of the universe; as I mentioned with looking up at the stars, it's that sense of wonder and humility, contrasted with celebrating our connection to all of life. 8. Be kind. Kurt Vonnegut said it best (though admittedly, and somewhat ashamedly -- I am not a Vonnegut fan): "There's only one rule that I know of, babies -- 'God damn it, you've got to be kind.'" Kindness costs us nothing and pays exponential dividends. I can't save the whole world. I can't bring peace to Syria. I can't fix the environment or the health care system, and from the looks of it, I may end up burning my dinner. But I can be kind. If the biggest thing we do in life is to extend love and kindness to even one other human being, we have changed the world for the better. That's a hell of a lot more important than flat abs in my book. For more by Kate Bartolotta, click here. For more on happiness, click here. This story appears in Issue 69 of our weekly iPad magazine, Huffington, available Friday, Oct. 4 in the iTunes App store. Also on HuffPost: |
Subsets and Splits
No community queries yet
The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.