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Infrastructure Australia calls for privatisation of public assets
By James Cogan
12 November 2012
A report issued last month by Infrastructure Australia, a statutory body established in 2008 to give policy advice to the federal government, demanded the sell-off of a vast swathe of publicly-owned infrastructure assets. These assets have an estimated value of between $195 and $219 billion, and could be sold on the stock market for between $116 and $140 billion. Their privatisation would provide a bonanza for the major banks and corporate investors, while triggering substantial job cuts and higher costs of living for working people.
Since the 1980s, under the pressures of financial deregulation and ever more closely integrated globalised production methods, Labor and Coalition governments at both the federal and state level have sold off numerous public assets. The list includes banks, telecommunication providers, airlines, airports, ports, railways and bus companies. The major freeways in most cities were constructed as partnerships with private corporations, and continue to operate as toll-roads.
Infrastructure Australia, however, identified four “asset classes” where there is still substantial public ownership: energy, water, transport and plantation forestry. These areas, the report stressed, had already been corporatised and restructured along “free market” and “user pays” lines, and therefore have the potential to generate attractive profits for private investors. With governments “facing increasing pressure on their budgets” and under pressure to “protect their financial position and credit rating and minimise borrowing costs”, the report stated that privatisations could improve their fiscal position.
The federal Labor government has signalled its agreement with the agenda outlined by Infrastructure Australia. In upcoming meetings with his state counterparts, Treasurer Wayne Swan is expected to push for wholesale privatisation by offering to transfer to the states all the corporate tax that will be collected from any publicly-owned companies sold off—partially compensating them for the loss of annual dividend payments.
The largest “asset class” being lined up for sale, valued at over $100 billion, is the energy sector. Privatising the remaining state-owned power plants, and transmission, distribution and retail networks around the country would generate over $60 billion. The Labor government is now actively lobbying state governments to sell their energy assets to corporate investors—a demand that is central to its Energy White Paper released last week.
Water assets are the other major target. They are valued at close to $100 billion, including dams, reservoirs, irrigation networks, water distribution and retailing and sewage treatment plants, and could fetch up to $60 billion. The privatisation of the remaining state-owned transport assets could produce around $15 billion, while selling plantation forests could generate around $1 billion.
The Infrastructure Australia report indicated that other assets could also be considered for sale in the future. The state-owned passenger rail services in the major cities are one prospect. Another possibility referred is the road system which could be sold or contracted out and a “congestion charging regime” imposed by their new owners. A study cited by Infrastructure Australia has estimated that “road pricing” could potentially generate revenues as high as $5 billion a year in the state of New South Wales alone.
The report declared that the sale of assets could result in “more efficient management.” This is code for the mass layoffs and attacks on working conditions that new corporate owners will seek to impose to make former state-owned companies more profitable.
Infrastructure Australia claimed that privatisation would “transfer responsibility for future investment in upgrades and expansions to the private sector.” However, the constant short-term pressure to produce a return to share-holders will see the continued neglect of long-term infrastructure planning and development. Any infrastructure investment that a corporate owner would be compelled to make would be paid for by increasing the cost of services. This is already happening under the present corporatised state operators. Publicly-owned electricity companies, for example, have massively increased power prices in recent years to pay for upgrades to their distribution systems, pushing millions of people into financial stress.
Infrastructure Australia noted the widespread opposition among ordinary people towards further privatisations. It stated that “governments may be concerned at the potential political issues in transferring assets to the private sector” but nevertheless insisted that “the evidence is that the public will accept well managed and effectively communicated transfers.”
The report advised that asset sell-offs be accompanied by promises to invest part of the revenues generated in social infrastructure such as hospitals, schools, and roads. In reality, as with previous privatisations, governments will primarily use the money to pay-down public debt, for the benefit of the banks and the financial markets. The Labor government has continued to open up health, education, and other essential social services to the market, by promoting private providers and slashing public spending and investment.
The real motive behind the privatisation agenda is to provide a boost to the banks, financial advisors and corporate law firms that would organise the fire-sale, and a shot in the arm to the stock markets where the assets would be sold off. Infrastructure Australia noted that “superannuation funds, pension funds from other countries, and sovereign wealth funds have all demonstrated a strong appetite for privatised Australian infrastructure assets.”
In the final analysis, the proposed fire-sale is a response to the failure of the capitalist system. Under conditions of an intractable global economic slump, a desperate scramble is taking place within the financial and corporate elite to secure new sources of profit. They are demanding that every aspect of life be subjected to the free market and the “user pays” principle, so that ever greater sums can be extracted from the working class. |
SHIMLA: A massive landslide at Dhalli in Shimla buried half a dozen vehicles under the debris besides damaging a temple and several houses on Saturday afternoon.No loss of life was reported as administration had already stopped the traffic flow on both sides of slide point anticipating the landslide.Shimla has been witnessing heavy rainfall since Friday morning which triggered the landslide at Dhalli.Sources said that around 15-20 minutes before the main slide, boulders had started hurtling down from the hillock. An alert administration stopped vehicular traffic on the road after the state has witnessed several landslides of late.A mound of debris gathered on the road following which traffic was diverted from Shimla and nearby destinations via Sanjauli.A local resident Bhawani Singh said that it was around 2 pm when huge mound from the hillock hit the road and blocked the Malyana-Dhalli road. He said that while some vehicles were swept away, some were buried under the debris that also spilled inside a temple and nearby houses.After receiving the information about the landslide, officials from district administration, police and fire department reached at the spot and started clearing the debris from the road. |
Recently Thawed out Caveman Misses the Way Scene Used to Be
LOS ANGELES — New York native and recently unfrozen caveman, from the Homo Elitus subspecies known simply as Ugg, admitted to missing the way the scene used to be back in the stone ages, multiple uninterested sources confirmed.
“Man, it used to be about the music. None of this ‘guitar’ or ‘bass,’ just animal-hide drums played with bones,” said Ugg before ravaging the produce section of a Whole Foods. “That’s when it used to mean something. I heard Hoax played in a cave in San Francisco? Big fucking deal! Those were the only venues available to us back then,”
Since being thawed out of a glacier by scientists at UCLA, Ugg has been seen at various shows in the Los Angeles area, cowering in the back, inspecting and sniffing other hardcore kids. Ugg is the only remnant of an ancient hardcore scene forgotten to time.
“The concept of the circle hadn’t been invented yet, so when the fast parts came, we just sorta ran around aimlessly. It was a simpler time man,” Ugg said between shrieks of fear at every passing car. “Did we have a few militant Neanderthals ruin some shows? Sure. That was just part of it. But me and my Homo Habilis brothers stomped those guys out fast.”
Despite Ugg being a miracle of science, some people in the scene are simply not impressed.
“He’s always going on about how revolutionary being able to ‘stand’ at shows is and how he practically invented walking upright,” said 36-year-old Jimmy Blood. “Look, we all understand the scene used to be awesome, but everyone knows the best time for hardcore was when Ten Yard Fight was around, not in prehistoric times like Ugg is talking about. I do agree that the kids today just don’t get it, though.”
Ugg’s erratic behavior and crotchety attitude has earned him a negative reputation amongst members of the scene. Locals reported several incidences where Ugg slapped cell phones out of hands, brandished long spears, and bared his teeth in an intimidating manner.
“I mean, they were all looking at tiny people in these shiny little black boxes. They weren’t even watching the bands! Back in my day we would have clubbed them to death, but I guess that doesn’t fly anymore,” added Ugg. “The scene’s gone soft, man.”
Photo by Tom McHugh and Dom Rodriguez. |
beyondthebreach:
The LAST COPIES left over of Beyond the Breach are up for sale! Grab one over here!
http://beyondthebreach.storenvy.com/
(Please limit yourself to one book. Since there is no more after this, we want to do whatever we can to make sure the people that wanted one can get one.)
PLEASE BE CAREFUL! Since these are the LAST copies of Beyond the Breach, make doubly sure your address is correct if you are ordering. I thankfully had only one lost book in the first batch that sold, so we’re doing pretty good, but it could happen. And if it does happen, I don’t have replacement copies to send out and will simply have to offer you a refund. Just be careful, and if you know you’ve had problems receiving things in the mail before, perhaps ask a friend to get it shipped to them. If you’re making an international order and certain things have made shipments to you difficult, feel free to email me and let me know what I can do with your order to ensure it makes it to you.
If the listing says it is sold out, or the storefront is closed, then the books have all sold and that’s it! I’ll be making donations with the excess funds before the year is out. :)
Thank you everyone! |
If you asked the average non-geek to name three superheroes, chances are they’d say Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman — arguably the most iconic comic book heroes in existence. It’s just as likely that few (if any) of these people would know anything about Lobo, a DC character who was introduced as a villain in the early ’80s.
So it would stand to reason that Wonder Woman, who has been a major part of the DC Universe since 1941, would get the big-screen treatment long before a second-tier player who had a run of popularity in the ’90s. But while Hollywood has yet to show Diana any love, Guy Ritchie — a legitimate filmmaker! — is set to direct a live-action movie about Lobo.
Lobo.
Look; it’s bad enough that Wonder Woman has gotten second-class citizen treatment compared to her alleged equals, Superman and Batman. They’ve both had several major motion pictures across several generations. The last time Wonder Woman enjoyed a big pop culture moment outside of comic books was when Lynda Carter donned the costume in the ’70s. You could chalk that up to garden variety sexism or just a serious failure of imagination on the part of DC-Warner Brothers. But when frickin’ Lobo gets to the big dance before she does, that’s just ridiculous. |
Behind the Scenes at Colt: Making the Nation's Favorite Rifle
Iain Harrison -
In a few minutes, these will be M16 lowers
This past week saw a gaggle of gunwriters traipse through the hallowed halls of Colt's plant in Hartford, Conn. I managed to sneak in at the end of the line and thought you guys might like to take a look at what goes into making the nation's favorite rifle.
There's been big changes over the past few years in the rifle division for Colt. Nowadays they're not just supplying one customer with one product (Uncle Sam, the M4), they're supplying many different customers with up to 40 different rifles in the lineup. This wasn't an internal business decision, it was kind of forced, as the company lost out on the Army M4 contract when it was awarded to the Freedom Group earlier this year. In many ways, the loss was a good thing for Colt and it's line of rifles for the civilian market--their line now boast products the market actually wants. Ain't capitalism grand?
Since 2009, Colt has dropped some serious money into modernizing the plant, with new machinery and processes. It was intriguing to see machine tools made in the 1930's still hard at work, standing next to a state-of-the-art CNC machines. One thing that was truly impressive though, was the attention to quality that went into each gun. Yes, they're far from being custom one-offs, but the gauges, comparators and controls that are in place mean that you can pull a rifle out of the rack and it will perform identically to any other in the line.
Each carbine, whether it's made for the military or civilian market is made to exactly the same standards. We got to see some of the critical dimensions that make up a Military Specification, then compare them at random to parts that were coming off the machines. Suffice to say, the Colt parts exceeded the specification by a wide margin. Having built a fair number of ARs, I always figured that parts were parts, no matter where they came from. I might have to change that opinion.
Take a look inside the plant with me, I'm sure you'll see a few things that'll trip your trigger.
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The Chicago Police Department (CPD) is the law enforcement agency of the U.S. city of Chicago, Illinois, under the jurisdiction of the City Council. It is the second largest municipal police department in the United States, behind only the New York City Police Department and larger than the Los Angeles Police Department.[3] It has approximately 13,500 officers and over 1,925 other employees.[4] Tracing its roots back to the year 1835,[5] the Chicago Police Department is one of the oldest modern police forces in the world. The United States Department of Justice has criticized the department for its poor training, lack of oversight and routine use of excessive force.[6]
Structure [ edit ]
Chicago police officer
The Superintendent of Police leads the Chicago Police Department. With the assistance of the First Deputy Superintendent, the Superintendent manages four bureaus, each commanded by a bureau chief.
The mayor appointed former Bureau of Patrol Chief Eddie T. Johnson as Superintendent on March 28, 2016. He was preceded by Garry F. McCarthy, former director of the Newark, New Jersey, Police Department, as superintendent; this was approved by the city council on June 8, 2011.[7] McCarthy was the highest paid city employee with an annual salary of $260,004.[8] McCarthy resigned at the request of Mayor Emanuel on December 1, 2015 over the city's high murder rate and his department's handling of the shooting of Laquan McDonald.
Prior to McCarthy's appointment, Jody P. Weis had served as superintendent of police since February 2008. At the time, Weis was the second Chicago police superintendent hired from outside of the city. He replaced Philip J. Cline, who officially retired on August 3, 2007. Weis' contract expired on March 1, 2011. Mayor Richard M. Daley appointed Cline's predecessor, Terry Hillard, on an interim basis.
The current First Deputy Superintendent is Kevin Navarro,[9] appointed by Mayor Rahm Emanuel.
As of December 2014, the four bureaus of the department are:
Bureau of Patrol (BOP): Bureau Chief Fred Waller
Bureau of Detectives: Bureau Chief Eugene Roy
Bureau of Organized Crime (BOC): Bureau Chief Anthony Riccio
Bureau of Support Services (BSS): Bureau Chief Barbara West The department is currently undergoing a major reorganization which eliminates the Bureau of Organizational Development, and places its duties primarily under the Bureau of Support Services. The Bureau of Internal Affairs is commanded by Chief Eddie L Welch III, and falls under the Office of the Superintendent.
There are 22 police districts, consolidated from 25 in 2012, each led by a commander who oversees his or her district. Commanders report to the three area deputy chiefs, who report to the Bureau of Patrol Chief.
In 1960, the municipal government created a five-member police board charged with nominating a superintendent to be the chief authority over police officers, drafting and adopting rules and regulations governing the police system, submitting budget requests to the city council, and hearing and deciding disciplinary cases involving police officers.[10] Criminologist O.W. Wilson was brought on as Superintendent of Police, and served until 1967 when he retired.[11]
Bureau of Detectives [ edit ]
Investigative functions are under the Bureau of Detectives. The Bureau of Detectives is Headed by the Chief of Detectives. The Detective Division includes the three Area Detective Divisions. The Deputy Chief of the Special Investigations Unit oversees the Central Investigations Division, the Forensic Services Division which includes the Mobile Crime Lab of Forensic Investigators, ET-North and ET-South—which are the two Evidence Technician Units, and the Youth Investigations Division.
The Counterterrorism and Intelligence Division includes the Deployment Operations Center Section, the Intelligence Section, the Airport Law Enforcement Section, the Public Transportation Section, and the Bomb and Arson Section. The Organized Crime Division includes the Narcotics Section, Gang Investigations Section, Gang Enforcement Section, Vice Control Section, and the Asset Forfeiture Unit.
The Chief of Detectives heads the Detective Division; the Chief of Organized Crime heads that division—both reporting to the First Deputy Superintendent. Two Deputy Chiefs assist the Chief of Detectives while one Deputy Chief assists the Chief of OCD.
The city is covered by three Detective Division Areas (North, Central, and South), each led by a Commander.
Bureau of Patrol [ edit ]
The Bureau of Patrol includes the twenty-two districts. Also included in the Bureau of Patrol are the Special Functions Group, the Marine & Helicopter Units, Mounted Units, SWAT, the Traffic Section, and Canine Units.
Following the disbanding of the Special Operations Section in 2007 after much negative publicity and controversies, the Special Functions Group was formed to absorb the specialized units that were not associated with the controversial plain-clothes unit known informally as SOS. A full-time SWAT team, organized in 2005, includes 70 members. The dignitary protection unit, based at O'Hare International Airport, is the only unit that uses two-wheeled motorcycles. The Mounted Unit maintains 32 gelded horses at the South Shore Cultural Center.[12] The marine unit maintains nine boats; these bear an angled rendering of the Chicago City Flag at the bow, patterned after the United States Coast Guard "racing stripe".
Ranks [ edit ]
Title Insignia Notes Superintendent Appointed by the Mayor of Chicago. Highest rank in the Chicago Police Department. First Deputy superintendent Chief Rank since September 8, 2011. Chiefs are typically in charge of a Bureau. Deputy chief Rank since September 8, 2011. Commander Commanders are typically in charge of a district. Captain Captains are typically Executive Officers of Districts. Lieutenant Sergeant Field training officer Field training officers wear one chevron over one rocker, with "FTO" in the center of the insignia, but are not considered ranking officers. Police officer/assigned as: detective/youth officer/gang specialist/police agent/major accident investigator/ Chicago detectives are not considered ranking officers, but rather officers assigned to specialized units, e.g. violent crimes, robbery, gang and narcotics (NAGIS), Internal Affairs Division (IAD), Major Accident Investigation Section (MAIS), etc. (Unless they hold the rank of sergeant or above.) Police officer Police officers are the first ranking officers. They are dispatched radio assignments, conduct patrol, and respond to other emergencies as needed.
Insignia [ edit ]
Chicago's five-pointed star-shaped badge (referred to as a "star" instead of a "badge" in the vernacular of the department) also changes to reflect the different ranks of officers. The stars of most Chicago Police officers (patrol officers through to captain) are of silver-colored metal, with broad points. Command ranks have gold-colored stars with sharp points. A ring surrounding the full-color city seal in the star's center changes color for each rank within these two classifications. Like most American police forces, the officer's rank is written in an arc above the center element.
The Chicago Police Department's shoulder sleeve insignia, worn on the top of the left sleeve, is unusual in two regards.
Its shape is octagonal instead of one of the more typical shapes used by most other American police forces.
The embroidery colors vary depending upon the wearer's rank. In all cases, the patch is a white octagon with a full-color rendering of the city seal, ringed in gold, with "Chicago" written in an arc above the seal, and "Police" written in an arc below the seal. For patrol officers and detectives (detectives are occasionally uniformed for ceremonies and details), the octagon's outer edge is finished in dark blue thread, and the text is embroidered in dark blue thread. For sergeants, lieutenants and captains, the octagon's outer edge is finished in gold-colored thread, and the text is embroidered in dark blue thread. For "command ranks" (commander through superintendent), the octagon's outer edge is finished in gold-colored thread, and the text is embroidered in gold-colored thread.
Service longevity is reflected just above the left cuff on most outer garments. Five years of service are indicated by a horizontal bar, embroidered in gold-colored thread; ten years by two bars; fifteen by three bars; twenty by a five-pointed star, embroidered in gold colored thread; twenty-five by one star and one bar and so-forth.
An embroidered rendering of the flag of Chicago, its borders finished in gold-colored thread, is worn on the right shoulder sleeve.
A two-part nameplate in gold-colored metal is worn above the right pocket. The upper portion bears the officer's name; the lower portion indicates the district or command to which the officer is assigned.
The Chicago Police Department is one of only a handful of police agencies in the United States to use the checkered bands on its headgear, known as the Sillitoe Tartan after its originator, Percy Sillitoe, Chief Constable of Glasgow, Scotland in the 1930s. Where British, Australian and New Zealand Sillitoe tartans feature three rows of smaller squares, Chicago's has two rows of larger squares. The checkerboard colors for patrol officers, detectives, dogs and horses are blue and white; the colors for sergeants and higher ranks are blue and gold. Service caps, the campaign hats of the mounted unit, bicycle helmets, knit caps, dog collars, and horse browbands all bear the Sillitoe tartan; the edge of the ball caps' bills show a narrow, flattened Silitoe tartan. The department also uses the pattern on some signage, graphics, and architectural detail on newer police stations.
Salary [ edit ]
Starting salary for Chicago police officers in 2016 is $48,078 increased to $72,510 after 18 months. Promotions to specialized or command positions also increases an officer's base pay. Salaries were supplemented with a $2,920 annual duty availability and an $1,800 annual uniform allowance.[13]
Demographics [ edit ]
In 2010, the composition of the department's total personnel was:
Chicago Alternative Policing Strategy (C.A.P.S.) [ edit ]
The Chicago Police Department is often credited for advancing community policing through the Chicago Alternative Policing Strategy program. It was established in 1992 and implemented in 1993 by then-Chicago Police Superintendent Matt L. Rodriguez. CAPS is an ongoing effort to bring communities, police, and other city agencies together to prevent crimes rather than react to crimes after they happen. The program entails increasing police presence in individual communities with a force of neighborhood-based beat officers. Beat Community Meetings are held regularly for community members and police officials to discuss potential problems and strategies.
Under CAPS, 9-10 beat officers[15] are assigned to each of Chicago's 279 police beats. The officers patrol the same beat for over a year, allowing them to get to know community members, residents, and business owners and to become familiar with community attitudes and trends. The system also allows for those same community members to get to know their respective officers and learn to be comfortable in approaching them for help when needed. Beat officers are fully equipped and patrol their neighborhoods in a variety of methods: by bike, by car, or by foot.
Strategic Subject List (SSL) [ edit ]
Strategic Subject List (SSL) is an implementation of a computer algorithm developed by the Illinois Institute of Technology. SSL calculates the propensity of individuals committing or being targeted by gun violence. The fourth iteration now in use, has become a helpful indicator of murders, according to Eddie Johnson, Superintendent of Police.[16]
The system looks at an individual's past criminal activities and specifically excludes biasing variables like race, gender, ethnicity and location according to Illinois Institute of Technology professor Miles Wernick. The algorithm assigns scores to individuals based on criminal records as well as any known gang affiliations and other variables.[17]
As of 2016, the CPD created a list 1,400 of "strategic subjects" that has proven to be accurate and helpful to the department. In 2016, over 70 percent of the people shot have been on the list, and 80 percent of the shooters. According to the CPD, 117 of the 140 people arrested during a citywide gang raid performed in 2016 were on the list. The list is used by social workers and community leaders.[18]
Weapons and duty equipment [ edit ]
Chicago Police camera in 2006
Chicago Police helmet & billy-club circa 1968
Chicago police officers are required to buy their own duty equipment (except Taser x3, x26 and Motorola radio Motorola phone).[citation needed] All field officers must also be qualified to carry a Taser. Some officers choose to carry a backup weapon as well, which must meet certain specifications and requires annual qualification.[citation needed]
The prescribed semiautomatic pistol must meet the following requirements:
Officers who were hired on or before 1 December 1991 may keep their older double-action/single-action pistols, as well as their 4" barrel Smith & Wesson, Ruger or Colt revolvers in .38 Special or .357 Magnum. Recruits hired on or after 28 August 2015 must choose from Springfield Armory, Smith & Wesson, or Glock striker-fired 9mm pistols. Officers hired before 19 May 2008 may continue to use the Double Action Only (DAO) Beretta, Ruger, SIG Sauer, and S&W pistols for duty use.[19]
It was reported in June 2018 that the agency would allow the authorization of the SIG Sauer P320 as another service pistol to be chosen by officers to carry. Shortly after the P320 appeared on the authorized firearms list. [20]
Patrol vehicles contain long gun racks. Remington 870 12-gauge shotguns are available in the event that additional firepower is needed. Officers must complete five days of training to carry an AR-15 type rifle and have the option to purchase their own or use a department provided one.[citation needed]
History [ edit ]
19th century [ edit ]
Chicago Police in the rain in 1973 on Michigan Avenue
Chicago Police officer in 1973 inquiring about a traffic accident
In 1825, prior to the creation of Cook County, in what would later become, the village of Chicago, was in Putnam County.[21] Archibald Clybourn was appointed to be Constable of the area between the DuPage River and Lake Michigan. Clybourn went on to become an important citizen of the city, and the diagonal Clybourn Avenue is named after him.[22] When the town of Chicago was incorporated to become a city in 1837, provisions were made to elect an officer called the High Constable. He in turn would appoint a Common Constable from each of the six city wards.
In 1855, the newly elected city council passed ordinances to formally establish the Chicago Police Department. Chicago was divided into three police precincts, each served by a station house. Station No. 1 was located in a building on State Street between Lake and Randolph streets. Station No. 2 was on West Randolph Street near Des Plaines Street. Station No. 3 was on Michigan Street (since then renamed Hubbard Street[23]) near Clark Street. Political connections were important to joining the force; formal requirements were few, until 1895. After 1856, the department hired many foreign-born recruits, especially unskilled, but English-speaking, Irish immigrants.
In 1860, the detective forces were established to investigate and solve crimes. In 1861, the Illinois General Assembly passed a law creating a police board to become an executive department of Chicago autonomous of the mayor. The mayor was effectively stripped of his power to control the Chicago Police Department. Authority was given to three police commissioners. The commissioners created the office of superintendent to be the chief of police. The title is again in use today.
The first African American officer was appointed in 1872, but black police were assigned to duty in plain clothes only, mainly in largely black neighborhoods. In 1875, the Illinois General Assembly found that the police commissioners were unable to control rampant corruption within the Chicago Police Department. The legislature passed a new law returning power over the police to the mayor. The mayor was allowed to appoint a single police commissioner with the advice and consent of the city council.
In 1896, a parade of Chicago police officers were the subject of the first film ever to be shot in Chicago.[24]
Women entered the force in 1885, as matrons, caring for female prisoners. Marie Owens is believed to have been the first female police officer in the U.S., joining the Chicago Police Department in 1891, retiring in 1923. Holding the rank of Sergeant, Owens enforced child labor and welfare laws.[25]
Despite centralized policies and practices, the captains who ran the precincts or districts were relatively independent of headquarters, owing their jobs to neighborhood politicians. Decentralization meant that police could respond to local concerns, but graft often determined which concerns got most attention. In 1895, Chicago adopted civil service procedures, and written tests became the basis for hiring and promotion. Standards for recruits rose, though policing remained political.[26]
20th century [ edit ]
In 1906, the Department's Mounted Patrol was created to provide crowd control, and in 1908, the force was granted its first three motor cars, expanding in 1910 to motorbikes and boats.[27] Female officers were formally appointed beginning on August 13, 1913, starting with ten officers. In 1918, Grace Wilson, possibly the first black female police officer in United States history, joined the force.
In 1917, the Chicago Police Reserves were formed, organised on a regimental basis. They were used to assist or replace regular officers in high-crowd events, such as Memorial Day, and during the 1918 flu pandemic, worked for two weeks to enforce stringent health regulations.
In 1920, the Chicago Police Reserves were disbanded, owing to the failure of the City Council to provide for their organisation.
The Saint Valentine's Day Massacre led to the creation of the United States' first crime laboratory at Northwestern University, purchased by the Department in 1938.
The Department's Mounted Patrol was disbanded in 1948.
Orlando W. Wilson, the first civilian superintendent, was appointed by the mayor in 1960. A former dean of criminology, Wilson introduced major reforms to the Department, including a new and innovative communications center, the reduction of police stations, a fairer promotion process, and an emphasis on motorized patrol over foot patrol. Vehicles were painted blue and white and given blue lightbars, introducing the familiar silitoe tartan headbands, and the official motto, 'We Serve And Protect'. In 1963, the Cadet Program was also introduced.
The 1968 Democratic National Convention in Grant Park led to major criticism of the Chicago Police's crowd control methods, with the Walker Report criticizing both the Department and the National Guard for use of excessive force, and called the events a police riot.
The Department's Mounted Patrol, due to popular demand, was re-established in 1974, renamed imply as the Mounted Unit.
In August 1983, the Chicago Police Department's first African American superintendent, Fred Rice, was appointed by Chicago's first African American mayor, Harold Washington, followed by the first Hispanic superintendent, Matt L. Rodriguez, appointed by Mayor Richard M. Daley in 1992.
In 1994, the Chicago Alternative Policing Strategy (CAPS) was introduced, serving as a model for community policing operations nationwide, and in 1995, the Emergency Management and Communications Center, also known as '9-1-1 Center', opened, combining call-taking operations for all the emergency services across Chicago.
21st Century [ edit ]
The new Chicago Police Department Headquarters was opened on June 3, 2000, replacing an extremely aged and outdated building located at 1121 South State Street.
New superintendent Eddie Johnson was sworn in on April 13, 2016, upon the resignation of Garry McCarthy.
Fallen officers [ edit ]
Marker under the Haymarket monument at Chicago Police headquarters
Since 1853, the Chicago Police Department has lost 545 officers in the line of duty.[28] By custom, the department retires the stars of fallen officers and mounts them in a display case at Police Headquarters.
Union [ edit ]
The Chicago Police Department became unionized at the end of 1980.[29] This action was controversial as city officials resisted the union for as long as they could. Chicago police officers are represented by the Fraternal Order of Police.
Appearances in popular culture [ edit ]
Notable former officers [ edit ]
Pension system [ edit ]
The Policemen's Annuity and Benefit Fund of Chicago, which is the pension fund for CPD police officers, is projected to run out of money to pay retirees by 2021 unless a taxpayer bailout props up the fund.[32]
At the end of 2020, the fund "will have less than $150 million in assets to pay $928 million promised to 14,133 retirees the following year. Fund assets will fall from $3.2 billion at the end of 2015 to $1.4 billion at the end of 2018, $751 million at the end of 2019 and $143 million at the end of 2020."[32]
Miscellaneous [ edit ]
Saint Jude is the patron saint of the Chicago Police Department.[33]
Controversies and brutality [ edit ]
The police motorcade awaits the start of the 2007 Chicago Marathon
Over the years, the Chicago Police Department has been the subject of a number of scandals, police misconduct and other controversies:
Summerdale scandals [ edit ]
The Chicago Police Department did not face large-scale reorganization efforts until 1960 under Mayor Richard J. Daley. That year, eight officers from the Summerdale police district on Chicago's North Side were accused of operating a large-scale burglary ring. The Summerdale case dominated the local press, and became the biggest police-related scandal in the city's history at the time. Mayor Daley appointed a committee to make recommendations for improvements to the police department. The action resulted in the creation of a five-member board charged with nominating a superintendent to be the chief authority over police officers, enacting rules and regulations governing the police system, submitting budget requests to the city council, and overseeing disciplinary cases involving officers.[10] Criminologist O.W. Wilson was brought on as Superintendent of Police, and served until 1967 when he retired.[11]
1968 Democratic National Convention [ edit ]
Film shot by DASPO of the protests and Chicago police and military response to the protests
Both Daley and the Chicago Police Department faced a great deal of criticism for the department's actions during the 1968 Democratic National Convention, which was held in Chicago from August 26 to 29, 1968.
The convention was site of a series of protests, mainly over the war in Vietnam. Despite the poor behavior of some protesters, there was widespread criticism that the Chicago Police and National Guard used excessive force. Time published an article stating;
With billy clubs, tear gas and Mace, the blue-shirted, blue-helmeted cops violated the civil rights of countless innocent citizens and contravened every accepted code of professional police discipline. No one could accuse the Chicago cops of discrimination. They savagely attacked hippies, yippies, New Leftists, revolutionaries, dissident Democrats, newsmen, photographers, passers-by, clergymen and at least one handicapped. Winston Churchill's journalist grandson got roughed up. Even Dan Rather (the future CBS News anchor) who was on the floor doing a report during the convention got roughed up by the Chicago Police Department. Playboy's Hugh Hefner took a whack on the backside. The police even victimized a member of the British Parliament, Mrs. Anne Kerr, a vacationing Laborite who was maced outside the Conrad Hilton and hustled off to the lockup.[34]
Subsequently, the Walker Report to the U.S. National Commission on the Causes and Prevention of Violence called the police response a "police riot," assigning blame for the mayhem in the streets to the Chicago Police.
The Black Panther raid [ edit ]
On December 4, 1969, Black Panther Party leaders Fred Hampton and Mark Clark were shot and killed by officers working for the Cook County state's attorney. Though the police claimed they had been attacked by heavily armed Panthers, subsequent investigation showed that most bullets fired came from police weapons. Relatives of the two dead men eventually won a multimillion-dollar judgment against the city. For many African Americans, the incident symbolized prejudice and lack of restraint among the largely white police. The incident led to growing black voter disaffection with the Democratic machine.[26]
Ryan Harris murder [ edit ]
On July 28, 1998, an 11-year-old girl, Ryan Harris, was found raped and murdered in a vacant lot in the city's Englewood neighborhood. The homicide caught the nation's attention when, 12 days after Ryan's body was found, authorities, with the blessing of police command, charged a 7-year-old boy and 8-year-old boy with the murder, making them the youngest murder suspects in the nation at the time.[35] Semen found at the scene and subsequent DNA tests totally cleared the boys of the crime and pointed to convicted sex offender Floyd Durr. The boys each filed lawsuits against the city, which were eventually settled for millions of dollars. Durr pleaded guilty to the rape of Harris, but never admitted to her murder.[36]
Russ/Haggerty shootings [ edit ]
In the summer of 1999, two unarmed black motorists, Robert Russ and LaTanya Haggerty, were both fatally shot in separate incidents involving the Chicago Police. In the first incident, Russ, an honor student and star football player for Northwestern University, was shot inside of his car. This followed a high-speed chase and what the police claim was a struggle with the officer who shot him. In the second, Haggarty, a computer analyst, was shot by a female officer. Charges of racism against the CPD persisted, despite the fact that officers in both incidents were also black.[citation needed] Both shootings resulted in lawsuits and Haggerty's family reached an $18 million settlement with the city.[37]
In Malcolm Gladwell's book on the cognitive function of snap judgments, Blink,[38] well-known criminologist and police administrator James Fyfe said that Chicago police instructions in cases such as Russ's were "very detailed."[39] He said that the record shows that the officers involved all broke procedure and let the situation become unnecessarily deadly for the suspect. For instance, after claiming to see Russ drive erratically, the officers engaged in a driving pursuit. The pursuit, labeled "high-speed," did not exceed 70 miles per hour, but Fyfe contends that the adrenaline rush of the chase, coupled with the officers' reliance in their numbers, led to their ignoring impulses to maintain rational thinking in a potentially non-deadly situation. They speeded up a process that both allowed and required taking things more slowly and methodically. Russ's car spun out on the Ryan Expressway, at which point several officers quickly approached his vehicle. According to Gladwell, the false safety of numbers gave the three officers "the bravado to rush the car." Fyfe adds, "The lawyers [for the police] were saying that this was a fast-breaking situation. But it was only fast-breaking because the cops let it become one. He was stopped. He wasn't going anywhere."
Fyfe describes appropriate police procedure and contrasts the events that contributed to Russ's death thus,
[According to police instructions] You are not supposed to approach the car. You are supposed to ask the driver to get out. Well, two of the cops ran up ahead and opened the passenger side door. The other [officer] was on the other side, yelling at Russ to open the door. But Russ just sat there. I don't know what was going through his head. But he didn't respond. So this cop smashes the left rear window of his car and fires a single shot, and it hits Russ in the hand and chest. The cop says that he said, 'Show me your hands, show me your hands,' and he's claiming now that Russ was trying to grab his gun. I don't know if that was the case. I have to accept the cop's claim. But it's beside the point. It's still an unjustified shooting because he shouldn't have been anywhere near the car, and he shouldn't have broken the window.[40]
Gladwell also notes that the Russ and Haggerty killings occurred on the same night.[39]
Joseph Miedzianowski [ edit ]
In April 2001, Joseph Miedzianowski was convicted of racketeering and drug conspiracy during much of his 22-year career with the department. In January 2003 he was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole. His partner John Galligan and 24 other drug dealers were also arrested as part of the same investigation.[41]
William Hanhardt [ edit ]
In October 2001, Deputy Superintendent William Hanhardt pleaded guilty to running a nationwide jewel-theft ring that over twenty years may have stolen five million dollars' worth of diamonds and other gems. He had served with the department for 33 years and was sentenced to twelve years in federal custody.[42]
Eddie C. Hicks [ edit ]
In December 2001, Sergeant Eddie C. Hicks was indicted for operating a gang with other CPD officers. The group would raid drug houses, taking the contraband for resale. Hicks skipped a court appearance on June 9, 2003,[43] and was placed on the FBI's most-wanted list.[44] Hicks was arrested in Detroit on September 12, 2017, nearly 15 years after he fled on the eve of trial on federal drug conspiracy charges. Hicks, 68, has been the subject of an international manhunt since 2003, according to the FBI. He appeared in federal court in Detroit on Tuesday and was ordered held until he can be brought to Chicago to face the charges.[45]
Jon Burge torture allegations [ edit ]
Since the early 1980s, official investigations have responded to numerous allegations against former Commander Jon Burge, who has been accused of abusing more than two-hundred mostly African-American men from 1972 to 1991 in order to coerce confessions to crimes. Alleged victims claimed that Burge and his crew of detectives had them beaten, suffocated, burned, and treated with electric shock. In 1993, Burge was fired from the department, and is currently collecting his police pension. In summer 2006, special prosecutors completing a four-year investigation concluded that they had enough evidence to prove crimes against Burge and others, but "regrettably" could not bring charges because the statute of limitations had passed. In January 2008, the City Council approved a $19.8 million settlement with four men who claimed abuse by Burge and his men.[47]
In October 2008, Patrick J. Fitzgerald, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, had Burge arrested on charges of obstruction of justice and perjury in relation to a civil suit regarding the torture allegations against him. Burge was eventually convicted on all counts on June 28, 2010 and was sentenced to four and one half years in federal prison on January 21, 2011.
On May 6, 2015, Chicago City Council approved "reparations" of $5.5 million to victims of the torture, after spending $100 million in previous legal settlements. In addition, an apology was offered, and a promise to teach school children about these historical events.[48][49]
Nurse arrests [ edit ]
On November 19, 2002, Rachelle Jackson, a registered nurse, was on her way to work when she witnessed a vehicle accident involving a patrol car, in which Officer Kelly Brogan was dazed and her partner was unconscious. Fearing an explosion, Jackson removed both officers from the vehicle, and voluntarily went to the police station under the assumption of giving a statement after being informed that Brogan's service weapon was stolen. Instead she was interrogated for two days with little food or sleep and no access to a bathroom.[50] She was coerced into signing a statement that she had battered Brogan and taken her gun. She was jailed for 10 months before the charges were dismissed. Jackson was awarded $7.9 million by a jury in her lawsuit against Brogan and the city. In 2009, the amount was reduced to $1.9 million.[51] More than half the original verdict was awarded for "intentional inflection of emotional distress."[52]
Bar attack [ edit ]
Bartender being punched and kicked by off duty Chicago Police officer Anthony Abbate.
In 2007, security camera footage surfaced of an intoxicated off-duty police officer, Anthony Abbate, punching and kicking a female bartender, Karolina Obrycka. This occurred at Jesse's Shortstop Inn on February 19, 2007, after Obrycka refused to serve him any more alcohol. Abbate was later arrested, charged with felony battery, and stripped of police powers after TV news stations aired the footage. The Chicago Police soon terminated Abbate from the force, but questions remained over the city's handling of the case.[53]
Abbate was allowed to enter his courtroom hearing through a side door, in order to shield himself from the press. This generated controversy and allegations surfaced that the police ticketed the vehicles of news organizations and threatened reporters with arrest. Superintendent Cline announced that he would demote the Captain who gave the orders, and launched investigations into the actions of the other officers involved.[54]
On April 27, 2007, 14 additional charges against Abbate were announced. These included official misconduct, conspiracy, intimidation, and speaking with a witness.[55] Abbate pleaded not guilty to all 15 charges during a brief hearing on May 16, 2007.[56]
Referring to Abbate, Superintendent Phil Cline stated, "He's tarnished our image worse than anybody else in the history of the department."[57] The video of the attack has been viewed worldwide on 24-hour news channels and has garnered more than 100,000 views on YouTube. In the wake of this scandal and a similar scandal related to another videotaped police beating at a bar, Cline announced his retirement on April 2, 2007. While both men have denied it, some believe that Cline retired under pressure from Mayor Richard M. Daley.[58] Daley has since announced a plan to create an independent police review authority to replace the current Office of Professional Standards (OPS), which is under the jurisdiction of the police department.[59]
On April 30, 2007, attorneys representing Obrycka filed a lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois against the city of Chicago and Abbate and several other individuals.[60] On November 13, 2012, a federal jury found that a "widespread code of silence" within the Chicago Police Department had allowed Abbate to feel that he could attack Obrycka without fear of reprisal. They also found that Abbate participated in a conspiracy to cover up the attack. The jury awarded Obrycka $850,000 in damages.[61]
Abbate was convicted of aggravated battery, a felony, on June 2, 2009. Cook County Circuit Judge John J. Fleming rejected Abbate's claims that he had acted in self-defense. However, since Obrycka testified that Abbate had not identified himself as an officer during the attack Abbate was acquitted of official misconduct charges. Abbate faced up to five years in prison for the attack. On June 23, 2009, Abbate was sentenced to two years probation, including a curfew between 8 pm and 6 am, mandatory attendance at anger management classes, and 130 hours of community service.[62]
On December 15, 2009, Abbate was officially fired from the CPD after a mandatory review by the Chicago Civilian Police Board.[63] The firing was a formality, as the CPD does not allow convicted felons to serve on the force.
Jerome Finnigan [ edit ]
Chicago Police Officers Jerome Finnigan, Keith Herrera, Carl Suchocki, and Thomas Sherry were indicted in September 2007 for robbery, kidnapping, home invasion, and other charges. They were alleged to have robbed drug dealers and ordinary citizens of money, drugs, and guns. The officers were all part of Special Operations Sections (SOS). The officers had allegedly victimized citizens for years; however, allegations of their misconduct was not investigated until 2004. According to the State's Attorney, the officers repeatedly missed court dates and allowed alleged drug dealers to go free. Several lawsuits alleging misconduct on behalf of Finnigan and his team have been filed in federal court. Since the original indictments, Jerome Finnigan has also been charged with attempting to have several fellow officers killed. Since the scandal involving Finnigan, SOS has been disbanded.
On February 11, 2009, charges against Chicago Police Department officers Tom Sherry and Carl Suchocki were dropped. A Cook County judge dismissed all criminal charges accusing them of robbery and home invasion after some evidence was proven to be false, and witnesses in the case against Sherry and Suchocki were unable to place the officers at the scene of the crime. Charges against Herrera and Finnigan, however, are still pending. As of September 25, 2009, seven former SOS officers have pleaded guilty to charges relating to the scandal. The investigation is ongoing as police officers continue to come forward and cooperate with the state and federal investigation.[64][65][66][67][68][69]
Shooting of Flint Farmer [ edit ]
On June 7, 2011, Flint Farmer was fatally shot three times in the back by Chicago police officer Gildardo Sierra. Sierra and a partner had responded to a domestic disturbance call allegedly involving Farmer. When confronted by the police, Farmer fled. Sierra shot at Farmer multiple times, hitting him in the leg and abdomen. Publicly available police video shows Sierra circle the prone Farmer as three bright flashes emit from approximately waist level.[70] The coroner who performed the autopsy on Farmer reported that Farmer could have survived the shots to the leg and abdomen, but any of the three shots through the back would have been fatal.[70] Officer Sierra had been involved in two other shootings in 2011. Although the Chicago police department ruled the shooting justified, by October 23, 2011 Sierra had been stripped of his police powers and the FBI had opened an investigation into the incident. Eventually, no charges were brought against the officers. The city settled the civil case with Farmer's family for $4.1 million but did not admit fault.[71][72]
Richard Zuley [ edit ]
After his retirement multiple inquiries into overturned convictions that had relied on confessions he coerced triggered the Conviction Integrity Unit of the Cook County State's Attorney's Office to plan to subpoena Zuley's entire complaint history.[73]
Zuley faces multiple lawsuits from individuals who claim he framed them, or beat confessions from them.[73] Lathierial Boyd was exonerated and freed in 2013 after serving 23 years in prison, based on evidence from Zuley and suppression of exculpatory evidence. He filed a federal civil rights lawsuit, as well as suing the city, saying that Zuley framed him for a murder and attempted murder outside a nightclub in 1990. Anthony Garrett, who received a 100-year sentence for killing a seven-year-old boy, alleged Zuley beat his confession out of him.
On February 18, 2015, Spencer Ackerman, reporting in The Guardian, covered Zuley's alleged involvement in the torture and forced confessions of several homicide cases in Chicago. He said several inmates claimed abuse by Zuley.
In addition, he revealed additional details of Zuley's participation as a US Navy Reserve lieutenant from late 2002 to 2004 in the interrogation and torture of Guantanamo captive Mohamedou Ould Slahi. Slahi was among several men classified by the US as high-value detainees, for whom the Secretary of Defense authorized extended interrogation techniques, since characterized as torture.[74]
Jason Meisner, writing in the Chicago Tribune, reported that The Guardian characterized Zuley's use of torture as "brutal and ineffective".[73] Memos Zuley wrote, quoted in the Senate Intelligence Committee's report on the CIA's use of torture, described him using "stress positions"—the shackling of interrogation subjects in painful postures for extended periods of time. Zuley currently faces lawsuits in Chicago for using these techniques against American civilians.
Homan Square [ edit ]
The Guardian reported in February 2015 that the Chicago Police Department "operates an off-the-books interrogation compound, rendering Americans unable to be found by family or attorneys while locked inside what lawyers say is the domestic equivalent of a CIA black site." The Guardian added that the facility, the Homan Square Police Warehouse at 1011 S. Homan Ave in Chicago ( ), "has long been the scene of secretive work by special police units." The Guardian said that interviews with local attorneys and one protester "describe operations that deny access to basic constitutional rights ... The secretive warehouse ... trains its focus on Americans, most often poor, black and brown ... Witnesses, suspects or other Chicagoans who end up inside do not appear to have a public, searchable record entered into a database indicating where they are, as happens when someone is booked at a precinct. Lawyers and relatives insist there is no way of finding their whereabouts. Those lawyers who have attempted to gain access to Homan Square are most often turned away, even as their clients remain in custody inside."[75][76][77][78][79][80][81][82][83]
After the Guardian published the story, the Chicago Police provided a statement saying, without specifics, that there is nothing improper taking place at what it called the "sensitive" location, home to undercover units. The statement said "CPD [Chicago Police Department] abides by all laws, rules and guidelines pertaining to any interviews of suspects or witnesses, at Homan Square or any other CPD facility. If lawyers have a client detained at Homan Square, just like any other facility, they are allowed to speak to and visit them." The Guardian said several attorneys and one Homan Square arrestee have denied this. The CPD statement continued by saying "There are always records of anyone who is arrested by CPD, and this is not any different at Homan Square." The Guardian said the Chicago Police statement did not address how long into an arrest or detention those records are generated or their availability to the public, and that a department spokesperson did not respond to a detailed request for clarification.[75]
Laquan McDonald [ edit ]
On October 20, 2014, 17-year old Laquan McDonald was fatally shot by Officer Jason Van Dyke.[84] The killing sparked protests and calls for the mayor to resign.[84] A video released revealed McDonald walking down a street, carrying a knife.[84] McDonald was walking parallel to the two police cars when he was shot 16 times.[84] A criminal complaint filed in Cook County Circuit Court revealed that Van Dyke was the only officer to shoot.[84] The complaint also said that McDonald was on PCP at the time of his death.[84] Protestors were frustrated that the video took 13 months to release.[84] A freelance journalist sued to have the footage released as it was a public record.[84] A judge found in the reporter's favor and the video became public in November 2015.[84]
Van Dyke was charged with six counts of first-degree murder and one count of official misconduct.[84] He remained on desk duty after the shooting.[84] Van Dyke had a history of complaints in his career but was cleared in a majority of the cases.[84] He pleaded not guilty on December 29, 2015 to the charges against him.[84] After his arraignment, his attorney, Daniel Herbert, said that he would be looking for evidence to clear his client's name.[84]
2017 Department of Justice report and agreement for enforcement [ edit ]
Following the McDonald shooting, Illinois State Attorney General Lisa Madigan requested that the US Department of Justice conduct a civil rights investigation of the Chicago Police Department. They released their report in January 2017, announcing an agreement with the city to work on improvements under court supervision. They strongly criticized the police for a culture of excessive violence, especially against minority suspects and the community, and said there was insufficient and poor training, and lack of true oversight.[6]
See also [ edit ]
References [ edit ] |
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Today there is a horrific derivatives bubble that threatens to destroy not only the U.S. economy but the entire world financial system as well, but unfortunately the vast majority of people do not understand it. When you say the word “derivatives” to most Americans, they have no idea what you are talking about. In fact, even most members of the U.S. Congress don’t really seem to understand them. But you don’t have to get into all the technicalities to understand the bigger picture. Basically, derivatives are financial instruments whose value depends upon or is derived from the price of something else. A derivative has no underlying value of its own. It is essentially a side bet. Originally, derivatives were mostly used to hedge risk and to offset the possibility of taking losses. But today it has gone way, way beyond that. Today the world financial system has become a gigantic casino where insanely large bets are made on anything and everything that you can possibly imagine.
The derivatives market is almost entirely unregulated and in recent years it has ballooned to such enormous proportions that it is almost hard to believe. Today, the worldwide derivatives market is approximately 20 times the size of the entire global economy.
Because derivatives are so unregulated, nobody knows for certain exactly what the total value of all the derivatives worldwide is, but low estimates put it around 600 trillion dollars and high estimates put it at around 1.5 quadrillion dollars.
Do you know how large one quadrillion is?
Counting at one dollar per second, it would take 32 million years to count to one quadrillion.
If you want to attempt it, you might want to get started right now.
To put that in perspective, the gross domestic product of the United States is only about 14 trillion dollars.
In fact, the total market cap of all major global stock markets is only about 30 trillion dollars.
So when you are talking about 1.5 quadrillion dollars, you are talking about an amount of money that is almost inconceivable.
So what is going to happen when this insanely large derivatives bubble pops?
Well, the truth is that the danger that we face from derivatives is so great that Warren Buffet has called them “financial weapons of mass destruction”.
Unfortunately, he is not exaggerating.
It would be hard to understate the financial devastation that we could potentially be facing.
A number of years back, French President Jacques Chirac referred to derivatives as “financial AIDS”.
The reality is that when this bubble pops there won’t be enough money in the entire world to fix it.
But ignorance is bliss, and most people simply do not understand these complex financial instruments enough to be worried about them.
Unfortunately, just because most of us do not understand the danger does not mean that the danger has been eliminated.
In a recent column, Dr. Jerome Corsi of WorldNetDaily noted that even many institutional investors have gotten sucked into investing in derivatives without even understanding the incredible risk they were facing….
A key problem with derivatives is that in the attempt to reduce costs or prevent losses, institutional investors typically accepted complex risks that carried little-understood liabilities widely disproportionate to any potential savings the derivatives contract may have initially obtained.
The hedge-fund and derivatives markets are so highly complex and technical that even many top economists and investment-banking professionals don’t fully understand them.
Moreover, both the hedge-fund and the derivatives markets are almost totally unregulated, either by the U.S. government or by any other government worldwide.
Most Americans don’t realize it, but derivatives played a major role in the financial crisis of 2007 and 2008.
Do you remember how AIG was constantly in the news for a while there?
Well, they weren’t in financial trouble because they had written a bunch of bad insurance policies.
What had happened is that a subsidiary of AIG had lost more than $18 billion on Credit Default Swaps (derivatives) it had written, and additional losses from derivatives were on the way which could have caused the complete collapse of the insurance giant.
So the U.S. government stepped in and bailed them out – all at U.S. taxpayer expense of course.
But the AIG incident was actually quite small compared to what could be coming. The derivatives market has become so monolithic that even a relatively minor imbalance in the global economy could set off a chain reaction that would have devastating consequences.
In his recent article on derivatives, Webster Tarpley described the central role that derivatives now play in our financial system….
Far from being some arcane or marginal activity, financial derivatives have come to represent the principal business of the financier oligarchy in Wall Street, the City of London, Frankfurt, and other money centers. A concerted effort has been made by politicians and the news media to hide and camouflage the central role played by derivative speculation in the economic disasters of recent years. Journalists and public relations types have done everything possible to avoid even mentioning derivatives, coining phrases like “toxic assets,” “exotic instruments,” and – most notably – “troubled assets,” as in Troubled Assets Relief Program or TARP, aka the monstrous $800 billion bailout of Wall Street speculators which was enacted in October 2008 with the support of Bush, Henry Paulson, John McCain, Sarah Palin, and the Obama Democrats.
But wasn’t the financial reform law that Congress just passed supposed to fix all this?
Well, the truth is that you simply cannot “fix” a 1.5 quadrillion dollar problem, but yes, the financial reform law was supposed to put some new restrictions on derivatives.
And initially, there were some somewhat significant reforms contained in the bill. But after the vast horde of Wall Street lobbyists in Washington got done doing their thing, the derivatives reforms were almost completely and totally neutered.
So the rampant casino gambling continues and everybody on Wall Street is happy.
For now.
One day some event will happen which will cause a sudden shift in world financial markets and trillions of dollars of losses in derivatives will create a tsunami that will bring the entire house of cards down.
All of the money in the world will not be enough to bail out the financial system when that day arrives.
The truth is that we should have never allowed world financial markets to become a giant casino.
But we did.
Soon enough we will all pay the price, and when that disastrous day comes, most Americans will still not understand what is happening. |
We are hearing descriptive new 911 calls after a man who was thought to be high on the designer street drug flakka helds up a South Florida gas station. (Published Friday, May 22, 2015)
We are hearing the descriptive new 911 calls after a man, who was thought to be high on the designer street drug flakka, held up a South Florida gas station.
That man, Markus Clark, 26, later died in custody.
What happened at the Exxon gas station near Fort Lauderdale Wednesday night is now the center of an investigation at the Boward Sheriff's Office.
Deputies say it all started when Clark tried to rob the business, his bizarre behavior was caught by surveillance cameras.
Flakka Ridealong Suspect Dies
911 call released after man suspected of being on flakka attempts to rob a gas station and dies a day after his arrest (Published Friday, May 22, 2015)
Clark is seen behind the counter in contact with the clerk, who then called 911.
Dispatcher: "OK sir, sir listen. How did he try to rob you sir?"
Caller: "Yeah, he got inside the register area, he locked my door. Now he’s doing something. He’s pretending like he’s sick but I think he’s well."
Deputies said Clark was showing signs connected to the new street drug flakka. Investigators say it's dirt cheap, selling for just $5 a pop and the high causes people to exhibit excessive strength.
Surveillance video showed deputies as they responded to the 911 call from the gas station. Three deputies were seen trying to hold Clark down.
Officials say it took several deputies to subdue and handcuff Clark. Once they got him in custody, he was rushed to the hospital.
"And when they got to the hospital and took his temperature it was 106.3, so I mean literally someone on fire melting inside," said BSO spokesperson Veda Coleman-Wright.
Clark died the next morning. As detectives continue to investigate his death, the medical examiner's office will also conduct an autopsy. The results could take weeks before they are released. |
Photo by ISIphotos.com
By FRANCO PANIZO
U.S. men's national team head coach Jurgen Klinsmann has released the 24-man roster that will aim to attempt to reach the final round of World Cup qualifying, and there are surprises aplenty.
Sacha Kljestan, Eddie Johnson and Alan Gordon were among the players selected by Klinsmann for the upcoming World Cup qualifiers against Antigua & Barbuda and Guatemala, while Jozy Altidore, Terrence Boyd, Jose Torres and Chris Wondolowski were all surprisingly left off. Landon Donovan, who suffered a knee injury on Saturday while playing for the Los Angeles Galaxy, was also included on the roster.
Other veterans on the team are Tim Howard, Carlos Bocanegra, Michael Bradley and Clint Dempsey.Timmy Chandler, who told SBI last month he was open to an October call-up, was also once again missing.
Here is the full roster:
GOALKEEPERS (3) : Brad Guzan (Aston Villa), Tim Howard (Everton), Nick Rimando (Real Salt Lake)
DEFENDERS (8) : Carlos Bocanegra (Racing Santander), Geoff Cameron (Stoke City), Edgar Castillo (Club Tijuana), Steve Cherundolo (Hannover), Maurice Edu (Stoke City), Clarence Goodson (Brondby), Fabian Johnson (Hoffenheim), Michael Parkhurst (Nordsjaelland)
MIDFIELDERS (8) : Kyle Beckerman (Real Salt Lake), Michael Bradley (Roma), Joe Corona (Club Tijuana), Jermaine Jones (Schalke 04), Sacha Kljestan (Anderlecht), Brek Shea (FC Dallas), Danny Williams (Hoffenheim), Graham Zusi (Sporting Kansas City)
FORWARDS (5): Clint Dempsey (Tottenham Hotspur), Landon Donovan (LA Galaxy), Herculez Gomez (Santos), Alan Gordon (San Jose Earthquakes), Eddie Johnson (Seattle Sounders)
The U.S. players have already begun convening in Miami for camp, which is the second-to-last one Klinsmann is expected to have this year. The team will train there through Wednesday.
The U.S. is currently tied on points in Group A with both Jamaica and Guatemala with two games remaining. The Americans visit Antigua & Barbuda on Friday before hosting Guatemala in their final group stage match four days later.
—-
What do you think of this roster? Which inclusion/omission most surprised you? Why do you think Altidore and Boyd were left off?
Share your thoughts below. |
The Swedish Embassy in Israel has softened its position regarding the recognition of Palestinian statehood, saying it favors peace negotiation to unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state, after an initial announcement by Sweden's new prime minister led to a diplomatic crisis with Israel.
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In a new, more softly worded statement, the embassy said that, Sweden will recognize a Palestinian state at the end of negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians.
Related stories:
"As part of a statement on government policy, (Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven said) that Sweden will recognize the State of Palestine.
Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven (Photo: Reuters)
"The conflict between Israel and Palestine can only be resolved through a two-state solution… negotiated in accordance with the principles
The refined statement seems to indicate a solid support for Palestinian statehood, but only as part of negotiations with Israel which also take into account Israel concerns and positions.
The comments by Lofven, made during his first day in office, sparked a crisis between the two countires, and even the US weighed in, saying that the move was "premature".
Sweden's ambassador to Israel has been summoned for a reprimand meeting on Monday at the Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem, after Lofven made the announcement.
Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said Saturday night that Lofven's announcement was unfortunate as he "likely has yet to have enough time to delve into matters and understand that the side which has been a spoiler for the past 20 years to advancing an agreement between Israel and the Palestinians – is the Palestinians."
Lieberman said that the "Swedish Prime Minister Lofven needs to understand that no declaration and no step by an outside player can replace the direct negotiations between the sides and a solution that will be part of a comprehensive agreement between Israel and the entire Arab world."
He added: "If the Swedish prime minister's inauguration speech is concerned with the situation in the Middle East, he would be better off focusing on the urgent problems in the area, like the daily mass killings in Syria, Iraq, and other places in the region."
Officials in Jerusalem are concerned by the Swedish declaration for a number of reasons – Sweden is the first major European country, party to the European Union, which has chosen to recognize Palestine as a state. |
RT breaking the latest Podesta emails before WikiLeaks sparked accusations of collusion with the whistleblowing organization. Actually, no conspiracies were involved – just good journalism.
Having discovered over 1,800 emails date-stamped October 13 on the WikiLeaks site, RT sprung into action.
Wikileaks followed shortly after by tweeting that #PodestaEmails6 were now available.
Despite the documents being public when discovered by RT, accusations soon began that it was proof that Russia and WikiLeaks are somehow working together. Christopher Miller, a journalist for the US government-backed Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, set the wheels of suspicion in motion.
Earlier today, @RT_com tweeted & pubbed a story on fresh @wikileaks Podesta emails dump before WL posted them to the site & tweeted a link. pic.twitter.com/nHb0GIq4Am — Christopher Miller (@ChristopherJM) October 13, 2016
Hillary Clinton’s Press Secretary Brian Fallon then followed suit, tweeting that the work by RT journalists was part of a conspiracy “in service of Trump”.
More evidence of Russian collusion with @Wikileaks in service of Trumphttps://t.co/P2nXQIMKBS — Brian Fallon (@brianefallon) October 13, 2016
WikiLeaks even stepped in to clarify that the emails were available, just not tweeted, and that RT had not acquired them in any other way.
@ChristopherJM@RT_com No they didn't. The release was visible to anyone looking at https://t.co/wzxeh7hZLU well before our first tweet. — WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) October 13, 2016
Brian Fallon was contacted by an RT journalist. We offered to explain to him how the team broke the news. He has not responded.
READ MORE: ‘Clintons won't forget what their friends have done’: WikiLeaks release #PodestaEmails6 |
The iPod has been retired from Apple’s homepage, in a move that could mean the much-loved music device is set to be retired.
The device has sat at the top of the company’s site for over 13 years, and going through various iterations like the iPods Classic, Shuffle and Touch. But it has been taken down from that top banner, and hidden in a special “music” part of the site, after the company's big Worldwide Developers Conference event.
All of the well-known models apart from the Classic are still available, but Apple makes it difficult to find them from its home page. The Classic was retired late last year amid upset from fans, with Apple blaming difficulty finding the parts after years of declining sales. The rush to get hold of one led to people buying them online at vastly-inflated prices.
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The iPod was once Apple’s flagship product — and has been credited with the resurgence of the company — but the only way to find it from the homepage is to go to the Music tab and scroll down. The main function of the Music tab is to show off the newly-released Apple Music, and users have to almost to the very bottom of the page to find it.
From there, users can click onto the devoted iPod site, which advertises the still-available iPods Touch, Nano and Shuffle. The Apple TV — set to be updated at the recent WWDC event, but pulled after it was found not to be ready — can be found on the same page.
Apple tends to retire each version of the iPod quietly, letting it lag behind in updates and devoting less marketing time to it until it disappears without ceremony. That was the same fate that met the iPod Classic, last year, and so it’s possible that the iPods are being gradually removed.
That could partly be because after the launch of the streaming service Apple Music, Apple’s focus is now on sending music over the internet rather than storing it on the iPod personal media players. Only the iPod Touch can connect to the internet at all, and it must do that using wifi so can’t do it away from known home and business networks.
Earlier this year, rumours swirled about the death of the iPod Shuffle, after stock ran low in stores. But it is still available to buy on Apple's website, for now. |
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We’ve seen transforming robots before, and I’m not talking about anything related to Hasbro.
Researchers from MIT are among many engineers and tinkerers trying to design robots that perform different functions by changing their shape or appearance.
Japan-based Brave Robotics has designed a 1/12-scale RC car that can transform into a humanoid robot. It can shuffle around, grab footage with its Wi-Fi camera, and even fire little missiles from its arms.
But the intriguing part about the Transform Robot is its scope. Not only has Brave Robotics hobbyist Kenji Ishida put 10 years into building robots in disguise — he began in 2002 with a simple pair of legs and the Transform Robot is version 7.1 — he wants to build a full-scale transforming, drivable car with artificial intelligence by 2030.
Transformers fan gone wild? Perhaps.
Even though building a real Autobot seems highly unlikely due to the enormous power requirements, not to mention the sheer cost and AI hurdles, Ishida is an undaunted dreamer.
He showed off his RC transformer last weekend at Maker Faire Tokyo, which also witnessed the appearance of 13-foot mecha marvel Kuratas, inspired by a different sci-fi franchise.
The Transform Robot is partly made of 3D-printed components and runs on lithium-polymer batteries.
The car even has room for two seats in case your action figures want to hop a ride. Check it out in the vid below.
Ishida will make only 10 Transform Robots, custom painted and already programmed, each for $24,000. Yes, that’s the 1/12-scale version.
Well, how else is he supposed to fund Autobot development?
Check out more information here. |
It wasn’t a gloved-fist salute from the medal stand, but Jewish-American gymnast Aly Raisman made quite a statement yesterday by winning a gold medal and invoking the memory of the Israeli athletes killed 40 years ago in Munich.
Raisman finished first in the women’s floor exercise, but she deserves to have another medal draped around her neck for having the chutzpah to face the world and do what needed to be done and say what needed to be said.
At the same Olympic Games where bigoted organizers stubbornly refuse to honor the slain athletes with a moment of silence, 18-year-old Raisman loudly shocked observers first by winning, then by paying her own tribute to 11 sportsmen who died long before she was born.
And if that weren’t enough, she won her event with the Hebrew folk song “Hava Nagila” playing in the background.
“Having that floor music wasn’t intentional,” an emotional but poised Raisman told reporters after her performance.
“But the fact it was on the 40th anniversary is special, and winning the gold today means a lot to me.”
Then Raisman stuck the landing.
“If there had been a moment’s silence,” the 18-year-old woman told the world, “I would have supported it and respected it.”
It was 40 years ago at the 1972 Munich Games that members of the Israeli Olympic delegation were taken hostage and eventually killed by Palestinian radicals.
Executed in the massacre were 11 Israeli athletes and officials and a West German police officer.
The martyrs were remembered this week during a London ceremony filled with sadness and reflection.
But not a peep about them has been said publicly in the one place where it counts — at the Summer Games on Olympic soil.
The International Olympic Committee and its president, Jacques Rogge, have refused to properly honor the dead, arguing that the opening ceremony wasn’t an appropriate forum for a moment of silence.
But if the opening ceremony is good enough for James Bond and Mr. Bean, it’s hard to understand why it’s not good enough for 60 seconds of solitude.
“Shame on you International Olympic Committee because you have forsaken the 11 members of your Olympic family,” said Ankie Spitzer, whose husband, Andre, an Israeli fencing coach, was gunned down in the massacre.
“You are discriminating against them only because they are Israelis and Jews,” she went on.
Rogge was an athlete himself at the very Games where the massacre took place, representing Belgium on the sailing team.
“Even after 40 years, it is painful to relive the most painful moments of the Olympic movement,” Rogge said at an unaffiliated service before Spitzer spoke.
“I can only imagine how painful it must be for the families and close personal friends of the victims.”
But by refusing to hit the pause button for a measly 60 seconds, Rogge and other organizers have committed a sin nearly as grave as denying there was ever a Holocaust.
Were it not for young Aly and her wedding dance/bat mitzvah accompaniment, the Munich dead may have never gotten their due.
“I am Jewish, that’s why I wanted that floor music,’’ Raisman said.
“I wanted something the crowd could clap to, especially being here in London.
“It makes it even much more if the audience is going through everything with you. That was really cool and fun to hear the audience clapping.’’
Raisman’s eyes opened as wide as the gold medal she would win when the judges announced her score of 15.600 points after her mistake-free routine.
Her top finish was the first by an American woman in the Olympic floor exercise, and the win gave Raisman her second gold medal. Raisman admitted the 40th anniversary of the Munich Games made her “hora” gold even more special.
“That was the best floor performance I’ve ever done, and to do it for the Olympics is like a dream,’’ Raisman said.
Raisman did not go to the Games with the star power of her teammate Gabrielle Douglas or the résumé of world champion Jordyn Wieber,
But those who know her best said she works as hard as anyone, and, more importantly, her heart is in the right place.
‘’I’m so happy for Aly,” Douglas, the first African-American to win the all-around title, said after the floor competition. “She deserves to be up on that podium.’’
“She is a focused person,” said Rabbi Keith Stern, spiritual leader of Temple Beth Avodah in Newton Centre, Mass., where the Raisman family are members.
“She’s very proud and upfront about being Jewish. Neither she nor her family explicitly sought to send a message. But it shows how very integrated her Jewish heritage is in everything that she does.”
Stern said he remembers picking up young Aly from preschool, and never imagined she’d be some sort of megastar.
He described the US team captain as a big sister-type who is a mother hen to all her younger siblings.
“I can’t wait to have her at the temple to talk about her experience,” he said.
“I know her sister’s bat mitzvah is coming up, so maybe I’ll catch up with her then.”
Stern said that he, too, was stunned by the IOC’s refusal to hold a moment of silence.
“I’m happy to hear any other explanation,” Stern said. “But short of some racist grudge somebody is holding, I can’t figure out why it would be a terrible thing to do.”
Stern said he watched the routine and was blown away. Even so, he said he is more proud of Raisman’s gold mettle than he is of the new jewelry around her neck.
“I have to say, the statement just warmed me to the very depths of my being,” Stern said.
He compared it to the iconic black-power, raised-fist protest made by track stars John Carlos and Tommie Smith on the medal stand at the 1968 Mexico City Games.
“They’re not going to forget that,” the rabbi said. “I certainly won’t.” |
Google's digital ad dominance might soon have a very tangible benefit for shoppers — a free taxi ride.
"The tech giant just received a patent linking online ads to free taxi rides paid for by advertisers — an option to bring more people to their businesses." (Via KOVR)
The patent explains Google could use its knowledge of customer locations, route mapping and advertising prices to offer shoppers free or discounted lifts to retailer locations.
An algorithm would track where people are and what they're looking to buy. If it were cost-effective, a retailer could pay Google to offer a potential customer a ride to its store, using messages delivered on smartphones or stationary kiosks.
So no, CNET says, this isn't for the weekly grocery run.
"If someone's searching for cars to buy, then serving an ad that offers them a taxi to speed them to the point of purchase is a very cost-effective notion If they're searching, however, for dental floss, then it might not be worth the advertiser's time and money to offer them a ride in a Prius."
But Ars Technica points out a Google Taxi could eventually get more affordable, especially if Google moves forward with its driverless car project.
"An advertiser paying for a bus, train, or taxi might be a little too expensive today, but imagine a self-driving electric vehicle, where driving around doesn't burn gas or involve paying a taxi driver, and suddenly transportation becomes a lot cheaper."
That is, if the law catches up. Currently only California, Nevada, Michigan, Florida and Washington D.C. have legalized autonomous vehicles. (Via the Center for Internet and Society)
In any case, the project appears to remain in the patent stage for now. Don’t sell your car just yet.
- See more at Newsy |
Which Patriots Receiver Will Have the Most Yards At the End of the Year? by Ernie Padaon
There has been much mystery surrounding Jets S Jim Leonhard this off-season. Now that the Jets have officially said they will not re-sign him, speculation has run wild over where he will end up. Many Patriots fans have shown desire for the team to acquire him if possible, but that may not be the best idea.
Leonhard is a versatile player, who can be utilized in different positions on the defensive side of the ball and on special teams. Belichick loves players like that, such as Julian Edelman, and perhaps could see him as an asset. While Leonhard is a leader on the defensive side of the ball and is still relatively young, signing him brings along a huge risk factor that may not be worth the reward.
Leonhard ended his past two seasons early on the Jets with injuries; he hasn’t played a full 16 game season since 2009. While his defensive numbers are good, they aren’t great and likely aren’t worth taking a chance on. I didn’t think I’d say this for a long time, but the Patriots defense (on paper for now) is the best it’s looked since our last Super Bowl win, and I would rather chose to trust the current group that we have instead of adding another player that likely will not be able to contribute a full season.
Tell me what you think! Tweet to us at @NEMusketFire and “Like” us on Facebook! |
Why An African-American Sports Pioneer Remains Obscure
Enlarge this image toggle caption AP AP
Alice Coachman Davis never entered the pantheon of breakthrough African-American sports heroes, like Jesse Owens or Wilma Rudolph. But she was a pioneer nonetheless.
In 1948, competing as Alice Coachman, she became the first African-American woman to win Olympic gold, breaking the U.S. and Olympic records in the high jump.
Chances are, you've never heard of her. Davis died on Monday at age 90 from cardiac arrest.
"It was because of her self-confidence, her ability to push through, that made the neglect feel all the more hurtful," says Jennifer Lansbury, author of A Spectacular Leap: Black Women Athletes in Twentieth Century America.
Enlarge this image toggle caption John Rooney/AP John Rooney/AP
Coachman wasn't encouraged as a child. In her day, it was considered questionable for women to compete in track and field — as opposed to more "feminine" sports such as swimming or tennis.
"There were some stereotypes that were very prevalent," says Gary Sailes, a sports sociologist at Indiana University. "If you participate in sports, it could affect your ability to have a baby. The lesbian thing was out there."
These were attitudes apparently shared by Coachman's father. "Her father believed that girls should be dainty and sit on the porch and drink tea and not do sports," says Heather Lang, author of a children's book about Coachman.
In a 2004 interview with NPR, Coachman said the fact that female athletes were discouraged ultimately helped her out.
"I didn't have any girls for playmates because they were ladylike, and I didn't have no competition to help me jump over the bar, I didn't have no competition to make me run fast, and I didn't have no competition to hit the baseball or softball," she said. "So I was really a boy in the sight of the other boys I was playing with. And when I look back, maybe if I hadn't played with them, I wouldn't have been as good as I am. That was my competition right there."
Coachman grew up poor in Georgia, often running and jumping barefoot, sometimes using ropes or tied-up rags for crossbars as she practiced her jumps.
Coachman was discovered, though, at a meet at Tuskegee Institute. She went on to win the national championships in the high jump 10 years in a row.
She was only an Olympic champion once, however. The games were canceled in 1940 and 1944 due to World War II, cheating her of her turn to compete in her prime.
Coachman and many others believed she would have become a repeating champion, if she'd had the chance.
"Had she competed in those canceled Olympics, we would probably be talking about her as the No. 1 female athlete of all time," Eric Williams wrote for the Black Athlete Sports Network.
Coachman was awarded her gold medal in London by King George VI. She was the only American woman to win a gold medal in athletics at those games.
"To come back home to your own country, your own state and your own city, and you can't get a handshake from the mayor? ... Wasn't a good feeling."
But her hero's welcome back home in Albany, Ga. — a segregated event where the mayor refused to share her hand — was bittersweet.
"To come back home to your own country, your own state and your own city, and you can't get a handshake from the mayor?" Coachman said in the NPR interview, which was conducted by the National Visionary Leadership Project. "Wasn't a good feeling."
Lansbury, an independent historian, says the event has to be remembered in the context of the times. Albany's reception may not have represented a civil rights breakthrough, but declaring a day and holding a parade in her honor was something quite unusual for a southwestern Georgia city in the late 1940s.
"For them to put a picture of her on the front page of the Albany Herald was not done and had not been done," Lansbury says.
The 1948 Olympics were her last competitive event. A dozen years later, she watched Wilma Rudolph, who recovered from infantile paralysis caused by polio to win three gold medals in Rome in 1960.
Rudolph became a hugely celebrated figure who helped elevate the popularity of women's track in the U.S. Her homecoming celebration in Clarksville, Tenn., was, at her insistence, that city's first integrated event.
Enlarge this image toggle caption AP AP
In those few crucial years, the civil rights environment and racial attitudes had shifted enough for Rudolph to be lauded in a way that wasn't possible for Coachman.
"Sometimes, it's just about somebody being the right person at the right time," Lansbury says. "I really feel that with Wilma Rudolph, there was a convergence of her personality and where civil rights was at that point in time when she competed."
Coachman herself attributed Rudolph's greater fame to the spread of television. There's something to that, and Coachman never begrudged Rudolph her triumph. But she couldn't have been thrilled when Rudolph, in her autobiography, attributed the first Olympic gold medal to another African American woman entirely.
Books and articles kept appearing that credited Rudolph herself with being the first African-American woman to earn Olympic gold.
Coachman, meanwhile, went on to marry two different men named Davis, teaching and coaching.
"Her students said, 'You said you were the first one,' " Lansbury says. "It wasn't until she brought her medal in the next day and showed it to them that they believed she was the first."
Coachman did receive some recognition in her later years, founding a track and field foundation at age 70 and being inducted into the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame at 80.
She never doubted her own contribution.
"I made a difference among the blacks, being one of the leaders," she told The New York Times in 1996. "If I had gone to the games and failed, there wouldn't be anyone to follow in my footsteps."
Sailes, who teaches African-American studies and kinesiology at Indiana, says that Coachman's confidence helped her put aside all the slights in her life.
"She had a higher agenda than dealing with dealing with the racial polarization," Sailes says. "She rose above it by focusing on the work and what she needed to accomplish." |
So the responsible thing for a U.S. president to do, in these circumstances, is to have the backbone to stand up against Russian interference in U.S. democracy — not to question, as Trump did on Thursday, the competence of our own intelligence community and to publicly doubt, once again, the conclusion that Russia was behind the hacking. Trump talks big on Twitter, but when he came face to face with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday, we heard him say what an honor it was to meet him. It has been reported that Trump asked Putin about the election hacking, giving Putin the chance to issue an obligatory denial, despite all the evidence gathered by the U.S. intelligence community. One can only hope that Trump made clear to Putin that the United States won't tolerate continued Russian interference in elections, as we've seen in the United States, France and now in Germany and across Europe. (This is one conversation that it would be nice to have a tape of.) |
EUREKA, Calif. – Police arrested a suspect who allegedly shot a man using a shotgun shell packed with breakfast cereal.
Officers in the Northern California city of Eureka responded to reports of “shots fired” and at least one person with a gunshot wound around 3:25 p.m. Wednesday afternoon.
The victim, who had suffered a non-life threatening injury to the hand, was treated at a nearby hospital, police said.
Detectives caught up with the suspected shooter, 29-year-old Timothy Glass Jr., after he fled to Palco Marsh, site of a large homeless encampment, according to KRCR-TV. Police say one detective suffered a minor injury during the arrest.
An investigation later determined that Glass used a flare gun to fire the shell, which had been stuffed with Rice Krispies.
Glass was booked into the Humboldt County Correctional Facility for resisting arrest and probation violation.
The victim positively identified Glass but declined to press any charges. |
Since its first show aired nearly 20 years ago, the Food Network has sliced, diced, baked, grilled, and fried its way into the homes of viewers ravenous for a steady diet of culinary showmanship. Now, the channel that introduced us to celebrity chefs and kitchen competitions is poised to change the way we consume recipes–starting with the first course, naturally.
Soup is the focus of the first of a new series of mobile cookbooks that launches October 11th in iTunes. (Amazon will follow in the coming weeks). Dubbed “Food Network Favorites,” the apps explore a single subject, presenting recipes and interactive editorial content along with a heaping helping of photographic food porn. One new title will be released every two months and devotees can subscribe to get new releases as they’re published.
Bob Madden, Food Network’s general manager and senior vice president of online brands, says the Food Network Favorites series will build off the success of its previous offerings such as “In the Kitchen,” which he says is currently the most popular iTunes paid app. Not to mention pull in scores of users to its website Food.com. The site shared over 450,000 recipes with over 7 million monthly uniques, according to Nielsen NPower, comScore in 2011.
But it’s also not quite going to duplicate the technical bells and whistles within its recently released Cupcakes! app. Though Madden maintains the title is consistently ranking in the top 10 in iTunes’ food and beverage category, thanks to the magic of analytics they discovered that home cooks were more interested in the actual recipes than, say, a bunch of bees flying out of a hive made of cheery, yellow cupcakes.
“We have a little of that in Soups but scaled back to focus on photography and the utility,” he says. So much so that if you’re salivating at that glimpse of a steaming bowl of creamy butternut squash soup, you can swipe the screen to move the copy off the page for a better view.
Interactivity isn’t totally missing. There are embedded videos and select pages that allow foodies to take a deeper dive into specific ingredients such as garnishes.
But the most intriguing thing about Soups–beyond turning mac and cheese or pizza into bowlfuls of spoonable comfort–is the potential to go back to the future of cookbooks. |
Kevin Trenberth wrote the following text:
So it must be a spherical global warming! Before I will mention every sentence of Trenberth's musings, let me offer you a quiz.Click the image above to zoom in.You see a graph that seems to be a graph of some temperatures. You see that the maximum that the temperature has reached on this graph is slightly above 0.7 °C. On the horizontal axis, you see 8 cells. Your task is to guess the value of the temperature now, pretty much in the middle of the next, 9th cell (the first one on the right side that isn't shown on the graph anymore).The function seems to be increasing, right? It could be something like 0.8 °C or 0.9 °C, some readers will say. The tiny dip at the right end of the graph is an irrelevant fluctuation. We see that the temperature was recently increasing by 0.1-0.2 °C per cell.Are they right? Well, they're not right.The latest reading at the moment defined above is actually 0.445 °C. How do I know that?Because the graph above isn't a temperature graph but a graph of something that behaves in a very similar way as the local or global temperatures (at least if you take the logarithm of it) – namely the price of the Apple stock.You may play with the Apple graph at Google Finance and you will immediately see what I did. I charted the price of the stock between early 2005 and late 2012, divided it by $1,000, and added the Celsius degree as a unit to confuse you.You could have bought the stock for $7 in 2003 and it peaked above $700 in September 2012. In that way, you would earn 10,000% (ten thousand percent) of the original investment in less than a decade. Well, I guess that there are some TRF readers who did not do anything less than that...For several years, I was already amazed by the rise of the Apple stock and thought that it couldn't possibly continue – although I seriously admitted that both scenarios were possible. I was proven wrong about the "primary guess" a few times. However, since September 2012, the stock went from $700 to $445. That's more than 35% decrease. Those who bought into the stock in Fall 2012 are probably not excessively happy now.The rise of the stock had some causes – it wasn't a collection of coincidences that just happened to conspire to increase the price of the stock every year. But the idea that these causes are guaranteed to work forever is just childishly naive. There is no real evidence that the global mean temperature should behave differently than the Apple stock – and rise for the following decades and centuries, as long as the mankind burns the fossil fuels.In order to show how naive the global warming alarmists' reasoning is, I will replace the belief that everything is about the enhanced greenhouse effect which is guaranteed to last forever by the belief that the Apple stock has to rise forever due to the ingenuity of the iPod. Here is Trenberth's article (I deliberately used a not-quite-primary product of Apple, the iPod, because this is what the global warming alarmists are doing with CO2, too: it is far from being the most important greenhouse gas and the greenhouse effect is far from being the most important contribution to the energy balance and temperature variability):Has the rise of the Apple stock stalled? This question is increasingly being asked because the MP3 player market seems cool and hot, or because the price on the Wall Street is not increasing at its earlier rate or the long-term rate expected from financial model projections.The answer depends a lot on what one means by the “rising Apple stock”. For some it is equated to the “price paid on the Wall Street”. That keeps going up but also has ups and downs from year to year. More on that shortly.Why should it go up? Well, because the demand for iPods is warming as a result of human leisure-time activities. With increasing collections of songs, videos, and other time-wasting media files in the society, there is an imbalance in data flows in and out through the cables connected to the MP3 players: the devices increasingly trap more media files and hence create a rising demand for the iPods. “Warming” of the market really means heating, and this can exhibit itself in many ways.Rising demand for the stock among buyers on the Main Street are just one manifestation. Melting Research in Motion is another. So is collapse of Microsoft, Nokia, Samsung, and other competitors that contribute to the rising unemployment among non-Apple-trained IT specialists. Increasing the traffic of the Apple Store and invigorating viral video industry is yet another. But most (more than 90%) of the data imbalance goes into the internal flash disks of the iPods, and several analyses have now shown this. But even there, how much the upper layers of the RAM are being filled, as opposed to how much penetrates deeper into the internal flash memory of the iPod where it may not have much immediate influence, is a key issue.My colleagues and I have just published a new analysis showing that in the past decade about 30% of the media files has been dumped at levels below 700 megabytes beneath the most frequently accessed portions of the flash memory, where most previous analyses stop.The first point is that this is fairly new; it is not there throughout the record. The cause of the shift is a particular change of the behavior of consumers who listen to the music in winds, especially in the Pacific Ocean where the subtropical trade winds have become noticeably stronger, changing the minimum volume that is needed to hear the songs and providing a mechanism for data to be carried down into the flash memory. This is associated with patterns of changes of the popular songs in the Pacific, which are in turn related to the female performances of the male interpreters.The second point is that we have found distinctive variations in Apple's stock price with male musicians. A mini rise of the stock price, in the sense of an increase of the figure on the Wall Street, occurs in the latter stages of the publication of a new song by a male interpreter, as the music comes out of the flash drive and activates the speakers. The amount of data in the flash memory is also affected by volcanic eruptions, which also affect the perceptions of Apple's stock rise, especially if a volcano covers an Apple factory by lava.Normal usage of the Internet also interferes by generating clouds that store the users' files for a while and then send them back, and there are fluctuations in the global data imbalance from month to month. But these average out over a year or so.Another prominent source of expected variability in the industry’s data imbalance is changes in the electricity industry itself, seen most clearly as the cycle of variable spot prices. From 2005 to 2010 the power plants went into a quiet phase and the data energy imbalance is estimated to have dropped by about 10 to 15%.Some of the penetration of the data into the depths of the flash memory is reversible, as it comes back when the user turns the iPod on again. But a lot is not; instead it contributes to the overall filling of the deep flash memory. This means less short-term addition of the data into the RAM, but at the expense of greater utilization of the flash memory, and faster deterioration of the competing companies. So this has consequences.Coming back to the stock price record on the Wall Street, one thing is clear. The past decade is by far the most successful one for Apple's stock price on record. Human interest in Apple Inc really kicked in during the 1970s, shortly after the company was founded in 1976, and Apple's stock price has been pretty steady since then.Mean NOAAWhile the overall increase of the price is about $500 per decade, there are three one-year periods where there was a hiatus in warming, as the graph above shows, in 2000, partly in 2002, in 2008, and between 2012 and 2013. But at each end of these periods there were big jumps. We find exactly the same sort of flat periods at random places of financial model projections, lasting easily up to 15 months in length.Focusing on the wiggles and ignoring the bigger picture of unabated rise of Apple's stock price is foolhardy, but an approach promoted by iPod success deniers. The elimination of the competition keeps marching up at a rate of more than 30 companies per decade since 1992 (when global markets using instantaneous transactions were made possible), and that is perhaps a better indicator that Apple's stock price continues unabated. The deterioration of all the competitors comes from both the melting of companies associated with the PC industry, thus adding more finances and flash memory chips to the market of intelligent phones, plus the warming and thus expanding market for the media players itself.Apple's stock rise is manifested in a number of ways, and there is a continuing wireless data transfer imbalance in the vicinity of the iPods. The current hiatus in the rise of Apple's stock price is temporary, and this increase has not gone away.LM: I hope that at least some readers were laughing. By this parody, I wanted to emphasize that while Trenberth writes and says lots of things about many random components of the atmospheric and weather systems, none of them really proves – or provides us with any significantly strong evidence – that CO2 is important enough so that the temperatures will be higher in 20, 30, 50, or 100 years. Much like the price of a stock, they may be higher but they may be lower, too. Rationalization of a predetermined conclusion is not genuine science.In fact, it seems that he talks about so many things just in order to impress the readers who don't have a clue about climatology or, and it is even worse, to distract the reader who would otherwise realize that a previous claim by Trenberth was proven wrong. Randomly jumping from one topic to another creates excuses that undemanding readers are satisfied with. He isn't carefully verifying the statements individually. Chances are that about 1/2 of his statements are simply incorrect and even those that are correct have nothing to do with the main claim that Trenberth would like to justify but he cannot justify it because there exists no scientific evidence – namely the claim that CO2 matters and is a significant (or even main?) factor for the forecasts. |
It seems we’re hearing a lot about 8-Core streaming devices lately. Idroidnation was nice enough to send us a sample of their brand new Android TV box for review: The Idroidnation I-Box.
The last time we reviewed an Octa-Core streaming device was the Tronsmart Draco. It started off well, but quickly fizzled out because Tronsmart was non-existent with their support of the box. Any time that a new design comes out, you’re buying into the hope that the device will perform better and better as it ages. I’m talking about everything, not just Android boxes.
Will the Idroidnation I-Box age better than the Draco? How does it perform now?
Let’s find out.
Idroidnation I-Box: Specs
The Idroidnation I-Box is built off the Cortex A53 which is an 8-core, 64-bit version of the Cortex A7. This essentially allows the A53 to be smaller than it’s predecessor and give higher performance using less power. Like the Draco, this device also uses ARM’s big.LITTLE technology which enables the CPU to turn on cores when it needs more processing power and turn them off at idle times.
There is also 2GB of RAM and 8GB of storage. The storage is split over two partitions, which I found to be disappointing. Manufacturers started doing this as a cost benefit, but with memory prices so low, I’m not sure why they still feel the need to split storage like this.
It’s also worth pointing out that this is one of the few TV boxes running Android 5.1.1 Lollipop. We’ll see this more in the future, but it’s great to see Lollipop finally making it’s way on to streaming devices.
Here are the official specs from Idroidnation’s website:
Operating System Android 5.1 CPU RK3368 – 64-bit Octa-Core Cortex A53 GPU Power VR6110 Supported Formats OpenGL ES3.1, OpenCL 1.2 and DirectX 9.3 4K*2K H.264/H.265 real-time Video playback HDMI2.0,4K*2K@60fps display RAM DDR3 2GB Storage Onboard eMMC Flash 8GB Connectivity Bluetooth BT 4.0, Ethernet 100 Mb LAN Wi-Fi Wireless 802.11a/b/g/n Expandable Memory Micro SD Card (Maximum support 64GB) Antenna Built-in antenna for Wi-Fi UHD 4K×2K Yes Full HD 1080P Yes HEVC H.265/H.264 Yes Video/Picture Decoding Supports *.mkv,*.wmv,*.mpg, *.mpeg, *.dat, *.avi, *.mov, *.iso, *.mp4, *.rm and *.jpg file formats Audio format Support MP3, AAC, WMA, RM, FLAC, OGG Ports USB 2.0 x 3, Micro USB with OTG x 1, HDMI 2.0 x 1, SPDIF x 1, Micro SD card slot Adapter 5V 2A Features Miracast/DLNA Support
What’s in the box
Android TV box manufacturers have gotten a lot better with their packaging since they first popped on the scene a few years ago. The first devices were simply thrown into a box and included a simple one-sheet of instructions which, if you were lucky, were written in English.
By contrast, the Idroidnation I-Box is packaged well. The box is mono-chromatic on plain brown cardboard, and gives it a kind-of “eco-friendly” vibe. Still, it looks like something you’d pick up at any big-box retailer like Best Buy or Target. Once you open the box, the I-Box is there, along with a brief description of the package contents.
Underneath, you’ll find an AC power adapter, USB to micro-USB OTG adapter and an HDMI cable so you don’t have to buy your own.
There’s also a one-sheet setup guide that looks like something that could be produced by Hewlett-Packard. That’s a good thing, by the way. I’ve often said that they have some of the best set-up material in the tech industry for new users. The iDroidnation’s setup page explains not only how to plug in the box, but also how to perform basic Android functions like opening and closing apps. On the back, there’s a walkthrough on how to change language settings and connect to the Internet.
Benchmarks
Since the Tronsmart Draco was the only other Octa-Core device I’ve tested so far, my initial though was to use it as a baseline for the Idroidnation I-Box performance. The Draco scored a pretty respectable 34672 in AnTuTu X. If you remember, there was some controversy with the Draco’s AnTuTu 6 score, so I’m going to be erring on the side of caution here.
The Idroidnation I-Box scored better on the AnTuTu benchmarks than the Draco, getting a verified score of 36022 on its first run. I ran this test several more times and achieved an average of 35496 over ten attempts. This puts it in line with what CNXSoft found with the RK3368 devices they tested. Overall, pretty solid performance, and a slightly higher score than the MINIX NEO X8-H Plus which scored a 32275.
The AnTuTu Video Tester didn’t fare as well, unfortunately. Although the 4K portion of the test worked flawlessly, there were some issues with older formats which you can see in the pictures below. Overall, I’m not too concerned with this as long as Idroidnation updates the firmware down the road. If not, this could be an issue.
I also ran 3DMark’s Ice Storm and PC Mark Android benchmarks for the I-Box. The results weren’t what I expected, but not in a bad way.
The scores for Ice Storm were a pretty respectable 5148. This was less than the NEO X8-H Plus’ score of 5657. Even though the framerates were almost identical, the MINIX box did score higher in the overall graphics tests.
The interesting test was in the PC Mark Android benchmark. Here the Idroidnation I-Box really dominated. It handily beat the MINIX in overall score, 4225 to 3004. Even better, it almost doubled the MINIX’s score in video playback: 4915 to 2456.
Clearly there’s some power underneath the hood in this set top box.
Kodi
Almost everyone who buys a streaming device that’s not made by Roku, Amazon or Google does it to run Kodi.
Idroidnation included Kodi 15 with this TV box and it works great. There was a custom skin already installed, but that can be easily changed.
I’m disappointed that they chose to include a lot of add-ons that aren’t officially endorsed by Team Kodi. Generally when manufacturers do this they are doing it to promote illegal content. This didn’t appear to be the case with Idroidnation, however, which is good.
Including Kodi 15 rather than version 14, or even one of the old XBMC versions is another good sign. I’m always worried when a brand new device comes out with old software. Thankfully, that’s not the case here.
The Verdict
The Idroidnation I-Box surprised me a little bit, which is getting pretty tough to do. It gives good performance that was rock-solid as far as stability during my stress tests. It may not blow away the competition yet, but you need to remember that this is a brand new box with lots of room to grow. Video playback was good, and didn’t show any signs of stuttering at all.
One disappointment was the lack of a custom launcher with this box. One of the great things about Android TV boxes is that we can customize them however we want. That doesn’t mean that it’s easy for newbies, or even casual users to navigate. Especially if you don’t have some sort of air mouse or upgraded controller. There were a couple of minor issues with video formats not being supported, but I expect that those will be fixed in the first firmware upgrade.
All in all, I’m pretty impressed with the Idroidnation I-Box. But what do you think?
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We love to speculate on the next-generation of stars, players with a chance to take the next step in their careers, going from good to potentially great.
Heading into the 2016 season, I have a come up with a team that I call my Step-Up Team, players who have flashed early in their careers and now can take the next step on the path to being a star.
All the players are young, most in their second and third seasons in the league. That's why speculating can be tough, yet their limited resumes and game tapes help to give me the idea that they have the ability to turn it up a notch. Experience matters, and now they all have some. Maybe not enough yet for some, but they have games under their belts.
In a league where timetables are sped up now more than ever, the speed of the next step is crucial for the success of teams and the staying power of a coach. If the supposed candidates don't take that step, coaches will be fired and general mangers will likely be right behind.
So here's my team of the players I think take the next step in 2016.
Offense
He threw for 4,042 yards and 22 touchdowns as a rookie, but his completion percentage was only 58.3 percent and he threw 14 picks. Even so, he has the look of a future top-10 passer. His work ethic is outstanding and he loves the game. That matters.
He was really good as a rookie, rushing for 581 yards in part-time duty. I think he gets more of the rushing load this season, which means his numbers will go up. He's also a good receiver. He caught 36 passes last season. In his second season, he should be a 1,200-yard rusher with 50 catches.
I was going to put Dorial Green-Beckham here, but his trade to the Eagles changed that after the Titans gave up on him. So I went with Funchess. He came on strong late in 2015 and will be even better with a year under his belt. I thought he might be better suited as a tight end coming out of Michigan, but he's trimmed down some and developed into a big, strong receiver.
For a WR with his size and skill set, Funchess faces big expectations. USATSI
He had 51 catches with six touchdowns last season, and he really didn't get going until the second half. He is small, but he can fly. He's also a heck of a return man.
He caught a career-best 64 passes last season, but that was with Andrew Luck sitting much of the year. Now in his third season, he should push 80 catches this season. His yards-per catch should also go up from 11.5 last season.
Those who watch the tape know how good this kid is, but the majority of NFL fans don't. That's why he's on this list. He is a real talent and he's only 24 years old. He will be in the Pro Bowl this season.
When he played as a rookie last season, he was a mauler and a bruiser. This former college tackle has a chance to be special at guard. Teaming with Zack Martin, the Cowboys might have the best duo in the league.
La'el Collins should only continue to get better in Big D. USATSI
He is moving from right guard to center and the team is raving about his ability to pick up the mental game. He was a physical guard and should be a physical center. He might not be a Pro Bowl player this year, but he will be for a long time.
This player from small school Hobart College had a nice rookie season in 2015. He was good against the run and held up in pass protection. With a year of experience, he will be better in both.
On a Rams line that had issues last season, he was solid as a rookie at right tackle. He is a big, powerful player who is good in the run game. He surprised some with how well he handled himself in pass protection. He has missed the open of camp with a foot injury, but is expected to be ready for the opener.
Forget that he got paid a big deal. He's a player who hasn't lived up to the expectations yet. But I think in the Saints offense, with Drew Brees throwing to him, he will have a big-time season in terms of numbers. He's a perfect fit.
Defense
He isn't even a starter, but he might be by season's end. As a rookie last season, he had six sacks with just one start. At 6-foot-5, 252 pounds, he is a powerful rusher.
He impressed as a rookie last season, splitting time up front. But he has the talent to be a real force on their defense. He is big, strong and quick.
In 2015 as a rookie he was one of the best defenders on the Chicago defense. At 6-4, 320 pounds he is a power player but he can also push the pocket. He had 4.5 sacks last season.
When he played last season, he was an effective pass rusher. He didn't put up big sack numbers, but that's coming. As long as he's on the field, he will be a force off the edge for the Texans this year.
With J.J. Watt sidelined, the Texans need Clowney to be consistent. USATSI
He had four sacks as a rookie last season, but he had three of those in the final seven games. In the Cardinals defense, there's a need for an outside rusher to play a big role and this should be his time to do so.
He started nine games last season as a rookie and impressed as run defender. He's only 5-11, but he is a big-body player at 240 pounds and is more than willing to throw his body around. He needs to improve in coverage.
He had eight sacks in two starts last season, including five in the final three games. He had three in one game against the Eagles. At 6-5, 268 pounds he has speed of a player much smaller.
The Redskins are high on Smith. USATSI
The Packers have high hopes for this second-year player. He was a safety in college, but moved to corner last season as a rookie. He can play outside and in the slot.
He will be the "other" corner this season with Josh Norman on the roster. But he is a talented young player who loves matching up with top receivers.
He showed some real cover skills as a rookie last season. He is smooth, can lock down as a press-man player, and he is willing tackler. He will be in the Pro Bowl this season.
He struggled as a rookie in 2014 when asked to play more in coverage, but last year he fit better in the new scheme brought in with coach Todd Bowles. He is a big hitter who has improved in coverage.
Calvin Pryor can hit, but can he be more consistent in coverage? USATSI
He played corner and hybrid safety last year as a rookie, but he is a fill-time safety now. With his athletic ability, he would be a perfect player to have roaming in the middle of the field. |
According to BBC News (via The Wrap), the Chinese government is blocking all mentions of Winnie The Pooh on social media sites in an attempt to stop people from associating President Xi Jinping with the cubby, honey-living children’s character. Apparently, Winnie The Pooh has been the go-to reference for people looking to poke fun at President Xi for a while now, but the government is ramping up its censorship operations in advance of the Communist Party Congress this fall so that President Xi can make a big show of his “grip on power”—as the BBC puts it—and try to shut down his critics.
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As for why people used Winnie The Pooh in the first place, the BBC story doesn’t really get into it, but it suggests that replacing the president with a silly figure like the cartoon bear is a straightforward attempt to undermine the assertion that he’s superior to the rest of the population in some way. Whatever the reason, uses of Pooh’s name in Chinese are blocked on the country’s omnipresent WeChat app, and attempts to look up previously accessible Winnie The Pooh images now turn up nothing.
For Cheetos’ sake, we just hope Donald Trump doesn’t hear about this and steal the idea to ban things that people use to make fun of him. |
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"Top whatever" lists are popular on the internet -- quick, easy-to-read posts packaged in a convenient list for scrumptious digestion. Porsche is taking that form a step further by make its list into a video -- the first in what appears to be a new series for the automaker.
Dieter Landenberger, manager of historical archives at Porsche, pulls the sheet off five super-rare Porsche factory models that look immaculate on camera. The five rare cars are the Porsche 964 Turbo S (86 produced), 1981 924 Carrera GTS (50 -- one in white, the other 49 in Indian Red), 911 GT1 (21 made), 911 SC/RS (20 produced) and the American Roadster (only 16 produced).
The voice-over seems a bit more excited -- and Americanized -- than you'd expect from Porsche. However, considering we are going to be hearing the five best sounding Porsches next week as selected by the company, we get the excitement. Check back then for what promises to be a stunning soundtrack. |
Author: arkayn Nice post. I wanted to add to it a little bit... While those exact percentages are not really that hard to calculate or remember, sometimes it's hard to translate on the fly to what that really means to me in the decision making process. I usually think of an even rougher breakdown of the odds for at least a first pass at eliminating choices... Basically, I break the odds down to: not likely, coin flip, and very likely.
1 AV:
coin flip to kill a 1 life unit (or wound a stronger unit)
2 AV:
very likely to kill a 1 life unit
coin flip to kill a 2 life unit (very likely to wound)
3 AV:
very likely to kill a 1 or 2 life unit
unlikely to kill a 3 life unit
4 AV:
very likely to kill a 1 or 2 life unit (overkill vs. 1 life)
coin flip to kill a 3 life unit
unlikely to kill a 4 life unit
5 AV:
very likely to kill a 1-3 life unit (overkill vs. 1 life)
coin flip to kill a 4 life
nearly impossible to kill a 5 life
Yes, that coin flip for a 2 AV killing a 2 life is much worse coin flip than a 1 AV killing a 1 life, and when it comes down to two coin flips that are equally helpful to my position, I might remember the real odds and go from there. And yes, that "very likely" for a 3 AV to kill a 2 life unit is awfully close to the "coin flip" for a 1 AV to kill a 1 life. But there have to be breakpoints somewhere, and even 67% is decent odds, I still prefer to be a little pessimistic.
But basically, "very likely" is something I can more or less count on. Try not to put myself in a position where a "very likely" failing will completely screw me, but taking risks for a "very likely" is generally OK. "unlikely" means don't even try it if it puts me in a bad position - or only try it if it doesn't cost anything or I have a backup plan. "coin flip" means don't count on it, try to have a contingency plan, but generally worth risking or spending moves to set up. |
This article is from the Fall 2014 issue of the The American Prospect magazine.
For the first time in decades, voters in nearly half the country will find it harder to cast a ballot in the upcoming elections. Voters in 22 states will face tougher rules than in the last midterms. In 15 states, 2014 is slated to be the first major election with new voting restrictions in place.
These changes are the product of a concerted push to restrict voting by legislative majorities that swept into office in 2010. They represent a sharp reversal for a country whose historical trajectory has been to expand voting rights and make the process more convenient and accessible.
Although some of these new laws are harsher than others, and some are still being fought in the courts, they have already dramatically altered the landscape for 2014. The outcomes of some of the tightest races this year could turn on the application of controversial new voting rules. Strict voter ID laws have gotten most of the attention, but are only part of the story. Cutbacks to early voting and voter registration opportunities, and other idiosyncratic changes to voting rules, have the potential to do just as much damage.
Why is this happening? Where are the most damaging new laws? What impact could they have in this year’s elections? And how effective are the efforts by voters to push back?
(AP Photo/J Pat Carter) Betty James holds a sign outside the Faith Community Baptist Church in Miami, Sunday, October 28, 2012, as she tries to rally churchgoers to board a bus that would take them to vote early.
Voting Restrictions in Context
First, some perspective. The current assault on voting is highly unusual. Election rules have long been prone to politicization, but the last large-scale push to curb voting access was more than a century ago, after Reconstruction. The first stirrings of a new movement to restrict voting came after the 2000 Florida election fiasco, which taught the unfortunate lesson that even small manipulations of election procedures could affect outcomes in close races. Even so, only a handful of states imposed new restrictions over the decade that followed.
That changed dramatically after 2010, when state lawmakers across the country introduced hundreds of bills to restrict voting. Although many of the new laws passed in that first year were initially blocked or weakened by courts, the Department of Justice, and citizen initiatives, states continued to press new voting restrictions in 2013 and 2014.
What Explains This Sudden Shift?
Partisanship plays a key role. Of the 22 states with new restrictions, 18 passed them through entirely Republican-controlled bodies. A study by social scientists Keith Bentele and Erin O’Brien of the University of Massachusetts Boston found that restrictions were more likely to pass “as the proportion of Republicans in the legislature increased or when a Republican governor was elected.” After Republicans took over state houses and governorships in 2010, voting restrictions typically followed party lines.
Race has been a significant factor. In 2008, voter participation among African Americans and certain other groups surged. Then came backlash. The more a state saw increases in minority and low-income voter turnout, the more likely it was to push laws cutting back on voting rights, according to the University of Massachusetts study. The Brennan Center for Justice likewise found that of the 11 states with the highest African American turnout in 2008, seven passed laws making it harder to vote. Of the 12 states with the largest Hispanic population growth in the 2010 Census, nine have new restrictions in place. And of the 15 states that used to be monitored closely under the Voting Rights Act because of a history of racial discrimination in elections, nine passed new restrictions.
Some laws are especially egregious in targeting how minorities vote. The push to shut down Sunday early voting in states where African American churches organized successful “Souls to the Polls” drives is a glaring example. Laws restricting voter registration drives are another such tactic. African Americans and Latinos register through drives at twice the rate of white citizens, and in recent years, civic groups have used drives to help close the racial registration gap—as they have for veterans, young people, and other less registered populations. Instead of embracing these efforts, Florida and several other states passed laws that make it difficult—and, before a court stepped in, impossible—for groups to help voters register. The result was a significant drop in registrations.
Early Voting Cuts
The push to trim early voting provides another clear example of how new voting restrictions target minorities. For more than two decades, states have been increasing early voting opportunities. In fact, most states now offer early voting, and in the last two presidential elections, a full one-third of Americans voted early. The reason for this expansion? Early voting works well—voters like it, election officials like it, and it improves the election system. It is so non-controversial that the bipartisan Presidential Commission on Election Administration recently recommended that all states adopt it to prevent long lines at the polls.
Despite this consensus, after the 2008 election, support for early voting eroded among Republican legislators in the South and Midwest. What changed? For the first time, African Americans had begun voting early at high rates. In Southern states, early voting by African Americans nearly tripled between 2004 and 2008, overtaking early voting by whites by a significant margin. In North Carolina, for example, seven in ten African Americans voted early in 2008, as compared to half of white voters. And while Republicans have traditionally been more likely to vote early, in 2008 Democratic early votes exceeded Republican ones.
Just as early voting has become successful among minorities and lower-income voters, it has become a target. Since 2011, eight states that saw recent increases in minority early voting usage have sharply cut back on early voting hours and days—Florida, Georgia, Nebraska, North Carolina, Ohio, Tennessee, West Virginia, and Wisconsin. Generally, the days and hours most likely to be slashed were those most popular with minorities and hourly workers, like Sundays and evenings. According to a 2008 Ohio study, 56 percent of weekend voters in Cuyahoga County, the state’s most populous, were black.
Some politicians have been surprisingly candid about their motives. A Georgia state senator recently caused an uproar by criticizing local election officials for placing an early voting site in a black neighborhood, calling it a “blatantly partisan move,” and vowing to work in the next legislative session to “eliminate this election law loophole” that enabled officials to facilitate minority political participation. An Ohio official, explaining his 2012 vote to limit early voting hours, said: “I guess I really actually feel we shouldn’t contort the voting process to accommodate the urban [read: African American] voter-turnout machine.”
©Jenny Warburg Moral Monday protesters in Raleigh, North Carolina, call for the repeal of their state's new voting restrictions.
Other Voting Restrictions
Voter ID. While voter ID laws are nothing new, before 2011 only two states required voters to show government-issued photo IDs at the polls. Since 2011, nine states passed strict new ID laws. (Those states are Alabama, Arkansas, Kansas, Mississippi, North Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and Wisconsin.) Some accept state-issued student IDs while others do not, and some make it easier than others to obtain the necessary IDs. Four more states have passed somewhat less restrictive ID requirements. Nationally, 11 percent of Americans do not have the current state-issued photo IDs required under the stricter laws.
Voter Registration Restrictions. Ten states passed laws making it harder for citizens to register. These include laws curbing voter registration drives (in Florida, Illinois, Texas, and Virginia); rules requiring voters to provide documentary proof of citizenship when registering (in Alabama, Kansas, Tennessee, and previously in Arizona); laws eliminating the highly popular same-day registration (in Nebraska and North Carolina); and a law making it harder for people who move to stay registered (in Wisconsin). Voter registration problems, which tend to pass under the radar, have long been the single greatest barrier to voting, causing millions of lost votes per year. Unless your state has same-day registration, if you are not registered, you cannot vote. One in four eligible Americans is not registered, and millions more have outdated registrations.
Curbs on Restoring Rights to People with Past Convictions. Florida, Iowa, and South Dakota all made it significantly harder for Americans with past criminal convictions to have their voting rights restored. In Florida and Iowa, those citizens are essentially permanently disenfranchised. Nationally, 5.85 million Americans who have done their time have lost the right to vote; 1.5 million are in Florida. Overall, 7.7 percent of African Americans have lost their right—compared to 1.8 percent of whites.
The number and complexity of new voting restrictions across the country are staggering. As Yale Law Professor Heather Gerken put it, “It’s a death-by-a-thousand-cuts strategy.”
Key States to Watch
In many of the closest races this year, new restrictions and ongoing court cases could become major factors.
Data: Brennan Center for Justice/Art: Mary Parsons
North Carolina has the dubious distinction of having the nation’s harshest and most sweeping new voting law. Enacted immediately after the Supreme Court gutted the Voting Rights Act last year, the law slashes seven early voting days, imposes a strict photo ID requirement, eliminates same-day registration, stops pre-registration for 16- and 17-year-olds, prohibits the counting of provisional votes cast outside of voters’ home precincts, and more. Other than the photo ID requirement, which will be implemented in 2016, all of these changes are currently in effect.
With a tight U.S. Senate race under way, these changes could have an impact on this year’s elections, though it is difficult to predict the magnitude. In 2008, more than 700,000 North Carolinians voted during the week the state cut from early voting—including nearly a quarter of all African Americans who voted that year. Even in the 2010 midterms, more than 200,000 voters cast ballots during that week. Many voters will likely find another way to participate, but some will not. When Florida cut a week of early voting before the 2012 election, it led to congestion and long lines both before and on Election Day. More than 200,000 Floridians did not vote that year because of long lines at the polls.
The elimination of same-day registration and out-of-precinct provisional balloting can also do damage. In 2012, nearly 100,000 citizens used same-day registration in North Carolina, almost one-third of whom were African Americans. Nationally, same-day registration is generally credited with boosting turnout by as much as 5 to 7 percent. Already this year, hundreds of citizens cast ballots that went uncounted in low-turnout primary elections because of the elimination of same-day registration and out-of-precinct voting.
It is uncertain which of these restrictions will still be in place for the elections. The Department of Justice and civil rights groups have challenged the law in federal court. A district court judge declined to block the changes in advance of the election, but during argument on appeal last week, one judge asked: “How come the state of North Carolina doesn’t want people to vote?” (Regardless of the outcome, the issue will not be fully settled this year; the case is scheduled for a full trial next summer.) Voters are pushing back in the streets as well; the new law has spawned large-scale protests across the state by the “Moral Mondays” movement. That movement has also mobilized a voter registration and education campaign to counteract what the NAACP’s Reverend William Barber calls “the most regressive voter-suppression law passed by any state in this country since Jim Crow.”
Texas. In the midst of a high-profile gubernatorial race, the Lone Star State now has a voter ID law that is the harshest in the nation, and called “absurdly strict” by the New York Times. Not only does Texas unnecessarily limit the kinds of IDs it accepts for voting, it also cherry-picks—famously accepting concealed-carry permits but not state-issued student IDs. Before implementing this law, Texas was initially required under the Voting Rights Act to get federal approval to make sure that the ID law was not discriminatory. Both the Department of Justice and a federal court blocked the law ahead of the 2012 elections, finding that it discriminated against minority voters. But while the case was awaiting appeal, the Supreme Court struck down the portion of the Voting Rights Act (Section 5) that required Texas to seek pre-implementation review. Within hours of that decision, Texas moved to implement the law—despite the court’s earlier finding that it was discriminatory. The law is now being challenged under a different part of the Voting Rights Act (Section 2) and the Constitution, but has already been applied in local and primary elections this year.
If allowed to stand, Texas’s voter ID law could have a substantial impact this November. Uncontroverted expert data presented at trial showed that 1.2 million eligible Texans do not have IDs that would be accepted under the new law. Among registered voters, more than 600,000 lack acceptable ID. The effect on black and Latino voters is disproportionate; Hispanic registered voters are 3.2 times more likely than white voters to lack ID, and black registered voters are 2.3 times more likely to lack ID, according to an expert study.
A weak state program to provide free IDs is unlikely to close this gap before Election Day. As of September, Texas had issued only 279 free IDs, and had done virtually no voter education. Even if the ID itself is free, for many people the cost of obtaining the underlying documents necessary to get it is prohibitive. Lifelong voter Sammie Bates testified that it took her a while to save up the $42 needed to order her birth certificate, which she needed to get free ID: “You’re going to put the money where you feel the need is most urgent. … We couldn't eat the birth certificate, and we couldn't pay rent with the birth certificate.”
In the low-turnout November 2013 state primary, more than 250 provisional ballots were rejected because the voters failed to present qualifying ID. While most empirical studies show that requiring voter ID has a negative effect on turnout, there aren’t enough data yet to estimate with precision the impact the law will have on turnout if it remains in effect—especially since there has never been an ID requirement as strict as Texas’s. We may never find out, depending on what happens in the courts over the next few weeks. Closing arguments in the case challenging the law were made on September 22; a decision could come any day now.
Data: Brennan Center for Justice/Art: Mary Parsons The states shown in blue are facing court challenges to voter suppression measures.
Wisconsin. Unless a court steps in, a strict new voter ID law and cutbacks to early voting are slated to go into effect in Wisconsin for the first time this November. Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker played a significant role in pressing these controversial new voting measures, and they could now make a difference in his close re-election race this year.
The new voter ID law, which rivals Texas’s as one of the country’s most restrictive, was previously blocked by multiple state and federal courts, but those decisions were recently lifted, just weeks before the election. By a tie vote, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals refused to rehear the appeal en banc, with Judge Richard A. Posner, who famously regretted his vote to uphold Indiana’s ID law, voting to rehear. With almost no time to prepare or educate voters, and with early absentee voting already under way, this last-minute change could create serious snafus in the election. The thousands of people who have already mailed in absentee ballots have been told that they now need to send in copies of their photo IDs—assuming they have them—or their votes will not count. In addition to the confusion, the law will certainly create problems for the 300,000 eligible Wisconsin voters who do not have IDs acceptable under the new law. In Milwaukee County, the state’s largest, 7.3 percent of white voters, 13.2 percent of African Americans, and 14.9 percent of Latinos lack acceptable IDs.
Wisconsin also eliminated weekend early voting, effectively preventing “Souls to the Polls” drives in the state this year. Florida’s experience in 2012 shows that cutting Sunday voting can make a serious dent in turnout; more than 18 percent of Floridians who voted on the last Sunday of early voting in 2008—eliminated in 2012—did not vote at all in 2012, according to an analysis by Professors Paul Gronke of Reed College and Charles Stewart of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Kansas and Arizona. Voting restrictions have the potential to make a difference in the close gubernatorial and Senate races in Kansas, and in close House races in Arizona this year. Both states now require documentary proof of citizenship to register to vote, a measure first authored by embattled Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach.
Since January 2013, tens of thousands of voter registrations have been submitted in Kansas without the required documents. Although aggressive research and outreach efforts have helped get thousands of these documents to voters, there are currently almost 20,000 Kansans who attempted to register but will not be able to vote this November. There are no new numbers available from Arizona, but when the state first implemented its requirement in 2005, more than 31,000 applications were rejected for lack of documents, and community-based voter registration plummeted by 44 percent in the state’s largest county. Only 11,000 of those applicants were later able to register to vote, and about 20 percent of the remaining 20,000 unsuccessful applicants were Latino. The laws are currently the subject of two lawsuits, only one of which is likely to be decided before the upcoming election. If voting advocates prevail in that suit, then voters who lack citizenship documentation will be able to register and vote in federal races only.
Florida has long led the country in voting restrictions. Most recently, in 2011, the state cut back on early voting, hampered voter registration drives, and rolled back voting rights for people with past convictions. While the early voting and voter registration restrictions have been mitigated by court decisions and even a 2013 partial repeal, the more than 1.3 million Floridians convicted of crimes who have completed their sentences and paid their debt to society are still essentially permanently disenfranchised because of changes Governor Rick Scott and his clemency board made to Florida’s rules in 2011. Scott’s new criminal disenfranchisement rules, which rolled back pro-voter reforms passed by former Governor Charlie Crist, have the potential to make a big difference in this year’s neck-and-neck gubernatorial race between Scott and Crist.
Ohio may not have a close statewide race this year, but its voting shenanigans are always of national concern. This year, state officials tried to cut back dramatically on early voting—stopping all weekend early voting—and to eliminate its period of same-day registration popularly known as “Golden Week.” As a federal court recently found, and an appeals court affirmed, these moves could have hurt tens of thousands of voters, and disproportionately African Americans. The courts initially blocked these changes for this election, but just one day before early voting and Golden Week were scheduled to begin, the five conservative justices of the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated them. These measures were put in place in response to the chaos and long lines at the polls in 2004; their loss could spell trouble this year. The fight in Ohio is not yet over for 2016.
Arkansas passed one of the new wave of strict voter ID laws last year. With one of the country’s hottest Senate races in the balance, the law has taken on much greater significance this year. A state court found that the law violates the state’s constitution, which has strong protections for voting rights, but it declined to block the law. The case was heard by the Arkansas Supreme Court, and a decision could come down any day now.
What’s Next?
New voting laws aren’t the only concerns this year. Watch out for politically motivated attacks on groups that register voters, last-minute attempts to purge names off voter rolls, and voter harassment by vigilante groups—all of which have the potential to chill registration and participation. Watch also for widespread confusion and mistakes as a result of all these voting rules changes. And watch out for long lines at the polls, especially in minority communities; despite the uproar in 2012, the country still hasn’t taken key steps to prevent lines.
The role of the courts will be critical in the coming days and weeks. In five key states—Arizona, Arkansas, Kansas, North Carolina, and Texas—the voting rules are still up in the air as lawsuits challenging new laws make their way through the courts. In the lead-up to the 2012 election, 10 courts in seven states blocked, postponed, or mitigated virtually all of the harshest new voting restrictions that were slated to go into effect that year. But that was before the Supreme Court had gutted a key portion of the Voting Rights Act. The jury is still out on whether the courts will be as forceful in protecting voting rights this year. The country needs them to be—or we risk cementing a new pattern of elections marred by discriminatory partisan changes to voting rules. |
Mexican Finance Minister Jose Antonio Meade attends a conference marking the International Day of Family Remittances 2017 in Mexico City, Mexico June 16, 2017. REUTERS/Carlos Jasso
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexico’s government should slow the pace of its budget cuts next year and it will not likely see a surplus from the central bank due to the recovery in the peso currency, the country’s finance minister said on Tuesday.
Mexico’s 2018 budget is likely to see a lower “adjustment” to public finances than in previous budgets, finance minister Jose Antonio Meade said in an interview on local radio.
He said Mexico would still meet a deficit target of 2.5 percent of gross domestic product by the end of 2018.
The collapse in global oil prices LCOc1 CLc1 in late 2014 forced Mexico to make sizeable cuts to the federal budget in the past couple of years, and Wall Street credit rating agencies last year warned they could cut Mexico’s debt rating.
Mexico’s government had previously relied on oil sales by state-run Pemex to fund around a third of its budget, but lower prices and a slump in production have pushed oil income to less than one-fifth of the government’s revenue.
Meade also said the ministry was unlikely to receive a surplus transfer next year from the central bank, noting the peso would have to weaken back past 20.50 per dollar MXN= by the close of 2017 in order for that to happen. "That, today, does not seem to be the central scenario," the minister said.
The peso, which suffered a significant slump last year, has been the best performing major currency this year, gaining over 15 percent in 2017. It is now trading just above 18 per dollar as fears have eased that the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump will slap tariffs on Mexican-made goods.
The central bank books a surplus from reserve assets when the peso weakens against the dollar during the year. In March, the central bank transferred 321.7 billion pesos ($18 billion) of its 2016 surplus to the federal government. |
Former Miami Dolphins guard Richie Incognito has been cleared by the NFL for a return to "full activity and regular-season game participation," a league source told ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter on Monday.
The Dolphins had Incognito on paid suspension, and the NFL wanted to review its investigation before saying whether it would allow him to sign. Now that this step has been taken, Incognito is free to not only sign with a team but play right away.
Editor's Picks Yasinskas: Incognito? Bucs on dangerous road The desperate, guard-depleted Buccaneers are on a dangerous road as they consider signing Richie Incognito, Pat Yasinskas writes.
There are at least three and as many as five teams interested in and talking with Incognito, a source told Schefter. He is likely to sign somewhere by the end of the week, according to the source.
Incognito visited with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Monday. A team official told ESPN.com's Pat Yasinskas that the Bucs were doing their due diligence, and a signing wasn't necessarily imminent.
"We had a very constructive meeting with Richie,'' general manager Jason Licht told the Tampa Bay Times after he and coach Lovie Smith had dinner with Incognito. "It went on for about five hours. We haven't ruled him out and he remains an option.''
It marked Incognito's first trip to any team facility since his implication in the bullying scandal involving former Dolphins teammate Jonathan Martin.
On Tuesday, Indianapolis Colts coach Chuck Pagano did not rule out the possibility of reaching out to Incognito.
"I think anybody that's on the street right now after cut downs this weekend, anybody that comes available we'll discuss," Pagano said. "We will not say yay or nay based on history. If it makes sense, if it's going to help us win and it's the best thing for the team and this organization it doesn't matter if it's Richie or anybody else we'll do what's right for this organization, for what's best for this team. What gives us the best chance to win."
The Colts have battled through injuries and a lack of experience on their offensive line which is charged with protecting quarterback Andrew Luck, who was a teammate of Martin's at Stanford.
A league investigation determined that Incognito and two other Dolphins offensive linemen -- John Jerry and Mike Pouncey -- engaged in persistent harassment of Martin, who left the team in October.
Incognito was suspended and missed the final eight games. He became a free agent when his contract with the Dolphins expired.
"To me, nobody should have a death sentence. If you should, you're probably in jail. From there, what does it hurt to talk to someone? For me, as we go forward, I'm not holier-than-thou. I'm going to give everybody the benefit of the doubt until I have information that tells me otherwise." Lovie Smith, on Richie Incognito
Buccaneers coach Lovie Smith addressed the team's interest in Incognito on Monday, saying that he believes in second chances.
"To me, nobody should have a death sentence. If you should, you're probably in jail," he said. "From there, what does it hurt to talk to someone? For me, as we go forward, I'm not holier-than-thou. I'm going to give everybody the benefit of the doubt until I have information that tells me otherwise."
Earlier this year, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said the three players named in the league's investigation into the Dolphins bullying scandal must be evaluated by medical professionals and complete treatment before they will be allowed to return to the playing field.
Goodell said earlier this month during the Pro Football Hall of Fame weekend that all three players have fulfilled league requirements so far.
"I would say the one person that has been very responsive and has gone through the program is Richie Incognito," Goodell said. "We're working with his people and monitoring his progress."
Both quarterback Josh McCown and defensive tackle Gerald McCoy said Monday that there wouldn't be a problem in the locker room if Incognito is signed.
"I don't care. As long as he can help us win, that's all I'm concerned about. If there's a problem, then we'll deal with it accordingly," McCoy said. "But as long as he's doing what he's supposed to be doing in the building, then I'm not concerned about anything else."
The 31-year-old Incognito, an offensive guard, has played in 102 games (all starts) over eight seasons with the Dolphins, Buffalo Bills and St. Louis Rams, who selected him in the third round of the 2005 draft.
ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter, ESPN.com Buccaneers reporter Pat Yasinskas, ESPN.com Broncos reporter Jeff Legwold, ESPN.com Colts reporter Mike Wells and The Associated Press contributed to this report. |
NY Daily News reports that the Department of Justice has announced that the NYC Board of Elections broke federal law when it improperly purged nearly 120,000 Democratic Brooklyn voters from the rolls ahead of last April’s presidential primary. This latest report adds to widespread allegations that the Democratic Party rigged the primary in favor of Hillary Clinton.
New York City Board of elections was reported to have admitted it broke Federal law last year, after “the number of active registered Democrats dropped there by 63,558 voters between November 2015 and April 2016. That translates into a 7 percent drop in registered Democrats in the borough.”
WNYC reported: “States are not allowed to kick voters off the roles solely because they’ve failed to vote — but may remove them only if there’s reliable information indicating they have moved away, they don’t respond to a notice sent to their home, and they don’t vote through the second federal general election after that notice.”
However, according to the latest reports, “BOE didn’t follow those rules in its purge — and in fact removed thousands of voters who had voted since 2008, along with others who had not but were entitled to remain registered, according to the federal brief.”
Although none of the news reports have explicitly stated that this purge was in favor of the Clinton campaign, the news corroborates allegations that the primary was rigged in favor of the ultimately unsuccessful Democratic nominee.
That Democratic voters were improperly purged from the voting rolls corroborates numerous claims that the DNC actively orchestrated to rig the 2016 Democratic Primary in favor of Hillary Clinton.
Accusations of corruption leveled at the DNC were largely validated by Wikileaks’ release of the DNC emails, as well as defense counsel statements in the DNC Fraud lawsuit to the effect that the DNC favoring one candidate over another was not illegal.
The Daily Mail recently reported that a Bernie Sanders campaign organizer and long-time Democrat has also filed a new lawsuit, accusing the Democratic National Committee (DNC) and Hillary Clinton of fraud and seeking access to their servers: “a move that his lawyer believes will solve the murder of DNC staff member Seth Rich.”
Disobedient Media previously reported on the unfolding DNC Fraud Lawsuit, and although the lawsuit against the DNC supporters was dismissed, attorneys for the plaintiffs in the case filed an appeal last month.
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She swallowed two pills with a sip of tap water and looked at me. I don’t know how she knew what was going through my mind — all the what-ifs and why-nots and should-haves. All the regret, and all the sadness, while I watched the person who used to call herself my boyfriend disappear with a sip of tap water. I didn’t miss having a partner who could pass as male. I didn’t even really miss straight privilege. It was something else.
“Would it make you happy,” she asked, “If we tried for a baby? Before it’s too late?”
We had talked about it off and on for months. We already had one child — our amazing little girl, who was born out of a previous relationship — but our little family still seemed like it was missing something. I found my eyes watering every time I held or saw a newborn baby. I would look at the old photos of my wife, a chubby-cheeked kid in boyish clothes that didn’t suit her, and I’d sigh. I felt like there was a child who I had known my whole life, a little boy with intense, dark eyes and an underbite. He was supposed to be part of our family.
We both knew that on hormone replacement therapy, she might have as many as two years of fertility left, or as few as three weeks. It wasn’t the best time. We were broke, we were young, we were stressed, and I had more than my fair share of health problems that I knew would make pregnancy difficult. But we knew it was now or never. There was always adoption, if we would ever be allowed to adopt, and there was always the option of using a donor, if we could ever afford it, but we both knew that putting our child into the realm of “one day” would mean writing him out of existence. “One day” would never come unless it was today.
Later that night, we were skin-to-skin under a pile of warm blankets. I ran my fingers through her black hair while we talked. Just tonight, we agreed. We’ll try tonight, and tonight only, and if it’s meant to be, it will happen. It wasn’t the most responsible possible plan for conceiving a baby, but it seemed right. I had never known my skeptical, atheist wife to put stock into the invisible cosmic force of “meant to be,” but the leap of faith gave me comfort. Sometimes, there’s something to be said for leaving the most difficult decisions in the hands of destiny.
I kissed her and she pulled away for just a moment. “You have to promise me,” she said, locking her eyes on mine, “Promise me that you will never, ever call me the father.”
I promised.
Last week, my wife and daughter sat by the examination table while an ultrasound technician pressed a wand against my swollen belly. A grainy black-and-white image developed on the screen: a fluttering heart. A little round head. Tiny arms and legs. I felt a tiny quiver when it raised its hand — five little fingers — as if it were waving hello to us. I smiled and looked at my wife, who suddenly burst into a high-pitched fit of tears. I knew what was happening to her. It hadn’t really hit her that the baby was real. Not until she saw it.
The sonographer smiled at both of us. I wondered how many times she had witnessed this scene in her career. She moved the wand a little to my left and smiled again.
“It’s a boy.”
I already knew — I’d told my wife that I was sure it was a boy, just two weeks after we conceived — but, in my mind, I put an asterisk next to the word. It’s a boy, until and unless he tells us otherwise, I thought. It’s a boy who will be raised without gender roles. It’s a boy who will be defined by his heart and mind, not by the organs that happen to be between his legs. It’s a boy who will be loved wholly, deeply, and completely by the two women who created him.
A preacher in North Carolina wants to send gay couples to concentration camps, where he says we will become extinct, along with our queer genes, within a generation. “You know why? They can’t reproduce!”
My stepmother says that being gay doesn’t make sense, because two men and two women have never, “in the history of the world,” conceived a child together.
Sixty-two percent of people in my home state vote against marriage equality. Their number-one argument is that queer families aren’t real families. Most of us — or, by their perception, all of us — can’t have children who are biologically related to both of their parents. That, they say, makes our love unnatural, and even sinful. I’ve often wondered when they’ll start trying to ban postmenopausal women and other infertile people from marrying.
Here, there be dragons. We aren’t the first queer couple to conceive a child, and we won’t be the last, either. But this territory is strange and uncharted, and it often feels like we’re alone. After scouring the whole online globe, I found a total of two other couples like us who are expecting babies this year. The conversations have been strained. We’re looking at each other and desperately hoping that at least someone might know what we’re supposed to do next.
Our baby will be born this summer and will join the family with two loving moms, one doting big sister, a hyperactive dog, and two purring kitties. I don’t know what the future has in store for our family, or, in particular, for my son. I don’t know how much his rights will be limited by our relationship, or if boys really do have a need for masculine role models, or when we will all grow exhausted with the people who lean in close and ask, “Is she the dad?” I do know that our son will never once doubt that he is loved and wanted, and I’m grateful every day that we have the rare and wonderful opportunity to be his mothers.
Special Note: Autostraddle’s “First Person” column exists for individual queer ladies to tell their own personal stories and share compelling experiences. These personal essays do not necessarily reflect the ideals of Autostraddle or its editors, nor do any First Person writers intend to speak on behalf of anyone other than themselves. First Person writers are simply speaking honestly from their own hearts. |
Introduction
Sen. Thad Cochran, R-Miss., left, speaks at an awards banquet in Pearl, Miss., ahead of his election showdown against tea party-backed challenger Chris McDaniel. Rogelio V. Solis/AP
A U.S. Senate primary dominated by super PACs and nonprofit groups is headed into overtime.
Neither incumbent Sen. Thad Cochran, R-Miss., nor Chris McDaniel, his tea party challenger, on Tuesday mustered the requisite 50 percent of votes needed to propel them from one of the nation’s most contentious intramural battles toward an likely trip to Capitol Hill.
Unless a final batch of uncounted votes dramatically swing they way of one candidate over the other today, Cochran and McDaniel now square off again in a June 24 runoff emblematic of a broader GOP civil war pitting party standard bearers against tea party insurgents.
That likely means three more weeks of freewheeling spending by a gaggle of outside organizations — some with few ties to Mississippi, a state of fewer than 3 million people — that have dominated the race.
Super PACs, nonprofit groups and other political committees spent more than $8 million to beat down or boost up their candidate of choice, generally through television, radio, mail and phone ads, according to a Center for Public Integrity analysis of federal disclosures.
Cochran and McDaniel together controlled less than two-fifths of the $13.4 million that poured into their primary fracas.
Nevertheless, when the money the candidates themselves raised for their primary campaigns is added to the money spent by supportive outside groups, the results are nearly even: Team Cochran controlled about $6.9 million, Team McDaniel about $6.5 million.
Most of the outside spending in Mississippi’s Senate primary — $5.26 million — benefited McDaniel, with tea party super PACs Club for Growth Action, Senate Conservatives Action and FreedomWorks for America investing the most.
But their often negative ad barrages forced Cochran, seeking a seventh term, to kick his own campaign operation into fundraising hyperdrive to keep pace.
Cochran had little choice, as outside organizations supporting his re-election spent barely half of what pro-McDaniel groups did.
Of particular note: In the three weeks leading up to today’s vote, Cochran amassed more than $335,100 in four-figure campaign contributions — he won’t report his smaller donations until later this month — and personally secured a $150,000 loan to his campaign from a Mississippi bank.
McDaniel’s campaign, meanwhile, generated less than $60,000 in such contributions, federal records indicate.
The incumbent’s most generous air cover came from the Mississippi Conservatives Fund super PAC, the mainstream Republican-backing U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the National Association of Realtors Congressional Fund and the American Hospital Association PAC, federal records show.
During the entirety of the race, Cochran’s campaign committee outraised McDaniel’s campaign committee by a more than 3-to-1 margin: $4.1 million versus $1.22 million.
Mississippi’s imbalance between candidate and special interest spending is remarkable for its rarity.
During the 2012 election cycle, outside political groups didn’t once outspend candidates in their own U.S. Senate primary races, according to data provided to the Center for Public Integrity by the Center for Responsive Politics. It happened just one time — in Arkansas — in 2010.
It’s easier than ever for non-candidate committees to act as prominent forces in political races thanks to the Supreme Court’s 2010 decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, which allowed corporations, nonprofits, unions and special interests to raise and spend unlimited amounts of money to advocate for or against politicians.
Mississippi’s primary slugfest also marks a far cry from 2008, when Cochran raised just $2.7 million during his entire re-election campaign. |
You haven't seen Carrie Guzman on the television shows hosted by archconservatives Bill O'Reilly or Glenn Beck. Her name hasn't appeared on the op-ed page of The Wall Street Journal. And she hasn't shown up in any surreptitiously videotaped sting operations conducted by youthful right-wing zealots.
In fact, Guzman represents a face of the group ACORN that has been largely absent from the media in general since various factions of the right wing set out to discredit and cripple the anti-poverty organization.
At least she used to be a part of Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now. As head of the Lansing office, she worked out of a small office in that city for four years, putting in long hours while making just $30,000 a year. Given that Guzman holds a Ph.D. in community development, the pay is exceptionally meager. But she loved the job nonetheless, seeing it as a way to continue providing a public service after retiring from Michigan State University, where she previously served as director of the undergraduate social work program.
But late last year, after the federal government illegally cut off funding to the nonprofit and threatened to do the same to any other entity either affiliated or even associated with the group, ACORN in Michigan shut down all operations.
One year before the ax fell, Michigan ACORN had offices in Detroit, Lansing, Saginaw, Flint and Grand Rapids. At its peak, it had more than 20 full-time staff and represented more than 10,000 member families around the state.
In 2008, according to organization officials, it helped more than 1,000 families get their taxes filed, saved some 75 families from foreclosure, and assisted more than 150,000 people in filling out voter registration applications.
ACORN was also a key member in the coalition that successfully pushed for an increase in the state minimum wage in 2006, and its work in speaking up about the foreclosure crisis helped to pass the Home Foreclosure Prevention Act in the spring of 2009.
Despite those successes, the group was already facing difficult times as fallout from the financial meltdown caused foundations and philanthropists to scale back support, Guzman says. That same meltdown, especially here in Michigan, where unemployment is rampant, also put a debilitating squeeze on the working-class and poor and people of color whose monthly dues form the backbone of ACORN's support structure.
For two months early in 2009, Guzman went without a paycheck, but she kept plugging away, helping people get their income tax returns properly filed and continuing to lead organizing efforts.
By September, when a pair of young conservative activists released secretly recorded videotapes purportedly showing ACORN employees in a handful of cities giving helpful advice to them as they posed as a pimp and prostitute looking for assistance on things like opening a brothel or illegally funneling money into a fictitious political campaign, all hell broke loose.
The furor caused by the videos led Congress to pass legislation cutting off funds to ACORN in a matter of weeks. Even more devastating than the shutoff of federal money — which never formed a large part of ACORN's support — was language in the legislation that also opened up the possibility that any group affiliated or even allied with ACORN could also lose federal funding. That legislation, along with the torrent of negative publicity generated by the video sting, had additional repercussions: Foundation supporters and corporate partners — such as banks that helped fund foreclosure prevention programs — started separating themselves from the organization.
"That was the last straw," says Guzman, who lives in Lansing. "We just couldn't keep going after that."
That and the threatening phone calls that caused her to fear for the safety of her staff.
Michigan isn't the only place where ACORN has suffered. Kevin Whelan, ACORN's deputy national director, says that most state operations have either closed entirely or undergone drastic cuts. Of the nearly 400 people employed by the organization nationally just a year ago, fewer than half remain on the payroll, he says.
As bad as all that is, the recent decision by California ACORN to break away from the national group to create a new nonprofit organization could portend even more trouble ahead. As the Los Angeles Times reported when the split occurred in January, the separation from its "embattled parent organization" is a "move that observers say might foreshadow other defections that would seriously undermine one of the nation's largest and most politically powerful community organizations."
There is no doubt that conservative efforts to weaken ACORN, beginning at least as far back as 2004, when the group's voter registration efforts sent a chill through the Bush White House, have crippled the organization.
Along with an assault masterminded from the White House by Karl Rove was a second prong of attack from corporate interests that tried to keep their fingerprints off hatchet jobs by using an industry-funded "astroturf" group.
An early effort in that campaign, according to the group SourceWatch, "involved the appearance of a website called RottenAcorn.com, created by the Employment Policies Institute (EPI), a front group created by Washington, D.C.-based astroturf specialist Richard Berman and his lobbying firm Berman & Company." The RottenAcorn.com website says ACORN is "really a multimillion-dollar, multi-national conglomerate," and "its political agenda is driven by a relative handful of political thugs for hire." In an Oct. 29, 2008, article, the investigative journalism group ProPublica revealed that both a full-age ad in The New York Times attacking ACORN and the RottenAcorn.com website are "funded by Rick Berman's Employment Policies Institute, which has among its clients the American Beverage Institute, a trade group for bars and restaurants." As if battling the Republican Party and well-funded corporate hit squads weren't enough, ACORN has been brought low, at least in part, because the mainstream press failed to do its job.
And then, heaping insult upon injury, ACORN was abandoned by many of the Democratic politicians that benefited from the group's efforts, including a one-time community organizer named Barack Obama.
The question being raised now is whether it will be able to continue to exist at all.
But not all of ACORN's problems can be laid at the feet of others.
SELF-INFLICTED WOUNDS
The seeds of current-day ACORN were planted in 1970, when the National Welfare Rights Organization sent a talented organizer named Wade Rathke to Little Rock, Ark.
As noted on ACORN's website, Rathke's first campaign was aimed at helping welfare recipients attain their basic needs, such as clothing and furniture. This drive began the effort to create and sustain a movement that would grow to become the Arkansas Community Organizations for Reform Now — the original ACORN."
The fledgling group's ambitious goal was to "unite welfare recipients with needy working people around issues of free school lunches, unemployment issues, Vietnam veterans' rights and emergency room care. The broad range of issues did not stop there, as the organization grew throughout Arkansas. ACORN organized farmers to take on environmental issues concerning sulfur emissions."
It became a multi-state organization in 1975, launching branches in Texas and South Dakota, keeping the original acronym but changing its name to the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now. Eventually it spread to more than 40 states and gained hundreds of thousands of members.
Lansing organizer Guzman says she first learned about the group the way most people did back in the 1980s.
"Someone came and knocked on my door and asked me to become involved," she recalls. The issue then was an effort to keep a neighborhood school from being closed.
The effort caught her interest, and she became a dues-paying member, contributing $10 a month to help support the cause. From the outset, Guzman says, the group was controversial, fostering a culture of confrontation.
"ACORN has always been edgy, and has always pushed the envelope," says Guzman. Rather than seeking in-your-face confrontations, she considers herself more of a "bridge builder" with a low-key temperament. But says she understands the reason for the organization's aggressive philosophy.
"ACORN has never been afraid to directly confront people with rallies and demonstrations, or going to the homes of corporate executives to stage protests. Things like that. But a lot of times, that kind of edginess is necessary to draw attention to an issue."
With the bulk of its members existing on the margins of society, she explains, it was important to prove to them that they had the power to make change happen. People who never had access to the corridors of power learned that there is power in numbers, power in knowledge. Over time, ACORN grew to become what Peter Dreier and John Atlas, in a piece penned for the Huffington Post blog site, described as "the nation's most successful community organizing group ... making headlines by mobilizing low-income Americans to fight for social justice, challenging powerful banks, corporations and government officials around such issues as [increased] wages for the working poor, predatory lending and foreclosures, welfare reform, public education, affordable housing and voting rights."
Dreier teaches politics and directs the Urban & Environmental Policy program at Occidental College in California. Atlas, founder and president of the New Jersey-based National Housing Institute, has written a soon-to-be published book about the history of ACORN.
Both men have regularly risen to the defense of the organization as it sustained a series of attacks in recent years. But even admirers of the group were taken aback in July 2008, when it was disclosed that ACORN founder Wade Rathke's brother, Dale, had embezzled nearly $1 million from the organization eight years earlier. Although an agreement to recoup the money was signed and payments were made, police were never notified and most of ACORN's board was never informed of the crime. Both brothers remained with the organization until whistle-blowers disclosed the scandal.
"We thought it best at the time to protect the organization, as well as to get the funds back into the organization, to deal with it in-house," Maude Hurd, then president of ACORN, told The New York Times. "It was a judgment call at the time, and, looking back, people can agree or disagree with it, but we did what we thought was right."
Over the years, ACORN had made powerful enemies, and they pounced on what Dreier and Atlas described as a "tragic example of poor judgment." The group's detractors, not surprisingly, went for the jugular.
The Employment Policies Institute issued this statement: "It comes as no surprise that ACORN founder and chief organizer Wade Rathke hid his brother's embezzlement of nearly $1 million from the 'charitable' organization's employees, board of directors and donors. This is just one more page in ACORN's corrupt history, which already includes election fraud investigations in at least a dozen states, hypocritical and oppressive employment practices and a political agenda driven by a handful of anti-corporate activists."
While the right wing gleefully slobbered over the whiff of blood, the group's supporters responded like they were gut-punched.
"Staff," says Guzman, "felt very angry and betrayed."
PIMPED OUT
During the summer of 2009, twentysomething conservative activists James O'Keefe and Hannah Giles visited at least eight ACORN offices in five different cities. Giles pretended to be a prostitute. O'Keefe either posed as a pimp or claimed to be Giles' protector. Various illegal schemes were proposed. According to news reports, two ACORN staffers were fired for their seeming willingness to assist the two activists in their feigned plans to break the law.
After the videotaped sting in September, ACORN commissioned former Massachusetts Attorney General Scott Harshbarger to conduct an inquiry into both the incident and the effectiveness of reforms instituted following disclosure of the embezzlement.
One of the things Harshbarger concluded in a report released in December 2009, was that the "serious management challenges" facing the organization are the "fault of ACORN's founder and a cadre of leaders who, in their drive for growth, failed to commit the organization to the basic, appropriate standards of governance and accountability. As a result, ACORN not only fell short of living its principles but also left itself vulnerable to public embarrassment.
"The hidden camera controversy is an apt example. While some of the advice and counsel given by ACORN employees and volunteers was clearly inappropriate and unprofessional, we did not find a pattern of intentional, illegal conduct by ACORN staff; in fact, there is no evidence that action, illegal or otherwise, was taken by any ACORN employee on behalf of the videographers. Instead, the videos represent the byproduct of ACORN's longstanding management weaknesses, including lack of training, lack of procedures, and lack of on-site supervision."
The way Guzman sees it, when the group greatly expanded its efforts to register voters in the 2000s, resources that had previously gone into training went into growth. Also, the culture of the group could be a sword that cut two ways.
"Community organizers by nature are not administrators," she observes. "They are movers and shakers." As a result, even though she says the "protocols" put in place by the national organization were generally very good, the middle management support needed to carry them out wasn't always there, and training wasn't always adequate.
On the other hand, the video sting revealed more than shortcomings on the part of ACORN. According to Dreier, coverage of the incident both created a controversy far out of proportion to its actual news value while failing to reveal the true context of what really happened.
While Fox News broadcast the videos "on a virtual round-the clock basis," Dreier wrote in a piece penned two weeks ago, and the right-wing blogosphere served as an echo chamber that amplified and spread the allegations, mainstream media acted more like "stenographers" than reporters, failing to reveal crucial facts about the so-called "sting."
While the heavily edited tapes make it appear as if conservative activist James O'Keefe dressed as a ridiculously flamboyant pimp when taping ACORN employees, he in reality presented himself as merely a friend to pretend hooker Giles (who in some cases claimed to be seeking help setting up a brothel). It was only outside that he donned the laughably outrageous costume that included a faux fur coat and oversized shades. In an act of bold-faced deception, he then spliced the footage "to make it appear" that he'd actually worn the costume in meetings with ACORN staff.
Most of the mainstream media continued to miss that salient fact in recounting the video escapade while reporting on the arrest of O'Keefe and three other men last week, when they were charged with plotting to tamper with the phones at the New Orleans office of Democratic Louisiana Sen. Mary Landrieu.
Missing the real story is part of a pattern when it comes to mainstream coverage of ACORN, Dreier says.
Last September, Dreier and University of Northern Iowa journalism professor Christopher Martin released a report titled "Manipulating the Public Agenda: Why ACORN Was in the News, and What the News Got Wrong."
The study looks at mainstream media coverage of ACORN during 2007 and 2008, in advance of the presidential election. According to the study, groundwork for the attack started being laid as early as July 2006, when EPI released a report titled "Rotten ACORN: America's Bad Seed." The report made reference to ACORN's "questionable activities" and referenced investigations into allegations of "election fraud" by the group but, Dreier and Martin's study notes, failed to produce any evidence of convictions against ACORN.
And while it's true ACORN workers in a number of states were accused of placing false names on voter registration cards, there hasn't been one recorded instance of any attempts by anyone linked to ACORN actually trying to cast a fraudulent ballot. That fact is confirmed by both the Harshbarger report and a report compiled by the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service.
The distinction is an important one. As Wayne State University law professor and election expert Jocelyn Benson points out, fraudulent voter registration cards can be a time-consuming drain on the resources of the officials charged with verifying them. Falsifying those cards is a serious crime, she says, and those doing it should be prosecuted.
But workers falsifying cards as a way to help pad pay checks is a far different matter from actually trying to change the outcome of an election. That is something the Republican Party was accused of doing by investigative reporter Greg Palast and others following the 2000 presidential election, when Florida election officials allowed the names of thousands of voters — many of them African-American — to be wrongly removed from the rolls.
The way voting list have been purged in Michigan has also been an issue.
As Dreier and Martin pointed out in their analysis, "85.1 percent of the stories about ACORN's alleged involvement in voter fraud failed to note that ACORN was acting to stop incidents of registration problems by its (mostly temporary) employees when it became aware of these problems."
In fact, as Guzman points out, there is an obligation to turn over all filled-out cards, whether or not fraud is suspected. Guzman says it was ACORN's practice to flag cards with potential problems and then notify the clerks that there was concern about them.
The problem from the GOP's perspective is that the poor, young and minority people ACORN largely attempts to register tend to vote Democratic. Concentrating on crucial swing states, ACORN was able to register some hundreds of thousands of new voters during the 2006 and 2008 election cycles.
That was another story the mainstream media missed almost completely. Dreier reports: "98.5 percent of the stories about ACORN's alleged involvement in voter fraud failed to provide deeper context, especially efforts by Republican Party officials to use allegations of 'voter fraud' to dampen voting by low-income and minority Americans, including the firing of U.S. attorneys who refused to cooperating with the politicization of voter fraud accusations — firings that ultimately led to the resignation of U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales."
In October 2008, according to published reports, the Department of Justice's Inspector General found that U.S. Attorney David Iglesias had been improperly fired because he had refused to pursue prosecutions against the ACORN and a prominent New Mexico Democrat before the 2006 mid-term elections.
In Aug. 2009, as Dreier and Martin also point out, the House Judiciary Committee "released over 5,000 pages of White House and Republican National Committee e-mails, along with transcripts of closed-door testimony by Karl Rove, former Bush senior advisor and deputy chief of staff, and Harriet Miers, former White House counsel. The documents revealed that Rove played a central role in the firing of David Iglesias, the U.S. Attorney in New Mexico, for failing to help Republican election prospects by prosecuting alleged instances of voter fraud by ACORN."
Nearly every major news organization reported on the release of the documents, the professors report. "... but none of them — including the Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times, New York Daily News, New York Times, Washington Post, and Wall Street Journal — mentioned that Rove was specifically focused on attacking ACORN for its voter registration efforts in New Mexico and other states, even though ACORN is mentioned frequently as a Republican target in investigative documents."
As Guzman says of the national voter registration effort: "There was never any criminal or malicious intent. Our focus was always on how we can give people a voice."
The attempts to demonize ACORN reached a crescendo in October 2008, when Republican candidate John McCain, in a televised debate with Obama (whom the right was attempting to closely link with ACORN) claimed, "We need to know the full extent of Senator Obama's relationship with ACORN, who is now on the verge of maybe perpetrating one of the greatest frauds in voter history in this country, maybe destroying the fabric of democracy."
It all begins to take on a sort of Alice in Wonderland quality. Having the White House direct a campaign of intimidation and prosecution against a group dedicated to helping poor people isn't worth mentioning. But the fact that some misguided temporary workers write down the names of cartoon characters such as Mickey Mouse on registration cards raises dire concerns that democracy itself is being threatened.
That same sort of trip through the looking glass can also be found in the response of Congress to the (thoroughly suspect) video escapade perpetrated by O'Keefe and Giles who — it's worth noting — likely violated the laws in at least two states when they made their hidden-camera recordings.
A CONSTITUTIONAL QUESTION
Within weeks of the pimp and prostitute video exploding on the scene, the so-called Defund Acorn Act of 2009 passed through Congress — with only 75 House Democrats and 7 Senate Democrats opposing it — and on Oct. 1 President Obama signed it into law. It was done despite warnings from the Congressional Research Service that in all likelihood the law would be judged unconstitutional if challenged.
The CRS indicated that language in the bill — specifically the portion that reads "None of the funds made available by this joint resolution or any prior Act may be provided to the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) or any of its affiliates, subsidiaries, or allied organizations" — violated a clause in the U.S. Constitution that prohibits what is known as a bill of attainder. In laymen's terms, that means the government can't single out an individual or group for punishment without a trial.
ACORN, turning to the Center for Constitutional Rights for legal help, went to court in an attempt to have the law overturned. Two Detroit attorneys, Julie Hurwitz and Bill Goodman, played a key role in drafting the lawsuit. In early December, Nina Gershon, a federal judge in Brooklyn, N.Y., ruled in favor of ACORN, saying the legislation indeed violated the group's constitutional rights.
But, according to Hurwitz, despite the judge's ruling, federal funding to the group remains shut off, and the Obama Justice Department is fighting to keep it that way on two fronts. On the one hand, it is arguing that Gershon's ruling no longer applies because the language from the original bill has been inserted into a subsequent piece of legislation that Obama signed. At the same time, it is seeking to have Gershon reconsider her ruling.
"Right now, everything is on hold," says Hurwitz. "And every day that passes is one more nail in the coffin in terms of ACORN's ability to function as an organization."
Lawyers for the group are attempting to expedite the judicial process, but they're fighting a Justice Department that is "doing everything it can to slow things down."
The effect, says John Atlas, who has written the soon-to-be published book about ACORN, is a "disaster for poor people."
"This is clearly a cautionary tale about what the right-wing echo chamber is capable of doing to any progressive group in America that begins to threaten the power structure."
But it's not just the Fox talkers and the bloggers who amplify their rants. It is the GOP and the corporate right as well. It's also a mainstream press that fails to do its job.
And then there are the Democrats who count on the votes of poor people and people of color to get elected, as well as ACORN's supposed allies on the left.
"Both Democrats and the progressive community were largely silent during all this," says Atlas. "They just ran for the hills."
Dreier says the left is already suffering as a result. With ACORN effectively neutered for at least the time being, a crucial ally isn't able to effectively help rally the communities it serves to turn up the volume in support or the administration's attempts to reform health care and banking laws.
"There's real consequences of this that extend far beyond ACORN," Dreier says.
As for Carrie Guzman, she says there've been three or four people who have tracked her down and showed up at her house in recent days looking for the tax preparation help that ACORN is no longer around to provide.
Also lost is a planned effort to use ACORN to help with the census; the thinking was that people who live in hard-to-count neighborhoods would know where to look and be more likely to have otherwise reluctant doors open up to them.
She's the first to acknowledge that ACORN — like any large organization — had its share of problems. But the benefit gained from helping give marginalized communities a voice and sense of real power far outweighed any shortcomings.
"Now," she says, "the ACORN brand has certainly been damaged. How irreparably, I don't know. But it's certainly been damaged. And it's left a huge void. Right now, I don't see anyone else stepping up to take the lead."
In some ways, she says, it all seems so crazy. All these attacks on a group that has helping poor people and the disenfranchised as its goal. What, she asks, is there to be so afraid of? But she knows the answer to her own question.
"We did make political change. We did make economic change. And some people just didn't want to see that. I think that is the real reason we ran into so much trouble."
Curt Guyette isnews editor. Contact him at 313-202-804 or cguyette@metrotimes.com |
You probably haven’t seen these pictures yet. Here are some first custom RX 470 cards..
Gigabyte RX 470 G1 Gaming OC 4GB
Dual-fan WindForce cooler, RGB lightning, factory-overclocking.
ASUS RX 470 STRIX 4GB
Brand new Dual-fan DirectCU cooler mounted on custom PCB.
XFX RX 470 4GB Black Edition
The RX 470 and RX 480 Black Edition are quite the same, except RX 470 is slightly narrower and has clearly visible copper heat pipe.
Bonus: Sapphire RX 460 2GB Dual
This the same card that was leaked along with RX 470 Platinum edition. I don’t think Polaris 11 requires two fans, but maybe this card features 0db technology, thus larger heat sink.
Bonus: XFX RX 460 Mini
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Myths & Misconceptions about Hoarding Disorder
This post is part of a series of guest posts on GPS by the graduate students in my Psychopathology course during Spring 2014. As part of their work for the course, each student had to demonstrate mastery of the skill of “Educating the Public about Mental Health.” To that end, each student has to prepare two 1,000ish word posts on a particular class of mental disorders, with one of those focusing on evidence-based treatments for those disorders and the other focused on a particular myth or misunderstanding about mental illness.
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Myths & Misconceptions about Hoarding Disorder by Kelly Jent
How many of us have watched shows like Hoarding: Buried Alive or My Strange Addiction and immediately judged the people on the show? Comments like “Ew. Look at all of that junk in their house… it’s so dirty! How could someone live like that?! That’s disgusting!” tend to surface. As a matter of fact, while writing this and googling different addictions, I said (to my empty house), “Oh, woah that’s weird.” It’s natural to have reactions like that about something that appears so odd to many of us and something that seemingly would be so easy to fix by quitting getting new things, cleaning, stop saving, etc. However, these comments aren’t helping anyone and are only adding to the stigma about people who having hoarding problems. Speaking of stigma, a reoccurring pattern that I noticed while researching obsessive-compulsive related disorders (e.g. hoarding disorder, trichotillomania, body dysmorphic disorder) is that the stigma surrounding them severely misrepresents the reality that the people with the disorders actually live. To the uneducated, the people are “freaks” or “weirdos” and likewise, these disorders just appear “weird” and are dismissed and justified as “being glad you don’t do stuff like that.” Once disorders like hoarding become media-ized, the public assumes they know the in’s and out’s of what goes on; they feel that they know enough to give you the gist of the problem (which most likely consists of subjective judgments rather than empirical evidence), which is all you really need to know anyway, right?
Wrong.
There are a number of myths surrounding Hoarding Disorder (just referred to as “hoarding” from here on out), but I think in order to know what hoarding is not, it is important to understand what hoarding actually is first. Hoarding is a newly recognized diagnostic category in the DSM-5 in the Obsessive-Compulsive and Related Disorders section. This disorder involves difficulty parting with possessions regardless of what their actual value is. There is a perceived need to save possessions and distress is linked to the idea or process of discarding them, therefore, items accumulate and clutter living areas which takes away from the functionality of the space. The effects of hoarding must also cause significant distress or impairment in different areas of functioning (social, occupational, familial). I stress: significant distress and impairment in functioning is a must for a diagnosis. That being cleared up, on to the misinformation!
One common myth about a person who hoards is that they are lazy, unmotivated, selfish, or gross. This is false. In fact, people who hoard ARE bothered by the clutter and dirt; they just learn to mentally block it out. They also feel shame and embarrassment due to their living situations. Studies have compared the brains of people who compulsively hoard with “healthy” brains and found that compulsive hoarders have decreased activity (less activation) in their anterior and posterior cingulate cortex. Great…but what does that mean? These brain areas are highly responsible for actions such as problem solving and decision making (anterior), spatial orientation, memory, and emotion (posterior). Decreased activity in these areas is likely contributing to the difficulty that people who hoard experience in deciding what to keep and what to throw away. People who hoard are worried that if they discard something they may actually need it someday in the future – so they keep everything from actually valuable items to items that appear meaningless such as dozens of second-hand eyeglasses that are kept “just in case.” With an accumulation of items comes a significant amount of impairment and distress and this is what distinguishes this disorder from regular collecting. Rather than being lazy or unmotivated, individuals simply may not be as able as an average person to carry out certain tasks in order to make decisions and organize things. With this in mind, it is easier to understand that hoarding is largely an information processing issue.
Now, back to the decreased activation in the posterior cingulate. Many people who hoard experience extreme anxiety when being faced with having to discard items. This is due partly to the unique emotional relationship that they have formed with their possessions. For example, some individuals anthropomorphize objects. For example, they may think that if they throw out the box that a gift came in, it would hurt the box’s feelings. There is also an association with the memory of when they received something or an event surrounding an item. The lower activity in this area of the brain also governs memory and spatial orientation; they need to have things in sight in order to remember where it is. Individuals think that they will lose items or not remember where something is if it is not in clear view which explains the plethora of items stacked from the floor to the ceiling, covering beds and spilling over tables and counters. Another example is the collection of newspapers – by throwing them away, one might forget the information that is inside of them.
Finally, people who hoard are likely to show signs of other accompanying disorders. Depression and anxiety are the two most common co-morbid disorders. Cory Chalmers of the TLC show ‘Hoarders’ says that 80-90% of all cases that they see on the show are trauma or depression based – meaning that these other experiences trigger the hoarding behavior in individuals as a way to fill a void in their life. Not surprisingly, a higher level of social disability is also found in people who hoard than not.
I was looking up YouTube videos to go along with this blog and decided to read the comments written about the videos to see what the general attitudes were towards the people in the videos. While, yes, there were some commenters who were positive and/or sympathized for the person featured in the video, the vast majority were negative and downright ignorant and rude. Here are a few gems that I came across.
“That isn’t hoarding she is a slob!” “That’s so sick. How could anyone live in there?” “Oh please miss stop making excuses and clean up your nasty house.” “This ain’t called being a horder, this is called being a lazy bum.” “Hoarding possessions I can go some way to understanding but the ones who sit in a pile of rubbish are just filthy pigs, that is not hoarding that is blatant slobbery and laziness.”
So… there’s that. I don’t know about you, but I didn’t really get warm fuzzy feelings reading those. The only warm feeling I got was due to my blood boiling. These delightful commenters perfectly illustrate why this disorder is stigmatized, and as you’ve hopefully seen, these comments only reinforce the myth that hoarders are lazy, selfish, unmotivated, or gross. Unfortunately, with the saturation of these shows and comments in the media, I don’t foresee this changing any time soon. However, next time you’re watching a show like this, keep in mind that these individuals in fact are not merely too lazy to clean, but there is most likely other underlying issues that are exacerbating this behavior. |
Tim Hudak is discovering the uncomfortable facts of Tory life, facts that earlier Conservative leaders, federal and provincial, had to learn, painfully, in their day.
Out of power, Tories are less a political party than a dysfunctional rabble, seething with individual ambitions and personal agendas. They are not bound together by group values. They are not united by a common commitment to a set of social and political goals, as NDP members are. Nor are they held together by the discipline that comes from power or the proximate prospect of power, as Liberals tend to be.
Ask any political reporter of the pre-Harper era. They would tell you they would much rather cover the Conservatives than the Liberals or New Democrats. Why? Because the Tories were more interesting. They were news waiting to happen. We never knew what might occur next, which accident-prone Tory might shoot himself (and his colleagues) in the foot, and when the wheels might fall off the party's campaign. They were fun.
At the federal level, John Diefenbaker battled, and was eventually overcome by "termites" — his name for party members who didn't really care who was leader so long as it was not the "Chief." Robert Stanfield spent much of his leadership fighting off the right-wing yahoos, western alienationists and bilingualism-deniers who were attracted to the Conservative party likes flies to honey. And Joe Clark was done in by a remorseless campaign led by his old friend and comrade, the slickly ambitious Brian Mulroney.
At the Ontario provincial level, then leader John Tory, after his defeat in the 2007 election, had to fight off activists from the party's evangelical wing, the leader of which was (and is) MPP Frank Klees. Klees is consistent in his ambition. He challenged Tory for the leadership in 2004 and placed third. He finished second to Hudak in the 2009 leadership convention. Now he is positioning himself for a third try, allying himself with a group of dissidents who seek to force a leadership vote at the party's policy conference next month.
Although most of the identifiable dissidents appear to be from the London area, they have attracted support from elements of Toronto Mayor Rob Ford's political machine. Rob Ford's brother Doug, a Toronto city councillor, is rumoured to have provincial leadership ambitions of his own.
The anti-Hudak campaign is not likely to succeed this time around. It is too soon to dump the leader, even for Tories. True, he lost the 2011 general election, which he probably should have won. True, he lost the crucial Kitchener-Waterloo byelection a year ago. True, he won only one of the five provincial byelections earlier this month.
In Hudak's defence, all five byelections were in Liberal-held seats. Not only did Hudak gain one seat (Etobicoke-Lakeshore), he gained it in Toronto where the Conservatives had had no seats at all. In the process, although they came away with just one seat, the Tories' total popular vote in the five contests was greater than that of any other party.
Hudak will survive in September — partly because Klees is less popular in the party than Hudak and partly because Conservatives realize that Kathleen Wynne's minority Liberal government could fall at any time. The last thing a party wants is to be caught changing leaders when an election is called.
That said, Hudak's days as leader are probably numbered. He has been a disappointment. He doesn't resonate with the public. He has lost when he should have won. He has been relentlessly negative at time when the electorate is weary of attack, attack, attack. He plays to the party's right wing when he needs to broaden its appeal. The NDP and Liberals are, or are becoming, modern political parties. The Tories are not. They are mired in the past, in the Mike Harris era. |
Ready to get creeped out? Emmanuel Perez-Duarte masterfully morphs together his own face and that of a monkey’s for this shot he’s titled, “The Origins of Evolution.” We got in touch with the Paris, France-based photographer to ask him how he achieved this fantastically freaky look.
“I had been experimenting on morphing software, which allows to go from one face to another (in theory, both human) in a smooth transition: taking an image from the middle of the transition and correcting it in post processing allowed me to make ‘hybrid,’ or ‘blended’ people. The result was a lot of fun and made the people who knew the two ‘blended’ ones very uncomfortable.
“The next step seemed obvious: blending a human face with an animal face – and what better choice than a monkey? The similarity of its face with a human face made the experiment quite easier than with other animals. I looked at my stock photos and found a pretty good shot, up-close, of a monkey, and voil!
“I first used a morphing software Squiz Morph to help me distort my face and the monkey’s to make them match, and then most of the work was done in The Gimp, which is a open source image manipulation software similar to Photoshop.”
How exactly did the public react to such a startling and realistic-looking figure? “I hadn’t anticipated the primary reaction, which was that people found it creepy, frightening and so on: my point was to make something funny!,” he says. “Some people did find it funny though, as it appears in the comments. Then came other reactions for which I hadn’t intended (though in retrospect didn’t surprise me): those reactions (some in the comments, many by email) seemed to imply that I had made the image to prove a point on evolution – which was not the point at all!
“It amused me that some people thought I was making fun of evolution, and that at the same time other people thought I was trying to prove it by illustrating it.”
Emmanuel Perez-Duarte on Flickr |
The community of New Ground in Summerfield, Clarendon erupted into laughter and shock recently when buckets of faeces were thrown on a man from the district.
A resident told THE WEEKEND STAR the man was attending a nine-night in the community when he was ambushed by his estranged wife.
The resident said the wife, who has been separated from the man for over a year, hid in the dark as he approached the wake.
After emerging, it is reported that she then threw the content from a bucket on the surprised man. The contents of the bucket were faeces and urine.
Another resident said the man who walks with a limp, was trying to hop away but another bucket of filth was thrown on him before the woman fled.
The drama did not end there, however, as it is reported that she ran straight to the man's house and threw away his water that was outside, rendering him unable to wash himself off.
woman's house
Residents said the wife was angered after seeing her estranged husband in his underpants at another female's house. According to a resident, the other woman had been a source of conflict before they separated.
The woman reportedly told community members that she started "saving" the buckets with faeces and urine shortly after seeing her husband at the woman's house.
Police were reportedly called to the scene shortly after the incident because the man had threatened to burn his wife's house down.
Laughter rang out when the police refused to allow the man to drive in their car to show them his wife's house. They asked him to direct him to the house by walking in front of the police vehicle.
The Chapelton police has confirmed the incident but did not reveal if the woman has been charged. |
UPDATE: Man arrested at Grand Blanc theater with gun, body armor and fake CIA ID has concealed weapon license suspended
GRAND BLANC TWP, MI -- Grand Blanc Township police arrested a Flint man Tuesday at the NCG Trillium theater who was wearing body armor, carrying a loaded gun with multiple rounds of ammunition and a suspected fake federal identification badge.
Cassidy Delavergne was charged and arraigned in federal court Wednesday, July 31, with having a fake CIA identification card, said Grand Blanc Township Detective Matt Harburn.
The detective said officers were called by the theater, located at 8220 Trillium Circle Avenue, on Tuesday, July 30, around 8:20 p.m. regarding a man with a gun. Delavergne was in a theater watching a movie when the officers approached him and asked him to step outside. Harburn says that is when Delavergne claimed to be a federal agent.
"They were confident that wasn't true, and that's when they arrested him." Harburn said.
Authorities say Delavergne was wearing body armor and carrying a loaded Beretta 9mm pistol along with an extra magazine of ammunition containing 17 rounds.
According to federal court records, the FBI was contacted by the Grand Blanc Township Police Department about the identification. Delavergne told the FBI agent he went to the theater after work wearing his gun and body armor because he did not want to leave them in his car. Federal court documents say he told FBI agents that he had a permit to carry a concealed firearm.
Delavergne also told the FBI agent the CIA credentials he was carrying were fake, and he flashed the badge at the theater so theater patrons wouldn't be alarmed about the firearm he was carrying, according to court records. He then said he showed the badge to the officers to avoid legal trouble, court documents say.
The FBI agent said a later search of Delavergne's car and found an additional 111 rounds of 9mm ammunition.
Theater representatives could not immediately be reached for comment. |
Thursday's blast in Ludwigshafen also gutted parked cars and created a crater 10 meters (33 feet) in diameter and 5 to 6 meters deep. Police in the western industrial city said they continued to investigate the cause.
The explosion left a 10-meter crater
The company Gascade announced that workers had attempted to dig down to a buried line near apartment blocks at the time - as well as near a factory site operated by BASF, the world's largest chemicals company, which has its headquarters in Ludwigshafen.
Gascade officials said it remained unclear what had damaged the pipe, a section of a 57-kilometer (35-mile) line that leads southward to the city of Karlsruhe. Police said that rescuers had managed to extinguish the main blaze at the site by the late afternoon, as well as control the smaller fires.
In September, an explosion at a chemicals plant in the northern town of Ritterhude damaged dozens of homes.
mkg/jr (AFP, dpa, AP) |
A 17-year-old boy who says he was kicked out of his former Christian high school for being transgender is turning the other cheek ― and adjusting his crown ― after being named homecoming king at his new school.
Stiles Zuschlag was bestowed the social accolade at Noble High School’s homecoming game in North Berwick, Maine, on Friday night, just one month after beginning his senior year at the public school.
“This experience feels like a dream. It’s something I never thought could have happened to me,” he told HuffPost by email on Sunday.
The Cinderella moment followed Zuschlag making national news last week after he was told that he was no longer welcome at Tri-City Christian Academy in Somersworth, New Hampshire ― roughly seven miles southwest of Noble High. It followed him transitioning from female to male in 2015, he told the Seacoast Online at the time.
Zuschlag, who said he had a 3.89 GPA and aspired to be valedictorian, said he went to speak with a school administrator in August about being identified as a male but was instead given an ultimatum. He had to confess his sins, stop taking testosterone treatments and receive Christian counseling or find a new school.
The school administrator, reached for comment by Seacoast Online, declined to speak about Zuschlag’s case citing privacy issues. A request for comment from the school by HuffPost was not immediately returned.
Though the idea of attending a new school “terrified” him, he enrolled at Noble High and made a number of new friends, adding to a few that he already knew.
Administrators at Noble High School, reached by Portland station WCSH-6, said Zuschlag is not their first transgender student.
Definitely your homecoming king 👑 pic.twitter.com/gUsgJXcyJ0 — Stiles Zuschlag 🌐 (@Scalyeragon) October 8, 2017
“We want all students to feel like they belong here at Noble High School,” the school’s director of counseling, Nancy Simard, told the station. “That’s a small thing we can do to help them feel like they’re a part of the community.”
That welcoming feeling apparently wasn’t lost on Zuschlag.
Within the first few weeks of school, Zuschlag said an email began circulating seeking nominees for homecoming king and queen and he decided to pursue it, initially “as a joke.”
“I asked on Snapchat as a joke to put me in and people actually did it. I didn’t really expect them to. I still can’t believe they did that for me,” he said.
His surprise was only magnified when he showed up to the game and won.
“After I won at the homecoming game, I almost started crying. My friends all put me in, people I didn’t even know put me in, everyone voted for me on the final ballot,” he said.
I almost started crying. My friends all put me in, people I didn’t even know put me in, everyone voted for me on the final ballot."
Today, as painful of an experience as this has been, he sees his removal from the New Hampshire school as a blessing from God ― one that he hopes will raise awareness and inspire others.
“I’ve been degraded so much in the past, I’ve conformed to other people’s beliefs and standards just to make them happy and comfortable. I’ve put myself in situations really hurtful to my mental health just to keep peace,” he told HuffPost. |
Injured Diva Lana gives exclusive pre- and post-surgery comments to the WWE Universe. Will she return?
FAIRFAX, Va. — After suffering a wrist injury while working out in the ring before a WWE Live Event in Fairfax, Virginia, this past weekend, WWE.com has learned that WWE Diva Lana has completed a successful surgery.
Update 9/11/15 - 1:56 p.m.
Today, Dr. Chris Amann reported on Lana’s successful surgery, which took place on Thursday in Nashville, Tenn.
“Lana underwent open reduction and internal fixation (ORIF) of a left distal radius fracture with a volar plate,” he explained. “The fracture was stabilized and returned to its normal anatomic position during the surgery using the volar plate and screws. Lana did very well without any complications and is expected to make a full recovery.”
Story, as first reported on 9/7/15
“During a training session [Sunday] afternoon, Lana had sustained an injury in the ring. We attended to her and noticed that she had a deformity of her wrist," said WWE's senior ringside physician Dr. Chris Amann.
"Miz TV" welcomes Summer Rae, Dolph Ziggler and Lana
Dr. Amann continued, “We obtained X-rays which showed a Colles’ fracture and [we put her] in a splint. Most of these Colles’ fractures do better surgically than non-surgically, especially in younger patients. Most likely this will require an operation, which will take her out of active competition.”
How will Lana’s wrist injury impact her ongoing drama with Dolph Ziggler, Rusev and Summer Rae? Find out as WWE speeds toward Night of Champions, live Sept. 20 at 8 ET/5 PT on the award-winning WWE Network. |
Media playback is not supported on this device Meet England's beach soccer team
Sun, sea, sand and skilful players make arguably the perfect kickabout. Add in the dream chance to represent your country and some might say you have the perfect pastime.
But playing beach soccer for England is no holiday, as the national women's team have found out, undergoing training for the first ever Women's Beach Soccer European Championships.
From intensive fitness drills to goalkeepers scoring bicycle kicks and volleys, what exactly is the sport of beach soccer?
Rules that 'encourage skilful, attacking play'
With five players on each team playing over three 12-minute periods, with rolling substitutions, it is a fast-paced game which typically sees plenty of goals scored.
"When you are fouled, the person that was fouled has to take the free-kick and you make a little sandcastle to take the kick from," striker Gemma Hillier told BBC Sport.
"When the ball goes off to the side, you can either take a throw or kick it back in."
England in training at Canford Cliffs beach, Poole, Dorset
Manager Perry Northeast told BBC South Today: "It is physically draining and really demanding. Technically there are many differences.
"There are lots of different laws of the game that encourage the attacking side to come out. It's a very skilful, attack-minded game and the environment it creates is a really good vibe."
Goalkeepers that score volleys
England's main goalkeeper, Lucy Quinn, is also a midfielder at Women's Super League Two club Yeovil Town Ladies, but goalkeepers in beach soccer form a key part of the attack.
But how did a winger end up playing in goal for her country - and scoring?
"It's important in beach soccer that the goalkeeper is really confident and uses their feet a lot," she told BBC Sport. "The goalkeeper can only have it back in their hands once per phase of play.
"We just thought we'd try it out, with me in goal. I'm the one in training that gets in nets and throws myself around. I must have done alright, I suppose.
"We went away to Italy recently and space opened up so I had a few volleys, and scored a couple, which is always good.
"On the sand, you can't really have it on the floor too much. Most of it is up in the air, it's exciting games - volleys, bicycle and diving headers, so the majority of the goals are scored from play up in the air."
Winger Sarah Kempson added: "The keeper is pretty vital, using their feet far more than they do on grass.
"It's quite common for them to flick it up, self-set and shoot, because generally they're unmarked unless you have a pressing player. The keeper is the key player, your anchor of the team."
Carrying the flag
The first ever Women's European Championships for beach soccer, held in Portugal from 29-31 July, involves six international teams.
The England team all train part-time alongside full-time jobs, as well as training for their respective grass football teams. For them, the tournament is a dream chance to fly the national flag.
"It is that amazing feeling, walking out in front of a crowd with the England badge on, that you dream about. We're all lucky to be here and we love it," added Quinn.
England have been drawn in Group B for the European Championships
The team say they have taken inspiration from England's success at the 2015 Women's World Cup in Canada, where the Lionesses finished third.
"They did so well and were so inspirational for girls playing any sport, whether it be hockey, rugby or anything else, but particularly being so similar to our sport, we aspire to be as successful as they've been," continued Quinn.
England have been drawn to face Switzerland and Greece, who met during the opening day's play on Friday.
"Switzerland have been our nemesis in a way," added Kempson. "We're yet to beat them. They're probably one of the best teams on sand, both their men and women - despite not having any (coastal) beaches, which is quite strange.
"Greece are a bit of an unknown. They're probably very similar to us, having recently started up.
Group B fixtures Friday 29 July: Switzerland 7-3 Greece (result) Saturday 30 July: England v Switzerland Saturday 30 July: Greece v England Group A draw: Portugal (hosts), Spain & The Netherlands Final & play-offs: Sunday 31 July
"Our team started up around four or five years ago and I've been involved for three years. It's really started to take off now, we've been getting some new players in and have really strengthened our side quite a lot this year."
Former Portsmouth Ladies manager Northeast is also part of the England's male beach soccer squad and previously coached many of the current side at Portsmouth.
He led Portsmouth to the Women's Premier League South Division title in 2014-15, narrowly missing out on promotion to the WSL with an extra-time loss to northern champions Sheffield FC in a play-off.
Portsmouth FC Ladies lost just two regular league games under Perry Northeast in the 2014-15 season
Now he is hoping to guide England's women to success in an international tournament.
"If we can have a good tournament, that can encourage more people to come and play the game, male and female," he said.
"Switzerland are very strong - if not the best in Europe. But we've never played Greece. So it's difficult to predict right now, where we're going to finish, but as long as the players give everything they can, we can have a good tournament.
"We've got plenty of sand experience now and international experience, so we're good enough to do well."
Additional reporting by BBC South Today's Jenna Hawkey. |
The small asteroid 2017 EA, which is less than 10 feet (3 meters) across, swooped in past Earth's geosynchronous satellites on March 2, 2017, before heading back out into space. Researchers discovered it 6 hours before its closest approach to Earth.
An asteroid less than 10 feet (3 meters) across buzzed Earth last week, diving in closer than many communications and weather satellites.
The asteroid, called 2017 EA, passed closest to Earth on Thursday, March 2, at 9:04 a.m. EST (1404 GMT) above the eastern Pacific Ocean. It reached within 9,000 miles (14,500 kilometers) of Earth, which is less than one-twentieth the distance from Earth to the moon, officials from NASA's Center for Near-Earth Object Studies (CNEOS) said in a statement. It won't be back in Earth's neighborhood for more than 100 years, they added.
Researchers monitoring the Catalina Sky Survey in Arizona first spotted the asteroid 6 hours before its closest approach; many other observatories monitored it as well as it flew toward Earth. It disappeared from view into Earth's shadow just before its nearest point.
The asteroid came in closer than satellites in geosynchronous orbit — the farthest orbit satellites regularly use, where they stay over one part of Earth as it turns. That orbit is good for providing communication services or monitoring one particular part of Earth's surface.
The small asteroid 2017 EA, which is less than 10 feet (3 meters) across, swooped in past Earth's geosynchronous satellites on March 2, 2017, before heading back out into space. Researchers discovered it 6 hours before its closest approach to Earth. (Image: © D. Farnocchia/NASA/JPL)
Space.com asked asteroid researcher Carrie Nugent, at IPAC, NASA's science and data center at California Institute of Technology, what would have happened had 2017 EA hit Earth rather than just passing by.
"I would imagine 3 meters wouldn't be much of a worry," said Nugent, who is the author of an upcoming book on asteroid monitoring called "Asteroid Hunters" (TED Books, 2017).
"It would likely burn up very quickly, it might create a beautiful light show, maybe you might have some meteorites out of it — but maybe not." The exact effect would depend on the asteroid's composition, she added; predicting an asteroid's effects based on its composition is an active area of study.
Although the asteroid was a stranger as it came in, its oblong orbit around the sun is now well understood as it heads back out. And researchers won't get another close look for more than 100 years.
Email Sarah Lewin at slewin@space.com or follow her @SarahExplains. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Google+. Original article on Space.com. |
By Michael Hernandez
WASHINGTON
Twelve years after they lost their daughter in a tragic incident in the Gaza Strip, Craig and Cindy Corrie are still searching for justice.
Rachel Corrie, 23, was killed March 16, 2003, when an Israeli military bulldozer ran her over as it attempted to destroy a Palestinian home near the Egyptian border in Rafah. Corrie was attempting to prevent the vehicle from razing the home when she was killed.
Their daughter's death led her parents to review a conflict that they were initially "very uninformed" about.
"I think we had a very skewed perspective," said Cindy Corrie. "We had a lot of learning to do, and I would say Rachel opened our eyes."
Rachel flew to Israel on Jan. 22, 2003 and began work shortly thereafter with the International Solidarity Movement, an activist group which promotes non-violent action in Gaza since 2000.
"She wrote that she went to see what it was like to be on the receiving end of U.S. tax dollars, and our foreign policy, and of course what she saw was horrific," said Craig Corrie, Rachel’s father.
The Corries brought a first suit against Israel for the wrongful death of their daughter in 2005 following a military investigation into the case that failed to garner any charges. The case went all the way to Israel's Supreme Court, which said Feb. 12 of this year that the Israeli army had been carrying out combat operations at the time.
The court absolved Israel from responsibility for killing the activist.
"We’ve really reached almost what we see as the end of the road with legal proceedings in Israel," said Cindy Corrie, voicing her exasperation with the Israeli legal system.
The family is now exploring whether or not they should take their case to an international court, including the Hague-based International Criminal Court.
"I will say that being in court, and particularly for such a very long time, is a very demanding, exhausting and costly process, and we're getting older. Our family has to make choices on what’s best for everyone as well. So there’s a lot to think about," she said.
But even as they explore further legal recourses, the Corries are adamant on maintaining pressure on the U.S. government.
"What we need is the institutions of the United States government to be acting on our behalf, and I think on behalf of other Americans wherever they live," said Craig Corrie, referring to the deaths of other Americans who have died in incidents involving Israel, including Furkan Dogan, a Turkish-American citizen -- one of nine activists who died when Israel stormed the Gaza-bound aid boat, Mavi Marmara, in 2010.
Israel has imposed a blockade on the coastal enclave since 2007, resulting in shortages of basic goods and services.
Since then Israel has launched three military campaigns in Gaza, most recently in the summer of 2014. Each offensive resulted in large numbers of casualties, and mass destruction.
"When an American citizen is killed with equipment that the United States provided with our funding, and exported, it was a Caterpillar D9R bulldozer," Cindy Corrie said referring to the model of the bulldozer that killed Rachel. "And that was paid for by our government, and our government can’t get some kind of satisfactory response from the Israeli government on what happened to Rachel, that just seems completely unacceptable, and of course Rachel isn’t the only one."
"It’s very troubling to us and to others when we look at the support that the U.S. government has provided to Israel, we think really, in many ways, counterproductive," she said.
The historically close relationship between the U.S. and Israel has been dealt significant setbacks with recent rows between U.S. President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The Israeli leader made a controversial speech to both houses of Congress earlier this month in which he attempted to rally lawmakers against a proposed nuclear deal with Iran -- just weeks before a crucial deadline of negotiations, in which the Obama administration is heavily invested in.
And, during the run-up to his country's March 17 elections, Netanyahu made disparaging remarks against the participation of Israel’s Arab population in the polls, and said that no Palestinian state would be created as long as he is the prime minister.
The White House strongly condemned Thursday the controversial comments, saying that the Arab-Israeli remarks "sought to marginalize" the community, and that Netanyahu’s peace process remarks "raises questions about our approach, at least in the minds of policymakers inside the administration. And that is why we are going to evaluate our approach to this matter moving forward."
What might be needed, Craig Corrie said, is a complete overhaul of how Washington approaches Tel Aviv.
"President Obama has pointed out that our policy with Cuba has not worked for all these years, and so we need a new policy there," he said referring to recent efforts to restore relations between the Cold War rivals. "I would think that we could look at our policy towards Israel and Palestine in the same fashion." |
"We are here today,” Professor Stuart Rees told a media conference at Queens Square on October 30, “to express our outrage that a so-called independent law centre from Israel could attempt to stamp out freedom of speech in Australia.”
"We call on the mainstream media to take an objective stand on the issue of Palestinian human rights.”
The gathering concerned the move by Shurat HaDin, an Israeli-based law centre, to file a case in the Federal Court against Professor Jake Lynch of the University of Sydney's Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies.
Rees and Professor Peter Slezak said before the conference: "[Shurat HaDin] claim that [Rees] he has supported policies which are racist and discriminatory by his specific endorsement of an academic boycott of Israeli institutions and individuals within them, because of these institutions' support of the illegal occupation of Palestine and their close connections with the Israeli armament industry.
"This lawfare attack against academic freedom and freedom of speech has been condemned by over 2000 Australian and international human rights advocates from some 60 countries, who have all signed a pledge supporting BDS and offering to be co-defendants in any legal action taken against Lynch.
"Shurat HaDin has taken many similar actions internationally against groups who supported the Boycott Divestment and Sanctions movement. Professor Rees comments, 'It seems that this firm, Shurat HaDin, works in the civil courts as a proxy for the Israeli government and security forces, seeking to shut down any criticism of the state and its ongoing human rights abuses and violations of international law.'
"This overseas law firm now wants to silence this highly regarded academic, by taking their complaint to the Federal Court. This challenges the right to take non-violent action in support of international human rights law and the rights of the dispossessed Palestinians. Australians for BDS condemns racism in all its forms, and specifically anti-Semitism.” |
A ban on bananas has been imposed in a small Scottish town as it prepares for its biggest weekend of the year – the Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Traditional Boat Festival.
Superstitious seafarers regard bananas as bad luck on board boats and festival organisers have come up with the unusual move to ward off any potential misfortune to the North-east’s biggest maritime celebration, which takes place in Portsoy on July 4 and 5.
Banana ban signs have been posted, a banana amnesty has been introduced and local businesses have come out in support of the action, with Portsoy Ice Cream removing banana flavoured ices from its range until after the event.
Roger Goodyear, chairman of the Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Traditional Boat Festival, says: “Bananas may be a delicious fruit but they are considered bad luck on boats.
“We want to do everything possible to make sure our 2015 festival is a success and we don’t want to take any chances. Our ban on bananas is a tongue-in-cheek nod to our seafaring heritage and is a reminder that the ocean can be a mystical, but dangerous, place and as such there are many traditional superstitions among fisher people.”
There are several theories on why people believe bananas are bad luck for a boat.
One is that back in the early days of the banana trade, crews would overload the banana boats when leaving the tropics, resulting in the boats capsizing in bad weather.
Another is that wooden sailing boats involved in the Caribbean trade of the 1700s had to move so quickly to deliver bananas before they spoiled that the crew had a hard job catching fish
It’s suggested that bananas harboured dangerous spiders whose bite could be painful or even fatal. Or could it be that discarded banana skins left on deck could cause crew members to slip and fall?
Although a banana ban is now in place, there will be plenty of tempting local produce at the boat festival. To celebrate the Year of Food and Drink Scotland 2015, the festival will celebrate Scotland’s fantastic natural larder and exceptional natural produce, as well as the landscapes, people and culture that make the nation’s food heritage unique.
Traditional wooden boats from all over the UK and beyond will converge on the historic 17th century harbour while visitors will have the opportunity to build and restore traditional vessels, learn how to sail a coracle and watch the skiffs go head to head for the highly competitive open seas regatta.
With beautiful boats, exhilarating skiff races on the open seas, seafaring and rural craft demonstrations, music and dance and food and drink, the festival annually attracts thousands of visitors, delivering a financial boost to the area.
Mr Goodyear adds: “As one of Scotland’s leading events, The Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Traditional Boat Festival is renowned for its creative offerings and 2015 is no different. As the festival attracts more historic vessels, craft exhibitors, artists, performers and musicians than ever before, visitors will be involved, inspired and engaged throughout. From toe tapping folk music and unique handmade products, to delicious fresh smoked kippers and seasonal treats there will be something for the whole family to enjoy.”
For more information about the Festival and to buy tickets visit www.stbfportsoy.com
Updates about this year’s festival are also available on Facebook and Twitter – search for @STBFestival. Join in the conversation at #bananaban
An adult day ticket to the festival costs £9, children aged five to 16 and concessions are £5. Adult weekend tickets are priced at £14 and children and concessions at £8. There are also family tickets available which allow entry for two adults and three children for £25 for a day ticket and £35 for a weekend. Children under five go free. Save 10% if purchased online. Car parking is available and costs £2, with the price including a brochure.
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CHARLOTTE, North Carolina - A North Carolina woman feels she is being discriminated against after being turned away for a pedicure based on her size.
Tiffany Nelson says when she walked through the doors of QC Nails for a pedicure, she was told, "No, we're not doing that anymore for you. Our chairs will break, you're too big of a girl to sit in our chairs."
"That's not okay," Nelson told WCNC-TV. "It's not okay to body shame people. It's not okay to discriminate against anyone."
A nail salon owner in Tennessee has also banned obese customers after he says a couple of expensive spa chairs were broken by their weight, costing him more than $2,200.
In Nelson's case, she says weight should not determine whether a person is granted service.
"My heart just hurts for other women who don't know what to do or who are afraid to speak up. You should be happy just the way you are," Nelson said.
It is not against the law for a private business owner to deny service if weight will damage their property.
However, Nelson believes that the new weight limit policy should be posted for all customers to see before entering the nail salon.
The owner told a reporter he does plan to post signs as soon as he finds out the maximum weight limit from the manufacturer of his spa chairs. |
Federal investigators have issued a subpoena for records relating to former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort, NBC News reports. The subpoena reportedly pertains to a $3.5 million Hamptons home Manafort purchased shortly after leaving the Trump campaign last August. Manafort does not appear to have paid any taxes on the house. NBC News estimates that Manafort should owe $36,750 in taxes on the property.
Manafort took out a loan for the home under the shell company Summerbreeze LLC, which he registered Aug. 19, 2016, the same day he resigned from the Trump campaign following allegations that he received millions of dollars from a pro-Russia group in Ukraine. Manafort’s loan agreement on the home was made with Spruce Capital, an investment firm whose co-founder has partnered on real-estate deals with President Trump, NBC News reports. Spruce Capital is partially funded by Alexander Rovt, a Ukrainian-American developer who attempted to donate $10,000 to Trump’s presidential campaign in violation of campaign-finance regulations. |
WASHINGTON, June 23— The Supreme Court, by a vote of 7 to 2, today upheld a Federal law aimed at encouraging states to raise the legal drinking age to 21 years by withholding some highway grants from those that fail to do so.
In a second case, the Justices unanimously overruled an 1861 Supreme Court decision that Federal courts have no power to order state governors to extradite criminal suspects to other states. The Justices held that Iowa must extradite a man charged in Puerto Rico with murdering a pregnant woman there.
The drinking-age decision essentially leaves the status quo intact by removing doubt about the validity of the 1984 Federal law. Twenty-three states, including New York and Connecticut, have raised their drinking ages since it was passed. The ruling was widely expected.
Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist's majority opinion rejected arguments by South Dakota and several state and local government groups that the law violated constitutional principles of federalism and the broad powers of the states under the 21st Amendment to regulate sales of alcoholic beverages. He called the law a ''relatively mild encouragement to the states to enact higher minimum drinking ages than they would otherwise choose.'' #2 Justices Disagree Justices Sandra Day O'Connor and William J. Brennan Jr. dissented separately. Justice O'Connor said the law was ''an attempt to regulate the sale of liquor'' that encroached on the powers of states under the 21st Amendment, which repealed Prohibition and authorized states to regulate sales of alcoholic beverages.
A major goal of the 1984 law was to reduce highway deaths by preventing teen-agers from drinking and driving, and especially to remove the incentives to cross state lines to buy liquor.
It provided for withholding part of Federal highway funds otherwise due to states that allow people under 21 to drink. Five percent of a state's highway funds can be withheld for the current fiscal year, and the figure will rise to 10 percent for the next fiscal year. The total cost for a state that does not have a 21-year-old drinking age could come to many millions of dollars.
As of last March, six states and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico had legal drinking ages for some or all alcoholic beverages of 18 or 19, according to a General Accounting Office study. Those states are South Dakota, Wyoming, Montana, Louisiana, Colorado and Ohio. Under South Dakota law, 19-and 20-year-olds are permitted to buy low-alcohol beer.
All other states had adopted 21-year-old drinking-age laws. Nineteen of them, including New Jersey, had adopted such laws before 1984, and were essentially unaffected by the new Federal law. Decision Was Expected
Critics of the law said today that they were disappointed but not surprised by the decision today, which followed a long line of Supreme Court rulings that the Federal Government has broad powers to attach conditions to grants of money to state and local governments and others.
Chief Justice Rehnquist said in his opinion that the Court did not have to decide whether the 21st Amendment would bar Congress from legislating directly a national minimum drinking age. He said past decisions had already established that ''the constitutional limitations on Congress when exercising its spending power are less exacting than those on its authority to regulate directly.''
He said in his opinion the 1984 law's purpose of reducing drunken driving was ''directly related to one of the main purposes for which highway funds are expended: safe interstate travel.''
Justice O'Connor, in her dissent, said the vast majority of highway deaths involving drinking were caused by people over the age of 21. ''Establishment of a minimum drinking age of 21 is not sufficiently related to interstate highway construction to justify so conditioning funds appropriated for that purpose,'' she said.
South Dakota had argued in its appeal (South Dakota v. Dole, No. 86-260) that its law fostered ''temperance and safety'' by giving 19- and 20-year-olds access to ''legal drinking, as opposed to surreptitious drinking that will inevitably occur.'' Ruling on Extradition
The extradition decision (Puerto Rico v. Branstad, No. 85-2116) presented a historical paradox.
Justice Thurgood Marshall, the only black Justice in the Court's history, noted that the 1861 decision that the Court was overruling had shielded a ''free man of color'' from being extradited from Ohio to Kentucky to face trial on the eve of the Civil War for ''the crime of assisting the escape of a slave'' in Kentucky.
The Court's ruling that Federal courts may order unwilling governors to extradite fugitives to other states also could have considerable practical significance.
It involved a man whom two Iowa governors in succession had refused to extradite at the request of Puerto Rico after he had jumped bail on the murder charge there.
One of his lawyers had stated at one point in the Iowa proceeding that a white American man ''could not receive a fair trial in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico,'' Justice Marshall noted in his opinion. |
Congress has reliably defeated efforts to end the Afghan War on the back of strong support from a number of Representatives who have never seen a war they didn’t like. Today’s highly anticipated vote was assumed to be a defeat before it began, but turned out extremely close.
Indeed, though the amendment was defeated, it lost only 204-215, and carried more than 90% of the sitting Democratic representatives. With the bipartisan bill also carrying a number of freshmen Republicans’ support, a couple of shifts here or there could have actually swung the vote the other way, and left President Obama’s ambition to keep the war going beyond 2014 in an awful mess.
The amendment would’ve called on the administration to begin wrapping up the war and negotiating a settlement that would allow for a pullout. A much more aggressive version sponsored by Rep. Chaffetz (R – UT) was also voted on, falling 123-294.
The Chaffetz Amendment was far more ambitious and would’ve required a full withdrawal of all US forces from Afghanistan within 60 days. The closer amendment, sponsored by Jim McGovern (D – MA) did not set any explicit dates.
The loss is still surely a disappointment, but when one considers that the 2010 vote on materially the same amendment got only 138 yes votes, there is no doubt which side the momentum is on. It also means the 2012 vote, and surely there will be one, will not be presumed to be a “slam dunk” for the administration going in.
The combination of the two votes also shows that the antiwar sentiment is surprisingly deep. The Chaffetz amendment still managed to carry a solid majority of President Obama’s own party, and the McGovern amendment came within a hair’s breadth of passing.
Polls have long showed the American publicly squarely against the already decade-long war. Today’s vote suggests that while Congress has still not caught up with public opinion, they are coming around slowly but surely. Assuming that the war continues to grow less popular throughout the year, both amendments can probably count on picking up additional support among representatives ahead of the 2012 election.
Not only that, but the votes show Republican opposition growing largely on the basis of incoming freshmen. This suggests that while the “old-hand” politicians can be stubbornly reluctant to abandon an unpopular conflict they voted for at one point, as they get filtered out this lingering support eventually crumbles. Despite administration claims to the contrary, public opposition can eventually end America’s wars.
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Image caption The abandoned factory, which made landline and coin-operated telephones, closed in 2000
Donald Trump says he would bring back outsourced manufacturing jobs from Mexico and China. There's a factory that is a symbol of outsourcing.
"You thought you had a job for life," says Gregg Trusty. "As long as you didn't show up to work drunk or punch your supervisor, you thought you could work there until you retired."
A wander around the factory Trusty is talking about gives a stark example of the precarious nature of the American economy today.
The gigantic Western Electric plant in Shreveport, Louisiana was once one of the country's biggest producers of telephones. Now it's abandoned, the machinery silently rusting. Nature creeps in on all sides. Dusty papers sit on desks and lights still blaze on to empty factory floors, as if the people working there were forced to leave in a hurry.
If you want to understand how Donald Trump has tapped into economic insecurity across America, this humid city of 200,000 in northern Louisiana is an excellent place to start. Western Electric was the wholly-owned manufacturing arm of corporate behemoth AT&T, which for most of the 20th Century held a monopoly on the US telephone business.
At its height, the company employed 7,500 people at its Shreveport plant. But long before the rise of Chinese competition, the ubiquity of the mobile phone and the North American Free Trade Agreement with Canada and Mexico - which Trump has called "worst trade deal ever" - the factory's future was clear.
Starting in the 1980s, AT&T slashed its domestic workforce and moved telephone manufacturing to Singapore.
"There was a feeling of disappointment," says Don Corliss, who worked at the plant for 25 years. "We moved from a manufacturing economy to a service economy.
"Did the average worker on the shop floor realise what was hitting them? I don't know."
Image caption Don Corliss worked at the plant for 25 years
Several factors led to the factory's closure. In 1984, a lawsuit ended AT&T's monopoly and opened up American telecommunications to competition. And, of course, the last 30 years have seen unprecedented international competition and technological change.
When Trusty moved here from the Midwest in the late 1960s he recalls that big celebrations would be held every time the plant added an additional 1,000 jobs, which in the early days happened every few years.
Later, as part of the company's public relations team, he would face the local media to announce round after round of layoffs.
"One time I was asked a question about how it made me feel," he says. "I told the reporter straight: 'We've lost some damn fine people today.'
"I meant it. It hurt, every time we did it. It was painful."
Image caption One of the coin operated phones manufactured by the Shreveport factory
After years of job losses, the plant, located in the Southern Hills area of Shreveport, closed for good in 2000. The fortunes of the workers themselves varied. Many retired, while others shifted gears with the aid of generous redundancy packages and company-funded education grants. Trusty worked in other jobs in public relations and journalism. Other former employees became small business owners, consultants, care home workers - and in one case, an elected state politician.
Randy Doss started on the factory floor and later became a supervisor. After he left the company in 1995, Doss ran a local transportation business with his wife before retiring earlier this year.
"We all had a sense of security. We thought we were fine," he says. "And we all bit the dust."
Despite that, Doss says he holds no ill will towards the company.
"It's a business decision pure and simple, and they could make phones cheaper elsewhere. That's business."
In Shreveport the absence of manufacturing jobs is palpable. Another iconic American company, General Motors, shut its local factory in 2012. That set off a wave of job losses at local suppliers, and today there's little heavy industry left.
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Harold Sater of the Southern Hills Business Association says the area around the AT&T plant suffered for years and despite rows of busy restaurants, petrol stations and other small businesses nearby, it doesn't quite compare to AT&T's heyday.
"The traffic you see now is just starting to come back to the levels back then," he says.
There were knock-on effects. Richard Corbett, the business association's current president, says crime increased in the area - a trend he saw first-hand in his day job as a local sheriff.
"It's simple. Fewer jobs nearby means fewer people came to the area to shop," Corbett says. "That led to problems and we're still working through them today."
Yet Shreveport does seem different from those Midwestern cities that were strangled by loss of their main industries.
BBC Newsnight: Trump's appeal in Ohio
The economy here shifted and diversified. It's a regional centre for health care. Nearby oil and gas reserves have provided jobs, although that industry has gone through boom and bust. There's a large military base nearby and the city once had a thriving film industry lured in by tax breaks.
Meanwhile, casinos dotted along the Red River have led to a small revival downtown. The city's growth has slowed, but its population is stable - there's been no mass exodus.
Although most of the former AT&T site is abandoned, a couple of companies have moved in. One is even a small-scale manufacturer. Skyrunner is making futuristic recreational vehicles that can both drive and fly. The company is perfecting its designs and aims to ship its products around the world.
Image caption One of the vehicles that Skyrunner is making in one corner of the old AT&T site
What's missing is big industry of the kind that provides that elusive path for the low- and semi-skilled workers.
"We're still working on getting good-paying jobs for those people," says Sater. "There's almost nothing that pays $15 an hour outside of work on oil and gas fields. That's frustrating."
AT&T, meanwhile, no longer manufactures telephones in Singapore or anywhere else. It's a technology and media company. Its latest move is a bid to buy Time Warner, a proposal that both Democrats and Republicans are concerned about.
Among the firm's former employers in Shreveport, faith in Trump and his economic plan is decidedly mixed. Some, like Corliss, say they'll vote for him but only because they dislike Hillary Clinton more.
Doss is a staunch Trump supporter. He says he believes the Republican candidate when he says he can bring back manufacturing jobs to the US, even though he's thin on specifics. For Doss, like for many Trump supporters across the country, voting for Trump is a leap of faith.
"I don't know how he's going to do it," Doss says, "but I think that he can."
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One piece of evidence Donald Trump keeps invoking in his insistence he opposed the Iraq War from the start is an old interview he gave to Esquire, and Esquire has just about had it.
Trump invoked it yet again today and claimed the interview––in which he criticized the Iraq War––was at the start of the war. The war started in March 2003. Trump did that interview in 2004.
Here’s everything Trump had to say then about Iraq:
My life is seeing everything in terms of “How would I handle that?” Look at the war in Iraq and the mess that we’re in. I would never have handled it that way. Does anybody really believe that Iraq is going to be a wonderful democracy where people are going to run down to the voting box and gently put in their ballot and the winner is happily going to step up to lead the county? C’mon. Two minutes after we leave, there’s going to be a revolution, and the meanest, toughest, smartest, most vicious guy will take over. And he’ll have weapons of mass destruction, which Saddam didn’t have. What was the purpose of this whole thing? Hundreds and hundreds of young people killed. And what about the people coming back with no arms and legs? Not to mention the other side. All those Iraqi kids who’ve been blown to pieces. And it turns out that all of the reasons for the war were blatantly wrong. All this for nothing!
Well, Esquire has added this editor’s note to the top:
Editor’s note: The following story was published in the August 2004 issue of Esquire. During the 2016 presidential election, Donald Trump has repeatedly claimed to have been against the Iraq War from the beginning, and he has cited this story as proof. The Iraq War began in March 2003, more than a year before this story ran, thus nullifying Trump’s timeline. More details can be found here.
And Esquire‘s deputy editor said they’re doing it for one obvious reason:
Because Donald Trump won't stop lying, we've updated our 2004 story with an editor's note: https://t.co/dhHfecJkaz pic.twitter.com/6rp7da1Sod — John Hendrickson (@JohnGHendy) September 8, 2016
[featured image via Shutterstock]
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When people ask whether mental illness is real or not, my suspicion is that they really mean: does mental illness have a physical, material cause, in the same way as cancer or a broken leg? Can it be tested for, diagnosed and treated with the same certainty as a physical disease? Whatever the answer to that question, it should cast no doubts or aspersions on the very real suffering of people with mental health problems.
When we think of mental illness, we tend to think of categories such as schizophrenia, bipolar affective disorder, depression and anxiety. These categories cannot be verified with objective tests, in the way as, say, cancer or diabetes can. Neither do they tend to stand up to scientific scrutiny as distinct constructs. For people with a diagnosis of schizophrenia, there is no specific treatment or predictable outcome. To take another example, most people with a diagnosis of depression have symptoms of anxiety, and vice versa.
Framing problems as being part of distinct disorders is a powerful thing to do, and loads of the categories that reach our diagnostic bibles appear relatively new, historically. Many can be traced back to the pharmaceutical industry, which has a direct interest in shaping behaviours and emotions into various symptoms, to be sold back to consumers as disorders requiring medication. This has led people to argue that these categories do not represent real illnesses.
Such arguments can come across as diminishing the lived experience of mental anguish, its embodiment, and the potential role of medication. Some mental health problems are less contested than others, and medication does save lives. It would be cruel to suggest a grieving widow unable to cope could not benefit sometimes from anti-anxiety medication, or to deny an option of antipsychotics to quell the intrusive, menacing, persecutory experiences that can accompany an acute psychosis.
Facebook Twitter Pinterest In the City: ‘There is little political will to combine increasing mental distress with structural inequalities.’ Photograph: Alamy Stock Photo
The problem, though, is that the efficacy of such treatments, and the mechanisms by which they work, tend to be oversold and presented as long-term solutions. We are right to be cautious about the overprescription of antidepressants, to take one example. These tend to be prescribed along with a scientifically dodgy idea that the pills are rejigging an imbalance in serotonin, a chemical messenger in the brain. Similarly, emerging evidence suggests that the long-term prescription of antipsychotics may actually hinder recovery for many.
Psychological and social factors are at least as significant and, for many, the main cause of suffering. Poverty, relative inequality, being subject to racism, sexism, displacement and a competitive culture all increase the likelihood of mental suffering – as the survivor-led collective Recovery in the Bin brilliantly illuminates. Add into the mix individual experiences such as childhood sexual abuse, early separation, emotional neglect, chronic invalidation and bullying, and we get a clearer picture of why some people suffer more than others.
Crucially, all of these experiences affect our psychological and physiological makeup. For example, the Adverse Childhood Experiences studies show that childhood trauma, neglect and structural oppressions manifest later not just in mental distress but in chronically inflamed bodies stuck on hyper-alert (this we can pick up through blood tests).
Governments and pharmaceutical companies are not as interested in these results, throwing funding at studies looking at genetics and physical biomarkers as opposed to the environmental causes of distress. Sociologists argue that this is because citizens who consider themselves ill are easier to manage than people who consider themselves maddened by toxic families and injustice.
Mental health practitioners often try to sidestep this whole debate by claiming that most sensible professionals subscribe to a biopsychosocial model of mental distress. But unfortunately such a model nearly always ends up privileging the biological, despite the best intentions of many psychiatrists. As a society, we have a somewhat fetishistic relationship to bodies and brains, a moth-to-light-like attraction to shiny brain-imaging scans or a hint at a breakthrough in genetic research. Correlations between experiences and genetic phenotypes are conflated with evidence for molecular pathways that prove the existence of distinct disorders. Studies with only a few participants generate multiple headlines, and remain entrenched in the public imagination. At the same time, treatments that we know work fail to get funding due to the unconscious bias towards biological explanations.
We must shift our focus to one that validates the lived experience of people who are suffering, however they choose to understand their pain
Consider family interventions. Professionals have known for decades that reducing hostility, criticism and emotional over-involvement in families improves how well people recover from a number of serious mental health problems, regardless of how severe patients’ symptoms are. Yet despite the robust evidence base – up there with medication and individual therapy – family work is rarely available through the NHS.
Similarly, there is little political will to combine increasing mental distress with structural inequalities, though the association is robust and many professionals think this would be the best way to tackle the current mental health epidemic. The idea that mental suffering is a “real” illness residing in individuals, and especially in their genes, can therefore be damaging.
It is also not necessarily what the public wants, despite the current emphasis on the “just like any other illness” narrative. When researchers ask people how they understand mental illness, they tend to prefer psychosocial explanations to medical ones. Simplistic biological explanations tend to increase stigma, not least because they cement a division between ill and well people. Many people have felt silenced and traumatised by such accounts, feeling that the illness model shuts down their truth.
There is an implicit suggestion here that mental health problems have to be viewed as being equivalent to physical illnesses if they are to warrant society’s care and funding. This may inadvertently cement prejudice, given the contested nature of mental illness. Mental health problems are no less real, no less disabling, for occupying a peculiar space between inner and outer, meaning-making and meltdown, the inner world and the environments that shape us.
Rather than clumsily trying to squeeze people’s distress into different boxes, and attempting to convince the public that these reflect illness processes, as with flu or cancer, we must shift our focus to one that validates the lived experience of people who are suffering, however they choose to understand their pain.
Some will choose to conceptualise their distress as an illness, others as a result of trauma, others yet as an embodied response to the mixed messages that are rife in society about who and how we are supposed to be. Our guiding principle should not be whether such forms of accounting are true or false, but whether they are useful for any given individual at any given moment. Acceptance, after all – is the great friend of good mental health just as writing over one another’s truth is the great enemy. |
The Nova Scotia government is moving ahead on a controversial bill despite pleas from dozens of drugstore owners to shelve it.
Pharmacists claim that capping the price of generic drugs will hurt their bottom line at a time when they are being asked to offer more services.
The province is still trying to determine how to compensate pharmacies for those extra services and it's still negotiating a new dispensing fee.
Opposition parties say the bill should be delayed until those issues are resolved, but Premier Darrell Dexter isn't interested.
"This is about fair drug prices for the people of the province," he said Tuesday. "What the Opposition is doing, of course, is they are really engaging in a process where they would actually drive up the cost of drugs for ordinary consumers across the province."
Dexter said the bill will proceed without amendment and without delay.
The bill would cap the price of generic drugs to 45 per cent of the brand-name equivalent in July, 40 per cent by January and 35 per cent by July 1, 2012.
Pharmacists claim they are losing $4 on every prescription they fill, and the cap would be a financial disaster.
Kim Geldart, who owns three Pharmasave drug stores in Chester, said last week that without higher dispensing fees the generic drug cap could force her to close one of her stores and lay off four to seven pharmacists. |
The Houston Astros have been the most aggressive team of the winter, acquiring Brian McCann, Josh Reddick, and Charlie Morton in the last few days, as they attempt to make their move from contender to division-favorite. The second most aggressive team so far? Probably the Atlanta Braves.
They started off the hot stove season last week by signing Bartolo Colon and R.A. Dickey to help fill out the back of their rotation. And now, according to reports, they’re aiming for an ace.
Braves are aggressively swapping offers for starting pitchers. Rival officials think Braves and Astros will add the most help this winter. — Buster Olney (@Buster_ESPN) November 16, 2016
More specifically, there’s this from David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
They’ve had talks with teams about trading for still another starter, most notably Chris Sale, 27, a native of Lakeland, Fla. The five-time All-Star left-hander is under contractual control for three more seasons at below-market rates — $38 million total in that three-year span including two option years — and has finished in the top five of the American League Cy Young Award balloting for four consecutive seasons after finishing sixth in his first season as a starter in 2012. The Braves have also inquired about the Rays’ Chris Archer and Athletics’ Sonny Gray, but Sale is their focus, a person familiar with the situation said. The price for Sale could be enormous, likely a package including multiple top prospects. The Braves have said they’re not at a point in their rebuild where they’re ready to trade top prospects to fill in gaps, but to get an ace they seem at least willing to consider changing that plan.
On the one hand, this shouldn’t be that surprising: GM John Coppolella is a strong believer in the value of starting pitching, and especially so, in the value of frontline aces. This the kind of pitcher the Braves are always going to be looking for under his watch, and given that they’ve been outspoken that they want to win sooner than later, it shouldn’t be that surprising to see them pursuing players who could significantly improve their roster. Especially with their new stadium opening up next spring, the Braves don’t want to put a bad product on the field, potentially wasting the revenue boost that comes from opening a new ballpark.
But on the other hand, before the team aggressively turns future assets into present value, the Braves should make sure they’re not following in the footsteps of the Arizona Diamondbacks, whose desire to push their window to win forward by a year or two ended up doing a tremendous amount of destruction to the organization.
Of course, the Braves are intimately familiar with that destruction, since they caused most of it when they agreed to the Shelby Miller trade, robbing the Diamondbacks of Ender Inciarte, Dansby Swanson, and Aaron Blair. The former pair are primary reasons why the Braves look at their 2017 roster and see a team that could be okay next year. The Braves landed their franchise shortstop and starting center fielder by exploiting Arizona’s mistaken belief that they were ready to take a big step forward, despite a roster that lacked depth and projected around .500 at best.
But now the Braves seem to be in a similar position, wanting to win sooner than later, but without enough talent to make that something they should plan for in 2017. For instance, here’s a graph of rough projected win totals heading into the winter, from Jeff Sullivan’s post two weeks ago.
Three teams, at that point, projected for fewer than 70 wins; the Brewers, Padres, and the Atlanta Braves. Yes, this was before they signed Colon and Dickey, so now they project closer to 72 or 73 wins, but that’s still a very long way away from legitimate contender status. And even if we gave them Chris Sale, without subtracting any significant major league players from their roster, they’d realistically be looking at a 76 or 77 win projection heading into 2017.
So even if they managed to land Sale without giving up anything off their big league roster — good luck with that, by the way — they’d still be something like 10 wins shy of Wild Card status. And while no projection system is perfect, it’s just not realistic to argue that Steamer is misevaluating the Braves current talent level by 10 wins.
Looking at their current depth chart, there’s a decent argument that Steamer is a little too low on a few of their players. Ender Inciarte is projected for +2 WAR in 600 PAs, when he’s averaged +3.6 WAR per 600 PAs in the first three years of his career. Steamer’s being pretty cautious with its projection of Inciarte’s defensive value, but I’d take the over on him putting up a +5 UZR next year, and think he’s probably more of a +3 WAR player than a +2 WAR guy. So that’s one win.
Steamer’s also projection Julio Teheran to take a big step backwards, but he’s averaged about an extra win every 200 innings above and beyond what his fielding independent numbers suggest, so this forecast is probably low for him too. Let’s be generous and give them a full extra win for Teheran, even though that’s probably overly optimistic. So we’re up to two extra wins.
After that, it gets sketchier. The Braves believe Nick Markakis and Matt Kemp are better than we think, so you can maybe give them another win if you think those guys are underrated by our metrics for whatever reason. Like I said, we’re being generous. So if you think two below average outfielders, one 33 and the other 32, are going to defy aging, then hey, we’re up to three extra wins.
But we’re also just running out of places to find extra wins. Dansby Swanson is already projected as a league average regular, and while the Braves have plenty of reasons to believe in his long-term potential, expecting more than that in 2017 is probably not wise. Adonis Garcia? Jace Peterson? Whoever they get to replace Tyler Flowers as their catcher? Again, maybe you’re looking at a win here or there, maybe.
Unfortunately, the Braves could trade for Sale and Chris Archer and still not project as contenders in 2017. It would be a good rotation, but the Braves position players would still project to be among the worst in baseball, and this big bet on starting pitching carrying not-good-enough hitters was the same failed gamble Arizona made last winter. And, of course, it’s not like Sale and Archer are going to come cheaply, so more realistically, the Braves would have to give up something off their big league roster to acquire either one, reducing the marginal improvement that came from adding either pitcher.
And yes, the Braves can argue that acquiring Sale or Archer or whoever isn’t just about 2017; they’d have those guys in 2018 and beyond, so it wouldn’t be only a win-now gamble. But Dave Stewart made these exact same claims last year when they punted their future to land Shelby Miller, talking about a three-year window that opened up with the acquisitions of Miller and Zack Greinke. And it’s just as faulty a plan now as it was then.
Because to buy Sale or Archer’s value in 2018 and beyond, you have to also pay the 2017 wins that the White Sox or Rays are selling, and those wins are extremely valuable to teams that are ready to win this year. In order to be the high bidder, the Braves will have to pay a high price, and unfortunately, they’re not in a position to take advantage of Sale’s value in at least one of the three remaining years he has left on his deal. And if the young players don’t take the step forward that the team is counting on, they might not be in a position to take advantage of his value in 2018 either, and then they’ll have paid a massive price to land a short-term upgrade to help a non-contender finish in the middle of the pack.
The bidding for Sale is going to be absurd, especially with a limited supply of alternatives for teams to go after. The Braves are probably not in a position to capitalize on his 2017 value, so paying a premium to land a guy whose going to churn through a good chunk of his value in the short-term is a great way to reduce the organization’s chances of winning in 2018 and beyond, and the uptick in their chances in 2017 just aren’t worth it.
That isn’t to say the Braves shouldn’t try to improve. They need a catcher, a second baseman, a third baseman, and an outfielder to eventually replace Markakis and/or Kemp, when those guys stop hitting enough to justify their line-up spots. There are plenty of places where the team can make improvements to improve the quality of their 2017 product, and they can do so by getting guys who aren’t just stopgaps, but who could help the team in 2018 and beyond as well. It won’t be as sexy as landing an ace like Sale, but it also won’t risk wasting a good chunk of the future value the team has been accumulating.
I know it’s tempting to want to win in 2017, and I know the 37-35 record in the second half makes it feel like winning isn’t that far away. But the guys who helped make the Braves one of the worst teams in baseball in the first half of the season? They’re still around, and in many cases, still being counted on as primary contributors. And there just isn’t enough depth behind the team’s few good players to feel safe about the team’s chances to keep winning if any of their best guys get hurt.
Taking a best-case-scenario approach to deciding when to push all-in is exactly what got Arizona in trouble last year. And for the Braves to justify paying the price for Chris Sale, they’d have to overestimate their chances of winning in 2017 and overestimate the impact of adding a frontline starter. The Braves aren’t at the point where they should make that kind of gamble yet. Let the teams that have a better shot at winning outbid each other for the few good pitchers available in this market. Get better position players, continue building for 2018, and make your big move next winter if the team shows they’re ready to win.
Moving up the timeline is tempting, especially with the new park opening. But it’s probably a trap, and one the Braves would do well to avoid. |
House Oversight Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz told FBI Director James Comey to investigate whether Hillary Clinton lied to Congress when she said she didn’t send or receive classified information on her secret email server.
Mr. Comey told the committee Mrs. Clinton didn’t lie to the FBI, but he hasn’t looked into whether she lied to Congress. He said he needed an official referral to do that.
“You’ll have one in the next few hours,” Mr. Chaffetz promised.
Mr. Comey was on Capitol Hill to defend his investigation into Mrs. Clinton’s use of a secret server to conduct her official business, which he said was “extremely careless,” and his conclusion that despite that, no prosecutor would pursue the case.
The FBI director — a former prosecutor himself — said the difference between Mrs. Clinton and others who have been prosecuted for mishandling classified information is that she didn’t intend to break the law.
But Mr. Comey did repeatedly expose untruthful statements Mrs. Clinton made publicly when she defended her email server. He said she did, in fact, send and receive information marked classified; she did not turn over thousands of work-related messages to the government; and her lawyers, despite her assurances to the public, did not read each message.
Copyright © 2019 The Washington Times, LLC. Click here for reprint permission. |
Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, convicted of trying to bomb a Detroit-bound Northwest Airlines flight using explosives in his underwear, has filed a lawsuit over his treatment in federal prison in Colorado.
A man convicted of trying to blow up a Detroit-bound plane on Christmas Day in 2009 has filed a federal lawsuit saying that his constitutional rights, including his ability to practice his religion and meet his dietary needs, are being violated in a Colorado prison.
In a complaint filed last week, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, known as the underwear bomber, alleges that communication restrictions, including solitary confinement, imposed on him “are an unconstitutional deprivation of his First Amendment rights to free speech and association.” He also alleges violations of the Fifth and Eighth Amendments, and says he’s been frequently harassed over his religion during prayer times, when “white supremacist inmates ... often curse, yell, scream and say things that are religiously insulting and offensive to Muslims ...”
“Prison walls do not form a barrier separating prison inmates from the protections of the United States Constitution,” the filing states.
The lawsuit also states that some corrections officers have displayed pornographic magazines at prayer times, further offending him. “Corrections officers have also defiled religious items in Mr. Abdulmutallab’s cell, such as his Muslim prayer rug and Qu’ran.”
“This harassment has rendered it extremely difficult for Mr. Abdulmutallab to manage the difficulties of the harsh conditions of solitary confinement by taking solace in his religion and religious practices,” the lawsuit states.
Abdulmutallab, who is Muslim, has gone on a hunger strike to protest his treatment, but has been force fed, the suit says, which violates his religion. As a result, he has “been physically injured and continues to face an unconstitutional risk of physical injury, and he has suffered psychological pain, injury, and emotional distress and continues to face an unconstitutional risk of psychological pain, injury and emotional distress.”
The 73-page complaint filed in the District of Colorado also claims Abdulmutallab is forced to eat foods that are in violation of his religion.
Named as defendants in the lawsuit are U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions, the Federal Bureau of Prisons and John Does 1-20.
He is serving four life terms plus 50 years for convictions for the attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction on an airliner that landed in Detroit and the attempted murder of 289 people on board. He pleaded guilty without a plea deal for his failed attempt to blow up the airliner over Metro Detroit with a bomb in his underwear. He was sentenced at age 23 on Feb. 16, 2012.
A month after his conviction, Abdulmutallab was transferred to a maximum security prison in Florence, Colorado, ADX, where he was placed in indefinite, long-term solitary confinement, the lawsuit states.
At one point, he was not allowed to communicate with his sister, he says. Abdulmutallab still is prohibited from communicating with his 13 nieces and nephews, the filing says.
He is asking for acknowledgment that his First Amendment rights have been violated as well as his rights under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. He also is seeking removal from solitary confinement and a permanent injunction ordering Sessions remove the Special Administrative Measures and prohibit future attorneys general from re-imposing the measures.
Abdulmutallab also seeks a halal-certified diet and regular access to an imam. The lawsuit states that since Abdulmutallab has been incarcerated he has not been able to participate in group prayer, which is in accordance to his religious beliefs. ADX prohibits prisoners from congregational prayer.
cwilliams@detroitnews.com
Twitter: CWilliams_DN
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Research Miscellaneous
You know youve been in Sweden too long, when... It's acceptable to eat lunch at 11.00. You think Leif 'Loket' Olsson is entertaining. You rummage through your plastic bag collection to see which ones you should keep to take to the store and which can be sacrificed to garbage. You associate pea soup with Thursday. The first thing you do on entering a bank/post office/pharmacy etc. is look for the queue number machine. You accept that you will have to queue to take a queue number. A sharp intake of breath has become part of your vocabulary, as has the sound 'ahh'. You associate Friday afternoon with a trip to system bolaget. You think nothing of paying $50 for a bottle of 'cheap' spirits at system bolaget. Silence is fun. Your native language has seriously deteriorated; you begin to "eat medicine" and "hire videos". Your front door step is beginning to resemble a shoe shop. When a stranger on the street smiles at you, you assume that:
a. he is drunk;
b. he is insane;
c. he is American;
d. he is all of the above. You stay home on Saturday night to watch Bingolotto. It seems sensible that the age limit at Stockholm night clubs is 23 or 25. The reason you take the ferry to Finland is:
a. duty free vodka
b. duty free beer
c. to party The only reason for getting of the boat in Helsinki is to eat pizza. It no longer seems excessive to spend $200 on alcohol in a single night. The fact that all of the "v's" and the "w's" are together in the phone directory seems right. You care who wins 'Expedition: Robinson'. Your old habit of being "fashionably late" is no longer acceptable. You are always on time. You no longer see any problem wearing white socks with loafers. You know that "religious holiday" means "let's get pissed." You are no longer scared of volvos and volvo drivers. You have your own innebandy club. You enjoy the taste of surstr�mming. You find yourself debating the politics of Carl Bildt. You use mmmm as a conversation filler. An outside temperature of 9 degrees Celsius is mild. When someone asks for "three cheers", you say "hoorah, hoorah, hoorah, hoorah". You wear sandals with socks. You eat jam with savoury dishes. You have only two facial expressions, smiling or blank. You think riding a racing bike in the snow is a perfectly sensible thing to do. You think it's more fun to stay at home and drink then go out. You wear warm clothing when it's 25 degrees plus in April - because it's April. You wear shorts and t-shirt when it's barely 10 degrees in July - because it's July. You get extremely annoyed when the bus is two minutes late. You think women are more than equal than men and deserve to have better positions in the work place. Your wife watches TV while you look after the kids. You become a punctuality freak and dump your friends for being late more than once. You spend the week's entertainment budget on a pack of cigarettes and a drink in Gamla Stan. When a stranger asks you a question in the streets, you think it's normal to just keep walking, saying nothing. You've been engaged for four years and don't have any plans to get married. Americans start to look entertaining, witty and fun, and you just want to go to the U.S.A., travelling across country on a greyhound, because it's "romantic." You and your friends know exactly the same information, and have the same attitudes and beliefs in the value of Social Democracy. You lose any artistic talent whatsoever. You think that if you smoke a joint you will wind up in an insane asylum. [or become a habitual criminal] You seriously contemplate getting into S & M. You wear a dress or skirt over your trousers and combine them with training shoes. [this is especially problematic if you're male] You jot down 'fisk fingrar' on your shopping list. You no longer look for Vegemite on supermarket shelves, even if it's your first time in that particular store. You think black rimmed glasses are cool. Your wardrobe now consists of 20 different shades of black and grey. You get excited watching a bunch of lame 'celebrities' on a fortress island playing games that are about as intelligent as mud-wrestling. You look forward to the next program about practical jokes done on lame celebrities/has-beens by other lame celebrities who don't really deserve air time. It doesn't feel like lunch unless it's a hot, full course meal drenched in gravy. You eat unlimited amounts of sausage products without worrying about your nitrate intake. You think that an unripe wedge of tomato on a limp leaf of iceberg lettuce can be called a salad. You don't question the concept of 'telephone time'. It seems reasonable that no business can be conducted on Friday afternoons. [or the entire month of July] You assume that anyone who apologises after bumping into you is a tourist. You think it is normal that a huge restaurant has a smoking section which consists of three tables near the door. You reach for your pocket 20 times a day as mobile phones ring all around you. You actually care if your mobile phone meets the fashion standard - and so do your new Swedish friends! It seems reasonable that even those asking you for money at T-centralen reach for their pocket as the melodic music of the Swedish mobile phone resounds. You get into a Mercedes taxi cab and think nothing of it. Paying $5 for a cup of coffee seems reasonable. You understand that when a colleague asks you out for "a drink," it will probably be a long night with a severe hangover the next day. You start to think that having a sauna in the nude with a bunch of strangers is a necessary part of daily life ... and a necessary part of business. You believe that when you finally win your Nobel Prize, it is best to be modest and say "Oh really, it was nothing!" You get offended if, at a dinner party, someone fails to look you in the eyes after raising their glass for a toast. Seeing a young woman with lit candles stuck to her head no longer disturbs you. You become extremely skilled at assembling pre-packaged furniture kits. "Candles" are a permanent fixture on your weekly shopping list. You get to the movies early so that you can watch the commercials. Most of your friends have the same names and you must use both names to distinguish between them. You know you've been in Finland too long, when... |
Martin Rose/Getty Images
During his nearly five years as manager of the United States national soccer team, Bob Bradley has been an extremely controversial figure.
Controversy has swirled around Bradley for reasons such as making some questionable national team selections, along with certain key players such as Jozy Altidore being unable to score at the World Cup.
Bradley has had some great moments as manager of the national team, such as winning the 2007 Gold Cup, reaching the 2009 Confederations Cup final and finishing first in Group C in the 2010 World Cup, among other things.
But after falling out of the 2010 World Cup to Ghana, Bradley's time as manager appeared to be up when US Soccer president Sunil Gulati ripped Bradley for his job in South Africa, saying, "I think the team's capable of more. I think the players know it. I think Bob knows it. And so at that level we're disappointed we didn't get to play another 90 minutes at least."
However, Bradley was retained as manager with a new four-year contract last August, and American fans continued to question exactly why was Bradley staying.
There were points such as the case of the retainment of former US manager Bruce Arena after he led the US to the 2002 World Cup quarterfinals. Arena then led the US out of the World Cup in the 2006 World Cup group stage, leading to his dismissal.
Another interesting point against Bradley staying on as manager was that out of the 48 times that a manager returned to a national team to lead that nation to a World Cup, 25 of them fared worse in their second time around in the World Cup.
There was also a push to get former German coach Jurgen Klinsmann to become the coach after he declined the offer to manage the US in 2006.
However, preliminary talks between the two did not get very far, which allowed Bradley to stay on.
Since Bradley signed his new contract, the US have only won one match (against South Africa last November), drawn four matches and lost once.
In these matches, the US have failed to impress like they did against some similar opponents during Bradley's first term, such as wins over Mexico and at Honduras in World Cup qualifying, the win over Spain in the Confederations Cup and the great performance put up in last year's World Cup.
But in this year's Gold Cup, the United States will be expected to perform like they did in some of the most important matches of the first half of Bradley's regime.
This Gold Cup squad will contain many of the players that the US used in their earlier tournaments under Bradley, along with some young players that have impressed in recent friendlies.
The US will have players such as Tim Howard, Landon Donovan and Clint Dempsey playing for them throughout the tournament and will certainly look to take back the Gold Cup that Mexico took from them in 2009.
To add even more pressure on Bradley, if the United States fails to win the 2011 Gold Cup, they will not be able to participate in the 2013 Confederations Cup in Brazil.
After the United States was able to stun Spain to reach their first FIFA final in the 2009 Confederations Cup, there was an unprecedented buzz in the US for the national team, which translated into a massive attendance increase in the 2009 Gold Cup.
The success in the Confederations Cup was definitely a massive reason why Bradley was able to keep his position as US coach.
However, with the recent 4-0 thrashing given to them by the Spanish national team, there will be more pressure on Bradley and the US team to win this Gold Cup.
The questions such as the inclusion of Freddy Adu on this year's Gold Cup roster and why Jozy Altidore seems unable to score will certainly cause negative press for US Soccer, something that it can ill-afford.
For US Soccer, this is their best chance until World Cup qualification begins to make a big splash in the American media and can garner more fan interest. But a failure to win the Gold Cup will only hurt US Soccer's development.
That is something that Gulati knows all too well, and he knows that the US must win this Gold Cup.
If the United States fail to win the Gold Cup to secure participation in the Confederations Cup, Bradley will get the pink slip from Gulati, and we could see someone such as Klinsmann take over before World Cup qualification begins.
However, Bradley will probably keep his job if he wins the Gold Cup this year. Going forward, Bradley will only be fired if the United States has a terrible qualifying campaign for the 2014 World Cup, but that is extremely unlikely. |
Christian organisations have called AC Grayling’s ‘Atheist Bible’ complete nonsense by insisting that if it wasn’t for Jesus they would all be complete and utter shitbags.
The Good Book is Grayling’s attempt to show that inherent kindness is a feature of evolution and bound tightly into our genetic make-up, not the result of an invisible deity threatening people with an eternity in a fiery Hell – a claim refuted by Christians everywhere.
Regular church attendee Troy Williams told us, “I can’t speak for all Christians, but if it weren’t for Jesus Christ our saviour I’d be out there raping and pillaging right now. How do you explain that mister science man?”
“You can’t, can you? Jesus has turned me from a potentially violent criminal into an insufferably tedious bore. Hallelujah!”
“This book and all it’s stories about how people are nice to each other just ‘because’ is load of old twaddle. God told me that in a dream I had last night.”
AC Grayling’s Atheist Bible
Other Christians have insisted that if people are inherently nice, why is everyone so incredibly mean to them when they knock on their front doors trying to spread the word of God.
Christian Margaret Shilling of East Kilbride told us, “It doesn’t make sense, if people were inherently ‘good’ we’d always be invited in for a cup of tea and a biscuit whilst we lectured you on how letting Jesus into your life can rob you of half your weekend every single week.”
“Instead we get sworn at, shouted at through letter boxes and one man threw a bucket of piss at us from his bedroom window. How is that good?”
AC Grayling defended this behaviour saying, “I’ll bet anyone who’s ever had a religious cold-caller had a smile on their face reading that – so there’s your kindness to your fellow man, right there.”
T- Shirt – Jesus: Like Santa, but for Grown ups |
Olympiakos start Sunday's Athens derby three points ahead of Panathinaikos
Petrol bombs, flares, firecrackers and fights. And that's just on the pitch.
Welcome to derby day in Athens, where recent meetings between Olympiakos and Panathinaikos have also seen fans start fires in the stands and attempt to torch the team coach of their fierce rivals.
The last time Greece's two major powers met, in March, Panathinaikos manager Yannis Anastasiou was left sprawled on the touchline after being hit by an object thrown from the crowd.
Panathinaikos boss Yannis Anastasiou lies on the ground after being hit by an object thrown by fans
The latest staging of the fixture known as the 'derby of the eternal enemies' takes place this Sunday and could have an English flavour to it in the shape of former Manchester United and Barnsley goalkeeper Luke Steele.
The 30-year-old, who started his career at hometown club Peterborough and signed for Panathinaikos this summer after six years at Barnsley, has already had a taste of what to expect.
"My debut was a cup tie away to a team called Olympiakos Volos, a club based well away from Athens," Steele told BBC Sport.
"It was hostile; there were lots of flares. I flinched when the first firecracker landed near me but you soon get used to it.
"It's more than football to the fans, it's almost like a religion. But I'm ready for it. I just want to play as many games as possible."
A 2012 derby was abandoned after serious rioting broke out and petrol bombs were set off in the stands
Eight miles of Athens roads separate Olympiakos, who are from the port area of Piraeus, and Panathinaikos, based close to the centre of the capital.
Yet the burning hatred between the two runs so deep that it even extends into basketball, volleyball and water polo.
In March 2007, a Panathinaikos supporter died during a clash between fans of the two teams before a women's volleyball match. Ten months later a football supporter was fatally stabbed and another wounded after Olympiakos beat their arch rivals 4-0.
In May 2009, riot police were called as Olympiakos fans threw a flare, plastic bottles and other items at the Panathinaikos bench during a timeout in a basketball match.
Thousands of police are deployed to quell unrest between supporters, even though there is a ban on away fans travelling to the game. Little wonder this is one of Europe's most dangerous derbies.
"There is a lot of trouble in football in Greece in general," says Greek journalist Panos Polyzoidis. "Only a few weeks ago, a fan at a Third Division football match was killed and there were only 200 or so there.
Media playback is not supported on this device A game between Greek local football rivals Olympiakos and Panathinaikos had to be abandoned after it was interrupted by crowd violence
"But it's true that there is a clear hatred when Panathinaikos and Olympiakos meet and it doesn't matter whether it's football, basketball, volleyball or water polo.
"In terms of the social background between the two clubs, Panathinaikos were upper middle class when they were formed 106 years ago. Olympiakos were formed 17 years later in an industrial centre and were seen as a working-class club.
"Both are so huge now that they attract fans from all walks of life. The trouble continues though."
On the pitch, Olympiakos are the dominant force, having won 41 league titles, including the last four in a row. Panathinaikos have not won the title since 2010 when they were crowned champions of Greece for the 20th time.
Serious disturbances broke out in March 2012 when Panathinaikos, who were playing home games at the Olympic Stadium while the future of their traditional Apostolos Nikolaidis home was up in the air, trailed Olympiakos 1-0.
The start of the second half was delayed by 45 minutes as fans pelted police with Molotov cocktails, flares and missiles, and the game was subsequently abandoned altogether.
Fire crews battled to put out fires set off by fans during a derby in March 2012
Twenty police officers were injured and more than 50 arrests were made while three fire engines were called in to extinguish flames as hundreds of fans set alight sections of the stands.
Panathinaikos were docked five points and told to play four games behind closed doors as punishment.
Two years earlier, a late Olympiakos winner by former Blackburn forward Matt Derbyshire prompted Panathinaikos fans to try to set fire to the visitors' team coach.
"The fans are fanatical," Derbyshire, who was nicknamed 'The English Killer' in the Greek newspapers for that goal, told BBC Sport.
Luke Steele: Peterborough to Panathinaikos 2001: After starting career at hometown club Peterborough, invited for trial at Man Utd 2008: Helps Barnsley beat Liverpool at Anfield in FA Cup on debut after joining on emergency loan. Later joins club permanently 2002: Signs four-year deal with United. Wins FA Youth Cup but leaves Old Trafford in 2006 without playing senior game. Joins West Brom as part of deal that takes Tomasz Kuszczak to United 2014: Signs two-year contract with Panathinaikos after Barnsley are relegated to League One. Keeps clean sheet on Greek Super League debut on 28 September, a 1-0 win over Niki Volos
"In derby week, they are all telling you 'you've got to win this. And if you can't win, then for goodness sake don't lose'. They're like 'even if we don't win silverware, then you've got to win this'.
"I will never forget that goal against Panathinaikos. The ball was crossed into the area and I headed it towards goal. The keeper parried it and I smashed in the volley.
"I still get messages from Olympiakos fans about it."
Signing for Panathinaikos... Luke Steele (right) with Panathinaikos technical director and former Newcastle and Leicester defender Nikos Dabizas
Steele will be hoping for an incident-free day after turning down offers from other Championship clubs to move to Greece on a two-year contract following Barnsley's relegation to League One at the end of last season.
"I came over here with just one bag for talks but I agreed a deal very quickly," added the former West Brom player, who lives by the Aegean Sea in the Athens suburb of Glyfada, home to many of Greece's millionaires, ministers and celebrities.
"It's a beautiful country and I'm settling well, I have Greek lessons once a week.
"I had a couple of other offers from Championship clubs but Panathinaikos felt right.
"I had been at Barnsley for six years and I was in a bit of a comfort zone, I wanted to feel some fear and be out of my depth a little bit."
Sunday at the Karaiskakis Stadium should see Steele get his wish. |
Former Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates, center, speaks during a news conference to announce the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's donation of $51.2 million dollars to the New York City school system at Morris High School in the Bronx, New York, Wednesday, September 17, 2003. He is flanked by Joel Klein, former chancellor of the city's Department of Education and former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)
The following is an excerpt from Diane Ravitch’s book Reign of Error.
The education reform movement must be defined in terms of its ideology, its strategies and its leading members.
The “reformers” say they want excellent education for all; they want great teachers; they want to “close the achievement gap”; they want innovation and effectiveness; they want the best of everything for everyone. They pursue these universally admired goals by privatizing education, lowering the qualifications for future teachers, replacing teachers with technology, increasing class sizes, endorsing for- profit organizations to manage schools, using carrots and sticks to motivate teachers and elevating standardized test scores as the ultimate measure of education quality.
“Reform” is really a misnomer, because the advocates for this cause seek not to reform public education but to transform it into an entrepreneurial sector of the economy. The groups and individuals that constitute today’s reform movement have appropriated the word “reform” because it has such positive connotations in American political discourse and American history. But the roots of this so- called reform movement may be traced to a radical ideology with a fundamental distrust of public education and hostility to the public sector in general.
“Reform” is really a misnomer, because the advocates for this cause seek not to reform public education but to transform it into an entrepreneurial sector of the economy.
The “reform” movement is really a “corporate reform” movement, funded to a large degree by major foundations, Wall Street hedge fund managers, entrepreneurs and the US Department of Education. The movement is determined to cut costs and maximize competition among schools and among teachers. It seeks to eliminate the geographically based system of public education as we have known it for the past 150 years and replace it with a competitive market- based system of school choice — one that includes traditional public schools, privately managed charter schools, religious schools, voucher schools, for- profit schools, virtual schools and for- profit vendors of instruction. Lacking any geographic boundaries, these schools would compete for customers. The customers would choose to send their children and their public funding wherever they wish, based on personal preference or on information such as the schools’ test scores and a letter grade conferred by the state (based largely on test scores).
Public Schools for Sale?
Some in the reform movement, believing that American education is obsolete and failing, think they are promoting a necessary but painful redesign of the nation’s ailing schools. Some sincerely believe they are helping poor black and brown children escape from failing public schools. Some think they are on the side of modernization and innovation. But others see an opportunity to make money in a large, risk- free, government- funded sector or an opportunity for personal advancement and power. Some — a small but important number — believe they are acting rationally by treating the public education sector as an investment opportunity.
The corporate reform movement has its roots in an ideology that is antagonistic to public education. Partisans on the far right long ago turned against public schools, which they call “government schools.” As a matter of ideology, they do not believe that government can do anything right. From the time that the University of Chicago economist Milton Friedman introduced the idea of vouchers in 1955, his supporters embraced vouchers as the best school reform ever, because it would enable parents to take government money to a school of their choice, including private and religious schools. Voucher advocates have long argued that the money should follow the child to whatever institution the family chooses, be it public, private or religious. For years, they made the seductive pitch that parents should be “free to choose” (as Friedman put it) and that government should supply each family its share of the money and get out of the way. But for many years after the Brown v. Board of Education decision of 1954, the idea of school choice was tainted because segregationists used it to evade desegregation in districts facing court- ordered desegregation.
The election results in state after state show that the public does not want to subsidize religious schools with its tax dollars. Voucher advocates do not accept that the public likes and supports its community public schools, free from any religious teachings, with doors open to all.
President Ronald Reagan, an admirer of Milton Friedman’s, supported vouchers but was never able to persuade Congress to go along. In state referenda, the public has consistently opposed vouchers. Every time vouchers were put to a public vote, they were defeated by large margins. As recently as 2012, voters in Florida decisively rejected a constitutional amendment to permit vouchers. Voucher proponents complain that the public doesn’t understand its own best interest and is misled by teachers’ unions, who are just protecting their jobs and power. The election results in state after state show that the public does not want to subsidize religious schools with its tax dollars. Voucher advocates do not accept that the public likes and supports its community public schools, free from any religious teachings, with doors open to all. So choice supporters continually parrot or manufacture a steady stream of bad news about public education to shake the public’s faith in public schools. However, even when polls show that people have a low opinion of American education, they nonetheless continue to have a high opinion of their own neighborhood schools.
Today’s reformers assert that “the money should follow the child” and they herald this as a bold new reform idea. But it is not new. It is the same idea that was behind vouchers more than half a century ago. Today, the same arguments are made by Governor Bobby Jindal in Louisiana, who wants the money to follow the child to any school (even schools that teach creationism as science), any online corporation, any for- profit vendor of educational services, regardless of experience, quality or qualifications. As public money is dispersed, so is public oversight and accountability for the spending of public money. Governor Rick Snyder of Michigan, eager to dismantle public education, proposed a formula for education funding based on this principle: “Any time, any place, any way, any pace.” Conservative governors in other states make the same arguments. [1] But there is nothing conservative about replacing a beloved and traditional community institution — the public school — with a marketplace of privately run schools and for- profit vendors. This is a radical project, not conservative at all.
The organizations that advocate for “reform” have names that are appealing and innocuous, like the American Federation for Children, the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), Better Education for Kids (B4K), Black Alliance for Educational Options, the education program at the Brookings Institution, the Center for Education Reform, Chiefs for Change, ConnCAN (and its spin- off, 50CAN, as well as state- specific groups like MinnCAN, NYCAN and RI- CAN), Democrats for Education Reform, the Education Equality Project, Education Reform Now, Educators 4 Excellence, EdVoice, the Foundation for Excellence in Education, the National Council on Teacher Quality, New Leaders for New Schools, NewSchools Venture Fund, Parent Revolution, Stand for Children, Students for Education Reform, StudentsFirst, Teach for America, Teach Plus and a host of others. Many of these groups have overlapping membership on their boards and are funded by the same foundations. They exist in a giant echo chamber, listening and talking only to one another, dismissing the concerns of parents, teachers and communities.
The reformers are Republicans and Democrats. They include not only far- right Republican governors but some Democratic governors as well.
The reformers are Republicans and Democrats. They include not only far- right Republican governors but some Democratic governors as well. They include President Barack Obama and Secretary Arne Duncan, as well as Democratic mayors in such cities as Newark, Chicago and Los Angeles. Elected officials of both parties have signed on to an agenda that threatens the future of public education.
The aims of the corporate reform movement are supported by a broad array of think tanks, some purportedly liberal, some centrist, some on the right and some on the far right. These include the American Enterprise Institute, the Center for American Progress, the Center on Reinventing Public Education, Education Sector, the Thomas B.
Fordham Institute, the Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice, the Goldwater Institute, the Heartland Institute, the Heritage Foundation, the Koret Task Force at the Hoover Institution and Policy Innovators in Education Network, as well as a bevy of state- level public policy think tanks that support privatization. Many of these think tanks — both liberal and conservative — work closely together, co- sponsoring conferences and publications to advance their shared agenda. Major foundations handsomely fund the think tanks that promote the corporate reform ideology.
The corporate reform movement has co- opted progressive themes and language in the service of radical purposes. Advocating the privatization of public education is deeply reactionary. Disabling or eliminating teachers’ unions removes the strongest voice in each state to advocate for public education and to fight crippling budget cuts. In every state, classroom teachers are experts in education; they know what their students need and their collective voice should be part of any public decision about school improvement. Stripping teachers of their job protections limits academic freedom. Evaluating teachers by the test scores of their students undermines professionalism and encourages teaching to the test. Claiming to be in the forefront of a civil rights movement while ignoring poverty and segregation is reactionary and duplicitous.
The leading funders of the reform movement are the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which supports charter schools and test- based teacher evaluation; the Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation, which supports charter schools and trains urban superintendents in its managerial philosophy; and the Walton Family Foundation, which funds vouchers and charters.
The leading funders of the reform movement are the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which supports charter schools and test- based teacher evaluation; the Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation, which supports charter schools and trains urban superintendents in its managerial philosophy; and the Walton Family Foundation, which funds vouchers and charters. These powerful and wealthy foundations have overlapping interests. They subsidize many organizations in common, such as Teach for America (which recruits young college graduates to teach for two years in low- income schools), the KIPP charter schools and Parent Revolution (the chief advocates of the “parent trigger” idea). They jointly funded the digital learning policy statement issued by Jeb Bush, former governor of Florida and Bob Wise, former governor of West Virginia, which promotes the proliferation of low- quality virtual charter schools. Many other wealthy foundations support the corporate reform agenda, including the Laura and John Arnold Foundation, the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation, the Bradley Foundation, the Robertson Foundation, the Fisher Foundation and the Anschutz Foundation, as well as fabulously rich individuals, including the Bezos family (Amazon.com), Reed Hastings (Netflix) and Rupert Murdoch (News Corporation).
The Gates Foundation is by far the largest foundation in the United States and possibly the world. It awards hundreds of millions of dollars in education grants every year. In addition to underwriting the expansion of charter schools, it invests heavily in test- based evaluation of teachers and merit pay. It has made grants to the biggest teachers’ unions, the American Federation of Teachers and the National Education Association and also made grants to start groups of young teachers to challenge the teachers’ unions. It is difficult to find education organizations that have not been funded by the Gates Foundation. It underwrites “advocacy,” by subsidizing almost every major think tank in Washington, D.C. It supported the creation, evaluation and promotion of the Common Core State Standards, which have been adopted in almost every state. In addition, the Gates Foundation has joined in a partnership with the British publisher Pearson to develop online curriculum for teaching the Common Core standards. And the Gates Foundation underwrote the creation of a large database project to collect confidential student data with Wireless Generation, a subsidiary of Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation; critics fear that this information will be disclosed to vendors to market new products to schools and students.[2]
The corporate reform movement has a well- honed message: We are the reformers. We have solutions. The public schools are failing. The public schools are in decline. The public schools don’t work. The public schools are obsolete and broken.
The corporate reform movement has a well- honed message: We are the reformers. We have solutions. The public schools are failing. The public schools are in decline. The public schools don’t work. The public schools are obsolete and broken. We want to innovate. We know how to fix schools. We know how to close the achievement gap. We are leading the civil rights movement of our era. We want a great teacher in every classroom. Class size doesn’t matter. Teachers should be paid more if their students get higher scores. They should be fi red if their students don’t get higher scores. Teachers should have their seniority and tenure stripped from them because those things protect bad teachers. Bad teachers cause the achievement gap. Great teachers close the achievement gap. Teachers’ unions are greedy and don’t care about children. People who draw attention to poverty are just making excuses for bad teachers and failing public schools. Those who don’t agree with our strategies are defenders of the status quo. They have no solutions. We have solutions. We know what works. Testing works. Accountability works. Privately managed charter schools work. Closing schools with low test scores works. Paying bonuses to teachers to get higher scores works. Online instruction works. Replacing teachers with online instruction not only works but cuts costs while providing profits to edu-entrepreneurs who will spur further innovation.
It is a seductive message because it offers hope that someone knows how to fix difficult problems. They claim they not only know how to do it but are doing it. They express their message with clarity and certainty. Their message resonates with the major media and with the most powerful people in our society: billionaires, corporate executives, the leaders of major foundations, the president of the United States, the US secretary of education, Wall Street hedge fund managers, pundits and think tank opinion makers.
The corporate reformers don’t like local school boards, because they sometimes defer to the views of teachers and they squabble too much; school boards, they say, slow down decision making with public hearings and sometimes they make the wrong decisions. That is always a risk in a democracy; deliberative bodies are slow and sometimes make mistakes.
Corporate reformers want education decisions in the hands of a powerful executive who is immune to public opinion. They like the idea of a governor who appoints a commission to override the decisions of local school boards that resist charter schools.
Corporate reformers want education decisions in the hands of a powerful executive who is immune to public opinion. They like the idea of a governor who appoints a commission to override the decisions of local school boards that resist charter schools. They like the idea of a superintendent at the state level who has unlimited power to impose his (their) policies, especially closing public schools and opening charter schools. In urban districts, their preferred mode of governance is a mayor or superintendent who controls the schools and answers to no one. At the school level, they want principals who can hire and fire at will, without due process. Corporate reformers don’t like checks and balances. They want executives who can ignore the protests of parents, students, teachers and community leaders, no matter how loudly they complain and no matter how many show up at public hearings or protest at rallies.
It pays to be on the reform team, certainly much more than it does to be a public school teacher. When Chicago’s teachers went on strike in September 2012, the national media thought it shocking that the average Chicago teacher was paid $75,000 a year; they ignored the fact that Chicago teachers are compelled by law to live in Chicago and that this is not an outrageous salary for an educated, experienced professional who lives in a major city. Yet the media are indifferent when charter executives receive salaries of $300,000, $400,000, $500,000, to oversee a single school or a chain of small schools. The reformers are flush with cash from foundations and corporations. The Walton Family Foundation alone made school- reform grants of $159 million in 2011. Reformers often complain about the power and influence of the teachers’ unions, but the unions cannot match the resources of the Gates Foundation and the Walton Family Foundation, as well as the many other foundations that march in lockstep with them, plus individual billionaires and millionaires who support candidates for state and local school board races. (The Gates and Walton foundations alone spend more than $500 million annually on education projects, which is more than ten times what unions spend to support civil rights groups and other allies.) When you combine the wealth of the big foundations with the financial and political clout of the US Department of Education, they are a mighty force.[3] The “reformers” are the status quo.
For an ambitious person, being part of the corporate reform movement offers not only access to money but an accelerated route to professional success.
For an ambitious person, being part of the corporate reform movement offers not only access to money but an accelerated route to professional success. Graduates of the Broad Superintendents Academy, an unaccredited program created by the Broad Foundation to teach Eli Broad’s management style of corporate reform, are on a fast track to become superintendents of urban districts — and the Broad Foundation may enhance their salaries. Some of the graduates of this short- term program are now state superintendents. Many are in charge of urban districts.
The young person who joins up with Teach for America or one of the big charter chains becomes part of a powerful network. These organizations provide an escalator to the top that no ordinary teaching career can match. Teachers without these connections may work for years in their classrooms before they are even considered for department chair or assistant principal. Those who rise in the corporate reform movement are soon managing their own charter schools or assuming leadership roles in large urban districts or state education departments, some before they reach the age of 30.
Wall Street hedge fund managers have their own organization, called Democrats for Education Reform (DFER). DFER raises money for candidates and elected officials whom it likes and it doesn’t like them unless they agree to the corporate reform agenda, especially the expansion of charter schools and the imposition of teacher evaluation systems based on test scores (though not for teachers in the charter schools it supports). At the inaugural meeting of DFER in 2005, the speaker for the event was a promising young senator from Illinois, Barack Obama. When Obama ran for president in 2008, his chief education spokesperson was Linda Darling- Hammond of Stanford University. But when Obama was elected, he chose Arne Duncan as secretary of education. Duncan not only was his friend but was recommended by DFER. [4]
In states with a Republican governor and a Republican supermajority in the legislature, the measures to privatize education advanced rapidly.
Arne Duncan is one of the recognized leaders of the corporate reform movement who implemented many of its ideas when he was superintendent of schools in Chicago. Jeb Bush, former governor of Florida, is another national leader. He created an organization called the Foundation for Excellence in Education, which actively promotes vouchers, charter schools, for- profit charter schools, virtual learning and for- profit online corporations, as well as testing and accountability tied to test scores. In states with a Republican governor and a Republican supermajority in the legislature, the measures to privatize education advanced rapidly. In Michigan, Governor Rick Snyder promoted legislation to allow emergency managers to take over fiscally troubled districts; in two small school districts, the emergency managers closed the public schools and gave the students to a for- profit charter school chain (the law was repealed in 2012 by Michigan voters, but Snyder left the emergency managers and their decisions in place). Governor Mitch Daniels and the Indiana legislature authorized vouchers, for- profit charter schools, for- profit cyber- charters and a test- based teacher accountability system. Governor Bobby Jindal of Louisiana pushed through sweeping legislation in 2012 that offered vouchers to more than half the students in the state and authorized the opening of many new charter schools; in addition, students will be able to take their state money and spend it in almost any place that calls itself a vendor of educational services. The money to support the alternatives to public education was to be taken out of the budget for public schools, until state courts ruled it unconstitutional to do so. The Louisiana reform legislation ties teachers’ evaluations to the test scores of their students, but teachers in charter schools and voucher schools do not need to be certified or subject to the same requirements, as is the case in many other states and districts.
When the Louisiana legislation was hurriedly passed, it was hailed by a group of state superintendents called Chiefs for Change as “student- centered reforms” that “will completely transform Louisiana and its students.” [5] Chiefs for Change is affiliated with Jeb Bush’s Foundation for Excellence in Education. It describes itself as a coalition of state leaders who share a “zeal for education reform.” Its members include the state superintendents in Rhode Island, Indiana, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Florida, Maine, New Jersey and New Mexico.
Much of the legislation for the education reform movement in states with conservative governors or legislatures comes from a shadowy group called ALEC (the American Legislative Exchange Council).
Much of the legislation for the education reform movement in states with conservative governors or legislatures comes from a shadowy group called ALEC (the American Legislative Exchange Council). ALEC stayed out of the public eye until 2012, when a shooting in Florida brought it unwanted national attention. A black teenager named Trayvon Martin was killed by a man who said he was defending himself in accordance with Florida’s “stand your ground” law, which was based on model legislation written by ALEC. ALEC was founded in 1973 to advance privatization and free- market principles. Its membership includes some 2,000 state legislators. Funded by scores of major corporations and philanthropists, ALEC writes model legislation, which its members bring to their state legislatures. Many states have adopted ALEC model laws, simply inserting the name of the state into the proposed legislative language. ALEC does not like public schools or unions. ALEC likes vouchers and charter schools. It wants to eliminate tenure and seniority and to encourage paths into teaching that don’t involve getting a license or pedagogical training. ALEC likes for- profit schools, especially cyber- charters. It promotes “parent trigger” laws to enable privatizers to convince parents to sign petitions that will turn their schools over to charter managers. [6]
The most unexpected supporter of corporate reform was President Barack Obama. Educators enthusiastically supported Obama, expecting that he would eliminate the noxious policies of President Bush’s No Child Left Behind. They assumed, given his history as a community organizer and his sympathy for society’s least fortunate, that his administration would adopt policies that responded to the needs of children, rather than concentrating on testing and accountability.
The first big surprise for educators occurred when President Obama abandoned Linda Darling-Hammond and selected Arne Duncan, who had run the low- performing schools of Chicago, as secretary of education. The second big surprise — shock, actually — happened when the Obama administration released the details of Race to the Top, its major initiative, which was designed in Secretary Duncan’s office with the help of consultants from the Gates Foundation, the Broad Foundation and other advocates of high- stakes testing and charter schools.
The most unexpected supporter of corporate reform was President Barack Obama. Educators enthusiastically supported Obama, expecting that he would eliminate the noxious policies of President Bush’s No Child Left Behind.
There was very little difference between Race to the Top and NCLB. The Obama program preserved testing, accountability and choice at the center of the federal agenda. Race to the Top was even more punitive than NCLB. It insisted that states evaluate teachers in relation to the test scores of their students, which made standardized testing even more important than it was under NCLB. It encouraged states to authorize more privately managed charter schools, an initiative that President George W. Bush would never have been able to get through a Democratic- controlled Congress. It endorsed competition and choice, which were traditional themes of the Republican Party. The very concept of a “race to the top” repudiates the traditional Democratic Party commitment to equity; it suggests that the winner will “race to the top,” leaving the losers far behind. But a commitment to equity means that federal resources should be allocated based on need, not on a competition between the swift and the slow.
Because Race to the Top was handsomely funded, states eagerly competed for a share of its $5 billion. President Obama spoke out of both sides of his mouth about this signature program. He said in his State of the Union address in 2011 that Race to the Top was not a topdown mandate (after all, states had volunteered to accept its mandates) but “the work of local teachers and principals; school boards and communities” (which was not true in any sense).
Even though Race to the Top made standardized testing more important than ever, President Obama spoke out against testing. In 2011, he said he was strongly opposed to teaching to the test. He said,
One thing I never want to see happen is schools that are just teaching to the test. Because then you’re not learning about the world; you’re not learning about different cultures, you’re not learning about science, you’re not learning about math. All you’re learning about is how to fill out a little bubble on an exam and the little tricks that you need to do in order to take a test. And that’s not going to make education interesting to you. And young people do well in stuff that they’re interested in. They’re not going to do as well if it’s boring.
His critics agreed with him. The California teacher and blogger Anthony Cody wondered if the president knew that Race to the Top required states to tie teacher evaluations to test scores, that Secretary Duncan wanted to evaluate teacher preparation programs by the test scores of the students of the teachers they produced and that Obama’s Department of Education “is proposing greatly expanding both the number of subjects tested and the frequency of tests, to enable us to measure the ‘value’ each teacher adds to their students.” At the same time that the president was lamenting “teaching to the test,” his own policies made it necessary to teach to the test or be fired. [7]
In his 2012 State of the Union, the president’s message was even more inconsistent. He said that he wanted schools to encourage teachers to “teach with creativity and passion; to stop teaching to the test,” but at the same time he wanted schools to “reward the best ones” and “replace teachers who just aren’t helping kids learn.” He didn’t acknowledge that the rewards and the punishments he approved would be tied, at his administration’s insistence, to test scores.
In response to Race to the Top, the number of charter schools grew rapidly. For-profit charter schools expanded, as did virtual charter schools. Neither President Obama nor Secretary Duncan expressed any concern about the risks of deregulating public money to private corporations, nor did they oppose the entry of for-profit entrepreneurs into the charter school market. By advocating for school choice rather than public schools, Race to the Top implicitly encouraged not only charters but the other form of school choice: vouchers.
The 2010 elections brought a new crop of far-right governors into office and these governors warmly embraced charter schools and advocated for vouchers. The Obama administration was silent; after a brief attempt to defund the Washington, DC, voucher program, the administration gave in to Republican protests and permitted it to continue.
The 2010 elections brought a new crop of far-right governors into office and these governors warmly embraced charter schools and advocated for vouchers. The Obama administration was silent; after a brief attempt to defund the Washington, DC, voucher program, the administration gave in to Republican protests and permitted it to continue. As state after state adopted vouchers, the Obama administration raised no protest against the advance of privatization. Nor did Obama strongly object when the governors of Republican states attacked the collective bargaining rights of public- sector unions. In the spring of 2011, Wisconsin’s right- wing governor, Scott Walker, proposed to strip away the collective bargaining rights of most public sector workers, including teachers and they organized massive protests in Madison. They surrounded the state capitol and mounted daily protests. President Obama said he sided with the workers but didn’t show up in Madison to demonstrate his support. Instead, he and Secretary Duncan flew to Miami in the middle of the Wisconsin protests to praise the former Florida governor Jeb Bush as “a champion of education reform” and to celebrate the successful “turnaround” of Miami Central High School. The national media recognized that President Obama was bestowing important support on Jeb Bush’s policies of testing, accountability and grading of schools. The national media did not pay attention, however, when the Florida Department of Education announced plans to shutter Miami Central because of its low performance only four months after the meeting between President Obama and Governor Bush. The state granted the school a waiver to avoid closure. Despite some gains, it was still one of the state’s lowest-performing high schools.[8]
In his support for charter schools, high- stakes testing, merit pay and evaluating teachers by test scores, President Obama forged a bipartisan consensus. But he had strange bedfellows, at least for a Democrat. When I blogged about ALEC and its right- wing agenda for privatization and lowering standards for entry into teaching, the organization’s research director responded that President Obama shared credit with ALEC for promoting charter schools and “teaching- profession reforms.” During the 2012 election campaign, the only difference between Obama and Mitt Romney in relation to their K– 12 policy was that Romney supported vouchers (which he called “opportunity scholarships”) and Obama did not.[9]
During the 2012 election campaign, the only difference between Obama and Mitt Romney in relation to their K–12 policy was that Romney supported vouchers (which he called “opportunity scholarships”) and Obama did not.
Neither candidate in the 2012 election supported public education. Both agreed that it was in crisis and that it needed radical change. In their debates, the subject of poverty never came up. Indeed, the subject of education was barely mentioned aside from the candidates’ agreement that Race to the Top was a great success.
The public is only dimly aware of the reform movement’s privatization agenda. The deceptive rhetoric of the privatization movement masks its underlying goal to replace public education with a system in which public funds are withdrawn from public oversight to subsidize privately managed charter schools, voucher schools, online academies, for- profit schools, and other private vendors.
No matter how many Hollywood movies the corporate reformers produce, no matter how many television specials sing the glories of privatization, no matter how often the reformers belittle the public schools and their teachers, the public is not yet ready to relinquish its public schools to speculators, entrepreneurs, ideologues, snake- oil salesmen, profit- making businesses and Wall Street hedge fund managers.
1. Rick Snyder, “A Special Message from Rick Snyder: Education Reform” (memorandum), April 27, 2011.
2. Sam Dillon, “Behind Grass-Roots School Advocacy, Bill Gates,” The New York Times, May 21, 2011; Sam Dillon, “Foundations Join to Offer Online Courses for Schools,” The New York Times, April 27, 2011; Stephanie Simon, “K– 12 Student Database Jazzes Tech Startups, Spooks Parents,” Reuters, March 3, 2013.
3. The National Education Association and the American Federation of Teachers together gave a total of $330 million to political campaigns and civil rights groups over a six- year period from 2005 to 2011. Alicia Mundy, “Teachers Unions Give Broadly,” The Wall Street Journal, July 12, 2012. During the same period of time, the major foundations supporting test — based accountability and choice spent many times that amount. Gates spends $300 — $400 million each year on education. Ken Libby, “A Look at the Education Programs of the Gates Foundation,” Shanker Blog, March 2, 2012. In 2011, the Walton Family Foundation spent $159 million on education grants. These figures do not include political contributions made by either Gates or the Walton family.
4. Steven Brill, Class Warfare: Inside the Fight to Fix America’s Schools (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2011), 131– 32, 224– 25.
5.“Chiefs for Change Statement on Louisiana’s Bold Education Reforms,” Foundation for Excellence in Education website, April 18, 2012.
6. Andrew Ujifusa, “Policy Shop Casts Long K– 12 Shadow,” Education Week, April 25, 2012.
7. Julie Underwood and Julie F. Mead, “A Smart ALEC Threatens Public Education,” Education Week, February 29, 2012.
8. Anthony Cody, “Obama Blasts His Own Education Policies,” Living in Dialogue (blog), Education Week, March 29, 2011; Sunlen Miller, “Obama on Wisconsin Budget Protests: ‘An Assault on Unions,’ “ABC News, February 17, 2011; Nia- Malika Henderson and Peter Wallsten, “Obama Praises Jeb Bush on Education Reform,” The Washington Post, March 4, 2011; “Struggling Florida Schools Get More Time,” WCTV, July 19, 2011.
9. Adam Peshek, “ALEC Responds to Ravitch Blog Post,” Education Week, May 15, 2012. Reign of Error by Diane Ravitch Copyright © 2013 by Diane Ravitch. Excerpted by permission of Knopf, a division of Random House LLC. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher. |
Unless a Canadian court decides otherwise, the ski jumper with the longest flight on record at Vancouver's Olympic facility will not attend the winter Games in February.
She is not allowed to compete.
Olympic ski jumping is a men's-only domain. Since the first winter Games in 1924, men have been swooping down snowy ramps at 55 m.p.h. and springing into flight – human rockets hurtling chin-first, hands thrown behind, and skis angled forward. With nothing but speed and their skis to aid them, they fly the length of a football field or farther – a feat of technical genius disguised in balletic grace.
But women can do it, too – the best often flying as far as men.
With women now included in such formerly all-male Olympic events as boxing, wrestling, bobsleigh, and luge, the last Olympic door closed to women is ski jumping.
But American ski jumper Lindsey Van – who set the record on the 90-meter jump when the Olympic venue opened in Vancouver, British Columbia, last year and is the reigning world champion – hasn't given up on prying that door open. It's a logical step for the 24-year-old, who, since age 7, has been soaring over Earth's mundane limits on what is possible.
She and more than a dozen other women jumpers from Slovenia to Norway hope to legally force the addition of women's jumping before the Games open Feb. 12. Their lawsuit against the Vancouver Organizing Committee (VANOC) contends that not allowing women to jump for gold is a form of discrimination under Canadian laws that prohibit gender discrimination in government activities.
A Canadian judge, last summer, agreed: It is discrimination.
But her ruling concluded that while VANOC is subject to those antidiscrimination laws, it can't control the events – that's the domain of the International Olympic Committee (IOC). The IOC voted in 2006 against including women's ski jumping in 2010 because it deemed there weren't enough high-level women to create competition worthy of the Olympics. Because the IOC isn't bound by Canadian law, the judge ruled, Canada is powerless to change the program.
So the jumpers' appeal asks Canada to refuse to hold the men's event unless both genders can compete.
When the appeal is heard Nov. 12 and 13, it will highlight not just women's battle to wipe out the last vestige of an old-boys-club Olympic culture, but also competing demands on the Olympic ideal:
•Allowing athletes to pursue success on the most visible world stage.
•Broadening the appeal of the Games among Gen-Xers interested in more extreme sports while keeping costs manageable.
•Satisfying TV, a key sponsor.
"IT'S A TEXTBOOK CASE OF DISCRIMINATION," says Anita DeFrantz, chair of the IOC's Women and Sports Commission. "This group of athletes is being told that they're not good enough, that there aren't enough women in the top level.... That's never been an issue before."
The IOC defends its position as preservation of the Olympic standard, saying the top women jumpers don't deserve the same gold that is awarded to figure skaters and alpine skiers who have risen to the top of far larger fields.
But the IOC's recent record of admitting both women's events (see chart) and disciplines with weak fields – such as bobsleigh and ski cross – suggests the issue is not as clear-cut as either side asserts.
More than 80 years after men's ski jumping debuted as one of six original Olympic sports, the International Ski Federation (FIS) – which stages ski events at the Olympics – voted in 2006 to recommend women's jumping for inclusion in the 2010 Games. The federation endorsed women's ski cross over ski jumping. Neither sport fully met the IOC criteria for inclusion. The IOC only approved ski cross, which had the required two world championships but less than half as many elite women as ski jumping. Men's ski jumping doesn't meet the criteria either, but was grandfathered in. Compounding suspicions of gender discrimination was the fact that FIS president Gian Franco Kasper told National Public Radio in 2005 that jumping was too dangerous for women, that it "seems to be not appropriate for the ladies from a medical point of view."
But Walter Sieber, a Canadian member of the IOC division that recommended not to include women's ski jumping in the 2010 Games, denies that the decision had anything to do with gender – pointing to the IOC's decision this year to include women's boxing as evidence of the IOC's true colors.
While he admits that the top women jumpers are very competitive, he maintains that there aren't enough competitors at that level to warrant an Olympic sport.
The 2009 World Championships results support that view: The women's field of 36 had a 20-point gap between top competitors and weaker ones, while the men's field of 50 competitors finished closer together.
THE BOTTOM LINE, claim both those alleging and denying sex discrimination, is the hard fact that the multibillion-dollar Olympic machine is subject to the rising pressure of commercialism.
"What matters to the IOC is: Will the event sell tickets, will it sell TV time, is it popular?" asserts Jacqueline Hansen, a runner who was a member of the lobby that won a place for the women's marathon in the 1984 Olympics.
Since then, the sway of TV has become so great that Michael Phelps swam at 6 a.m. in Beijing – prime time in the US. TV may well have played into the IOC's decision to approve women's ski cross events for the 2010 games. A sort of motocross on snow, the sport is a variation on snowboard cross – an event introduced in the 2006 Torino Games that was a hit with NBC, which paid $1.5 billion for TV rights there and in Beijing.
Olympic officials do consider TV appeal in deciding on sports, confirms Mr. Sieber. In the era of IOC president Juan Antonio Samaranch, in the 1990s, he says, the emphasis was "to have many sports involved," but the expanding Games became unwieldy for organizers. In the current era, the bar for new events is higher – they must be "good for TV" and "an addition that enhances the program."
AMERICAN SKI JUMPER JESSICA JEROME, fresh from winning the US Nationals in Lake Placid, N.Y., last month, says she understands the commercial pressures on the IOC: "The Olympics for so long has been what Mom and Dad sit down to watch while the kids are out skateboarding or snowboarding – doing these things that are radical and rebellious."
But while she acknowledges that X-Games sports will increase viewership and revenue – benefiting all Olympic sports, ski jumping is no less daring. "I think it's one of the most ex-treme sports ... it's got that dangerous element, but it's also got that beautiful, elegant thing to it," she says.
BUT WHILE THE WOMEN jumpers recognize the need to grow the sport, they say they face discrimination at every level – a point supported by a 2009 book by Western European sports scholars, "Sport and Gender Matters in Western Countries."
"Barred from serious competition for decades because jumping was not deemed appropriate for females, women ski jumpers have not been able to establish the appropriate experience in international level training and competition and to gain the type of 'technical merit' required...." concluded a chapter on ski jumping that also notes women were jumping as early as the 1920s.
"Jumping is a very traditional European old-men type of sport. They think that women will take away the extremeness of it," says Ms. Jerome,
Women jumpers got their first international circuit in 2004, and were allowed to compete at world championships for the first time last year. But in a sport in which the best European men are treated like rock stars and pocket roughly $10,000 per win, the women are only allowed to compete on a secondary circuit that awards winners $500. And, says Ms. Jerome, women are treated very differently. She and her teammates have eaten meals with barn cats jumping on the table and slept above livestock stalls in lodging arranged by competition organizers.
Even after Ms. Van won world championships last year, the US Ski Team – facing an 18 percent budget cut – dropped all funding for women's jumping, and men's, too.
THE BRITISH COLUMBIA Court of Appeal must now decide whether VANOC should refuse to hold men's ski jumping unless women are allowed to compete.
VANOC attorney George McIntosh argued before Judge Lauri Ann Fenlon that as host, VANOC implements, but can't control, the Olympic program. And while she ultimately found in VANOC's favor, she put his argument into stark relief when she asked Mr. McIntosh if VANOC would plead the same point if blacks weren't allowed to compete in the Vancouver Olympics. His answer, after an awkward silence, was yes.
VANOC has encouraged the IOC to include women's ski jumping, and if that happened, officials say, the Vancouver machine would be able to accommodate the women.
Without that action at the IOC level, however, no one is sure what to expect if the court upholds the women's appeal.
"It's unprecedented," says McIntosh, who half jokes that to enforce such a ruling, "[The VANOC chief] would have to be standing at the top of the jump with a bayonet." • |
(Reuters) - Researchers have warned that a bug in Apple Inc’s (AAPL.O) iOS operating system makes most iPhones and iPads vulnerable to cyber attacks by hackers seeking access to sensitive data and control of their devices.
Apple CEO Tim Cook introduces the IOS 8 operating system during his keynote address at the Worldwide Developers Conference in San Francisco, California June 2, 2014. REUTERS/Robert Galbraith
Cybersecurity firm FireEye Inc (FEYE.O) published details about the vulnerability on its blog on Monday, saying the bug enables hackers to access devices by persuading users to install malicious applications with tainted text messages, emails and Web links.
The malicious application can then be used to replace genuine, trusted apps that were installed through Apple’s App Store, including email and banking programs, with malicious software through a technique that FireEye has dubbed “Masque Attack.”
These attacks can be used to steal banking and email login credentials or other sensitive data, according to FireEye, which is well-regarded in cybersecurity circles for its research.
“It is a very powerful vulnerability and it is easy to exploit,” FireEye Senior Staff Research Scientist Tao Wei said in an interview.
Apple’s iOS has robust security features that make it extremely difficult for attackers to install malware on devices using traditional techniques for infecting Windows machines and Android mobile devices with malicious emails and Web links. The “Masque Attack” makes that possible by exploiting a system that Apple developed to allow large organizations to deploy custom-built software without going through Apple’s App Store, according to David Richardson, iOS product manager at mobile security firm Lookout.
Those applications are not vetted by Apple for malicious software, unlike apps in its App Store, though users do receive pop-up notifications asking if they want to prevent the apps from installing on devices, he said.
“You can just say ‘Don’t install.’ As long as you do that, you will be protected from this vulnerability,” Richardson said.
FireEye disclosed the vulnerability to Apple in July and representatives of the company said they were working to fix the bug, according to Wei.
Apple could not immediately be reached for comment.
News of the vulnerability began to leak out in October on specialized Web forums where security experts and hackers alike discuss information on Apple bugs, Wei said.
He said FireEye decided to go public with its findings after Palo Alto Networks Inc (PANW.N) last week uncovered WireLurker, the first campaign to exploit the vulnerability.
“Currently WireLurker is the only one, but we will see more,” Wei said. |
Former Sale Sharks player Cillian Willis is to sue the club for alleged clinical negligence over a career-ending concussion
Sports scientists are to research the long-term health effects of playing rugby, including the implications for those who suffer concussion.
Retired amateur and professional players across the UK will be assessed as part of a university study.
A Rugby Football Union report in March found there were 645 injuries in the 2014-15 Premiership season, with their severity the highest since 2002.
The research will also explore muscle, bone, joint and cardiometabolic health.
Cardiometabolic risk refers to the chances of having diabetes, heart disease or a stroke.
The study - by UK RugbyHealth - follows research in 2015 that pointed to links between frequent concussion and brain function, as well as the Cillian Willis case.
Former Sale Sharks player Willis, 31, is to sue the club for alleged clinical negligence over a career-ending concussion. Sale are yet to comment.
The Carnegie Research Institute at Leeds Beckett University will lead the study, alongside researchers at the Auckland University of Technology (AUT) and the University of Aberdeen.
Dr Karen Hind, senior research fellow at Leeds Beckett, said: "Our project will examine links between concussions and future health.
"But it is also a broad study of how people who played rugby are getting on later in life. " |
LAS VEGAS, NV--(Marketwired - Jun 22, 2016) - As hemp legalization continues to make major inroads in the industrial hemp industry across America, Hemp, Inc. ( OTC PINK : HEMP) is pleased to report that Rhode Island's legislature has passed a bill to "legalize the production and processing of industrial hemp for commercial purposes in the state." According to the Rhode Island General Assembly, HB 8232, which may also be cited as Rhode Island's "Hemp Growth Act", would take effect on January 1, 2017 and would permit the growth of hemp by properly licensed individuals that have applied and met the requirements and would also allow higher educational institutions to grow hemp for educational and research purposes pending approval from the Department of Health.
In an article posted by The Tenth Amendment Center, the bill was initially introduced on May 19, 2016 as legislation that "would have allowed state-licensed representatives of the Narragansett Indian Tribe to produce, possess, distribute, and commercially trade industrial hemp. In a rapid series of events, the bill was amended in the House Committee of Health Education and Welfare to apply to everybody. On June 17, the House passed the amended bill 71-0. The Senate concurred the next day by a 26-7 margin."
Rhode Island Governor Gina Raimondo will either sign or veto the bill. As with North Carolina, if she doesn't act, the bill will become law without her signature. Many believe this law is yet another stepping stone in nullifying federal prohibition of hemp.
Bruce Perlowin, CEO of Hemp, Inc. ( OTC PINK : HEMP), said, "Yesterday, it was New York. Today, it's Rhode Island. This shows the hemp revolution is unstoppable and relentless. More and more states are realizing how important hemp is to the American culture with its amazing economic benefits as demand for hemp in the marketplace continue to grow by leaps and bounds."
The Hemp Grow Act would prohibit Rhode Island's Business Regulation department from adopting any rules prohibiting a person or entity from growing or distributing hemp based on the legal status of hemp under federal law. While specific language in the bill acknowledges federal prohibition on hemp, the language also asserts that the state can legally dictate its own policy notwithstanding federal law.
Hemp, Inc.'s press release yesterday reported on New York's passage of Bill (A9310/S6960). This bill would allow for the "transportation, processing, sale, and distribution of industrial hemp" as part of the State's research pilot program.
The first half of 2016 has been amazing.
In January, with a unanimous approval in both chambers of legislature, Nevada made it legal to cultivate hemp under current federal guidelines.
Virginia House of Delegates passed a bill to authorize the farming and production of industrial hemp in the state for commercial purposes with a 98-0 vote.
Kansas' Senate Bill 147 would legalize hemp oil for treating seizure disorders.
In Maine, a new law authorizes individuals and businesses to engage in the farming, production, and commerce of hemp in Maine.
In February, South Dakota House of Representatives approved a bill that would allow the cultivation of industrial hemp in the state of South Dakota.
In March, Hawaii passed a bill "that would allow the state Department of Agriculture to create pilot research programs for industrial hemp are moving through both chambers of the state Legislature."
In Oregon's 2016 legislative session, lawmakers passed agriculture-related bills which included allowing growers to cultivate hemp in greenhouses and "propagate it from cuttings under House Bill 4060, which eliminates the requirement that the crop be directly seeded in fields of at least 2.5 acres."
In Washington, state legislature also passed a bill that would allow licensed growers to produce industrial hemp in Washington as part of a research program.
Pennsylvania Senate voted 49-0, a unanimous vote, in favor of industrial hemp to provide for an industrial hemp cultivation pilot program in the Commonwealth through the establishment of an Industrial Hemp Licensing Board within Pennsylvania's Department of Agriculture.
In April, Missouri's House of Representatives passed industrial hemp bill HB 2038 which is set to legalize and regulate the cultivation of industrial hemp in the state of Missouri.
Alabama House and Senate passed an industrial hemp bill that would authorize the Department of Agriculture and Industries to administer an industrial hemp research program.
Louisiana's House Agriculture Committee approved two bills to the House floor, HB1085 and HB1099 which authorizes institutions of higher education to develop a pilot program to study the growth, cultivation or marketing of industrial hemp for agricultural or academic research.
Hemp, Inc. also reached a few milestones. The company had announced its first Kenaf harvest from its wholly owned subsidiary, Industrial Hemp Manufacturing, LLC, in Spring Hope, North Carolina. One hundred fifty acres of Kenaf were cut, raked, baled and transported to Hemp, Inc.'s 70,000 square foot industrial hemp processing facility where it was weighed, stored and paid for. It went from seed, to harvest, to paying the farmers. With the company's 150-acre Kenaf crop, it was able to inject revenue into the local farming community.
Hemp, Inc.'s 70,000 square foot multipurpose industrial hemp processing plant is in its final stages of completion. Spread over 9 acres, the processing facility makes up the central spoke of our North Carolina Hemp Hub. To see video footage of America's largest commercial hemp processing facility click here.
ABOUT THE NATIONAL HEMP ASSOCIATION
The National Hemp Association is a Colorado-based 501(c)6 trade association that supports the growth and development of all aspects of the emerging industrial hemp industry. NHA members include hemp farmers, processors, manufacturers, researchers, policy makers, elected and appointed officials, investors, and citizens who are in favor of the re-birth of industrial hemp as a major U.S. cash crop and sustainable agricultural commodity. Industrial hemp can provide significant jobs for farmers and small businesses and stimulate economic development for every state in the U.S.
More information at: (303) 413-8066 and www.NationalHempAssociation.org or to become a member of the NHA, click here.
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Watch as Hemp, Inc., the #1 leader in the industrial hemp industry, engages its shareholders and the public through each step in bringing back the hemp decorticator as described in the "Freedom Leaf Magazine" article "The Return of the Hemp Decorticator" by Steve Bloom. Freedom Leaf Magazine, a leading cannabis industry magazine is published by the public company, Freedom Leaf Magazine, Inc. "Hemp, Inc. Presents" is accessible 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, by visiting www.hempinc.com. To subscribe to the "Hemp, Inc. Presents" YouTube channel, be sure to click the subscribe button.
Subscribers will automatically get an email from YouTube every time a new Hemp, Inc. video update is posted along with suggestions of other similar videos. Stay up-to-date with the progress of Hemp, Inc.'s multipurpose industrial hemp processing plant while being educated on the industrial hemp industry. Our video update views are collectively reaching over a thousand views per week. Stay informed by subscribing to Hemp, Inc.'s video updates. Hemp, Inc. is positioning itself to be the avant-garde of the industrial hemp industry and processing industrial hemp.
HEMP NATION MAGAZINE
HempNationMagazine.com (HNM) is published by Hemp, Inc. and focuses on informing, educating, raising awareness and connecting the public to the powerful world of HEMP. HNM reports on Politics, Industrial Growth, Banking, Distribution, Medical, Lifestyles and Legalization. HNM is your source for all things HEMP and news about this emerging multi-billion-dollar industry. For more information on HNM, visit www.HempNationMagazine.com.
ABOUT INDUSTRIAL HEMP
Hemp is a durable natural fiber that is grown as a renewable source for raw materials that can be incorporated into thousands of products. It's one of the oldest domesticated crops known to man. Hemp is used as a nutritional food product for humans and pets, building materials, paper, textiles, cordage, organic body care and other nutraceuticals, just to name a few. It has thousands of other known uses. A hemp crop requires half the water alfalfa uses and can be grown without the heavy use of pesticides.
Farmers worldwide grow hemp commercially for fiber, seed, and oil for use in a variety of industrial and consumer products. The United States is the only developed nation that fails to cultivate industrial hemp as an economic crop on a large scale, according to the Congressional Resource Service. However, with rapidly changing laws and more states gravitating towards industrial hemp and passing an industrial hemp bill, that could change. Currently, the majority of hemp sold in the United States is imported from China and Canada, the world's largest exporters of the industrial hemp crop.
HEMP, INC.'S TRIPLE BOTTOM LINE
Hemp, Inc. ( OTC PINK : HEMP) seeks to benefit many constituencies from a "Cultural Creative" perspective, thereby not exploiting or endangering any group. CEO of Hemp, Inc., Bruce Perlowin, is positioning the company as a leader in the industrial hemp industry, with a social and environmental mission at its core. Thus, the publicly traded company believes in "up streaming" a portion of its profits back to its originator, in which some cases will one day be the American small farmer -- cultivating natural, sustainable products as an interwoven piece of nature. By Hemp, Inc. focusing on comprehensive investment results -- that is, with respect to performance along the interrelated dimensions of people, planet, and profits -- the triple bottom line approach can be an important tool to support its sustainability goal.
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SAFE HARBOR ACT
Forward-Looking Statements are included within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. All statements regarding our expected future financial position, results of operations, cash flows, financing plans, business strategy, products and services, competitive positions, growth opportunities, plans and objectives of management for future operations, including words such as "anticipate," "if," "believe," "plan," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "may," "could," "should," "will," and other similar expressions are forward-looking statements and involve risks, uncertainties and contingencies, many of which are beyond our control, which may cause actual results, performance, or achievements to differ materially from anticipated results, performance, or achievements. We are under no obligation to (and expressly disclaim any such obligation to) update or alter our forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. |
A spokesman for David Cameron, pictured leaving Downing Street today, has insisted no formal proposals have been tabled
The UK will 'strongly' protest changes to EU migration rules that mean asylum seekers have to make a claim to stay in the first country they arrive in.
Under the so-called Dublin Convention, refugees have to claim asylum in the country they first enter and they can be returned there under EU rules.
But bureaucrats are set to try and push a change on Britain as David Cameron attempts to complete his renegotiation on Britain's membership of the EU next month.
The ultimatum from Brussels is expected to include a new push for Britain to take tens of thousands of migrants as part of a quota system in return for the right to deport people who reach the UK to claim asylum after travelling through several other countries.
It could throw the Prime Minister's renegotiation of Britain's EU membership into turmoil ahead of the referendum.
Reforms to the Dublin protocols had been due for debate on March and today a No 10 spokesman today insisted no proposal had been put to Britain so far.
At a briefing with journalists, International Development Secretary Justine Greening said: 'Yes, we would be concerned and strongly against any change against on initial country status that we have got right now.'
Britain has resisted signing up to a quota system on the basis it will draw more migrants from a war torn Middle East. Instead, the Government has gone to refugee camps to rescue the most needy.
But reports from Brussels emerged last night indicating Britain would be told to join a controversial quota scheme to take new arrivals from Greece or Italy or face being stopped from using EU deportation rules to its advantage.
The United Nations has estimated one million people will try and get into Europe this year, either by sailing across the Mediterranean or walking through the Balkans - an area currently suffering from freezing winter weather.
Eurosceptics last night accused the EU of 'mafia-style blackmail' to force the UK to submit to their refugee relocation plan.
More than 12,000 people have been removed from Britain to other EU countries under these rules since 2003 – a figure the Home Office has boasted is 'many more than we have received in return'.
But in proposals to be officially unveiled in March, the Dublin Regulation would be overhauled to include a mandatory mechanism sharing would-be refugees arriving on the frontline between EU member states.
European Commission President Jean Claude Juncker today said he wanted an additional summit added to European leaders' schedule specifically discuss the migration crisis.
Because the talks on Britain's membership of the EU, Mr Juncker said he was 'rather worried that we won't have enough time to tackle the refugee question in sufficient depth'.
If the Dublin regulations were changed would mean that, if Britain wanted to be able to deport asylum seekers who have travelled through other EU countries first, it would have to take refugees.
Justine Greening, pictured last week visiting refugees in Lebanon, has said Britain will strongly resist any change to the system of asylum applications in Europe
Tory MEP David Campbell Bannerman, of Conservatives for Britain, last night told the Mail: 'This is a complete disgrace. It's clear we no longer have control of our borders, just the controls the EU allows us if we are lucky.
'The linkage between the two is mafia-style blackmail.'
An EU source said: 'The UK retains the right to choose whether or not they participate in the new system.'
Meanwhile, Austria has put a cap on the number of refugees it wants to accept - 37,500 this year and a total of 127,500 through 2019.
The numbers were announced after a meeting of federal ministers and provincial governors.
Chancellor Werner Faymann said the figures are a 'guideline' while deputy chancellor Reinhard Mitterlehner called it an 'upper limit'. The two officials are from the two parties that make up Austria's coalition government.
Officials said the government will be examining legal options on how it can react if those numbers are exceeded.
Mr Faymann called the decision an 'emergency solution', but said Austria 'cannot accept everyone applying for asylum'.
Asylum applications in the surged in 2015, according to figures from the International Monetary Fund and they are expected to grow further this year
Migration last year was driven by a huge surge in the number of people fleeing Syria, while numbers from Afghanistan also surged
Not included are the 90,000 applications from last year, of which many are still being processed.
THE DUBLIN RULES STRETCHED TO BREAKING POINT BY THE MIGRANT CRISIS The Dublin Convention is an EU law which requires refugees arriving in Europe to claim asylum in their country of arrival. It applies across the EU, while Switzerland, Norway and Iceland have also agreed to apply the provisions. Denmark has its own deal with the EU on the rules. The convention was signed in Dublin in July 1990 and came into force for 12 countries in October 1997. Dublin II was created in 2003, expanding on the original provisions. The goal of the laws is to discourage people from illegally travelling across Europe. The explosion of the migrant crisis in 2015 strained the convention to breaking point as countries in south and east Europe were deluged with hundreds of thousands of migrants escaping conflict in a matter of months. Several countries, including Germany, temporarily suspended the convention.
The European Council president warned yesterday that the EU will face the collapse of its Schengen border-free travel area unless migration policy is sorted out before the March summit. Donald Tusk told MEPs: 'We have no more than two months to get things under control.'
EU migration commission Dimitris Avramopoulos told a committee of MEPs that the 'Dublin Regulation'must be 'revised very deeply' to include a mechanism to distribute asylum seekers 'quasi-automatically'.
He said: 'The Commission will make a proposal by March of this year. Dublin should not be any more just a mechanism to allocate responsibility, but also a solidarity instrument among member states.
'In particular they need to have distribution key system under which applicants would be quasi-automatically distributed to a member state.
'Dublin must be revised very deeply. When Dublin was adopted the situation and the landscape was very different, things have changed.
'The ones who defend the old Dublin, I wonder whether they really understand the situation today.'
Meanwhile more migrants are arriving in Greece – the gateway to the EU – by boat each day than the figure for the whole of January last year. In the first 18 days of 2016, 31,244 people have come ashore on the country's islands at a rate of 1,735 a day.
Some 1,472 migrants were recorded crossing the Aegean in the whole of January last year.
More than 12,000 people have been sent to other EU countries from Britain since 2003. Pictured: Migrants from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan walk this week in very cold weather, through snow in Macedonia to a camp
The International Organization for Migration warned the surge suggests the number arriving in Greece in 2016 'may significantly exceed the record 853,650 migrants' who arrived last year.
Although the number is down on the 108,742 that arrived in December, it has set off alarm bells that the situation is much worse than a year ago.
Westminster insiders said the revelations made the prospect of David Cameron holding his EU referendum in June even more likely. Number Ten is concerned that, if this summer brings an influx even greater than last year, it could tip the contest in favour of the Leave campaign.
And the world's financial watchdog warned last night that Europe is being overwhelmed by a 'tide' of migrants and the jobs market may be unable to cope.
The IMF said the EU was struggling to absorb the vast numbers of new arrivals and a strong response was 'critical'.
But Brussels officials plan to link deportation scheme to the controversial refugee quota, which Britain has so far resisted signing up to
Cabinet minister Chris Grayling, who is expected to be a leading figure in the campaign for Britain to leave the EU, also warned there were 'some really difficult times ahead for countries in central Europe in dealing with the incredible flow of migration that just continues day by day, week by week'.
The surge in the number arriving on the Greek islands shows that the deal where EU countries agreed to hand over £2.1billion to Turkey to stem the flow has failed to make a difference.
Austria has announced that its army will start carrying out thorough identity and bag checks of every migrant arriving at the main border crossing with Slovenia from today.
Britain has spent more than £1MILLION on an emergency camp for migrants who made it to an RAF base on Cyprus but are banned from coming to the UK
More than £1million has been spent looking after migrants who landed at an RAF base in Cyprus three months ago, it emerged today.
Boats containing 115 Greece-bound people - 67 men, 19 women and 29 children - arrived on the shores of RAF Akrotiri on October 21.
Ministers have refused to resettle the group to Britain in case it creates a new migrant route into Britain.
Figures released by the Ministry of Defence last month said one of the group had been imprisoned, 60 had moved in Cypriot communities and 54 were still on the base.
Those still there have been housed in a 'transit facility' outside the military garrison.
Defence Minister Penny Mordaunt told MPs that the emergency response, security, construction of a temporary camp and support costs have so far amounted to £1,122,972.
But shadow defence secretary Emily Thornberry said: 'It is completely inappropriate for a military base to be used as refugee camp.
'This is a question of leadership.
'We need a serious strategy for dealing with the refugee crisis, but these figures suggest that the Government is more interested in throwing money at the problem than in coming up with a genuine solution.' |
One Year at WaterMelon: The Movie (OYAWM) will chronicle the love, sweat, and tears over the next year of WaterMelon team's development pursuits. Everything from Pier Solar HD to our new Super Nintendo and SEGA Mega Drive/Genesis games, ProjectN and ProjectY. We promise it's going to be chock full of excitment, action, and some serious climactic twists.
You can rest assured that we are going to fill it to the brim with special features such as: the history of WaterMelon, interviews, and tons of other exclusive and exciting footage!
How to Unlock One Year at WaterMelon: The Movie?
One Year at WaterMelon: The Movie will be unlocked and free for EVERY single backer if the campaign reaches 175k. Upon reaching 175k, every single backer will receive an HD digital download of OYAWM! This is of course in addition to the Android and OUYA stretch goals!
If the campaign reaches 200k, not only will we release Pier Solar for HD and does every single backer receive the HD digital download of OYAWM, but all backers pledging $49 and above will receive a Kickstarter exclusive special edition DVD (you get the HD download of the film too!).
UPDATE #9: Pier Solar HD is Now Coming to the Wii U
UPDATE #8: 175k Down, Almost to Wii U and Limited Special Edition DVD's of OYAWM!
UPDATE #7: SURPRISES - One Year at WaterMelon: The Movie & ADD-ONS
UPDATE #6: First Two Stretch Goals Locked in: Japanese Translation & Dreamcast Extras are in!
UPDATE #5: Stretch Goals: Wii U, the Directors Cut, Android & OUYA, Japanese Translation, Dreamcast Extras
UPDATE #4: You did it!
UPDATE #3: Pier Solar AMA on Reddit with Gwenael Godde aka Fonzie - WM's Art Guy
UPDATE #2: Almost 100k! New Pledges and Pledge Updates - EVERYONE READ!
UPDATE #1: Original 16-bit SEGA Mega Drive/Genesis Graphics in Pier Solar HD!
Pier Solar is a 16-bit RPG that tells the story of Hoston, a young botanist who is on a quest to save his father from a mysterious illness. Along with his two best friends Alina and Edessot, the three friends embark on a quest seeking a rare herb to cure the illness of Hoston's father. Little do they know, it is the beginning of a winding journey that unravels his father's past and the mystery of Pier Solar and the Great Architects.
Pier Solar was originally designed and developed for the SEGA Mega Drive & SEGA Genesis. Yes, you read that right!! It was actually the only newly developed game for SEGA's 16-bit system in the new millennium. It's not a port, fan translation, or a copy of any other game. Pier Solar is a 100% brand new, entirely original,16-bit RPG.
We'll get right in to what we think makes Pier Solar so special:
The Biggest 16-bit RPG Ever! We released Pier Solar on a custom 64MEG cartridge (the average SEGA Mega Drive/Genesis game size is 12MEG), making it the biggest 16-bit RPG ever! This allowed us to push the 16-bit medium to a precedent setting level, with state-of-the-art aesthetics and things like full-screen cutscenes, background scaling and 3D modes.
A 100% Original RPG! Pier Solar was developed from the ground up. An original world, storyline, soundtrack, characters, enemies, and battle style. No ports, translations or copying from any other game - it's all fresh! The first original 16-bit RPG to do this in over a decade!
A Massive World to Explore! Pier Solar has 50+ hours of gameplay, over 300 locations, nearly 500 unique treasure chests, and over 800 NPCs!
Epic Battle Tactics! We developed an innovative battle system that puts you in control of up to five characters and includes in-depth strategic moves such as counter-attacks and a special strategy called Gather, which stores energy to unleash even more powerful moves and spells!
Translated in 5 Languages! Pier Solar is translated in 5 languages: English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
An Original Soundtrack! A beautiful soundtrack written just for Pier Solar that embodies everything great about a classic retro soundtrack!
There Are Surprises! We also packed-in many other surprises and secrets like hidden areas and mini-games!
Pier Solar truly is a love letter to the rich, imaginative 16-bit RPGs of a bygone era. We crafted Pier Solar in the same light - with an authentic adventure, that resonates deeply about life, death, love, family, and friendship. Remember the wonder you felt when immersed into your favorite retro RPG? Pier Solar captures that same wonder.
Here is what some of the press has to say about Pier Solar:
After 2 years, 3 prints, and 8 versions of Pier Solar for the SEGA Mega Drive & SEGA Genesis - we are pleased to announce we have been hard at work on releasing Pier Solar in HD for Xbox 360, PC, Mac, Linux & SEGA Dreamcast.
From day one we've been getting requests to bring Pier Solar to platforms like Xbox 360. We've been listening carefully to you and we are very excited to bring Pier Solar to you on more platforms than ever before! The thing is, we don't just want to re-release Pier Solar on some new platforms. We want to redo the game in HD so it looks as stunning as it should. We are putting the same level of attention and detail into Pier Solar HD that we put into our original development. Trust us, it's going to be amazing.
The game will remain the same in essence - you'll still have everything that makes Pier Solar great (including the translations of 5 languages in every version!) - we will simply be redoing the graphics in high definition and releasing it on each respective platform so that everyone can play it! Of course we'll be adding some new things here and there, like achievements and trophies for Xbox 360. We'll take advantage of each platform and make it fit right.
We've been hard at work and we already have Pier Solar up and running on Xbox 360, PC, and SEGA Dreamcast (in the original SD resolution). We put together a video of each platform working so you can see we are well on our way! Watch the video here.
When we first sat down to conceptualize Pier Solar HD, one of our initial goals was to adapt the new HD art direction with our preexisting 16-bit gameplay. We did this by merging the rich charm of retro sprites with crisp HD backgrounds. The sharp blend of each art style unites to provide an enchanting, aesthetic atmosphere never before seen. Sure, other developers have made "modernized" retro, pixel based games - but as far as we know, never before has a game been developed entirely with a mixture of both art styles, from beginning to end. This is one of the most exciting aspects of Pier Solar HD and we think it is going to send every player straight to retro heaven.
Take a look at these before and after Standard Definition to High Definition images so you can see just how beautiful Pier Solar is going to look in HD! We are so excited!!
A rich and beautiful art style
Hoston's house, where the adventure begins.
HD is awesome, look at this atmosphere!
Splendid visual with a blend of pixel art for a unique style.
Beautiful, crisp HD backgrounds.
Sharper HD graphics makes the cutscenes look even more gorgeous.
Working directly with fans is an idea that is intertwined at the very core of what WaterMelon is. Our origins and history as a company have been uniquely connected with our fans. Today, we are more connected with them than ever. Just take a look at our recently launched WM's Magical Game Factory where we are building entire games directly based on what YOU want!
We fit right in around here and that's why we are running this campaign. We're coming directly to you to make Pier Solar HD a reality. This allows us to do our work exactly how it should be done - with no compromises! With your help, we can bring Pier Solar in high definition to five new platforms! Furthermore, we will give you behind the scenes access to our world of development as we work. We want you to be right by our side. As a backer of our campaign, you'll get access to all sorts of behind the scenes extras. We'll make it worth your while!
With Pier Solar already up and running on Xbox 360, SEGA Dreamcast and PC we are already hard at work on the development.
So what exactly will the funding be used for? All funding strictly goes toward:
Remaking thousands and thousands of Pier Solar assets in HD
Licensing fees, extra development costs
Production (plastic molds, printing)
Beta testing for Xbox 360, PC, Mac, Linux and SEGA Dreamcast
To fulfill our funding goal, we have a lineup of pledges that are sure to offer something for everybody. Not only do we have pre-orders for every version of Pier Solar HD, but we have some bundles of awesomeness that you won't be able to pass up! See the pledge section for all the pretty details.
WaterMelon is a video game development company committed to bringing you the best in old school gaming entertainment. We started in 2004 with an idea - to make an entirely original, 16-bit RPG for the SEGA Mega Drive & SEGA Genesis. After 6 years of love, the result was Pier Solar and the Great Architects. Fast forward to today and take a look at how much we've grown.
Today, WM's offices and our team of 6 are located in Iowa, USA. With distribution centers in both the USA and Europe - we deliver all of our games and products worldwide and have shipped to over 50 countries to date.
One of our latest and most exciting projects is WM's Magical Game Factory. It is a unique approach to crowd driven development. The Factory allows fans to invest in various proposed projects and have a real impact on the games development throughout the project’s life cycle. Players can purchase GEMS and apply them to any project they wish. The more GEMS they’ve invested in a project, the more weight is given to their votes and opinions when consulted. Once the project is completed, investors will not only get a copy of the game but a host of other goodies and exclusive bonuses.
The philosophical roots behind WaterMelon are burrowed in our love for old school gaming. We think the development limitations of retro video game systems from the 90's created a unique context that often caused developers to place compelling story telling and innovative game play at the very top of their development. We think it is through this principle that the very best of games have been made.
Today, with the same recycled blockbuster video games over and over again ad nauseum - it is now that a principled approach is needed most. At WaterMelon, we distill the 'old school gaming' essence of compelling story telling and innovative gameplay into our fundamental and driving principle as a company. We won't sacrifice this principle - no matter what.
If you are familiar with the way we package our products - you know we put our hearts and souls into delivering the highest caliber of packaging possible. In fact, after 1UP.com reviewed Pier Solar their opinion was, "The packaging/presentation for the game is exceptional". For the SEGA Mega Drive & SEGA Genesis version of Pier Solar we actually designed and manufactured every single piece of it in house, from the ground up. This is a big deal! Check out this gallery of our packaging so you can see exactly how good it really is.
Now the reason we are pointing this out is because this exact caliber of quality follows for each and every one of our pledges below. We carefully crafted each pledge to be the most beautifully designed, collectible offerings we could dream up. You won't be disappointed, we promise.
Oh and one last note on our PC, Mac, Linux & SEGA Dreamcast collector editions: These will be the most limited and collectible versions ever produced on either of these platforms at 250 and 750 limited edition units respectively. To put it in perspective, when we first released Pier Solar for SEGA Mega Drive and SEGA Genesis - we sold out similar quantities in less than 2 weeks on sale and these original print versions went on to be extremely rare and valuable. In fact, so rare and valuable that whenever they come up for resale, you'll find them selling for $500+! Don't miss out on these special editions - they are going to move fast!
Pier Solar HD for XBOX 360
The second we released Pier Solar we started receiving requests to release it for Xbox 360. We do understand that not everyone out there has SEGA Mega Drive or SEGA Genesis to play Pier Solar. The Xbox 360 version will of course be in a crisp, lush HD. We will add trophies and other unique Xbox 360 features, don't worry! The pledge is for a digital version of the game.
Pier Solar HD for PC, Mac & Linux - Digital Version, Regular Edition and Collectors Edition
Don't you hate it when an intriguing new game gets released on PC and you have a Mac or vice versa? What about if you use Linux? We want everyone to play it so we will by releasing it on all computer OS's for everybody from the get go! Pier Solar HD will be compatible on PC, Mac & Linux.
We've got three pledges for this one - a digital download and two physical editions: the regular edition and the collectors edition. The collectors edition is a beautiful physical package that includes Pier Solar HD - (compatible with PC, Mac & Linux), the Pier Solar Guide Book, a signed art print, and three beautiful figurines. A Kickstarter exclusive, limited to 250! There is one pledge that serves for all 3 versions. We will send you a survey to select which OS you want later.
Pier Solar for SEGA Dreamcast - Regular Edition and Collectors Edition
We can't help it. We just love our old school SEGA systems too much :). The Dreamcast is one of our favorites and we know there are tons of fans out there just like us! The truth is, we've wanted to release Pier Solar for SEGA Dreamcast for a long time. With the Dreamcast's lacking RPG library, it is going to be a great fit!
We are thrilled to utilize the redone HD graphics for the Dreamcast version. They will be scaled down to the Dreamcast's optimal resolution of 640x480 and VGA compatible too. It is going to look incredible, you can trust us when we say its going to look as good as possible on the Dreamcast (which is damn good!).
We have two pledges for the Dreamcast version of Pier Solar - the regular edition and the collectors edition. Both the regular and collectors edition are available in each region's authentic, unique packaging: USA, European and Japanese. The limited edition will include a beautiful physical package that includes Pier Solar for the SEGA Dreamcast (You get to choose whichever version you want: either USA, European or Japanese versions), the Pier Solar Guide Book, a signed art print, and three beautiful figurines.
The SEGA Dreamcast packaging will be designed and manufactured from the ground up, in house by WaterMelon! Each regions packaging will match your collection! A Kickstarter exclusive, limited to 750! There is one pledge that serves for all 3 versions. We will send you a survey to select which region you want later.
Pier Solar Original Soundtrack (4 CD Set)
The Definitive Original Soundtrack - everything a fan could dream of! In a stunning packaging with four BUNG-FULL discs, that can be played in any CD player, computer or even your Mega-CD/SEGA CD. We have roughly 750 Pier Solar OST's left and once these are gone - they'll be gone for ever, no more reprints! Limited to 750!
Discs 1-2 contain the game's original Mega-CD/SEGA CD tracks.
Disc 3 contains remixes by famous artists, rare unused tracks & alternates.
Disc 4 is our famous Enhanced Soundtrack Disc, the Mega-CD/SEGA CD disc to be played with any Pier Solar cartridge! This disc also includes PC accessible exclusive content like "making of" and other things.
The Pier Solar Guidebook
The ultimate Pier Solar strategy guide. It is based on tim333's fabulous GameFAQs guide, revised and updated. A beautiful, full color strategy guide that serves as your companion to every version of Pier Solar. It is published in English, but there will also be smaller appendixes with other languages as well.
A Pier Solar SEGA Dreamcast System
A SEGA Dreamcast system custom branded with Pier Solar artwork. It will include the custom system, controller and VMU. A Kickstarter exclusive, limited to 5!
A Pier Solar Xbox 360 SystemWe’ll build you a beautiful, custom Xbox 360 system custom branded with Pier Solar artwork on the system and controller. It will be a brand new Xbox 360 with 250 GB system or Xbox 360 with Kinect. We’ll send a survey for you to choose your version. You also get to pick ANY version of Pier Solar HD too! We'll let you pick via a survey later. A Kickstarter exclusive, limited to 10!
Any Collectors Edition and a Limited Poster
Any Collector’s Edition of your choice plus an exclusive, kickstarter limited poster made in super high quality material. Limited and numbered to 150 total. 30in x 22in (55cm x 76 cm).
Early Beta Tester
You'll get a Pier Solar Collector’s version of your choice and you'll be invited to an exclusive early closed beta test before the open beta. We hope you aren't afraid of bugs. Kickstarter Exclusive, limited to 50.
Pier Solar Mega Drive “Classic Edition”
Three different versions of Pier Solar for SEGA Mega Drive and SEGA Genesis have been released since 2010 and The Classic Edition is out of print and one of the most collectible versions. You get a collectors edition of Pier Solar HD of your choice plus the choice of whichever Pier Solar Classic version you want: USA, Europe, or Japanese packaging and we will sign it for you! We will send you a survey to select which region(s) you want later.
Bethina’s Diary - 150+ pages of original Pier Solar work
This is something totally special and unique. You get the two Pier Solar HD collector’s boxes (PC/MAC/LINUX AND Dreamcast) plus something totally special and unique: One of the two independently unique work books, filled with 100% original pieces, no copies. 150+ pages of artwork, drawings, proof printings, script, sketches, technical notes and more. Each book itself is made of original raw material, assembled by hand and stitched as an antique book. The book cover is made of Pier Solar packaging compound. Many pages are annotated by hand. Additionally it contains three 100x100 laser-cuts of original printing plates, annotated, numbered and signed. Includes a Certificate of Authenticity. Protected by custom wood and artboard casing. A Kickstarter exclusive, limited to 2!
The Pier Solar Prototype Package
Original Pier Solar Prototypes! You get the Collector’s Edition box of your choice plus the original Pier Solar Prototypes! Includes Prototype cartridge, Prototype mega CD disc, Beta Testing A4 sheet (the sheet beta testers have used) and a Certificate of Authenticity. Protected by custom wood and artboard casing making it a true collector’s treasure. A Kickstarter exclusive, limited to 5!
I Am the Boss! (be in the game)
You get a Collector’s Edition of your choice and we will design you as the big boss in Pier Solar based off a picture that you submit! All the games we make (physical and digital) will feature you as an unlockable boss and you will receive an exclusive code that is used in game to activate this feature, so that you can challenge your friends to beat you! Also includes a custom cover with you as the big boss on it as well as the original signed sketch! This feature will be compatible with all versions of the game. A Kickstarter exclusive, limited to 10!
Plates of Posterity
One of a kind collectors pieces. You get a Collector's Edition of your choice plus one of a kind collectors pieces. A 100x100mm laser-cut of the original printing plates, annotated, numbered and signed. Includes a certificate of Authenticity. Protected in custom artboard casing. A Kickstarter exclusive, limited to 25!
The Super Collector Package
The be all, end all collectors package! All three super rare posterity versions of Pier Solar for SEGA Genesis/MegaDrive (USA, EU, JP), all 3 SEGA Dreamcast versions (USA, EU, JP), the Pier Solar OST, the Pier Solar Guide Book, and the both Pier Solar reprint editions. Every item signed by the developers. A Kickstarter exclusive, limited to 1!
Come Party with us in Paris!
For our biggest fan – get the OST and all physical versions of the game (PC and Dreamcast in all 3 regions, plus a PC collector’s box and the Dreamcast Collectors box in all 3 regions as well. Total of 8 games) plus an exclusive invite for you and as many friends as you'd like you to come party with us in Paris! You and your friends will have an exclusive invite to a launch party for Pier Solar HD. Afterward we will have a beautiful dinner in Paris followed by drinks and a real good time! (We will pay the round trip airplane tickets for you and hand you the invitations for all the friends that you invite.) |
For reasons that are not immediately clear to me, it seems that a lot of developers who attended Microsoft's recent PDC event were surprised to hear that the company now sees HTML5 as the way forward for developing rich Internet applications—and not, as they had been expecting, Silverlight. Their surprise surprises me, because past statements by the company had already made this repositioning obvious, though perhaps not explicit.
When Silverlight was introduced in 2007, it was positioned as a kind of alternative to Adobe Flash. Though Silverlight and Flash have their differences—Silverlight's approach is a bit more programmer-oriented, Flash's a little more designer/artist-oriented—they were broadly aimed at the same market: complex, interactive content, delivered through the Web browser.
As such, a naive observer might have expected Silverlight to be more prominent at PDC. During the keynote presentation, however, it received nary a mention. Mary-Jo Foley talked to Bob Muglia, president of Microsoft's Server and Tools division, and was told that Microsoft's strategy has shifted. HTML5 is now the solution for these same rich Web applications.
After the ZDNet story was published, both Bob Muglia and Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer wrote to "clarify" Microsoft's position. Fundamentally, though, it was as reported: Silverlight is still important, but no longer the premier option for Web development. The focus has shifted.
Cue much wailing and gnashing of teeth. It's understandable in a sense—if you're a design agency or developer who's made your living from building Silverlight applications, the last thing you want to hear is that the company backing Silverlight is ditching it in favor of something else—but surprising nonetheless: it's been clear from Microsoft's recent actions that HTML5 is the priority, and over the past few months, the company has as good as said so already.
This should be news to nobody
The development of Internet Explorer 9 should have been a wake-up call to Silverlight developers. Throughout Internet Explorer 9's development, Microsoft has been shouting about HTML5 and Web standards. Really, it's been hard to miss. The company has made huge strides towards making Internet Explorer 9 a high-performance, standards-compliant, HTML5 machine. The current emphasis on HTML5 should not come as a surprise to anyone.
The development of Internet Explorer 9 should have been a wake-up call to Silverlight developers.
And it's not just the Internet Explorer team making a big noise about HTML5. Even the Silverlight team, in a blog post dating back to September, acknowledged Microsoft's commitment to HTML5. The post does two things. First, it positions Silverlight not as a replacement for HTML5, but as an adjunct to HTML5. There are certain things that HTML5 can't do—for example, stream DRM-protected video—that Silverlight can. HTML5 may be the main way of delivering Web applications, but this doesn't mean that there aren't niches where Silverlight (or, for that matter, Flash) is appropriate.
Second, the post draws attention to non-Web uses of Silverlight. Silverlight can be used to develop applications that exist outside the Web browser in two areas. One, Silverlight can be used for desktop applications. They still use the Silverlight runtime, but are launched and run as if standalone. The Seesmic Desktop social networking client is a good example. It's built using Silverlight, but it looks and feels like a regular program (albeit one with a slightly quirky interface).
Two, and this is the one that is strategically most important to Microsoft, Silverlight is the primary development tool for Windows Phone 7. It's not the only tool—games will generally use the XNA Framework instead—but most non-game applications will use Silverlight.
If Silverlight developers didn't see the change in strategies coming, then it's not because Microsoft was making some big secret of it, and it certainly shouldn't surprise anyone. Frankly, Bob Muglia was not even announcing a new strategy: he was describing the strategy already taken, the one already elucidated by the Silverlight team, and already plain at least since the release of the first Internet Explorer 9 platform preview.
The Apple issue
The big reason for this change in strategy is that HTML5 will, one day, be cross-platform in a way that Silverlight probably won't ever be. Part of this is Microsoft's own fault—the company produced first-party Silverlight versions for Windows and Mac OS X but left Linux support to Novell's Moonlight, and did little to encourage .NET development on iOS or Android—but a big part of the problem is iOS. Apple refuses to allow browser plugins, and is reluctant even to allow standalone applications developed using alternative frameworks. If Microsoft wants to embrace iOS devices, HTML5 is the only real option.
Adobe faces a similar issue with Flash—it too isn't welcome on iOS—but Adobe has nonetheless attempted to bridge the gap. The latest set of Flash tools can produce standalone programs that Apple will, begrudgingly, accept into the store. Adobe has also worked to produce a Flash plugin for Android and Linux, and is expected to produce one for Windows Phone 7 too.
So what does this new focus for Silverlight—standalone applications, phone applications, and filling the gaps in Web applications—mean for the framework and its developers?
Silverlight's new direction
It certainly doesn't mean that Silverlight is no longer important. If anything, the opposite is true. Silverlight is more important now than it has ever been. Just not in a way that was originally envisaged.
The truth is, Silverlight as a Flash-killer never quite made sense. The runtime, just as with the Flash runtime, is given out for free anyway, and though Microsoft may sell a few extra copies of Visual Studio or Expression Blend to Silverlight developers, it was never going to be a huge money-maker. And it was never likely to displace Flash; Silverlight's more programmer-y approach may well have appealed to developers of Web applications, but it also meant it was unlikely to ever appeal to creators of Flash animations. So the loss of this market to HTML5 probably isn't catastrophic: Silverlight was never likely to win here.
Silverlight's new importance stems not from Web applications, but Windows Phone 7. If Microsoft doesn't make a success of Windows Phone 7 then the company's chances of making any money from the smartphone market are negligible. Smartphones are, potentially, an enormous growth market, important not just in their own right, but as a component of a broader market of highly portable, touch-driven devices. A rich selection of high-quality third-party applications is a key part of this, and these applications will generally use Silverlight. For as long as Windows Phone 7 is a going concern, Silverlight will remain a top priority.
This might seem small comfort to existing Web-oriented Silverlight developers, as phone development is a very different beast than Web development. In some ways, it's a much narrower market: most developers are writing internal applications for use by the employers, and these employers are much less likely to want phone applications than they are Web applications. But in other ways, it should be rather broader: a new market of end-user, "shrinkwrap" software has opened up that didn't exist before. |
SAN ANTONIO (Reuters) - The lawyer for U.S. Army Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl, the former Taliban prisoner in Afghanistan charged with desertion, on Thursday chastised U.S. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump for calling his client a “traitor.”
U.S. Army Sergeant Bowe Berghdal is pictured in this undated handout photo provided by the U.S. Army and received by Reuters on May 31, 2014. REUTERS/U.S. Army/Handout via Reuters
“Sergeant Bergdahl is not charged with treason or anything like it,” attorney Eugene Fidell said in a statement.
“I condemn Mr. Trump’s reckless disregard for the truth. He should be ashamed of himself.”
In a town hall meeting in New Hampshire on Wednesday, Trump called Bergdahl a “dirty, rotten traitor” and criticized the Obama administration for the deal that freed the soldier in a prisoner swap with the Taliban. Many prominent Republicans have called the deal irresponsible.
Trump is leading the polls among the 17 Republican candidates seeking the party’s presidential nomination for the November 2016 election.
Bergdahl, who was released in 2014 after spending about five years as a prisoner of the Taliban in Afghanistan, is now stationed with Army North at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, while he awaits court martial on charges of desertion and misbehavior before the enemy.
Fidell also rejected comments made by Trump and others that as many as five U.S. soldiers died searching for Bergdahl after he walked away from his forward operating position in Afghanistan in 2009.
“The Army’s prosecutors, who have the vast resources of the government at their disposal, have informed us that they will not be offering evidence that anyone died searching for my client,” he said.
“Mr. Trump must stop vilifying this young man, who suffered five years of brutal captivity at the hands of the Taliban, and deserves to be judged on the basis of evidence rather than slander from someone who has never worn our country’s uniform,” he said.
Bergdahl is scheduled to appear at an Article 32 hearing, the Uniform Code of Military Justice equivalent of a grand jury, at Fort Sam Houston next month.
Bergdahl was charged in March with desertion and misbehavior before the enemy, and could be sentenced to life in prison if convicted of the most serious count. |
Chinese internet meme
The Baidu 10 Mythical Creatures (simplified Chinese: 百度十大神兽; traditional Chinese: 百度十大神獸; pinyin: bǎidù shí dà shénshòu), alternatively Ten Baidu Deities, was initially a humorous hoax from the interactive encyclopedia Baidu Baike which became a popular and widespread Internet meme in the China in early 2009.[1][2]
These hoaxes, ten in number, are regarded by western media as a response to online censorship in China of profanity, and considered as an example of citizens' circumvention to censorship.[3][4]
Details [ edit ]
Arising in early 2009,[5] the meme initially began as a series of vandalised contributions to Baidu Baike,[6] through the creation of humorous articles describing a series of fictional creatures, with each animal with names vaguely referring to Chinese profanities (utilizing homophones and characters using different tones).[7] Eventually, images, videos (such as faux-documentaries) and even a song regarding aspects of the meme were released.[8] It was thought that the Baidu hoaxes were written in response to recent strict enforcements of keyword filters in China, introduced in 2009, which attempted to eliminate all forms of profanity.[9][10] The Baidu Baike "articles" initially began with "Four Mythical Creatures" (The "Grass Mud Horse", "French-Croatian Squid", "Small Elegant Butterfly" and "Chrysanthemum Silkworms"), and were later extended to ten.
The memes became widely discussed on Chinese Internet forums, and most users concluded that the initial aim of the hoaxes were to satirise and ridicule the pointlessness of the new keyword filters. The meme is interpreted by most Chinese online as a form of direct protest rather than motiveless intentional disruption to Baidu services.[11] After the hoaxes were posted, news of the articles spread quickly online on joke websites, popular web portals and forums[12][13] such as Baidu Tieba, while a large number of posts were sent on the Tencent QQ Groups chat service. There have also been various parodies of the meme created (such as the "Baidu 10 Legendary Weapons"[14] and "Baidu 10 Secret Delicacies"[15][16]). Meme references can be found throughout Chinese websites.[17]
The 10 Mythical Creatures [ edit ]
The mythical creatures have names which are innocuous in written Chinese, but sound similar to and recognizable as profanities when spoken. References to the creatures, particularly the Grass Mud Horse, are widely used as symbolic defiance of the widespread Internet censorship in China; censorship itself is symbolized by the river crab, a near-homophone of "harmony" (a euphemism for censorship in reference to the Harmonious Society).[3]
Cao Ni Ma [ edit ]
Cao Ni Ma (草泥马, Cǎo Ní Mǎ), literally "Grass Mud Horse", was supposedly a species of alpaca. The name is derived from cào nǐ mā (肏你妈), which translates to "fuck your mother". Note that the comparison with the "animal" name is not an actual homophone, but rather the two terms have the same consonants and vowels with different tones, which are represented by different characters. Their greatest enemy are "river crabs" (河蟹, héxiè, resembles 和谐 héxié meaning "harmony", referring to government censorship to create a "harmonious society", while noting that river crabs are depicted wearing three wristwatches, vaguely referring to the Three Represents, where 代表 "represent" and 戴表 "to wear a watch" are homophones, both pronounced dàibiăo), and are said to be frequently seen in combat against these crabs.
Videos of songs,[18][19] as well as "documentaries" about "Grass Mud Horse" started appearing on YouTube and elsewhere on the Internet.[20][21] The video scored some 1.4 million hits; a cartoon attracted a quarter million more views; a nature documentary on its habits received 180,000 more.[3]
The "Grass Mud Horse" became widely known on the English-language web following the 11 March 2009 publication of a The New York Times article on the phenomenon,[3] sparking widespread discussion on blogs, and even attempts to create "Grass Mud Horse" themed merchandise, such as plush dolls.[citation needed]
Fa Ke You [ edit ]
Fa Ke You (法克鱿, Fǎ Kè Yóu), literally "French-Croatian Squid" (with the name derived from the direct Chinese transliteration of "fuck you" in English), was supposedly a species of squid discovered simultaneously by France (法国) and Croatia (克罗地亚), hence the name. The Baidu Baike article claims[22] that "Fa Ke You" is a species of invertebrate, aggressive squid found in Europe. When agitated, it is said that they release a form of "white-coloured liquid". These squids are said to cause great harm to humans when attacked. When some of these squids reached East Asia, it is said that they became hunted, and eaten with corn. Such a dish is known as yù mǐ fǎ kè yóu (玉米法克鱿, "Corn French-Croatian Squid", referring to the fans of Li Yuchun, dubbed "corns"), being one of the world's top five greatest delicacies. An alternate name for the dish in question is 非主流的法克鱿 (fēi zhǔ liú de fǎ kè yóu, "Non-mainstream French-Croatian Squid"). This is apparently due to the behaviour of these squids, which do not inhabit major rivers, or the "main stream" of a river system, thus scientists dubbing them as squids with "deviant behaviour".
Ya Mie Die [ edit ]
Ya Mie Die (雅蠛蝶, Yǎ Miè Dié), literally "Small Elegant Butterfly" (name derived from Japanese yamete (止めて), meaning "stop", a reference to rape scenes and common conceptions and stereotypes Chinese display towards the Japanese in regards to pornography and erotomania), was supposedly a type of butterfly discovered on 1 January 2009 at the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, and that legends state that there was once a Japanese girl who turned into these butterflies after harsh pressures during a romantic relationship.[23] The original article states that these butterflies are able to change colour, and are luminescent, naturally emitting light from their wings. This is due to the cold temperatures and low oxygen environment these butterflies live in. There are an estimated 14,000 butterflies living throughout the world, and thus are considered to be precious and highly uncommon.
Ju Hua Can [ edit ]
Ju Hua Can (菊花蚕, Jú Huā Cán), literally "Chrysanthemum Silkworms" (referring to Intestinal worms, where the term "Chrysanthemums" (júhuā) is vulgar slang which refers to the anus). This referred to Chrysanthemum Terrace, a song by Jay Chou, where the lyrics "菊花残，满地伤" (Chrysanthemums scattered, ground filled with wounds/the wounded) are re-rendered with homophones and similar sounds as "菊花蚕，满腚伤" ("Chrysanthemum(Anus)" worms, buttocks covered with wounds). Ju Hua Can can also be interpreted as a pun on another homophone, 菊花残, meaning "broken chrysanthemum", which would be slang for a "broken anus", referring to (possibly painful) anal sex, as 残 is a homophone meaning "broken". Such a phrase implies hopelessness, as once a person is given a "broken anus", they would find difficulty in sitting down, and so "broken Chrysanthemum" is a common (vulgar) Chinese idiom. These silkworms are said to feed on chrysanthemum flowers rather than mulberry leaves (from the article).[24] The article also states that the usage of Chrysanthemum Silkworms dates back to 3000 years ago in Ancient China, and that they were the first cultivation method of silk obtained by early scientists. The silk produced by silkworms that feed on chrysanthemums rather than mulberry are able to be produced at a much faster rate, are higher in mass, are fireproof, protective against ionizing radiation, bulletproof, and lightweight. However, these silkworms are very difficult to maintain, and easily die. They are vulnerable to cold, heat, and are susceptible to changes in humidity, and thus are very costly to nurture. Noblewomen from ancient times are said to pay large sums of money for such types of silk.
Chun Ge [ edit ]
Chun Ge (鹑鸽, Chún Gē), literally "Quail Pigeon" is a homophone with 春哥 (Brother Chun). This species of bird is apparently found only in Sichuan and Hunan; formerly found in the area that is now the Republic of Yemen.[25]
The term "Big Brother Chun" (春哥) has been used to refer to the female singer Li Yuchun due to her apparent androgynous appearance. "Yemen" comes from the catchphrase chūn gē chún yé men (春哥纯爷们), meaning "Brother Chun is a real man" — 爷, meaning "grandfather", can also be read as "masculine" (young males in Northeast China use the slang term 爷 as a personal pronoun in an impolite context). The 春 Chun can also refer to fa chun (发春), which is slang for sexual arousal – literally "Spring has come".
Ji Ba Mao [ edit ]
Ji Ba Mao (吉跋猫, Jí Bá Māo), literally "Lucky Journey Cat" (a homophone with 鸡巴毛, referring to pubic hair, as the homophone jība (鸡巴) is a vulgar term for "penis", while the definition of 毛 máo is "hair" or "fur"). The original article states that this cat lives in dark, damp environments and competes for food with the White Tiger (white tiger is a slang term for a woman's shaved pubic area). Additionally, the Ji Ba Mao flourished during the reign of the Zhengde Emperor.[26]
Wei Shen Jing [ edit ]
Wei Shen Jing (尾申鲸, Wěi Shēn Jīng), literally "Stretch-Tailed Whale" (a near-homophone with 卫生巾, wèishēngjīn, referring to menstrual pads). From the Baidu Baike article, it was first discovered by Zheng He during his maritime adventures. According to the article this creature was hunted for clothing material to manufacture women's lingerie.[27]
Yin Dao Yan [ edit ]
Yin Dao Yan (吟稻雁, Yín Dào Yàn), literally "Singing Field Goose" (a homophone with 阴道炎 Yīn Dào Yán, meaning a vaginitis infection). From the article on Yin Dao Yan, in the Kangxi era, a large goose dived into a certain field, damaging it and causing the local farmers to come down with a strange sickness.[28]
Da Fei Ji [ edit ]
Da Fei Ji (达菲鸡, Dá Fēi Jī), literally "Intelligent Fragrant Chicken" (a homophone with 打飞机 Dǎ Fēi Jī, slang for masturbation while literally meaning "hit the airplane"). According to the original article, Da Fei Ji is a species of bird that likes exercise, and the males use neck spasms and spit out a white secretion to impress females during mating seasons.[29]
Qian Lie Xie [ edit ]
Qian Lie Xie (潜烈蟹, Qián Liè Xiè), literally "Hidden Fiery Crab", closely resembles qián liè xiàn (前列腺), which translates to prostate glands. According to the article, this is a legendary crab that once stopped up the Grand Canal (referring to the urinary tract).[30]
Official reactions [ edit ]
The State Administration of Radio, Film, and Television issued a directive on 30 March 2009 to highlight 31 categories of content prohibited online, including violence, pornography, content which may "incite ethnic discrimination or undermine social stability". According to reports, the instruction follows the official embarrassment over the rise of the "Grass Mud Horse" phenomenon.[31]
See also [ edit ]
References [ edit ]
Notes [ edit ] |
James Rodriguez was presented to the Real Madrid fans on Tuesday
Real Madrid have signed Colombian star James Rodriguez from Monaco in a £63million deal.
The 23-year-old successfully passed a medical in Madrid this morning before agreeing a six-year deal and is scheduled to be unveiled in the Spanish capital this evening.
Rodriguez will join up with Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale and Karim Benzema to provide a formidable attacking threat for the Champions League winners.
Rodriguez was one of the stars of the World Cup, scoring six goals for his country on his way to winning the tournament’s Golden Boot award.
European champions Real Madrid have signed the World Cup Golden Boot winner James Rodriguez for 63 million pounds from Monaco. European champions Real Madrid have signed the World Cup Golden Boot winner James Rodriguez for 63 million pounds from Monaco.
The attacking midfielder scored the goal of the tournament at the World Cup with a stunning volley against Uruguay in the last 16.
He makes the move to the Spanish capital after spending one season at Monaco, whom he joined from FC Porto for £35million last summer.
Rodriguez scored nine goals and registered 12 assists for Monaco last season as they finished second in Ligue 1 behind Paris Saint-Germain.
James Rodriguez has been revealed to the Real Madrid fans at the Bernabéu Stadium James Rodriguez has been revealed to the Real Madrid fans at the Bernabéu Stadium
A Real statement read: "The player will be presented today, Tuesday 22 July, at 20:00 CET (7pm), in the Santiago Bernabéu's presidential box.
"Following that, James Rodríguez will take his first steps on the Santiago Bernabéu's pitch wearing the Real Madrid jersey and will then answer questions from the media outlets in attendance in the press room."
A statement on Monaco’s official website read: "The club would like to take the opportunity to thank James for the role he played in getting the club back to the Champions League and wishes him the very best for the future.
"The club had no intention to sell the player, however the time came when the solution of a transfer was considered to be the most beneficial solution for all parties.
The club had no intention to sell the player, however the time came when the solution of a transfer was considered to be the most beneficial solution for all parties. Monaco club statement
"Monaco is proud to be a party to one of the most significant transfers in football history.
"Monaco is a club that will continue to grow and remains focused on the future. More than ever it has the ambition to strengthen the team and continue to progress for next season."
Rodriguez began his professional career with Colombian side Envigado before moving down to Argentinian club Banfield aged 17.
His performances for the Buenos Aires outfit attracted the attention of Porto, who signed him for £4million in 2010, and three years later he joined Monaco for £38.5million after helping the Portuguese side win a hat-trick of league titles and the 2011 Europa League. |
Lexmark, HP Using Patent Law To Try To Block Replacement Ink Cartridges From The Market
from the there-is-no-free-market-in-black-gold dept
Want to know why it would cost $5.9 billion to fill an Olympic-sized swimming pool with printer ink? Perhaps look to our beloved US patent laws. Five years ago, we pointed out that HP was claiming that refill ink cartridges for its printers violated its patents , and that it was building up a team of scientists not to invent anything new -- but to analyze the chemical makeup of competitor's ink to see if they could hit them with a patent infringement lawsuit.Every so often, we hear another bunch of claims from HP about ink refillers infringing on its patents, and just a few weeks ago, we heard that HP was asking the US ITC to block the import of refill ink cartridges from foreign competitors, claiming patent infringement.Not to be left out, it looks like HP competitor Lexmark is getting into the game as well, and has also asked the ITC to bar the import of ink refills from 24 companies . Lexmark is also suing those same companies in court, showing once again how the ITC loophole gives companies two bites at the same apple.Of course, it's fascinating to see Lexmark jump into the patent infringement game on ink refills. After all, it famously tried and failed to use the DMCA and copyright law to stop ink refills. It was right after that when HP started using patent claims, so it looks like it took a bit of time for Lexmark to get together a patent plan.Of course, would it be nice if, rather than relying on government granted monopolies to block perfectly legitimate competition, these companies actually competed in the marketplace? Or is that too much to ask?
Filed Under: ink, patents, printers
Companies: hp, itc, lexmark |
With the most important New York presidential primary in 40 years only a day away, Hillary Clinton is making every mile count in the metro area.
On her way in from home, this morning, she stopped in neighboring Yonkers to visit staff at St. John’s Riverside Hospital.
Then she detoured to Queens where she met up with newly unionized employees at a car wash and lube.
Joined by Senator Chuck Schumer, she stopped of at Queens Crossing Mall for some bubble tea, dim-sung, and selfies of course!
Then it was on to mid-town where she was scheduled to hold a rally with Women for Hillary at the Hilton.
Hillary heads into the New York contest with strong endorsements from the New York Times, the New York Daily News, and Newsday. Looking ahead to upcoming primaries, she also earned endorsements from the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Hartford Courant, and the Providence Rhode Island Journal.
If you have friends in New York, or if you are a New Yorker with friends in other parts of the Empire State, you can encourage them to vote for Hillary!
Make sure your friends in New York vote for Hillary on Tuesday. Send them a message with our friend finder: https://t.co/iQVioFqAW7 🗽 — Hillary for America (@HFA) April 17, 2016 |
Image copyright Getty Images Image caption US women footballers have dominated the international game in recent decades, winning a string of titles
A judge has ruled that the world champion US women's football team does not have the right to strike.
Female players had been considering striking in an effort to address wage discrimination.
The US Soccer Federation sued the players' union to prevent a strike that could have caused the team to miss the summer Olympics.
The judge ruled the players are not eligible to strike because of a provision in an earlier contract.
In March, five players filed a lawsuit with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission alleging pay discrimination. They argued female players were sometimes paid four times less than their male counterparts despite holding the world title.
The players' union had not called a strike over the issue, but had been weighing the possibility.
The US Soccer Federation - the sport's national governing body- filed its own suit to prevent a strike. It argued a no-strike clause from an early collective bargaining agreement carried over to the 2013 memorandum of understanding that the players are currently working under.
The union argued that a no-strike clause had never been specifically laid out in the terms of the latest agreement.
However, the judge sided with the federation citing oral and email communication between the two sides, as evidence that the original terms were passed to the new agreement.
"A collective bargaining agreement may be partly or wholly oral and a written collective bargaining agreement may be orally modified," Judge Sharon Johnson Coleman wrote in her ruling.
The team is expected to perform well at the Olympic Games in Rio and the federation said it feared a strike would damage the development of football in US.
The players, many of whom have expressed outrage at gender pay differences, will continue their wage discrimination case. |
The owners of a luxury home in Waverley, N.S., may have to pay a former business partner hundreds of thousands of dollars over a failed bid to raise money for the Bryony House women's shelter, a judge has ruled.
Kris Martin and Maria Sancho were partners in ALPC Housing Solutions, a company they created to build low-cost housing.
The pair pitched the idea of a lottery to Bryony House as a way to pay for repairs and expansion to the shelter.
The Dare to Dream lottery was established and Kris Martin sold her own luxury home to Bryony House to serve as the top prize. She and her husband Jacques sold the home for just over $1 million. Kris Martin indicated repeatedly to ticket buyers that she was prepared to buy the home back from the eventual winner.
Ticket sales lagged far below expectations and despite extending the sales period, the lottery failed to generate much money.
Sold for over $1M, bought for $621K
In the end, a young couple from Nova Scotia won the home. And, as she had indicated previously, Martin negotiated with the couple to re-purchase the property. She and her husband closed a deal in November 2014 for $621,000, far less than what Bryony House had paid them to buy the home for the lottery.
A Supreme Court judge ruled that Kris Martin failed in her duty as an officer in ALPC Housing Solutions.
"As a director Ms. Martin owed a fiduciary duty to ALPC of loyalty, good faith, honesty and avoidance of conflict of duty and self-interest," Justice Richard Coughlan wrote in his decision.
The judge said Martin failed in that duty by not keeping her partner Sancho informed.
"I find Ms. Martin did not make full disclosure to ALPC of her discussions with the lottery winners or the proposed purchase of the Willowhill Ridge property and did not obtain consent from ALPC to purchase the property."
The judge has ordered Kris and Jacques Martin to provide a detailed accounting of what they paid for the house, plus any expenses they incurred. The difference between that amount and the $1 million dollars paid at the start of the lottery are owed to ALPC.
Kris Martin is no longer a partner in that company, which is now solely run by Maria Sancho. |
Worldwide attention has turned to the Peru-Brazil border where uncontacted Indians live, and the South American countries are finally feeling the pressure to protect them.
Survival International's campaign with newly released photos of the tribe, followed by a breathtakingly haunting film by the BBC, has raised awareness of one of the last uncontacted tribes in the world.
The BBC film, narrated by actor Gillian Anderson was made in collaboration with the Brazilian government for the new BBC 1 'Human Planet' series. Shooting from a kilometer away with a powerful zoom lens in order to minimize disturbance, the BBC crew captures gardens, homes, and people covered in red body paint. An undisturbed civilization. Unfortunately, it may not remain this way.
Illegal loggers have entered the Peru side, forcing the Indians into Brazil. Jose Carlos Meirelles, a member of the Indian Affairs Dept. in Brazil, is responsible for monitoring the land and proving that the tribe exists. According to him, "This footage is the only way to convince the rest of the world that they are here. If illegal loggers or miners contact these people, they won't shoot images... they'll shoot guns."
Until now, there has been little success in preventing the loggers from taking over the land. As Gillian Anderson reports, "Instead of expelling the loggers, Peru's government has suggested that uncontacted tribes don't exist at all." But that seems to be changing, as Peru's authorities have just announced that they plan to work with Brazil to stop the loggers from entering Indian territory. Survival's Director Stephen Corry holds hope for the future, stating, "This is a really encouraging first step, let's hope their declared intention turns into real action quickly."
EDITOR'S NOTE: Unfounded allegations have been made that this video is a hoax because similar photos of the same tribe that were released in 2008 were incorrectly reported in the media as being an "undiscovered" tribe, thus leading to rumors of them being fake. CLICK HERE for more info on the "hoax" rumors being debunked in 2008. |
A happy family moment? Or the physical undoing of mom and dad? Wavebreakmedia Ltd via Thinkstock
A common, often buried, fear among parents is that our offspring are nothing more than highly evolved parasites, girl- and boy-shaped barnacles slowly draining their parental hosts of strength. A recent story on Quartz tapped right into this anxiety with the headline “Being a good parent will physiologically destroy you, new research confirms.”
“Our kids are killing us slowly!” one parent wrote on Facebook, in response. “Well, it’s been a good ride,” commented another parent I know.
The story is about a new study from Northwestern University that looked at the effect of parental empathy on parents and children. The researchers surveyed 247 sets of parents and adolescent children and found the more empathetic parents were, the better off their children were both psychologically and physiologically. Emphatic parents also report psychological boosts; they reported feeling a greater sense of purpose in their lives and higher self-esteem than the less-empathetic parents. Their bodies, on the other hand, sent a less uplifting message: The more empathetic parents were, the more likely they were to be experiencing chronic inflammation.
Erika M. Manczak, Northwestern psychology graduate student and the lead author of the study, said parents should be careful not to exaggerate her findings. “I don’t think it’s fair to say that parents will be irrevocably physiologically damaged by being empathic,” she said. “Rather, this research suggests that these parents have elevations in risk markers that, if sustained over time, may play a role in important health processes.”
There’s plenty of evidence showing that parenting isn’t an unavoidable path to physical demise. A large-scale study from Denmark found that people with children live longer than those without them. Women who have children and/or breastfeed are less likely to get breast cancer, and may get some relief from conditions like endometriosis and polycystic ovaries. And a study from the National Institute of Mental Health found that fathers with healthy family relationships have fewer stress-related health issues like chest pain, insomnia, fatigue, and indigestion. Also, having children often motivates parents to make healthier lifestyle choices. In a Babycenter poll, over half of the 30,000 respondents said that they had begun taking better care of their health since becoming a mom.
By focusing only on the ways in which parenting might physically ruin people—or, as Quartz put it, “tear them up”—it’s easy to overlook the more fascinating finding in Manczak’s research: the divergence between psychological and physiological health. Most of us know that we need to reduce stress in order to avoid chronic inflammation; we may assume that if someone doesn’t feel stressed out then their body probably doesn’t either. But this study suggests that it’s quite possible not to feel stress mentally but still experience it physically. (Edith Chen, co-author of Manczak’s study, found similar results in a 2013 study she did on African-American teenagers in the rural south.)
Manczak said she is hesitant to draw any large-scale conclusions from the study because it is correlational, and therefore does not offer a clear relationship between cause-and-effect. Still, her research found that there is something unique about parental empathy and the toll it takes on parents. The researchers controlled for other parental behaviors like stress, depression, how warm parents are in general, and the amount of time parents spend with children, and discovered that none of them had as clear a relationship to inflammation as empathy.
But before we all start taking parenting lessons from All in the Family or Married with Children, Manczak wants to make it clear that her findings should not be interpreted as a suggestion to be less empathetic. “I would absolutely hate for parents to be less empathetic,” she said. “What this tells us is that parents need to make time for their own mental and physical health, and understand that it is a disservice to themselves and their children if they are not.” This goes for parents who feel stressed, as well as those who don’t. |
This September marks the 45th anniversary of the Delano, Calif., grape strike that brought together Filipino American agricultural workers and Mexican American farm workers to form what became the United Farm Workers of America (UFW).
The strike began on Sept. 8, 1965, when over 1,500 farm workers with the Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee, mostly Filipino, in Delano, Calif., walked off the farms of area tablen grape growers demanding wages equal to the federal minimum wage.
Philip Vera Cruz, Larry Itliong, Benjamin Gines and Pete Velasco led the striking workers.
One week after the strike began, on Sept. 16, Mexican Independence Day, the predominantly Mexican American National Farmworkers Association, led by Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta, joined the strike.
In unifying, both groups built a powerful and historic movement for change. The UFW was born in 1966 after both groups merged. The strike quickly spread impacting over 2,000 workers. It lasted more than five years and eventually became a major victory for the UFW, leading to a first contract with area growers. By 1970, the UFW had succeeded in reaching a collective bargaining agreement with the grape growers, affecting over 10,000 farm workers.
Gregory Cendana, interim deputy director with the Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance (APALA) said his parents came to the U.S. as Filipino immigrants. Growing up in a union household Cendana said he’s honored and proud to know he stands on the shoulders of some of the hardest working brothers and sisters in the labor movement.
APALA is one of seven AFL-CIO constituency groups and continues to be grounded in the work of our predecessors seeking ways to build stronger community and labor partnerships, said Cendana.
For example the number of Asian American workers is rising 300 percent in the state of Nevada, and overall that increase is significantly growing throughout the rest of the country too, notes Cendana.
Looking back it’s important to understand the history of Asian American workers, he said. And Filipino farm workers were extremely critical in helping to create the UFW.
“A goal of mine is to share that piece of history with young people and learn from those past events in order to build a more united labor and people’s movement,” he said.
“It’s important to build power for underrepresented communities,” added Cendana.
For Cendana it’s especially important to uplift the Asian American voice and engage Asian American youth and students to learn about their history in the U.S. labor movement.
“Today there are a lot of parallels to the struggle of the original Delano grape workers,” notes Cendana.
However workers today are in a very different context and 40 years after the Delano strike the political climate has changed, he said.
Nevertheless, Cendana says the Delano grape strike reminds him that “change can happen and it needs to happen with strategic campaigns, coalition building and collective power.”
At the end of the day it’s important to continue celebrating the history and victory of the Delano grape strike but it’s even more important to learn from those successes, said Cendana. |
Bill Belichick dodged a bullet with Spygate. But what if Spygate was all a diversion for a far more nefarious plot? A plot in which the behooded coach is sending his associates across the country to destroy all those who have ever wronged him.
I investigated Belichick's scheme. And I think what I found will shock you.
Target: New York Jets
Bill Belichick does not like the New York Jets. This much you must know. The Jets originally gave him the head-coaching job in 1997, but then pulled it out from under him when they were able to pry Bill Parcells from New England, busting Belichick back to assistant. As an assistant under Parcells, Belichick's contract gave him the Jets' head-coaching job if Parcells resigned. Parcells did just that in 1999 -- unexpectedly -- so he could step into the Jets' front office ... and lock his talented assistant into the job before he had any opportunity to interview elsewhere (namely, New England).
Or at least that's how I interpret the history.
Now, here is where things get interesting: Belichick did not take kindly to Parcells' attempt to manipulate his career. So he humiliated the Jets. At the press conference to announce him as the new head coach of the Jets ... he quit as head coach of the Jets. Well-played.
Then he took the head job with the Patriots, even though he was still under contract with the Jets. The Patriots were forced to give the Jets a first-round pick as compensation; Belichick allowed this so the Jets would think they had the upper hand.
Then he waited. Baited.
His first season in New England, the Patriots went 5-11. Meanwhile, the Jets -- coached by Al Groh -- were 9-7 and beat the Patriots twice by a combined score of 54-36.
The trap was set. And Belichick commenced humiliating the Jets on the field. From 2001 to 2004, the Patriots finished with the best record in the AFC East every season and won three Super Bowls. Meanwhile, the Jets went a mediocre 35-29 and had three forgettable playoff exits.
But something inside Belichick (a jet-black soul and a hankering for evil, perhaps) told him that was not enough, that the Jets had not suffered enough for what they had done to him. So he pulled his young defensive assistant, Eric Mangini, aside after the 2005 season and convinced him to join his plot to destroy the Jets. Only this time ... from within.
This is how I imagine the conversation may have gone.
Belichick: "Eric, speak with me." (Belichick says this while stroking a hairless cat in a gray hoodie and sitting in a throne in his volcano-top lair.)
Mangini: "Yes, master."
Belichick: "I want you to take the Jets head-coaching job and destroy them from the inside, piece by piece until there is nothing left. But to throw people off the scent, we will pretend we dislike each other. Also, your first season will be a great success. Then, the destruction will begin."
Mangini: "Yes, master. Yes."
They both laugh maniacally. (Although Belichick's laugh is far more maniacal.)
Target: Cleveland Browns
Here's the thing: Mangini's mission was not the first such attack on another franchise. There are so many moving parts to Belichick's scheme, and a true evil mastermind doesn't let anyone else in on the reach of the plan.
Belichick's first such dispatch was in 2005 after the Patriots won their third Super Bowl. He sent Romeo Crennel -- quiet, unassuming, lumpy Romeo Crennel: the perfect Trojan horse -- to Cleveland to destroy the Browns. The Browns, the TEAM THAT HAD DARED TO FIRE BILL BELICHICK! In fact, while Belichick gave much time and attention to destroying the Jets, he hates the Browns far more. It was his dismissal in Cleveland in 1995 after five years on the job that caused that switch inside him to flip. That caused him to come over to the dark side from the darkish-gray side.
You know, or at least that's the way I interpret it.
Anyway, that's exactly how it went down. And Crennel destroyed the Browns as thoroughly as Belichick had asked, going 24-40 in four seasons at the helm and sometimes even losing to the Bengals. The Bengals! Well-played, again.
And then, after Cleveland finally could take no more Crennel, Belichick went in with a perfectly timed finishing move: Eric Mangini.
Game, set, match.
Target: Notre Dame
Do not think Belichick's revenge scheme is limited only to the professional ranks. Not at all. He can get to someone who has wronged him anywhere and at any time.
This is what caused him to send Charlie Weis to destroy Notre Dame in what is perhaps Belichick's finest bit of sabotage.
You see, Bill Belichick's father was a scout and coach for Navy from 1956 to 1989. Over his final 26 years at Navy, the Midshipmen didn't beat Notre Dame. Not once. Total humiliation.
But then Belichick dispatches his trusted assistant Charlie Weis to South Bend and two short years later ... Navy 46, Notre Dame 44.
Perfectly executed.
Target: Denver Broncos
While Belichick was executing his master plan across the country, he got too extended and let things fall apart at home. The Patriots dynasty ended. Their Waterloo? Denver, January 2006. Seeking a fourth Super Bowl title in five years, the Patriots suffered a humiliating defeat to the Broncos in the playoffs. It was over.
But Belichick's thirst for revenge was not.
So this year he sent Josh McDaniels out to Colorado to destroy the Broncos as payback. And the eager, young lieutenant got right to work, ridding Denver of its franchise quarterback with stunning alacrity. In fact, McDaniels is working so quickly and effectively, he is liable to tip people off to what is really going on.
This is not Mangini starting strong with the Jets in 2006 as a diversion. McDaniels is going right to work. I mean, really. There might be nothing left of the Broncos by Week 1. Is McDaniels too young and inexperienced for the job? Or is Belichick just getting impatient and sloppy?
Target: Kansas City
Evidence that it might be the latter: Belichick has now dispatched his first player, Matt Cassel, to take down another franchise.
As you'll recall, Cassel had not started a football game since high school before Week 2 of last season. And then he played well only against the poorest teams on New England's schedule, repeatedly getting bailed out by the likes of Randy Moss and Wes Welker.
And why was it that this inexperienced, flawed quarterback got to play for such a talented team in the first place? Because Tom Brady got hurt. And what team hurt Tom Brady? Exactly. Kansas City.
Duh-duh-DUMMMMM.
It's all so obvious now.
Or at least it is to me.
DJ Gallo is the founder and sole writer of the sports satire site SportsPickle.com. He also is a regular contributor to ESPN The Magazine and has written for The Onion and Cracked. His first book, "SportsPickle Presents: The View from the Upper Deck," is on sale now. |
Motivation
Last week we were discussing, among many other things, ways to speed up Firefox during startup. One obvious option was to move more of our I/O off of the main thread. This in turn involves making more code asynchronous, and asynchronous code is simply harder to manage. Mike Shaver mentioned something about "futures" as a possible way to handle the extra complexity, and then the discussion moved on to something else.
What exactly is a future anyway?
I'm not exactly an expert, but I've not just used futures, I've written my own implementations in JavaScript and even Object Pascal (in hindsight I'm not sure the latter was a good idea, but it was certainly an interesting exercise). Futures seem esoteric, but they really shouldn't be -- the idea is really quite simple. In this post I'll try to explain what futures are and how they can be used to make asynchronous programming easier.
In the simplest form, a future works like an IOU. I can't give you the money you've asked for right now, but I can give you this IOU. At some point in the future, you can give me the IOU and I'll give you the money -- if I have it. If I don't have it yet, then you can wait until I do. I get paid on Friday.
Alternatively there's the dry cleaner metaphor. You drop your clothes off on Monday and the clerk gives you a ticket that you can use later to reclaim your clothes after they've been cleaned. The clothes will be ready on Tuesday morning, but if you show up too early, you'll have to wait. On the other hand, if there's no hurry, you can just do other stuff on Tuesday and show up on Wednesday with a reasonable expectation that they'll be ready when you arrive. You'll just hand your ticket over, collect your clothes, and be on your way.
A future is similar to the IOU (or the dry cleaning ticket). It gives you a way to represent the result of a computation that has not yet completed, and it allows you to access that result once it becomes available. So you can call a function which starts some asynchronous process but doesn't wait for it to finish. Nevertheless the function can return you a useful result: a future which can be used to claim the real result later.
A simple example
Of course if you ask for the result too soon, you'll have to wait. On the other hand, if the result becomes available before you want it, then it will wait for you.
Here's an example of what this might look like in pseudo-JavaScript:
function doStuff() {
var cleanClothesFuture = dryCleaner.dropOff(dirtyClothes);
runErrands();
work();
eat();
watchTv();
sleep();
var cleanClothes = cleanClothesFuture.get(); // block if the result is not ready yet
}
Compare this to the traditional way we'd handled this in JavaScript, using a callback:
var cleanClothes = null;
function doStuff() {
dryCleaner.dropOff(dirtyClothes, function (clothes) { cleanClothes = clothes; });
runErrands();
work();
eat();
watchTv();
sleep();
}
A more complicated example
These examples are not one hundred percent semantically identical, but they should be close enough to illustrate the point. I contend that the first function is easier to write, easier to read, and easier to reason about. I also contend that the difference isn't enough to get excited about. It's when things get more complicated that futures become really useful.
Imagine that I have a web page that sends an AJAX request to a server and then displays the results in an IFRAME -- and furthermore does it automatically on page load. I have to wait for both the AJAX request to return data and for the IFRAME to finish loading -- only then can I display the results. This can be done fairly simply using callbacks:
function showData(dataUrl, iframeUrl) {
var data = null;
var iframeBody = null;
tryToShowData
{ if (data && iframeBody) { showDataInIframe(data, iframeBody); } }
requestDataFromServer(dataUrl, function (response) {data = response.data; tryToShowData() });
insertIframeBody(iframeUrl, function (iframeDoc) {iframeBody = iframeDoc.body; tryToShowData() });
}
Now, imagine the same thing done with futures:
function showData(dataUrl, iframeUrl) {var dataFuture = requestDataFromServer(dataUrl);var iframeBodyFuture = insertIframeBody(iframeUrl);showDataInIframe(dataFuture.get(), iframeBodyFuture.get());
callAsap
callAsap()
Again, these two examples are not semantically equivalent -- notably there's no blocking in the first example. Now let's imagine that we had a way to turn an ordinary function into a new function which takes futures as arguments and which returns a future in turn. As soon as all the future arguments became available, the base function would be called automatically -- and once the base function completed, its result would be accessible through the future returned earlier. I'll call this capability "": call a function as soon as possible after all of its future arguments become available. Using, the previous example might be rewritten as:
function showData(dataUrl, iframeUrl) {
var dataFuture = requestDataFromServer(dataUrl);
var iframeBodyFuture = insertIframeBody(iframeUrl);
showDataInIframe.callAsap(dataFuture, iframeBodyFuture);
}
showDataInFrame
callAsap()
In this case we don't care about the return value for. This example is much closer in behavior to the earlier callback-based example. In fact, themethod would be implemented with callbacks underneath, but they would all be nicely abstracted away under the hood.
callAsap()
One of the nice things aboutis that it can nicely handle cases where you are waiting on more than one future. Imagine that you've asynchronously requested data from two different servers:
function showData(dataUrl1, dataUrl2, iframeUrl) {
var dataFuture1 = requestDataFromServer(dataUrl1);
var dataFuture2 = requestDataFromServer(dataUrl2);
showDataInIframe.callAsap(dataFuture1, dataFuture2, iframeBodyFuture);
}
Arrays of futures
This segues nicely into the next topic: Arrays of futures.
Imagine if you have not one, or two, or three futures, but rather an arbitrary number of futures. What we'd really like to have is a way to take an array of futures and produce from it a single future for an array of concrete values. Something like:
function showData(dataUrlArray, iframeUrls) {
// The "dataFutureArray" is a concrete array of futures.
var dataFutureArray = requestDataFromServers(dataUrlArray);
// The "dataArrayFuture" is a future for a concrete array of concrete values.
Future.createArrayFuture(dataFutureArray);
showDataInIframe.callAsap(dataArrayFuture, iframeBodyFuture);
}
var dataArrayFuture =
An advanced example
What this example might look like rewritten in callback style is left as an exercise to the reader.
OK, now for a more elaborate example. Imagine a function which retrieves the first page of Google search results for a particular query, and then goes through and re-orders the results based on its own ranking system. Furthermore, imagine that this ranking is computed based on the contents of each web page. We'll need to to make requests to many different servers for many different web pages. This will be fastest if we issue all the requests at once.
function search(query) {
// Take a concrete search result and return a future to a
// [searchResult, ranking] pair.
function requestWebPageAndRanking(searchResult) {
var webPageFuture = requestWebPage(searchResult.url);
var rankingFuture = computeRankingFromContent.callAsap(webPageFuture);
return Future.createArrayFuture([webPageFuture, relevanceFuture]);
}
// Take a concrete array of search results and return a future to
// an array of [searchResult, ranking] pairs, sorted by ranking.
function requestSearchResultsSortedByRanking(searchResultArray) {
var
rankingArrayFuture
=
Future.createArrayFuture(
[requestWebPageAndRanking(searchResult) for (searchResult in searchResultArray)]
);
return sortArraysByKeyIndex.callAsap(
rankingArrayFuture
, 1);
}
// Request search results, re-rank them, and then display them.
var searchResultArrayFuture = requestGoogleResults(query);
var
sortedRankingArrayFuture =
requestSearchResultsSortedByRanking
.callAsap(searchResultArrayFuture);
showSearchResults
.callAsap(sortedRankingArrayFuture);
}
In all fairness, this is not as simple as a synchronous blocking implementation. Keeping your arrays of futures and futures of arrays straight is a little bit taxing. Imagine what a callback model might look like, however, with callbacks inside callbacks. One advantage of using futures is that you can often write traditional blocking code and then in straightforward fashion translate that code into asynchronous code using futures.
Notes, in no particular order |
Now it's getting personal.
Washington Capitals coach Adam Oates is not happy about New York Rangers coach John Tortorella characterizing the Caps' complaints about officiating as whining.
"Well, I think he's out of line," Oates said on Washington's 106.7 The Fan. "[Tortorella] should be worried about his own series. We didn't whine once during the series. I never complained. I don't know, did you guys ever hear me complain about officiating?"
Oates seemed so frustrated that he was asked whether he could beat up Tortorella.
"Yes," Oates said, "easily."
Caps star Alex Ovechkin had already criticized the officiating in the series, which the Rangers won in seven games. The Rangers received 28 power-play chances in the series; the Capitals finished with 16.
Tortorella responded Wednesday.
"We've got everybody and their brother whining out there in Washington about what happened in that series," Tortorella said. "And I think that's a big reason they lose that series." |
Funny story. I’m putting together the return of Superhero Bits when I come upon some new toys for Iron Man 3. That seemingly insignificant news is perfect for my daily column so I go to grab an image when I get stopped in my tracks. There’s the Mark 47 suit, which we’ve seen, War Machine, which we’ve seen, and the Iron Patriot, which we’ve seen a lot.
Then there’s a fourth suit. Something that we haven’t seen and, if its name is correct, teases heavily to a massive spoiler from Iron Man 3. Whether that’s a cameo or a bridge into The Avengers 2, we’ll have to wait and see. But, if you’re into major, Thanos level, spoilers, let’s discuss below.
Last warning – Major Spoilers for Iron Man 3.
5.
4.
3.
2.
1.
Here are the four Iron Man 3 Pop figures revealed by Funko. Which one doesn’t fit?
[UPDATE: The one that doesn’t fit has been pulled at the request of Marvel.]
Yes, that’s a Deep Space Suit.
Since we know for a fact the other three suits in the line are in the movie, it’s a safe assumption that the Deep Space Suit is too. So what does it mean?
The most obvious one is a connection to Guardians of the Galaxy. The Guardians are mostly space bound heroes, after all, and if Tony Stark somehow runs into them at the end of the film, it would raise major awareness for a property many movie fans aren’t aware of. A second option is that, at the end of Iron Man 3, Tony and The Avengers get called to another planet, setting up what happens in The Avengers 2. Then there’s Thor: The Dark World, which also takes place in a galaxy far, far away, so maybe there’s a link there. Or maybe he just flys into space for a second.
Also, don’t forget that Kevin Feige teased Tony Stark and space when I spoke to him after The Avengers:
[Guardians of the Galaxy] is where a lot of that will really come to fruition and to me it’s okay and The Avengers is the place to mash it all up, because that’s what Avengers is for and you can have Iron Man in outer space. How’s that going to affect him in IRON MAN 3 or 4? Well the truth is that’s in there now. (Laughs) He’s seen some shit, but he’s also Tony Stark and can blow a lot of stuff off so the story of IRON MAN 3, as we’ve already talked about, is very insular and very Tony Stark centric as redefined by Shane Black.
Which one of these scenarios, if any, occur in Iron Man 3 is still up for debate. What’s much more certain is that this Deep Space Suit is our strongest link yet to what’s coming next in Marvel Phase 2, and beyond.
What role do you think this suit will play in Iron Man 3?
Thanks to Funko for posting these images, Comic Book Movie for alerting me to them and Comic Book for proving I wasn’t crazy |
Texas policy leaves big loophole in criminal DNA testing DNA's net not cast as wide for Texas suspects
State doesn't take samples from all arrestees; foes say it violates privacy
Jennifer Schuett of Dickinson was 8 when Dennis Bradford abducted her from her bedroom in 1990. He raped her and then slit her throat, but she survived. Now 27, she lived to see her attacker arrested, thanks to DNA taken in an Arkansas crime. He later killed himself. less Jennifer Schuett of Dickinson was 8 when Dennis Bradford abducted her from her bedroom in 1990. He raped her and then slit her throat, but she survived. Now 27, she lived to see her attacker arrested, thanks to ... more Photo: Eric Kayne, For The Chronicle Photo: Eric Kayne, For The Chronicle Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Texas policy leaves big loophole in criminal DNA testing 1 / 1 Back to Gallery
As a growing number of states move to strengthen their DNA databanks, many investigators and crime victims in Texas say dangerous criminals may escape justice here because the state fails to require DNA sampling of most arrestees.
The federal government and at least 20 other states have adopted laws expanding their DNA databanks by taking samples from people arrested. Proponents argue such sampling ought to become as commonplace as taking a footprint of a newborn baby, or no more concerning than taking fingerprints at every booking into jail.
Yet opponents say mandatory DNA sampling of arrestees violates the individual's right to privacy and freedom of unreasonable searches. Complaining that the government is becoming "big brother," civil libertarians predict innocent people will wind up in the nation's DNA databanks.
Also, they say rapid expansion of databanks is costly and creating backlogs of DNA profiling of serious offenders.
Today, DNA profiles are much more respected for forensic identification, said Gary Molina, who manages Texas' databank. Molina said suspicion surrounding the technology 15 years ago — when football star O.J. Simpson's DNA was detected in blood at the murder scene of his estranged wife and her friend — is gone. Simpson won an acquittal after attorneys attacked the DNA lab report.
Texas allows DNA samples taken from arrestees only if they are charged with a sexual offense or burglary — and then only after a grand jury indicts them. If those arrestees haven't been indicted, DNA is taken only if they have a past conviction for a similar offense.
"I thank God that Louisiana has a law that requires sampling of most arrestees," said Monetta Escamilla, who believes her long wait for justice in the killing and sexual assault of her 13-year-old daughter, Krystal Baker, soon will come to an end.
Kevin Edison Smith, 45, was arrested Sept. 22 while working as a contract welder at the Motiva Refinery in Port Arthur. He has been charged with killing the teen after abducting her in 1996 as she walked to a friend's home in Texas City. Baker was strangled and found dead under a bridge over the Trinity River in Chambers County.
Louisiana among first
While Escamilla's hope at catching the killer had dried up along with all the leads, a break in her daughter's case came after Smith was stopped this year for driving erratically in Livonia, La. A large stash of hydrocodone was found in his vehicle, and he was arrested for possession with intent to distribute — and thus his DNA was sampled.
It was submitted to the FBI's national databank and came back as a match to a semen specimen on Baker's dress. Smith would not have qualified for DNA sampling in Texas based on his arrest.
Livonia Police Chief Brad Joffrion praises Louisiana for being one of the first states to pass legislation seven years ago that required DNA sampling of anyone arrested for a felony as well as a few misdemeanors such as stalking.
"We started doing this after catching a serial killer so it wouldn't take so long to make an arrest," Joffrion said.
Col. Mike Edmonson, Louisiana's public safety department superintendent, said: "The vast majority of crimes are done by repeat offenders. Why not cast a bigger net?"
Databases have restricted access and procedures for expunging samples of anyone acquitted.
Since arrestees were added to the pool, the vast majority of Louisiana's "hits" or matches to crime scenes have come from arrestees. So far this year, 406 of the hits were arrestees while only 158 were convicted felons.
Virginia's law requiring sampling of arrestees for violent offenses and burglary was adopted in 2003, and its constitutionality was challenged.
"But our courts upheld the law. Public safety trumped privacy rights," said Pete Marone, head of Virginia's department of forensic science. In the past seven years, records show 11 percent of Virigina's nearly 6,000 hits have come from arrestees.
The American Civil Liberties Union remains opposed to inclusion of arrestees.
"Anyone wrongfully arrested becomes part of a permanent criminal database. Someone arrested for a misdemeanor might become a suspect for life," Caroline Frederickson, the ACLU Washington legislative office's director, said on the group's website.
Expansion in Texas?
Texas state Rep. Allen Vaught, D-Dallas, spearheaded expanding DNA sampling this year to adults and juveniles given probation or deferred adjudication for felony convictions. The state's database already includes all sex offenders and felons sent to prison or the Texas Youth Commission.
Asked why more arrestees are not sampled, Vaught said: "I wanted to do it, but we couldn't get the votes. It came down to cost."
The Legislative Budget Board projected that just adding people on probation would cost $2.4 million this year, which lawmakers hope to defray by charging each criminal a processing fee of up to $50 that would raise $1.7 million. He plans to push next session for not only arrestees, but serious misdemeanor offenders to be included.
Many crime victims such as 27-year-old Jennifer Schuett will join him in urging the expansion of DNA sampling.
Schuett was abducted from her Dickinson bedroom at age 8, raped, her throat slashed and then left to bleed atop a fire ant mound in 1990. The Chronicle ordinarily does not identify sexual assault victims, but Schuett approved use of her name.
Her assailant, Dennis Bradford, made a videotaped confession to the attack before hanging himself this year after his DNA from an Arkansas conviction in 1997 was finally linked to a stain on Schuett's pink pajamas.
Feeling lucky to be alive, Schuett says swabbing the inside of an arrestee's cheek is a small price to pay for saving a life.
cindy.horswell@chron.com |
Gerald Anderson "Jerry" Lawson (December 1, 1940 – April 9, 2011)[1][2] was an American electronic engineer, and one of the few African-American engineers in the industry at that time. He is known for his work in designing the Fairchild Channel F video game console as well as pioneering the commercial video game cartridge.[3]
Early life [ edit ]
Lawson was born in Brooklyn, New York City on December 1, 1940.[4] His father Blanton was a longshoreman with an interest in science, while his mother Mannings worked for the city, and also served on the PTA for the local school and made sure that he received a good education.[5] Both encouraged his interests in scientific hobbies, including ham radio and chemistry. Lawson said that his first-grade teacher helped him encourage his path to be someone influential similar to George Washington Carver.[4] While in high school, he earned money by repairing television sets. He attended both Queens College and City College of New York, but did not complete a degree at either.[4]
Career [ edit ]
The Fairchild Channel F, with the cartridge slot on the right of the unit
In 1970, he joined Fairchild Semiconductor in San Francisco as an applications engineering consultant within their sales division. While there, he created the early arcade game Demolition Derby out of his garage.[4][5] In the mid-1970s, Lawson was made Chief Hardware Engineer[6] and director of engineering and marketing for Fairchild's video game division.[4] There, he led the development of the Fairchild Channel F console, released in 1976 and specifically designed to use swappable game cartridges. At the time, most game systems had the game programming stored on ROM storage soldered onto the game hardware, which could not be removed. Lawson and his team figured out how to move the ROM to a cartridge that could be inserted and removed from a console unit repeatedly, and without electrically shocking the user. This would allow users to buy into a library of games, and provided a new revenue stream for the console manufacturers through sales of these games.[7] Lawson's invention of the interchangeable cartridge was so novel that every cartridge he produced had to be approved by the Federal Communications Commission.[8] The Channel F was not a commercially successful product, but the cartridge approach was picked up by other console manufacturers, popularized with the Atari 2600 released in 1977.[9][10]
While he was with Fairchild, Lawson and Ron Jones were the sole black members of the Homebrew Computer Club, a group of early computer hobbyists which would produce a number of industry legends, including Apple founders Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak.[9] Lawson had noted he had interviewed Wozniak for a position at Fairchild, but did not hire him.[4]
In 1980, Lawson left Fairchild and founded Videosoft, a video game development company which made software for the Atari 2600 in the early 1980s, as the 2600 had displaced the Channel F as the top system in the market.[3][11] Videosoft closed about five years later, and Lawson started to take on consulting work. At one point, he had been working with Stevie Wonder to produce a "Wonder Clock" that would wake a child with the sound of a parent's voice, though it never made it to production.[7] Lawson later worked with the Stanford mentor program and was preparing to write a book on his career.[9]
In March 2011, Lawson was honored as an industry pioneer for his work on the game cartridge concept by the International Game Developers Association (IGDA).[7]
Death [ edit ]
Around 2003, Lawson started having complications from diabetes, losing the use of one leg and sight from one eye.[5] On April 9, 2011, about one month after being honored by the IGDA, he died of complications from diabetes.[4][7] At the time of his death, he resided in Santa Clara, California, and was survived by his wife, two children, and his brother.[4] |
Arkansas’ monthly unemployment rate fell below 7% for the first time in five years and dropped for the sixth consecutive month.
New numbers released by the Arkansas Department of Workforce Services showed the March jobless rate dipped two-tenths of a percent to 6.9%. One year ago, unemployment stood at 7.4%. The U.S. jobless rate was unchanged from February at 6.7%.
“Arkansas’ unemployment rate dropped below seven percent in March for the first time since January 2009. This is the sixth consecutive month that Arkansas’ jobless rate has declined,” said DWS Communications Director Becky Heflin.
Employment also climbed in March to 1,238,900, an increase of 2,400 workers from the previous month and an increase of 10,200 workers since last year. The number of unemployed fell dramatically – also by 2,400 workers from February – and is down 7,100 from a year ago as workers exited the Arkansas labor force through retirement, leaving the state, or just giving up.
In the monthly survey of employers, a separate jobs report released with labor statistics, Arkansas saw eight industry sectors achieve gains compared to one year ago, while three sectors saw year-over-year declines.
Notably, construction jobs have experienced a healthy rebound with an estimated 1,600 new jobs created in the sector in the last year.
Gainers and decliners included:
Change from March 2013 to March 2014
Mining & Logging -100
Construction +1,600
Manufacturing +400
Trade/Transportation +2,200
Information -500
Financial +600
Professional/Business +1,100
Education/Health +2,900
Leisure/Hospitality +4,400
Other +800
Government -400
You can access the full report here.
Comments
comments |
PORTLAND, Ore. – Police have released names of the victims in Saturday's deadly hit-and-run crash in Northeast Portland.
The man killed in the crash was identified as Peter West Gefre, 26, of Gresham. The other four people who were injured were identified as 32-year-old Gabriel Xesmas Mata, 18-year-old Elizabeth Tate, 26-year-old Nicholas Bennett and 40-year-old Michael Genuine.
Meantime, the manhunt continues for David Augustine Saucedo, 36, the suspected driver in the hit-and-run crash.
Police say Saucedo ran a stop sign at Northeast 157th Avenue and Halsey Street and crashed into a pickup truck at about 5:30 a.m.
Crash at Northeast 157th Avenue and Halsey Street
Saucedo fled the scene on foot, according to investigators who identified him after finding his driver's license in the car. He is wanted on felony hit-and-run charges.
There were four passengers in Saucedo's car, according to police. Gefre was pronounced dead at the scene, police said. Tate and Bennett were taken to Portland hospitals with injuries that did not appear to be life threatening.
Mata ran from the scene but was located and taken to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, police said.
Genuine had been driving the pickup truck and did not have any passengers in his vehicle. He was also hospitalized and his injuries that did not appear to be life-threatening, police said.
Northeast Halsey Street between 155th and 162nd avenues was closed for several hours during the investigation.
Anyone with information about the Saucedo's whereabouts is asked to call police non-emergency line at 503-823-3333.
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Watch live or check weather & traffic updates on the go with the KGW News app |
Mother’s Day is right around the corner and kids always love making something extra-special to show their moms how much they love them. This simple craft is easy to assemble and it makes a great gift!
What You’ll Need:
For one flower photo frame:
1 5x7 piece of stretched canvas
1 5x7 piece of blue cardstock paper
1 5x2 piece of patterned green cardstock paper
1 piece of green craft foam
2 cupcake liners (design of your choice)
a picture of your child
glue
scissors
How To Make It
1. Lay down the piece of canvas. Glue the 5x7 sheet of blue cardstock paper to the piece of canvas. Then take the 5x2 piece of patterned green cardstock paper and glue it to the bottom of the canvas, covering the blue at the bottom.
2. Using scissors, cut a flower stem and two petals out of the green craft foam. Glue the stem and petals to the canvas.
You'll Also Love: Silly Embellished Portaits Project
3. Leave one cupcake liner as is and turn the other liner inside out. Glue the inside out liner inside the regular liner. This way, both the outside and the inside of the flower will show the patterned design of the cupcake liner.
4. Glue the cupcake liner to the top of the craft foam flower stem.
5. Cut the photo of your child into a circle the size of the cupcake liner base. Glue the photo in the centre of the liner. Allow to dry completely.
These flower frames are a super-special craft for kids to make. They'll make a great keepsake for years to come. Enjoy! |
Today, T-Mobile quietly released a new data-free cell phone plan: unlimited talk & text only for $25/mo, with taxes and fees included. Both new and existing T- Mobile customers can get unlimited talk & text only, but it's not available for No Credit Check or prepaid accounts.
Unlimited Talk & Text Only: features
This cell phone plan includes:
Unlimited talk & text in Mexico and Canada just like in the U.S. (data not included)
Simple Global rates for voice and messaging in over 140 countries and destinations (data not included)
Stateside International Unlimited Texting when in the US and texting other countries (Stateside International Talk may be added as an additional feature for $15/month)
Unlimited Talk & Text Only: fine print
Be aware of these details before you buy:
This plan does not include data and there is no option to add data. To use an app that requires data such as iMessage or WhatsApp, you'll need to connect to Wi-Fi.
and there is no option to add data. To use an app that requires data such as iMessage or WhatsApp, you'll need to connect to Wi-Fi. The autopay discount and Netflix on Us benefits are not available with this plan
This plan cannot be extended for international use; you must reside in the U.S.
Unlimited Talk & Text Only lines may not be added to an existing T-Mobile ONE taxes inclusive plan. You would need to migrate from your existing T-Mobile ONE or Simple Choice plan and give up your promotional benefits or your free or discounted line(s).
Cell Phone Plans Filters Plan Inclusions Price T-Mobile $20 Unlimited Talk & Text Only $20 Unlimited Talk & Text Only
$20 Unlimited Talk & Text Only No Data Included
Unlimited National Talk & Text
No Contract
$20 + $25 Upfront $ 20 + $25 Upfront Go T-Mobile ONE | Unlimited 55+ YRS ONLY ONE | Unlimited 55+ YRS ONLY
ONE | Unlimited 55+ YRS ONLY Unlimited Data
Unlimited National Talk & Text
No Contract
$50/mo + $25 Upfront $ 50 /mo + $25 Upfront Go T-Mobile ONE | Eligible Military ONLY ONE | Eligible Military ONLY
ONE | Eligible Military ONLY Unlimited Data
Unlimited National Talk & Text
No Contract
$55/mo + $25 Upfront $ 55 /mo + $25 Upfront Go T-Mobile Essentials Essentials
Essentials Unlimited Data
Unlimited National Talk & Text
No Contract
$60/mo + $25 Upfront $ 60 /mo + $25 Upfront Go T-Mobile ONE ONE
ONE Unlimited Data
Unlimited National Talk & Text
No Contract
$70/mo + $25 Upfront $ 70 /mo + $25 Upfront Go T-Mobile ONE Plus ONE Plus
ONE Plus Unlimited Data
Unlimited National Talk & Text
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About T-Mobile... T-Mobile is one of the "Big Four" cell phone carriers in the United States, a key player in the wireless market. Founded in 1994, T-Mobile USA is helmed by outspoken CEO John Legere. Network: T-Mobile's 4G LTE network runs on LTE bands 4 and 12. These bands use the frequencies 1900, 1700 def and 700a. For phones using 2G or 3G network technology, the T-Mobile network will primarily use the 1900 MHz frequency. Coverage: At last check, T-Mobile ranked #3 in overall coverage in the U.S. That may change, though, as the company quickly buys up spectrum in previously-uncovered areas. Where to Buy: T-Mobile products can be purchased online or at one of the company's over 3,500 U.S. stores. Bring Your Own Phone to T-Mobile: Customers can bring along their unlocked, GSM-compatible phones for service on T-Mobile. Just make sure that the device supports T-Mobile's LTE bands and 3G frequencies; you can check here. Tethering: T-Mobile's unlimited ONE plan includes unlimited hotspot data at up to 3G speeds. Customers can add ONE Plus to get unlimited Smartphone Mobile HotSpot data at up to 4G LTE speeds. Prepaid: T-Mobile offers a litany of prepaid plans, and also owns prepaid carrier MetroPCS. Taxes & Fees: One of the biggest perks of T-Mobile is that all taxes and fees are included in the price of their plans. Fact: T-Mobile's unlimited plans have been incredibly popular, and arguably moved the entire wireless industry in the direction of all-you-can-use talk, text and data plans. Learn more about T-Mobile via our carrier review. View All T-Mobile Plans |
In this Feb. 9, 2017, file photo, Attorney General Jeff Sessions holds a meeting with the heads of federal law enforcement components at the Department of Justice in Washington. Associated Press/Susan Walsh Attorney General Jeff Sessions has faced mounting calls in recent days to recuse himself from any investigations into Russian ties to Trump's former National Security Advisor Mike Flynn and other aides and Trump's 2016 presidential campaign, but has so far remained unpersuaded.
On Wednesday, for the second day in a row, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer demanded an investigation into Russian ties to Trump associates conducted by an "independent and unbiased law enforcement authority" that explicitly excludes Sessions.
"The new Attorney General Jeff Sessions cannot be the person to lead that investigation … it is a clear conflict of interest," Schumer said on the Senate floor, citing Department of Justice regulations.
"The words are crystal clear. There is no wiggle room … Any investigation headed, directed by, or influenced by the Attorney General will be jaundiced from the very start."
But Sessions has previously said he sees no need to recuse himself from any such investigations, and one of his advisers told the New York Times he has not been swayed from his position by recent events.
The Justice Department's rule on the matter is brief: "No DOJ employee may participate in a criminal investigation or prosecution if he has a personal or political relationship with any person or organization substantially involved in the conduct that is the subject of the investigation or prosecution, or who would be directly affected by the outcome."
The regulation then defines "political relationship" as a "close identification with an elected official, candidate, political party or campaign organization arising from service as a principal advisor or official."
Democrats have argued that Sessions' role alongside Flynn on the National Security Advisory committee during the transition, his position as senior adviser in the Trump campaign, and his enthusiastic endorsement and nomination of Trump at the Republican National Convention last summer constitute a "political relationship" that would interfere with the integrity of an investigation.
"The rules requiring Sessions to recuse from the Trump campaign investigation are so clear you have to question why he is refusing to do so," Matthew Miller, a former spokesperson for former Attorney General Eric Holder, tweeted on Tuesday.
The conflict of interest isn't confined to Sessions' close political relationship with Trump, according to David Alan Sklansky, a former federal prosecutor and current Stanford law professor. Sessions also made public comments during the campaign praising Trump's "pragmatic" approach to Russia.
"It is hard to imagine how his own name — not just the name of the President who appointed him — can fail to surface in this investigation, and hard to imagine how the investigation can fail to touch on, if not Sessions' own actions, at a minimum the actions of close political associated of his in 2016," Sklansky wrote.
Democrats first issued the demand on Tuesday, the day after Flynn resigned over his communications last December with the Russian ambassador. Later that day, the New York Times reported that intercepted phone calls revealed that Trump's associates and campaign staffers had repeatedly communicated with senior Russian intelligence officials in 2016.
Schumer was not alone — 11 Democratic senators on Wednesday jointly called for Sessions to appoint an independent special counsel to investigate Flynn's communication with Russian officials, so as to "maintain the confidence, credibility and impartiality of the Department of Justice."
Debate over Sessions' role in forthcoming investigations was anticipated by Democratic senators during Sessions' confirmation last month, during which Senator Dianne Feinstein of California noted the close working relationship Sessions would have with Flynn upon his confirmation as Attorney General, and asked if he would recuse himself from an investigation.
Sessions replied that he was "not aware of a basis to recuse" himself, adding that he would consult with DOJ ethics officials if he felt his impartiality "might reasonably be questioned."
Sessions did, however, say he would recuse himself from any investigations related to Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server or any matters regarding the Clinton Foundation, given that he had previously made critical comments that "could place my objectivity in question."
Here's Minority leader Schumer speaking on the Senate floor: |
An original play, adapted from pieces in the book and with original music by Forest Park's History Singers will take place at the Park District of Forest Park's building on Saturday, Oct. 26. Performances will take place at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. Tickets can be purchased at Centuries and Sleuths Bookstore or by calling the store at (708) 771-7243, through the Historical Society of Forest Park at (708) 232-3747 or on Eventbrite.com. Tickets are $8 for Historical Society Members and $10 for non-members in advance and $15 at the door. Copies of the book will be available at the event and at Centuries and Sleuths.
The event may be a fundraiser, but in the eyes of Aleksy, it's so much more. "This event is meant to raise money for the historical society, but there's no reason you can't have fun while doing so."
Participating writers include Jay Bonansinga, a New York Times best-selling author, Chicago-area novelists Michael Black, Frances McNamara and Stephanie Keuhmert and local historians Robert Loerzel and Richard Lindberg. Emily Victorson edited the book for Allium Press, and Amy Binns-Calvey, founding member of The Noble Fool Theater Company, pulled together the dramatic performance.
Aleksy used his extensive contact list from the book store to reach out to local writers and was bowled over by the response. "I'm just so impressed with the people who agreed to work on this. It is a regional, literary work of art. I organized it, but everyone else brought it to life. It's a perfect combination of history and literature."
Aleksy found local authors to contribute soliloquies based on the lives of those interred in Forest Park's cemeteries, and gathered the soliloquies into a book. The roughly thirty tales are told in the first person, but are meant to be historical in nature. From the parents of Ernest Hemingway to Elizabeth Taylor's husband Mike Todd to victims of the Eastland disaster and Iroquois Theater fire, the tales range from funny to poignant. According to Aleksy, "it's a good cross cut of society in the Midwest."
"During the Forest Park centennial, I volunteered to man the Historical Society booth, and while I was there, I was advised about all the cemeteries in Forest Park: how many there are, the differences and the people buried there. It was an enlightenment. I thought of the Spoon River Anthology, and thought it would be great to do with factual people."
When it comes to local historical society fundraisers, there are small-scale events and large-scale events. Forest Park Historical Society President Augie Aleksy thinks big. The owner of Forest Park's Centuries and Sleuths Bookstore, Aleksy has long been captivated by Edgar Lee Master's 1915 Spoon River Anthology. Inspired by the work and the wealth of stories from local cemeteries, he undertook an effort to create both an anthology and a performance work based on actual stories of people buried in Forest Park.
By Lacey Sikora
For most of us, Halloween is time for the living. Holiday parades, trick-or-treating and kids in costumes dot the western suburbs in October.
This year, Forest Park is capitalizing on its claim to fame: celebrating the non-living residents within its village boundaries. With five major graveyards in the village, Forest Park has long recognized that dead inhabitants outnumber the living thirty to one. In the spirit of paying homage to this statistic, the Forest Park Chamber of Commerce and Development and the historical societies of both Oak Park and River Forest and Forest Park have planned three October events which aim to let the living celebrate the dead in ways that are both fun and educational.
Tales of the Tombstones cemetery walk
On Oct. 20, the Oak Park River Forest Historical Society will present its 22nd annual Tale of the Tombstones Cemetery Walk. The walk will give visitors a chance to take guided tours of the Forest Home and German Waldheim Cemeteries in Forest Park. As in years past, costumed presenters bring to life former area inhabitants. This year, the tour's theme is "Survivor!" Instead of focusing on interesting deaths, as has been done in past years, the focus is on those who lived to tell the tale of harrowing experiences.
Past-president of the Historical Society and tour coordinator Laurel McMahon thinks the twist will offer a different perspective to participants. "This year is a much different take on the stories we usually tell. We often focus on famous residents and how they died. This year, we will cover people who have survived peril. From watery and fiery deaths, to someone sentenced to death who won an eleventh hour reprieve, to someone who was presumed dead but actually alive, we have some interesting stories to share."
This year's tour will include 6 ½ stops for presentations. McMahon notes that the half-stop is really two visitors to the tour that will honor local anniversaries. "This year is the 100th anniversary of women's suffrage in Illinois, and many Oak Park women were instrumental in getting women the vote. It's also the 100th anniversary of what is now the Oak Park Day Nursery, so we will hear about these historical moments as well."
The award-winning event is a major fundraiser for the Historical Society, and McMahon notes that it gets better every year. "Our presenters are Historical Society volunteers. Some are professional actors and some are just very passionate about our history. They give high quality performances. This is the 22nd year we've been doing this tour, and as time goes on, people have become more professional in their roles."
McMahon says this is more than just a cemetery walk. "It's a fun tour. Not only are the presentations interesting, but our tour guides take you all around the cemetery and give you all kind of information. We want to move you to tears and laughter, but we hope you'll take away more than just the presentations. We hope you'll take away an understanding of just what a treasure the Forest Home Cemetery is."
Tickets are $15 or $10 for Historical Society Members and can be purchased at the Historical Society's website: www.oprfhistory.org . The walk takes place on Sunday Oct. 20, with a rain date of October 27th. The tour begins at 1 p.m and runs until 4 p.m.
Forest Park's 2nd Annual Casket Race
The Forest Park Chamber of Commerce and Development is not just a bunch of business people who get excited talking about taxes and revenues. In fact, executive director Laurie Kokenes thinks this group is as far from fuddy-duddy as you can get, and she's come up with the perfect Halloween activity to prove it. Inspired by an Emma Crawford coffin race she saw in Colorado years ago, Kokenes brought the idea of coffin racing to the western suburbs.
"When I saw it in Colorado, I thought: 'this is so Forest Park.' People like to different things and fun things here. People have good senses of humor, and with our history of having more dead people than alive in the village, I thought it'd be a great event."
The first Casket Race took place last year on the Chamber's 100th anniversary, and the success made doing it again a no-brainer. Locals, as well as local businesses, clamored to form groups of four, plus a steer-person, who would not only create their own artful casket but also race at breakneck speed down Beloit Avenue, competing for highly sought-after prizes.
Kokenes notes that last year's trophies, created by American Family Insurance's Liz Axtell, caused quite a frenzy among competitors. "Last year, we had prizes for the creepiest, coolest, funniest and fastest caskets. We had to have a coolest winner for Rick Schauer and Nadeau's Ice Sculpture who created their team's casket from ice. One team, Teachers of the Titanic, knew they weren't in the running for fastest, so they went as slow as possible to get their hands on a trophy."
The plan is to differ the trophies every year, and Kokenes hopes this year's tombstone trophies will inspire the sixteen teams registered. For safety reasons, team members must be at least 18 years old, and just in case, the end of the course is lined in hay bales to slow down any casket that picks up a little too much speed. Residents of Beloit get into the action, decorating their houses, and music and food after the event will keep the spirit alive.
The event will take place on Saturday, Oct. 26th at 9 a.m., starting at the intersection of Beloit and Madison. |
Last week we helped the Brookings Institution’s Hutchins Center on Fiscal and Monetary Policy organize “Beyond bitcoin: The future of blockchain and disruptive financial technologies,” a roundtable discussion among industry, government, and experts, as well as a public panel discussion. The event looked at blockchain technologies like Bitcoin and examined their use-cases, especially in the context of regulation. Joining us were experts from across the industry representing diverse perspectives on the future of this technology. In particular, there were notable discussions on the value of permissioned or closed ledgers as compared to permissionless or open ledgers. While we do not yet know how the future of this technology will shake out, I got an opportunity to lay out the case for decentralized permissionless ledgers [See above].
Later, we discussed the risks that fast-paced innovation presents, and I made the case that the answer is not precautionary regulation, but to allow the technology to develop and only intervene where there is a clear problem--especially since the technology will continue to be developed even with prophylactic regulation.
Finally, our senior policy counsel, Robin Weisman, laid out the questions and challenges regulators face with cryptocurrency technology:
You can see the day’s full proceedings here. |
In today’s Election Countdown 2012 segment: In Quebec, it’s not the fees, it’s the debt; Walker’s win smacks Wisconsin protesters who started recall; a map shows half the nation returning to past employment levels and the other half not, and more.
D – 94 and counting*
“Politics ain’t beanbag.” –Finley Peter Dunne
Reader note: In this series, there are three main tracks: (1) Occupy and Occupy-like movements (e.g., Montreal), (2) State and local actions or events, especially those to do with resource extraction (e.g., fracking), and (3) electoral politics, especially the Obama vs. Romney. Most people, when they say “politics,” mean the last track: the horse race. In fact, all three tracks are “politics,” and the first two can be empowering and even joyful. Also, too, in crises, the tracks will correlate. I’m very interested in curating reliable sourcing from on the ground for occupations and state or local news; please mail me.
Montreal. Jean Charest and his big brother, Vladimir Putin: “[A minority of] Russia’s lawmakers … fought hard and long against a bill that would impose huge fines on protesters” (like Bill 78 in Qeubec; here, here, here). June 6 is casserole night. “Amir Khadir, the sole member of Quebec solidaire in the legislature, was among dozens of people rounded up in Quebec City during a night time march.” “Anarchopanda is taking his fight against Montreal’s controversial anti-mask bylaw from the streets to the courtroom.” Anarchopanda: “The panda costume allows me to do things that I couldn’t do otherwise, like hug police officers.” Anarchopanda’s lawyer: “The [anti-mask] bylaw is just really unclear to begin with. [You’re] forcing everyone to justify why they’re wearing a mask even if they have no criminal intent.” Charest’s trap: “Charest is preparing to use the same ploy [as Trudeau on Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day in ’68; provoking violence]. He refuses to come to an agreement with student leaders on tuition fees despite a 13-week strike. Law 78 has instigated a social crisis. The noise of casseroles has become a daily one. All he needs now is a riot to call voters to the polls in a re-election attempt just before the findings of the Charbonneau commission on corruption in the construction industry are revealed. Students know to avoid the trap, but how can troublemakers be prevented from taking the bait?” Education Minister Michelle Couchesne: “There are no negotiations planned. No. Absolutely not.”
It’s not the fees, it’s the debt: “Students today graduate from post secondary education with more debt (inflation adjusted) than the generations before did. … This debt is exempt from all bankruptcy laws. I could borrow 50 thousand dollars to start a business bedazzling jean jackets tomorrow and if it didn’t work out be free and clear of that debt in seven years, but if I wanted to be a scientist and things didn’t work out I’d be stuck with that liability for the rest of my life. This makes education literally the riskiest investment a person can make.” “I know some of you are scared. You have every reason to be. But we cannot let that fear win. If the fear of the police keeps us at home, they have already beaten us. Be peaceful, be joyous, be loving. Stand together and be strong. They cannot arrest us all. There is strength in numbers, and there is strength in each other.”
Occupy. Occupy Albany: Adopts “red patch” as logo: “It comes from the French phrase “carrement dans le rouge”, [FB] or “squarely in the red,” referring to those crushed by debt.” Occupy Riverdale: “[Riverdale Mobile Home Community] is the site of the proposed construction of a water withdrawal site for frack operations in the Jersey Shore/Williamsport region–one of the current epicenters of the fracking universe. Aqua America/PVR bought the land from the landowner in the early Spring, and thereby commenced the evictions of the park’s residents.” Occupy Homes: “‘The neighbors have a concern. They don’t want their neighborhood to be a staging ground for protests,’ says [D Minneapolis Mayor R.T.] Rybak. Many houses dotting the area around the Cruz home have the signature red sign that reads, ‘STOP FORECLOSURES, STOP EVICTIONS.’ Many neighbors support the Cruz’s and their efforts to stay in the house.”
Colorado. “There are currently 22 central [evaporation ponds for oil and gas drilling] in CO, and officials say they aren’t sure which chemicals are being stored.” Tinpot Tyrant Watch: “Police in Aurora, CO., searching for suspected bank robbers stopped every car at an intersection, handcuffed all the adults and searched the cars.”
Florida. “Although [Friends of the Everglades] was briefed on the broad outline of a plan to reduce pollution by phosphorous in the Everglades to acceptable levels, including promises of money from the State of Florida, Friends of the Everglades has yet to see details.”
Iowa. “An Iowa State University scientist found evidence that sick hens at farms owned by an Iowa egg producer were ‘almost certainly’ laying eggs contaminated with salmonella months before one of the nation’s largest outbreaks of food-borne illness came to light, newly released records show.” “Iowa City forms new plan of attack for landfill fire” which should have been out this week (TTH).
Michigan. Why don’t Detroit journos write about Cotter’s fraudulent ballot qualifying signatures from the district perspective?
North Carolina. “[Charlotte] released a protest route Monday that is clear of where President Barack Obama is scheduled to speak at Bank of America Stadium but comes within two blocks of the main convention site at Time Warner Arena.”
New York. “My senior prom date had a gas well on her farm, about 100 yards across the road. … So yes, let’s pay the extractive industry folks a lot less by using less of what they’re selling. We also need to accept that it’s going to take a while…” “Banking on the long-term prospects of shale development in NY, a PA drilling company has purchased mineral rights to 160,000 acres in the Finger Lakes region from Chesapeake Energy.”
Ohio. “OH law requires political parties to include a disclaimer when posting information on the internet in support or opposition to a candidate or issue. A new website [here] from the OH Republican Party … lacks any type of disclaimer.”
Pennsylvania. “John Perzel, an R from Philadelphia and Bill Deweese, a D from Greene, share the distinction of both having served as Speaker of the Pennsylvania State House. … Now they’re both at Camp Hill state prison, and they’re sharing the same cell.” Sweet!
Wisconsin. Pierce: “What we have here is a fight, out in the open, without nuance or euphemism, between two ideas of what self-government should look like, who it should serve, and how, and how wide the parameters of participation will be. That is serious business. It ought to be contested fiercely and to the last and without cosmetic conciliation.” Reuters head: “Walker’s win smacks Wisconsin protesters who started recall.” “[I]t’s worth pondering how similar the intensity of emotions are on each side of the divide. That anger won’t be relieved after Tuesday.” Chuck Todd: “Most important result from the exit poll: the 60% who said recalls are ONLY appropriate for OFFICIAL misconduct.” Walker: $30M. Barrett: $3.9M. (“We did it with wealth.”) “Please, please, please, remain engaged, remain involved because we will continue to fight for justice and fairness in this city and this state.” (And we get?) Activist Colette Brown: “Recalling Walker is important, but it isn’t good to lose momentum by diverting all energy into the recall campaign to elect a Democrat” (dcblogger).
Inside Baseball. Thomas Edsall: “[W]e still are a nation of Republicans and Democrats.” HCR, Kaiser survey: “35% of non-white respondents believe [ObamaCare] will benefit their family. 14% believe they will be worse off ([and] 39% don’t think it will make much difference).” Whites: “18% believe the law will leave their family better off, compared to 38% who believe they will be worse off.” Full of win! HCR, WI voter, Pierce: “The problem is that, when you start handing out free health care out to teachers, that annoys me to no end. I never got free health care. My brother’s wife is a teacher and I once asked her, when I was getting my teeth worked on, what it cost her and she said, ‘Nothing.’ It should never get to that point where somebody’s getting free health care. Something’s way out of whack there.” Horse race teebee ad money: 60% in FL, VA, and OH. Top 10, largest first: FL, VA, OH, NC, CO, IA, PA, NV, NH, and MI. NSF poli sci funding: “[T]he issue isn’t whether there would be social science funding. There would be. The question is whether, given the agendas of its private funders, the research would be as publicly valuable. I do not think so.” “In Fast & Furious, Phoenix-based ATF agents used watch-and-wait tactics on cartel-linked gun purchasers and lost track of over 2,000 weapons… Two of those weapons were recovered … at the murder site of Border Patrol agent Brian Terry.” Oopsie. Atlantic’s secrets for success: “Hire smart people who aren’t jerks.” OK, explain Megan McArdle.
Robama vs. Obomney Watch. Clinton: “[Romney] would be in my opinion calamitous for our country and the world.” Romney “adopted Europe‘s economic policies.” Romney: “[W]e’re so close to economic calamity. We see what’s happening in Europe and we’re following them.” On the same day! (Everythings Jake) Romney: “What he’s very good at is finding other people to blame.” Obama blames “his predecessor, the Congress, the one percent, oil companies, and A.T.M.s. True! Obama surrogate Cutter: “They’re saying don’t hold Mitt Romney accountable for the first three years he was in office, because he inherited a bad economy. Yet these same people blame the president for job losses that occurred in January 2009, the very month he was inaugurated, and months before any of his policies took place.” Also true!
Jawbs. “[T]he new poll finds the number of Americans saying they have been hearing mostly bad news about jobs has spiked, from 38% in March to 55% currently.” “Most of the 15 states where the [American Petroleum Institute] has been holding its meetings will be important battlegrounds for the presidential election, and in three of them – OH, CO and PA – oil and gas are playing an increasingly important role in their economies. We haven’t seen the Republicans using it as a wedge issue, but I can see it becoming one,” Professor Sracic said. “Ohio is going to be very, very close and little things can mean a lot.” Keen map shows half the nation returning to past employment levels and the other half not. “Energy and farm states outperformed the nation, as did states near the nation’s capital.” Yes, a petro-state (farming being oil-driven).
Romney. “And according to the tipster who claims to have hacked [Romney’s email account] by guessing Romney’s favorite pet in response to a “security” questions, it’s still active today.” No, it couldn’t be. “Seamus”?! The emails are about ObamaRomneyCare, among other things.
Obama. Obama: “[Romney] has a theory of the economy that basically says, if I’m maximizing returns for my investors, for wealthy individuals like myself, then everybody’s going to be better off.” (Saw LaBolt try this riff out yesterday.) Capitalism? Did I not get the memo? And “maximizing returns” is wicked professorial. Clinton (Bill) says we’re in a recession: “[G]overnment spending levels … look high because there’s a recession.” Clinton says “no problem” with extending Bush tax cuts temporarily. Obama must want the money bad, to let Clinton wander off the reservation like this.
* 94 days ’til the Democratic National Convention feasts on poutine for all on the floor of the Bank of America Stadium, Charlotte, NC. 94 is the atomic number of Plutonium. |
In a paper published in the physics journal, Classical and Quantum Gravity, Dr. Diego Rubiera-Garcia from the University of Lisbon in Portugal, and his team, posited that a physical object, such as a person or spacecraft, could survive the gravitational forces of wormhole travel. To make the theory and math work, they do have to play fast and loose with Einstein, but that’s not a big deal apparently.
According to Einstein’s Theory of Relativity, the innermost centre of a black hole holds a singularity; a point where gravitational forces are so strong that space and time end. If any object made it to a black hole’s event horizon, and eventually its singularity, it would be stretched into infinity; simply put, an infinitely thin piece of infinitely long spaghetti. However, since no evidence exists to support the existence of singularities, physicists have been taking some liberties with the theory.
Earlier this year, the theory of the ‘naked singularity’ was published, which suggests the universe has 5 dimensions instead of 4. New theories in quantum physics also call into question many theoretical aspects of Einstein’s work, especially those concerning black holes. While we rely heavily on the current ‘rules’ of the physical universe, Einstein’s work is not set in stone; the universe could be much spookier and weird. Knowing this, physicists have begun to develop new theories which fill in a few theoretical gaps and loopholes; one is Rubiera-Garcia’s hypothesis that if a singularity isn’t necessarily the centre of a given black hole, it could be a finite-sized wormhole.
He and his team began by figuring out what would happen to objects if they survived the event horizon and made it to the wormhole. Using geodesic lines, which are the paths in space-time that free-falling objects follow, they created a model. Using a given object, they plotted the chemical and physical interactions that keep an object together as it travels through space and time. Rubiera-Garcia states,
Each particle of the observer [object] follows a geodesic line determined by the gravitational field…Each geodesic feels a slightly different gravitational force, but the interactions among the constituents of the body could nonetheless sustain the body.
In other words, if there is no singularity but rather a finite wormhole, objects would still experience extreme gravitational forces from the black hole, but ‘stay together’ in a sense. The team explains,
…different parts of the body will still establish physical or chemical interactions and, consequently, cause and effect still apply all the way across the throat of the wormhole…
The objects that enter the black hole will only be stretched and crushed to the size of the wormhole. If that object entered the wormhole, and hypothetically came out the other side, it would still be intact. It would be really weird looking, but not destroyed, which, in theoretical physics, isn’t too bad. It’s better than entering a singularity and meeting the end of space and time anyway.
This is obviously all theoretical, and since we have yet to actually ‘see’ a black hole, it will remain that way. That being said, it at least allows for physicists to begin redeeming the idea of the black hole, which has carried with it a stigma of being a frightening obliterator of all things that exist. Wormholes are cute, singularities are not.
For more information on wormholes, and whether they could possibly exist, check out the video below. |
I’ve spoken about how brazen Studio-B can get with their source material before.
How they are approaching that rare status of critical invulnerability for their medium, achieved before only by a select few like Trey Parker and Matt Stone.
Remember the whole “Godzilla because we can” thing? Well you can now replace that with “Clever metaphors about bronydom, whilst simultaneously making a completely unrelated point about personality traits and social stature”.
“Because we can”.
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It’s about time I resumed regular reviews again. I know there are a small handful of you out there on the other side of this screen who have been pestering me to flick the uber-charge switch and pump out more content like quintuplets from a golden galvanised womb of the gods, so after this review I’ll do my darndest to resume regular posting.
It’s just a little bit disheartening for me here on my little blog when shows like Moviebobs “The Big Picture” over on The Escapist do this kind of nerdy social commentary so much better.
Anyway, on to the review…..
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I’m curious as to just how many pegs Studio B plan to take Rainbow Dash down before they lose the character they created in the first place. Previously I have stated that the whole reason characters like these ones are introduced as such over the top caricatures is so the writers have somewhere to go with their story development.
The trouble here is that often times we love so dearly the characters they start as that we don’t like to see them change in the slightest. At least that’s how I feel anyway.
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This episode succeeded in precisely the same way that “Find a Pet” did.
It didn’t overcrowd itself with things to do. In fact, this episode had an even more anorexic plot than that one did.
Rainbow gets hurt. Reads a book. Discovers the joy of reading. Yay. What’s next? Eat your veggies?
The less you crowd yourself with plot threads, the more room you have to focus on what makes a pony episode so entertaining in the first place…namely….Indiana Jones homages… new character designs….eating food with your mouth open…all that great stuff.
Where the real meat of the episode lies however, is in the using of its own plotline to closely mirror how most people generaly describe becoming hooked on the show.
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It really is the perfect setup, and could not have been done nearly as well with any character besides Dash, because she’s the sporty, brash one who best resembles a person who would never in a trillion years consider watching a show like My Little Pony……erm…I mean….reading a book. Because books are nerdy and lame and have stupid pages that you have to turn which is lame because it’s gay just like your face.
It’s really brilliant, especially from a storytelling standpoint, to be able to do two things at once and make it look effortless, because let me tell you, writing episodic thread lines is much harder than it seems. To anyone who wasn’t looking for or didn’t understand the references, it would seem like just another colourful candy coloured cartoon for kids. Inserting undertones that resonate with one person yet sails over the head of the next is A-grade storyboarding.
I love how far the writers go in assimilating bronydom into the episodes. Not just because I’m a fan and it makes me squee like Fluttershy whenever it happens, but because they really don’t HAVE to do it at all.
Remember that. They never HAVE to. But they do.
Also, it might seem like shooting yourself in the foot when you promote the joys of reading on a CARTOON, but what I think was really being promoted was the power of a well told story, and a story can be told in any format.
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As to the overarching character development of Rainbow Dash, it’s hard to say at this point whether or not they are slowly chipping her down to become a softie, or just adding more hidden substance to acknowledge when you look into those same wild eyes we met in episode one.
Does her character arc end with her settling down, halting her daredevil attitude, and marrying Bulma?
Or will she remain the same electric adventure Pony she read about in her newfound book?
Either is possible, but all signs point to the latter.
And that’s good, all stories are better with sonic rainbooms. |
Thomas Rid, Rise of the Machines: A Cybernetic History (W.W. Norton, 2016).
Alexander the Great had Bucephalus, from whose back he could survey his phalanxes. Frederick the Great typically sought out the vantage point of a tall hill. A forward commander in World War I had a sandbagged trench bunker, a periscope, and a hand-cranked telephone. And the Cold War had its iconic blue room.
You’ve seen its rendition in films like Dr. Strangelove and War Games: a cavernous space, giant glass-mounted world maps and cobalt-tinted screens animated by data glowing amid the gloom. Look a little closer though at the actual historical antecedent to the movie sets: the hulking AN/FSQ-7 terminal that was the cornerstone of the SAGE air-defense system, with its distinctive circular display. Next to the holster for the space-age light-gun that was used like a modern day mouse was a cigarette lighter and an ashtray, both built right into the console. They are quaintly amusing design details — and markers of a moment captured in a very different milieu by Mad Men — but they also represent a telling concession to the need for artificial stimulation (nicotine) coursing through the biological circuitry of the human operator who was expected to sit and service the terminal for hours on end.
SAGE’s blue room, with its high-tech systems for communication and control of the atomic battlespace, is a quintessential artifact of cybernetics, the loose, messy social philosophy and engineering paradigm that King’s College War Studies professor Thomas Rid presents in his ambitious new book. The cigarette lighter and the ashtray are the irreducible material signature of cybernetics; mute reminders that we have met the machines and they are us.
Nicotine addiction, in fact, can be understood precisely in terms of cybernetic precepts such as feedback and homeostasis: as the body’s natural chemical balance changes due to substance dependency, psychopharmacological routines kick in to trigger the demand for the drug to return it to a state of normality. This is much the same way that the thermostat in your home regulates the temperature. Crucially, the more one smokes, the greater the cravings (positive feedback in the parlance of cybernetics), and thus ever increasing levels of what cybernetics would term negative feedback are required to bring the body back into temporary balance, or homeostasis.
Cybernetic concepts have become so well absorbed that they seem like laws of nature or biological givens, yet, as Rid is concerned to show, cybernetics has a tangled and curious history. It was the byproduct of a shifting set of intellectual alliances and bedfellows, not to mention ferocious scientific debates. It was also a subject of immense popular interest, with monographs like Norbert Wiener’s foundational Cybernetics or Control and Communication in the Animal and the Machine (1949) becoming improbable bestsellers. Indeed, by the late 1960s, cybernetics had undergone a kind of cultural transfusion, not only the stuff of military command, control, communications and intelligence, but also woven into the lines of Richard Brautigan’s hippie poetry (“machines of loving grace”) and assimilated by architects of the social revolution like Buckminster Fuller and Stewart Brand. “Cybernetics promised to guide stray missiles to targets and lost minds to exaltation,” as Rid puts it pithily.
Cybernetics wasn’t just a universal theory of machines, then; it became — sometimes over the protestations of its founders — a universal theory of, well, everything. If mechanical systems could be understood in terms of feedback and equilibrium, why not the human brain? And if the brain was a closed, computable system, then so too was the rest of nature, culture, society; all of life, in fact. In its relentless insistence that nothing under the sun was beyond the scope of systems engineering, cybernetics found itself in direct contention with the other great 20th century philosophy of mind, psychoanalysis. But where Jung and Freud saw the mind as a vast unknown, its secrets sometimes seeping through in dreams or mythopoeic archetypes, cybernetics saw only inputs, outputs, and circuits, all subject to command — and control.
The key actor in Rise of Machines, at least in its early chapters, is Norbert Wiener, the MIT professor and mathematician who coined the term cybernetics and was responsible for its promulgation (after the Greek κυβερνήτης, or “steersman”). Rid treats his protagonist with sometimes inexplicable disdain, even outright contempt: he is not just an “MIT professor” (itself repeated often enough to become an epithet), he is also (variously) “a proud professor,” “a hapless professor,” “publicity hungry,” “diffuse and incomprehensible,” and “eccentric.” Wiener himself, it must be said, looked the part: short and pudgy with a round face, white hair and beard, and thick black-rimmed glasses. But Rid misses no opportunity to portray him as impractical, alarmist, and out of his depth. One early anecdote has Wiener and his junior colleague Julian Bigelow fumbling around Fort Monroe, looking to further their research, until the authorities arrive to escort them off.
For all of this, however, we never really get a flesh and blood portrait of Wiener, and the man remains something of a cipher throughout. Was he a nutty professor or a visionary and humanitarian? An innovator or a failed academic? Portrayed more sympathetically is Ross Ashby, the British psychiatrist responsible for introducing the public to the world’s “first thinking machine” (it was a black box designed and engineered to do exactly nothing, that is to maintain a perpetual state of homeostasis). Alice Mary Hilton, meanwhile, a rare female voice from the period who wrote rhapsodically of “cyberculture” in the early 1960s — “In an era of cyberculture, all the plows pull themselves and the fried chickens fly right onto the plates” — is depicted by Rid gluttonously explaining her ideas to The New Yorker around mouthfuls of “a handmade ham sandwich.”
Others who come and go — John von Neumann, Gregory Bateson, Stewart Brand, Timothy Leary, Jaron Lanier, even Deputy Secretary of Defense John Hamre, to name just a few (the ensemble cast is almost all male, with the exception of Hilton and a brief cameo from Donna Haraway) — fair little better, generally drawn as either over-eager science brats or California dreamers. Along the way we visit hippie communes in Big Sur, dial-in to the online discussion boards of the WELL, eavesdrop on cypherpunk enclaves, and don virtual reality headgear. Eventually Rid takes us back inside the green machine — the military, specifically the U.S. Department of Defense, aligning the precepts of the AirLand Battle that was supposed to defeat Warsaw Pact tank armies in the 1980s and the post-Desert Storm revolution of military affairs with cybernetic arts of war. But the real battlefield is inner space — which is to say, cyberspace. The climax of the book is its discussion of the complex of public fears around an Electronic Pearl Harbor (the language is Hamre’s), a phrase whose staying power Rid sees as evidence of the machines at their apogee. And with this ascent comes one final, remarkable story.
Rid’s account of the hack (or if you prefer, cyberattack) dubbed Moonlight Maze is the single most extensively researched episode in the book. He takes us much deeper than Fred Kaplan in his corresponding account of the same events in Dark Territory (2016). Moonlight Maze goes down in history as the first known instance of state-on-state cyberwar, netting the black hats a cache of sensitive documents estimated as high as the Washington Monument. The anonymous agents who responded to the massive network intrusion apparently originating inside Russia in 1998 are some of the few figures Rid seems to treat with genuine sympathy and admiration. It’s a brilliant set-piece, and without too much in the way of spoilers let me say that Rid appears to suggest that the whole scheme is undone by a loose-lipped Russian General — though these are not loose lips of the sink ships variety. The machines are finally compromised by the foibles of human flesh.
• • •
Rise of the Machines is a sweeping intellectual history, engagingly written and brought to life by numerous details and anecdotes. Cybernetics and its progression of offshoots — cybernation, cyberculture, cyborgs, cyberspace, cyberpunk, cypherpunk, and finally cyberwar — are all disentangled and demystified in its pages. Rid is an able explainer of gnarly technical concepts, and a reader can reasonably expect to come away with a working understanding of, say, variable time fuses, in what is compellingly described as the first robotic war as British air defenses — aided by truck-mounted SCR-584 radar-directed fire control — used their smart munitions to shoot down Nazi Germany’s pilotless V-1 attack rockets.
Perhaps the book’s greatest success is in the way in which it injects this techno-history deep into the fabric of normality that structures contemporary life: It’s not just Predator drones that are the inheritors of the robots’ confrontation high above the English Channel, it’s also the pilot at the controls of our Airbus A380, one component among many in the feedback and control loops keeping the aircraft aloft; or ourselves, smart phone in hand, unselfconsciously tapping back into the invisible networks that surround us as we deplane. Your avatar is as much a cybernetic shell as the cockpit is for the crew, both airspace and cyberspace equally conducive to transcending the limits of earthly habitus.
Rid is especially good on the interface between weird science and popular culture, giving us everything from Arthur C. Clarke quoting Wiener in the pages of Playboy to a spread in Life magazine with a pinup model luxuriating in the mechanical arms of General Electric’s 80-ton “Electric Beetle,” a device manufactured at the same upstate New York factory that (as it happens) Kurt Vonnegut visited to write his breakthrough first novel, Player Piano (1952), set in a dystopian mechanized society extrapolated from then-current trends in workplace automation. This is not art imitating life so much as strange loops of attraction and repulsion, running from Karel Čapek’s R.U.R. (the 1920 Czech play that bequeathed us the word robot) to, of course, The Terminator, the blockbuster franchise whose third installment gives the book its title. (Rid deliciously quotes Manfred Clynes, the researcher who created the term cyborg: “Schwarzenegger playing this,” Clynes said unironically, “dehumanized the concept completely.”)
The story of cyberspace — by which one might mean anything from the Internet to the singularity of science fiction authors like Vernor Vinge — is too-often fashioned as the triumph of the hideous progeny of the military-industrial complex. (Everyone knows that the Internet was invented to help the U.S. government survive a nuclear war, right?) Rid reminds us that these origin stories (and mythologies) are complex, and while he gives the military origins of cybernetics its due, he is equally at home in the arts, literature, and trends in pop culture. This is another of the book’s virtues, and what commends it to an audience who may be overly familiar with only one side of the story.
And yet, for all of his range and richness, Rid overstates the novelty of his analysis. He begins by painting himself as a dupe of the commonplace that the prefix cyber was invented by novelist William Gibson in Neuromancer (1984). Unable to accept that a sci-fi “fantasy” about a “drug addict” was responsible for the word’s omnipresence today, Rid (in his own words) “. . . started digging. Rise of the Machines was what I found.” But of course the story of cybernetics — and our collective fascination with intelligent machines more generally — is not some buried colossus awaiting just the right shovel. Wiener and cybernetics, as well as mechanical fire control, MIT’s Lincoln Laboratory, Sperry, SAGE, the Macy Conferences, self-reproducing automata, The Whole Earth Catalog, Brautigan’s “Machines of Loving Grace,” osmotic pumps in rats, virtual communities, and techno-feminist science fiction have all been treated extensively in prior work by authorities as diverse as Paul N. Edwards, Manuel DeLanda, Anne Balsamo, N. Katherine Hayles, David A. Mindell, Wendy Hui Kyong Chun, and Sharon Ghamari-Tabrizi to name just a few, and especially Fred Turner, whose itinerary in From Counterculture to Cyberculture (2006) Rid follows closely in key sections of the book.
Rid, however, takes a longer view of the subject than just about any of them, determined to present cybernetics not just as technological or intellectual or social history, but as a kind of master narrative — a mythos — for the 20th century and beyond. The book is ultimately about closing the loop. Rise of the Machines, in other words, reads military, cultural, and technological history cybernetically. The game is given away in the closing pages, where Rid overtly invokes the language of cybernetics to capture the anxieties and ambitions that coexisted uneasily at the human-machine interface: “The machines were always a positive and negative force at the same time, utopian and dystopian at once, although most of the time optimism dominated” [emphasis mine]. This dualism — or again, feedback loop — is the basic structuring device of the narrative. Rid turns to it over and over again, as when, to take just one example, he notes that the same model of mainframe computer powered both Stewart Brand’s legendary online community the WELL and Minuteman missile consoles, the only difference being that the former was housed in a handcrafted wooden cabinet.
Cybernetics, from Wiener’s initial attempts at flight prediction to our fantasies of virtual reality, is marked more often by its failures than its successes, Rid suggests. (When the future finally arrived it looked more like LOLcats and tweets than William Gibson’s “fluid neon origami trick.”) But if the real danger is not the machines taking over but the myth of the machines taking over, one might ask whether the book finally succeeds in escaping the logics of the very histories it seeks so thoroughly to explore. Rise of the Machines builds its narrative through eight main chapters that are organized thematically — Automation, Organisms, Culture, Space, and so on. The last of these is given over to War, and one can’t help but sense some prophecy in that sequencing. Or perhaps it’s still only a secular teleology. Can humans — and machines — change our interconnected fates? We better hope so.
Matthew Kirschenbaum is Professor of English at the University of Maryland. He is the author most recently of Track Changes: A Literary History of Word Processing (Harvard University Press, 2016) and is co-editor of Zones of Control: Perspectives on Wargaming (MIT Press, 2016). A 2011 Guggenheim Fellow, Kirschenbaum has previously written on computer forensics, new media, and digital humanities. |
AT&T is looking to put some of its unused spectrum to work in a move that could reshuffle the wireless spectrum deck.
On Friday, the carrier filed a joint proposal to the Federal Communications Commission with satellite radio provider Sirius. In the filing, the two companies proposed a solution to some longstanding interference concerns between AT&T's unused WCS spectrum, which is in the 2.3 GHz band and Sirius's satellite radio service. As part of this new proposal, AT&T agreed to give up about 10MHz of this Wireless Communication Services or WCS spectrum as a "guard band" to prevent interference with Sirius's satellite transmission.
The proposal will also change the rules of spectrum in the 2.3GHz band, making it easier for AT&T to use this spectrum for its 4G LTE network. If the FCC goes along with the plan, it would be a huge boost for AT&T, which already owns a significant portion of the WCS spectrum. And it would help give the company near nationwide coverage.
But the move could hurt other spectrum holders that were hoping to capitalize on AT&T's desperation for new spectrum. Namely satellite provider Dish Network and wholesale 4G wireless provider Clearwire could be hurt by this move, says Guggenheim Partners analyst Paul Gallant. In a research note today to investors, he said that if AT&T can use its 2.3MHz spectrum for LTE, it may not need to buy spectrum from Dish. And it may not need to partner with Clearwire, which has adopted a strategy of wholesaling access to other carriers.
"If AT&T wins approval for its joint proposal -- and if it can acquire some of the other WCS licenses from parties that currently appear unlikely to build, for example NextWave, Dish and Clearwire could become less attractive spectrum targets for AT&T," he said in his note.
In exchange for giving up a big chunk of spectrum for a guard band, AT&T is also asking the FCC for more lenient rules on the rest of the spectrum it plans to use to build its LTE network. AT&T also wants the FCC to extend the build-out requirements on this spectrum.
But even if the FCC adopts AT&T's suggestions, it could still be three to five years before the spectrum is available for use, some analysts predict.
Still, the move would put AT&T on closer footing with Verizon Wireless, which has a large store of unused spectrum it plans to use for its 4G LTE network. Verizon already owns a significant nationwide chunk of 700MHz wireless spectrum as well as some Advanced Wireless Services spectrum it hasn't used yet. It's now trying to buy about 20 MHz of unused AWS spectrum from several cable companies to add to its coffers.
The spectrum in question was first auctioned off in 1997. But from the start there were interference issues between users of that spectrum and the neighboring satellite radio owners. In May 2010, the FCC suggested rules changes for the 2.3GHz WCS band. These changes would have made it possible for the spectrum to be used for wireless broadband services. And it would have protected against interference. But AT&T and others objected to the finer points of the FCC's proposal at the time.
"Our concern, quite simply, was that the newly-adopted service rules did not permit the deployment of an efficient mobile broadband service in the band, something that AT&T deemed vital for the spectrum to be fully and effectively utilized," Joan Marsh, AT&T's vice president of regulatory affairs, said in a blog post yesterday.
Marsh admitted in her post that the problems the FCC was trying to solve are complex. And she explained that as technologies and companies' priorities have changed, it's now been able to strike a mutually beneficial deal with satellite radio license holders. But she said that there were still compromises made by parties to reach this agreement.
"To be sure, neither party to this proposal got everything it had asked for and perhaps wanted," she said in the blog. "But both AT&T and Sirius XM are confident that they have developed a set of technical rules that will allow each service to flourish while ending the uncertainty that has plagued both bands for far too long. We are hopeful that the commission will agree."
The FCC is likely to rule on the proposal by the end of the year. |
Image copyright AFP Image caption The value of a 100-bolivar note has dropped to just 2 US cents on the black market
The Venezuelan government has announced it will remove the country's highest-denomination banknote from circulation within 72 hours to combat contraband.
Central bank data suggests there are more than six billion 100-bolivar notes in circulation, making up almost half of all currency.
Venezuelans will have 10 days from Wednesday to exchange the notes for coins and new, higher-value bills.
President Nicolas Maduro said the move would stop gangs hoarding the notes.
But in India, a similar move to scrap high-value bank notes last month has caused major disruption.
'Mafia hoarding'
In a surprise announcement, Mr Maduro said on Sunday that the 100-bolivar note, worth about 2 US cents (£0.015) on the black market, would be taken out of circulation on Wednesday.
The president said the aim was to tackle transnational gangs which hoard the Venezuelan notes abroad, a move he has in the past described as part of the "economic war" being waged against his government.
He said the gangs held more than 300bn bolivares worth of currency, most of it in 100-bolivar notes.
President Maduro said there were "entire warehouses full of 100-bolivar notes in the [Colombian cities of] Cucuta, Cartagena, Maicao and Buaramanga".
Border closure
He said part of the plan was to block any of the 100-bolivar notes from being taken back into the country so the gangs would be unable to exchange their hoarded bills, making them worthless.
Image copyright Twitter Image caption The governing PSUV party published photos of what it said were warehouses where bolivars were being hoarded
"I have given the orders to close all land, maritime and air possibilities so those bills taken out can't be returned and they're stuck with their fraud abroad," he said speaking on television.
Venezuela's currency has fallen dramatically amid skyrocketing inflation.
On the black market, its value dropped by 55% against the US dollar just in the past month, and the International Monetary Fund estimates that next year's prices will rise by more than 2,000%.
Gangs can therefore buy up Venezuelan banknotes cheaply on the black market in exchange for dollars or Colombian pesos.
They then use the Venezuelan currency to buy subsidised goods in Venezuela, which they in turn sell at a profit in neighbouring Colombia.
Many Venezuelans living near the border buy Colombian pesos to purchase goods in Colombia which they cannot get in Venezuela due to chronic shortages.
Cash crunch?
President Maduro blames both the shortages and Venezuela's record inflation on "imperialist forces" he says are trying to bring down his government.
Image copyright EPA Image caption President Maduro made the surprise announcement during his weekly TV show
He said the aim of these "forces" was "to destabilise out economy and our society, to leave the country without 100-bolivar notes".
Analysts say the move is likely to worsen the cash crunch in Venezuela, where people have already been limited in the amount of cash they can take out at automated teller machines.
Venezuelans have only been given 10 days to exchange their 100-bolivar notes for new coins and bills ranging from 500 to 20,000 bolivars due to be introduced from 15 December.
Critics of Mr Maduro have predicted chaos and doubt that the facilities will be in place for people to exchange all their 100-bolivar notes.
"When ineptitude governs! Who would possibly think of doing something like this in December amid all our problems?" opposition leader Henrique Capriles wrote on Twitter (in Spanish). |
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