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STOKE is a stochastic optimizer and program synthesizer for the x86-64 instruction set. STOKE uses random search to explore the extremely high-dimensional space of all possible program transformations. Although any one random transformation is unlikely to produce a code sequence that is desirable, the repeated application of millions of transformations is sufficient to produce novel and non-obvious code sequences. STOKE can be used in many different scenarios, such as optimizing code for performance or size, synthesizing an implementation from scratch or to trade accuracy of floating point computations for performance. As a superoptimizer, STOKE has been shown to outperform the code produced by general-purpose and domain-specific compilers, and in some cases expert hand-written code.
In addition to searching over programs, STOKE contains verification infrastructure to show the equivalence between x86-64 programs. STOKE can consider test-cases, perform bounded verification all the way to fully formal verification that shows the equivalence for all possible inputs.
The research behind STOKE is supported by grants from the National Science Foundation.
Publications
STOKE has appeared in a number of publications.
Download
STOKE is developed as open source on GitHub and can be downloaded from github.com/StanfordPL/stoke. The repository contains instructions on how to install STOKE as well as its dependencies.
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Ruby 2.6.0-preview2 was recently released.
Ruby 2.5.0
The Exception#full_message method returns a formatted string of the exception.
>> e = StandardError . new ( 'foo' ) => #<StandardError: foo> >> e . full_message => " \e [1mTraceback \e [m (most recent call last):
(irb):14:in `full_message': \e [1mfoo ( \e [1;4mStandardError \e [m \e [1m) \e [m
"
The string contains escape sequences too.
It was proposed that escape sequences should be excluded from the error message.
Nobuyoshi Nakada said that since Exception#full_message is expected to return the message printed to stderr, escape sequences are intentional.
Benoit Daloze suggested that we can provide an option to disable escape sequences and it was approved.
Ruby 2.6.0
Ruby 2.6.0 provides highlight option to the Exception#full_message method to exclude escape sequences.
>> e = StandardError . new ( 'foo' ) => #<StandardError: foo> >> e . full_message => " \e [1mTraceback \e [m (most recent call last):
(irb):11:in `full_message': \e [1mfoo ( \e [1;4mStandardError \e [m \e [1m) \e [m
" >> e . full_message ( highlight : false ) => "Traceback (most recent call last):
(irb):12:in `full_message': foo (StandardError)
"
The order argument provides options to place the error message and the innermost backtrace come at the top or the bottom of the result returned by Exception#full_message. The order value must be either :top or :bottom .
>> e = StandardError . new ( 'foo' ) => #<StandardError: foo> >> e . full_message => " \e [1mTraceback \e [m (most recent call last):
(irb):2:in `full_message': \e [1mfoo ( \e [1;4mStandardError \e [m \e [1m) \e [m
" >> e . full_message ( highlight : false ) => "Traceback (most recent call last):
(irb):3:in `full_message': foo (StandardError)
" >> e . full_message ( highlight : false , order : :top ) => "(irb):4:in `full_message': foo (StandardError)
" >> e . full_message ( highlight : false , order : :bottom ) => "Traceback (most recent call last):
(irb):5:in `full_message': foo (StandardError)
"
Let’s set a backtrace for an error object and try order option for Exception#full_message method.
>> e = StandardError . new ( 'foo' ) => #<StandardError: foo> >> e . set_backtrace ( [ "a.rb:1" , "b.rb:2" ] ) => [ "a.rb:1" , "b.rb:2" ] >> e . full_message ( highlight : false , order : :top ) => "a.rb:1: foo (StandardError)
\t from b.rb:2
" >> e . full_message ( highlight : false , order : :bottom ) => "Traceback (most recent call last):
\t 1: from b.rb:2
a.rb:1: foo (StandardError)
"
Hope you use these options with Exception#full_message to debug ruby applications.
Here is the relevant commit and discussion.
If you have any questions or feedback, feel free to drop us a mail at team@codemancers.com
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Jetzt wird es ernst: Die Senatsverkehrsverwaltung hat die ersten Überlegungen zum Weiterbau der Straßenbahn-Strecke vom Hauptbahnhof zum U-Bahnhof Turmstraße abgeschlossen und am Donnerstag in der Heilandskirche in Moabit vorgestellt. Mehr als hundert Interessierte waren gekommen. Ziel von Verkehrssenator Andreas Geisel (SPD) ist es, die Straßenbahn auch im Westteil der Stadt wieder heimisch zu machen. Aus dem einst flächendeckenden Netz war 1967 die letzte Straßenbahn verschwunden; sie verkehrte damals zwischen Zoo und Spandau. Seit der Wende sind nur drei neue Abschnitte wieder hinzugekommen – auf der Seestraße in Wedding, der Bernauer Straße in Mitte sowie nach Alt-Moabit am Hauptbahnhof vorbei.
Turmstraße
Am U-Bahnhof Turmstraße schlummert zwar unter der Erde bereits ein Bahnhofsrohbau für eine einst geplante U-Bahn-Linie vom Hauptbahnhof weiter zum Flughafen Tegel, doch in Betrieb gehen soll die Station nicht. Die Verkehrsverwaltung zieht es vor, die Gleise der Straßenbahn zu verlängern, die derzeit vor Alt-Moabit enden. Derzeit fahren hier Bahnen der M 5 von der Zingster Straße kommend. Im Sommer sollen auch die M8 aus Ahrensfelde und die M10 von der Warschauer Straße vorläufig am Hauptbahnhof vorbei zur bisherigen Endstelle an der Lüneburger Straße fahren. Weiter bis zur Turmstraße sollen nach dem derzeitigen Konzept aber nur die Bahnen der M 10 rollen – alle zehn Minuten.
An der Heilandskirche an der Moabiter Thusneldaallee sollen die Züge wenden. Foto: Doris Spiekermann-Klaas
Für die Weiterfahrt zum U-Bahnhof Turmstraße gibt es ab der Kreuzung Alt-Moabit/Rathenower Straße zwei Varianten: geradeaus entlang der Straße Alt-Moabit oder mit einem Knick nach Norden über die Rathenower Straße auf die Turmstraße abbiegend (siehe Grafik). Die Strecke über Alt-Moabit wäre mit einer Länge von knapp zwei Kilometern rund 200 Meter kürzer als die Fahrt auf der Turmstraße – und damit auch etwas billiger. Die Kosten sind mit 18,5 Millionen Euro veranschlagt; die Turmstraßen-Variante soll 19,6 Millionen Euro kosten. Zudem gäbe es über Alt-Moabit weniger Kurven.
Die Turmstraßen-Variante hätte dagegen mehr Haltestellen. Zudem wäre es dort einfacher, für die Straßenbahn eine eigene Trasse anzulegen. Auf der Straße Alt-Moabit müssten sich die Bahnen die Gleise dagegen weitgehend mit dem Autoverkehr teilen. Auf der Turmstraße könnten die Bahnen zu 75 Prozent auf einer eigenen Trasse fahren, über Alt-Moabit wären es 57 Prozent.
Anders als bei einem – wesentlich teureren – U-Bahn-Bau zwischen Hauptbahnhof und Turmstraße gibt es bei der Straßenbahn keine Ideallösung fürs Umsteigen zwischen Tram und U-Bahn an der Turmstraße. Nur auf der Turmstraße hätte die Tram-Haltestelle einen Aufzug zum U-Bahnhof; zudem gibt es eine Variante mit einer zusätzlichen Treppe zur U-Bahn, was baulich aber nur mit einem großen Aufwand zu realisieren wäre. Bei allen anderen Varianten müssten Umsteiger die Fahrbahn überqueren.
Beide Varianten sind für die Verkehrsplaner fast gleichwertig – mit einem kleinen Vorteil für Alt-Moabit. Langfristig ließe sich die Straßenbahn bei beiden Varianten weiter über den S-Bahnhof Beusselstraße bis zum Virchow-Klinikum verlängern.
Kulturforum
Als weitere Strecke gen Westen ist derzeit nur – vage – eine Strecke vom Alexanderplatz über Molkenmarkt, Spittelmarkt und Leipziger Straße zum Kulturforum vorgesehen. Auch über Varianten wird seit mehreren Jahren diskutiert. Sogar der Bau eines Tunnels, als „Pré-Metro“ für eine spätere Nutzung durch eine U-Bahn bezeichnet, war schon im Gespräch. Detaillierte Planungen gibt es derzeit jedoch nicht. Sollten hier irgendwann – immerhin sind sogar ein paar Meter Gleis vor dem Bundesratsgebäude bereits gelegt – Straßenbahnen rollen, könnte die Strecke über die Potsdamer und die Hauptstraße bis Steglitz verlängert werden. Der Busverkehr hat hier kaum noch Reserven.
Ostkreuz
Konkreter sind Pläne für den Ausbau im Ostteil der Stadt. Am Ostkreuz sollen die Gleise näher an den Bahnhof rücken, um die Umsteigewege zu S- und Regionalbahnen zu verkürzen. Statt über die Markt- und die östliche Boxhagener Straße will die Verkehrsverwaltung die Bahnen auf der Sonntagstraße fahren lassen – trotz des Widerstands von Anwohnern. Das Genehmigungsverfahren soll noch in diesem Jahr beginnen.
Adlershof
Fast baureif sind die Pläne, um die Lücke im Netz zwischen der Karl-Ziegler- Straße in der Wissenschaftsstadt Adlershof und dem S-Bahnhof Schöneweide zu schließen. Widerstand gegen die Pläne gibt es dort nicht; die Trasse ist beim Straßenausbau sogar bereits teilweise vorbereitet worden. Trotzdem gibt es für einen Baubeginn keinen Termin.
Mahlsdorf
Für einen Zehn-Minuten-Betrieb auf der gesamten Strecke sowie für ein Näherrücken der Endhaltestelle zum S-Bahnhof Mahlsdorf sind die Voruntersuchungen nach Angaben der Senatsverkehrsverwaltung inzwischen „erfolgreich“ abgeschlossen. Bedenken des Bezirksamts Marzahn-Hellersdorf gegen den Bau eines dafür notwendigen zweiten Gleises auf dem Hultschiner Damm stoppen das Projekt derzeit allerdings.
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Jan 16, 2019 at 16:29 // News
Coin Idol Author
Google (Alphabetic Inc.) purportedly blacklisted keywords referencing Ethereum (ETH) on its Google Ads advertising platform on Thursday, January 10, 2018.
The known Google Ads account reacted to the tweet saying that cryptoasset exchanges aiming at the U.S & Japan can be promoted on the platform and that focusing on other nations could be the primary reason for the Ad being turned down, according to a report by Wall Street Italia.
After one firm elaborated that they are a team of developers working on smart contracts security audits & observing the error message while attempting to use the ‘ETH development service’ & ‘ETH security audits’ keywords, then Google Ads came out to answer that:
“Even though we wouldn't be able to pre-emptively ratify if your keyword is eligible to trigger ads, we'd commend that you refer to the 'Cryptos' section of our policy on Financial products & services.”
“Error” Replaces Ethereum
The group of developers behind smart contracts security informed the ETH ecosystem about the apparent Google Ads policy, the group then said that:
“Any of the keywords that incorporate "Ethereum" in our campaigns are no more bringing ads as of Wednesday, January 9th and are now reporting the following error .”
The team has tried keywords for “ETH smart contract audits” & “EOS smart contracts audits” and discovered that only the EOS-mentioned keyword indicated Ads.
The above remark on the Reddit post picks apart Google’s stance as a neutral third party, noting:
“Google has different political and economic dockets, and they are quite willing to use their different services to boost their preferences. AdSense and YouTube are ill-famed for this, but there have been some single distinct events concerning the play store as well.”
Not the First Time
In March 2018, Google banned all crypto-related advertising of any nature in June last year, per the latest update to their Financial Services policy.
Nevertheless, Google declared in September last year that it would alter its Ad policy in October 2018, enabling again some digital currency businesses to promote and publicise on its platform. The changes enable cryptoasset exchanges in Japan and the U.S.
In addition, Samoural Wallet, the BTC wallet provider, had to disable and incapacitate some of its security features so that it can continue to spread its software on the Google Play store.
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あるAnonymous Coward 曰く、 東北大学が、人工的に歯のエナメル質を形成することに成功したそうだ（東北大学の発表）。
歯は表面がエナメル質、その内側に象牙質と呼ばれるものがある。エナメル質はう蝕（いわゆる虫歯）によって欠損することがあるが、一度失われたエナメル質は再生しないため、虫歯の治療の際は樹脂や金属などを損壊したエナメル質の代わりに使用するのが一般的だった。
今回の研究成果では、遺伝子操作を行ったマウスを使った実験で通常のマウスではエナメル質を形成しない場所にエナメル質が形成されていることを確認したという。この原因を調査したところ、エピプロフィンという転写因子がエナメル質の形成に作用していることが分かったそうだ。
将来的には皮膚から得られた上皮細胞を歯原性上皮細胞に人工的に誘導し、エピプロフィンを発現させることでエナメル質の再生を行える可能性があるという。
スラドのコメントを読む | サイエンスセクション | バイオテック | 医療
関連ストーリー：
虫歯も防げる「歯のばんそうこう」？ 2012年09月22日
人間の歯は、サメの歯と同じくらい硬い 2012年08月06日
歯の再生技術、今後5～10年以内に確立するかも 2009年01月09日
虫歯は「塗って」治す 2005年02月25日
アゴの骨から歯を再生する実験が成功 2003年12月14日
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The government had notified fixed-term employment for apparel manufacturing sector only in February 2017. (Illustration: C R Sasikumar) The government had notified fixed-term employment for apparel manufacturing sector only in February 2017. (Illustration: C R Sasikumar)
The government has notified fixed term employment for all sectors through an amendment to the Industrial Employment (Standing Orders) Central Rules, 1946. Fixed-term employment for all sectors will make it easier for companies to hire-and-fire workers along with reducing the role of middlemen.
As per the the Industrial Employment (Standing Orders) Central (Amendment) Rules, 2018, a “fixed term employment workman is a workman who has been engaged on the basis of a written contract of employment for a fixed period”. No employer of an industrial establishment shall convert the posts of the permanent workmen existing in his industrial establishment on the date of commencement of the amended rules, that is, March 16 as fixed term employment thereafter, the notification stated.
The notified rules for fixed term employment provide for equal work hours, wages, allowances and other benefits as that of a permanent workman along with all statutory benefits available to a permanent workman proportionately according to the period of service rendered by him even if his period of employment does not extend to the qualifying period of employment required in the statute.
However, no workman employed on fixed term employment basis as a result of non-renewal of contract or employment or on its expiry shall be entitled to any notice or pay in lieu thereof, if his services are terminated. No notice of termination of employment shall be necessary in the case of temporary workman whether monthly rated, weekly rated or piece rated and probationers or badli workmen, it said.
The government had notified fixed-term employment for apparel manufacturing sector only in February 2017. In December, the Union Cabinet approved proposed extension of fixed-term employment to leather, footwear and accessories industries. Earlier this year in January, the labour ministry had issued a draft notification for extension of fixed-term employment for all sectors through amendment of the Industrial Employment (Standing Orders) Central Rules, 1946.
While presenting the Union Budget for 2018-19, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had said that the facility of fixed term employment will be extended to all sectors.
The move towards fixed-term employment will make it easier for companies to layoff workers, which could have a bearing upon job creation in the country. As per the International Labour Organization’s World Employment and Social Outlook for 2018, India’s unemployment rate is estimated to rise to 3.5 per cent for 2018 from 3.4 per cent estimated earlier. In absolute terms, the country’s unemployment is estimated to have risen to 18.3 million in 2017 from 17.8 million projected earlier, while for 2018, the ILO estimates unemployment to increase to 18.6 million from 18.0 million estimated earlier in its previous employment outlook report.
Though the government has moved ahead in extending fixed term employment to all sectors, the consolidation exercise of 44 central labour laws into four major codes–industrial relations, wages, social security, and occupational safety, health and working conditions–is still pending by the government. The ‘Code on Wages Bill’ was introduced in Lok Sabha last August and is awaiting passage. The Code on Wages Bill. The Code on Wages, which proposes a national minimum wage, amalgamates provisions of the four labour laws of The Minimum Wages Act, 1948; The Payment of Wages Act, 1936; The Payment of Bonus Act, 1965, and The Equal Remuneration Act, 1976.
📣 The Indian Express is now on Telegram. Click here to join our channel (@indianexpress) and stay updated with the latest headlines
For all the latest Business News, download Indian Express App.
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14-05-2019 (difundido en VTV Noticias) – Talvi pasa a liderar interna colorada; Sartori alcanza a Larrañaga en interna del PN; vuelve a distanciarse MArtínez en interna del FA.
¿Cómo se pregunta la intención de voto para las internas y a quiénes?
No existen formas correctas y formas incorrectas de realizar las preguntas ni de definir a quiénes debe encuestarse, y existe abundante literatura al respecto. Nuestra metodología consiste en preguntar primero a los encuestados si irían a votar en las elecciones internas de junio 2019, recordándoles que no es una elección obligatoria. Las opciones de respuesta eran tres: «seguramente voy a ir a votar», «quizás vaya a votar pero no estoy seguro», y «no voy a ir a votar». A todos aquellos que respondieron «seguramente» les preguntamos dentro de qué partido votarían. Y según qué partido mencionaban les planteamos una lista cerrada de candidatos y les preguntamos a cuál de ellos votarían si la elección fuera entre esos candidatos.
Por otro lado, preguntamos a qué partido y a qué lista al Senado votaron en las elecciones nacionales de 2014, lo cual nos permitió «abrir» los resultados no solo según las variables habituales (género, edad, nivel socioeconómico, Montevideo / Interior) sino también según a qué sector votaron.
La intención de voto en el Partido Nacional
La interna del Partido Nacional sigue deparando sorpresas: en la medición realizada entre el 2 y el 13 de mayo, Luis Lacalle Pou obtiene un 42% de intención de voto (cae 4 puntos), Jorge Larrañaga un 22% (cae 3 puntos), Juan Sartori un 24% (crece 7 puntos), Enrique Antía un 10% (cae 1 punto), y Carlos Iafigliola no llega a 1%.
Claramente el único que crece es Juan Sartori, y ese crecimiento está afectando a todos los demás candidatos. Ya está segundo en la interna del Partido Nacional, y si bien la diferencia con Larrañaga es muy pequeña dado el margen de error con el que se trabaja en las internas, hay una tendencia creciente muy clara desde que apareció su candidatura a fines del año pasado.
La suma de los valores no da exactamente 100% dado que falta Iafigliola, existen redondeos, y un pequeño porcentaje que declara que no sabe a quién va a votar o no quiso contestar.
En la apertura entre Montevideo e Interior, no existen diferencias muy significativas: Larrañaga y Sartori obtienen casi la misma intención de voto en ambas zonas geográficas, Lacalle algo más en Montevideo y Antía algo más en el Interior.
La interna del Partido Colorado
La interna colorada muestra la misma tendencia que desde que se confirmaron las candidaturas de Talvi y Sanguinetti. En esta medición Talvi supera por primera vez a Sanguinetti en intención de voto: 49% a 42%.
Mientras aun estábamos realizando el relevamiento de datos Gustavo Zubía anunció que retiraba su candidatura para apoyar a Sanguinetti. No figura en la gráfica pero alcanzaba algo menos del 2% de intención de voto, y Martínez Zimarioff menos del 1%.
En la apertura entre Montevideo e Interior, y contrariamente a lo que sucede en el Partido Nacional, sí existen marcadas diferencias: mientras en Montevideo Talvi lidera ampliamente (y crece mucho más rápidamente que en el Interior), en el Interior sigue liderando Sanguinetti.
La interna del Frente Amplio
En la interna del FA, el intendente de Montevideo Daniel Martínez recupera algunos puntos de ventaja sobre Carolina Cosse, dentro de un escenario bastante estable: el ex intendente de Montevideo obtiene 44% de intención de voto (crece 3 puntos), la ex ministra de Industria un 28% (cae 4 puntos), y Mario Bergara y Oscar Andrade obtienen 13% cada uno (+2 puntos para el primero, -2 puntos para el segundo).
Al abrir los resultados según la lista al Senado que el encuestado dice haber votado, aparece claramente que resulta bastante difícil que el escenario de la interna del FA se modifique muy significativamente si se mantienen las cuatro candidaturas. En efecto, Martínez lidera entre los votantes de la 90 y del FLS, Cosse entre los de la 609, Andrade entre los de la 1001 y Bergara obtiene su mayor porcentaje entre los votantes del FLS. Las variaciones por sector, de una medición a otra, no son muy significativas. No obstante, parece claro que los votantes de Casa Grande aun no están apoyando mayoritariamente a Daniel Martínez a pesar de que Constanza Moreira sí apoya su candidatura; y también resulta claro que los votantes de la 711 se encuentran bastante indecisos.
Ficha técnica
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If successful, that change could hamper future administrations from enacting tougher restrictions on methane. Already, the Trump administration has taken several steps to limit the government’s ability to regulate other greenhouse gases in the future, including in a recently finalized rule on carbon dioxide emissions from power plants.
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EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler said in a statement Thursday that the latest proposal removes “unnecessary and duplicative” regulatory burdens. “The Trump administration recognizes that methane is valuable, and the industry has an incentive to minimize leaks and maximize its use.”
The move is the latest in a series of Trump administration actions aimed at undoing previous efforts to combat climate change in the interest of unburdening companies from regulation and reducing their costs. Thursday’s proposal, like some others before it, faced mixed reaction from the oil and gas industries meant to benefit from it.
BP President Susan Dio said in a statement that the EPA should regulate methane emissions. “It’s not only the right thing to do for the environment, there is also a clear business case for doing this,” she said. “The more gas we keep in our pipes and equipment, the more we can provide to the market — and the faster we can all move toward a lower-carbon future.”
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Smaller operators, however, had lobbied the administration to lift the requirements. Lee Fuller, a vice president at the Independent Petroleum Association of America, said in an interview that the Obama rule had “made it really onerous on small businesses.”
Methane is a significant contributor to the world’s greenhouse gas emissions. It is 80 times as potent as carbon dioxide, though it doesn’t last as long in the atmosphere, nor is it emitted on the same scale.
Scientists have projected that the world needs to cut its overall greenhouse gas emissions nearly in half by mid-century to avert catastrophic effects from global warming. According to the EPA, methane accounted for more than 10 percent of all U.S. greenhouse gas emissions from human activities as recently as 2017. Nearly a third of those emissions were generated by the natural gas and petroleum industry.
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Several Democratic presidential candidates seized on the news to argue that President Trump should be ousted, underscoring the sharp divide between the two parties on the issue.
“With the Amazon burning, farms under water, and hurricanes looming, Trump has decided to lift regulations on methane — one of the most dangerous greenhouse gases. Even oil and gas companies think this is too far. We need a President who will act on climate, not make it worse,” tweeted former Texas congressman Beto O’Rourke.
Anne Idsal, assistant administrator of the EPA’s Office of Air and Radiation, said the administration is confident that methane emissions will continue to decline over time, even without the current regulations.
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“Methane is a valuable resource,” Idsal told reporters in a call Thursday. “There’s every incentive for industry to minimize any type of fugitive methane emissions, capture it, use it and sell it down the road.”
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David McCabe, a senior scientist at the Clean Air Task Force, noted that the biggest cuts in methane emissions from the gas and oil sector have happened during exploration. Emissions dropped sharply in 2012 and 2016, respectively, after new federal requirements for pollution controls took effect.
“The best information we have is that the emissions dropped because of regulations,” McCabe said.
The EPA estimates that the proposed changes, which will be subject to public comment for 60 days after they are published, would save the oil and natural gas industry $17 million to $19 million a year. That is a small fraction of the industry’s annual revenue, which exceeds $100 billion annually.
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Several of the world’s biggest fossil-fuel companies, including Exxon, Shell and BP, have opposed the rollback and urged the Trump administration to keep the standards in place. Collectively, these firms account for 11 percent of the nation’s natural gas output. In a statement Thursday, Shell U.S. President Gretchen Watkins noted that the company has pledged to reduce its methane leaks from its global operations to less than 0.2 percent by 2025.
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Asked about that support for methane regulation, Idsal said each company must decide its own path. “We don’t preclude anybody from going above and beyond, if they think that’s what they need to do from a business and a compliance standpoint,” she said.
Large oil companies are not the only industry to push back against some of the White House’s attempts to scale back environmental regulations.
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Last month, four major automakers struck a deal with California to produce more fuel-efficient vehicles in coming years, undercutting one of the Trump administration’s most aggressive climate policy rollbacks. And some electric utilities opposed weakening limits on toxic mercury pollution that were put in place under the Obama administration.
Erik Milito, a vice president at the American Petroleum Institute, said in an interview that oil and gas firms have adopted different policy positions in part because some operate globally instead of just in the United States. But he said the EPA was right to question the legal justification for the Obama-era standard.
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“What they’re tackling is whether methane can lawfully be a regulatory pollutant,” he said. “We have a strong consensus that federal agencies need to follow the letter of the law. They did not do that, and they are going back and correcting that.”
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Jody Freeman, a climate adviser to President Barack Obama who now teaches at Harvard Law School, said the Trump administration’s rollback will slow down any future administration that wants to aggressively rein in methane emissions.
“The practical impact is that a new administration would have to start again,” she said in an email. “It hampers a new administration by adding delay.”
Idsal said the agency will continue to require oil and gas companies to limit the release of what are known as “volatile organic compounds,” which include methane, but only during drilling and processing. Milito noted that by 2023, 90 percent of oil and gas facilities will have to install technology curbing volatile organic compounds.
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Still, the EPA acknowledged that its proposed rollback could have public health implications. The fact that more volatile organic compounds could be released, the agency wrote in its proposal, “will degrade air quality and are likely to adversely affect health and welfare” due to more air pollution. But, the agency added, “we are unable to quantify these effects at this time.”
In September, the Interior Department eased requirements that oil and gas firms operating on federal and tribal land capture the release of methane.
Environmentalists threatened to fight the Trump administration’s latest move in court.
Kassie Siegel, director of the Climate Law Institute at the Center for Biological Diversity, an advocacy group, called the proposal reckless, saying it shows “complete contempt for our climate.” She said that even the Obama administration’s efforts to limit methane emissions were modest, given the significant amount that escapes into the atmosphere each year.
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“The Obama rule was like a Band-Aid on a gaping wound,” Siegel said. “The Trump administration is so fanatical that they couldn’t even live with the Band-Aid. They had to rip off the Band-Aid.”
The Obama administration’s push to impose the first limits on methane emissions from the oil and gas industry in 2016 came shortly after the EPA found that emissions were on an upswing at a time when booming U.S. shale oil and gas drilling had dramatically driven down the prices of domestic natural gas and global oil alike.
Ben Ratner, a senior director at the advocacy group Environmental Defense Fund, said in an interview that rolling back the regulations could reward bad actors in the industry. Given that many major players had embraced limits on methane, Ratner added, Thursday’s proposal suggests that the Trump administration opposes regulating greenhouse gases on principle.
“It’s more of an ideological reaction to regulation of any climate pollutant by the federal government,” he said.
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Hawthorn is a superior heart tonic and restorer, as well as an emotional support for broken hearts. Make this easy Hawthorn Syrup as a heart tonic and restorative for tired hearts.
In the snowy winter weather, I look out my kitchen window at the bare, thorny branches of a Douglas Hawthorn (Crataegus douglasii) Tree. In May the tree is covered in white flower clusters. In July, here in zone 3, it has small, dark blue-black haws that are hard with a little juice and a large single seed. It would take a lot of berries to make a single batch of jam. Most people ignore the berries where Saskatoons, huckleberries, and wild strawberries are plentiful. The birds love them though and plant them so that the tree expands its territory over the bare pasture. It’s a weedy tree here in zone three.
Hawthorn is a superior heart tonic and restorer, as well as emotional support for broken hearts. It’s worth risking the thorns to harvest the fruit in season just for this tasty hawthorn syrup that is an exceptional heart tonic.
Hawthorn both the European hawthorn, with red berries, and the native North American species of Hawthorn are from the rose family. There are over 300 varieties of hawthorn worldwide, a few varieties on every continent.
The berries are astringent and nourishing to the heart. But the black haws, of Western North America, also have heart-healthy anthocyanins, antioxidants that fight free radical damage and are important for circulation, heart health, and also eye health.
While hawthorn is a long term tonic herb, it doesn’t just mask symptoms but strengthens and restores the heart. It can balance blood pressure and heal heart injuries, over the long term. But it takes time to work. It is a tonic and needs to be taken daily to have an effect.
Tinctures are fine when a person needs something for a sudden illness, but when you want to take it several times a day this hawthorn syrup is easier to use. It can be added to hot water to make a hot beverage or poured over ice for a cooling refreshment. Hawthorn syrup also tastes good.
The serving size is ½ teaspoon three times a day, but since hawthorn is a tonic food, more won’t harm.
When you make this recipe you’ll get both Hawthorn Tincture and Hawthorn Syrup for your DIY Apothecary. While the three-step process may seem complicated, it really isn’t. It takes just a few minutes of hands-on time for each step. Then, like most DIY activities there’s the waiting period as the herbs merge with the menstruum.
Hawthorn Syrup is a generous gift for older family members, neighbors, and friends. It is a food and isn’t known to interact with medication. It doesn’t build up in the body so there is no risk of toxicity. There are no scientific studies showing any negative interaction with any common heart drugs, including digitalis (Barnes, Anderson, and Phillipson, Herbal Medicines, 3rd Edition). However, if you are under a doctor’s care for heart issues, check with your doctor before starting to take hawthorn syrup regularly.
clock clock icon cutlery cutlery icon flag flag icon folder folder icon instagram instagram icon pinterest pinterest icon print print icon squares squares icon Hawthorn Berry Syrup ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ 5 from 4 reviews Author: Joybilee Farm Print Pin Description The syrup is made in three steps. First a tincture is made with the berries and the brandy. This needs to macerate for 4 weeks. Then the tincture is strained and the same berries are simmered with water to make a strong decoction to which honey is added. This makes the syrup. Then some of the tincture is added to the syrup to create the final shelf-stable syrup. Both the alcohol and the honey are important to make this shelf stable. Without them, this preparation would spoil quickly. Don’t be tempted to cut back on the honey or reduce the alcohol. The proportions are important to the success of the recipe. Scale 1x 2x 3x Ingredients Part 1 750 ml. brandy (about 3 cups )
ml. brandy (about ) 3 cups of dried Hawthorn Berries (or 4 cups of fresh Hawthorn Berries) Part 2 4 cups of filtered water
of filtered water 2 cups of honey Part 3 ¼ cup of tincture from part 1, for every cup of syrup
of tincture from part 1, for every cup of syrup Syrup from part 2 Instructions Step 1: Add the hawthorn berries to a sanitized wide mouth quart jar. Pour the brandy over the berries, so that all the berries are covered with brandy. Infuse the hawthorn berries in the alcohol for 4 weeks.
Check the alcohol level over the next 5 days and top up the jar with brandy to keep the berries submerged in the alcohol.
Shake the jar once a day, or as often as you remember.
After four weeks, strain the berries from the alcohol. The alcohol is your hawthorn tincture. But don’t discard the berries. You’ll need them for step 2.
Separate 1 cup of the hawthorn tincture and bottle the rest to use as tincture. Label and date it. It will keep indefinitely at room temperature in a cool place, protected from light.
Step 2:
Add the strained berries to a 1 ½ quart stainless steel pot.
Pour the water over the berries and simmer gently for 1 hour. At first the water will boil rapidly as the alcohol is evaporated from the berries. Then it will simmer normally. Stir the decoction frequently to prevent it from scorching.
After one hour, strain out the berries. Squeeze them through potato ricer or a jelly bag to get the most juice. The berries can be composted.
Return the decoction to the pot. Simmer until the decoction is just 2 cups, and is reduced by half.
Add 2 cups of honey to the decoction. Heat gently, keeping the temperature to just below boiling, in order to fully dissolve the honey. Remove from heat as soon as the honey is fully melted.
Step 3:
Measure the syrup. Add ¼ cup of hawthorn berry tincture for every cup of the prepared syrup.
Store in sterilized bottles. Label and date the bottles. Notes This syrup is preserved both by the alcohol and the honey in the recipe. For short term storage, place the bottles in the fridge. For long term storage, dip the cap and neck of the bottles into beeswax to make a wax seal. Sterilized and sealed bottles will last 1 year if kept in a cool place, and protected from light. Open bottles should last 3 months in the fridge.
Recipe Card powered by
Hawthorn Syrup Heart Tonic
Yield: 16 ounces
Part 1
750 ml. brandy (about 3 cups)
3 cups of dried Hawthorn Berries (or 4 cups of fresh Hawthorn Berries)
Part 2
4 cups of filtered water
2 cups of honey
Part 3
¼ cup of tincture from part 1, for every cup of syrup
Syrup from part 2
Directions for Hawthorn Syrup:
The syrup is made in three steps. First, a tincture is made with the berries and the brandy. This needs to macerate for 4 weeks. Then the tincture is strained and the same berries are simmered with water to make a strong decoction to which honey is added. This makes the syrup. Then some of the tincture is added to the syrup to create the final shelf-stable syrup.
Both the alcohol and the honey are important to make this shelf-stable. Without them, this preparation would spoil quickly. Don’t be tempted to cut back on the honey or reduce the alcohol. The proportions are important to the success of the recipe.
Step 1:
Add the hawthorn berries to a sanitized wide mouth quart jar. Pour the brandy over the berries, so that all the berries are covered with brandy. Infuse the hawthorn berries in the alcohol for 4 weeks. Check the alcohol level over the next 5 days and top up the jar with brandy to keep the berries submerged in the alcohol. Shake the jar once a day, or as often as you remember. After four weeks, strain the berries from the alcohol. The alcohol is your hawthorn tincture. But don’t discard the berries. You’ll need them for step 2.
Separate 1 cup of the hawthorn tincture and bottle the rest to use as a tincture. Label and date it. It will keep indefinitely at room temperature in a cool place, protected from light.
Step 2:
Add the strained berries to a 1 ½ quart stainless steel pot. Pour the water over the berries and simmer gently for 1 hour. At first, the water will boil rapidly as the alcohol is evaporated from the berries. Then it will simmer normally. Stir the decoction frequently to prevent it from scorching.
After one hour, strain out the berries. Squeeze them through a potato ricer or a jelly bag to get the most juice. The berries can be composted. Return the decoction to the pot. Simmer until the decoction is just 2 cups, and is reduced by half.
Add 2 cups of honey to the decoction. Heat gently, keeping the temperature to just below boiling, in order to fully dissolve the honey. Remove from heat as soon as the honey is fully melted.
Step 3:
Measure the syrup. Add ¼ cup of hawthorn berry tincture for every cup of the prepared syrup. Store in sterilized bottles. Label and date the bottles.
This syrup is preserved both by the alcohol and the honey in the recipe. For short term storage, place the bottles in the fridge. For long term storage, dip the cap and neck of the bottles into beeswax to make a wax seal. Sterilized and sealed bottles will last 1 year if kept in a cool place, and protected from light. Open bottles should last 3 months in the fridge.
I created a Materia Medica on Hawthorn for you. You can download it here.
Download your Hawthorn Materia Medica
Hawthorn Materia Medica
Hawthorn (Crataegus spp.) Family Rosaceae
Common names: May Flower, Thornapple, Haw Tree, Mayapple, White Thorn
Parts used: Berry, flower, and leaf
Constituents: Flavonoids: vitexin, quercetin, hyperoside, rutin, oligomeric procyanidins,
Triterpene acids: Ursolic, oleanolic, crataegolic acids
Phenolic acids: Caffeic, chlorogenic,
Vitamins and minerals: Chromium, Selenium.
Actions: Cardiotonic, diuretic, astringent, hypotensive, cardio-protective, digestive, antithrombotic, bitter, sedative.
Indications: A true cardiovascular tonic. The whole berry should be used as the individual parts were ineffective when tested on animals. In hypertension, it lowers blood pressure. In hypotension, it increases vascular tone and normalizes blood pressure. In mild to moderate congestive heart failure, it improves heart function and quality of life. It improves circulation, dilates coronary arteries, and relieves hypoxemia. Hawthorn improves the efficiency of heart contractions and reduces ankle and leg swelling and discomfort.
Hawthorn is useful in cases of a heart murmur, rapid pulse, angina, arrhythmic heartbeat, congestive heart failure, and atherosclerosis.
Safety: Hawthorn enhances the activity of cardio-active drugs such as Digitalis. It is also cardio-protective reducing the toxicity of heart drugs. People on heart medication may be able to reduce their drug dosage, in consultation with their doctor, when taking hawthorn.
Dosage: Syrup: ½ teaspoon 3 times daily. For acute conditions 1 teaspoon three times daily. In the elderly treatment should be continued over many months. Tincture: 2 ml 3 times daily.
History of use:
Hawthorn has been used for heart problems for hundreds of years in Europe. Ellington, an American herbalist, said of hawthorn, “…it is superior to any of the well known and tried remedies…for the treatment of heart disease because it seems to cure while other remedies are only palliative at best.”
A 1994 German Mongraph recognized hawthorn as a heart remedy. According to the monograph hawthorn can be used for long term treatment of the loss of cardio-function, any condition where the patient feels congestion or heaviness in the heart region, mild cardiac arrhythmias, and conditions of the aging heart that are not serious enough for digitalis. The monograph further states that hawthorn has no side effects or contraindications.
David Hoffman states that any degenerative condition of the cardiovascular system will benefit from the use of hawthorn. It is safe and effective.
The flowers and leaves can be used in early spring as a potherb and salad green. The fruit remains on the plant in winter, unless eaten by wildlife. It can be foraged when other fruits are gone. The tree is drought resistant making hawthorn good food in times of famine and war.
The inner bark of the black hawthorn (Crataegus douglasii) is used in a similar way to “Cramp Bark” from the high bush cranberry, which is related. It’s a useful antispasmodic for period cramps and muscle cramps.
Download your FREE Hawthorn Materia Medica
Download your Hawthorn Materia Medica
References:
42 Healthy Things You Can Make with Wild Berries and Small Fruits Besides Jam
“Cardiotonic Amines from Crataegus Oxyacantha”, Planta Medica, 1982, Vol. 45, pp. 98-101
“Evaluation of the activity on the mouse CNS of several plant extracts and a combination of them” Riv. Neurol., Sept-Oct 1981, 51(5), pp. 297-310, Italy
“Plants and hypotensive, antiatheromatous and coronarodilatating action”, American Journal of Chinese Medicine, Autumn 1979, Vol. 7 (3),p. 197-236
David Hoffman, Medical Herbalism, 2003.
Mark Pederson, Nutritional Herbology, 2010.
Rigelsky JM, Sweet BV. Am J Health Syst Pharm. 2002 Mar 1; 59(5):417-22.
Tassell, M. C., Kingston, R., Gilroy, D., Lehane, M., & Furey, A. (2010). Hawthorn (Crataegus spp.) in the treatment of cardiovascular disease. Pharmacognosy Reviews, 4(7), 32–41.
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Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) on Tuesday overnight have kidnapped iconic activist against the Wall and settlements, and mother of six, Manal Tamimi (43) from her home in Al-Nabi Saleh village near Ramallah.
On the International Women’s Day, 8th of March, at 1:30 AM, dozens of soldiers stormed Manal’s home, raided it and detained her family in one room, while female Israeli soldiers have taken Manal to another room in the house, thoroughly inspected her, then kidnapped her.
Manal’s husband, Bilal Tamimi (50) said that a few hours after the arrest, the family knew that Manal was taken to Benyamin Israeli police center near Ramallah, calling it “the Israeli gift to the Palestinian women on women’s day.”
Manal’s lawyer, Gabi Lasky, said that Tamimi went through investigation at the police center, and has asked for a hearing session to take place as soon as possible to know the charges held against her.
Manal and her family have maintained a high-profile in nonviolent popular resistance.
She was also part of Popular Struggle Coordination Committee, which presents community-based resistance rooted in a belief in the power of nonviolent struggle, taking various forms, such as strikes, protests, and legal campaigns, as well as supporting the call to Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions.
Coordinator of the Popular Struggle Coordination Committee (PSCC), Munther Amira strongly denounced the kidnap, calling it a new Israeli crime against women, especially taking place on international women’s day.
Amira said that this act displays the Israeli brutality against all values of freedom and democracy, and against all women, and Palestinian women in particular.
PSCC demanded all women’s associations and human rights organizations to expose Israeli crimes against women and focus on Manal’s case at the moment.
The two close relatives from the family, Ahed and Wa’ad Al-Tamimi have repeatedly stood up for Israeli soldiers during demonstrations.
In September 2015, a story went viral about an Israeli soldier that attacked Mohammad Tamimi, brother of Ahed and Wa’ad, while his arm was broken and in a cast. Manal’s close relative, Nariman, and her daughters saved the child from the soldier and defended him.
For the past six years, The village of Al-Nabi Saleh held a peaceful demonstration every week against the Israeli wall and settlements that are engorging the village.
Bilal Tamimi said that Manal was unable to participate in the demonstrations during the past three weeks, because she developed a bad allergy towards teargas which was fired intensely during protests.
Manal was shot and injured in her legs twice before, in 2013 and 2015.
Click here to view the Arabic version of the article.
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Den 23. juni 1988 var NASA-forskeren James Hansen indkaldt til at vidne foran den amerikanske kongres. Kloden var ved at blive varmere, forklarede han, og det skyldtes med »99 procents sikkerhed« udledningen af drivhusgasser.
»Global Warming has begun, expert tells senate,« stod der dagen efter på forsiden af The New York Times. I dag betragter mange James Hansens tale som dag nul i kampen mod klimaforandringerne.
30 år senere mener James Hansen, at der kun er én tænkelig løsning på klimakrisen: atomkraft. Det er den »eneste realistiske vej fremad« i den kamp, som han og tre prominente forskerkolleger formulerede det i The Guardian i 2015.
Atomkraft udleder nemlig ingen CO2, og bidrager altså ikke til klimaforandringerne. Det er på sin vis en ’ren’ energikilde.
Alligevel taler vi kun sjældent om atomkraft som en del af løsningen på klimakrisen. Miljøorganisationer som Greenpeace fastholder, at det er farligt og snavset. Og mange af os forbinder helt intuitivt de store, dampende betonsiloer med det moderne samfunds værste sider. Med hæmningsløs vækst, rovdrift på naturen og alt det, der har ført os ud i klimakrisen.
1956 Vestens første civile atomkraftværk åbner i Storbritannien. Året efter følger Shippingport-reaktoren i USA. Forhåbningerne til den nye energiform er enorme. »Vores børn vil nyde godt af energi, som er for billig til, at det kan svare sig måle forbruget,« som formanden for den amerikanske regerings atomkraft-kommission formulerede det.
Før James Hansens tale, og før det stod klart, at klimaforandringerne var verdens uden sammenligning største miljøproblem, var store dele af miljøbevægelsen mobiliseret omkring modstanden mod atomkraft. En sommerdag i 1978 fik frygten for katastrofale nedsmeltninger og bekymring over det radioaktive atomaffald 50.000 danskere til at marchere i protest mod atomkraft.
Spørgsmålet er, om vores forestillinger om atomkraft er forvredet af ideologisk arvegods fra dengang. Om overdrivelser og misforståelser om de risici, der er forbundet med atomkraft, har ført til folkelig modstand og politisk berøringsangst.
Det mener James Hansen.
»Hvorfor lod vi de gamle stivstikkere tvinge os til at opgive teknologien, når vi kunne have forbedret den, ligesom vi har forbedret sol-, vand- og vindenergi?« skriver han i en mail til Information.
Noget tyder på, at atomkraftens tidsalder er ved at være forbi. I hvert fald i den velstående del af verden.
I Danmark sagde Folketinget nej tak til atomkraft allerede i 1985. Barsebäckværket lukkede i 2005. Siden da har tendensen været den samme i hele Vesten. Atomkraftværkerne lukker.
I 1996 blev 17,5 procent af verdens elektricitet dækket at atomkraft. I 2016 var det 10,3 procent. Når atomkraftværkerne lukker, er kul og gas ofte en del af erstatningen.
I en tid, hvor verden står over for en eksistentiel klimatrussel, kan det virke besynderligt, at vi ikke satser massivt på en velkendt teknologi, der kan producere energi i meget stor skala uden at udlede drivhusgasser.
Grønt er billigst
Helt så simpelt er det imidlertid ikke, forklarer den erfarne klimajournalist Fred Pearce, som i 2018 udgav bogen Fallout: Disasters, Lies and the Legacy of the Nuclear Age.
Det er rigtigt, at atomkraft med al sandsynlighed kommer til at spille en rolle, hvis de globale temperaturstigninger skal holdes under 1,5 eller to grader.
1960 Atomkraft producerer på globalt plan mindre end én gigawatt energi. I 1970 er tallet vokset til 100 gigawatt og opførelsen af adskillige nye værker er på vej
Både FN’s klimapanel og Det Internationale Energiagentur laver løbende modeller for mulige veje til at holde sig inden for klimamålene. Det er en form for potentielle løsningsmodeller på klimakrisen. Stort set uden undtagelser indbefatter de, at produktionen af energi fra atomkraft i 2050 enten er den samme som i dag eller markant større.
Men atomkraft er langt fra den snuptagsløsning på klimakrisen, som nogle prøver at gøre det til, understreger Fred Pearce. Det er for eksempel noget sludder, når den populære intellektuelle Steven Pinker hævder, at modstanden mod atomkraft er »den største hindring overhovedet« for at håndtere klimaforandringer.
Selv hvis man ser bort fra de velkendte problemer med risiko for nedsmeltning og udfordringerne ved at håndtere radioaktivt affald, er atomkraft ikke konkurrencedygtigt. Det er for dyrt. Også dyrere end vedvarende energikilder som vand-, vind- og solenergi.
»Hvis vi har et bestemt beløb at investere i nye energikilder, er det stort set ud fra enhver betragtning mere fornuftigt at investere i vedvarende energi end i nye atomkraftværker,« siger Fred Pearce.
Han henviser blandt andet til, at to af de seneste europæiske forsøg på at opføre nye værker i henholdsvis Finland og Storbritannien er endt i et katastrofalt rod med store forsinkelser og massive budgetoverskridelser.
Men man bliver nødt til at dele diskussion om atomkraft i to, mener Fred Pearce. Én ting er, at der ikke er de store perspektiver i at investere i mere atomkraft, forklarer han. I hvert fald ikke med den nuværende teknologi. Men tendensen til, at de demokratiske lande lukker funktionsdygtige atomkraftværker, er stærkt bekymrende. Det betyder nemlig mere kul og mere gas.
Omstilling på pause
De jakkesætklædte mænd i salen brød ud i latter, og Vladimir Putin kunne heller ikke selv lade være med at fnise selvtilfreds af sin egen vittighed.
I 2010 var den russiske præsident til en handelskonference i Berlin. I en futuristisk indrettet sal med turkise neonlys sad han på scenen med en håndfuld tyske erhvervsfolk, da diskussion blev drejet hen på energipolitik.
»Jeg forstår ikke, hvad Tyskland har imod atomkraft?« sagde Putin og løftede sine utydelige øjenbryn. »Nu vil jeg jo nødig kommentere på det,« fortsatte han provokerende, og høstede de første grin.
»Men hvordan har tyskerne tænkt sig at varme deres huse? I vil ikke have vores gas, I vil ikke have atomkraft. Har I tænkt jer at varme op med brænde? Og i så fald slipper I måske alligevel ikke for at importere træ fra Sibiren.«
Klippet blev efterfølgende cirkuleret af de russiske statsmedier.
»Putin trolls Germany,« skrev Russia Insight i overskriften.
1970’erne Spirende folkelig modstand mod atomkraft. Intensiveres efter den delvise nedsmeltning af Three Mile Island-værket i USA. Alene i perioden 1979-1982 opgives konkrete planer om mere end 50 nye værker.
Dengang vidste Vladimir Putin måske nok, at han ramte et ømt punkt. Den tyske regering ønskede at gøre sig uafhængig af russisk energi, mens store dele af befolkningen ønskede atomkraftværkerne lukket. Allerede året efter fik han mere at grine af.
Efter Fukushima-ulykken i Japan, besluttede Angela Merkels regering at udfase atomkraft.
Det har medført en række problemer. I 2018 måtte den tyske regering opgive sin egen målsætning om at nedbringe landets CO2-udledninger med 40 procent i forhold til 1990-niveauet inden 2020. Det skyldes i høj grad udfasningen af atomkraft. I 2000 kom seks procent af Tysklands energi fra vedvarende energikilder. I 2017 var det 36 procent. Alligevel er det ikke lykkedes at nedbringe udledninger markant.
»I Tyskland har udfasningen af atomkraft nærmest sat den grønne omstilling på pause, fordi man har skullet bruge mere kul for at dække energibehovet,« forklarer Jens Hesselbjerg Christensen, der er professor ved Niels Bohr-instituttet og i mange år var en del af FN’s klimapanel.
Mia Mottelson
Også den franske præsident, Emmanuel Macron, har måtte sande, at det er svært at bekæmpe klimaforandringer og atomkraft samtidig. Frankrig er det land i verden, hvor den største del af elforsyningen kommer atomkraft. Macron gik til valg på at videreføre sin forgænger Francois Hollandes ambition om at nedbringe andelen fra 75 til 50 procent inden 2025. Kort efter sin tiltræden trak han imidlertid i land.
»Hvad gjorde tyskerne, da de pludselig besluttede at lukke al deres atomkraft? De har udviklet langt mere vedvarende energi end os, men de har også i stor stil måtte gå tilbage til varme- og kulenergi. De forværrede deres CO2-aftryk. Det var ikke godt for planeten, så det har jeg ikke tænkt mig at gøre,« sagde han til tv-stationen France 2.
I november 2018 besluttede den franske regering at udskyde udfasningen til 2035.
Alle veje åbne
Det er »moralsk forkasteligt,« når klimaforkæmpere udelukker atomkraft som en del af løsningen, mener Glen Peters, som er direktør ved det norske forskningscenter CICERO og en hyppigt anvendt klimaekspert her i avisen.
Man kan ikke på én gang hævde, at klimaforandringerne er verdens mest presserende trussel, alt imens man kategorisk afviser, at en energiform, som både er CO2-neutral og enormt effektiv, kan være med til at løse problemet.
»Deri ligger en implicit forståelse af, at risikoen for atomulykker er en større eller tilsvarende trussel. Og den vurdering deler jeg bestemt ikke,« siger han.
1986 Den hidtil alvorligste atomkraftulykke da Tjernobyl-værket i Ukraine eksploderer og nedsmelter. I dag er et stort område omkring værket ubeboeligt på grund af forurening og baggrundsstråling.
Han understreger, at ingen foreslår, at man stopper med at investere i vedvarende energikilder. Tværtimod. Han har bare svært ved at forestille sig, at vedvarende energi kan levere al den energi, verden har brug for i fremtiden.
Vi har nemlig også brug for energi, når solen ikke skinner, eller vinden ikke blæser.
»Miljøorganisationer og andre hævder, at der vil være 100 procent vedvarende energi i fremtiden, og at det er spild af tid at forske i eller satse på andet. Men vi ved ikke, om det overhovedet er muligt. Hvis de tager fejl, er vi fucked. Og mange forskere vurderer, at de tager fejl,« siger Glen Peters.
Uanset hvad er det nemmere at vinde en fodboldkamp, hvis man har 11 mand på banen i stedet for ni eller ti, tilføjer han. Det er uforsvarligt at tage mulige løsninger ud af spil.
»Hvis vi rent faktisk havde en rationel debat om det her, så tror jeg, vi havde været i gang med at bygge nye atomkraftværker overalt,« siger han. Ikke i stedet for grøn energi, understreger han, men som et supplement.
Forsømt teknologi
I 2013 stoppede James Hansen som chef for NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies for at hellige sig sin klimaaktivisme. Siden da har han været anholdt flere gange, og han har på vegne af sit barnebarn og »fremtidige generationer« indledt et søgsmål mod den amerikanske stat for ikke at beskytte befolkningen mod klimaforandringerne.
For tiden arbejder han på sin nye bog, der blandt andet kommer til at berøre spørgsmålet om atomkraft. Men han har ikke lyst til at lade sig interviewe om emnet nu, skriver han i en mail til Information. Netop det emne er ganske enkelt for tidskrævende at diskutere.
»Med den hær af folk, der voksede op i sidste århundrede og er i mod atomkraft, er det enormt tidskrævende at argumentere for den objektive videnskab,« skriver han.
»Om nogle år vil det måske gå op for dem, hvad de har gjort. På grund af dem har vi ikke højteknologisk, sikker og billig atomkraft, som er klar til det kommercielle marked. Men de kommer nok ikke aldrig til at indrømme det,« fortsætter James Hansen.
En del af baggrunden for Hansens frustration er, at en række amerikanske atomkraftværker er lukket over de seneste år. Ikke som følge af politiske beslutninger som i Europa og Japan, men fordi atomkraftværkerne ikke kan konkurrere med den langt billigere – og mere CO2-udledende – skifergas.
Det står Information frit for at citere fra mailen, skriver han. Men han svarer ikke på opfølgende spørgsmål.
Saglig modstand
Tarjei Haaland er klimarådgiver i Greenpeace. I 1974 var han med til at stifte Organisationen for Oplysning om Atomkraft – dem med det ikoniske motiv af en smilende rød sol, som siger: »Atomkraft? – Nej tak!«.
Han er altså en af de ’gamle stivstikkere’, Hansen henviser til. Dem, der angiveligt har stået i vejen for den videre forskning i atomkraft og på den måde smækket en dør til en mulig udvej fra klimakrisen.
»Det giver ingen mening at investere i en teknologi, som er meget dyr. Det er dyrere end sol og vind og kan altså ikke begå sig på det marked, som man ellers taler om, er så vigtigt at kunne konkurrere på,« siger han.
Noget andet er, at det tager meget lang tid at etablere nye atomkraftværker, forklarer Tarjei Haaland og henviser til, at arbejdet på det finske Olkiluoto-værk begyndte i 2005, men efter flere forsinkelser ikke forventes klar før 2020.
1997 Stadig mere udbredt folkelig modstand, faldende offentlige tilskud og mindre konkurrencedygtige priser i forhold til olie og gas betyder, at der bliver opført meget få nye værker i Vesten og investeret få midler i at udvikle teknologien. På grund af nye værker i Kina producerer atomkraftværker imidlertid 17,5 procent af verdens samlede elektricitet. Den største andel nogensinde.
»Atomkraft står kun for 10 procent af verdens produktion af elektricitet og fem procent af den samlede energiproduktion. Vi skal halvere vores udslip over de næste 10 til 20 år. I de år vil atomkraft ikke kunne levere energi. I stedet skal vi investere i vedvarende energikilder, der kan reducere udslippet på den korte bane,« siger han.
— Hvad med de eksisterende værker? Er det ikke er problem at sætte funktionsdygtige værker ud af drift, når de bliver erstattet af kul og gas?
»Vi mener, at man skal udfase de eksisterende atomkraftværker så hurtigt som muligt. De fleste er pensionsmodne, usikre og producerer farligt, radioaktivt affald. Hver eneste dag producerer kraftværkerne nyt atomaffald, som vi dybest set ikke har fundet nogen sikker måde at deponere. Det er et problem, vi overlader til vores efterkommere at løse.«
— Tyskland har måttet opgive at indfri sine klimamål. Blandt andet fordi landet skulle udfase atomkraft. Er kampen mod klimaforandringer ikke vigtigere?
»Tyskland har haft en regering, som vil udfase atomkraft. Det synes vi er godt. Men regeringen har også villet beskytte kulkraftværkerne og kulminebruddene. Blandt andet fordi der er en masse arbejdspladser forbundet med det. Der er forskellige politiske grunde til, at man ikke har fået den ideelle udfasning af atomkraft i Tyskland. Det er ikke, fordi det ikke kan lade sig gøre.«
— Hvad siger du til dem, der som James Hansen mener, at jeres kritik af atomkraft er ideologisk?
»Jeg synes ikke, at vores argumenter er specielt ideologiske, hysteriske eller følelsesladede. Jeg synes, de er meget saglige. Det handler om et affaldsproblem, der er ikke er løst. Det handler om, at der kan ske reaktorkatastrofer, og det handler om, at det er afsindigt dyrt. Det kan du være uenig i. Men det er ikke ideologi.«
Mytologi
Når nu James Hansen ikke vil uddybe sine anklager mod atomkraftsmodstanderne, vil Kerry Emanuel heldigvis gerne. Han er professor i meteorologi ved Massachusett Institute of Technology og har skrevet flere debatindlæg og erklæringer om atomkraft sammen med James Hansen.
Ligesom Hansen tror han, at atomkraft kunne have været billigere, bedre, renere og mere effektivt i dag. Men vi har forsømt at forske og investere i teknologien på samme måde, som der er blevet investeret i vedvarende energikilder som vind og sol.
Mia Mottelson
Det skyldes først og fremmest en række »mytologiske« misforståelser om atomkraft, der har gjort befolkningen unødigt bekymret og ført til politisk berøringsangst.
»Vi lever desværre i en æra, hvor Oplysningens værdier har trange kår,« siger han over en Skype-forbindelse fra Paris, hvor han er til konference.
»Fukushima-ulykken er et glimrende eksempel på myterne om atomkraft,« mener professoren.
Det bliver betegnet som en atomkatastrofe og fremhævet som et eksempel på de ubegribelige farer ved atomkraft, siger han.
Men mens næsten 19.000 mennesker forsvandt eller døde som følge af den tsunami, der forårsagede ulykken og den efterfølgende evakuering, er der kun registreret ét dødsfald som er afledt af selve nedsmeltningen. Han døde tidligere i år af lungekræft, som han fik af den radioaktive påvirkning.
Også spørgsmålet om farerne ved at håndtere det radioaktive affald er præget af overdrivelser, mener han. Ganske rigtig er affaldsstoffer fra atomkraftværker stærkt miljøskadelige, medgiver han. Det forbliver radioaktivt i mange tusinder af år og skal deponeres dybt i jorden eller langt under havoverfladen.
Ifølge Kerry Emanuel er atomkraft imidlertid så potent en energikilde, at det drejer sig om relativt små mængder affald, som der er tekniske løsninger til at deponere sikkert.
2011 Flere reaktorer på Fukushima-værket i Japan nedsmelter efter et stort jordskælv. Som følge af ulykken beslutter Tyskland at afvikle alle deres atomkraftværker, ligesom de fleste japanske værker lukkes ned.
Når alt kommer til alt, mener Emanuel kun, at der har været én alvorlig ulykke, som kan begrunde den store frygt for atomkraft: Tjernobyl.
»Kigger man på dødsfald per kilowatt-time energi, er atomkraft en ekstremt sikker energiform,« siger Kerry Emanuel.
»Men folk kan også være bange for at flyve, selv om de velvilligt kører tværs gennem landet i et folkevognsrugbrød. Det er ikke rationelt,« siger han.
Atomvækst
Mens atomkraft er under afvikling i mange af de demokratiske og velstående lande, ser billedet anderledes ud i flere lav- og mellemindkomstlande. Tyrkiet, Hviderusland og Bangladesh er ved at opføre deres første atomkraftværker.
Særligt i de store vækstøkonomier Kina og Indien bliver der investeret massivt i atomkraft. Alene i 2017 åbnede tre nye reaktorer i Kina, mens Indien planlægger at udvide energinettet med en række nye atomkraftværker. Et af dem, i kystbyen Jaitapur, bliver formentlig verdens største. Det skriver amerikanske CNBC.
Udviklingslandenes åbenlyse energibehov understreger, at vi bliver nødt til omfavne atomkraft som en del af løsningen på klimaproblemet, siger professor Kerry Emanuel. Han håber, at energiforbruget pr. indbygger stiger i lande som Indien. Det er et spørgsmål om moral. Det er ganske enkelt den mest effektive måde at bekæmpe fattigdom.
»Men hvis den udvikling primært drives af kul – og det er tilfældet nu – står vi med et helt uoverskueligt problem,« siger Kerry Emanuel.
– Men hvorfor investerer de ikke i sol og vind, når det er billigere?
»Fordi det ikke er så simpelt. Lad os tage Indien som eksempel. De har meget sol, og i Nordindien er der gode muligheder for at udvinde vandenergi. Men én ting er, at forudsætningerne – og prisen – for vedvarende energi varierer fra område til område. Noget andet er, at vedvarende energi er billigere indtil et vist niveau. Når eksempelvis sol dækker 30 eller 40 procent af energinettet, bliver det langt dyrere at udvide det derfra,« forklarer Kerry Emanuel.
I hans øjne er det ikke et spørgsmål, om atomkraft kommer til at spille en afgørende rolle. Det valg har Vesten slet ikke mulighed for at træffe. Spørgsmålet er, hvem der kommer til at drive og facilitere udviklingen.
»Og der ville jeg foretrække, også af sikkerhedsmæssige årsager, at det var Vesten og ikke Rusland eller Kina,« siger han.
Nye håb
Til trods for at klimajournalisten Fred Pearce for nylig har skrevet en bog om atomkraftens historie, har han altid frygtet spørgsmålet om, hvorvidt han er for eller imod atomkraft. Det er nemlig »frygteligt komplekst«, siger han. Når han uden tøven konkluderer, at det ikke er løsningen på klimakrisen her og nu, understreger han, at det er en vurdering. Ikke et ideologisk kampråb.
»Jeg er langt mere bekymret for klimakrisen, end jeg er for nedsmeltning og atomaffald. Langt mere. Derfor mener jeg også, man bør holde alle muligheder åbne,« siger Pearce.
Atomkraft er bare for dyrt, og det tager for lang tid at bygge nye værker. Sådan er det i hvert fald lige nu. De seneste år har der været historier om en lang række nye – og angiveligt revolutionerende – teknologiske udviklinger af atomkraft.
2019 Der findes i dag 454 aktive atomkraftværker, som tilsammen dækker mellem 10 og 11 procent af verdens samlede el-forbrug.
Bill Gates har investeret i firmaet TerraPower, der vil udvikle en reaktor som kan lave sit eget affald om til ny energi. Andre taler om at erstatte uran med thorium, som er mindre farligt. Salt-nedkølede reaktorer, eller små, flydende kraftværker, som man mere smidigt ville kunne skrue op og ned for og sætte ind som supplement til vedvarende energi, når solen ikke skinner, eller vinden ikke blæser.
Men som det ser ud lige nu, er de nye typer atomkraft langt fra at kunne levere energi i stor skala. Det er først og fremmest lyserøde fremtidsudsigter.
Og selv hvis der skulle ske et teknologisk mirakel, er det ikke sikkert, vi ville omfavne det.
Med Indien som den store undtagelse, er atomkraft på vej ud i stort set alle de demokratiske lande, hvor det har eksisteret, påpeger Fred Pearce. Det er ikke tilfældigt. Vi er bange for atomkraft.
»Mange forskere peger på, at truslerne fra atomkraft ofte overdrives. Særligt truslerne for det enkelte menneske. Men farerne er også reelle. Det er ikke tilfældigt, at atomkraft forbindes med ødelæggelse og våben. Det er ikke irrationelt at frygte atomkraft.«
77-årige James Hansen har stadig ikke opgivet håbet om atomkraft som løsning på klimakrisen. Den sidste kommentar i hans mail til Information lyder:
»Der er tegn på, at unge mennesker er begyndt at se igennem de gamle stivstikkeres vrangforstillinger.«
Mia Mottelson
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"The Department of Health, HSE and our frontline workers will continue to take every action against COVID-19, but it is each and every one of us, individually, who has the power to reduce this threat. Stay at home, follow the advice and protect one another.”
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Vincent Lecavalier is about to experience another first in his 16-year NHL career.
The 34-year-old is set to take a seat as a healthy scratch for Tuesday's game against the San Jose Sharks, just over a year after signing a five-year, $22.5-million contract with the Philadelphia Flyers.
"I think it's a competitive thing with him. I just don't see enough of it out there. I've got to see more," head coach Craig Berube said of the decision to bench Lecavalier, according to Frank Seravalli from philly.com.
"Guys that are playing in the lineup need to find urgency quicker. That's their job. We definitely need to play with more urgency, and we need to play with more structure in our game."
Lecavalier has recorded two goals and four assists with 28 shots on goal through 16 games this season, and didn't appear to be too pleased with the coach's decision.
"It's very hard to take," he said. "It was a tough night, when you're told something like that. I talked to (Berube). We had a conversation, but I'm out of the lineup. It's as simple as that."
The Flyers have lost four games in a row and eight of their last nine, leaving Berube to figure out how to get his team out of a serious and potentially season-ruining drought. For now, Lecavalier - who was actively shopped by the Flyers this past summer - will serve as the scapegoat for the struggling squad.
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Dear fellow libertarians , there is a wolf amongst us. Someone who deep in his heart is a bigot, a racist…someone who at the very least used to hold deep disdain for people of color in his heart, even writing about it in newsletters to fans. All of you probably know this man. You likely see him at conferences lecturing sanctimoniously against fascism, racism and bigotry or reading his writings where he unapologetically promotes leftist ideals such as political correctness and social justice, ideals which largely infringe upon core libertarian principles like private property and self-ownership.
Those addressed in this piece are not LP (Libertarian Party) members, but principled libertarians, people who truly and deeply love liberty, subscribe to the Non-Aggression Principle and understand that individuals own themselves and the State is virtually a criminal gang thriving on theft and extortion in order to survive.
Years ago, when Ron Paul was running for President, several news reports exposed what is clearly racist and bigoted content in his newsletters. The newsletters went out under Ron Paul’s name in the 1980s and 1990s under the name of Ron Paul’s Investment Letter, Ron Paul Survival Report, Ron Paul’s Political Report and Ron Paul’s Freedom Report.
While virtually everyone agrees that Ron Paul himself did not author the bigoted letters, two individuals were identified as possible authors: Lew Rockwell and Jeffrey Tucker. Rockwell himself denied any involvement with the content in question. Tucker did not deny involvement and simply refused to comment, saying
“I just really am not going to make a statement, I’m sorry. I’ll take all responsibility for being the editor of Mises.org, OK?”
Having been reading Rockwell for years, it is clear to me that the style of writing is not his, and that he is not behind the letters, leaving Jeffrey Tucker as the one solely responsible for writing the racist content. This does not necessarily exonerate Rockwell from the authorship of the content, but his denial involves
Now, much of this is not news to many people aware of this particular subject. Major news outlets have published investigative stories on the topic. The Economist, New Republic, VICE and many other outlets wrote on the subject in the late 2000s and early 2010s, all largely focusing on the fact that Ron Paul is himself a racist or that he perhaps stoked the flames of racial division in an effort to gain an upper hand in his political career. Perhaps this is true, but no supporting evidence was ever provided showing that Ron Paul was involved in the daily operations of his publishing enterprise, so the fingers should be pointed to the individual who actually authored the content, likely Jeffrey Tucker or Lew Rockwell.
Wendy McElroy, the right-wing Canadian feminist who has been an associate of Tucker for years, wrote on her blog that the author of the racist content was “an open secret within the circles in which I run.” She never directly identified the author by name, but there is no secret that Wendy has close ties with Tucker, even writing and publishing content on his website, Liberty.me.
But to Tucker’s supporters, this will not matter much. Tucker has embraced leftist ideals wholesale and has been pitching libertarianism to leftists, encouraging them to come into the libertarian fold, thus surrounding himself with donors and supporters who choose to whitewash his racist past and focus on the feel-good words he is uttering: virtually a daily cacophony of “everyone who disagrees with me is a Nazi’ or “everyone is a fascist” articles he writes and shares on social media.
Tucker has shifted so far to the left that he is now promoting pieces by far-left journalist Sasha Polakow-Suransky who writes at length about why the State must use virtually all means necessary to protect liberal values in Western society, including coercion. Tucker wholly embraced Sasha’s defense of liberalism and democracy while fear-mongering against the faceless, unknown right, who according to him will strip the West of liberal democratic ideas.
Tucker’s defense of democracy and liberal ideals is beyond disturbing. Democracy is not something a liberty advocate should ever defend as it has never set anyone free from the tyranny of the State. Nor is liberalism; at least not as Polakow-Suransky is defining it, as he is not using it in the classical sense. But Tucker doesn’t seem to care as he has apparently decided to shift his message to an audience easily triggered by key-words like, fascism, alt-right, racism, white-nationalism, feminism, democracy, etc.
Jeffrey Tucker is now even using his position at FEE (Foundation for Economic Education) to also promote third wave feminist ideas implying that men are mysogynistic pigs for refusing to go along with feminist principles of equality. Or at least he tried to use his position at FEE. On October 10 2017, Tucker published an article on fee.org by Sarah Skwire titled Two Faces of Sexism: Exclusion and Exploitation. The piece, which was later removed from the website, is a sort of hand-wringing by the author, complaining that women have “less power” than men. Tucker never explained why the article was removed from the website, however it was published later on libertarianism.org.
As someone who has followed Tucker closely for years, his slide towards the left was easily noticeable. Since Trump has won the US presidential election, Tucker has sort of lost his mind when it comes to the alt-right and what he perceives to be a bunch of fascists or Nazis taking control of the United States.
This was greatly illustrated in an incident where a drunk and belligerent Tucker started screaming at white nationalist Richard Spencer in a private bar where Spencer was sitting peacefully after being invited by other attendees. Ignoring his own advice on how to promote liberty, Tucker’s virtue signaling went a long way to bring him into the lime-light with the anti-Trump media which praised his stand against fascism and white-supremacy. Quite an odd approach as I too reject white-nationalism and fascism, yet I do not find it necessary to discuss this daily or engage in screaming matches with fascist in public venues.
But is it possible that Tucker’s newfound hate of racism is offering him both redemption from his past sins but also helping him build new inroads into a new audience of younger, college-age millennials thirsty to defeat the fascist boogeyman, whoever hit may be? I am not alone thinking this.
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Grow herbs and use them in your kitchen, crafts, and herbal remedies. Herbs are a great introduction to gardening, and they're also a wonderful way to get your children interested in nature. The content of this site is anecdotal and provided for entertainment purposes only. It is not intended as medical advice. If you are ill, please see your doctor.
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W.E.B. DuBois, born February 23rd, 1868, was perhaps the most influential African American intellectual and civil rights activist of the early twentieth century. He was the first African American to receive a doctorate at Harvard, and went on to become a professor of history, sociology, and economics at Atlanta University. As an academic and author, DuBois had rousing debates with his fellow professors during the zenith of what was known as scientific racism.
Scientific racism arose out of American scientists claiming Darwin’s survival of the fittest concept could be applied to the story of western civilization. As a result, they formed a vital link in the oppression of African Americans, according to historian Carol M. Taylor.
Psychologists imbued with concepts of white supremacy promoted the development of I.Q. tests, used to verify that the offspring of upper-class whites were proven to be more intelligent.
By the early twentieth century, “racial scientism” had become mainstream, promoted by top academics, including Englishman Herbert Spencer, the theorist who popularized the concept of social Darwinism. Lester Frank Ward—dubbed the “St. Augustine of the American cult of science”—was a prominent racialist scientist in the United States. Ward’s argument, which had clear Darwinian echoes, was that only more intelligent races and groups emerged as dominant in society, offering a rationale for why American blacks generally suffered low social status. Ward even argued that the prevalence of lynching was evidence of black inferiority. Frederick L. Hoffman, another prominent racialist scientist of the era, argued that the inferiority of blacks was proven by their vulnerability to venereal diseases and tuberculosis and that African Americans were in danger of extinction.
Psychologists imbued with concepts of white supremacy promoted the development of I.Q. tests, used to verify that the offspring of upper-class whites were proven to be more intelligent. When an intelligent black person did emerge, racist scientists argued it was only because they had white ancestry.
DuBois was on the frontline of fighting such attitudes. He joined in public debates with proponents of racist scientism, most famously against Theodore Lothrop Stoddard, a fellow Harvard alum, in Chicago in 1919. “We know that our America is a white America,” Stoddard argued at the time.
While working as a sociologist at Atlanta University, DuBois had honed his counterarguments. He wrote extensively on the black American experience and expanded his influence when, in 1910, he became editor of The Crisis, the publication for the NAACP, the organization he was involved in founding.
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Armed with impeccable academic credentials and a large media audience (The Crisis at its height had a circulation of more than 100,000), DuBois used his influence to counter scientific racism. Among his main points was that racism was taught, rather than innate. He pointed out that black and white children played together peacefully when left alone. He cited U.S. census records to prove that black Americans were increasing in number and less prone to suicide and mental illness than whites. He noted that, while nineteen percent of lynching victims were accused of rape, it was black women who were the most endangered by sexual attack from white males. And significantly, he argued that racial scientism was a closed system, not open to new data, and so its proponents were in fact unscientific.
After a long life as an academic, author, and activist, DuBois died at the age of ninety-five as an expatriate in Ghana, in many ways disillusioned with the American experience of race. DuBois “may very well have been the most important figure in the American civil rights movement in the twentieth century,” said sociologist Kenneth Clark. His “direct and authoritarian challenge to scientific racism,” as Taylor described it, remains one of DuBois’s most enduring legacies.
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An Egyptian court has sentenced 529 members of the Muslim Brotherhood to death on charges including murder, a defence lawyer said, in a sharp escalation of a crackdown on the movement.
"The court has decided to sentence to death 529 defendants and 16 were acquitted," lawyer Ahmed al-Sharif said.
Islamist backers of ousted president Mohamed Morsi are facing a deadly crackdown launched by the military-installed authorities since his ouster in July, with hundreds of people killed and thousands arrested.
Of those sentenced on Monday, 153 are in detention, while the rest are on the run, judicial sources said, adding that the verdict can be appealed.
A second group of about 700 defendants will be in the dock on Tuesday.
They are accused of attacking both people and public property in southern Egypt in August, after security forces broke up two Cairo protest camps set up by Morsi supporters on August 14.
They are also charged with committing acts of violence that led to the deaths of two policemen in Minya, judicial sources said.
The accused include several leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood, including its supreme guide Mohamed Badie.
Morsi is himself currently on trial in three different cases, including one for inciting the killing of protesters outside a presidential palace while he was in office.
Morsi was removed after just 12 months as president following mass street protests against his rule amid allegations of power grabbing and worsening an already weak economy.
Reuters/AFP
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The federal government released Canada’s first-ever poverty reduction strategy last week, calling it a historic plan to ensure all Canadians can achieve their full potential.
The strategy lays out the goal of cutting the rate of poverty in half across the country by 2030. If it delivers on that promise, it would mean lifting more than two million Canadians out of poverty. That’s certainly a worthy goal.
Opportunity For All – Canada’s First Poverty Reduction Strategy, unveiled after almost two years of consultations, finally provides an official benchmark to define poverty in Canada. That’s something that the federal government has never been willing to do before.
The new poverty line is a market basket measure that determines the cost of goods and services, such as shelter, healthy food, clothing and transportation, that Canadians require to meet their basic needs and achieve a modest standard of living. The number varies in cities and communities across the country. Factoring in 50 different regions, the poverty line for a family of four averages out to be $37,500. In Toronto, a more expensive city to live in, that rises to over $40,600.
A target to meet, a new poverty line to clearly define the problem and annual public progress reports to hold the government to account are all useful steps.
The problem lies with the rest of document delivered by Social Development Minister Jean-Yves Duclos.
The strategy basically pulls together all the government’s previously announced programs to reduce poverty. There are no new policies and no new funding commitments to improve or speed up current programs.
The government has simply pointed to its $22 billion in previously announced spending for programs, including the Canada Child Benefit, the Guaranteed Income Supplement and a tax befit for low-income workers.
But if Canada’s existing programs are up to the task of meeting what Duclos is calling an “ambitious” but “realistic” target to reduce poverty, why do we need the strategy at all?
There is a new $12 million investment over five years but that’s earmarked for gaps in poverty measurements. So that’s money that will help the government produce annual reports but not dollars that will reach people living in poverty.
A broad strategy with measurable targets is useful for keeping governments on track towards important, long-term poverty reduction goals.
But that’s cold comfort to the millions of Canadians living in poverty today. They need more immediate relief and, on that front, there’s so much the federal government could have included in this long-awaited strategy.
It could have made improvements to Canada’s unemployment insurance system, which is so broken most Canadians who become unemployed don’t even qualify for benefits.
It could have brought forward some of the back-ended funding for its 10-year national housing strategy or targeted more dollars to producing housing that would actually meet the needs of those with very low incomes.
It could have boosted support for much-needed affordable child care spaces.
Those are measures that would have gone a long way to making Canada’s first-ever poverty reduction strategy the all-encompassing blanket needed to address this critical concern instead of an old patchwork quilt.
The strategy says that the federal government will “work closely with provinces, territories and municipalities, and will forge strong bonds with Indigenous peoples, stakeholders, charities and community groups on the front lines,” and invite the private section “to do its part.”
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But what any of that really means and what, if anything, it will amount to is anyone’s guess.
So the takeaway from the Opportunity For All strategy really seems to be that Ottawa intends to truck along with current social program investments and see where the numbers land.
Canadians in need deserve better.
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As the US population becomes increasingly obese while smoking rates continue to decline, obesity has become an equal, if not greater, contributor to the burden of disease and shortening of healthy life in comparison to smoking.
In an article published in the February 2010 issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, researchers from Columbia University and The City College of New York calculate that the Quality-Adjusted Life Years (QALYs) lost due to obesity is now equal to, if not greater than, those lost due to smoking -- both modifiable risk factors.
QALYs use preference-based measurements of Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQOL) which allow a person to state a relative preference for a given health outcome. Since one person may value a particular outcome differently than another person, these measures capture how each respondent views his or her own quality of life.
The 1993-2008 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS), the largest ongoing state-based health survey of US adults, has conducted interviews of more than 3,500,000 individuals; annual interviews started with 102,263 in 1993 and culminated with 406,749 in 2008. This survey includes a set of questions that measures HRQOL, asking about recent poor health days and tracking overall physical and mental health of the population. The authors analyzed these data and converted the measures to QALYs lost due to smoking and obesity.
From 1993 to 2008, when the proportion of smokers among US adults declined 18.5%, smoking-related QALYs lost were relatively stable at 0.0438 QALYs lost per population. During the same period, the proportion of obese people increased 85% and this resulted in 0.0464 QALYs lost. Smoking had a bigger impact on deaths while obesity had a bigger impact on illness.
Investigators Haomiao Jia, PhD and Erica I. Lubetkin, MD, MPH, state, "Although life expectancy and QALE have increased over time, the increase in the contribution of mortality to QALYs lost from obesity may result in a decline in future life expectancy. Such data are essential in setting targets for reducing modifiable health risks and eliminating health disparities."
The article is "Trends in Quality-Adjusted Life-Years Lost Contributed by Smoking and Obesity" by Haomiao Jia, PhD, and Erica I. Lubetkin, MD, MPH. The article appears in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, Volume 38, Issue 2 (February 2010) published by Elsevier.
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What are the principles by which we divide texts into portions, and why would we want to do that in the first place?
What Elisa has referred to as “the prescriptive portion of the Veda” is what Mīmāṃsā authors call brāhmaṇa. For Mīmāṃsā, this was the most important portion of the Vedic text, since this is where our knowledge of dharma in the first instance comes from. The brāhmaṇas are where our dharmic obligations originate.
It is thus the interpretive agenda of Mīmāṃsā, which contends both that knowledge of dharma comes exclusively from the Veda and that the Veda eventuates exclusively in knowledge of dharma, that motivates the priority of the brāhmaṇas over other portions as well as the very category of brāhmaṇa itself. This agenda has, over the millennia, shaped both the way that people think about the Veda and the way the Veda has been transmitted.
What I find most interesting about the division of the Veda into brāhmaṇa and non-brāhmaṇa portions is that Mīmāṃsā grounds the distinction in the modalities of language: the language of the brāhmaṇas is generally injunctive (vidhāyaka), and that of mantras (which will represent the non-brāhmaṇa portion for my purposes) is generally non-injunctive (avidhāyaka). The definition of mantra and brāhmaṇa in the sūtras themselves (2.1.32, 2.1.33) suggests this treatment, since it has the structure of a rule and exceptions (the Veda itself is brāhmaṇa, except for parts that are denotative rather than injunctive, which are called mantra).
This is not an obvious or intuitive way of talking about the division. I say this from a “western” perspective, where the criteria for distinguishing between texts, or between portions of texts, generally fall into the following categories:
Historical : portion x was composed before or after portion y, or by different people, etc. This is by far the most commonly-invoked class of distinctions in the Western tradition (think of, e.g., the Bible, which though it was “revealed” was nevertheless authored by historical individuals), but it’s completely off-limits to Mīmāṃsā, since it holds the Veda to be an authorless text that was not fashioned in history. But this is how Indologists generally think of the Veda: the saṃhitā text is the earliest (and hence most valuable from the perspective of historical linguistics and Indo-European studies), and the brāhmaṇas belong to a later period.
: portion x was composed before or after portion y, or by different people, etc. This is by far the most commonly-invoked class of distinctions in the Western tradition (think of, e.g., the Bible, which though it was “revealed” was nevertheless authored by historical individuals), but it’s completely off-limits to Mīmāṃsā, since it holds the Veda to be an authorless text that was not fashioned in history. But this is how Indologists generally think of the Veda: the saṃhitā text is the earliest (and hence most valuable from the perspective of historical linguistics and Indo-European studies), and the brāhmaṇas belong to a later period. Formal : the formal or stylistic characteristics of portions x and y differ. In the case of the Veda, we can say that brāhmaṇas mainly consist of prose, and the saṃhitās of verse. Or, we could say that the saṃhitās use a certain kind of language—say, the one that Pāṇini refers to as chandas—that distinguishes it from the brāhmaṇas. The difference between injunctive and non-injunctive portions partly relates to formal differences, that is, between injunctive and non-injunctive verbal endings, but only partly.
: the formal or stylistic characteristics of portions x and y differ. In the case of the Veda, we can say that brāhmaṇas mainly consist of prose, and the saṃhitās of verse. Or, we could say that the saṃhitās use a certain kind of language—say, the one that Pāṇini refers to as chandas—that distinguishes it from the brāhmaṇas. The difference between injunctive and non-injunctive portions partly relates to formal differences, that is, between injunctive and non-injunctive verbal endings, but only partly. Transmissional: the Yajurveda, for example, exists in two versions: the White Yajurveda transmits the saṃhitā text and the brāhmaṇa text separately, while the Black Yajurveda contains both interspersed.
From the perspective of Mīmāṃsā, these differences are either specious, or they result from the more fundamental distinction between injunctive and non-injunctive mentioned above.
The problem is: how can we possibly motivate the idea the mantras are non-injunctive and brāhmaṇas are injunctive? Where, in other words, does the injunctive (or non-injunctive) character of a particular passage of text come from?
The answers to this question can be classified into language-internal and language-external accounts. The pūrvapakṣin in the mantrāvidhāyakatvādhikaraṇa (2.1.30–31) relies on a language-internal account: in mantras we sometimes encounter the very same verbal forms by virtue of which the brāhmaṇas are said to be “injunctive.” The uttarapakṣin employs a language-external account: mantras are used in rituals, and therefore they cannot tell us to perform additional rituals. Basically this is a dispute about the role of context (in the wider sense, not in the sense of prakaraṇa). The pūrvapakṣin does not include context at all in his evaluation of the modality of these passages; the uttarapakṣin takes the context for granted and uses it to argue for a certain linguistic modality. In Kumārila’s framing of the problem, the difference is whether the injunctive force of a text arises before or after the “assignment” (viniyoga), the process by which one determines what elements of a ritual performance are primary and secondary, in consequence of which mantras are always determined to be instrumental to, and thus subordinate to, a sacrificial act enjoined by a brāhmaṇa text.
Kumārila takes aim at both positions: if injunctive force is internal to language (svato vidhiśaktiḥ), then it’s impossible to see why it would recede in some contexts and reappear in other contexts; if it is not there in the first place (prathamam eva nāsti), then no amount of contextual assignment could make it appear. His answer is to allow that language has a modality that the pūrvapakṣin does not acknowledge, namely denotation (abhidhāna).
Many questions about denotation, and especially about the early history of this concept and its application in Mīmāṃsā, remain to be worked out. But the general idea is that when the injunctive force of a text is weakened or cancelled out, as the contextualist wants, then what remains is the denotative power. Except Kumārila insists that it is the text itself, and not contextual assignment, that cancels out the injunctive force. Specifically, there are certain linguistic forms that can neutralize the injunctive power (Kumārila gives examples of conditional clauses, the relative pronoun, vocative forms, and first-person verb forms). This neutralization happens prior to assignment; in fact, it is the diminished injunctive capacity of such texts that give us a clue about the role they are to play in the performance of a sacrifice. “Denotation” as a modality applies to things that, in Mīmāṃsā terms, “obtain” (prāpta)—that is, things that are epistemically available to be referred to. Hence Kumārila arrives at a classic case of hermeneutic codependency: we need to recall or remember (smṛti) certain elements at the time of performance, and this is precisely and exclusively the purpose which mantras serve.
In this way, Kumārila argues that mantras and brāhmaṇas are distinct not because of their formal features, or because they are transmitted separately, or least of all because of the historical circumstances of their production, but because there are language-internal features of mantras that lead us to ascertain the different modes of operation between mantras and brāhmaṇas and hence the different purposes that each serves in the integrated complex of dharma.
We could talk about whether this classification is compelling or well-grounded, or how it maps against the classifications mentioned previously. But this section is a good specimen of the interpretive angle of Mīmāṃsā more generally. We are not supposed to take the division of the Veda into prescriptive and non-prescriptive portions for granted; rather, this division is supposed to arise from general principles of interpretation, which are themselves rooted in a philosophy of language. Even if Kumārila often gives the impression of making up the finer points of that philosophy as he goes along, he is very sensitive to the philosophical and hermeneutic problems generated by both a strongly language-internal account and a strongly language-external account, and he tries to find a viable third path.
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Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen speaks on the phone with U.S. president-elect Donald Trump at her office in Taipei, Taiwan, in this handout photo made available December 3, 2016. Taiwan Presidential Office/Handout via REUTERS
HONG KONG (Reuters Breakingviews) - U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s precedent-breaking call with Taiwan’s president on Dec. 2, followed by ominous tweets about Chinese policy and American firms’ overseas production, has policy wonks scratching their heads. But one message is clear. Trump is indifferent to any potential backlash against U.S. investments in China, and may even welcome it.
It is unclear what led Trump to ditch nearly 40 years of diplomatic protocol and take a congratulatory telephone call from Taiwan’s Tsai Ing-wen. Beijing, which sees political reunification with the island as a historical necessity, lodged a diplomatic protest but otherwise seems keen to let the issue blow over. State media wrote off the call as a gaffe resulting from the transition team’s lack of foreign policy experience.
“American business operating in Asia needs certainty and stability,” the American Chamber of Commerce in China noted, with some understatement. Good luck with that while loose cannon Trump keeps firing. After defending his Taiwan call he went on to lay into China’s business policy and territorial claims in the South China Sea, making it much harder for Beijing to brush the incident off.
As worrisome for U.S. firms, Trump also tweeted a plan to apply a 35 percent tax to products imported by U.S. firms from factories they have moved overseas. That would hammer companies who have spent decades building supply chains and facilities in China, like Apple, for example. A recent Rhodium Group study shows the stock of U.S. direct investment in China reached $228 billion from 1990 through 2015.
The nightmare for any foreign firm in China is an angry mob besieging its factory or flagship store. Pressing the Taiwan button is the best way to rally such a mob, who will call on Beijing for backup.
Trump’s tweets suggests he is not sweating this scenario. He may believe that the more squeezing China does, the faster U.S. companies will repatriate. But China, which is already locking up its capital account, will almost certainly try to strip them on the way out, by holding up cash transfers or forcing fire-sales of assets. For U.S. businesses in China, Trump’s stance is much like Gerald Ford’s apocryphal message to New York in the 1970s: drop dead.
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The New York City activist who made a 2010 New York governor's debate go viral with his "Rent Is Too Damn High" proclamation is again running for office, the New York Observer reported.
Jimmy McMillan, who ran against Carl Paladino (R-Buffalo) and Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D-N.Y.) in 2010 on The Rent Is Too Damn High Party ticket, is seeking to replace a retiring city councilwoman in this year's election.
McMillan will run as a Republican in a heavily Democratic Lower Manhattan district against one of three Democrats vying to replace Councilwoman Rosie Mendez (D).
NYT Writer Asks IRS to Unlawfully Leak Trump's Tax Returns
NYT Columnist: 'Pause' Trump's Presidency Until Russia Questions Are Answered
Judge Nap: Obama Wiretap Order Would Be 'Profoundly Unconstitutional But Legal'
After his unsuccessful run for governor in 2010, McMillan made some public appearances preaching his mantra of lowering urban rents and strengthening tenants' rights.
In recent presidential elections, he endorsed Barack Obama in 2012, and Donald Trump in 2016, citing Trump's support for veterans like himself, according to the Observer.
McMillan ran for mayor of New York in 2013 on his "Rent Is Too Damn High" party line, but, according to the Observer, also endorsed Anthony Weiner (D-Brooklyn) in that race as well.
if he wins, McMillan would join a starkly outnumbered Republican caucus of three led by Minority Leader Steven Matteo (R-Staten Island) in the 51-member body.
Chaffetz: House Will Take 'Hard Look' at Trump's Wiretap Allegations Against Obama
Conway: Trump 'May' Know Whether He Was Wiretapped by Obama Admin
Sen. Cotton: 'I've Seen No Evidence' Trump's Allegations of Obama Wiretapping Are True
Watch McMillan's viral 2010 pronouncement below:
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The video for an anti-Donald Trump laced with violent threats song performed by Baltimore rappers Tlow, Lor Roger, and Dooley, has garnered tens of thousands of views on Youtube, Soundcloud, and WorldStarHipHop.com.
As the video begins, you can hear a voice ask, “Hey, uh, what do you guys think about Donald Trump?”
“MAN, F–K DONLAD TRUMP!” a chorus of voices shout back in response, as the camera pans across the face of dozens of rowdy young black men.
Several threats are made toward the Republican presidential candidate, over the course of the two-minute anthem.
“We got a choppa in the trunk, for Donald Trump,” a gang of vocalists repeatedly sing.
Most of the lyrics in the song are blank insults directed at the real estate developer. “Boy, ain’t even white. You yellow/ You say you’d date your own daughter, you a sicko.”
The video also shows a man wielding shovel while wearing a t-shirt that reads, “F–k Donald Trump #We got a choppa ina truck for Donald Trump.”
This latest anti-Trump video comes just one week after Atlanta-based rapper T.I. posted an Instagram video with a message to the GOP frontrunner, “F–k you and f–k what you stand for! Nobody who supports me will support you. End of message.”
Follow Jerome Hudson on Twitter: @jeromeehudson
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Suvarnabhumi apologises for snake found on luggage cart
A reptile expert said snake seen a Suvarnabhumi airport’s arrival hall appeared to be a Malayan Bridle snake, a non-venomous variety. (Photo from YouLike Facebook page)
Suvarnabhumi airport issued an apology after a snake slithered into the arrival hall and wrapped itself around the base of a luggage cart over the weekend.
Built on land previously known as "Cobra Swamp," the airport said it would like to "apologise for the incident that frightened passengers" on Sunday.
A female passenger spotted the snake after placing luggage on the cart as she prepared to leave the arrival hall, the statement said.
"After being alerted, security officers captured the snake right away and no passengers were injured," Airports of Thailand said in a statement Sunday that described the reptile as "a small baby snake" but did not identify the species.
Snake expert Thanaphong Tawan at a Bangkok snake farm run by the Thai Red Cross Society said the snake appeared to be a non-venomous variety called Dryocalamus davisonii -- commonly known as Blanford's bridle snake -- based on a picture taken at the airport and published by Thai media.
The statement sought to "reassure that clear and strict measures have been imposed to prevent all poisonous animals from slipping into the airport's buildings" and it was believed "the baby snake managed to slip into the airport because it was very small."
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Confession Bear
i keep the fingernail on my index finger a little long
so i can pick my nose effectively
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The super-high-end of Intel’s Xeon CPU range, based on servers with as many cores and as much memory as you can throw at them, represent a good part of Intel’s business with the potential to offer large margins: some customers want the most, the best, the powerful, and are willing to pay for it. For a number of generations, this has come via the Intel E7 line, consisting of two families of products designed for quad-socket servers (the E7-4000 v4) and eight socket servers (the E7-8000 v4). The new element to this launch is the use of ‘v4’, meaning that following the launch of Broadwell-EP for 1S/2S systems a couple of months ago and Broadwell-E (high-end desktop, HEDT) two weeks go, Intel has now filled out the v4 product line as we would typically expect. The new Xeons will be under the Broadwell-EX nomenclature (following Haswell-EX, Ivy Bridge-EX and so on), and using the Brickland platform aimed at mission critical environments.
Intel currently runs several processor lines in the Xeon/enterprise space, from E3-1200 v5 processors using consumer level performance in a Xeon package, the recently released E3-1500 v5 processors with embedded DRAM to help accelerate visual/video workflow, all the way up to the large EX core platforms.
Intel Xeon Families (June 2016) E3-1200 v5 E3-1500 v5
E3-1500M v5 E5-1600 v4
E5-2600 v4 E7-4800 v4 E7-8800 v4 Core Family Skylake Skylake Broadwell Broadwell Broadwell Core Count 2 to 4 2 to 4 4 to 22 8 to 16 4 to 24 Integrated Graphics Few, HD 520 Yes, Iris Pro No No No DRAM Channels 2 2 4 4 4 Max DRAM Support (per CPU) 64 GB 64 GB 1536 GB 3072 GB 3072GB DMI/QPI DMI 3.0 DMI 3.0 2600: 1xQPI 3 QPI 3 QPI Multi-Socket Support No No 2600: 1S or 2S 1S, 2S or 4S Up to 8S PCIe Lanes 16 16 40 32 32 Cost $213 to
$612 $396 to
$1207 $294 to
$4115 $1223 to
$3003 $4061 to
$7174 Suited For Entry Workstations QuickSync,
Memory Compute High-End Workstation Many-Core Server World Domination
As referred to in Johan’s very detailed review of the dual socket E5-2600 v4 platform, Broadwell Xeon processor dies come in three die sizes: a low core count (LCC) featuring ten physical cores at 246.24 mm2 for ~3.2 billion transistors, a medium core count (MCC) with fifteen physical cores at 306.18 mm2 for ~4.7 billion transistors, and high core count (HCC) with 24 physical cores at 456.12mm2 for ~7.2 transistors. The MCC and HCC arrangements use dual memory controllers to address four memory channels whereas the LCC die uses a single memory controller which results in a slight performance hit compared to the other two. Most of the new E7 v4 processors however will be using the HCC die.
Intel has formally announced eleven processors between the 4S and 8S families, varying in core count, frequency, power consumption and L3 cache. The design of the HCC core is such that a processor can have certain cores fused off but the rest of the die can have access to the L3 cache, providing some SKUs with more ‘total cache per core’, such as the E7-8893 v4 which will be a four-core design but with 60 MB of L3 cache between them. These are classified by Intel as 'segment optimized', where applications require faster cache rather than more cores. This is arguably a stone-throw away from an eDRAM SKU with 64MB of eDRAM, but in this case Intel is still going with a large (and faster than eDRAM) L3 cache.
Intel E7-8800 v4 Xeon Family E7-8860 v4 E7-8867 v4 E7-8870 v4 E7-8880 v4 E7-8890 v4 E7-8891 v4 E7-8893 v4 TDP 140 W 165 W 140 W 150 W 165 W 165 W 140 W Cores 18 / 36 18 / 36 20 / 40 22 / 44 24 / 48 10 / 20 4 / 8 Base (MHz) 2200 2400 2100 2200 2200 2800 3200 Turbo (MHz) 3200 3300 3000 3300 3400 3500 3500 L3 Cache 45 MB 45 MB 50 MB 55 MB 60 MB 60 MB 60 MB QPI (GT/s) 3 x 9.6 3 x 9.6 3 x 9.6 3 x 9.6 3 x 9.6 3 x 9.6 3 x 9.6 DRAM Support DDR4-1866
DDR3-1600 DDR4-1866
DDR3-1600 PCIe Support 3.0 x32 3.0 x32 3.0 x32 3.0 x32 3.0 x32 3.0 x32 3.0 x32 Price $4061 $4672 $4762 $5895 $7174 $6841 $6841
The flagship model is the E7-8890 v4, a 165W processor supporting the full 24 cores in the HCC die with hyperthreading, offering 48 threads per CPU. At a base frequency of 2.2 GHz, this processor can be used in an eight-socket glueless configuration (an 8S implementation means 192 cores/384 threads) or up to 128 sockets using third party controllers. In the eight socket configuration, a system can support up to 24TB of DDR4 LRDIMMs (three modules per channel, 12 modules per socket, 256GB per module). All the CPUs listed will support DDR4 and DDR3 with the dual controller configuration.
Intel E7-4800 v4 Xeon Family E7-4809 v4 E7-4820 v4 E7-4830 v4 E7-4850 v4 TDP 115 W 115 W 115 W 115 W Cores 8 / 16 10 / 20 14 / 28 16 / 32 Base (MHz) 2100 2000 2000 2100 Turbo (MHz) - - 2800 2800 L3 Cache 20 MB 25 MB 35 MB 40MB QPI (GT/s) 3 x 6.4 3 x 6.4 3 x 8.0 3 x 8.0 DRAM Support DDR4-1866
DDR3-1600 PCIe Support 3.0 x32 3.0 x32 3.0 x32 3.0 x32 Price $1223 $1502 $2170 $3003
The E7-4800 v4 line by comparison will use a reduced QPI speed (6.4 or 8.0 gigatransfers per second compared to 9.6 gigatransfers per second on the E7-8800 v4) as well as some of the family having no Turbo frequencies. These non-turbo processors will run at their given frequency no matter the loading.
The new E7 v4 carries over all of the new features that Johan covered in our E5 v4 review, including:
VM cache allocation (the ability for a supported hypervisor to mark a VM as high priority or partition cache as needed for QoS),
New memory bandwidth monitoring tools,
New frequency/power management tools to reduce frequency adjustment latency (see slide 29),
Transactional extension support (TSX, was a feature in Haswell but disabled due to a fundamental hardware bug),
A new non-deterministic random bit generator instruction for seed generation,
Haswell to Broadwell generational improvements (decreased divider latency, 40% faster vector floating point multiplier, hardware assist for vector gather, cryptography focused instructions),
AVX Turbo modes affect single cores rather than the whole processor,
Entry/Exit latency for virtualization environments reduced to ~400 cycles from ~500 cycles.
There are a couple of features for the HCC based processors that may be more relevant for the 4S systems, such as an upgraded version of Cluster on Die. Due to the configuration of the die and the dual ring design, if a core needs data in an L3 cache on the other side of the die, the latency would be higher than if it was closer to the die. To alleviate this, Haswell E5/E7 Xeons separated each die into two clusters such that each part would be seen by the BIOS as a non-unified memory domain. This allows the home agent/system agent to manage the likelihood that memory requests are aimed at data closer to the core that needs it. In Broadwell, this feature is now brought up from dual-processor systems to four-processor systems, and should reduce last level cache latency and performance for larger systems.
The new E7 v4 processors use the same socket as the previous generation, the E7 v3 processors. With a BIOS update, the new processors are a drop in with the older platform. The usual Intel partners (Supermicro, HP Enterprise, Dell, Cray) are expected to offer systems based on the new processors. We expect the new processors to cost in line with the previous generation with a typical generational increase. I believe Johan is currently in the process of testing a few parts, and I’m looking forward to the review.
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The federal government is telling election officials in 21 states, including Alabama, that hackers targeted their election systems last year, although in most cases the systems were not breached.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security told the Associated Press in September that the hackers are believed to be Russian agents who targeted voter registration systems more than 20 states. Alabama, Colorado, Illinois, Maryland, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin were those named by the AP.
In most cases, the states did not know about the activity until notified Friday by the Department of Homeland Security.
Alabama Secretary of State John Merrill, in a statement Friday, said that Homeland Security and the MS-ISAC (Multi-State Information Sharing and Analysis Center) observed suspicious traffic from IP addresses on the Alabama state networks, but those IP addresses were thwarted from conducting any successful breach.
In Alabama, DHS and the MS-ISAC observed suspicious traffic from IP addresses connected to election-related activity, but not necessarily to election-related activities. According to Merrill's office, Alabama's system protections and preparations "were successful in thwarting attempted hackers from breaching state networks and voting systems during the attacks."
"While it is encouraging that our efforts to protect Alabamians' data have proven to be successful, we must remain vigilant and prepared for the constant evolving threats to our voting systems and the integrity of those processes," Merrill said. "We will utilize every resource available to ensure we are protecting the data of all Alabamians."
The disclosure to the states comes as a special counsel probes whether there was any coordination during the 2016 presidential campaign between Russia and associates of Donald Trump, who won the presidency in November. Trump calls the Russia story a hoax.
The disclosure also come days ahead of Alabama's GOP runoff election between Senator Luther Strange and former Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore.
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New Delhi: With the United Kingdom’s decision to exit the European Union (EU) expected to make it a less attractive location for Indian investors, Germany is eyeing to fill the void as its gateway to EU.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is on a four-nation tour, is scheduled to hold a summit meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel later on Tuesday. In their informal discussions on Monday, both leaders discussed the consequences of Brexit and how it would affect India and Germany, India’s Ambassador to Germany Mukta Dutta Tomar told reporters.
On 23 June 2016, the citizens of the UK made a historic decision by voting 51.9% to 48.1% for their country to leave the European Union. The UK government invoked Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty on 29 March 2017, triggering negotiations on the terms of departure with the remaining 27 EU member countries.
UK so far has remained the most important investment destination in Europe for Indian investors due to shared history and use of English language. On a country level, the UK was able to attract by far the highest number of FDI projects between 2010 and the first quarter of 2016, with a total of 265 projects. This encompasses around 45.5% of all Indian projects in Europe. While it trails considerably, Germany is the second-most-attractive European country for Indian investors, with around 96 projects or a share of about 16.5% of the whole.
Together, the UK and Germany account for almost two-thirds of all Indian FDI undertakings in Europe, highlighting the attractiveness and importance of these countries as destinations for investments.
“The implementation of Brexit will be a complex process, and its modalities remain hard to predict. Current developments indicate the likelihood of a so-called hard Brexit, which means the United Kingdom would cut off most preferential ties with the European Union, which would include the loss of preferred access to the European single market," a study named “Indian Investments in Germany: Prospects for Shared prosperity" by Bertelsmann Stiftung, a Germany based non-profit foundation said.
The report said the impact of Brexit on investment mobility and location decisions are crucial factors for companies and governments alike. “For this reason, no matter how Brexit is ultimately implemented, investors are already experiencing uncertainty regarding their future business decisions, and are already developing alternatives aimed at mitigating possible harms," it added.
As a high-tech industrial leader, Germany today numbers among India’s 10 top trading partners, with accumulated FDI by Indian companies in Germany exceeding €6 billion. Germany specifically is India’s most important EU trade partner, ranking sixth among the country’s global trade partners as a provider of goods and services.
In turn, India is Germany’s 25th most important trade partner, ranking 28th in the area of imports and 27th for exports. The total bilateral volume of trade in merchandise and services amounted to €22.1 billion in 2015, slightly down from €22.3 billion in 2011. Almost half of all Indian-led FDI projects in Germany took place in the software, machinery and equipment, or information technology services.
The study said the key drivers for Indian investment in Germany include the desires to develop new markets, improve company reputation, gain access to technology, establish proximity to customers, gain new impetus for innovation, and use Germany as a gateway to Europe.
“Perceived challenges in Germany include the high competition intensity, difficulties in the search for business partners, the high cost of international activities, the need to adapt products and product quality, and exchange-rate risks," it said.
An analysis by the study of around 80 leading subsidiaries of Indian companies operating in Germany indicates that four sectors account for 97% of India-related revenues within Germany. At 40% of the total, the metals and metal-processing industry is the strongest such sector, followed by the automotive industry (29%), the chemical and pharmaceutical industry (19%), and the professional, scientific and technical services sector (9%).
“A total of 83% of German Mittelstand (small and medium-sized) companies do not have a succession plan in place. As of 2015, more than 40% of company owners in this economic strata were 55 or older. A total of 9% of companies envisioned succession taking place within the controlling family, but 8% or around 290,000 owners expected external succession by 2018. This represents a huge potential for Indian investors," the study said.
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When 16-year-old Grant Hobson left his family's Lake Conroe home to spend the night with a friend in The Woodlands earlier this month, nothing appeared out of the ordinary. Both students were exceptional high school debaters and planned to work on preparing Grant for his coming debate at a prestigious Harvard University tournament.
But what Grant's parents didn't know was that a "texting party" also was on tap that evening. Text messages would link teens at several homes who planned to ingest synthetic LSD - known on the street as the N-Bomb - at the exact same moment. Afterward, the teens planned to text each other again to compare their psychedelic experiences.
That night, things went terribly wrong. Grant, a Montgomery High School honors student with an affable grin and a mop of dark hair who was already being courted by dozens of colleges, died after placing a chemical-soaked stamp on his tongue, family members said. His body completely shut down, and within a short time he was declared brain-dead at an area hospital.
Two weeks later, two female students were rushed to the hospital from Montgomery High after experimenting with the same synthetic drug. The incidents came five months after five young adults from south Montgomery County suffered reactions after consuming it one weekend. One Oak Ridge High School student was in a coma for nine days, and others exhibited bizarre behavior such as jumping nude into a subdivision fountain or climbing nude onto a roof in The Woodlands.
All this activity has pushed an alarm button in the county, leading to a meeting attended by hundreds of parents at Montgomery ISD and the launch of a countywide investigation into the emerging drug culture.
In the last nine days, a dozen teenagers have been arrested on various drug-related charges, from marijuana possession to tampering with evidence. They ranged from three teens age 17 or older who can be prosecuted as adults to an eighth-grader alleged to have been trying to distribute synthetic LSD - a variation of the potent, mood-changing drug - on his campus.
"There's a big storm brewing. The net is closing in on a bunch of people who've been involved in this," said Grant's father, Tyler.
He and his wife, Traci, a fifth-grade teacher, are working with law enforcement to identify the suppliers of the potentially lethal drug and to reach out to lawmakers who want to raise the state penalty for distributing these once-unregulated substances from a misdemeanor to a felony.
Started with fake pot
Synthetic LSD is one of several hundred designer drugs that have emerged in the past six years, said Lawrence Payne, a spokesman for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency. It started with fake pot - known as "K-2" or "Spice," which was packaged as everything from potpourri to watch cleaner - followed by stimulants marketed as bath salts, Payne said.
Now attention is being focused on 251-NBOMe, known as the N-Bomb. It mimics the LSD that was made popular by the psychologist and media icon Timothy Leary in the '60s and '70s, but this one is four times more potent and deadly, authorities said.
The drug is made from a white powder that is produced by rogue chemists, mostly from China, and then sold over the Internet. The buyer turns this powder into a liquid that is applied to blotter paper the size of a postage stamp and may feature pictures of cartoon characters like SpongeBob SquarePants. To the untrained eye, the odorless, tasteless stamps could appear to be children's stickers, authorities said.
"They are mixing this concoction up in somebody's garage. There are no standards or safeguards for consistent processing. So each dose could contain drastically differing dosages," said the DEA's Payne. "When we test it, we find other drugs mixed into it. Users are playing Russian roulette when they take it."
In one 17-month period ending in August 2013, the DEA linked the drug to the deaths of at least 19 young adults, ages 15 to 29. Hundreds of calls also have poured in to poison control centers across the country since the drug came on the scene around 2010.
The designer drug problem is not isolated in the Houston area to Montgomery County, authorities add.
In June 2012, 21-year-old Kevin Schoolmeyer of Friendswood was driving home after ingesting N-Bomb at a party when he suddenly started flailing his arms. He punched the passenger seated beside him and ripped his console apart and soon afterward was dead, an autopsy report said.
A 15-year-old Houston girl, whose name was not released, experimented with this same drug a month later. She, too, started thrashing her arms and legs around and was dead half an hour later.
Eulogy opens doors
This month, a regional drug task force had undercover agents focus attention on illicit synthetic substances being sold in Fort Bend County. Two men were arrested and charged this week with selling synthetic marijuana after 194 grams were seized.
Meanwhile, prosecutor Phil Grant said "thousands of hits" of synthetic LSD are flowing into Montgomery County every week.
"We are making significant progress in tracking down who is bringing it here, which appears to be coming from Houston," he said.
Jason Traver, Grant's uncle, gave an unusual eulogy at the teen's funeral in which he asked for those who knew who was bringing the drug into the community to come forward.
"This deadly drug game ends today. The drug text chats are over. Your secret lives hiding in the shadows away from your parents and educators are over," he told the gathering.
Traver asked that anyone with information tell "everything you know about this epidemic invading our backyards."
Since then, Tyler Hobson said, many who knew his son have been cooperating with authorities.
Yet Hobson and his wife are still reeling.
"You have a super-smart son, doing fantastic in school, reads 300 pages a day and wants to be a lawyer. Tons of colleges are interested in him and he's only a sophomore," his father said. "What makes him succumb to the pressure to experiment with a designer drug? It's crazy."
In a strained voice, Traci Hobson described her son as so much more than one wrong choice: "He was loving and affectionate. He'd put his arms around us, kiss us on the head, massage our shoulders."
But the couple had noticed their shy, quiet boy lately growing more private. His mother attributed it to adolescence.
"They are the best parents I've ever seen, super-involved," said Traver. "So when their son seemed a little off, they checked his phone. One day his father even forced him to do a urine drug test. But nothing showed up," as most tests don't target the deadly new drug.
Working on new laws
Now the teen's parents are focused on working with law enforcement to eliminate designer drugs from their community. They also want to work with Texas Sen. Joan Huffman, R-Houston, to pass bills that would make selling such drugs a felony in Texas, as it is on the federal level. Huffman's bills also would prevent drug manufacturers from getting around the law by making minor tweaks in their recipes for these illegal substances.
"We just want to do everything we can to save other children," Traci Hobson said.
Staff writer Jayme Fraser contributed to this report.
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Apenas cuatro días después de que El Cohete a la Luna informara que el acuerdo stand-by por el que el Fondo Monetario Internacional prestó 57.100 millones de dólares al gobierno argentino del Presidente Maurizio Macrì estaba Flojo de papeles, la sala III de la Cámara Federal de Apelaciones en los Contencioso Administrativo ordenó que el Poder Ejecutivo y el Banco Central suministraran toda la información necesaria para que los ciudadanos pudieran controlar la regularidad del procedimiento. Y que lo hicieran en los términos solicitados por los autores de un recurso de amparo y de un reclamo de acceso a la información pública.
Quienes los presentaron fueron Pedro Biscay, ex director del Banco Central, designado por Alejandro Vanoli y despedido por Federico Sturzenegger a raíz de los memorándums que le envió advirtiéndole sobre el peligro para la economía argentina de la bola de nieve de Letras que se iban acumulando a velocidad vertiginosa. A lo largo de la tramitación del amparo, el Ministerio de Hacienda reconoció que el expediente administrativo se había iniciado nueve días después de concedido el préstamo cuya necesidad debía fundamentar, en cumplimiento de las leyes de procedimiento administrativo y de administración financiera, que exigen que los actos de gobierno sean debidamente fundados por dictámenes técnicos.
El domingo 8, en el programa por streaming El Destape Web fui invitado a exponer sobre este caso, del que había escrito en la edición de ese mismo día de El Cohete. Inmediatamente antes hubo una entrevista a la mamá de un nene de 13 años, que expuso sobre la infernal burocracia del Instituto de Obra Médica Asistencial de la provincia de Buenos Aires (IOMA) para obtener un remedio oncológico. Mostró las distintas planillas que debía firmar, las varias sedes a las que le reclamaban que asistiera, y concluyó narrando que el medicamento Vincristina llegó cinco días después de la muerte del pibe, quien no pudo tomarlo en el momento que correspondía según el tratamiento prescripto por el médico. Todos en el estudio estábamos llorando cuando me tocó contrastar ese laberinto con el hyperloop de alta velocidad que recorrió la solicitud de 57.100 millones de dólares.
Esa cifra es el mayor empréstito de la Argentina en sus dos siglos de existencia; el mayor préstamo concedido por el Fondo Monetario desde su creación por los acuerdos de Bretton Woods de 1944; la mayor deuda tomada por cualquier país del mundo en el mismo lapso; y equivale al 60% de la totalidad de la cartera prestable del FMI. Es más rápido y exige menos requisitos endeudarse por el 10% del producto interno bruto de un año que conseguir la dosis de una droga oncológica que puede prolongar la vida de una criatura.
Biscay fue el único director del Banco Central que permaneció en funciones una vez que concluyó el gobierno de CFK y renunció el presidente del Banco, Alejandro Vanoli. Durante un año y medio envió diversas comunicaciones formales al presidente del directorio, como era su obligación, advirtiendo que la política en curso era insustentable. En julio de 2017 fue cesanteado por cuestionar la política de su presidente, Federico Sturzenegger (que el propio gobierno abandonaría cinco meses más tarde) y la emisión descontrolada de Letras del Banco Central (LEBACs), para esterilizar los pesos que se adquirían con los dólares prestados por los mercados voluntarios de crédito. En febrero de 2018, esos mercados cerraron sus puertas en las narices del gobierno argentino, que entonces debió recurrir al FMI. Sturzenegger fue reemplazado por Luis Caputo, El Primo Toto. Las sucesivas comunicaciones internas de Biscay pueden leerse en las ediciones anteriores de El Cohete a la Luna, e hicieron un primer amago de cumplirse en mayo de 2018. El 15 de mayo vencían letras por 30.000 millones de dólares y ante la imposibilidad de afrontar el pago y el temor a que no se renovaran, el gobierno acudió al Fondo Monetario Internacional.
Jueces y jueces
Cuando se anunció que los enviados volvían con el crédito otorgado, menos de un mes más tarde de que Macrì anunciara la apertura de negociaciones con el Fondo, Biscay, su ex compañero en el Banco también cesanteado Eduardo Codianni y el presidente del Movimiento Nacional de Empresas Recuperadas, Eduardo Manuel Murúa, trabajaron en un recurso de amparo con los abogados Augusto Martinelli, Andrés Bernal y Francisco Verbic, que se presentó en el juzgado federal en lo contencioso administrativo del juez Esteban Furnari.
Esteban Furnari es el juez que en 2009 anuló la decisión oficial de suspender la fusión de Cablevisión y Multicanal, del Grupo Clarín. En 2016 intervino Oil Combustibles, del Grupo Indalo, lo cual impidió que la empresa cuyos principales accionistas son Cristóbal López y Fabián De Sousa pudieran pagar el plan de refinanciación de deudas acordado con la DGI, lo cual la condujo a la quiebra. De Sousa denunció que ese fue el cumplimiento de una amenaza que les formuló en persona el Presidente Maurizio Macrì si no colocaban sus medios de comunicación al servicio del gobierno. Esta semana, la jueza federal María Eugenia Capuchetti, designada por Macrì, los sobreseyó en otra causa iniciada contra ellos por el diligente juez Julián Ercolini, quien les atribuía una venta simulada del Grupo Indalo. Ante el Tribunal Oral Federal 3, De Sousa está exponiendo sobre el intento del gobierno por apoderarse de sus medios (la señal de cable C5N, la Radio 10, los principales), que debían ponerse al servicio del proyecto de encarcelar a la ex Presidente CFK.
El encono de Macrì y la centralidad de este proyecto se verificaron en la suerte de los camaristas que dejaron en libertad a López y De Sousa: Jorge Ballestero fue jubilado de emergencia, Eduardo Farah trasladado a otro tribunal y Eduardo Freiler expectorado en juicio político. La sala M del tribunal, conformada por Leopoldo Bruglia y Cacho Bertuzzi, trasladados a dedo sin el trámite legal y constitucional requerido, volvió a encarcelarlos. Sobreseídos en una causa, es muy probable que sean absueltos o que sea declarada nula la otra: un peritaje de la Corte Suprema de Justicia refutó que debieran 8.000 millones de pesos, por impuestos percibidos y no ingresados, con los cuales habrían comprado nuevas empresas. Sólo habían refinanciado 2.200 millones de pesos, de los cuales al asumir Macrì ya habían pagado 1.600. Si no pudieron saldar el resto fue porque los detuvieron e intervinieron sus empresas.
El fiscal Guillermo Marijuan y la jueza María Servini investigan la denuncia de Fabián de Sousa anticipada en El Cohete.
Cuesta arriba
Ante la apelación de Biscay, Murúa y Codianni, el fiscal ante la Cámara en lo Contencioso Administrativo Federal, Rodrigo Cuesta, dictaminó que el Poder Ejecutivo, “mediante una respuesta vaga y evasiva, se ha negado a entregar […] información pública básica sobre los empréstitos contraídos con el FMI durante el año 2018”. Además destacó que tampoco se le informó respecto de la existencia de cláusulas de prórroga de jurisdicción, las características financieras de los acuerdos, de la normativa o actos que habilitaban la suscripción de la Carta de Intención, y tampoco se le proveyó copia de lo solicitado “con relación a los señalados pdf que el Ministerio de Hacienda públicó en su página web” (fs, 7/7 vta.)”. Para el fiscal, el Ministerio de Hacienda omitió entregar la información requerida en “soporte digital, como expresamente se solicitó en sede administrativa. Y tampoco acompañó esos documentos en tal soporte a este expediente judicial” (fs. 147). Agregó que “[n]o es lo mismo contar con fotocopias de los documentos en pdf impresos desde el sistema […] que con el expediente completo en formato digital. Esto último permite controlar la autenticidad, fechas de producción, inalterabilidad y otras características del documento que no pueden verificarse en una fotocopia de papel” (fs, 147 vta., énfasis del original). Al avalar esto, Furnari “violó los principios más fundamentales establecidos por nuestra Corte Suprema de Justicia y la Comisión Interamericana de Derechos Humanos” (fs 148). Para la Corte Suprema, la información solicitada de carácter público, “no pertenece al Estado sino que es del pueblo de la Nación Argentina” y que “de poco serviría el establecimiento de políticas de transparencia y garantías en materia de información pública si luego se dificulta el acceso a ella mediante la implementación de trabas de índole meramente formal”.
Después de mucho resistirse, el Ministerio de Hacienda entregó dos expedientes administrativos, de los que surge que:
El primer expediente administrativo fue iniciado por ese Ministerio el 21 de junio de 2018; esto es, una semana después de la demanda del Movimiento Nacional de Empresas Recuperadas y nueve días después de la firma de la Carta de Intención para solicitar el crédito, el 12 de junio.
de la demanda del Movimiento Nacional de Empresas Recuperadas y nueve días de la firma de la Carta de Intención para solicitar el crédito, el 12 de junio. No hay constancia de que existiera un dictamen jurídico previo a la firma de la Carta de Intención.
Tampoco consta el dictamen del Banco Central sobre cómo impactaría el crédito que se pretendía tomar en la balanza de pagos (requisito exigido por el artículo 61 de la Ley de Administración Financiera N° 24.156).
Ningún acto administrativo expone la decisión de tomar el crédito,
El Presidente Maurizio Macrì no firmó decreto alguno al respecto.
En el expediente tampoco hay Resolución alguna del Directorio del Banco Central ni del Ministerio de Hacienda.
Por último, ni siquiera hay constancia de que se haya suscripto acuerdo alguno: sólo está la Carta de Intención y sus memorandos adjuntos. Esa Carta de Intención dice que tales memorandos son “hitos que deben usarse para el diseño del acuerdo stand-by”.
El Banco Central no entregó los dictámenes del artículo 61 de la Ley de Administración Financiera N° 24.156 ni los expedientes donde deberían haberse emitido (tanto para el crédito de U$S 50.000.000.000 como para el posterior de U$S 7.100.000.000). En su lugar, se limitó a sostener que evaluó el impacto macroeconómico del crédito en conjunto con el Ministerio de Hacienda y con el propio Fondo Monetario Internacional, lo cual se aparta por completo de la legalidad vigente.
Esta información formó parte del artículo principal del Cohete el domingo pasado https://www.elcohetealaluna.com/flojo-de-papeles/. El jueves 12, la Cámara de Apelaciones aceptó todos los planteos de los amparistas y las posiciones del fiscal general y obligó al Estado a entregarles la información en la forma solicitada. Firmaron la resolución los camaristas Jorge Esteban Argento, Carlos Manuel Grecco y Sergio Gustavo Fernández, el hermano de Francisco Javier y Claudio, el trío más temido que circula entre los sótanos de la inteligencia y los pasillos de tribunales. Como juez de primera instancia primero y como camarista después, Argento ha sido claro en sus pronunciamientos respecto de los crímenes de la dictadura (condenó al ex almirante Massera a indemnizar a la diezmada familia Tarnopolsky) y los motines carapintada (rechazó amparos en contra de las sanciones que les impusieron). También investigó la formación con diputruchos de la mayoría que en 1990 votó la ampliación de la Corte Suprema de Justicia; convalidó las facultades del Congreso para regular la composición del Consejo de la Magistratura; aceptó el reclamo de la editorial Perfil por el retiro de la publicidad oficial. Junto con Grecco revocó la medida de Furnari en favor de la fusión de los cables del Grupo Clarín, y también desampararon a La Nación en su batalla contra el Estado para no pagar impuestos.
El fallo unánime
El jueves 12, por unanimidad, los camaristas volvieron a revocar una decisión de Furnari, esta vez en el amparo por el acceso a la información pública. Con cita de precedentes de la Corte Suprema de Justicia, la Cámara sostuvo que el “fundamento central del acceso a la información en poder del Estado consiste en el derecho que tiene toda persona de conocer la manera en que sus gobernantes y funcionarios públicos se desempeñan”. Agrega que la obligación de suministrarla fue predicada por la Corte Interamericana de Derechos Humanos “toda vez que la información pertenece a las personas, la información no es propiedad del Estado y el acceso a ella no se debe a una gracia o favor del gobierno. Este tiene la información solo en cuanto representante de los individuos. El Estado y las instituciones públicas están comprometidos a respetar y garantizar el acceso a la información a todas las personas”. También señaló el Alto Tribunal interamericano que “en una sociedad democrática es indispensable que las autoridades estatales se rijan por el principio de máxima divulgación, el cual establece la presunción de que toda información es accesible” y el sistema de excepciones debe ser restringido.
El artículo 1º de la ley 27.275 de Derecho de Acceso a la Información Pública sostiene que su objeto es “promover la participación ciudadana y la transparencia de la gestión pública …” y se funda en los principios de presunción de publicidad, transparencia y máxima divulgación, informalismo, máximo acceso, disociación, no discriminación, máxima apertura, gratuidad, control por el órgano competente, responsabilidad, alcance limitado de las excepciones, in dubio pro petitor (es decir, en caso de duda a favor del peticionario), facilitación y buena fe.
Por todo ello, ordenó que el Poder Ejecutivo brinde información “clara, precisa, completa y detallada” sobre los empréstitos contraídos con el FMI. El reclamo del amparo se refiere a:
Texto completo del contrato firmado o a ser firmado entre las partes, términos de referencia, todos sus anexos y cualquier documentación conexa o complementaria ambos empréstitos “credit stand-by” contraídos o a contraerse con el FMI; Condiciones establecidas en el marco de dichos empréstitos. Entre ellas, informe si se han suscripto cláusulas con prórroga de jurisdicción hacia tribunales extranjeros arbitrales, administrativos /o judiciales para resolver controversias derivadas del empréstito; Informes, dictámenes y/o cualquier otro documento donde las reparticiones públicas con competencia en la materia se hayan expedido con carácter previo a la toma de tales empréstitos, sobre el impacto y distribución presupuestaria prevista para afrontar las condiciones dispuestas por los créditos en cuestión; Detalle de las características financieras de ambos acuerdos. Entre ellas, como mínimo, las siguientes: montos acordados, modalidad y plazo de desembolso de fondos, costos financieros (tasa de interés, cargos y otras comisiones), aforos y toda otra característica financiera que pueda incidir en la carga de los compromisos a ser atendidos; Expediente/s administrativo/s donde se desarrollaron los procedimientos previos a la toma de las decisiones administrativas pertinentes para contraer el empréstito en cuestión. Al respecto, específicamente que informe números de expedientes y entrega de copia completa de su contenido (en especial, dictámenes, informes técnicos y documentos, donde conste la intervención de los organismos de asesoramiento y control nacionales, así como todo acto administrativo dictado en el contexto del mismo); Respecto del documento fechado el 12/06/2018 que el Ministerio de Hacienda ha publicado en la página web, el cual correspondería a la carta de intención dirigida por Sturzenneger y Dujovne a la señora Lagarde y su anexo Memorándum de Políticas Económicas y Financieras, correspondiente al primero de los empréstitos (simples pdfs carentes de sellos oficiales, membrete, fechas auténticas o referencia a expediente alguno), se entregue copia de los documentos originales y de todos los informes o dictámenes técnicos que se produjeron con carácter previo a definir el contenido y alcance de dichos documentos; Respecto de esa carta de intención dirigida por Sturzenneger y Dujovne a la señora Lagarde y su anexo Memorándum de Políticas Económicas Financieras correspondiente al primero de los empréstitos, informe y entregue copia de la normativa pertinente que habilitaba su suscripción por parte de dichos funcionarios, o bien del acto o actos administrativos que así lo hubiesen autorizado (v. fs. 2/3 vta.).
También dispuso que el Estado cumpla con su obligación de entregar la información “en formatos digitales abiertos, salvo casos excepcionales en que fuera de imposible cumplimiento o significara un esfuerzo estatal desmedido”. A su vez, en el decreto reglamentario Nº 206/2017, se prevé que “en caso que los sujetos obligados posean una versión electrónica de la información solicitada, deberán enviarla al particular sin costo alguno o ponerla a su disposición, comunicándole a este los datos que le permitan acceder a la misma. De no existir versión electrónica, podrán reproducir la información solicitada en copias simples, medios magnéticos, ópticos, sonoros, visuales, holográficos y otros medios”.
En lo relativo a las “cláusulas de prórroga de jurisdicción, a los actos administrativos previos y a los acuerdos aprobados por el Fondo Monetario Internacional, en caso de darse una respuesta afirmativa sobre su existencia, también se proceda a facilitar el acceso a ellas —según lo ordenado en el Considerando anterior— y a la entrega digital, en caso de hallarse en este formato”.
La negociación
La responsabilidad penal de los funcionarios que no cumplieron con los requisitos de las leyes de procedimiento administrativo y de administración financiera es insoslayable y comprendería a Macrì, Sturzenegger, Caputo, Guido Sandleris y Nicolás Dujovne. Los abogados Verbic, Bernal y Martinelli se preguntan por qué el Gobierno incumplió «los procedimientos administrativos previos que evaluaran y controlaran la sustentabilidad de la deuda. ¿Será que sabía que la deuda con el FMI no era sustentable, pero igual eligió ese camino antes que tener que admitir ante la población que en dos años de gestión se había llegado a una situación de default?»
Es improbable que la responsabilidad se extienda a los funcionarios del FMI, Christine Lagarde, David Lipton, Alex Werner y Roberto Cardarelli, que no se aventuran a tratar con los países miembro sin un completo blindaje legal, comenzando por la prórroga de jurisdicción. No obstante, es ostensible que esta ligereza negligente favorece la posición del gobierno argentino, para el momento en que Alberto Fernández deba sentarse a discutir las condiciones del probable acuerdo de facilidades extendidas que substituirá al stand-by. Este es el exacto reverso de la pretensión del Fondo de que Fernández suscriba las decisiones que llevaron al fracaso del Presidente Macrì y al contundente repudio que cosechó, en las urnas, en las calles y que comienza a manifestarse también en los tribunales. La pueblada en el corazón de la clase media porteña, con indignadas personas intentando rescatar a un vendedor callejero en Acoyte y Rivadavia, al grito: “Yuta, basura/vos sos la dictadura” es un sello indeleble en el certificado de defunción de Cambiemos.
Otra prueba de ello son la intervención parcial del Correo Argentino de Macrì, por parte de la misma jueza Marta Cirulli que lo protegió durante el interminable concurso preventivo; el dictamen que la fiscal Paloma Ochoa presentó al juez Rodolfo Canicoba Corral para que se investiguen las afirmaciones de Martín Pérez Redrado de que Macrì fomentó la corrida del 12 de agosto, como represalia contra quienes el día anterior habían votado por Les Fernández; el sobreseimiento de Cristóbal López y De Sousa; la desvinculación de Cristina de los bolsos rellenos de dólares por los que fue detenido y condenado José López; la inquietud del fiscal Diego Luciani, quien ha tomado súbita conciencia de que sólo puede acusar a Cristina por la inadmisible responsabilidad objetiva en la causa de la obra pública («…no podía ignorar», dice su endeble libelo).
Los helados vientos de la política espabilan a los adormecidos magistrados, bien dispuestos a recuperar lo que se pueda del tiempo perdido.
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Worrying signs of moves towards illiberalism
Opposition parties often complain about the unfairness of the rules of the political game. Until they win a majority. Even the Tories have sung this song. Given their attachment to FPTP – which has delivered Tory governments for 45 out of the last 75 years – they have presented self-interest in more technical (unfair boundaries) or high-flown terms. It was Lord Hailsham who popularised the phrase “elective dictatorship” to describe the ability of a government with a Commons majority to pass laws without having a wide enough support in the country (“wide enough support” left conveniently undefined). This objection, raised during a Labour government, disappeared from view as soon as the Tories won power, also with a limited range of support in the country. It was not the rules Hailsham objected to, it seems, more that the wrong chaps were able to benefit from them.
Setting the cynicism aside, what does stop governments using a Parliamentary majority to do something quite unconscionable (and, no, I don’t mean Brexit)? For instance, the removal of citizenship or other liberties normally enjoyed in a free society from certain groups? Or – a real example – the use of interrogation techniques amounting to torture to defeat an armed insurgency in the state. Does it even matter if it does, if that is what people voted for?
Rulers’ self-restraint is one of the most important – if less formal – ways by which governments control themselves. The belief that there are some limits, generally understood and shared despite political differences, beyond which you do not go because it is not the “done thing”, not the British way, not least because when you are out of power you don’t want to be on the receiving end. It is the “good chaps” theory of government. Coupled with that is a belief that even a democratic system requires checks and balances, that the system of government has a value which should be preserved and endure beyond the needs or desires of those in power at any one time.
Two unacknowledged – or maybe forgotten – reasons for self-restraint were the memories of WW2 and the examples of Communist societies. The horrors perpetrated by governments claiming to represent (and in some cases doing so) the People’s Will were a reminder of the importance of boundaries for rulers, of independent civic and other institutions able to challenge government, of what happens when civilised norms are abandoned, of the importance of realising that “might” does not make “right”, of the differences between democracy and despotism and the value of freedom and liberties under the former.
Those lived historical memories have faded. Western democracy is generally seen as having won the battle with Russian-inspired Communism. Chinese totalitarianism is not (yet) seen as a threat. Indeed, some aspects of Chinese control may be seen, in some circumstances, as necessary. There are new battles to be fought; politicians are either from a new generation or consider themselves responsible for different priorities. The distinction between democracy and despotism, the ability or willingness of even democratic governments to limit or disregard freedoms or rights in favour of some apparently more important purpose is not perhaps as well understood – or feared – as it ought to be. Even countries which only recently escaped Communist rule are willing to embrace the idea of “illiberal democracy”, an explicit challenge to the basic assumptions underpinning Western political norms since the war – that even democratically elected governments need independent institutions as a safeguard against government excesses, against a “tyranny of the majority”.
It is easy to take what we have – and have had for so long – for granted. The British conventions governing democracy and the consensus around them endure for as long as they are understood, believed and accepted. They become vulnerable, their weaknesses exposed when the reasons for them are forgotten or not valued or not understood. What if it is not “good chaps” who are elected? What if they are seen as stultifying by those impatient to effect change and willing to get rid of anything in their way? Or if checks and balances are simply described as obstruction and not seen as having any inherent value? Some do think that a government with a Parliamentary majority should be free to do whatever it wants and can get through Parliament: electoral might is right. It is certainly an attractive doctrine to those in power and those sharing that government’s aims. Whether it is wise, quite another matter.
All too easy to see such concerns as an overreaction to even the most modest proposals for change. Yes, this is a danger. No system should be immune from challenge. Some changes can be for the better, can help achieve the intended purpose of the convention or rule more easily, particularly in different circumstances.
But beware: such arguments are often presented disingenuously by those with more interest in dismantling such checks, even as they claim to want their improvement. A certain amount of scepticism about what such changes will actually achieve – not merely what is loudly trumpeted – is always necessary when those impatient for change make such claims. Political revolutionaries, let alone self-proclaimed “disruptors”, should no more be trusted than commission-hungry salesmen selling the latest complicated financial product. The small print should always be very carefully reviewed.
One paradoxical result of Britain being on the victors’ side in WW2 is not a sensitivity to how easily civilised or democratic counties can fall prey to darker forces. Rather, it is a complacent belief that it is automatically and absolutely on the right side of the democracy vs authoritarianism argument. Illiberal, authoritarian, totalitarian movements came from Them. They were not for Us. (The irony of using a Them and Us meme, so beloved of such illiberal movements, seems lost on those agitating for Freedom, especially when praising the superior British way to those with real life experience of despotic regimes.) There is a belief in an English exceptionalism (often based on a very partial and often superficial understanding of British history: our political system, culture and civic values were better than in those countries which did not resist totalitarianism. What then could Britain have to learn?
Well, one important lesson is that no country is automatically immune to illiberal forces. Countries change; it is unwise to assume they have a permanent “character” or that it is only the better angels of their nature which will rule. If Germany can change, so too can Britain. The factors which gave rise to illiberalism or worse in past times can occur again, even if they present themselves differently.
If such factors exist, if similar political tactics are used as before, this does not automatically mean that tyranny and despotism are about to be unleashed on a country. But it does mean that there are warning signals that all may not be well. We should pay more attention to such signals than we do.
CycleFree
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No, the title of this article isn’t a reference to some Freudian concept. After all, Freud also said that “sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.” Instead, I want to explore the way ring gauge size (in other words, a cigar’s thickness) impacts a cigar’s flavors.
The size of a cigar affects many things for sure, and not just the time it takes a cigar to burn. There are two main reasons why, as a general rule of thumb, smaller sized cigars (of the same blend) are more flavorful than their larger counterparts, even though many people seem to believe that a larger cigar will produce more and stronger flavors.
Wrapper/Filler Ratio
The most obvious difference between a smaller ring gauge cigar and a larger one is the amount of filler. Even though the smaller cigar will also use slightly less wrapper, as a little math shows, when the cigar gets fatter, the amount of filler gets (literally) exponentially larger.
Take a 60 ring gauge cigar versus a 40 ring gauge smoke. Using some basic middle school geometry, you can see that while about 50% more wrapper is required to go around the 60 ring gauge cigar, it will also use roughly 125% more filler. (I’ve posted the full table of wrapper and filler for common ring gauges in the comments of this article.)
Because wrapper tobacco is generally the most flavorful (and always the most expensive) component, the smaller cigar will impart more wrapper flavor.
Higher Burn Temperature
The second, possibly more important, and certainly more often overlooked reason that smaller ring gauge cigars are fuller flavored is that they tend to burn hotter and more quickly. If you think about a cigar as a straw through which air is pulled, this makes plenty of sense.
Cigar smokers generally take similarly sized draws no matter the thickness of the cigar. This means that air is drawn through the foot of a smaller cigar at a faster rate than through a larger cigar, creating more air flow, more oxygen, and a higher combustion temperature.
Drew Estate President, and encyclopedia of cigar knowledge, Steve Saka estimates the difference in temperature can be 10 degrees or possibly more between a smaller (40 or 42 ring gauge) cigar and a larger one. That’s a significant difference that effects the flavor and creates a stronger and fuller smoke.
–Patrick S
photo credit: Stogie Guys
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Check out our new site Makeup Addiction
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"Hey bro, can I borrow your gun?" Pistol whips you and runs away
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Update: On 24 February, the US Senate confirmed Califf as the next FDA commissioner.
After a five-month delay, the US Senate is finally poised to vote on the nominee to head the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA): cardiologist and clinical-trials expert Robert Califf.
On 22 February, lawmakers voted to limit debate on Califf’s nomination. That procedural tactic sets the stage for a final vote this week that would determine whether he will lead the FDA.
President Barack Obama nominated Califf last September, but a handful of lawmakers has delayed consideration of the nomination over concerns about the FDA’s approval last November of genetically engineered salmon for use as food and the agency’s policies on opioid painkillers.
Another lawmaker, Senator Bernie Sanders — a Democrat from Vermont who is running for president — has objected to Califf himself. Sanders finds fault with Califf's many connections to the pharmaceutical industry, which he forged over years of heading a major clinical-trials centre at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, before joining the FDA last January.
In an article this month in the New England Journal of Medicine, Califf listed more than a dozen pharmaceutical companies in his conflict-of-interest disclosure[1]. No previous FDA commissioner has been so closely tied to the pharmaceutical industry, says Michael Carome, director of the health-research group at Public Citizen, a consumer activist group in Washington DC. “It would be dangerously naive to think he has not developed deeply ingrained attitudes that tilt in favour of the medical-device and drug industries,” says Carome.
But Califf’s supporters say that he has maintained his independence. “I’ve never experienced a situation where I thought he was not reporting the results of the studies in a fair, open and honest way,” says cardiologist Steven Nissen at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio, who has been critical of the influence that the pharmaceutical industry wields over the FDA.
Smooth sailing?
After today’s procedural vote, the Senate is expected to confirm Califf in a matter of days.
Daniel Carpenter, a social scientist at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, says that Califf's nomination will probably not be the last to spark debate over potential industry influence in government.
“The fact that [Califf] was officially at Duke but had all of these ties with industry shows how intertwined the biomedical complex has become with universities,” Carpenter says. “Future appointments from universities to the FDA and other agencies are increasingly going to be appointments from people who have these conflicts of interest.”
In 2013 and 2014, Califf received roughly US$52,000 from industry partners, primarily for travel and consulting, according to the government’s Open Payments database. About 55% of all full professors at US medical centres have received money from industry, often as payment for consulting, notes Eric Campbell, a sociologist at Harvard Medical School in Cambridge.
“Close relationships in academia and industry are essential to moving science forward,” Campbell says. “But the question is: is that same level of closeness necessary and appropriate regarding a government regulatory agency and the industry it is trying to regulate?” The key, he says, will be how the FDA manages Califf's potential conflicts.
Nissen points to one incident that gives him confidence in Califf's independence. In 2008, Nissen told an FDA advisory committee that the agency should require diabetes drugs to be tested for their effects on cardiovascular health, in addition to their ability to lower blood sugar. It was a controversial opinion, and some experts — particularly in industry — said that it would discourage the development of new diabetes drugs by making the required clinical trials prohibitively expensive.
Nissen thought that he had little chance of convincing the FDA panel of his argument. But after Nissen’s talk, Califf gave his own presentation in which he voiced support for Nissen’s proposal. Later that summer, the FDA announced that it would require the extra trials for full approval of the drugs. “I could never have gotten that initiative done if there weren’t some people like Califf who would stand up and say, ‘I agree’,” says Nissen. “I’m sure he took some heat from industry.”
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TASTER'S CHOICE -- The Surprising Truth About San Francisco Sourdough
Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close TASTER'S CHOICE -- The Surprising Truth About San Francisco Sourdough 1 / 1 Back to Gallery
Sourdough bread is an indisputable San Francisco classic. It goes back to Gold Rush days, when using a sour starter was just about the only way the Forty Niners could assure themselves a reliable supply of fresh leavened bread.
But sourdough is much older than that -- its history dates from ancient times. Much later, legend has it that Columbus brought some starter on his voyages to the Americas.
Sourdough can be made anywhere, but San Francisco sourdough is popularly regarded as the best. The indigenous yeasts in the air, the temperature, the humidity, perhaps even the water all contribute to its unique flavor. The taste panel set out to discover the best of the best, rating sourdough baguettes available in Bay Area supermarkets. The panel did not consider the sourdough loaves baked by large-scale commercial bakeries such as Parisian and Columbo, but instead focused on baguettes from newer companies, often baker-owned. The aim was to see what a new generation is doing with a venerable classic.
Results of the tasting were startling -- so startling, in fact, that the tasting was repeated several days later. Although the breads, like all Taster's Choice products, were tasted blind, when the manufacturers were revealed afterwards panelists were astounded that Semifreddi's bread had scored so low. They feared the breads might have been mixed up in the supermarket bins or when they were bagged. But at the repeat tasting, although the scores varied slightly, the products still finished in the same order. Today's ratings are from the second tasting.
The surprising results: A sourdough baguette from Los Angeles topped the chart. La Brea Bakery (10 ounces, $1.89 at Whole Foods in San Francisco) placed first, and in fact scored the most points of any product tasted this year (Double Rainbow Mint Chocolate Chip ice cream was the previous record-holder, with 90 points).
The company, founded in 1989 by owner-baker Nancy Silverton, uses a sourdough starter derived from its original one, which incorporated yeasts and flavors from Concord grapes.
The La Brea breads headed for the Bay Area (and several Western states) are "par-baked" 80 to 85 percent through, then flash-frozen. They are sold only in markets that have in-store bakeries where the breads can finish baking and then be sold immediately. (La Brea fully bakes the breads it delivers to stores in the Los Angeles area.)
Because of this requirement, La Brea breads are currently available only at Whole Foods in San Francisco, Cupertino and San Rafael, and are slated soon for Palo Alto. But according to sales and marketing manager Matthias Pippig, wider distribution is in the works. Tasters commented that the La Brea loaf was more rustic in appearance than a traditional baguette, yet all were enthusiastic about its looks, flavor and texture. "I can taste the wheat, not just sourness, and it's the only crust that stayed crisp -- the others toughen," said one panelist. "A great wheaty flavor with dense, chewy interior," said another. Still a third praised it's "hand-shaped quality, which I really like."
The overall consensus: a great bread, with five strong "buy" votes.
In second place: Acme Bread Co. (eight ounces, $1.30 at Rainbow Grocery; available at independent and small chain grocers throughout the Bay Area). Baker- owner Steve Sullivan founded Acme at the corner of Cedar Street and San Pablo Avenue in Berkeley in 1983. Acme now bakes from two locations in Berkeley and one in Mountain View.
Panelists also called this a "great bread," praising it for its "not too sour" balanced flavor and overall chewy texture. One taster disagreed, calling it "airy inside." Still, all five panelists would buy this bread. Artisan Bakers (10 ounces, $1.99 at Whole Foods in San Francisco; available at independent markets in San Francisco and Marin, and at Lucky's in Marin and the North Bay) placed third. Head baker Craig Ponsford and other members of his family opened the bakery in Sonoma in 1992. Panelists liked the "handsome" appearance of the crackly crust, and its moist, chewy interior. Most detected an assertive sour quality in the baguette, although one noted the sourness was more in the aroma than the flavor. Four would buy this bread, and one might.
Scores for the remaining baguettes dropped off dramatically. The best of the rest, in fourth place, was Bakers of Paris (eight ounces, $1.25 at Rainbow Grocery; available at many markets).
Panelists disagreed about the taste and texture of this bread. Most enjoyed its strong sour taste, although one found any sourness to be "faint." Adjectives for texture ranged from fluffy and soft to chewy and tough, but panelists all noted a "machine-made" appearance. The "buy" votes indicate the split: One would buy it, two might and two would not.
Grace Baking Stormy Baguette (eight ounces, $1.49 at Rainbow Grocery; available at many markets) placed fifth. Panelists were disappointed with the unexpected softness and the overly fine crumb of this good-looking loaf. "Not too sour; soft and fluffy -- a harmless bread," one said. Two might buy it; three would not. Semifreddi's (eight ounces, $1.25 at Rainbow Grocery; available at many markets) came in sixth. Its flavor bothered many panelists -- comments ranged from "not very sour" to "floury" to "a baking powder . . . almost chemical taste." Its texture did not rate high marks, either, although one panelist enjoyed its crisp crust. The bread held little appeal: One might buy it but four would not.
Metropolis Baking Co. Italian Durum (eight ounces, $1.75 at Rainbow Grocery; available at many markets) placed seventh. Tasters found the sour aroma did not translate into much of a sour flavor, and objected to its overall lack of character. None would buy it.
Still, the overall high scores for sourdough baguettes indicate that what's available in Northern California markets is very good -- even though the favorite version of a renowned San Francisco classic did come from Los Angeles.
SOURDOUGH BAGUETTES Bakers/ TASTERS La Brea Acme Artisan Paris Grace Semifreddi Metropolis Carroll 20 17 16 11 7 5 4 Katzl 16 17 18 8 8 8 8 Passot 19 16 15 14 12 3 2 Rodgers 20 16 13 2 5 7 2 Webber 20 18 16 12 6 4 2 TOTALS 95 84 78 47 38 27 18 Panelists were John P. Carroll, cookbook author; Donna Katzl, chef-owner, Cafe for All Seasons, San Francisco; Roland Passot, chef-owner, La Folie, San Francisco, and Left Bank, Larkspur; Judy Rodgers, chef-owner, Zuni Cafe, San Francisco; and Kirk Webber, chef-owner, Cafe Kati, San Francisco. A perfect score for any product would be 100.
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NEW YORK (Reuters) - Uber Technologies Inc priced its initial public offering on Thursday at the low end of its targeted range for a valuation of $82.4 billion, hoping its conservative approach will spare it the trading plunge suffered by rival Lyft Inc.
It is an underwhelming result for the most anticipated IPO since Facebook Inc’s market debut seven years ago. Uber raised $8.1 billion, pricing its IPO at $45 per share, close to the bottom of the targeted $44-$50 range.
However, the IPO still represents a watershed moment for Uber, which has grown into the world’s largest ride-hailing company since its start 10 years ago.
The year’s biggest IPO comes against a backdrop of turbulent financial markets, fueled by the trade dispute between the United States and China, as well as the plunging share price of Lyft, which is down 23 percent from its IPO price in late March.
Uber’s valuation in the IPO is almost a third less than its investment bankers predicted last year but still above its most recent valuation of $76 billion in the private fundraising market.
The IPO was oversubscribed, but Uber settled for a lower price to avoid a repeat of Lyft’s IPO in late March, which priced strongly then plunged in trade. Uber also wanted to accommodate big mutual funds, which unlike hedge funds put in orders for a lower price.
Like Lyft, Uber will face questions going forward over how and when it expects to become profitable after losing $3 billion from operations in 2018.
“Ultimately, the success of Lyft’s and Uber IPO’s offerings will be judged based on post-IPO performance and how these companies can sustain their growth, while moving toward profitability and lowering their cash burn,” said Alex Castelli, managing partner at advisory firm CohnReznick.
Despite Uber moderating its IPO expectations, some still consider the stock overpriced.
“Uber is basically Lyft 2.0. Good model, growing sales. But, yet again, here comes California math once more. It is still losing a ton of money,” said Brian Hamilton, a tech entrepreneur and founder of data firm Sageworks. “If you buy, you are buying a bull market, not a company,” he added.
In meetings with potential investors the past two weeks, Uber’s chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi argued that Uber’s future was not as a ride-hailing company, but as a wide technology platform shaping logistics and transportation.
The IPO pricing was a balancing act for Uber’s team of underwriting banks, led by Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs & Co and Bank of America Merrill Lynch, to negotiate a good price while leaving some upside to ensure the stock trades up on its market debut.
Uber is due to begin trading on the New York Stock Exchange on Friday under the symbol “UBER.”
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The USMNT won't be playing in the World Cup after falling to Trinidad & Tobago in World Cup qualifying.
The nightmare scenario has played out for the U.S. men's national team.
A roller coaster of a qualifying campaign ended in shambles, with a stunning 2-1 loss to Trinidad & Tobago, coupled with wins by Panama and Honduras over Costa Rica and Mexico, respectively, has eliminated the USA from the World Cup. The Americans will not be playing in Russia next summer.
Trinidad and Tobago, which hadn't won in its last nine matches (0-8-1), exacted revenge for the 1989 elimination at the hands of the United States, doing so in stunning fashion. An own goal from Omar Gonzalez and a rocket from Alvin Jones provided the offense, while Christian Pulisic's second-half goal wasn't enough to save the Americans.
Trinidad & Tobago conceded much of the early possession to the USA but still carved out an early chance, only for it to be spoiled by an offside call. Shahdon Winchester snuck behind the U.S. back line too soon and beat Tim Howard, but the goal was waved off in the fifth minute.
The USA answered immediately with a great chance of its own. Paul Arriola found DeAndre Yedlin on the right wing, and he carried forward before cutting back a cross for Jozy Altidore in the center of the box. The two-goal hero from Friday had a clear look but fired over the bar, letting T&T off in the seventh minute.
Trinidad & Tobago came up with a stunning opener in the 17th minute after a Gonzalez own goal. In trying to clear a cross to Winchester, Gonzalez had the ball loop off his shin and over Howard, sneaking in just under the crossbar. Moments after the goal, Gonzalez was nearly at fault for a penalty, though nothing was called. The T&T goal also came moments after Oribe Peralta scored for Mexico vs. Honduras, which was helpful at the time.
Honduras pulled even with Mexico on a free kick soon after, though, shrinking the margin for error.
Things then somehow got worse for the USA, with Alvin Jones scoring his first international goal in stunning fashion, ripping a rocket that left Howard with no chance.
All that did was make the USA more reliant on Mexico and Costa Rica, and the two rivals obliged. Johan Venegas scored a go-ahead goal for Costa Rica vs. Panama, while Carlos Vela restored Mexico's lead over Honduras.
The USA started the second half on fire through 19-year-old Christian Pulisic. His laser from the edge of the box sliced the deficit in half, bringing the USA within 2-1.
That goal proved to be vital given what happened elsewhere in CONCACAF. Honduras and Panama both scored equalizers, making things quite interesting. Panama's in particular, was controversial, as it never appeared to cross the line in full but was given to Blas Perez.
At that point, one more goal from each would eliminate the USA altogether, but in the live standings, the USA was still in position to go through–temporarily.
That reprieve was short-lived. Honduras tallied again, provisionally bumping the USA down to fourth place.
Clint Dempsey came off the bench again for the USA and nearly delivered the equalizer that would have saved the USA on a pair of occasions. First was off a set piece designed play, with his chance from the top of the box tipped over the bar. In the 78th minute, his 18-yard, bounding effort clanged off the post, missing by inches.
The USA would be made to rue those close calls. Panama's Roman Torres scored a late stunner vs. Costa Rica to send the USA to fifth and out of the World Cup altogether.
It's the first World Cup the USA has missed since 1986.
Here are the rosters for both teams:
USA
GOALKEEPERS: Brad Guzan (Atlanta United FC), Tim Howard (Colorado Rapids), Nick Rimando (Real Salt Lake)
DEFENDERS: DaMarcus Beasley (Houston Dynamo), Matt Besler (Sporting Kansas City), Geoff Cameron (Stoke City), Omar Gonzalez (Pachuca), Michael Orozco (Club Tijuana), Tim Ream (Fulham), Jorge Villafaña (Santos Laguna), DeAndre Yedlin (Newcastle United), Graham Zusi (Sporting Kansas City)
MIDFIELDERS: Kellyn Acosta (FC Dallas),Juan Agudelo (New England Revolution), Paul Arriola (D.C. United), Alejandro Bedoya (Philadelphia Union), Michael Bradley (Toronto FC), Benny Feilhaber (Sporting Kansas City), Dax McCarty (Chicago Fire), Darlington Nagbe (Portland Timbers), Christian Pulisic (Borussia Dortmund)
FORWARDS: Jozy Altidore (Toronto FC), Clint Dempsey (Seattle Sounders FC), Chris Wondolowski (San Jose Earthquakes), Bobby Wood (Hamburg)
TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO
GOALKEEPERS: Adrian Foncette (Police FC), Greg Ranjitsingh (Louisville City FC), Glenroy Samuel (Morvant Caledonia United)
DEFENDERS: Daneil Cyrus (Juticalpa), Kevan George (Jacksonville Armada), Curtis Gonzales (Defence Force), Triston Hodge (W Connection), Kareem Moses (North Carolina FC), Josiah Trimmingham (Club Sando), Kevon Villaroel (North East Stars), Mekeil Williams (Colorado Rapids)
MIDFIELDERS: Neil Benjamin Jr. (W Connection), Levi Garcia (AZ Alkmaar), Khaleem Hyland (Al-Faisaly Harmah), Joevin Jones (Seattle Sounders), Jared London (Club Sando), Nathan Lewis (San Juan Jabloteh), Leston Paul (Pasaquina FC), Kathon St. Hillaire (St. Ann's Rangers)
FORWARDS: Trevin Caesar (Sacramento Republic), Akeem Roach (Vida), Shahdon Winchester (Murcielagos)
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The message from Wall Street is clear: The American economy is not in the kind of trouble that investors feared earlier this year.
Stocks are at all-time highs and climbing. Yields on long-term government bonds, which reflect expectations for growth and inflation, are also rising. Corporate bond spreads show that investors are more confident in the prospects for businesses.
Then there’s the yield curve, an indicator from the bond market that just a few months ago set off alarms about the risk of a recession. It has gone back to normal, and that signal has been met with relief in the markets.
But as far as the economy is concerned, it might not matter. Once the yield curve has predicted a recession, one usually follows even if that signal changes la ter.
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If the United States pursues a more militaristic agenda towards North Korea under Trump, then China has largely itself to blame. After years of China turning a blind eye to sanctions violators and keeping the dangerous North Korean regime alive and its leaders well fed, now a new American administration is saying enough with the current policy of “strategic patience.”
Whether Secretary of State Rex Tillerson’s comments during his visit to Seoul and first trip to Asia really reflects a change in strategy remains to be seen. “Let me be very clear: the policy of strategic patience has ended,” he said, leaving military options on the table. Trump has been notoriously hard to pin down on almost everything, especially foreign policy. During the campaign he often said that South Korea wasn’t paying the United States enough for its defense, but now it appears he has dropped any attempts to renegotiate those defense parameters, at least in light of North Korea’s increasing provocations.
Still, a policy focused on applying fines and blacklistings to Chinese companies named in violation of sanctions and refusing to talk with North Korea wouldn’t be a huge departure from the Obama administration’s second-term policy. The Treasury Department increasingly used its authority to blacklist companies like Dandong Hongxiang Industrial Development in 2016 and placed sanctions on more than a dozen North Korean officials for human-rights violations. Former Secretary of State John Kerry even warned of increasing use of such sanctions in a November meeting with Chinese State Councilor Yang Jiechi. Tillerson was just following the existing policy direction created by the previous administration when he reportedly planned to say the same thing to the Chinese in his March meeting.
But if the Trump administration does up the ante, it will be because proposals to engage in toothless talks with North Korea—like that made this week by Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi—have utterly failed, and China hasn’t done its part to try to reign in its rogue frenemy. China’s call for the United States and North Korea to “apply the brakes” is too little, too late. Juxtaposed against its vitriolic response to the South Korean deployment of Terminal High Area Altitude Defense, China’s impassive response to multiple North Korean nuclear tests, always predicated on the same “firm opposition” talking point, which makes it look like China hasn’t been taking the threat of a nuclear North seriously.
While calling THAAD a “destabilizing factor” and placing harsh informal sanctions on Korea’s tourism and entertainment industries, China equivocated North Korean nuclear activity with South Korean-U.S. military drills.
“China’s suggestion is, as a first step, for North Korea to suspend nuclear activity, and for the U.S. and South Korea to also suspend large-scale military drills,” Wang said.
Two things should be crystal clear by now: First, the increasing threat level on the Korean peninsula and the South Korean and U.S. response is entirely due to North Korean provocations. And second, China bears much of the blame for letting North Korea get to this point. Far from destabilizing Northeast Asia, a policy of ending “strategic patience” would be a justified and entirely predictable response to the North and its ally destabilizing the region.
Through multiple presidential administrations in South Korea and the United States of both liberal and conservative compositions, both countries have been patient. They have tried talking. They have tried providing aid. South Korea has tried operating industrialization zones with the North. They have tried providing sunshine. North Korea has responded every time with more threats, more nuclear tests, more murders, kidnappings and shellings.
All the while, China continued to be its only trading partner of note and provided safe haven for businesses like Dandong, which had done over $500 million of trade with Kim Jong-un’s regime, and turning a blind eye to cross-border black marketeers.
Now China says it is going to stop purchasing North Korean coal. You would hope they would when the import of North Korean coal has already been banned by UN sanctions, and China agreed to comply with those sanctions. Yet in December 2016, China imported two million tons of coal from North Korea—twice the allowed limit—at a price that was three times the limit, according to analysis by NK News Data and Analytic Director Leo Byrne. In fact, China had previously announced it would stop importing North Korean coal in April 2016, only to import 2.5 million tons in August. So Chinese credibility on North Korea leaves something to be desired.
Additionally, the perception of the need for THAAD is not limited to South Korea. Japan is considering purchasing THAAD, too, according to reports from late 2016.
North Korea has seen time and time again that it can extract concessions through threats. The six-party talks were prompted by the North having pulled out of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty—a treaty it hasn’t upheld anyway. Now China is calling for more talks after North Korea launched half a dozen missiles and assassinated the brother of its dictator with a chemical weapon of mass destruction. To indulge North Korea and China would be to once again reward bad behavior.
There is little time left to continue playing this game. Thae Yong Ho, who defected from his position as North Korean ambassador to the United Kingdom in 2016, says that his former employer is within three to five years of being able to strike the United States, and independent analysts agree. North Korea’s foreign ministry warns that an ICBM test is not far off, and analysts like Melissa Hanham of the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies and Scott Lafoy of NK News confirm that North Korea has—or is near reaching the capability—to do so. North Korea’s progress made huge strides in 2016.
Continuing down the same path would effectively let North Korea achieve its goal. While the options on the table are limited and will not be easy, there are few other good choices. Donald Trump’s presence in the Oval Office doesn’t inspire confidence, but America and South Korea can’t just sit idly by for four years because of who is president. If China wants to avoid instability, then China must take an active role and take responsibility. It is time to end the false narrative that the West’s actions have caused the Korean peninsula to become destabilized and put the blame squarely where it belongs.
As long as North Korea is an out-of-control threat, South Korea will need to take tough actions. China is reaping what it sowed from years of complacency.
Mitchell Blatt is a journalist based in Seoul, South Korea. He has been published at the Washington Examiner, the Daily Caller, the Hill and the Federalist, among other outlets. He tweets at @MitchBlatt.
Image: Monument at Pyongyang Film Studios. Flickr/Creative Commons/Roman Harak
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Let’s be clear about something, all politicians stretch the truth, but Donald Trump breaks it into a million different pieces and then scatters those pieces to the winds. A lot of those lies center around his businesses. Trump claims he is a great businessman, but he really isn’t and Newsweek’s Kurt Eichenwald, who has spent an extensive amount of time covering Trump, can prove it. On Eichenwald’s Twitter feed, you’ll find a list of everything he has uncovered over the course of his investigation into Trump’s past, but this article will focus solely on Trump’s business ventures.
Let’s start at the beginning of Trump’s career. The GOP nominee claims his father gave him a “small loan” which he turned into a multi-billionaire dollar real-estate empire. But that simply isn’t true. For starters, Trump’s father loaned him more than $10 million dollars and his early business ventures were all failures.
‘Trump’s first project, given to him by his dad, lost money, according to state records. Trump has publicly lied that it made money.’
6. Trump’s first project, given to him by his dad, lost money, according to state records. Trump has publicly lied that it made money. — Kurt Eichenwald (@kurteichenwald) November 7, 2016
Trump’s second project was a Broadway show. It bombed, closing after 96 performances. He lost his investment.
7. Trump’s second project was a Broadway show. It bombed, closing after 96 performances. He lost his investment. — Kurt Eichenwald (@kurteichenwald) November 7, 2016
‘Trump’s claim that his dad gave him only $1 m is a lie. his trust fund was $1 mill. Dad gave $10.4 m for a bogus consultant job… guaranteed $70 m loan, got him $35m credit line, laundered $3.35m 2 Don in illegal casino deal, loaned $7.5m more (never repaid.)’
8. Trump’s claim that his dad gave him only $1m is a lie. His trust fund was $1 mill. Dad gave $10.4m for a bogus consultant job…(1 of 2) — Kurt Eichenwald (@kurteichenwald) November 7, 2016
..guaranteed $70 m loan, got him $35m credit line, laundered $3.35mill 2 Don in illegal casino deal, loaned $7.5m more (never repaid.) 2/2 — Kurt Eichenwald (@kurteichenwald) November 7, 2016
It can be hard to get started. Maybe Trump just needed time to find his business sense. Unfortunately for his investors, Trump still hasn’t found it, as numerous Trump businesses have gone under.
‘List of Trump failures: TrumpMortgage, TrumpFinancial, Trump Hotels & Casino Resorts, Trump Shuttle, http://GoTrump.com … Trump Vodka, Trump Steaks, Trump Taj, Trump Castle, Trump Plaza, Trump Dubai, Trump University, Trump Toronto, Trump Hollywood… I could go on many more tweets listing Trump’s business failures. It’d be easier to list the Trump businesses that haven’t failed.’
23. List of Trump failures: TrumpMortgage, TrumpFinancial, Trump Hotels & Casino Resorts, Trump Shuttle, https://t.co/YpGFDcXmYx…(1/3) — Kurt Eichenwald (@kurteichenwald) November 7, 2016
24. ..Trump Vodka, Trump Steaks, Trump Taj, Trump Castle, Trump Plaza, Trump Dubai, Trump University, Trump Toronto, Trump Hollywood..(2/3) — Kurt Eichenwald (@kurteichenwald) November 7, 2016
25. I could go on many more tweets listing Trump's business failures. It'd be easier to list the Trump businesses that haven't failed. (3/3) — Kurt Eichenwald (@kurteichenwald) November 7, 2016
Then again, maybe we shouldn’t be too surprised to learn that Trump isn’t a very good businessman. Most, though certainly not all, successful CEOs eventually earn their MBA, but Trump, despite what he claims, never has. He frequently talks about his degree from Wharton, but Trump never attended Wharton. He does have a BA in economics, but he did not earn that at Wharton.
‘While Trump suggests he has an MBA from prestigious Wharton graduate school, only attended undergraduate program for 2 years. Has no MBA’
5. While Trump suggests he has an MBA from prestigious Wharton graduate school, only attended undergraduate program for 2 years. Has no MBA — Kurt Eichenwald (@kurteichenwald) November 7, 2016
Not only are Trump’s business practices largely unsuccessful, they also fly in the face of his “America First” message:
‘Trump calls for return to American steel. Yet he secretly used Chinese steel on his last 2 developments projects 2 increase his profits’
66. Trump calls for return to American steel. Yet he secretly used Chinese steel on his last 2 developments projects 2 increase his profits — Kurt Eichenwald (@kurteichenwald) November 7, 2016
‘Trump has said he has been forced to use China to manufacture his clothing line because no one makes such things in USA. That’s a lie.’
70. Trump has said he has been forced to use China to manufacture his clothing line because no one makes such things in USA. That’s a lie. — Kurt Eichenwald (@kurteichenwald) November 7, 2016
In some cases, Trump’s business practices are even illegal. He bought building materials from companies with ties to organized crime and even violated the Cuban embargo:
‘Trump opted out of using steel on many buildings, instead purchasing concrete from businesses controlled by Genovese crime family.’
67. Trump opted out of using steel on many buildings, instead purchasing concrete from businesses controlled by Genovese crime family. — Kurt Eichenwald (@kurteichenwald) November 7, 2016
‘In 1999, Trump’s company secretly violated Cuban embargo. Months later, in 1st run for president, Trump said he never would.’ ‘Trump officials were advised to hide the payments spent in violation of Cuban embargo as being related to charity work.’
63. 1.In 1999, Trump’s company secretly violated Cuban embargo. Months later, in 1st run for president, Trump said he never would. — Kurt Eichenwald (@kurteichenwald) November 7, 2016
64. Trump officials were advised to hide the payments spent in violation of Cuban embargo as being related to charity work. — Kurt Eichenwald (@kurteichenwald) November 7, 2016
In summary, not only is Trump a terrible businessman, he might also be a criminal. It leads us to wonder if his vaunted businesses success is a lie, then what does Trump bring to the White House aside from an inflated sense of self-importance?
Featured image via Getty Images.
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Today’s dispatch was contributed by Webster Wade, who you can find on Twitter and Wattpad.
Watching the Olympics this week, I have many thoughts related to upcoming posthuman achievements. In more than one extended talk by a geneticist, doctor, biomedicine specialist, or similarly qualified professional, I’ve heard the idea that it is entirely possible and “easy” to make a superhuman. The only hurdle is the ethical quandaries — of why, of doing it on a first batch of humans, of how to push for egalitarianism in a wildly unequal world, and more.
In Olympic-level sports, there is this crazy insistence that the athletes not take any substances that would enhance their performance. And yet an athlete like Michael Phelps is remarkable because of his abnormal physique. He has hypocritically spoken out fervently against allowing drug-supported athletes to compete.
There is a significant amount of targeted sexism, seeking to single out female athletes with heightened testosterone and related intersex conditions. As far as I know, this standard is not applied to male athletes. They are only screened for very high doping levels, not “naturally high” levels.
It seems weird to me that the “fun” of the Olympics is observing people leverage their unusual bodies to do great feats, but we are picky about what unusual traits are permitted. The ability for a body to respond well under a super-stacked doping regime is arguably just as impressive as harnessing any other natural talent.
In bodybuilding, competition is divided between “natural” and “anything goes”.
Based on current ideals, in a near future where you can design the ideal gymnast body, the uber-Phelps clone, the perfect runner who will quash all prior records, such meddling will no doubt be disallowed. It will be dismissed as “unnatural”, “unsportsmanlike”, and “anti-competitive” for a few decades — until it becomes so typical and otherwise inserted into sports that it will be considered okay.
Even though the athletes that break records today are able to do so because they have innate advantages, advantages we condone because they are gifted by chance.
More of Webster Wade’s work is available on Twitter and Wattpad.
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92 year old teaches grandson to cut down a tree (Video)
This video shows an old man cutting some wedges of wood, after this he is shown cutting a tree with a chainsaw. He skilfully cuts through the tree, after which his grandson uses those previous cut wedges into one of the sides to cut it down. I really enjoyed this video, at 92 years of age he ...
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When I first saw this video I thought it was some kind of CGI or stop motion animation, but actually it’s one of nature’s most amazing creations. It’s a time lapse of one of the most under appreciated forms of life on Earth, the fantastic fungi. Paul Stamets spent his live explori...
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A DIY Guide to Making Your Own Bucket Washing Machine (video)
Here is a complete picture tutorial on how to build a washer machine out of two buckets. Made from a 6" washer machine pulsating base and 6" pulsator. Also needed: 12 V DC Motor 4" Pulley Sewing Machine Belt 12" Long Iron Strips 2 20L Buckets 1" Nut Bolts 1 HB Automatic On/Off Timer ...
A First In The US ~ Bees On The Endangered Species List!
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A fully transparent solar cell that could make every window and screen a power source
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A fun home gym you can take anywhere
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Would you do this? Would you commit to this life and leave everything behind? Follow this family in their journey, the link at the bottom of this page. Summer 2015. The North Alaskan Wilderness. Isolated from civilization. No electric. No cell phone. No plumbing. For years we have been saying j...
A Rich Man Took His Son To See What It Was Like To Be Poor, And This Is What Happened
~ A Prize Possession..... One day a very wealthy father took his son on a trip to the country for the sole purpose of showing his son how it was to be poor. They spent a few days and nights on the farm of what would be considered a very poor family. After their return from the trip, the fathe...
A Simpler Way: Crisis as Opportunity (2016) - Full Documentary
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Bitcoin’s price peaked above $9,000 for the first time in over a year earlier today, but the rally was short lived as its price returned below $8,600 just minutes later.
At 16:00 UTC, the world’s largest cryptocurrency jumped 4.6 percent from today’s UTC opening price of $8,681 and climbed as high as $9,084 – its highest price since May 10, 2018, according to CoinDesk pricing data.
However, sellers quickly halted the rally, causing the price of bitcoin to drop more than $500 to $8,548 in just 30 minutes after reaching today’s high.
In all, Messari data reveals $26.3 billion in reported bitcoin volume has traded hands so far today.
The broader cryptocurrency market also felt the pull of gravity shortly after climbing to a 10-month high of $285.8 billion in total capitalization.
Highly ranked cryptocurrencies such as tron (TRX), litecoin (LTC), and EOS (EOS) are all reporting losses greater than 3 percent after initially being a few percent in the green before the market wide dip.
That said, some cryptocurrencies are still reporting 24-hour growth. The prices for dogecoin (DOGE) and Bitcoin SV (BSV) – both top 20 cryptocurrencies by market cap – are still up more than 5 percent on the day.
What’s more, today’s pullback has hardly put a dent in an impressive performance from crypto bulls this month, with bitcoin still reporting month-to-date gains of roughly 63 percent at the time of writing.
Disclosure: The author holds several cryptocurrencies. Please see his author bio for more information.
Roller coaster image via Shutterstock
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Wrestling: Bergen Catholic beats Blair Academy, wins Who's No. 1 Duals
Who's No. 1? When it comes to high school wrestling, the answer is Bergen Catholic.
The Crusaders made that clear by winning the annual Who's Number One Duals on Saturday. This year's edition of the tournament was held in Bergen Catholic's home gym.
The clinching victory came against New Jersey rival Blair Academy, which had won the last two Who's Number One Duals and entered this year's tournament ranked No. 1 in the country by FloWrestling.
The Crusaders won 9 of the 14 bouts against the Bucs on the way to a 33-19 win. Both teams beat Lake Highland Prep (Florida) and Buchanan (California) earlier in the day.
LIVE RESULTS: Sam Cali wrestling tournament
Here are the complete results of the meet:
Round 3
Bergen Catholic 33, Blair Academy 19
126: Dylan Weaver (Bergen Catholic) F Chris Cannon (Blair), 1:32
132: Travis Mastrogiovanni (Blair) DEC Carmen Ferrante (Bergen Catholic), 6-4
138: Mike Madara (Blair) DEC Joseph Zargo (Bergen Catholic), 6-3
145: Wade Unger (Bergen Catholic) DEC Malcolm Robinson (Blair), 3-0
152: Willy Kaiser (Blair) DEC Gerard Angelo (Bergen Catholic), 4-3
160: Shane Griffith (Bergen Catholic) DEC Andrew Merola (Blair), 5-2
170: Christopher Foca (Bergen Catholic) F Julian Ramirez (Blair), 5:35
182: Jacob Cardendas (Bergen Catholic) DEC Leo Tarantino (Blair), 6-0
195: Josh Mckenzie (Bergen Catholic) DEC Peyton Craft (Blair), 5-2
220: Owen Trephan (Blair) MD Sage Mosco (Bergen Catholic), 10-2
285: John High (Bergen Catholic) DEC Kraig Correll (Blair), 7-2
106: Nick Kayal (Bergen Catholic) DEC Ryan Miller (Blair), 1-1 UTB
113: Trevor Mastrogiovanni (Blair) F Enrique Sanchez (Bergen Catholic), 2:36
120: Robert Howard (Bergen Catholic) DEC Mike Coliaocco (Blair), 4-3
Buchanan 30, Lake Highland Prep 27
126: George Ruiz (Buchanan) F Vincent Menozzi (Lake Highland Prep), 5:05
132: Joe Silva (Lake Highland Prep) TF Ethan Leake (Buchanan), 22-7 5:44
138: Matthew Olguin (Buchanan) DEC Noah Castillo (Lake Highland Prep), 3-2
145: Kai Bele (Lake Highland Prep) MD Chris Gaxiola (Buchanan), 12-4
152: Tristan Zamilpa (Buchanan) DEC Cameron Monzadeh (Lake Highland Prep), 5-0
160: Erich Byelick (Lake Highland Prep) DEC Joel Romero (Buchanan), 8-4
170: Jadon Martin (Buchanan) DEC Max Cosmides (Lake Highland Prep), 5-1
182: Anthony Montalvo (Buchanan) F Logan Andrew (Lake Highland Prep), 2:47
220: Ben Goldin (Lake Highland Prep) DEC Trevor Ervin (Buchanan), 2-1
285: Curtis Ruff (Lake Highland Prep) DEC Naishawn Duchett (Buchanan), 6-4
106: Hunter Leake (Buchanan) DEC Jake Wohltman (Lake Highland Prep), 8-2
113: Nic Bouzakis (Lake Highland Prep) F Maximo Renteria (Buchanan), 3:08
120: Ryan Chauvin (Lake Highland Prep) DEC Logan Gioffre (Buchanan), 5-1
Round 2
Blair Academy 49, Buchanan 9
120: Mike Coliaocco (Blair) TF Logan Gioffre (Buchanan), 20-4 6:25
126: Chris Cannon (Blair) F George Ruiz (Buchanan), 5:21
132: Travis Mastrogiovanni (Blair) DEC Ethan Leake (Buchanan), 9-8
138: Matthew Olguin (Buchanan) DEC Malcolm Robinson (Blair), 4-2
145: Chris Gaxiola (Buchanan) DEC Nick Incontrera (Blair), 6-3
152: Willy Kaiser (Blair) MD Tristan Zamilpa (Buchanan), 8-0
160: Andrew Merola (Blair) DEC Joel Romero (Buchanan), 9-3
170: Julian Ramirez (Blair) F Jadon Martin (Buchanan), 0:23
182: Anthony Montalvo (Buchanan) DEC Leo Tarantino (Blair), 9-3
195: Peyton Craft (Blair) F Jalen Peralta (Buchanan), 1:43
220: Owen Trephan (Blair) DEC Trevor Ervin (Buchanan), 9-4
285: Kraig Correll (Blair) F Naishawn Duchett (Buchanan), 4:36
106: Ryan Miller (Blair) MD Hunter Leake (Buchanan), 10-1
113: Trevor Mastrogiovanni (Blair) DEC Maximo Renteria (Buchanan), 4-2
Bergen Catholic 41, Lake Highland Prep 22
120: Robert Howard (Bergen Catholic) MD Ryan Chauvin (Lake Highland Prep), 10-2
126: Dylan Weaver (Bergen Catholic) DEC Vincent Menozzi (Lake Highland Prep), 6-0
132: Joe Silva (Lake Highland Prep) MD Carmen Ferrante (Bergen Catholic), 21-9
138: Noah Castillo (Lake Highland Prep) DEC Joseph Zargo (Bergen Catholic), 4-3
145: Kai Bele (Lake Highland Prep) F Sal Mainiero (Bergen Catholic), 3:13
152: Tony Asatrian (Bergen Cath.) DEC Cameron Monzadeh (Lake Highland Prep), 7-2
160: Shane Griffith (Bergen Catholic) DEC Erich Byelick (Lake Highland Prep), 9-3
170: Christopher Foca (Bergen Catholic) MD Max Cosmides (Lake Highland Prep), 10-2
182: Josh Mckenzie (Bergen Catholic) F Logan Andrew (Lake Highland Prep), 4:28
220: Ben Goldin (Lake Highland Prep) F Gabe Mendez (Bergen Catholic), 0:54
285: Curtis Ruff (Lake Highland Prep) DEC John High (Bergen Catholic), 3-2
106: Nick Kayal (Bergen Catholic) F Jake Wohltman (Lake Highland Prep), 1:36
Round 1
Blair Academy 45, Lake Highland Prep 13
113: Trevor Mastrogiovanni (Blair) F Nic Bouzakis (Lake Highland Prep), 4:42
120: Mike Coliaocco (Blair) TF Ryan Chauvin (Lake Highland Prep), 19-4 4:48
126: Chris Cannon (Blair) MD Vincent Menozzi (Lake Highland Prep), 16-3
132: Joe Silva (Lake Highland Prep) DEC Travis Mastrogiovanni (Blair), 12-7
138: Malcolm Robinson (Blair) DEC Noah Castillo (Lake Highland Prep), 5-2
145: Kai Bele (Lake Highland Prep) DEC Mike Madara (Blair), 6-2
152: Willy Kaiser (Blair) F Cameron Monzadeh (Lake Highland Prep), 2:34
160: Andrew Merola (Blair) DEC Erich Byelick (Lake Highland Prep), 6-2
170: Julian Ramirez (Blair) F Max Cosmides (Lake Highland Prep), 3:27
182: Leo Tarantino (Blair) DEC Logan Andrew (Lake Highland Prep), 7-1
220: Ben Goldin (Lake Highland Prep) DEC Owen Trephan (Blair), 3-2 TB2
285: Curtis Ruff (Lake Highland Prep) MD Kraig Correll (Blair), 11-2
106: Ryan Miller (Blair) DEC Jake Wohltman (Lake Highland Prep), 8-2
Bergen Catholic 34, Buchanan 24
113: Maximo Renteria (Buchanan) F Kelly Dunnigan (Bergen Catholic), 3:45
120: Robert Howard (Bergen Catholic) TF Logan Gioffre (Buchanan), 21-3 4:30
126: Dylan Weaver (Bergen Catholic) MD George Ruiz (Buchanan), 17-3
132: Carmen Ferrante (Bergen Catholic) DEC Ethan Leake (Buchanan), 5-3 SV
138: Matthew Olguin (Buchanan) F Sal Mainiero (Bergen Catholic), 0:25
145: Chris Gaxiola (Buchanan) DEC Wade Unger (Bergen Catholic), 4-3
152: Tristan Zamilpa (Buchanan) DEC Gerard Angelo (Bergen Catholic), 4-3
160: Shane Griffith (Bergen Catholic) MD Joel Romero (Buchanan), 9-1
170:: Christopher Foca (Bergen Catholic) DEC Jadon Martin (Buchanan), 8-3
182: Anthony Montalvo (Buchanan) DEC Jacob Cardendas (Bergen Catholic), 5-2 TB2
195: Josh Mckenzie (Bergen Catholic) F Jalen Peralta (Buchanan), 1:05
220: Trevor Ervin (Buchanan) DEC Sage Mosco (Bergen Catholic), 3-2
285: John High (Bergen Catholic) F Naishawn Duchett (Buchanan), 5:13
106: Nick Kayal (Bergen Catholic) DEC Hunter Leake (Buchanan), 4-0
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FILE PHOTO: Britain Soccer Football - Chelsea v Crystal Palace - Premier League - Stamford Bridge - 1/4/17 General view of Chelsea club badge outside the stadium before the match Reuters / Hannah McKay Livepic
(Reuters) - Chelsea have asked their fans in a tweet who the club should sign in the close season less than a week after FIFA imposed a transfer ban on the Premier League outfit.
World soccer’s governing body on Friday announced that Chelsea would be banned from signing players in the next two transfer windows after they were found guilty of breaching rules regarding overseas players under the age of 18.
Chelsea said they “categorically refute” the findings of FIFA’s Disciplinary Committee and would appeal.
“Who would you want to sign in the summer,” Chelsea asked their Twitter followers, providing a link to a ‘Media Watch’ section on their website which said the club was looking at AC Milan centre back Alessio Romagnoli as a potential target.
The tweet, which has been removed, outraged many fans, with one asking the club to sign a new social media team instead.
Others jokingly suggested Spanish keeper Kepa Arrizabalaga would have the final say following his refusal to be substituted by Chelsea coach Maurizio Sarri during extra time in Sunday’s League Cup final defeat by Manchester City.
Chelsea were not immediately available to comment.
If Chelsea contest the ban they could operate in the close season transfer window while an appeal is heard by FIFA.
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Transcripts, Proceedings and Documents on the 1999 Martin Luther King Jr. Assassination Trial
The Confession, Trial and Civil Conviction in the MLK Assassination
In December 1993, Lloyd Jowers appeared on ABC's Prime Time Live and related the details of an alleged conspiracy involving the Mafia and the U.S. government to kill King. According to Jowers, James Earl Ray was a scapegoat, and was not responsible for the assassination. Jowers said that he hired Memphis police Lieutenant Earl Clark to fire the fatal shot. The existence of such a conspiracy, and Jowers' involvement, was supported in the verdict of a 1999 court case which was brought against Jowers by the King family. The allegations and the finding of the Memphis jury were later rejected by the United States Department of Justice in 2000.
In 1998, the King family filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Jowers and "other unknown co-conspirators" for the murder of King. The King family was represented by attorney William Pepper, who had previously served as the attorney of James Earl Ray, King's formerly accused assassin. In late 1999, the case came to trial. After four weeks of testimony and over 70 witnesses in a civil trial in Memphis, Tennessee, twelve jurors reached a unanimous verdict on December 8, 1999 after about an hour of deliberations that Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated as a result of a conspiracy which also involved "others, including governmental agencies."
Mrs. Coretta Scott King commented on the verdict, saying, “There is abundant evidence of a major high level conspiracy in the assassination of my husband, Martin Luther King, Jr. And the civil court's unanimous verdict has validated our belief. I wholeheartedly applaud the verdict of the jury and I feel that justice has been well served in their deliberations. This verdict is not only a great victory for my family, but also a great victory for America."
Investigation and Trial resources:
King Family Press Conference on the MLK Assassination Trial Verdict
Coretta Scott King, et al. VS. Loyd Jowers, et al | Trial transcript, 13 volumes, 2,735 pages
Department of Justice Investigation and Report
Trial Evidence | Descriptions below:
ATTACHMENT 1 - A photograph of two of the documents Wilson allegedly took from James Earl Ray's car in 1968.
The first document is a partially torn page from a 1963 Dallas, Texas telephone book, which lists persons with the last name of Hunt. Two pencil entries are handwritten in the upper margin of the partial page: "J" with a surrounding circle, followed by "LA 84775"and "Raul 214-." Immediately following "Raul 214-," the page is torn.
The second document consists of eight lines of handwriting. The first six lines are two columns of handwritten words and numbers. The handwritten number all end with ".00." The last two lines consisting of writing "before 4-15 [unintelligible];" "after Raul X 213."
ATTACHMENT 2 - Diagram of the area surrounding the Lorraine Motel which depicts the location of the motel and buildings on South Main Street including the fire station, rooming house, Jim's Grill and parking lot.
ATTACHMENT 3 - Aerial photograph of the 2-block area surrounding the Lorraine Motel with Main Mulberry and Second Streets running vertically and Huling and Butler Avenues running horizontally.
ATTACHMENTS 4a and 4b - Two photographs of the fire station on Mulberry Street taken by Joseph Louw from his second floor room at the Lorraine, upon hearing the gunshot that killed Dr. King. Each photograph shows several law enforcement officials at the top of the retaining wall behind the firestation, leaping down from the wall, and running down Mulberry Street.
ATTACHMENT 9 - A photographic array consisting of six 3 ¼" X 2 ¼" black and white facial representations which includes a depiction of the New York Raul.
United States Department of Justice
Investigation of Recent Allegations
Regarding the Assassination of
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. June 2000
TABLE OF CONTENTS
OVERVIEW
I. SUMMARY OF THE FINDINGS OF THE INVESTIGATION
II. DESCRIPTION OF THE INVESTIGATIVE PROCESS
III. SUMMARY OF FACTS RELATED TO THE ASSASSINATION
IV. JOWERS' ALLEGATIONS
[On May 20, 2000, following the completion of this report, Loyd Jowers died. Reportedly, Jowers, age 73, who was suffering from lung cancer, died from a heart attack.]
3. Jowers' 1993 Televised Prime Time Live Appearance
4. Subsequent Statements
C. Analysis Of Jowers' Statements Since 1993
1. Statements Rejecting Conspiracy Claims
a. Statement under oath
b. Other repudiations
2. Contradictory Conspiracy Claims
a. The man who allegedly shot Dr. King
b. Disposal of the alleged murder weapon
c. Jowers' alleged hiring of a hit man
d. The purpose of the alleged conspiracy
e. The alleged additional co-conspirator
f. The alleged role of Memphis police officers
3. Summary of Jowers' Statements since 1993
D. Analysis Of The Evidence
1. The Murder
a. Jowers' alleged receipt of the assassin's rifle
(1) Implausibility of Jowers' knowing the time of the shooting
(2) Absence of corroborating evidence
(3) The alleged corroborating witness
(a) Contradictory statements
(b) Evidence refuting the account
(c) Other indicia of unreliability
b. The alleged shooting of Dr. King from behind Jim's Grill
(1) Absence of footprints behind Jim's Grill
(2) Absence of corroborating eyewitness evidence
(a) Eyewitness observations of activity in the brush
(b) Accounts of a man fleeing after the shooting
(3) Evidence that the assassin fired from the rooming house
c. Jowers' alleged concealment of the murder weapon
2. The Alleged Conspiracy
a. Liberto's alleged involvement
(1) Jowers and Liberto
(2) Alleged corroborating witnesses
(a) Liberto's alleged threat
(b) Liberto's alleged admission
(3) Liberto's alleged connection to the Mafia
(4) Jowers' alleged concealment of money for Liberto
(a) Jowers' financial condition
(b) Lack of corroboration by employees at Jim's Grill
b. Alleged involvement of Memphis police officers
(1) Alleged removal of police officers to facilitate the assassination
(a) Removal of security detail
(b) Presence of tactical units in the area
(c) Removal of police officer from surveillance post
(d) Removal of firemen from fire station
(2) Alleged meeting of police officers at Jim's Grill
(3) Alleged participation of the "Lieutenant"
3. Summary of Evidence regarding Jowers' Accounts
1. Jowers' Motivation
2. The Promotion of Jowers' Story
V. WILSON'S ALLEGATIONS
1. April 1968: The Discovery of Ray's Mustang
2. March 1998: Wilson's Public Disclosure
3. September 1998: Wilson's Meeting with Our Investigative Team
1. Belated Revelation of an Additional Document
2. When and Where Wilson Allegedly Viewed the Documents and Recognized Their Significance
3. Alleged Reason for Concealing the Documents
4. Alleged Disappearance of Certain Documents
5. Alleged Location of the Documents
6. Conclusions about Wilson's Contradictory Statements
1. Wilson's Alleged Presence at Ray's Car
2. Wilson's Alleged Taking of Documents from Ray's Car
3. Wilson's Claims about the Doors of Ray's Car
4. Wilson's Purported Reason for Opening Ray's Car Door
5. Wilson's Claim regarding the Interior of Ray's Car
6. Wilson's Claim that He Participated in the Search of Ray's Room
7. Conclusions regarding the Evidence
1. Wilson's Purported Motive for Tampering with Ray's Car
2. Wilson's Purported Motive for Public Disclosure after 30 Years of Silence
1. Description of the Documents
2. Results of Scientific Testing and Analysis
a. Origin and age of the documents
b. Authorship of the documents
c. Absence of latent fingerprints
d. Scientific analysis of the torn page from the 1963 Dallas telephone directory
1. Wilson's Refusal to Provide the Documents
2. Wilson's Refusal to Provide Information and Accept Immunity
3. Conclusions Regarding Wilson's Failure to Cooperate Fully
K. Conclusions Regarding Wilson's Allegations
VI. RAOUL AND HIS ALLEGED PARTICIPATION IN THE ASSASSINATION
1. Raoul's Alleged Participation in the Assassinations of Dr. King and President Kennedy
2. Searching for and Identifying Raoul
3. The New York Raul
a. The suspect photo array and identifications
b. The New York Raul could not speak English
c. The New York Raul's full-time employment and presence in his community
d. Evaluation of allegations relating to Dago
e. Conclusions regarding the New York Raul
1. Ray's Description of Raoul
2. Purchase of the Alleged Murder Weapon
3. The Day of the Assassination
a. Ray's alibi
b. Ray's initial meeting with Raoul on the afternoon of the assassination
c. Ray's activities on the afternoon of the assassination
4. Conclusions about Ray's Contradictory Statements
VII. KING V. JOWERS CONSPIRACY ALLEGATIONS
1. Hearsay Evidence
2. Eyewitness Testimony
3. Analysis Of The Evidence Alleging The Involvement Of The Federal Government
a. Allegations of CIA and FBI involvement in a conspiracy
b. Allegations of a government conspiracy to silence Ray
c. Allegation of a conspiracy involving the President and Vice President
d. Allegations of military involvement in a conspiracy
(1) Allegations regarding the military that are relevant to Jowers' claim
(2) Other allegations regarding the military
1. Dr. King and the Lorraine Motel
2. Dr. King's Security
3. Dr. King's Presence on the Balcony
VIII. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE INVESTIGATION OF
RECENT ALLEGATIONS REGARDING THE ASSASSINATION OF
DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.
On August 26, 1998, the Attorney General directed the Civil Rights Division of the United States Department of Justice, assisted by the Criminal Division, to investigate two separate, recent allegations related to the April 4, 1968 assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. These allegations emanate from Loyd Jowers, a former Memphis tavern owner, and Donald Wilson, a former agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
In 1993, 25 years after the murder, Jowers claimed that he participated in a conspiracy to kill Dr. King, along with an alleged Mafia figure, Memphis police officers, and a man named Raoul. According to Jowers, one of the conspirators shot Dr. King from behind his tavern.
Wilson alleged in 1998 that shortly after the assassination, while working as an FBI agent, he took papers from the abandoned car of James Earl Ray, the career criminal who pled guilty to murdering Dr. King. Wilson claims he concealed them for 30 years. Some of the papers contained references to a Raul (the alternate spellings, Raoul and Raul, are discussed in Section I) and figures associated with the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. According to Wilson, someone who later worked in the White House subsequently stole the other papers he took from Ray's car, including one with the telephone number of an FBI office.
Both the Jowers and the Wilson allegations suggest that persons other than or in addition to James Earl Ray participated in the assassination. Ray, within days of entering his guilty plea in 1969, attempted to withdraw it. Until his death in April 1998, he maintained that he did not shoot Dr. King and was framed by a man he knew only as Raoul. For 30 years, others have similarly alleged that Ray was Raoul's unwitting pawn and that a conspiracy orchestrated Dr. King's murder. These varied theories have generated several comprehensive government investigations regarding the assassination, none of which confirmed the existence of any conspiracy. However, in King v.Jowers, a recent civil suit in a Tennessee state court, a jury returned a verdict finding that Jowers and unnamed others, including unspecified government agencies, participated in a conspiracy to assassinate Dr. King.
Our mission was to consider whether the Jowers or the Wilson allegations are true and, if so, to detect whether anyone implicated engaged in criminal conduct by participating in the assassination. We have concluded that neither allegation is credible. Jowers and Wilson have both contradicted their own accounts. Moreover, we did not find sufficient, reliable evidence to corroborate either of their claims. Instead, we found significant evidence to refute them. Nothing new was presented during King v.Jowers to alter our findings or to warrant federal investigation of the trial's conflicting, far-ranging hearsay allegations of a government-directed plot involving the Mafia and African American ministers closely associated with Dr. King. Ultimately, we found nothing to disturb the 1969 judicial determination that James Earl Ray murdered Dr. King or to confirm that Raoul or anyone else implicated by Jowers or suggested by the Wilson papers participated in the assassination.
I. SUMMARY OF THE FINDINGS OF THE INVESTIGATION
This report documents the findings of our investigation. Our conclusions are based on over 200 witness interviews, scientific testing and analysis of relevant documentary evidence, and review of tens of thousands of pages of records, including the files and papers from four previous official investigations, related litigation including King v.Jowers, private parties, and the media.
After original investigation and analysis of the historical record, we have concluded that neither the Jowers nor the Wilson allegations are substantiated or credible. We likewise have determined that the allegations relating to Raoul's participation in the assassination, which originated with James Earl Ray, have no merit. Finally, we find that there is no reliable evidence to support the allegations presented in King v. Jowers of a government-directed conspiracy involving the Mafia and Dr. King's associates. Accordingly, no further investigation is warranted.
A. Findings Regarding Jowers' Allegations
At the time of the assassination, Loyd Jowers owned and operated Jim's Grill, a tavern below the rooming house where James Earl Ray rented a room on April 4, 1968. Until 1993, Jowers maintained in several public statements that he was merely serving customers in his tavern when Dr. King was shot. He did not claim any involvement in the assassination or significant knowledge about it.
In December 1993, Jowers appeared on ABC's Prime Time Live and radically changed his story, claiming he participated in a plot to assassinate Dr. King. According to Jowers, a Memphis produce dealer, who was involved with the Mafia, gave him $100,000 to hire an assassin and assured him that the police would not be at the scene of the shooting. Jowers also reported that he hired a hit man to shoot Dr. King from behind Jim's Grill and received the murder weapon prior to the killing from someone with a name sounding like Raoul. Jowers further maintained that Ray did not shoot Dr. King and that he did not believe Ray knowingly participated in the conspiracy.
Since his television appearance, Jowers and his attorney have given additional statements about the assassination to the media, the King family, Ray's defenders, law enforcement personnel, relatives, friends, and courts. Jowers, however, has never made his conspiracy claims under oath. See Section IV.C.1.a. In fact, he did not testify inKing v. Jowers, despite the fact that he was the party being sued. The one time Jowers did testify under oath about his allegations in an earlier civil suit, Ray v. Jowers, he repudiated them. Further, he has also renounced his confessions in certain private conversations without his attorney. See Section IV.C.1.b. For example, in an impromptu, recorded conversation with a state investigator, Jowers characterized a central feature of his story -- that someone besides Ray shot Dr. King with a rifle other than the one recovered at the crime scene -- as "bullshit." Consequently, Jowers has only confessed in circumstances where candor has not been required by law or where he has not been required to reconcile his prior inconsistencies.
When Jowers has confessed, he has contradicted himself on virtually every key point about the alleged conspiracy. See Section IV.C.2. For example, he not only identified two different people as the assassin, but also most recently claimed that he saw the assassin and did not recognize him. Jowers also abandoned his initial allegation that he received $100,000 with which he hired a hit man to kill Dr. King, claiming instead that he merely held the money for the conspirators. Additionally, Jowers has been inconsistent about other aspects of the alleged conspiracy, including his role in it, Raoul's responsibilities, whether and how Memphis police officers were involved, and the disposal of the alleged murder weapon.
Equally significant, the investigative team found no credible evidence to support any aspect of Jowers' varied accounts. See Section IV.D. There is no corroborating physical evidence, and the few isolated accounts allegedly supporting Jowers' claims are either unreliable or unsupportive. At the same time, there is evidence to contradict important elements of Jowers' allegations. For instance, investigators did not find a trail of footprints in the muddy ground behind Jim's Grill after the murder, undermining Jowers' claim that the assassin shot Dr. King from that location and brought the rifle to him at the backdoor. Similarly, there is substantial evidence establishing that the assassin actually fired from the bathroom window of the rooming house above Jim's Grill.
The genesis of Jowers' allegations is suspect. See Section IV.F.1. For 25 years following the assassination, Jowers never claimed any specific involvement in or knowledge of a conspiracy. It was not until 1993, during a meeting with the producer of a televised mock trial of James Earl Ray, that Jowers first publicly disclosed the details of the alleged plot, including the names of the purported assassin and other co-conspirators. He also initially sought compensation for his story, and his friends and relatives acknowledge that he hoped to make money from his account.
Jowers' conduct also undermines his credibility. He refused to cooperate with our investigation. See Section IV.E. Even though he repeatedly confessed publicly without immunity from prosecution, he was unwilling to speak to us without immunity. We were willing to consider his demand, but he refused to provide a proffer of his allegation, a standard prerequisite for an immunity grant, particularly where a witness has given contradictory accounts. His failure to provide a proffer demonstrates that he was unwilling to put forth a final, definitive version of his story. It further suggests he is not genuinely concerned about obtaining protection from prosecution, but instead has sought immunity merely to lend legitimacy to his otherwise unsubstantiated story.
From the beginning, Jowers' story has been the product of a carefully orchestrated promotional effort. See Section IV.F.2. In 1993, shortly after the HBO television mock trial, Jowers and a small circle of friends, all represented by the same attorney, sought to gain legitimacy for the conspiracy allegations by presenting them first to the state prosecutor, then to the media. Other of Jowers' friends and acquaintances, some of whom have had close contact with each other and sought financial compensation, joined the promotional effort over the next several years. For example, one cab driver contacted Jowers' attorney in 1998 and offered to be of assistance. Thereafter, he heard Jowers' conspiracy allegations, then repeated them for television and during King v. Jowers. Telephone records demonstrate that, over a period of several months, the cab driver made over 75 telephone calls to Jowers' attorney and another 75 calls to another cab driver friend of Jowers who has sought compensation for information supporting Jowers' claims.
In summary, we have determined that Jowers' claims about an alleged conspiracy are materially contradictory and unsubstantiated. Moreover, Jowers' repudiations, even under oath, his failure to testify during King v. Jowers, his refusal to cooperate with our investigation, his reported motive to make money from his claims, and his efforts along with his friends to promote his story all suggest a lack of credibility. We do not believe that Jowers, or those he accuses, participated in the assassination of Dr. King.
B. Findings Regarding Wilson's Allegations
Unlike Jowers, Donald Wilson, a former agent with the FBI, does not make any claims about who assassinated Dr. King. Rather, in March 1998, he revealed that for the past 30 years he had been concealing evidence that might be relevant to the crime. Wilson alleged that in April 1968, as an FBI agent of less than a year, he went to the scene where Ray's Ford Mustang had been abandoned in Atlanta, Georgia. Once there, Wilson purportedly opened the Mustang's door and a small envelope containing several papers fell out. According to Wilson, he took the papers, hid them, and told no one about them for 30 years.
Dr. William Pepper, then Ray's lawyer, publicly disclosed Wilson's revelation at a press conference. Immediately before the press conference, Wilson told his story to the District Attorney in Atlanta and expressed a strong interest in providing the documents to the Department of Justice for a full investigation.
It was not until six months later that our investigation ultimately obtained the only two documents Wilson maintained he still had. One of the documents is a portion of a torn page from a 1963 Dallas telephone directory. It has handwritten entries and information associated with President Kennedy's assassination, including the telephone numbers of Jack Ruby, the man who murdered Lee Harvey Oswald, and the Hunt family, who some have alleged was involved in the President's murder. The other document is a piece of paper that has two handwritten columns of notations, the first of words and the second of numbers, neither of which appears to have a connection to Dr. King's assassination. Both documents have handwritten entries with the name Raul. See Attachment 1, photostatic copies of the documents provided by Wilson.
Wilson has given materially inconsistent accounts about the documents and his discovery of them. See Section V.C. Most significantly, six months after telling the District Attorney in Atlanta, as well as the King family, Ray's attorney, and the media, that he had found four documents -- the two documents we ultimately obtained and two business cards we have never seen -- Wilson advised us that he actually took a significant, but previously undisclosed, fifth document from Ray's car. Wilson reported that the additional document had the telephone number of the FBI Atlanta field office where he worked, but he never explained his initial failure to reveal its alleged existence. He also gave contradictory stories about when he first looked at the documents, when he realized their significance, and whether and which documents were allegedly later stolen from him.
We found nothing to substantiate any of Wilson's varied claims about his discovery of the documents. At the same time, we found significant, independent evidence to contradict key aspects of his accounts. See Section V.D. For example, photographic evidence and expert opinion establish that the passenger-side door of the Mustang was closed and locked when the FBI was at the scene, not ajar and unlocked as Wilson claimed. Further, we found no evidence to corroborate Wilson's claims that he was at the scene of the Mustang's recovery, opened its door, or took the documents.
Scientific analysis of the documents obtained from Wilson could not resolve two critical questions presented by his allegation -- whether the documents came from Ray's car in 1968 and who authored them. See Section V.F. At the same time, analysis of the torn telephone page suggests that a handwritten notation in its margin may have been written to create the false impression that Ray was in possession of Raul's telephone number and that the assassinations of Dr. King and President Kennedy are connected.See Sections V.F.2.d. and G.
Important aspects of Wilson's account are implausible. See Sections V.E. and G. For instance, it is improbable that a torn page from a 1963 Dallas telephone directory linking the assassinations of Dr. King and President Kennedy would have been in Ray's car in 1968 or have fortuitously fallen out when Wilson allegedly opened the door. The paper has the telephone number of Jack Ruby, which was disconnected shortly after he shot Oswald in 1963, and Ray was in jail from 1960 until 1967. In addition, we found no credible evidence linking Ray to Jack Ruby or connecting the assassinations of President Kennedy and Dr. King.
The possibility that the documents actually came from Ray's car is even more remote since Ray himself did not remember them. Indeed, Ray had the most to gain from Wilson's revelation since the documents would have been the only physical evidence in 30 years to support his claim that Raoul existed. Nonetheless, he declined to confirm that the papers came from his car. See Section V.I.
It is equally implausible that a newly trained agent like Wilson, who joined the FBI because of his concern for civil rights, would have chosen to tamper with Ray's car, confiscate evidence, and potentially compromise the search for Dr. King's murderer. Wilson's claim that he concealed information potentially implicating the FBI for 20 years after he terminated his career as an agent and then again when he made his initial public disclosure in March 1998 is also particularly suspicious in light of his professed disdain for the FBI. See Section V.E.
Wilson's account is finally undermined by his failure to cooperate fully with our investigation. See Section V.J. Within days of his public disclosure in March 1998, he withdrew his offer to provide the documents to the Department of Justice. In September 1998, when he met with attorneys from our investigative team, he again refused to relinquish the original documents until the execution of a search warrant was imminent. Wilson also repeatedly refused to provide information that he claimed could lead to the recovery of the documents he says were stolen from him. Ultimately, once we provided an offer of immunity in response to his expressed concerns about prosecution, he cut off all communication. Accordingly, Wilson's resistance to assisting our investigation belies his public appeal for a thorough investigation by the Department of Justice.
Based upon an assessment of Wilson's conduct, his inconsistent statements, and all other available facts, his claim that he discovered papers in Ray's car is not credible. Accordingly, we have concluded that the documents do not constitute legitimate evidence pertaining to the assassination.
C. Findings Regarding Raoul
The name Raoul, or Raul, is central to both the Jowers and the Wilson allegations, as well as James Earl Ray's claims of innocence. Jowers contends that he conspired with Raoul, and two of the Wilson documents include the name Raul. Ray, soon after pleading guilty, claimed that someone he knew only as Raoul lured him to Memphis and framed him by leaving a rifle with his fingerprints at the crime scene. As a result, we reviewed the numerous past allegations regarding the identity of Raoul and investigated the most recent accusation about Raoul's identity.
Initially, the alternate spellings, Raoul and Raul, may have significance. For over 25 years following the assassination, James Earl Ray, his defenders, and others consistently referred to the man who allegedly framed Ray as Raoul. In the mid-1990s, Ray's defenders changed the spelling to "R-A-U-L" when they believed that a man living in New York state, whose first name is Raul, was the Raoul described by Ray.(1) Ray's attorneys then added the New York Raul as a defendant to a false imprisonment lawsuit brought by Ray against Jowers. The documents Wilson produced a few years later also utilized the same post-1995 spelling of Raul. See Section VI.C.2.
A review of the historical record reveals that, during the 30 years following the assassination, numerous individuals have been erroneously identified as Raoul. Those who have been falsely accused do not share common characteristics or necessarily possess any of the physical characteristics Ray attributed to Raoul. See Section VI.B.
Moreover, the man most recently accused of being Raoul -- the Raul from New York state -- was not connected to the assassination. The methods used to identify the New York Raul and the witnesses identifying him, who include Ray and Jowers, are unreliable. In addition, at the time the New York Raul allegedly planned and participated in the assassination, he could not speak English, was employed full-time with a major corporation, and was often seen in a tightly-knit, Portugese community. See Section VI.C.3.
More than 30 years after the crime, there still is no reliable information suggesting Raoul's last name, address, telephone number, nationality, appearance, friends, family, location, or any other identifying characteristics. The total lack of evidence as to Raoul's existence is telling in light of the fact that Ray's defenders, official investigations, and others have vigorously searched for him for more than 30 years. The dearth of evidence is also significant since Ray often claimed that he was repeatedly with Raoul in various places, cities, and countries, and many of Ray's associations unrelated to the assassination have been verified. See Section VI.D.
Because the uncorroborated allegations regarding Raoul originated with James Earl Ray, we ultimately considered Ray's statements about him. Ray's accounts detailing his activities with Raoul related to the assassination are not only self-serving, but confused and contradictory, especially when compared to his accounts of activities unrelated to the assassination. Thus, Ray's statements suggest that Raoul is simply Ray's creation. See Section VI.E.
For these reasons, we have concluded there is no reliable evidence that a Raoul participated in the assassination.
D. Findings Regarding The King v. Jowers Conspiracy Allegations
King v. Jowers was a civil lawsuit in a Tennessee state court brought by King family members against Loyd Jowers for the wrongful death of Dr. King. The trial concluded in December 1999. The jury adopted a verdict offered by the parties finding that Jowers and "others, including government agencies" participated in a conspiracy to assassinate Dr. King. The trial featured some, but not all, of the information already considered by our investigation. Significant evidence from the historical record and our original investigation that undermines the credibility of Jowers' allegations was not presented. Nothing offered during the trial alters our conclusion regarding Jowers' or Wilson's allegations.(2)
The trial also featured a substantial amount of hearsay evidence purporting to support the existence of various far-ranging, government-directed conspiracies to kill Dr. King. Witness testimony and writings related secondhand or thirdhand accounts of unrelated, and in some cases, contradictory conspiracy claims. For example, an unidentified person who did not testify alleged in an out-of-court deposition, which was read to the jury, that he participated in a conspiracy to assassinate Dr. King initiated by the President and Vice President of the United States and the head of the AFL/CIO labor union. Unrelated to that claim, the notes of an interview of an unidentified source, which were written by a journalist who did not testify, purported to document a claim that a military team was conducting surveillance of Dr. King and actually photographed the assassination.
Significantly, no eyewitness testimony or tangible evidence directly supported any of the conflicting allegations of a government-directed conspiracy. The only relevant non-hearsay eyewitness accounts presented at the trial suggest nothing more than the possibility that Dr. King, like other civil rights activists who were the subjects of government surveillance in the 1960s, may have been watched by military personnel around the time of the assassination. However, we found nothing to indicate that surveillance at any time had any connection with the assassination.
Critical analysis of the hearsay allegations in light of significant information that was not introduced at the trial demonstrates that the none of the conspiracy claims are credible. No evidence corroborated the various allegations and other information contradicted them. For instance, in the case of the interview notes of a source claiming that his military surveillance team witnessed and photographed the assassination, we found nothing to substantiate the allegation but, rather, information to contradict it. The journalist who wrote the notes also told us that he did not credit the source or his story. See Section VII.B.3.d.
Other evidence introduced in King v. Jowers suggested the existence of yet another conspiracy apparently unrelated to the alleged government-directed conspiracies. In this regard, witnesses testified offering observations and hearsay accounts implying that two African American ministers associated with Dr. King were part of a plot to kill him.
The allegations against the African American ministers are far-fetched and unpersuasive. Additionally, we found no information during our investigation of the Jowers and Wilson allegations or our review of the historical record to substantiate these claims, while significant information, not introduced at the trial, contradicts them. See Section VII.C.
In sum, the evidence admitted in King v. Jowers to support the various conspiracy claims consisted of inaccurate and incomplete information or unsubstantiated conjecture, supplied most often by sources, many unnamed, who did not testify. Because of the absence of any reliable evidence to substantiate the trial's claims of a conspiracy to assassinate Dr. King involving the federal government, Dr. King's associates, Raoul, or anyone else, further investigation is not warranted.
E. Findings Of Earlier Official Investigations
Our findings are consistent with the conclusions reached by prior official investigations. A 1977 Department of Justice Task Force found "no evidence of the complicity of the Memphis Police Department or the FBI" in the assassination of Dr. King. It also concluded that Ray's assertions that someone else shot Dr. King were "so patently self-serving and so varied as to be wholly unbelievable." In 1979, a congressional investigation by the House Select Committee on Assassinations (HSCA) arrived at similar conclusions, additionally finding that one or both of James Earl Ray's brothers might have been his accomplices and that two racist St. Louis businessmen, who were dead by the time the HSCA probe began, may have put up a bounty for Dr. King's murder.
In 1998, the Shelby County, Tennessee District Attorney General completed a four-year investigation of the early versions of Jowers' allegations and concluded that "there is no credible evidence that implicates Loyd Jowers for the murder" of Dr. King. That investigation further determined that the Raul from New York, whose photograph was identified by Jowers, Ray, and others, was not connected to the assassination. Earlier, in 1997, a Shelby County Grand Jury also concluded that there was no credible evidence to justify investigation of any of Jowers' claims.
II. DESCRIPTION OF THE INVESTIGATIVE PROCESS
A. The Investigative Team
Our investigative team consisted of four attorneys from the Department of Justice and three federal investigators.(3) No one on the investigative team, or supporting it, was involved in any prior official investigation of the assassination.(4) We utilized the United States Secret Service (USSS) forensic laboratory to test and analyze the documents Wilson allegedly retrieved from Ray's car and to conduct handwriting comparisons with the written entries on them. Other governmental forensic services and private experts performed analysis pertaining to other issues.
B. The Investigation's Methodology
The investigative team reviewed materials generated by federal, state, and local law enforcement officials, prior investigations, private parties, the media, and courts. In the end, the investigative team considered tens of thousands of pages of documents, hundreds of items of evidence, hundreds of witness statements, and the extensive work product of private parties and tigations.
With regard to official records, we examined documents and evidence from the original 1968 criminal investigation conducted by the FBI, state and local law enforcement, and the state prosecutor's office; the 1976-1977 investigation of the assassination by a Department of Justice Task Force (DOJ Task Force); the 1977-1979 investigation by the House Select Committee on Assassinations (HSCA); and the 1993-1998 investigation by the Shelby County, Tennessee District Attorney General's office. As to the HSCA investigation, we reviewed the 14 published volumes of testimony and evidence and, with the permission of the House Administration Committee, relevant records sealed at the National Archives since 1979. The FBI, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), and the Department of Defense also furnished relevant, and in some cases classified, records not available to previous investigations.
The investigative team also considered documents and information provided by private parties who have conducted their own investigations. Specifically, we spoke with Dr. William Pepper, who formerly represented James Earl Ray and currently represents the King family; Jack Saltman, producer of the 1993 HBO mock trial of James Earl Ray; Hickman Ewing, the "prosecutor" for the mock trial and a former United States Attorney in Memphis; Arthur Haynes, Jr., one of Ray's first attorneys; and Gerald Posner, an author who recently wrote a book about the King assassination, including the Jowers allegations. We considered information and materials each provided. In addition, we considered witness "testimony" from the 1993 HBO mock trial of James Earl Ray. We also reviewed relevant pleadings, discovery materials, and hearing transcripts from post-conviction and civil litigation related to the assassination, including evidence from the trial of King v. Jowers. Finally, we collected and read hundreds of newspaper and magazine articles and several pertinent books.
The investigative team reviewed these materials to determine whether there was any credible evidence to support any aspect of Jowers' or Wilson's allegations. The process was time-consuming and labor-intensive and the sheer volume of materials was enormous. In fact, because of the depth and number of prior investigations and the breadth of media coverage, most witnesses have given several prior statements, and some have provided as many as five detailed accounts of what occurred. For example, James Earl Ray's official statements and testimony, by themselves, cover more than a thousand pages.
At the outset, we reviewed the materials to learn about the assassination and prior investigations and to gain a historical perspective regarding claims relating to the crime. We analyzed prior statements, affidavits, and testimony of relevant witnesses to determine whether they were internally consistent and in accord with each other and other evidence. When we found significant contradictions, we investigated further in an attempt to determine reasons for the inconsistencies.
Notwithstanding the breadth of our review of the historical record, the investigative team did not consider everything related to the King assassination because of restrictions on time, resources, and access to documents. For example, because standard House of Representatives Rule VII mandates that the materials from the HSCA investigation, like all similar House records, remain sealed in the National Archives for at least 30 years, the House Administration Committee permitted us to review only information relevant to our investigation. As a result, while nothing we requested from the Committee was withheld, we did not examine the great volume of sealed records in their entirety. Rather, with the assistance of the HSCA's former chief investigator, we examined the records catalogue and then identified, obtained and studied all materials we believed to be pertinent. Also, while numerous books and articles have been written about the assassination, we did not review all of these works.(5)Nonetheless, we found nothing to suggest that we failed to review the necessary historical record to evaluate Jowers' and Wilson's allegations.
The investigative team also conducted its own original inquiry of the allegations, including interviewing more than 200 witnesses. We attempted to locate and interview every civilian and law enforcement officer who witnessed events related to the shooting or the recovery of Ray's Mustang. We also attempted to locate and interview all witnesses who had information relevant to the allegations by Jowers or Wilson or who purported to corroborate any portion of such allegations.(6) In addition, we interviewed individuals who previously investigated the assassination, who took statements from eyewitnesses, or who represented James Earl Ray. With regard to witnesses who were particularly significant, we interviewed, when appropriate, their friends, relatives, and associates. After a review of the evidence presented during Kingv. Jowers, we conducted additional witness interviews and records review as warranted.
We conducted most interviews in person. Some were conducted by telephone when necessary. When helpful and practical, we conducted interviews at the scene of the assassination. We also contacted and interviewed many witnesses more than once to clarify what they had said or to obtain further information based on what we subsequently learned from other sources.
Because our investigation comes more than 30 years after the crime, a number of witnesses, not surprisingly, have died or were unavailable due to poor health. We were also unable to interview a few persons because they refused to cooperate or could not be located. Even so, we were able to consider the observations and opinions of nearly all relevant witnesses since most persons who were now unavailable had given prior statements.
Scientific testing and analysis were conducted on the two documents we obtained from Wilson. We collected handwriting exemplars and known samples from relevant subjects to compare with the writing on the Wilson documents. Moreover, because one of the documents appeared to be a list of numbers and words, we had a cryptologist analyze the writing for evidence of a code.
We consulted several experts in firearms identification regarding testing and analysis performed over the years on the evidence discovered at the crime scene. We also had experts at Ford Motor Company evaluate photographs taken during the recovery of Ray's abandoned Mustang to determine whether its doors were ajar or unlocked, as Wilson claimed. In addition to inspecting the crime scene in person, we reviewed numerous photographs and diagrams of the area.
Despite the volume of material we obtained and reviewed and the number of witnesses we interviewed, our investigative options were sometimes limited. Most importantly, we had no subpoena power because the tolling of the statute of limitations on any underlying federal crime prevented the convening of a federal grand jury.(7) Thus, we were generally unable to obtain documents disclosing personal information about individuals and could not compel witnesses, such as Jowers or Wilson, to meet with us, answer questions, furnish information, or provide testimony under oath.
To the extent possible, the investigative team carried out its inquiry in the same manner it would have conducted any other federal criminal investigation. When appropriate, we advised witnesses that a willful and knowing false statement to our investigation could be prosecuted. We also explored the possibility of granting certain witnesses immunity from prosecution.
On one occasion, we sought the assistance of a federal court to obtain information. Because Wilson refused to provide us the original documents he allegedly took from Ray's car, we obtained a search warrant for his safe deposit box at his bank. Shortly thereafter, he released the documents to avoid execution of the warrant.
Our investigation and report were nearly finished in November 1999, when trial began in King v. Jowers. We monitored the trial, obtained transcripts of witness testimony, and conducted additional follow-up investigation as warranted. Accordingly, we have now considered all relevant information presented during the trial, as well as information derived from the additional investigation it prompted.
C. Scope Of The Investigation And Report
This investigation was not initiated to consider every allegation and all speculation about the assassination of Dr. King. Rather, the Attorney General specifically limited the scope of the investigation to Jowers' and Wilson's recent allegations and logical leads resulting therefrom. We respected the limits of our mandate, but at various times also considered whether it should be broadened.
During our investigation, various private parties presented allegations unrelated to those made by Jowers and Wilson. For example, Dr. Pepper and Dexter King, Dr. King's son, advised us of their view, which was also advocated during King v. Jowers, that the federal government and the United States military, as well as certain African American ministers closely associated with Dr. King, were involved in the assassination. As discussed in Section VII, we analyzed these conspiracy allegations and found they were unsupported by sufficiently credible evidence to warrant further investigation. Likewise, none of the allegations we received from other private parties were sufficiently substantiated to justify investigation.
This report presents a general discussion of factual information about the assassination and our specific findings and conclusions relating to the Jowers and the Wilson allegations. Section III of the report provides a brief overview of the events surrounding the assassination. We consider Jowers' allegations in Section IV, Wilson's allegations in Section V, allegations relating to Raoul in Section VI, and conspiracy allegations presented in King v. Jowers in Section VII. We conclude with our recommendation in Section VIII.
As a matter of fairness, we do not provide the names of persons accused of wrongdoing unless there is credible evidence to substantiate the accusation or they have already been the subject of substantial media attention. We nevertheless have provided all the information necessary to understand the accusations against them.
III. SUMMARY OF FACTS RELATED TO THE ASSASSINATION
On April 3, 1968, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. arrived in Memphis, Tennessee, to march in support of a labor strike organized by Memphis sanitation workers. Because a demonstration the month before erupted in violence, Dr. King, according to his associates, returned determined to lead a non-violent protest.
Dr. King and several associates checked into the Lorraine Motel on Mulberry Street, a motel in Memphis patronized primarily by African Americans. Dr. King's room, 306, was on the second floor, faced Mulberry Street, and had a door that opened onto a balcony directly above the motel's parking lot. The motel still exists but is now a museum.
Across from the motel on Mulberry Street are the backyard areas of buildings that front on South Main Street. South Main and Mulberry Streets run parallel to one another. Fire Station No. 2 faces South Main Street and is on the corner between South Main and Mulberry Streets. See Attachment 2, diagram of the area surrounding the Lorraine Motel.
At the time of the shooting, a fenced-in parking area was adjacent to the fire station on South Main Street, followed by Canipe's, a record store, and Jim's Grill, a tavern. Directly above Jim's Grill, on the second floor, was a rooming house. The backdoor to Jim's Grill opened to backyards, which overlooked Mulberry Street and the Lorraine Motel.
The buildings on South Main Street, as well as their backyards, are elevated and higher than Mulberry Street. A retaining wall, approximately eight feet high, extends from the street to the ground level of the backyards on Mulberry Street opposite the Lorraine Motel. At the time of the assassination, overgrown bushes and small trees bordered the backyards and the adjacent parking lot.
Loyd Jowers, who is white, owned and operated Jim's Grill, a tavern that served a racially-mixed group of customers and specialized in lunch and after-work beer drinking. After 4:00 p.m., Jowers generally worked alone or with one other person.
Sometime before 4:00 p.m. on April 4, 1968, James Earl Ray parked his white Mustang on South Main Street and, under an assumed name, rented a room in the second floor rooming house directly above the grill. That room and the communal bathroom at the end of the hall both had windows overlooking Dr. King's motel room at the Lorraine. Shortly after renting the room, Ray purchased binoculars from a nearby store and then returned to the rooming house.
Just before 6:00 p.m., Dr. King was outside on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel in front of his room. At about 6:01 p.m., while conversing with associates in the parking lot below, he was shot and fatally wounded by a single bullet fired from a 30.06 rifle. The shot came from the direction of the rear of the buildings on South Main Street across from the Lorraine.
Within minutes of the assassination, police found a "bundle" on the sidewalk in front of Canipe's record store. It contained a 30.06 rifle with a spent cartridge casing in its chamber, an attached scope, unfired 30.06 ammunition, and items belonging to James Earl Ray. Ray's fingerprints were on the rifle and scope.
Firearms testing could not positively determine whether the fatal shot was or was not fired from the rifle recovered in front of Canipe's. The markings on the bullet removed from Dr. King's body, however, match the general rifling characteristics of the discarded 30.06 rifle. General rifling characteristics are the consistent features inside the barrel of all rifles of the same model.
At the time of the shooting, a tactical team of twelve Memphis police officers and county deputies were in and around Fire Station No. 2. Another Memphis police officer was also at the rear of the station to conduct surveillance of Dr. King and his party. After Dr. King was shot, officers from the tactical team raced to the Lorraine and South Main Street. Other police officers quickly joined in searching the area around the Lorraine, as well as the buildings on South Main and their backyards.
Minutes after the shooting, a deputy sheriff entered Jim's Grill. Inside, Jowers was behind the counter and there were nearly a dozen customers. Law enforcement officers spoke with Jowers that evening and several times over the next few days.
Sometime after the assassination, Ray left Memphis and drove to Atlanta where he abandoned his Mustang the next day. Several days later, the FBI impounded and searched the Mustang. At the time, Donald Wilson was a new special agent in the FBI Atlanta field office.
After abandoning the Mustang, Ray fled to Canada, where he had traveled the previous year after his escape from prison. Following a massive search, law enforcement officers arrested Ray in London, England, two months after the assassination.
In March 1969, Ray pled guilty to murdering Dr. King. When he entered his plea, he stipulated to various facts, including that he: (1) purchased the 30.06 rifle; (2) parked his Mustang just south of Canipe's [between Canipe's and Fire Station No. 2]; (3) shot Dr. King from the second floor bathroom of the rooming house; (4) ran from the rooming house to his Mustang and dropped the rifle and other items in the "bundle" in front of Canipe's; and (5) left the scene in his Mustang. Thereafter, he was sentenced to 99 years in prison.
Three days after pleading guilty, and for the next 30 years until his death in April 1998, Ray repeatedly attempted to withdraw his plea and obtain a trial. Ray continually filed motions and separate lawsuits in both state and federal court. He claimed that his plea was involuntary, that he was denied the effective assistance of counsel, that he was imprisoned in violation of his constitutional rights, and that various persons had conspired against him. In 1994, Ray filed the last of his several state petitions for post-conviction relief, Ray v. Dutton. He sought to obtain a new trial based upon his claim that the 30.06 rifle, which the police discovered on South Main Street, was not the murder weapon. Additional firearms identification testing conducted pursuant to this claim was inconclusive. The petition was still pending in April 1998, when Ray died in prison.
In addition to Ray's post-conviction relief efforts, Dr. Pepper filed a false imprisonment civil suit in state court in 1994, claiming that Jowers and others conspired to kill Dr. King and frame Ray. That lawsuit, Ray v. Jowers, was dismissed in 1997.
After pleading guilty, Ray persistently maintained that he was innocent and not at the rooming house when the fatal shot was fired and that Raoul orchestrated the assassination plot, framing him. He nonetheless failed to provide a coherent, consistent description of his own activities with Raoul prior to the assassination or offer any affirmative evidence to corroborate his contentions.
Over the years, parties other than Ray have filed additional lawsuits related to the assassination. Most recently, after Ray's death in 1998, King family members, represented by Dr. Pepper, filed a civil complaint in Tennessee state court charging Loyd Jowers with participating in a conspiracy that resulted in the wrongful death of Dr. King. The evidence presented in the jury trial of that lawsuit is discussed in Section VII below.
IV. JOWERS' ALLEGATIONS
A. Introduction
For several years beginning in the late 1960s, Loyd Jowers owned and operated Jim's Grill, a tavern located below the rooming house on South Main Street where James Earl Ray rented a room on the day of the assassination. In the late 1940s, Jowers was briefly a Memphis police officer. Subsequently, he made his living on and off over the years as a taxi driver and through ownership of a string of small businesses in Memphis, including Jim's Grill, another bar, and Memphis taxi cab companies. In the early 1990s, Jowers left Memphis for his hometown of Martin, Tennessee, where he opened a small convenience store. In late 1993, he moved to Arkansas.
For the first 25 years after the assassination, Jowers maintained in several statements to law enforcement officials and defense investigators that he was behind the counter serving customers in Jim's Grill when Dr. King was shot. He did not claim any involvement in or provide any significant information about the assassination.
In December 1993, Jowers appeared on ABC's Prime Time Live, radically changed his story, and "confessed" to having participated in a plot to kill Dr. King. Since that appearance, he has given additional statements about the assassination to the media, Dr. King's son Dexter King, Ray's attorney, a law enforcement agent, relatives, friends, and courts. In these statements, Jowers has repeatedly changed key aspects of his new story, disavowed his confession, and even retreated to his long-standing account of the previous 25 years.
The investigative team analyzed the contents of Jowers' many statements. We also interviewed numerous witnesses and reviewed tens of thousands of pages of documents, including transcripts from the King v. Jowers trial, to determine whether there is credible evidence to support any aspect of Jowers' varied accounts. Finally, we attempted to interview Jowers, but he refused to speak with us.
B. The Origin Of Jowers' Allegations
1. Statements between 1968-1992
Jowers spoke to the Memphis police and the FBI a total of four times within five days of the assassination. He later talked to investigators working on behalf of James Earl Ray. In each of these accounts, Jowers consistently described his own uneventful activities at Jim's Grill on the afternoon of the assassination. He told authorities that he arrived at the tavern around 4:00 p.m. and noticed a white Mustang in his usual parking spot in front of the grill. At around 6:00 p.m., while behind the counter in the front of his tavern, he heard a loud noise and went to the kitchen to investigate. When he saw nothing unusual, he returned to serve his customers. He was behind the counter when the police arrived minutes after the shooting.(8)
During the next quarter of a century, Jowers revealed nothing about the assassination that was materially different from his original accounts. In discussions with HSCA staff and Ray's investigators, as well as in testimony in a legal proceeding in which Ray sought to withdraw his guilty plea, Jowers focused exclusively on his observations of the Mustang and potential witnesses in the rooming house and the grill.(9)
2. The Evolution of the Alleged Confession
In 1992, Jowers hinted that his story was about to change. That year, Home Box Office (HBO) and Thames Television of London initiated a project to produce and televise a mock trial of James Earl Ray. The producers hired Ray's real-life attorney, Dr. William Pepper, to represent him, and Hickman Ewing, the former United States Attorney in Memphis, to be the prosecutor. From the show's $3 million budget, they gave each side an expense account in excess of $100,000 to hire investigators, pursue leads, and prepare its case. As the investigators and production crew came to Memphis, public interest in the King assassination increased substantially. The program, which included the mock jury's verdict of not-guilty, ultimately aired in April 1993, on the 25th anniversary of the assassination.
In December 1992, Jowers met in his attorney's office with a prosecutorial investigator working on the mock trial. In the reception room, without his attorney, Jowers repeated the story he had been telling for years. He added that the gunshot had come from inside the building since he believed that he would not have heard a noise from outside.
Immediately after the reception room conversation, the investigator met with Jowers and his attorney, Lewis Garrison. During the meeting, Garrison revealed that Jowers had information that would put "a different slant" on the assassination. He would not, however, disclose the information. Instead, he stated that Jowers wanted more compensation than the standard $40 per day witness fee provided participants in the mock trial.
In January 1993, Jowers testified at the mock trial for the defense. He essentially repeated what he had been saying since 1968. Jowers was somewhat unclear as to whether he had actually heard a gunshot, but again claimed that he went to the kitchen to investigate a noise. Significantly, he denied telling anyone that he had found a gun and kept it under the counter at Jim's Grill after the assassination.
In the fall of 1993, Garrison forwarded a written request for immunity to the Shelby County District Attorney General on behalf of five unnamed clients, later determined to include Jowers, his former girlfriend Betty Spates, and two of his former co-workers in the taxicab business, James McCraw and Willie Akins. The request provided very little detail and stated that an unnamed person (Jowers) received money to hire Dr. King's assassin. It further maintained that immediately after the shooting, the assassin passed the murder weapon to Jowers, who disassembled and hid it. The request also stated that Jowers "had close contact with some persons employed by the Memphis Police Department" and included representations from Garrison's other clients inculpating Jowers in the plot. The District Attorney General was not persuaded by the limited proffer and did not grant immunity to any of Garrison's clients.
After submitting the request for immunity, Jowers and Garrison met with Jack Saltman, one of the producers of the televised mock trial. Jowers revealed his alleged involvement in the assassination and, for the first time, provided details of the alleged plot, including the names of the alleged assassin and other co-conspirators. Because Jowers did not have immunity, his statement to Saltman was an admission that could be used against him in a criminal prosecution.
3. Jowers' 1993 Televised Prime Time Live Appearance
In December 1993, after his discussion with Saltman, Jowers agreed to an interview with ABC journalist, Sam Donaldson. The interview aired on Prime Time Live on December 16, 1993. At Jowers' request, the network partially shaded his face, but broadcast his full name and the fact that he was from Memphis. Jowers' attorney, Lewis Garrison, also appeared on the program.
During the interview, Jowers announced that he was "indirectly" involved in a conspiracy to kill Dr. King. He explained that Frank Liberto,(10) a Memphis produce dealer, asked him to "hire someone to assassinate Dr. Martin Luther King." Donaldson also reported that Jowers claimed to have received approximately $100,000 as part of the assassination plot at his grill sometime before the murder.
Jowers further asserted that a man with a name sounding like Raoul "brought a rifle in a box" and "asked [him] to hold [it] [un]til * * * he made arrangements or we made arrangements, one or the other of us, for the killing." According to Jowers, Liberto said that the police "wouldn't be there" and "it'd be set up where it looked like someone else had done the killing." Jowers also added that he did not believe that James Earl Ray knew he was part of the plot. When Jowers revealed that he had hired the killer, his attorney Garrison abruptly terminated the interview, saying Jowers has "gone as far as we can." In an off-camera interview with program producer Ira Rosen, however, Jowers specifically named the assassin, identifying an African American man who was found on South Main Street by the police after the shooting.
4. Subsequent Statements
Since Prime Time Live, Jowers has made several statements to the media and private parties regarding the assassination. Additionally, his attorney Lewis Garrison has made statements to the media, private parties, and an attorney with our investigation. Garrison also advocated Jowers' position in both King v. Jowers and Ray v. Jowers, an earlier false imprisonment civil suit filed by Dr. Pepper on behalf of Ray. Nonetheless, Jowers would not speak with our investigation and did not testify during King v.Jowers, where he was the only party sued.
In November 1994, Jowers testified under oath in a deposition in Ray v. Jowers. In April 1997, he spoke about his allegations in a recorded telephone conversation with Mark Glankler, an investigator with the Shelby County District Attorney General. Jowers also talked to Dexter King, Dr. King's son, on two occasions, in October 1997 and March 1998, joined by Dr. Pepper and Ambassador Andrew Young, respectively. In April 1998, Jowers appeared a second time on Prime Time Live. Additionally, since 1993, Jowers has spoken about his conspiracy claims on several occasions to friends and a close relative.
Garrison filed answers to the complaints in Ray v. Jowers and King v. Jowers in October 1994 and October 1998, respectively, and amended the latter in 1999.(11) In March 1995, in Jowers' presence, Garrison spoke with Dr. Pepper, and in April 1997, without Jowers, he talked to author Gerald Posner. In March 1999, Garrison discussed Jowers' allegations with an attorney from our investigation. He also represented Jowers' position at the trial of King v. Jowers and on several occasions made comments to the media regarding Jowers' claims.
On three occasions when Jowers spoke about his conspiracy claims, he essentially disavowed them. In his 1994 deposition -- the only statement he has made under oath -- Jowers repeated the account he originally gave soon after the shooting, and did not claim any involvement in the assassination. He also repudiated his conspiracy allegations in separate conversations with District Attorney General investigator Glankler and a close relative.
Jowers' remaining statements are inconsistent with both one another and the original Prime Time Live interview. Among other things, Jowers has vacillated about the identity of the assassin, his own role in the alleged conspiracy, the disposal of the alleged murder weapon, and the degree to which Memphis police officers were involved. To the extent there are any common elements to his varied accounts, he has maintained that he participated in a plot with Liberto, Raoul, and Memphis police officers to smuggle money and a rifle into Jim's Grill. Jowers also has alleged that the assassin fired from behind the grill and that he received and concealed the murder weapon from him immediately after the shooting.
Garrison's statements on Jowers' behalf, including his closing argument in King v. Jowers, are inconsistent with each other and Jowers' own varied accounts. Additionally, when speaking to an attorney from our investigation, Garrison acknowledged that Jowers had lied.
C. Analysis Of Jowers' Statements Since 1993
Since 1993, Jowers' statements have deviated significantly from both the account he gave on Prime Time Live and each other.
1. Statements Rejecting Conspiracy Claims
a. Statement under oath
Jowers has never made his conspiracy claims under oath. In fact, although he was the only party being sued, he did not testify in King v. Jowers.
In his only statement under oath since his 1993 revelation, Jowers did not confess. Specifically, in a November 1994 sworn deposition in Ray v. Jowers, approximately a year after his initial appearance on Prime Time Live, Jowers refused to adopt his televised confession. When asked about the truth of his comments on Prime Time Live, he invoked his Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination. He did not, however, resist discussing the events surrounding the assassination. Rather, he retreated to his 1968 account. Repeating what he had said many times before, he testified that while serving customers at Jim's Grill, he heard a noise, briefly inspected the kitchen, and immediately returned to the counter.(12)
b. Other repudiations
Central to Jowers' conspiracy allegations are his claims that he concealed the murder weapon after the assassination and that James Earl Ray was not the shooter. Together, these assertions necessarily imply that the 30.06 rifle with Ray's fingerprints found by the police in front of Canipe's store was not the weapon that fired the shot that killed Dr. King.
In April 1997, in a tape-recorded conversation with Shelby County District Attorney General's office investigator Mark Glankler, Jowers disavowed this key aspect of his story and characterized it as "bullshit." Jowers had telephoned Glankler to complain about investigators interviewing his relatives (emphasis added):
Jowers: Well tell him [Jowers' attorney Garrison] you heard all this from my relatives, okay?
Glankler: Sure.
Jowers: But now you can believe this. What I've told you so far, which wasn't very much. Now I, I got to tell you this. I got to tell you this. That rifle -
Glankler: Yes sir.
Jowers: Is the one that killed Martin Luther King.
Glankler: Which - which one? The one that in the uh-
Jowers: Yeah.
Glankler: Evidence room now?
Jowers: Yeah.
Glankler: That is or is not?
Jowers: That is.
Glankler: Okay.
Jowers: There was no - there was no second rifle.
Glankler: Okay.
Jowers: All that bullshit they come up with a second rifle or a second firer -- that's bullshit.
Glankler: Uhuh (indicating yes)
Jowers: There wasn't no second one.
The timing of Jowers' disavowal may be significant. The conversation occurred not only when Jowers' allegations were under investigation by the District Attorney General, but also at the time of the court hearings concerning Ray's motion for additional testing of the rifle, referred to in the above conversation as the rifle in the evidence room.
Jowers'attorney later offered an explanation for Jowers' comments. Garrison told an attorney with our investigation that Jowers falsely stated there was "no second rifle" because he wanted to stop the prosecutor's office from interviewing his family members, and he hoped to influence Ray's pending motion for additional testing on the rifle. According to Garrison, Jowers reasoned that, if the judge doubted the existence of a second rifle, he would be more inclined to grant Ray's motion.
If Garrison is wrong and Jowers told Glankler the truth, Jowers' allegations are in fact false. If Garrison is right, then Jowers lied to influence an ongoing court proceeding. Either way, Jowers' claims about a second rifle and a different shooter are suspect. In the first scenario, Jowers has expressly conceded the central features of his allegation are false. In the second, by lying -- and doing so with an unquestionably unlawful motive -- he has severely undermined his own credibility.
Jowers also repudiated his conspiracy claims in a one-on-one conversation with a family member, with whom he speaks frequently. Sometime after his first appearance onPrime Time Live, the relative asked Jowers whether he was actually involved in the assassination. According to the relative, Jowers answered, "Hell, no." The fact that the response was spontaneous and occurred during a private conversation with a very close relative suggests that it was truthful.
2. Contradictory Conspiracy Claims
Setting aside Jowers' repudiations of his conspiracy allegations, his statements claiming involvement in the assassination contradict each other on almost every key issue.
a. The man who allegedly shot Dr. King
Since 1993, Jowers has identified different people as Dr. King's assassin. He has alternatively claimed that the shooter was: (1) an African American man who was on South Main Street on the night of the assassination (the "Man on South Main Street"); (2) Raoul; (3) a white "Lieutenant" with the Memphis Police Department; and (4) a person whom he did not recognize.(13)
Initially, during a 1993 interview with HBO mock trial producer Jack Saltman, Jowers identified the assassin as an African American man, whom the police ushered into Jim's Grill from South Main Street minutes after the shooting. He named the same man during a subsequent interview with Prime Time Live producer Ira Rosen. Jowers, however, dropped the allegation shortly thereafter once the man, whom the media located and interviewed, passed a polygraph examination in which he denied any involvement. According to Dr. Pepper, Garrison later claimed that one of Jowers' friends, Willie Akins, who appeared on Prime Time Live with Jowers and Garrison, had actually concocted the story and that Jowers "[went] along" with it.
In April 1997, Garrison met with author Gerald Posner and suggested a new assassin -- Raoul. Speaking on behalf of Jowers, Garrison suggested that Raoul fired the fatal shot from behind Jim's Grill. Garrison stated, "Raoul came in [Jim's Grill] around five thirty and took the gun and went out back. Later, he gave the gun to Jowers after the shooting."
Later, when speaking to Dexter King in October 1997 and again in March 1998, (14) Jowers did not repeat Garrison's claim about his taking the rifle from Raoul after the shooting. Instead, he accused someone else of being the assassin who handed him the rifle after the shooting. This time it was the "Lieutenant," a conveniently deceased, white, high-ranking Memphis police officer. Jowers claimed that he was close to and regularly hunted with the "Lieutenant," even though he previously testified under oath that he had never associated with him.
In the same conversation, Jowers hedged about whether the "Lieutenant" actually shot Dr. King. He said, "I'm sure it was [the "Lieutenant]"; "I couldn't swear that it was [the "Lieutenant,"] * * * but I believe it was"; and "I'm almost positive, but -- but now, as far as seeing his face, I did not."
In April 1998, only a month after his second conversation with Dexter King and Ambassador Andrew Young, Jowers backed off all of his earlier allegations that he knew the identity of the assassin. Appearing on Prime Time Live a second time, he told a polygrapher -- who concluded he was deceptive when claiming involvement in the assassination -- that he did not recognize the assassin when he received the rifle from him behind Jim's Grill.
Recently, during King v. Jowers, William Hamblin, a former taxicab driver who worked for Jowers, confirmed that Jowers and his friend James McCraw (see Section IV.D.1.c. below) named several different people as the assassin. Testifying about Jowers' and McCraw's allegations about the assassin, Hamblin remarked "they've named every policeman in the graveyard. Every time they get scared, they'll name another policeman as being the murder man."
b. Disposal of the alleged murder weapon
Jowers has given numerous contradictory accounts about the ultimate disposal of the murder weapon. Initially, the morning after the assassination, Jowers told Bobbie Balfour, a waitress at Jim's Grill, that the police found the murder weapon shortly after the assassination. According to Balfour, Jowers bragged that the police had actually found the rifle in the backyard of his grill. In fact, the police had found a rifle with James Earl Ray's fingerprints in front of Canipe's music store.
In 1993, when he first claimed that he was part of a conspiracy to murder Dr. King, Jowers maintained that the police did not have the actual murder weapon. When speaking with TV producer Jack Saltman, Jowers said that he himself received the murder weapon from the assassin immediately after the shooting, hid it in his tavern, and then later took it away in the trunk of his car.
By 1994, Jowers was no longer claiming that he personally disposed of the alleged murder weapon or knew precisely what had happened to it. In March of 1995, Garrison, in Jowers' presence, told Dr. Pepper that the day after the assassination, Raoul had actually come to Jim's Grill and picked up the rifle.
In 1997, Jowers did a complete about-face during a private telephone conversation with an investigator from the Shelby County District Attorney General's office. Implying that he had not participated in any conspiracy to assassinate Dr. King, he disavowed the existence of any murder weapon other than the rifle discovered by the police with Ray's fingerprints. During the conversation, Jowers told investigator Glankler, as previously noted, that the story about "a second rifle or a second firer -- that's bullshit."See Section IV.C.1.b. above.
In March 1998, Jowers returned to the version presented by Garrison in 1995. He told Dexter King that Raoul came into his grill on the day after the assassination, "picked it [the rifle] up," and "[w]alked on out the front door with it." A month later, according to Jowers' close friend, cab driver James Milner, Jowers repeated his claim that he gave the rifle to Raoul the day after the assassination.(15)
On a related issue, Jowers has also given different stories about his alleged receipt of the murder weapon after the shooting. In 1995, Garrison, speaking in Jowers' presence, told Dr. Pepper that Jowers picked up the rifle off the ground from the bushes behind Jim's Grill. A few years later, when speaking to Dexter King and later to the ABC polygrapher, Jowers said the assassin threw him the rifle at the backdoor of the tavern.
c. Jowers' alleged hiring of a hit man
Jowers has claimed fundamentally differing roles in the conspiracy. In his initial revelations to Saltman and on Prime Time Live, he alleged that Liberto gave him $100,000 to find and hire the assassin. Jowers told Saltman he paid the hit man $10,000 and kept the rest for himself. He retreated from this claim, however, when the media tracked down "the Man on South Main Street."
Once Jowers abandoned the hit man story, he was nonetheless left with his allegation that he had been given $100,000. In an apparent effort to account for Jowers' prior claim, Garrison told Dr. Pepper and author Gerald Posner in 1995 and 1997, respectively, that his client merely held the money for Liberto until it was picked up by a co-conspirator. Garrison said Jowers agreed to the job for forgiveness of a debt. In March 1998, when Jowers spoke to Dexter King, he acknowledged holding the $100,000, but failed to mention the alleged debt.
In April 1998, just a month later, Jowers not only contradicted his statement to Dexter King, but also managed to make two inconsistent statements about his alleged role within a span of twenty minutes. In a conversation with the polygrapher shortly before his second appearance on Prime Time Live, Jowers denied that Liberto gave him $100,000 to kill Dr. King. Later, on camera, he flip-flopped, returning to his original story that Liberto gave him money to hire a "hit man."
d. The purpose of the alleged conspiracy
Jowers has also been inconsistent as to when and whether he knew the object of the conspiracy. During the first Prime Time Live interview, Jowers stated (emphasis added):
Jowers: He [Liberto] asked me to handle some money transactions, to hire someone to assassinate Dr. King.(16)
Donaldson: To kill Dr. King?
Jowers: Yes, sir. He asked me if I knew someone. I told him I thought I knew someone who would probably do it.
Donaldson: And he gave you some money?
Jowers: Yes, sir.
In recent versions of his story, Jowers has done a complete about-face, claiming that he did not know that Dr. King was the intended victim or even that an assassination was the purpose of the plot. In March 1998, Jowers specifically told Dexter King and Ambassador Young that Liberto never told him the reason for his receiving the money. Rather, Jowers explained, "I figured [the money] was to buy a gun or dope, whatever it was he was dealing in." He further elaborated that when Liberto finally informed him -- after the assassination -- that the "ton of money * * * that's what it cost me to get King killed," he was so surprised he "almost dropped the damn phone."
After Jowers left the room, Garrison explained to Dexter King that his client had failed to acknowledge that he knew Dr. King was the target because of his discomfort in making the admission directly to Dr. King's son. Several months later, however, Garrison contradicted that explanation. In October 1998, the Memphis Commercial Appealquoted Garrison as saying that Jowers' defense to the King family's wrongful death suit was "that he was involved but that he did not know it was Dr. King."
While Jowers did not testify in King v. Jowers, Garrison presented Jowers' current position in his opening and closing statements. Garrison, making alternative arguments, claimed both that Jowers did not know Dr. King was a target and that even if he did, he was merely "a small-time greasy-spoon cafe operator who played a very insignificant part in this case, if anything."
e. The alleged additional co-conspirator
Jowers has consistently claimed that in addition to Liberto and the assassin, another person was involved in the plot. Jowers, however, has been inconsistent as to both the co-conspirator's identity and role.
In his initial statement about the alleged conspiracy to producer Jack Saltman, Jowers used both the names "Hardin" and "Royal" to refer to the alleged co-conspirator. Jowers did not actually articulate the name Raoul until he spoke with Dexter King years later. Even then, however, when King asked Jowers about Raoul, Jowers replied, "[t]hat's what they said his name was. I don't believe that's his name * * * Why would a man use his own name when he is involved in something like [this]?"(emphasis added). Garrison then interjected that his client had misheard the man's name to be "Royal," and Jowers agreed. A month later, when a polygrapher asked Jowers the same question about Raoul during his reappearance on Prime Time Live, he similarly responded, "I don't know, his name was 'Royal.'"
Jowers also repeatedly changed his account of what the alleged co-conspirator did. In his initial story to Saltman, "Hardin" or "Royal" had nothing to do with the rifle once he delivered it to Jim's Grill. Rather, according to Jowers, the alleged assassin -- the "Man on South Main Street" -- retrieved the rifle prior to the assassination, used it to shoot Dr. King, and immediately gave it back to Jowers to conceal.
Once the media discredited Jowers' story about the "Man on South Main Street," Jowers modified the alleged additional co-conspirator's responsibilities. In a conversation with Dr. Pepper in March 1995, Garrison said that Raoul not only delivered the gun to Jim's Grill, but also picked it up two hours before the assassination and returned the next day to take it away. Subsequently, Jowers slightly altered the account, telling Dexter King that he only assumed Raoul picked up the gun prior to the assassination, but did not actually see him do so.
Jowers also expanded the other co-conspirator's role with respect to the money. In his first Prime Time Live appearance and in his prior discussion with Saltman, Jowers claimed that he gave part of the money to the "Man on South Main Street" -- not to Raoul -- and kept the remainder for himself. In 1998, however, after discarding his claim about hiring a hit man, Jowers told Dexter King that Raoul picked up the money after the assassination and "walked on out the front door."
f. The alleged role of Memphis police officers
Jowers has given different accounts of the alleged involvement of Memphis police officers in the plot to assassinate Dr. King. In his 1993 interview with Saltman, Jowers reported that "Hardin" or "Royal" explained that an African American "Undercover Officer" would "coordinate things" with the police. A few months later on Prime Time Live, Jowers added that Liberto "[s]aid they [the police] wouldn't be there that night." Again in 1995, when speaking to Pepper through Garrison, Jowers maintained that the police "would be nowhere in sight."
In 1997, Jowers expanded his allegations regarding the role of the Memphis police. In April 1997, Garrison, who claimed to have recently spoken to Jowers, told author Gerald Posner that several police officers met in Jim's Grill to plot the assassination. According to Garrison, Jowers did not name all the officers who participated, but did identify a specific "Undercover Officer," who had been near Dr. King at the time of the shooting. He also named a "Homicide Inspector" and a "TACT Inspector," who led the tactical (TACT) patrol units established because of the sanitation workers' strike.
In October 1997 and March 1998, when meeting with Dexter King, Jowers altered and further expanded Garrison's account. First, Jowers named different officers than those identified by Garrison as the participants in the meeting at Jim's Grill. Specifically, Jowers related that an officer, who had been his "Former Partner" when he was a policeman, was also involved in the meeting, but he did not name the "TACT Inspector," whom Garrison had identified as a participant.(17) More significantly, Jowers claimed not only that the officers plotted the crime in his tavern, but that one was actually the assassin. He asserted that a now deceased, high-ranking "Lieutenant" both participated in the meeting and later shot Dr. King. See Section IV.C.2.a. above. In his conversation with Gerald Posner, Garrison had not mentioned the "Lieutenant" at all.
Subsequently, Jowers abandoned his claims about the police altogether. When he spoke to the polygrapher with ABC in preparation for his April 1998 Prime Time Liveappearance, he did not mention the meeting at Jim's Grill or the "Lieutenant." As previously discussed, he contended that he did not recognize the man who threw him the rifle. In response to a question about the police's involvement, he also said that he was not "absolutely sure" whether they played any role whatsoever.
3. Summary of Jowers' Statements since 1993
Jowers has never adopted his conspiracy allegations while under oath. Rather, on the one occasion where he was sworn to tell the truth, in his deposition in Ray v. Jowers, he retreated to his 1968 account of what occurred. He has also stated that his conspiracy claims are false during private conversations with both an investigator with the Shelby County District Attorney General's office and a close relative.
Moreover, when Jowers has confessed to the media and private parties, he has been dramatically inconsistent on virtually every aspect of the alleged conspiracy. His attorney has also given contradictory versions of the story and admitted that Jowers once failed to tell the truth. Thus, on their face, Jowers' allegations about a plot to kill Dr. King appear to be unworthy of belief.
D. Analysis Of The Evidence
Apart from analyzing the content of Jowers' statements, the investigative team considered whether there is any evidence to corroborate Jowers' claim that he and his purported co-conspirators carried out a plot to assassinate Dr. King. To make our assessment, we set aside the numerous contradictions in Jowers' conspiracy claims and examined the central, factual questions that Jowers has raised: (1) whether Jowers received a rifle behind Jim's Grill from the assassin; (2) whether Jowers concealed the rifle after the shooting; (3) whether Liberto gave Jowers money to conceal in Jim's Grill; and (4) whether Memphis police officers were involved in the plot.(18)
Focusing on these four areas, we interviewed every available civilian witness and law enforcement official known to have been at Jim's Grill, the Lorraine Motel, or the general area of the shooting on the night of the assassination, as well as other individuals who might have information pertinent to Jowers' claims. We also inspected the crime scene and reviewed tens of thousands of pages of documentary evidence, including numerous witness statements, transcripts of testimony in King v. Jowers, photographs, and reports.
1. The Murder
a. Jowers' alleged receipt of the assassin's rifle
According to Jowers, a co-conspirator instructed him to be at the backdoor of Jim's Grill at 6:00 p.m. on the evening of the assassination.(19) Jowers claims that while standing at the door, he heard a shot, and then, depending on the statement, either retrieved the rifle from the ground or caught it when the assassin threw it to him.
(1) Implausibility of Jowers' knowing the time of the shooting
On April 4, 1968, Dr. King and his associates were scheduled to have dinner at the home of Reverend Samuel Kyles, a Memphis minister. Reverend Kyles told our investigation that he expected everyone around 6:00 p.m. but invited his guests for 5:00 p.m., because Dr. King always ran late. Consistent with Reverend Kyles' account, several of Dr. King's associates confirmed that at close to 6:00 p.m. they began assembling in the parking lot of the Lorraine. Dr. King, who was also preparing to leave,exited his second floor room onto the balcony with Reverend Kyles and made casual conversation with his associates below. Dr. King was then shot.
Jowers' allegation that a co-conspirator instructed him to be at the back of Jim's Grill at 6:00 p.m. presumes, first, that the co-conspirator knew that the assassination was to occur precisely at 6:00 p.m. and, second, that someone in Dr. King's party was part of the conspiracy and arranged for Dr. King to be on the balcony at that time. Both presumptions are implausible. Unless someone from Dr. King's group knew and advised the alleged conspirators in advance that Dr. King would leave for his scheduled 5:00 p.m. dinner exactly an hour late, a co-conspirator would not have known to instruct Jowers to be at the rear of Jim's Grill at the precise time of the shooting.
The presumption that a co-conspirator received information from someone in Dr. King's party is also completely unsubstantiated. While there have been accusations over the years, and during the King v. Jowers trial, that associates of Dr. King were implicated in a plot to kill him, we are aware of no reliable evidence to support such speculation.(20) Indeed, our investigation discovered nothing to suggest that Dr. King's 6:00 p.m. presence on the balcony was anything but coincidental or that Jowers or anyone else anticipated his being there precisely at that time. Accordingly, Jowers' claim that he was directed by a co-conspirator to be at the rear door of Jim's Grill at 6:00 p.m. is not credible.
(2) Absence of corroborating evidence
Jowers contends that he received the murder weapon from the assassin immediately after the shooting. In most of his conspiracy claims, he has maintained that the assassin gave or threw him the rifle in the area of the backdoor of Jim's Grill. According to Dr. Pepper, however, Jowers also twice stated -- once through Garrison and once himself -- that he went to the brush area of the backyard and retrieved the rifle from the ground.
No physical evidence exists to support Jowers' inconsistent claims. As discussed in more detail in Section IV.D.1.b.(1) below, within minutes of the assassination, the police searched for footprints in the backyard of Jim's Grill. Although they left their own footprints because the ground was wet from the previous night's heavy rainstorm, they did not find any prints consistent with Jowers' story. In fact, while they located one pair of footprints pointing away from the Lorraine in an alley adjacent to the grill, they found none by the backdoor. The absence of such physical evidence undermines Jowers' claim that he was behind Jim's Grill at the time of the shooting.
Eyewitness evidence also fails to support Jowers' claim that he was behind Jim's Grill at the time of the assassination. While the balcony of the Lorraine offered an excellent view of the grill's backyard, including its backdoor, three persons with that vantage point reported seeing nothing to support Jowers' claim. Reverend Samuel Kyles, whom we interviewed, was a few feet away from Dr. King when the shot was fired. According to her 1968 interviews with law enforcement investigators, Ceolar Shavers, a maid at the Lorraine whom we were unable to locate, was also on the balcony. Additionally, Joseph Louw, a South African news producer, whom we also interviewed, emerged onto the balcony from his second floor room seconds after the shooting. All three looked into the backyard -- Kyles and Shavers immediately after hearing the shot and Louw after he went to the doorway of his room. None reported seeing anyone or anything unusual in the backyard area.
Witnesses on the ground level of the Lorraine could not see the backdoor of Jim's Grill because of the elevated backyard. However, right after the shot, Ambassador Andrew Young and other members of Dr. King's party rushed up the stairs from the parking lot to the balcony to assist Dr. King. Like Shavers, Louw, and Kyles, none of these additional witnesses who looked from the balcony reported seeing anyone or anything unusual behind Jim's Grill.
(3) The alleged corroborating witness
We found no corroboration for Jowers' allegation that he brought a rifle through the backdoor of the tavern immediately after the shooting, except a single witness -- Betty Spates. At the time of the assassination, Spates was 17 years old, Jowers' girlfriend, and a part-time waitress at Jim's Grill. In 1993, Garrison represented both Jowers and Spates, and, at least until that time, his two clients maintained regular contact.
In an affidavit dated March 8, 1994, prepared by Dr. Pepper, Spates claimed that at just after 6:00 p.m., while in the kitchen of Jim's Grill, she saw Jowers come through the backdoor holding a rifle with a scope. She said that Jowers carried the rifle by his side into the public area of the tavern and hid it under the counter. According to the affidavit, this was the second rifle Jowers had in Jim's Grill that day. The first rifle, which Spates said she saw around noon, was longer, lighter in color, and had no scope.
(a) Contradictory statements
Spates gave a sworn statement to District Attorney General investigators a little over a month before executing the March 1994 affidavit and testified under oath in a deposition several months thereafter. In each of these sworn statements, she contradicted precisely the points in her affidavit that allegedly support Jowers' claims about the conspiracy.
In her January 1994 sworn statement to the District Attorney General's office, Spates unequivocally denied both that she was at the grill around 6:00 p.m. and that she saw Jowers with a rifle at that time. Additionally, instead of claiming that she twice saw Jowers with different rifles, she said he had only one and that was at noon.(21)
In her other sworn statement, a deposition given under oath in November 1994 in Ray v. Jowers, Spates again contradicted her affidavit and gave still another version of events. When asked whether she was at the grill at 6:00 p.m. on the day of the assassination, she initially testified that she did not know. Later, when reminded of what she had alleged in her affidavit, she stated, "I just don't remember these times." She similarly equivocated about whether she saw Jowers with a rifle at any time on the day of the assassination. Thus, after having earlier denied and then admitted under oath details crucial to Jowers' allegations, Spates suddenly did not know or could not remember what had occurred.
Spates also conceded that she had no information linking Jowers to the assassination during a tape-recorded conversation with her sister, Bobbie Balfour, just over a month before she signed the affidavit. In that conversation, which unbeknownst to Spates was lawfully tape-recorded by District Attorney General investigators, she said that she was not at the grill at 6:00 p.m. on the day Dr. King was killed. When speaking about Jowers and the assassination, Spates added, "[p]eople think we know something we don't."
Spates did not testify in the trial of King v. Jowers. Nor did she speak with our investigation. See Section IV.D.1.a.(3)(c) below. Thus, her statements, including those under oath, remain contradictory.
(b) Evidence refuting the account
There is no independent evidence to support Spates' intermittent claim that she was at Jim's Grill at 6:00 p.m. on the day of the assassination. In fact, evidence establishes otherwise.
Within minutes of the shooting, a deputy sheriff entered Jim's Grill and instructed Jowers to lock the door. Thereafter, police investigators compiled a list of every witness inside. Spates' name does not appear on that list.(22)
Moreover, no witness places Spates in the grill at the time of the assassination. In fact, none of the patrons we interviewed remembered seeing Spates. Jowers, too, has claimed that Spates was not at the tavern. In his deposition in Ray v. Jowers, he testified under oath that Spates did not work on the day of the assassination. Similarly, in several of his accounts, he denied that Spates was in the grill.(23) Jowers' representations are particularly significant, because they refute the only corroboration for the unsubstantiated story he has sought to promote.
While none of the key points in Spates' March 1994 affidavit are corroborated, at least one is implausible on its face. Spates claimed that Jowers, without taking any precautions, carried the rifle, uncovered and at his side, from the kitchen through the bar area of Jim's Grill and hid it under the counter. It is doubtful that Jowers, allegedly attempting to hide the murder weapon, would have taken it from a private kitchen into a crowded, public area. It is equally implausible that he would have carried the rifle into a room full of witnesses without concealing it and without anyone seeing it.
(c) Other indicia of unreliability
Spates' contradictory claims about the King assassination are not new. Thirty years ago, she reportedly accused her boss (presumably Jowers) of involvement in the assassination. Days later, when investigators from the Shelby County District Attorney General's office confronted her with the accusation, she claimed she never made it.
In early 1969, prior to Ray's guilty plea, two bail bondsmen advised law enforcement officials that Spates claimed that her "boss man," who had been Jowers, shot Dr. King and that Ray was innocent. According to them, Spates made the comment while arranging to get her brother out of jail. The bondsmen's purported tape recording of the telephone conversation with Spates cannot be located.
Investigators from the District Attorney General's office, including Clyde Venson, questioned Spates about the bondsmen's report shortly after they received it. According to Venson, whom we interviewed, Spates denied both making the statement and having any knowledge about the assassination. Venson's recollection is confirmed by a transcript of Spates' interview, dated February 12, 1969.
Spates' conduct in 1994 duplicated what she appears to have done in 1969. At both times, she made a critical allegation about the assassination but, when confronted by law enforcement officials, denied ever making the allegation and refuted its truth.
Spates' reliability is further undermined by the fact that she has not been forthright with our investigation. By telephone, Spates agreed to a meeting at her home in Memphis in April 1999. When members of our team arrived, however, Spates denied her identity and said "Betty Spates" was not at home but would be back later. When members of our team returned after an hour, Spates again stated that "Betty Spates" was not at home and misrepresented her identity, claiming her name was "Sharon."
Subsequently, we sent a letter to Spates, memorializing what had occurred, reiterating our purpose, and inviting her to call if she changed her mind about speaking with us. Someone signed for the letter with a name Spates also uses, "Betty Eldridge." Spates never contacted us, so we were never able to question her about her inconsistent statements.
In sum, Spates has been untruthful under oath, related information that is both contradicted by reliable evidence and implausible, made and then denied accusations about Jowers' involvement in the assassination, and has not been forthright with our investigation. Consequently, her isolated, self-contradicted account that she saw Jowers with a rifle after the shooting is not credible.
b. The alleged shooting of Dr. King from behind Jim's Grill
Although Jowers has made contradictory claims about the identity of Dr. King's assassin, he has consistently alleged that the assassin fired the fatal shot from behind Jim's Grill.
(1) Absence of footprints behind Jim's Grill
We found no physical evidence to corroborate Jowers' allegation about the assassin's location when he shot Dr. King. We did, however, find physical evidence contradicting it.
In 1968, the backdoor of Jim's Grill opened onto a backyard area bordered on the left by
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April 5, 2018
By Ihor Korbabicz
Canadian Millennials have been coming of age in a rapidly evolving job market characterized by digitization, flexibility, and decentralization. More dynamic, but also less stable.
Gone are the days of long term, lifelong careers at big corporations with robust defined benefit pension plans. Enter the emergence of elastic, nimble, digitized companies with roles as flexible as they are precarious.
Along with the evolution of the marketplace comes greater accessibility to and expectations for higher education, which is in turn accompanied by greater post-secondary debt, and a mismatch between skills learned and skills sought by employers.
Couple this with an older generation of baby boomers sitting on a housing market that benefits existing homeowners and disadvantages new entrants, Millennials are coming of age operating in a new affordability paradigm. The protections and assumptions that educated baby boomer’s success and stability – go to school, get a job with benefits, start paying into a mortgage— and by extension what millennials were socialized to expect, are mismatched with present day realities when they enter the workforce.
These factors are a possible explanation for why there is a disconnect between an economy that Millennials acknowledge is healthy and growing, and tempered optimism when it comes to their feelings about their own personal future.
This finding comes from Abacus Data’s study of Canadian Millennials – Canada’s largest reoccurring syndicated publication dedicated to understanding the views of Canadians born between 1980 and 2000 and raised around the turn of the millennium (4000 interviewed annually).
Among other things, our survey found:
70% of Millennial Canadians rate the economy as doing well, while only 16% describe themselves as very optimistic about their personal future (52% are at least mostly optimistic).
80% identify themselves as middle class, but only half or fewer have access to basic protections we associate with the security of a middle-class life: 55% have access to drug insurance, 53% to dental insurance, 36% to an RRSP, and only 29% to an employer provided pension plan.
While the share of pension plan and RRSP ownership may be expected to increase significantly with age, only 45% of Millennials over 30 have an RRSP and a mere 37% of this same group have a pension plan provided by an employer.
When asked what government could do to help them, Millennials are united in their clear desire for a solution to housing affordability. This is a big priority for Millennials regardless if they are living in suburban, urban, or rural Canada. This priority breaks through the traditional “jobs” and “healthcare” preoccupation and is the focal point of Millennial discontent. In other words, this is a generation that is looking for relief on table stakes just like any other – fixing their unique economic pain points in their day to day lives, be it housing, cost of services covered by benefits plans, or making post-secondary education more affordable.
And they are looking to government to take big steps to fix their problems. This generation is more comfortable with big, interventionist government activism than allowing market forces to play their part, a reflection of how they feel this economic system fails to work for them.
Our study finds Millennials clearly prioritize spending over balanced budgets to tackle issues like alleviating income inequality. They believe corporations don’t pay their fair share of taxes and that government has a big role to play in redistributing that money.
Having lived through the 2008 Financial Crisis and a rise in housing costs, many are outright skeptical of the free market. When asked to indicate if they lean more towards one perspective or the other, only 46% suggested that capitalism is the best economic model we have, while 54% believe Canada would be better off with a more socialist system.
Housing affordability, cost of living, and an uncertain job market are the core worries of a generation that feel the current economic and political system leaves something to be desired. This feeling is so deeply held that upwards of one in three Millennials feel that their generation will not be better off than their parents’ generation. In particular, many Millennials believe their generation is more disadvantaged when it comes to attainable housing, retirement security, cost of living, and ease of finding employment, when they compare themselves to their parents’ generation.
While most Millennials want clear action on climate change, poverty alleviation, and more open immigration policies, micro-economic concerns reign supreme in their thinking and priorities, and these – like for generations past – will come first. Expect Millennials, now a major voting bloc to throw their considerable political weight around when looking to governments to solve these problems. The politics forged by their unique upbringing is ripe to disrupt the political assumptions of yesterday and change political norms that have for so long been catered to and shaped by baby boomers.
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The CHIditarod is a race like none other. It’s a food drive, a race for charity, a beauty pageant, a bar crawl, spontaneous street theater, and not for the faint of heart. It’s fast, furious, cold, creative, exciting, and very, very fun.
Fun, free at last.
At its core, CHIditarod is an annual urban charity shopping cart race that takes place annually through Chicago’s West Town and Ukrainian Village neighborhoods. The date of the event was chosen to coincide with the kickoff of the Alaskan Iditarod ® (whom we are not affiliated with in any way). There are some basic similarities between the races, but there is plenty more whimsy involved in this urban setting. Instead of sleds, we use shopping carts. Instead of dogs, we have teams of five humans: four pullers and one musher, all in costumes they have designed for themselves and their cart. Also, each team is required arrive at the starting line with their cart full of food for donation. The event draws together 1,100+ people, both participants and spectators, and has collected over 240,015 pounds of food and more than $423,381 in direct donations since its 2006 inception. CHIditarod is a one-of-a-kind event dedicated to self-expression — part charity food drive, part beauty pageant, part bar crawl, all costumed shopping cart race. An epic spectacle like no other.
Teams come back year after year with new theme ideas, bigger and more elaborate carts, and a thirst to express their creativity while helping others through charity. If you’re racing CHIditarod for the first time, make sure you do your homework so you understand what’s expected of your team, and what the event will be like. Realize there are hundreds of costumed Chicagoans ready for an epic day. Realize your team may get sabotaged. Realize that there is no such thing as bad weather — just poor wardrobe choices. You may be asked sternly to get on the sidewalk. These things are okay — at the end of the day, CHIditarodders take care of each other, have a blast, and run roughshod over hunger.
Still interested? Good. Gather your team of 5 humans. Read the rules, and the FAQ, then read them again. Register your team. Figure out an awesome theme. Aquire a cart, then trick it out. Get acquainted with the sabotage rules & fundraising opportunities. On race day, bring at least 69 pounds of non-perishable food in your cart to the starting line. Space is limited, and we always fill up. Don’t delay. Mush.
Fundraising
The CHIditarod is a not-for-profit based in Chicago. We lay claim to being “Probably the World’s Largest Mobile Food Drive.” Our philanthropic efforts address urban food and hunger challenges by partnering with organizations that provide immediate hunger relief (like food pantries), and sustainable food empowerment through urban farming, community gardens and education.
Food Donations
Every CHIditarod team has to show up to the starting line with at least 69 pounds of non-perishable food in your cart. At the end of the race, all that food is donated to our friends at the Greater Chicago Food Depository. More than 240,015 pounds donated to date!
Financial Donations
CHIditarod teams continuously amaze us with their fundraising initiatives.. more than $423,381 raised since inception! Get empowered and share your glory in a really big way by fundraising to end hunger. We make it easy.
Learn all about Fundraising
Stay Connected
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Send this page to someone via email
Authorities called it the flow of dirty money into B.C. casinos captured on undated surveillance footage.
But what happened outside the view of cameras?
It’s a burning question for the former commander of B.C.’s Integrated Illegal Gaming Enforcement Team (IIGET).
Extended interview: Former head of B.C.’s illegal gambling enforcement team had raised concerns
12:05 Extended interview: Former head of B.C.’s illegal gambling enforcement team had raised concerns Extended interview: Former head of B.C.’s illegal gambling enforcement team had raised concerns
“A young security worker came to me while I was the unit commander of IIGET and said he was monitoring the criminal activity of a loan shark, a known loan shark in the casino which employed him,” Fred Pinnock, former BC IIGET commander, said.
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The shocking allegation tied to loan-sharking came in 2006 and involved Richmond’s River Rock Casino.
“His security manager came to him and said, ‘What are you doing? It’s bad for business,'” Pinnock said. “That security manager then escorted the loan shark to an area within that casino that everyone knew was not covered by cameras.”
Pinnock says he wanted his unit IIGET to investigate criminal activity of this nature but setting up a covert operation inside legal casinos was outside their mandate.
“I communicated that to the people to whom I reported, as well as my partner agency GPEB (Gaming Policy and Enforcement Branch) and I was advised that it had been investigated. Nothing more was said.”
Pinnock believes a lack of action on serious allegations is a major concern to the minister now responsible for GPEB.
“That allegation is really serious,” Attorney General David Eby said. “I can think of a number of violations of provincial law and policy and potentially criminality.”
WATCH: Money laundering at B.C. casinos linked to housing, opioid crises
1:51 Money laundering at B.C. casinos linked to housing, opioid crises Money laundering at B.C. casinos linked to housing, opioid crises
In his report on money laundering, Peter German wrote:
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“Loan sharks may be financed and supported by organized crime networks… who are also involved in money laundering activities.”
“For many years Lower Mainland casinos unwittingly served as laundromats for the proceeds of organized crime,” German said.
The owner of the River Rock — Great Canadian Gaming Corp. — wouldn’t put anyone on camera, but insists staff don’t have the discretion to deviate from compliance policies and the casino will always cooperate with police.
“The RCMP has never expressed any concerns to us about our company’s compliance with the laws and regulations that govern our industry, and Great Canadian is unaware of any allegations which may have been made to the RCMP,” Great Canadian Gaming COO Terrance Doyle said.
When asked directly if Great Canadian Gaming had any knowledge of its staff making the allegation to the GPEB, Global News was told there was “no further comment.”
“Mr. Pinnock is a credible person and he was in charge of an important area of law and policy,” Eby said. “If he believes that this kind of issue wasn’t dealt with, then it should be.”
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The UCLA community can now access the programming software MATLAB for free via a campuswide license.
UCLA administrators sent a campuswide email Thursday, announcing UCLA would be providing a campuswide license of the software for students, faculty and staff. Students who purchased the software between Sept. 23 and Thursday are eligible for reimbursements.
MATLAB is a program in which users can code and analyze data for both classes and research. Students who are required to use the program for engineering, science and mathematics or for other subjects such as psychology or economics can now access the software as long as they have a UCLA email address.
Previously, UCLA SEASnet offered access to MATLAB for free to students in some engineering courses, but it was only available through finals week. The software was also available on the servers in the engineering departments.
Administrative Vice Chancellor Michael Beck said in an emailed statement to the Daily Bruin that the university found it could get a campuswide site license for the same amount departments and faculty typically spend on the software – not including how much students pay for the license.
The new license would cost the university approximately $200,000 per year and would come from the amount departments and individual faculty members typically spend.
The cost of purchasing the software ranges from about $50 to about $100 for students. For faculty or staff, the software price ranges from $250 to $500.
Vaibhav Gupta, a second-year electrical engineering student, is currently in a class that requires MATLAB. He said he thinks making the program available to everyone on campus might encourage students to learn different coding languages in their own time.
“The idea is that now it lets you kind of learn the language when you want to and not just when you need to,” Gupta said.
Zach Nobles, a third-year mechanical engineering student, has taken six classes that have required MATLAB. He said in the past he’s used a remote desktop that allowed him to have access to the software.
However, he added the remote desktop was difficult to use.
“It was just really hard to save files and turn in things because you didn’t actually have access to the files that you were using,” Nobles said. “They were there on some other server somewhere. I think they did have a free version of MATLAB you could get but it didn’t include the functions that we needed.”
Nobles said the software is essentially necessary for certain engineering courses, but thinks the software is useful for students of different fields as well.
“I think MATLAB gets a little bit of a reputation for being an engineering software, but it really is just like a matrix manipulation, like you move numbers around, and you can do some really cool stuff with it outside of engineering or mathematics,” Nobles said.
The license is part of a two-year pilot program and is expected to continue based on if the campus finds it advantageous, Beck said.
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Madrid, Spain (CNN) -- Two passengers aboard a cruise ship were killed when 26-foot waves crashed into the vessel Wednesday off northeast Spain, officials said. Fourteen others were injured.
The Greece-based Louis Cruise Lines ship was in the Mediterranean north of Barcelona when it was hit by three "abnormal" waves, each about 26 feet (9 meters) high, cruise line spokesman Michael Maratheftis said.
As a result, five windows in public areas -- on the forward part, or bow, of the 14-deck ship -- were smashed, and two male passengers -- a German and an Italian -- were killed, he said.
Fourteen others were treated aboard the ship for light injuries but were hospitalized as a precaution when the ship returned to Barcelona on Wednesday night, Maratheftis said.
Spain's state news agency reported that two of the passengers had serious injuries, including a 62-year-old woman with fractures in both legs. Maratheftis would not provide specifics, but said there were no life-threatening injuries to the 14 wounded passengers.
The vessel, the Louis Majesty, was sailing under a Maltese flag and traveling from Barcelona, Spain, to Genoa, Italy, the Greek Public Ministry of the Mercantile Marine said.
The incident occurred 24 miles off the coast of Cabo de San Sebastian near the Spanish town of Palafrugell, Maratheftis said
The ship had 1,350 passengers and 580 crew members, the Greek ministry said.
The passengers, including three Americans, were from 27 nations, Maratheftis said in phone interviews from Cyprus.
Buoy data off the French coast indicated that weather was the likely cause of the high waves. Winds were at 45 mph at that buoy.
All of the passengers were to be flown home on Thursday from Barcelona at the expense of Louis Cruise Lines, Maratheftis said.
"The next cruise has been canceled," and the Louis Majesty will remain in Barcelona for repairs, Maratheftis said. The vessel is due to resume cruises on March 14, he said.
CNN's Al Goodman, Stephanie Halasz, Ben Brumfield and Chad Myers contributed to this report.
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Living with anxiety disorders can be compared to having all the joy in your life stolen away by unseen monsters.
It’s even more cruel when you’ve experienced what life can be like without it, yet it comes back anyway…
You know your mind is capable of understanding that leaving your house isn’t going to end in a catastrophe, and that the likelihood that strangers are laughing at you is slim.
You remember a time when you knew you weren’t making too much noise walking down the hallway, nor were you taking up too much room by simply standing in that corner.
All of these things you’re quite capable of both remembering and understanding.
None of this matters, however, because when you’re living with anxiety, fear overpowers all rational thought processes. The overwhelming, irrational fear-drenched thoughts drag you down and make doing even the littlest of things next to impossible.
It becomes a growing, constant sense of panic with sudden, unexplainable mood swings and overwhelming explosions of anger or fear for no apparent reason.
A common misconception is that anxiety disorders impact everyone and that they are not serious, crippling disorders if not taken care of.
Everyone experiences anxiety in minor forms about various different things: hospital visits, starting a new job, moving and other big changes in life.
Anxiety becomes a problem, however, when you’re worrying about everything – even worrying about worrying.
One thing widely unknown by the general public is the true impact such a disorder has on the lives of those experiencing it.
Anxiety can cause a person to withdraw from society, practicing isolation. Getting them out of the house – or, in severe cases, to even leave their room – can become a real battle, for both those affected and the friends or family who may be trying to help them.
On top of this, they can also develop a sense of hopelessness accompanied by suicidal thoughts, driving them into a deep depression.
It can become quite extreme for those impacted by this disorder who do not get treatment, and will often end in some form of self-inflicted bodily harm. Not in all cases, of course, but anxiety and depression are known for going hand in hand, and self-harm is also known to be a recurring outcome due to this toxic duo, as are substance abuse problems as a negative coping method.
Symptoms You May Have an Anxiety Disorder
A sense of irritability.
Frequent nervousness without an explainable source.
Lack of concentration
Repetitive behaviours
Frequent physical ailments without explanation
Fatigue or restlessness, often attributed to an inability to sleep
Treatment is Always an Option
Anxiety, no matter the type, can always be treated, and though it may not disappear completely, with some work, it is possible to live a comfortable life.
It may feel hopeless and impossible right now, and it may take years to grasp a proper way to treat it, but it is possible. Devoting yourself to dealing with your anxiety will have nothing but positive effects on your life, as if the sun has been restored after years of darkness.
It is often suggested that you start out with changing your lifestyle, but your first and most important step is talking to your guiding physician. They are capable of getting a grasp on what you need, whether it is treatment via therapeutics like Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, referral to a psychiatric professional, or just tips to see what they recommend for your case, including the possibilities of medication.
One of the positives about therapy and counselling is that you will always have someone you can talk to, even if it is just during a scheduled appointment. It’s someone who can listen and give you the positive tips you need to help you get through each passing day.
It may take a while to find a counsellor you’re comfortable with, but don’t ever be afraid to tell your physician you need to switch to a different counsellor! It happens all the time and finding one you connect with will help you far more than if you are working with one you don’t trust or can’t get on with.
Relapse Will Occur– Just Keep Going
Now, not every day will look brighter even if you are participating in your treatment and working hard towards recovery.
There will be relapse, there will be days that drag on that make you feel you cannot recover – but these days are just days you have to push through while exercising practices and coping methods that you’ve been taught.
One of the most common, helpful coping methods often used is the Deep Breathing Method. It consists of five seconds of inhalation through your nasal passages, two seconds of holding your breath followed by exhalations through your mouth.
This and Self-Talk are the first methods you’re often taught. Self-Talk is learning to recognize when you’re beginning to think negative thoughts and re-wording them to become something more positive.
For example, a negative thought would be ‘I am worthless.’ This thought can be changed to different things such as ‘I am beautiful’ or ‘I have potential; I can do this.’
It also helps to make small notes full of positive thoughts and put them around something you look at, often like the mirror you use when getting ready in the mornings. And if willing, getting your friends to participate in writing some of these notes can make a difference as well.
Have a Default Safety Plan
Always, however, have a safety plan worked out.
A safety plan is often a three-step guideline of what to do should you enter a crisis.
It would be a list of what you can and would normally do when you feel a panic attack setting in.
It’d be a list of comfort items and coping methods– anything from hugging your teddy bear, to painting or writing, going for a walk, or even just laying down and watching a movie to distract yourself.
The next step would be a list of things you can do should you not be capable of bringing yourself out of the oncoming panic attack. Often it is a list of numbers you can call, people you trust to talk to in situations like a panic attack, and the like.
If these do not work, the third step is to always call the number for your local emergency department. These can be created with your guiding physician should they deem it necessary, or upon your request.
Warning Signs of an Oncoming Panic Attack
To aid your safety plan, always have a list of warning signs with you to know when you may be entering a panic attack. For example, common symptoms are:
Trembling and dizziness
Rapid heartbeat and palpitations
Excessive perspiration – aka lots of sweating
Cold or hot flashes
Trouble breathing, hyperventilating
Chest pains
Numbness in feet or hands
If you are experiencing any of these symptoms and your regular coping methods are not helping to calm you down, find a way to the nearest hospital that doesn’t include you driving. Phone a taxi, ask a neighbour, or call emergency dispatch. This way you will be safe and receive the necessary medical attention to aid you during your time of crisis.
Being aware of what type of anxiety you are dealing with is almost mandatory to ensure proper treatment, in or out of crisis.
Anxiety covers a broad spectrum of various things from Generalized Anxiety Disorder to Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.
Do not self-diagnose your anxiety– always go with a professional. It will help your treatment in the long run and help if you begin second-guessing whether you have anxiety or not.
Other Coping Methods
Other ways to avoid anxiety is regular exercise and having a balanced diet, reducing consumption of teas, coffees, colas and chocolate, as well as sleeping on a regular basis.
Avoiding the use of alcohol and other substances is also recommended.
I’ve always found the best way to relieve my anxiety is going on a long, solitary walk with my headphones loud. The music obliterates most of my thoughts, and those that I can’t seem to shake often become weaker, my mind being consumed by the vocals and beats before the anxiety has the chance to take control.
Anxiety is a serious, life-changing and life-threatening disorder. There is nothing wrong with having any form of it.
Treating your anxiety can open up a whole new way of life and make every day a little brighter for you.
Even if you just start by going for a five minute walk or venturing out into the front yard, you’ve already managed to take a massive step towards your own recovery.
One day, if you allow yourself, you won’t be worried that you’re taking up too much space.
Life can and will get better.
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ISLAMABAD - Pakistan and South Africa Monday agreed to enhance defence cooperation between the two countries. This was agreed after series of interactions between South Africa Defence Minister Mapisa-Nqakula and the Pakistani authorities at the Ministry of Defence in Rawalpindi.
The visiting dignitary who is heading a defence delegation had interactions with his Pakistani counterpart Khawaja Muhammad Asif as well as Rana Tanveer Hussain and Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa and discussed issues of bilateral interest.
Chief of Army Staff of South Africa who is also on an official visit to Pakistan graced Pakistan Day parade held on March 23. According to official sources, Pakistan and South Africa signed an MoU on “Defence and Defence Industrial Cooperation”.
The MoU which establishes a Joint Defence Committee will pave the way for strengthening and diversifying through formal structures, collaborative programmes, exchange of information and training of the armed forces officers\soldiers. Acquisition of defence equipment as well as cooperation in Research and Development (R&D), Transfer of Technology, Coproduction/Joint Ventures in public as well as private sector, also fall within the domain of the signed MoU.
Later, the South African defence minister had a delegation level meeting with Minister for Defence Production Rana Tanveer Hussain and both sides discussed a wide range of bilateral issues in the fields of economic, investment and defence production.
Rana Tanveer said that Pakistan values its relations with South Africa and wishes to further enhance the existing ties. He highlighted the importance of enhanced defence collaboration between the defence industries of two countries, including joint production. Rana Tanveer said that military and defence relations between Pakistan and South Africa have the potential to grow.
The possibility of joint ventures for the manufacturing of defence equipment, formation of a joint commission on defence technical Cooperation was also discussed. Both sides agreed to avail the opportunity of excellent training facilities available in Pakistan for South African army personnel.
The meeting discussed the possibility of collaboration between HIT and M/s DENEL Land Systems and technical support for Fire & Gun Control System being of mutually benefit. Both sides also agreed to enhance collaboration between PAC Kamra and M/s DENEL Aviation for which interaction have already been established. Pakistan offered facilities for the construction of commercial as well as Naval Vessels at Karachi Shipyard and Engineering Works.
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For example, I just went to see Mid90s (Note- I loved the movie) after learning it was a passion project for Jonah Hill. I then listened to his interview on “The Big Picture” Podcast and his interview with Howard Stern, and was very impressed with how much the skating culture, hip hop and that time period meant to him. I didn’t necessarily have those same interests as Hill, however I connected with how certain things can be held in such a high regard, and how they can mean so much to you especially at a young age. I was equally impressed with how Hill stated a ton of times he didn’t real give a crap about how the movie did. It was his directorial debut and he chose to make a low budget film that had no mass appeal to kill a box office, and he couldn’t care less because this culture, and time period meant the world to him and he felt a true importance to tell the story.
Certain things in your life are forever kept in high regard because of how cool they were to you as a kid and I would argue that’s been the case in people’s lives for “time immemorial” as Tony Soprano once said.
Everyone has these type of childhood memories, and everyone holds certain things close to their heart. Take for example my father. Through a wild stroke of luck – Joe Namath not only visited my father’s office as part of a promotional tour, but threw a pass to my father and then autographed the ball. Just before that the wise-ass guy next to him made a comment like “look at the rug on Namath” to which my father commented- “that can’t be a rug … he’s Joe Namath.” The point being – he obviously knew it was a hairpiece, but he was also reminding the guy how cool Joe Namath was.
It’s not a coincidence every twenty years we get a show or a movie that looks back at a certain time period. Happy Days in the 1970’s was a look back at the 1950’s. Dazed and Confused in the 90’s was a look back at the 1970’s. We just got Stranger Things to give everyone their 80’s fix. There’s a bunch I’m sure I’m missing but American Graffiti, The Wonder Years, Almost Famous and The Sandlot all fit the bill as well. The point is, everyone wants to look back to a certain extent, because it brings you back to a time in your life that was good, or involved an important change/ growth – ie – High School etc.
Which ties into to my initial point of how cool certain things can be to you as a kid. For me at different ages over the years, things on that list off the top of my head were The Ninja Turtles, Ken Griffey Jr. , Total Request Live, Jason Williams, Eminem and Zack Morris.
Today I’m just going to write about Zack Morris.
He was the man. Now what you have to remember was like many people I didn’t watch this 1- in live time, but rather in syndication and 2- as a teenager who knew the jokes were corny, or the plots ultra impossible. I was old enough to understand it was silly, but young enough to still be wide eyed with optimism that High School could be that cool . As pointed out , in an article very elegantly by Rob O’ Conchuir :
“what made the show a hit in our youth was how exciting it was to dream of the world it represented. Nobody watched “Saved by the Bell” in their actual teen years – no, it was a show for people that were tantalizingly on the cusp of hallowed Adolescence – for people who wished they were teenagers, the way teenagers wish they could be adults. That promised-land era where you didn’t have the concerns of an adult while also having none of the barriers of a little kid. You could go to the cinema or the shops by yourself, you could hang out in diners and eat French fries all day. Supposedly you could even go out with girls! “
Zack pulling off one of his patented schemes , or figuring out a way to scam Belding, or have his friends help him out of a jam – to an innocent 9, 10 or 11 year old – transitioning from little kid to wise ass teenager was almost like having a play book of what to use in real life. When he cracked a joke and got a response, you tried to do the same in class and make your friends laugh, when some of your friends started to learn they didn’t have to do everything their parents told them to and started to rebel – you joined in and rebelled too – some more than others. And lastly, when you saw he showed off, and landed the girl. You did the same. He was in a ton of ways the superhero of sitcoms- in the sense he escaped every problem. He was a cool imaginary older brother you looked up to.
Now add in the fact Kelly Kapowski was breathtakingly beautiful during a time that I, like many other kids, had just reached the age where you started to be interested in girls instead of completely ignoring them. As well as the life lessons you (sort of) learned in the socially conscious episodes about smoking, drugs, drunk driving etc, the show was vastly important growing up.
As you grow older you realize how silly it is, and instead of watching it with extreme interest in the plot like you did at 10 , you watch it hungover at 22 because it happened to be on when you wake up at 2pm. Pop Culture has poked fun at it over the years – Kimmel did his little skits , and Funny Or Die has a series of “Zack Morris is Trash” videos pointing at how crappy some of the things Zack did to get his way were. Nonetheless- the show seems to strike a nerve with a ton of people, and seems as if one way or the other was watched by nearly everyone.
Now… how do we go about ranking these episodes ? Well shout out to Reags who actually inspired me to do this blog considering how well he wrote his Office episode rankings blog.
To put a Rico spin on it, I’ve decided to rank the episodes from worst to first (as all things should be ranked), in tiers of Steakhouses.
The First Tier :
– Outback
Here we go , wait …. TIME OUT !
Some quick housekeeping :
I am only ranking episodes under the Saved By The Bell brand. For those of you youngsters reading this (shout out 15 Year Old Steve) you may not know- Saved By The Bell was originally set as Good Morning Miss Bliss. It was also set in Indiana as middle schoolers and somehow 3 of the characters and the principle all moved to California at the same time when 9th grade started. TV Magic as they say. For that reason I am not including those episodes.
Leaves us with 86 Episodes.
Outback
To preface … it’s still steak, but it sucks. Don’t get me wrong – I’ll eat it… not by my choice, just like f it’s 7am and one of these episodes are on I’ll watch . But much like Outback, if asked to pick a place to eat I much rather go somewhere else.
86- The Time Capsule (Season 4 Episode 25)
85- Isn’t It Romantic (Season 4 Episode 13)
84- Best Summer Of My Life (Season 4 Episode 22)
So all three of these are grouped together as they don’t even quantify as episodes, they are all clip shows. However, if we are being truthful, the Best Summer Of My Life episode has to be the best of the 3 – because I am certain it’s the first time I saw Double Stuf Oreo’s in my life, which if aren’t the best cookie ever, are damn near the top of the list. Additionally, the episodes are Malibu Sands are SNEAKY underrated as some of it’s best of the series.
83- Close Encounters Of The Nerd Kind (Season 2 Episode 12)
The premise here is Zack and Slater break a camera, find out a magazine is offering money for pictures of aliens. Dress up Screech as an alien. Then a special agent for the government is convinced Screech is an alien, then Zack and Slater have to save Screech from the government.
This is a horrific episode. It’s not funny, it’s dumb. It’s the worst of the series.
82- Mystery Weekend (Season 3 Episode 26)
The Bayside Gang goes to a Murder Mystery resort (I think it’s a resort), and the actors at the resort (I think) play out a series of events/ fake murder that the gang has to solve.
Surprise Surprise … Zack solves the mystery – proving he’s not only cooler than his friends, he’s also smarter.
Overall the episode’s pretty weak. It leaves the confines of Bayside for some kind of weird game I still to this day don’t understand people would want to play. Weird choice of a plot. Sucked to be quite frank.
81- The Masquerade Ball (Season 4 Episode 7)
80- The New Girl (Season 4 Episode 4)
79- Teen-Line (Season 4 Episode 6)
78- School Song (Season 4 Episode 24)
77- Day of Detention (Season 4 Episode 8)
You’ll notice a theme in these episodes …. Tori not Kelly. A significant downgrade that even as a 10 or 11 year old kid watching this knew that Kelly missing is just not right. I missed her, Zack missed her , and the show missed her.
Now I have to say, not all the Tori episodes are auto skips… we’ll get to that later. In fact some of the plots , teaching points, moments are very good, and in fact so good they overcome Tori who also sucks. These 5 sucked the most.
But, to be fair I take this very seriously, and still rank them from worst to best , so I had to examine them all and while School Song has an awesomely underrated Graduation Song (Link) , Day of Detention edged it out because Zack is eluding Belding the entire episode (in the most ridiculous ways possible) which again as a 10 year old is like the coolest thing you can do. Also brownie points to them addressing that administration knew about Senior Cut Day and just didn’t give a rat’s ass. Very realistic. For our own senior cut day administration knew nearly instantly what day it was, warned us not to do it, then didn’t really enforce it once it was done , however it put a bit of a scare in you like “can we really get away with this ? ” Very realistic.
The next tier will be announced soon.
To be continued.
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For the last 24 hours nothing has moved on the Overlordy battlefield. Bullets have refused to leave barrels. Flames have refused to writhe. Sweat and blood droplets have hung grimly to nose ends and fingertips. One dab of CMBO’s ‘GO’ button will restart the clockwork… sanction another sixty seconds of savage clamour. Are you ready to re-enter the maelstrom?
(Overlordy is an open-to-all game of Combat Mission: Beyond Overlord in which German forces are orchestrated by commenters while British units are computer controlled. For a scenario outline and summaries of earlier turns, click here)
Although the prospect of losing both of their most important AFVs in the space of two turns (the PSW armoured car perished in Turn 6) persuaded the Comment Commanders to contemplate and issue some pretty desperate orders yesterday, the cool-as-a-cucumber Hetzer handler decided to let our testudinate tank destroyer have a shy at the Stuart before turning to face the 28-ton menace to the south.
The Hetzer’s gamble doesn’t save the halftrack.
Nine seconds into the turn, receiving small arms fire from behind as it attempts to reverse, the Sd.Kfz.251 is mortally wounded by the British light tank.
Smoke is still spilling from the Stuart’s gun muzzle when the Hetzer fires.
And misses.
If the gutsy diversions executed by the pioneers in the opening seconds of the action phase hadn’t come off, the Hetzer probably wouldn’t have had the luxury of a second shot. Because the pioneer HQ managed to spook and shutter the western Cromwell with a flurry of SMG and rifle fire early in the round…
…and Mogg’s squad* did the same to the eastern Cromwell** while manoeuvring for their close assault attempt, the German TD gets a second chance and, this time, makes no mistake.
*Splitting them safely proved impossible. The split order placed one team on the ‘hot’ side of the hedge.
**This attack was unintentional.
Scratch one Stuart!
Buttoned by Schmeisser hail and unnerved by the sudden appearance of enemy infantry within Panzerfaust and grenade-bundle range, the Cromwells turn tail and run. By the time Mogg’s men reach the corner and the Hetzer adjusts its alignment, the olive drab bruiser that threatened to bust through the bocage at j18 is nowhere to be seen.
The situation at the close of the turn:
At the mill, the LMG team has set up and is busy swapping lead with the American airborne stragglers to the north.
South of the hotel, Mogg’s men, one down after the brush with the tanks, are taking out their frustration on one of the two unidentified Brit infantry units that appeared on the clifftop west of the central beach exit during the turn.
On the other side of the lane, having put up surprisingly stiff resistance, the pillbox survivors are no more.
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Sign up to receive FREE weekly emails with recipes, coupons and other money saving tips right into your inbox. Become a friend on Facebook too AND/OR join the $5 Meal Plan Family and get meal plans delivered to you each week!
As a busy mom, I love seeing adorable and delicious ideas like this…because this is actually something that I can pull off…that doesn’t require the skill of a surgeon or expert cookie decorator! (lol)
I sometimes get discouraged when I see all the amazing and clever ideas for holiday treats……and then realize that I’m just not that pinteresting mom. So I don’t even bother.
But then there’s this.
Simple cookie dough. (I can get behind that.)
Rolled in pink and sparkly sprinkles. (I need more pink in my life. And the boys will totally want to help with this.)
And they don’t take any extra time or effort to make. (I can easily fit this into our schedule.)
See where this is going.
Cute, pink cookies that I could actually accomplish in my busy day-week-Valentine’s Day!
And I hope you can too…..
Much love to you this V-Day! <3 <3 <3
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A diplomatic dispute between the Netherlands and Turkey has led to rioting by Turks in Rotterdam and a diplomatic crisis that could influence the Dutch elections that are just a few days away.
Thousands of Turkish immigrants rioted in the streets of Rotterdam early Sunday following the Dutch government’s decision to bar two Turkish ministers from entering the country.
The Mayor of Rotterdam issued emergency orders late Saturday in an attempt to contain a demonstration supporting Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan outside the Turkish consulate in the city which has turned into a rallying point for Turkish immigrants.
Today morning, pro-Erdogan rioters vandalised the consulate of the Netherlands in the Turkish city of Istanbul and took down the Dutch flag replacing it with a Turkish flag, French news agency AFP reports.
With just 3 Days to go until the Dutch general election, local authorities revoked landing rights for Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, citing “risks to public order and security”. Turkey’s Family Affairs Minister Fatma Kaya was also escorted back to Germany in the early hours of Sunday, Germany’s state broadcaster DW News confirmed.
These Turkish ministers intended to campaign for the next month’s referendum that would allow President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to alter the country’s constitution and remain in power until 2029. The Netherlands is home to some 400,000 people of Turkish origin and many of them are eligible to vote in the Turkish referendum.
Reuters News Agency reported last night’s rioting in Rotterdam:
Dutch riot police carried out charges on horseback early Sunday to break up hundreds of backers of Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan demonstrating at the Turkish consulate in Rotterdam.
Expressing bitterness over her being escorted out of the Netherlands, Turkish Minister Kaya took to Twitter questioning if Europe indeed was the ‘cradle of civilisation’. Dutch politician Geert Wilders told her not to let the door hit her on the way out:
Go away and never come back @drbetulsayan and take all your Turkish fans from The Netherlands with you please. #byebye https://t.co/FLKFNX2XGm — Geert Wilders (@geertwilderspvv) 11. März 2017
Wilders has long warned the Netherlands and the West of the dangers of uncontrolled immigration from Muslim countries. Wilders has been dragged to courts and attacked by the media for his views on unregulated mass-immigration.
With thousands of immigrant Turks rioting in the streets of Rotterdam, Netherlands second biggest city, Wilders is claiming he has been vindicated once again. It still remains to be seen if this translates into electoral gains for Wilder and his Dutch Freedom Party PVV. According to most of the polls ahead of Wednesday’s general elections, Wilders-led PVV is neck and neck with the current ruling VVD party.
After several German cities cancelled a series of pro-Erdogan rallies due to security concerns, Erdogan warned Germany that he would “make the world rise up” if he were not allowed to speak in the country. Rioting in Rotterdam shows what Erdogan meant by those words. Immigration is the new weapon in Islamist Erdogan’s diplomatic arsenal, and the rioting Turkish migrants will be the enforcers of Ankara’s future diktats onto the Western world.
While Erdogan regime incites Turkish immigrants across Europe, European Union and Germany are seriously considering visa-free travel for all Turkish citizens. If Erdogan can put a major European city on a lockdown given the current level of migration, imagine what political leverage he will have over the capitals of Europe once 75 million Turkish citizens are granted visa-free travel across Europe.
Despite Europe’s burgeoning problems, its liberal political class doesn’t fail to come up with ingenious ways of digging the continent into an ever deeper hole.
Video: Cell phone footage of Pro-Erdogan riots in Rotterdam
[Cover image courtesy RT, Youtube]
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Дрон ОБСЄ зафіксував використання бойовиками "ДНР" забороненої артилерії 2 червня 2016, 14:38 Вы также можете прочесть этот материал на русском языке
Дрон місії ОБСЄ зафіксував використання бойовиками самопроголошеної "ДНР" артилерії, яка заборонена Мінськими домовленостями
На YouTube-каналі організації уточнюється, що 29 травня безпілотник місії виявив у Мінеральному, підконтрольному "ДНР", дві самохідні артилерійські установки 2С3 калібру 152 мм.
Відзначається, що зброя випустила чотири снаряди в бік Авдіївки, де тримають оборону українські військові.
В ОБСЄ також підкреслили, що даний факт є порушенням відразу декількох пунктів домовленостей в Мінську.
Раніше бойовики заблокували дорогу в окупований Луганськ представникам ОБСЄ.
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Describing the JD(U) government's annual report card as 'bogus', the RJD today said that Chief Minister Nitish Kumar was more concerned about the survival of his minority government than the welfare of the people.
Patna: Describing the JD(U) government's annual report card as "bogus", the RJD today said that Chief Minister Nitish Kumar was more concerned about the survival of his minority government than the welfare of the people.
The law and order situation in the state has collapsed contrary to tall claims of achievement "on all fronts", state unit RJD president Ramchandra Purve told reporters after releasing a parallel report card.
Accompanied by RJD Rajya Sabha MP Ramkripal Yadav and other party leaders, Purve said that incidents of crime like murder, kidnapping, loot and gangrape had increased alarmingly in recent times. Development activity had been been hit badly by the chief minister's preoccupation with survival of his government rather than concentrating on governance.
He alleged that the chief minister does not give time to public representatives, let alone people and said that his conduct was a far cry from the days when his house remained open for all during Rabri Devi's tenure.
Asking Kumar to resign, RJD leader also questioned his secular credentials, saying that he had failed to cater to aspirations of the minorities for development and welfare even as he allowed the Sangh Parivar to spread its tentacles in Bihar during the erstwhile NDA rule.
Purve contested the Nitish Kumar government's claim of Rs 2.5 lakh crore investment in the agriculture sector and wondered why then the sick sugars mills had not been revived as yet. He also blamed JD(U) government for corruption and plummeting standards of education.
Prasad's wife Rabri Devi did not attend the release of the RJD's counter-report card, reportedly due to indisposition.
PTI
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A handful of official U.S. government websites were hacked today in protest of the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA), a highly controversial international trade agreement largely cooked up by media companies to protect their copyrighted content from being pirated online.
The hacktivist group Anonymous is believed to be responsible for the attack. According to the International Business Times, the group posted a strongly worded anti-ACTA statement as well as an anti-ACTA PSA video from YouTube (embedded below) to business.ftc.gov, consumer.gov, and the National Consumer Protection Week official site (ncpw.gov).
For those who aren’t familiar with the trade agreement, ACTA is an international treaty aimed at giving countries the ability to stop copyright infringement and other forms of intellectual property theft — a standard framework so that all countries around the world can charge and prosecute digital piracy. However, many Europeans (as well as Americans to a lesser extent) are against the trade agreement because it doesn’t directly address or stop piracy in a meaningful way. That’s on top of the fact that most government officials signed (or attempted to) the agreement in secrecy, without input from public discourse, as VentureBeat’s Dylan Tweney pointed out previously. More recently, the German government formally refused to sign ACTA.
The affected government websites are all offline this morning, but we’ve pasted a portion of Anonymous’ anti-ACTA statement below. If you’re in a hurry, Anonymous was kind enough to include a TL;DR (too long, didn’t read) line at the bottom, which reads “ACTA is a downright shitty act. We must kill it. With fire.”
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As part of Journeys With Duffy Your Friend Forever (Duffys 10th Anniversary), Converse is releasing a limited edition Duffy themed sneaker at Tokyo DisneySea for ¥15,800 (approx. US$132). Starting November 25th, 2015 guests can buy the sneakers at the Galleria Disney in the Mediterranean Harbor.
The outer part of the sneaker is fluffy, just like Duffy! It also features the Duffy logo inside the sneaker and “Journeys With Duffy” on the tongue! If you’re a Duffy fan, then these are a must.
Quantities are limited and once they sell out, they are gone. We expect these to sell out quickly. Are you going to try to get your hands on possibly one of the hottest Duffy items this November?
Shoe Sizes:
22.5 cm (European 36 / US Women’s 6 / US Men’s 4.5)
23.5 cm (European 37.5 / US Women’s 7 / US Men’s 5.5)
24.5 cm (European 38.5 / US Women’s 8 / US Men’s 6.5)
25.5 cm (European 40 / US Women’s 9 / US Men’s 7.5)
26.5 cm (European 42 / US Women’s 10 / US Men’s 8.5)
27.5 cm (European 43 / US Women’s 10.5 / US Men’s 9)
All photos and information from the Official Tokyo Disney Resort website.
Keep up with the latest from Tokyo Disney Resort by subscribing to TDRExplorer and following us on Twitter & Facebook.
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A placard bearing the UMass logo also was placed at the base of the statue, which depicts the 1984 Heisman Trophy winner rearing back to let fly with his 48-yard Hail Mary heave to Gerard Phelan that beat the Miami Hurricanes, 47-45.
Someone with an allegiance to the University of Massachusetts fired the first salvo in Saturday’s “Battle for the Bay State” football game against Boston College, outfitting the bronze statue of Doug Flutie at BC’s Alumni Stadium with a No. 3 UMass jersey Tuesday.
This photo of BC’s Doug Flutie statue was shared with media by The Gold Group.
BC associate athletic director for communications Chris Cameron said he was unaware of the prank until he saw photos of it on Twitter.
And there was no evidence left by the time BC’s marching band conducted a practice on the plaza outside Gate D, where the statue stands.
“I was surprised,” laughed Abbey Bailey, a junior from Marblehead and one of the band managers. “It might be uncool to BC people.”
David Healey, the BC band director, said he, too, was unaware of the prank until he was shown a Twitter photo.
“It’s all in good fun,” Healey said. “We have great friends out at UMass. I think they’re just joking with us. We welcome them here.”
What remains to be seen is whether BC will wait to retaliate on the field Saturday or will do so Wednesday at UMass’s noontime pep rally at the Boston Harbor Hotel.
Asked if the prank got her riled up for the season-opening game, Bailey replied, “Oh, totally.”
The game is at Gillette Stadium at 3 p.m.
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Global Health Council Research Associate Rachel Hampton traveled to the International Conference on Family Planning in Kampala, Uganda. This is the third of her posts from the conference.
KAMPALA, Uganda – What do conservation projects have to do with family planning? It was this question that crossed my mind while skimming through the conference program and coming across a presentation titled, “Integration with marine conservation enhances the acceptability and use of family planning in the Philippines.” This presentation was part of a larger panel on family planning and the environment, which featured population, health and the environment (PHE) programs in four different countries – the Philippines, Kenya, Uganda and Ethiopia. PHE programs focus on the complex relationship of population size, family planning and the environment through both health and conservation interventions. Read below for two examples of PHE programs that were presented today:
Integration with marine conservation enhances the acceptability and use of family planning in the Philippines. The Philippines is one of the most populated countries in the world, with a rapidly growing population. The majority of the population lives in costal areas where poverty and fertility exceed national averages, factors that both contribute to overfishing. In response to the dangerous convergence of these factors, PATH initiated the Integrated Population and Costal Resource Management (IPOPCOM), a program that addressed both sexual and reproductive health and marine conservation through a “stewardship” framework. This intervention encouraged youth-to-take ownership over their sexual and reproductive health and the environment and adults to plan their families and participate in cooperative fisheries within the community. The program was highly successful, with the proportion of adults using family planning to increase from 43 percent in 2003 to 83 percent in 2006. Marine conservation efforts improved too, with the percent fishermen reporting conservation activities nearly doubling from 2003 to 2006.
Population, heath and environment in Uganda: Bwindi Impenetrable National Park case study. Bwindi Impenetrable National Park is home to the endangered mountain gorilla, and is also surrounded by a densely populated, impoverished area with high fertility and poor access to services and education, similar to the costal areas of the Philippines discussed above. Due to the genetic links between people and primates, diseases like scabies and tuberculosis can be transmitted from one population to the other. Recognizing the challenges to both human and animal health, Conservation through Public Health (CTPH) developed a program to prevent and control disease transmission between people and gorillas, increase the use of family planning to curb rapid population growth, and raise enthusiasm for health and conservation. CTPH’s initial program had consisted of three interventions: gorilla health monitoring, human public health (including a TB component), and education and communication activities. Shortly after the launch of the program, an intervention to provide family planning was added. During the course of this program, family planning use was four times higher than historic trends, and there was an 11-fold increase in the number of people accessing testing for TB. After the family planning component was added, community-based health care workers also provided Depo-Provera injections, another intervention that proved highly effective with more than 730 injections administered.
So, what can we learn from PHE programs? First, I think these programs teach us to look for partners in unexpected places. I suspect that there are additional opportunities for family planning outside the health sector, if we are willing to expand our horizons. These new, innovative partnerships will certainly pave the way to health over the next decade. Second, I think these programs illustrate the wide-reaching effect of rapid population growth and high fertility rates, not just on health but on the environment as well. This relationship is not a one-way street, with environmental factors equally impacting human health. One fitting example is climate change (see David Olson’s blog below). Perhaps the health sector should look to partner with climate change organizations too? It is also important to remember that not every partnership is a productive one, and in order for them to be successful, partners must share a common vision, cooperate with one another, trust each other’s expertise and willingly share the credit for their achievements.
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"This morning, CBP was forced to close the San Ysidro Port of Entry to ensure public safety in response to large numbers of migrants seeking to enter the U.S. illegally. After being prevented from entering the Port of Entry, some of these migrants attempted to breach legacy fence infrastructure along the border and sought to harm CBP personnel by throwing projectiles at them. As I have continually stated, DHS will not tolerate this type of lawlessness and will not hesitate to shut down ports of entry for security and public safety reasons. We will also seek to prosecute to the fullest extent of the law anyone who destroys federal property, endangers our frontline operators, or violates our nation’s sovereignty. CBP, along with other DHS law enforcement, federal law enforcement, the U.S. military and state and local law enforcement, will continue to have a robust presence along the Southwest Border and at our ports of entry to prevent illegal entry or violence. We continue to stay in close contact with Mexican authorities and we remain committed to resolving this situation safely in concert with our Mexican partners."
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Picking up the Rudy slack
A reader notes that Hillary has brought up 9/11, more or less unprompted, three times so far in the debate, a level not seen since Rudy Giuliani dropped out in January.
"For Pastor Wright to have given his first sermon after 9/11 and to have blamed the United States for the attack, which happened in my city of New York, would have been just intolerable for me."
And:
"If I'm not mistaken, that relationship with Mr. Ayers on this board continued after 9/11 and after his reported comments, which were deeply hurtful to people in New York and, I would hope, to every American, because they were published on 9/11, and he said that he was just sorry they hadn't done more."
And:
"I certainly would not meet with Ahmadinejad, because even again today, he made light of 9/11, and said that he's not even sure it happened and that people actually died."
(The reader who noted this is also, it turns out, a blogger, and noted it here.)
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"There's nothing I can sit here and tell you," he said. "I can't sit here and talk to these mics or these cameras or anything that's going to do any good. It's about actions, it's about being accountable and doing what I'm going to say instead of looking like a jackass."
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Introduction
Team composition is a big part of ranking up in Overwatch, and you have to work with your team to put together something that feels good to everyone. Good team comps don’t necessarily have follow the meta. I like to see “calculated risks” when my team is picking heroes. What I mean by that is I want to see people play what they are good at and play what the team needs, but sometimes taking risks can throw the other team off guard.
Teamwork is the first step to making a good team comp, but you have to be conscious of what the other team is playing, too. Say one of your teammates starts out as Winston, but the enemy team has a Reaper and Zen that keep shredding through your tank. Regardless of how skilled your teammate is with Winston, you won’t be able to push or hold unless that teammate changes to someone who isn't obviously being countered.
I’m not picking on poor Winston. In fact, most heroes have definite counters that can easily eliminate them. Being able to identify these counters and adjust to them accordingly is what helps players level up. Some players have created “counter wheels,” but sometimes those just tell us which hero to play and now how to play the hero as a counter. I'll tell you about some of the more popular counters and how to play them with your team!
Attack
- Genji
Counters: Winston, Roadhog
A lot of players like to stick a Winston on “Genji duty.” It’s difficult for Genji to get out of Winston’s Tesla Cannon. On top of Winston’s Jump Pack, Genji might struggle to flank with Winston on his tail. Roadhog can also stun, headshot, and melee Genji all in one blow.
- Soldier 76/McCree
Counters: D.Va, Roadhog
D.Va’s defense matrix can shut down both McCree’s and Soldier’s primary fire and ultimates. D.Va can also fly to Soldiers and McCrees who are taking the high ground and knock them down. Roadhog can also use his hook to instantly kill both of these heroes.
- Pharah
Counters: Soldier 76, McCree, Roadhog, Ana
Hit scan is Pharah’s worst enemy, and don’t be fooled by the enemy team not running a Soldier or McCree. Ana can wipe a Pharah in 3 shots. It’s important to remember that just because you have a Soldier or McCree on your team, that doesn’t mean Pharah is automatically taken care of. The Pharah/hit scan counter is probably one of the most well known counters in the game. Expect the other team to support her, and don’t let your hit scan heroes get focused by the enemy team. If you want your hit scan to take out the Pharah, make sure no one is targeting them on the ground. Roadhog can also hook Pharah and instantly kill her, but you have to support your tank or enemies will shred through him.
- Reaper
Counters: Pharah, Roadhog
Reaper is a close-range hero. Long-range heroes like Pharah can keep eyes on Reaper and either take him out or make him back off. If Roadhog can land a hook on Reaper, he can kill him instantly.
- Tracer
Counters: McCree, Torbjorn
Watch out for the stuns and slows! Tracer is all about mobility—take that away from her, and she’s just a 150-health squishy hero. McCree can stun and kill Tracer almost instantly, and Torbjorn’s turret can lock on to Tracer, preventing her from flanking. When you're playing Tracer, make sure to save those blinks and recalls for when they’re needed most!
- Sombra
Counters: Soldier 76, McCree, Winston
Soldier 76 has a large clip size, so even if he is hacked, he can still win a straight up gun fight with her. McCree can also out-dps Sombra. As the most "support-y" of the dps heroes, Sombra has some super cool abilities, but her low damage sometimes fails her. Winston can chase Sombra with his jet pack, as long as her knows where she's going. Sombra can be slippery when she goes invisible, but if she wants to be useful to her team she can't hide in the back.
Defense
- Bastion
Counters: Genji, Widowmaker, Roadhog
Bastion- A lot of players know that if you throw a deflecting Genji in front of a bullet-spraying Bastion, any enemy in the surrounding area is going to take some damage. This is enough to take out the Bastion if he’s shooting at you. Since a lot of people have figured out this strategy, try long-range heroes like Widowmaker against him. Roadhog also has the ability to hook Bastion out of sentry form, but this requires support from Roadhog’s team or it’s bacon for breakfast. These are well-known strategies to dealing with Bastion, but make sure to keep up with his upcoming changes! Some of these counters might not work as well then.
- Hanzo/Widowmaker
Counters: Winston, D.Va, Genji
You need divers on your team to take care of snipers. Use Winston, D.Va, and even Gengi to distract and force them out of position. Once they are out of position and close-range, they should be easier to kill.
- Junkrat
Counters: Pharah, Zarya
Pharah. Just Pharah. If a Junkrat is dealing massive amounts of trash damage to your team, get a Pharah on your team to blow him up from above. You need to support the Pharah by focusing enemy hit scan heroes, but she should be able to take Junkrat out fairly easily. Using Zarya against an enemy Junkrat can be a blessing for your team and a nightmare for the enemy team. Junkrat can feed a Zarya to full charge, and while this might not always help a Zarya deal with the Junkrat specifically, you want your Zarya to have as much charge as possible.
- Mei
Counters: Zarya, Roadhog
Zarya’s shields protect her and her teammates from Mei’s blaster, whether you are being slowed or already frozen. With some planning and well-placed bubbles, Zarya and a teammate can focus Mei down. That being said, try to bait out Mei’s cyro-freeze so she can’t self-heal and call for help. It's worth saying that if Roadhog gets a hook on Mei, he can instantly one-shot her.
- Torbjorn
Counters: Pharah
Pharah can wreck Torb’s turret from out of the turret’s range. Once she has the turret down, he isn’t likely to hit her. She can use the turret’s down time to focus him. He will either be trying to shoot her from long-distance and failing or trying to reset his turret.
Tanks
- D.Va
Counters: Zarya, Mei, Roadhog
Zarya can fire straight through D.Va’s defense matrix. Mei’s blaster can also go through D.Va’s matrix. If Roadhog can land a hook on her, a lot of times he can bait out D.Va’s defense matrix. This provides an opportunity for tank-shredders like Reaper to go in and get her out of mech. Once she’s in “baby D.Va” form, she should be easy to take out. Try not to let her hide in the back until she gets her mech back. The enemy team is essentially one tank down while she’s out of mech, so it’s a good time to push.
- Reinhardt
Counters: Reaper, Tracer, Roadhog, Reinhardt
Close-range dps like Reaper and Tracer can kill Rein, but Solider and Roadhog can work on getting his shield down. Get his shield down before throwing in some of your damage ults. Be strategic. If the enemy team has a Reinhardt, it would be smart to get a Rein on your own team. The other team will just rain fire on you from behind the shield if you don't have anything to block the fire, and Reinhardt can block an enemy Eather Shatter. Unless your team can be super aggressive and swarm the enemy Rein, you definitely need one on your team.
- Roadhog
Counters: Zarya, Reaper
As one of the most powerful heroes in Overwatch at the moment, try a combo of heroes to counter him. First, get him out of position, then focus him down. Heroes like Zarya can protect herself and her teammates from hooks with her shields. Zarya can bubble Reaper after he gets hooked, and then Reaper just shoots. Pay attention to when he uses his hook vs. when it’s on its 6-second cool down.
- Winston
Counters: Reaper, Zenyatta, Roadhog
Winston is going to have a hard job diving if there is a Reaper focusing him and a Zenyatta throwing discords. That combo can shred through Winston’s shield and health bar. Where Winston has the ability to jump out of Reaper’s range, he will not be able to take Reaper out while he’s in wraith form. To counter Winston’s jetpack, Roadhog can hook him into his team.
- Zarya
Counters: Reaper, Tracer
For the love of goodness sake, people, DO NOT CHARGE ZARYA. Reaper is still a good counter to her, being the tank shredder, but if she is charged up she is very hard to get close to. Since Tracer has high mobility, she can get close enough to bait out Zarya's bubble then land a pulse bomb on her. If Tracer can stick Zarya, the bomb will instantly kill her.
Support
- Lucio
Counters: Mei, Sombra
Lucio’s abilities are deeply rooted in mobility. Mei can slow him if she can get close enough. Another counter to Lucio is Sombra. We are seeing a little more of Sombra after her recent buffs, but people are still learning how to use her. Sombra has the ability to hack Lucio quickly, disabling him from changing between health and speed as well as stopping him from amping it up.
- Mercy
Counters: Genji, Tracer, Reaper
Try flanking with Tracer, Genji, or even Reaper to sneak up on Mercy and take her out! While Mercy doesn’t have to be played from the backlines of her team, she is often supporting a teammate who in engaging someone in front of her. Divers are also effective against Mercy, but with her high mobility, you have to make it a priority to track her down.
- Symmetra
Counters: Pharah, Junkrat, Widowmaker, Hanzo
Anything long range will counter Symmetra. Once you are close enough to her, she will absolutely melt most heroes with less than 250 health. Try using Pharah for long-range, or even Junkrat if Symmetra is guarding her teleporter or shield generator in a small room. Be sure to duck around corners and kill turrets QUICKLY. While they might not do so much damage to you, she gets ult charge from them. You want to keep her from getting ult for as long as possible by avoiding her turrets and focusing her quickly.
- Zenyatta
Counters: Tracer, Reaper, Genji, Winston, Ana
Zenyatta, like Mercy, needs to watch out for flankers and divers. You probably need to be more conscious of them as Zenyatta because of his lack of mobility and low health, but some of the responsibility is on your team to protect the healers. Keep an eye out for Ana whenever you ult, and try to bait out her grenade. If you’re stuck in Zarya’s ult and try to save your team with an ult, Ana can toss in her grenade effectively cancelling out Zen’s entire ult.
- Ana
Counters: Ana, D.Va, Winston, Genji, Tracer
A really good counter to Ana is, well, Ana. She has the strongest stun in the game as well as the only anti-heal ability in Overwatch. If your team wants to keep up with her healing AND damage assists, you need a good Ana on your team. With her lack of mobility, up-close heroes can take her out fairly easily. Try using D.Va because she can eat Ana’s sleep dart and grenade with her defense matrix. Winston can also dive the Ana, but he is quite a large target for a sleep dark. Genji is also a difficult target for Ana to hit, that being said—don’t forget the sleep dart and anti-heal.
Conclusion
Heroes like Roadhog and Ana are incredibly strong right now. He can counter so many heroes because of his ability to eliminate heroes with less than 300 health every 6 seconds. It is worth noting, however, that Roadhog will be receiving a nerf to his hook. The nerfs are still being tested in the PTR, but as of now his hook's cooldown has been lengthened from 6 seconds to 8 seconds. The spread to his scrap gun is also being decreased by 20 percent, and hook targets are now pulled to 3.5 meters away instead of only 2 meters away. These updates will make Roadhog more balanced, but with good aim he still counters a lot of heroes. Ana is also really strong right now with the only anti-heal ability in the game as well as the strongest stun in the game. These heroes that seem to counter everyone correlate with the heroes at the top of the meta. It makes sense because they are really powerful right now, with both Roadhog and Ana being necessary in the triple tank (sometimes even quad tank) team composition. This is why it's important to keep up with the developer updates! Some counters stay constant, but with every adjustment to the game, counters may change. Try to practice with a variety of heroes or establish roles as a team so you can have all of your counters covered!
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PATNA: A
(SSB) jawan who had come on leave to his native village Pandethika in
’s
was shot dead by Maoists on Monday after dragging him out of his residence. Police identified the jawan as Sikander
from the SSB’s 48th battalion based in Bihar’s
.
On Tuesday, SHO (Barahat) Sunil Kumar said, “Sikander was killed while he and his family were celebrating his daughter’s fourth birthday.”
Before Sikander was killed, two Maoists, in police uniform, came to the house looking for him. As soon as he came out, about 20 other rebels pounced on him and dragged him away at gunpoint.
“Sikander was shot several times just a few feet away from his house,” Kumar said.
Villagers claimed there were also some women among the Maoists. Calling him a “police informer”, the rebels shouted they were “punishing” him. They fled into a nearby jungle after shooting him dead.
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Strong time-shifted viewing has helped new NBC drama Shades of Blue, starring Jennifer Lopez, to land a second-season renewal five episodes into its freshman run.
Primetime-Panic Your Complete Guide to Pilots and Straight-to-Series orders See All
The pickup underscore how less and less relevant Live+same dayTV ratings are in networks’ renewal decisions, also illustrated by NBC’s second-season pickup of Aquarius and Fox’s of Scream Queens — both soft in linear TV but strong in digital ratings performance.
While Shades of Blue slipped another two tenths to a new low of a 1.1 Live+same day adults 18-49 rating last night, in Live+3, the cop drama has averaged a 2.5 demo rating and 11.2 million viewers overall. It is one of the most time-shifted shows on television, with its most recent L+7 data available indicating a +95% lift in 18-49 vs. L+SD (from a 1.32 to a 2.57) and by +4.7 million viewers overall (6.6 million to 11.3 million). Shades of Blue has delivered NBC’s first time period wins in the Thursday 10 PM hour with in-season regular programming over original competition on ABC and CBS since March 2010 in 18-49 and since March 2008 in total viewers.
“We want to thank Jennifer, who is the hardest working woman we know, for her incredible efforts as both the star and producer of this show, as well as well as our other amazing producers and cast for all their tireless work in creating one of the most compelling dramas on television today,” said NBC’s entertainment president Jennifer Salke.
Created by Adi Hasak, Shades of Blue stars Jennifer Lopez as Harlee Santos, a charismatic single mother and resourceful detective at the heart of a tight-knit crew of Brooklyn detectives, led by enigmatic Lt. Matt Wozniak (Ray Liotta). The FBI catches Harlee in the act and pits her against her own unit. As a newly turned informant, Harlee struggles to safeguard her on-the-job family and avoid arrest in order to stay with her daughter. Co-starring in the series are Drea de Matteo, Warren Kole, Dayo Okeniyi, Vincent Laresca, Hampton Fluker and Sarah Jeffery.
Hasak, showrunner Jack Orman, Lopez, Elaine Goldsmith-Thomas, Benny Medina, Ryan Seacrest and Nina Wass serve as executive producers for Universal TV.. Barry Levinson directed the first two episodes.
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June 18, 2008 - Robin Walker
Now that we've settled into regular releases of content, we've found ourselves wanting a better way to talk directly to the TF2 community about the state of the game and some of the reasoning behind the choices we're making. Our hope is that this blog will accomplish that, and give everyone some better insight into our development process as well.
Our hope is that we'll be providing you with a variety of interesting things to read, whether you're a hardcore TF2 player or you've just started. We'll be going into the details behind some of the gameplay, posting a bunch of the concept art we haven't released before, and showcasing the great content the community is creating.
In the meantime, if you haven't checked it out yet you can read up on the details of the Pyro pack.
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Apple today is releasing watchOS 6.1 to the public after developer beta testing. The update includes performance improvements, and brings watchOS 6 to the Apple Watch Series 1 and Series 2.
Apple Watch Series 1 and Apple Watch Series 2 were excluded from the initial release of watchOS 6 last month. At the time, Apple said the update would come sometime in the fall.
Apple Watch Series 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 users can now update to watchOS 6.1. In addition to support for the older Apple Watch models, watchOS 6.1 includes support for AirPods Pro, as well as performance improvements and bug fixes. During beta testing, the update appeared to improve battery life performance for the Apple Watch Series 5 as well.
Here’s are the release notes for today’s update:
watchOS 6.1 introduces support for AirPods Pro and includes improvements and bug fixes. This update also brings watchOS 6 to Apple Watch Series 1 and Series 2.
Apple Watch Series 1 and Series 2 users can look forward several new watchOS 6 features. watchOS 6 brings new first-party apps to the device, including apps for the Calculator, Voice Memos, and Audiobooks. watchOS 6 also marks the introduction of a dedicated App Store for Apple Watch apps. Users will be able to search, discover, and download apps directly from their watch, making the device less reliant on iPhone.
Apple has also released watchOS 5.3.3 to the public. This update is for people who don’t have an iPhone that is capable of running iOS 13, and therefore can’t update to watchOS 6. Apple says this update “provides important security updates and is recommended for all users.”
Are you still using an Apple Watch Series 1 or Series 2? What watchOS 6 feature are you most excited to try? Let us know down in the comments! Spot any other major changes in today’s public release of watchOS 6.1? Share them in the comments below or on Twitter, @9to5Mac.
Read more:
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.
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Donald Trump has signed the order on withdrawing the US from the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal.
Highlights Mr Trump signed executive order to withdraw from TransPacific Partnership
The move indicated that Mr Trump's tough trade talk is being executed
Economists warn that many of his proposals could backfire on US economy
President Donald Trump began recasting America's role in the global economy Monday, canceling an agreement for a sweeping trade deal with Asia as one of his first official White House actions.After meeting with business executives to discuss the U.S. manufacturing industry, Trump headed to the Oval Office to sign an executive order formally ending the United States' participation in the TransPacific Partnership. The move was largely symbolic -- the deal was unlikely to make it through Congress -- but served to signal that Trump's tough talk on trade during the campaign will carry over to his new administration.That could point to contentious negotiations over the North American Free Trade Agreement down the road. Trump repeatedly promised to reopen the 22-year-old deal with Mexico and Canada while on the campaign trail, and he reiterated his threat to punish U.S. companies that build factories abroad in brief remarks on Monday.Trump's protectionist rhetoric is part of a global backlash against the drive toward greater internationalization that has existed since the end of World War II. British Prime Minister Theresa May, who is in the midst of navigating her country's own break from established trading partners, is slated to visit with Trump later this week. A White House spokesman said meetings with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Mexican Prime Minister Enrique Pena Nieto are in the works."What we want is fair trade," Trump said during his meeting with executives. "And we're gonna treat countries fairly, but they have to treat us fairly."Among the business leaders Trump met with Monday was Dow Chemical Chief Executive Andrew Liveris, who said the the president tasked the executives to return in 30 days with a plan to shore up the manufacturing industry. He said there was extensive discussion of Trump's threat to impose border tax on U.S. companies that build factories in other countries and ship the goods back home -- a proposal that is shaping up to be a centerpiece of Trump's trade policy."I would take the president at his word here," Liveris said. "He's not going to do anything to harm competitiveness. He's going to actually make us all more competitive."Still, it remains unclear exactly how the tax would be implemented. Testifying before the Senate finance committee last week, Trump's nominee to lead the Treasury Department said any border tax would be targeted at specific businesses. However, the president does not have the power to levy taxes, and international trade experts have warned singling out companies could violate existing treaties.House Speaker Paul Ryan has proposed allowing businesses that export goods to deduct many of their expenses, while those that import would not receive the same benefit. But in a recent interview with the Wall Street Journal, Trump dismissed the plan, known as border adjustment, as "too complicated."Economists have warned that many of Trump's proposals -- including suggestions that he would impose blanket double-digit tariffs on goods from Mexico and China -- could backfire on the American economy by causing prices to rise or igniting a trade war. And business groups such as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce had lobbied extensively for passage of TPP, touting the deal as an engine of job growth and an important check on China's growing ambitions."TPP withdrawal will slow US [economic] growth, cost American jobs, & weaken US standing in Asia/world," said Richard Haas, president of the Council on Foreign Relations, said in a tweet early Monday. "China could well be principal beneficiary."But other industry groups argued that Trump's approach would better leverage America's status as the world's largest economy. Scott Paul, president of the Alliance for American Manufacturing, said his group is hoping that opening up NAFTA could provide more leeway to combat currency manipulation in countries outside the agreement. His group, which represents both industry and unions, is also seeking more stringent rules of origin that dictate how much production must occur with member countries to qualify for free trade status.
"The details are going to matter a lot," Paul said. "Renegotiating NAFTA obviously entails some risks and some rewards."
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The world is a fascinating place, and it's full of weird and interesting facts that you might have never realized were true.
Luckily, the folks over at Reddit have a collection of true facts about life, and we've combed through them to find our favorites.
From a creature that can survive the harsh vacuum of space to the odd state sport of Maryland, you're bound to learn something that makes you think twice.
Note: A shorter version of this article was originally published by Kyle Russell.
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I like SHORT walks on the beach because I have stubby legs and no stamina. I run decks-dank.tumblr.com bc I'm radiohead trash.
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Article content continued
That’s really just a guess, more to illustrate the point than predict the final results. Anything can happen between now and October in a first-past-the-post contest. But the point is that the left, writhing in out-of-office agony for the last few years, is (I think) too smart to get into divisive splitting of its own vote.
Backed by the unions and other entrenched NDP factions that hold hammerlocks on downtown power bases, the left is united, one single party behind a single cause that will be easy to articulate as an anti-Ford, anti-right-wing coalition, a force for good in a city that needs to beat back the Ford Nation craziness.
The Olivia Chow Mayoral Election Committee is playing right into this scenario. While the left will be running to win, the conservative candidates will be running divide-and-conquer campaigns against their own diverse forces. Instead of taking on the left, the Tory/Stintz/Ford/Soknacki forces will bash one another into losing, minority positions.
It’s already started, with Mr. Ford attacking Mr. Tory, Mr. Soknacki blasting Mr. Ford, Ms. Stintz angling for position against the others. Toronto’s for-hire political operatives, loyal to no one, are jumping aboard the different campaigns, ready to wipe one another out before the full election is even underway.
Centrist Torontonians should know that Toronto is not a naturally conservative town. Post amalgamation, the city has tilted to the left. David Miller won with 57% of the vote in 2006 in a no-contest battle with Jane Pitfield. In 2003, Mr. Miller collected 43% against John Tory, but only because fellow leftist Barbara Hall was too stubborn to get out the race. She took 9% of the votes that would otherwise have gone to Mr. Miller, giving the left a solid majority.
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An eye-popping 63 percent of non-citizens are utilizing welfare programs designed to aid Americans struggling financially, according to findings by the Census Bureau.
That percentage leads all groups, including naturalized citizens and native households, the latter of which is nearly doubled from 35 percent.
The findings are derived from a survey generated from respondents in 2014, when the Obama administration was encouraging welfare program use for non-citizens.
Additionally, the bureau’s numbers demonstrate that the percentage actually climbs to 70 percent for non-citizens in the United States for 10 years or more, a fact indicating once they start receiving welfare benefits, they stay on the programs.
“Concern over immigrant welfare use is justified, as households headed by non-citizens use means-tested welfare at high rates,” writes the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS), a Washington immigration think tank.
“While barriers to welfare use exist for these groups, it has not prevented them from making extensive use of the welfare system, often receiving benefits on behalf of U.S.-born children.”
If the percentages don’t concern you, how about looking at it from tangible base numbers? 4,684,784 million non-citizen households are receiving some form of welfare.
Counters Leftist Claims That Illegal Immigrants Are a Benefit to America Economically
The Census Bureau numbers suggest non-citizens are more of a drain on the economy than the Democrat party would like you to believe.
Did you see this new report? Turns out 63 percent of non citizens are on some form of governemnt support. Tell me more about how much they contribute to our economyhttps://t.co/GNhO7NQxeB — Corky Knightrider (@c_knightrider) December 3, 2018
Worse, welfare is just one of many concerns when it comes to non-citizens affecting the economy. Previous reports have had the cost of illegal immigration exceeding $100 billion, with many of the costs being applied toward education, Medicaid, and justice.
Obama Encouraged This
Documents released by Judicial Watch in 2013 showed that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) was working with the Mexican government to promote food stamp benefits for illegal immigrants.
The effort, according to Judicial Watch president Tom Fitton, “confirm(s) the fact that the Obama administration cannot be trusted to protect our borders or enforce our immigration laws.”
He added, “the coordination with a foreign government to attack the policies of an American state is contemptible.”
There is little to no doubt, Democrats continue to support these welfare programs and encourage ways around other restrictions for political reasons – earning votes from non-citizens – and it’s hardworking Americans who are stuck with the bill.
Trump is Fighting It
This past summer, the Trump administration proposed a plan to limit the ability to become a citizen or even earn a green card if they’ve used welfare programs in the past.
The impending crackdown led immigrants to almost immediately drop out of nutrition programs.
Studies have indicated that the President’s proposed border wall could pay for itself by cutting welfare to illegals.
Study: Trump’s Border Wall Could Pay for Itself by Cutting Welfare to Illegal Immigrants pic.twitter.com/4UdwZnGSi7 — Ryan Saavedra (@RealSaavedra) March 12, 2018
In October, the administration initiated an effort to target immigrants caught cheating on welfare for deportation.
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Arrests made in Costa Rican kidnapping of American Costa Rican authorities are hoping the arrest of 12 people allegedly involved in the September kidnapping of the owner of an internet sports betting site will lead to the missing U.S. citizen
SAN JOSE, Costa Rica -- Costa Rican authorities are hoping the arrest of 12 people allegedly involved in the September kidnapping of the owner of an internet sports betting site will lead to the missing U.S. citizen.
Director of Costa Rica's Judicial Investigation Body Walter Espinoza said Friday that the arrests were made in Costa Rica and Spain.
Sean William Creighton had lived in Costa Rica for several years before he was kidnapped Sept. 24 near San Jose. Espinoza says the kidnappers used a rented pickup and worked with a pair of transit police officers to abduct Creighton.
Espinoza says Creighton's family paid a nearly $1 million ransom via the electronic currency Bitcoin. Investigators were able to link access to an electronic wallet to a computer address in Costa Rica.
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Efter at have været fanget i 15 dage er de første to drenge fra fodboldholdet "Wild Boars" nu reddet ud af grotten Tham Luang, Mae Sai i Chiang Rai-provinsen i det nordlige Thailand.
- To af drengene er ude. De befinder sig netop nu på et felthospital tæt ved grotten, oplyser chefen for Chaing Rais sundhedsindsats, Tossathep Boonthong, som også er en del af redningsaktionen ifølge nyhedsbureauet Reuters.
Drengene bliver nu undersøgt af lægehold og skal formentlig senere flyttes til regionens største hospital, Chiangrai Prachanukroh, små 100 kilometer væk.
Ifølge Reuters er flere ambulancer set køre fra indgangen til grotten, ligesom en helikopter er set flyve fra stedet, men det er uvist, om hvem der er ombord.
Begyndte tidligt søndag morgen
Den storstilede redningsaktion begyndte tidligt søndag morgen omkring klokken fem dansk tid, hvor 13 udenlandske dykkere samt fem thailandske marinesoldater gik ind i det i alt ti kilometer lange hulesystem.
Drengene, som sidder fanget flere kilometer dybt inde, skal nu ledes ud af de professionelle dykkere, og ifølge avisen The Bangkok Post er de 12 drenge og deres træner blevet inddelt i fire grupper.
Fire drenge i den første gruppe, og i de efterfølgende grupper er der tre drenge i hver. Drengenes fodboldtræner, den 25-årige Ekkapol Chantawong, er angiveligt med i den sidste gruppe.
Læs også : Evakuering af thailandske drenge er begyndt
Leder af redningsarbejdet, Narongsak Osattanakorn, har tidligere fortalt, at dykkere og lægestab arbejdet tæt sammen om at vurdere, hvem af drengene, der kan komme ud først.
De thailandske myndigheder har fremlagt en skitse af redningsplanen, hvor det fremgår, at hver af drengene vil være iført fuldt dykkerudstyr og have to professionelle dykker til at lede dem gennem den farefulde færd i grotten, hvor vandet er mudret, der er steder med stærk strøm og områder, hvor der er ganske iltfattigt.
Flere steder i grotten er beskrevet som ekstremt snævre passager, kun knap 60 centimeter brede.
En krig mod tid og vand
Pumper har i døgndrift fragtet mange millioner vand ud fra grotten og sænket vandstanden op mod 30 centimeter flere steder, hvilket giver optimale vilkår for redningsarbejdet.
Ifølge Narongsak Osattanakorn frygter man, at nye regnmængder risikerer at oversvømme hulen igen, inklusive den lille forhøjning, hvor drengene og deres træner befinder sig.
Guvernøren har ifølge den australske tv-station ABC derfor beskrevet redningsmissionen som en "krig mod både tid og vand", og at det er en kompliceret aktion, som vurderes kan vare flere dage.
Udenfor grotten har der været megen aktivitet, hvor drengenes familier og et over 1.000 personer stort redningsmandskab har arbejdet de seneste mange dage.
Drengene og deres træner gik ind i grotten 23. juni, men blev fanget da store regnmængder oversvømmede indgangen og tvang dem flere kilometer ind i det lange hulesystem.
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The Doughboy Podcast is about what happened 100 years ago during and after the War that changed the world --- and it is also about NOW - How WWI is still present in our daily lives - How it is remembered and discussed, learned and taught - but most importantly - the podcast is about why and how we will never let awareness of WWI fall back into the mists of obscurity.
Subscribe to the Podcast and enjoy at your leisure on you mobile device
Smart Speakers: Say "Play W W One Centennial News Podcast"
NEW: If you subscribe to the podcast from iTunes, ask "Siri: Play W W One Centennial News Podcast" and she will!
RSS Feed: https://www.podcast.worldwar1centennial.org/feed.xml
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NEW DELHI: In a break from tradition, both Houses of Parliament were adjourned for the day on Wednesday as a mark of respect to DMK chief M Karunanidhi who died last evening.
The 94-year-old DMK patriarch served as the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu for five times but was never a member of Parliament.
Glowing tributes were paid to the departed leader in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha , before the Houses were adjourned for the day.
It is rare that the House is adjourned in case a departed leader is not a sitting or former member. It is a Parliament convention to adjourn for the day in the event of death of a sitting member, Parliament officials said.
Before the proceedings commenced today, Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu consulted senior leaders of various political parties for their views on adjourning the proceedings of the House for the day.
He sought to know their views as it is rarely that the House proceedings are adjourned in case the departed leader is not a sitting or former member of the House, the officials said.
All those who participated in the meeting said Karunanidhi was one of the tallest leaders of the country and favoured adjournment of the proceedings.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar also said the government was also in favour of adjournment, the officials said.
The views were also conveyed to Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan , they said.
As soon as the Lok Sabha met for the day, Mahajan informed the members about the demise of Karunanidhi.
Describing him as a "visionary" and a "leader of the masses", she said he had spread his political philosophy through screen writing and produced some of the best hits in Tamil cinema.
During his "illustrious political career", Karunanidhi "ably showcased his admirable leadership qualities and worked relentlessly for the cause of the people, particularly the marginalised and the downtrodden sections of society," Mahajan said.
After observing a moment of silence in his memory, the Lok Sabha proceedings were adjourned for the day.
In the Rajya Sabha, the Chairman read out an obituary reference, describing Karunanidhi as a multi-faceted personality and a gritty figure who overcame difficulties.
Beginning his career as a screen play writer, Karunanidhi used Tamil cinema to propagate Dravidian ideology and contributed to Tamil culture, Naidu said.
Karunanidhi entered politics at a very young age and was a member of the Tamil Nadu Assembly for a record 13 times, being elected from seven different constituencies, he said.
In 1969, he became the third Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu and went on to serve the state as the head of its government for five terms.
He played a key role in scripting the development of Tamil Nadu, Naidu said, adding that in his death, the country has lost an eminent litterateur, an able administrator, a dedicated social worker and an outstanding statesman.
The members stood in silence as a mark of respect to the departed soul, following which Naidu adjourned the Rajya Sabha proceedings for the day.
Earlier at the meeting, the parliamentary affairs minister sought the cooperation of all parties in both Houses in passing important pending bills like the one relating to Prevention of Atrocities against SCs and STs in the Rajya Sabha, if required, by dispensing with the Zero Hour and private members' business, the officials said.
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Image copyright Reuters Image caption In her victory speech, Cindy Hyde-Smith promised to represent all Mississippians
Republican Cindy Hyde-Smith has won Mississippi's racially charged Senate election, beating a challenge from the black Democrat, Mike Espy.
It extends the Senate majority of President Donald Trump's party 53 for Republicans and 47 for Democrats.
The race narrowed after Ms Hyde-Smith, who is white, was recorded saying she would happily attend a public hanging.
The comments evoked the lynching of African-Americans in a state scarred by a history of racial violence.
With nearly all votes counted, Ms Hyde-Smith had taken 53.9% of the vote in the staunchly Republican state compared to 46.1% for Mr Espy.
President Trump tweeted his congratulations.
In a statement, Ms Hyde-Smith said: "I want everybody to know, no matter who you voted for today, I am going to represent every Mississippian."
Conceding to his opponent, Mr Espy tweeted that he was "proud of the historic campaign we ran and grateful for the support".
With her victory, Ms Hyde-Smith became the first ever US congresswoman to be elected from Mississippi. Now, only the northern, more liberal, state of Vermont has never elected a woman to congress.
The seat will be up for re-election again in 2020, with a full six-year-term at stake.
The run-off election campaign had dredged up aspects of the Deep South state's ugly past.
On Monday, several nooses were found at the Mississippi capitol in Jackson in an apparent protest against the tenor of the campaign.
Signs alongside the ropes urged voters to elect "someone who respects the lives of lynch victims" and "remind people that times haven't changed", according to local media.
This election became more competitive after a video emerged earlier this month of Ms Hyde-Smith - who is the incumbent senator - saying she would be "on the front row" if one of her supporters "invited me to a public hanging".
For many, the comment evoked past lynchings of African-Americans.
Comments became a rallying call
Analysis by Chris Buckler, BBC News, Mississippi
Many said this was Cindy Hyde-Smyth's election to lose - and some will argue she seemed to try pretty hard.
Joking about a public hanging in a state with a history of racially-motivated lynchings wasn't just insensitive - it was a rallying call for opponents.
A number of businesses even asked her for their donations to be returned.
Eventually there was an apology but by then the comments had come to overshadow Senator Hyde-Smith's campaign and everywhere she faced questions about racial division rather than the election race.
Despite everything she can console herself in the knowledge that this was a decisive win.
President Trump, who congratulated her on the result, will also be patting himself on the back. He undoubtedly helped to motivate his supporters with appearances in Mississippi at eve-of-election rallies.
Yet Democrats and their candidate Mike Espy may well claim some sort of moral victory. In a state widely regarded as a Republican stronghold they made this run-off election a genuine battle.
In his statement admitting defeat, Mr Espy pointedly wrote that Mississippi's future would be brighter than its past.
According to the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), Mississippi had the highest number of lynchings in the nation from 1882 to 1968.
Mr Espy condemned his rival's comment as "reprehensible"; Ms Hyde-Smith maintained there was no "negative connotation".
The Democrat has himself come under scrutiny for his 2011 lobbying work in the Ivory Coast, whose former leader Laurent Gbagbo is on trial at the International Criminal Court.
Mr Espy was agriculture secretary under President Bill Clinton, but resigned under a cloud of corruption allegations, on which he was later acquitted.
Image copyright Reuters/Getty Images Image caption Democratic challenger Mike Espy criticised incumbent Republican Cindy Hyde-Smith over recent racially charged comments
Ms Hyde-Smith, meanwhile, was further criticised when photos surfaced of her posing at the home of Confederate President Jefferson Davis, with the caption: "Mississippi history at its best."
A video of Ms Hyde-Smith apparently encouraging voter suppression also emerged on Twitter.
That recording showed the senator saying there were some liberals "who maybe we don't want to vote - maybe we want to make it just a little more difficult [to vote]".
Her campaign later said the comment was a joke and the video had been "selectively altered", the Washington Post reported.
At a recent debate, Ms Hyde-Smith gave a qualified apology to anyone she had offended, while adding that opponents had "twisted" her words "as a political weapon".
"It came out of your mouth," Mr Espy had replied. "I don't know what's in your heart, but we all know what came out of your mouth."
President Donald Trump travelled to Mississippi on the eve of the vote to campaign for Ms Hyde-Smith.
"I know her, and I know she apologised, and she misspoke," the Republican president told reporters on his way to the state.
He painted Mr Espy as a far-left ideologue who would "rather protect illegal aliens than people who live in Mississippi", and questioned how he "fit in with Mississippi".
Image copyright Reuters Image caption President Donald Trump journeyed to Mississippi to campaign for Ms Hyde-Smith
Had he won, Mr Espy would have become the first black senator for Mississippi since the Reconstruction era following the US Civil War.
Mr Espy's campaign had pushed the idea that electing Ms Hyde-Smith would stoke a lingering view of Mississippi as a racist southern state.
"We can't afford a senator who embarrasses us and reinforces the stereotypes we've worked so hard to overcome," one ad for the Democrat said.
Mr Espy needed to overwhelmingly win the black vote and a substantial number of white voters to unseat his Republican opponent.
Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Racism in the US: Is there a single step that can bring equality?
Why was the election still unresolved?
After Republican Senator Thad Cochran resigned in April, a special election for Mississippi's US Senate seat was arranged.
Under the state's law, if no candidate wins over 50% of the votes, a runoff election must take place.
On 6 November during the mid-term elections, both Ms Hyde-Smith and Mr Espy received about 41% of the vote.
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Born in poverty, Andrew Jackson (1767-1845) had become a wealthy Tennessee lawyer and rising young politician by 1812, when war broke out between the United States and Britain. His leadership in that conflict earned Jackson national fame as a military hero, and he would become America’s most influential–and polarizing–political figure during the 1820s and 1830s. After narrowly losing to John Quincy Adams in the contentious 1824 presidential election, Jackson returned four years later to win redemption, soundly defeating Adams and becoming the nation’s seventh president (1829-1837). As America’s political party system developed, Jackson became the leader of the new Democratic Party. A supporter of states’ rights and slavery’s extension into the new western territories, he opposed the Whig Party and Congress on polarizing issues such as the Bank of the United States (though Andrew Jackson’s face is on the twenty-dollar bill). For some, his legacy is tarnished by his role in the forced relocation of Native American tribes living east of the Mississippi.
Andrew Jackson’s Early Life
Andrew Jackson was born on March 15, 1767, in the Waxhaws region on the border of North and South Carolina. The exact location of his birth is uncertain, and both states have claimed him as a native son; Jackson himself maintained he was from South Carolina. The son of Irish immigrants, Jackson received little formal schooling. The British invaded the Carolinas in 1780-1781, and Jackson’s mother and two brothers died during the conflict, leaving him with a lifelong hostility toward Great Britain.
Did you know? During their invasion of the western Carolinas in 1780-1781, British soldiers took the young Andrew Jackson prisoner. When Jackson refused to shine one officer's boots, the officer struck him across the face with a saber, leaving lasting scars.
Jackson read law in his late teens and earned admission to the North Carolina bar in 1787. He soon moved west of the Appalachians to the region that would soon become the state of Tennessee, and began working as a prosecuting attorney in the settlement that became Nashville. He later set up his own private practice and met and married Rachel (Donelson) Robards, the daughter of a local colonel. Jackson grew prosperous enough to build a mansion, the Hermitage, near Nashville, and to buy slaves. In 1796, Jackson joined a convention charged with drafting the new Tennessee state constitution and became the first man to be elected to the U.S. House of Representatives from Tennessee. Though he declined to seek reelection and returned home in March 1797, he was almost immediately elected to the U.S. Senate. Jackson resigned a year later and was elected judge of Tennessee’s superior court. He was later chosen to head the state militia, a position he held when war broke out with Great Britain in 1812.
Andrew Jackson’s Military Career
Andrew Jackson, who served as a major general in the War of 1812, commanded U.S. forces in a five-month campaign against the Creek Indians, allies of the British. After that campaign ended in a decisive American victory in the Battle of Tohopeka (or Horseshoe Bend) in Alabama in mid-1814, Jackson led American forces to victory over the British in the Battle of New Orleans (January 1815). The win, which occurred after the War of 1812 officially ended but before news of the Treaty of Ghent had reached Washington, elevated Jackson to the status of national war hero. In 1817, acting as commander of the army’s southern district, Jackson ordered an invasion of Florida. After his forces captured Spanish posts at St. Mark’s and Pensacola, he claimed the surrounding land for the United States. The Spanish government vehemently protested, and Jackson’s actions sparked a heated debate in Washington. Though many argued for Jackson’s censure, Secretary of State John Quincy Adams defended the general’s actions, and in the end they helped speed the American acquisition of Florida in 1821.
Jackson’s popularity led to suggestions that he run for president. At first he professed no interest in the office, but by 1824 his boosters had rallied enough support to get him a nomination as well as a seat in the U.S. Senate. In a five-way race, Jackson won the popular vote, but for the first time in history no candidate received a majority of electoral votes. The House of Representatives was charged with deciding between the three leading candidates: Jackson, Adams and Secretary of the Treasury William H. Crawford. Critically ill after a stroke, Crawford was essentially out, and Speaker of the House Henry Clay (who had finished fourth) threw his support behind Adams, who later made Clay his secretary of state. Jackson’s supporters raged against what they called the “corrupt bargain” between Clay and Adams, and Jackson himself resigned from the Senate.
Andrew Jackson In the White House
Andrew Jackson won redemption four years later in an election that was characterized to an unusual degree by negative personal attacks. Jackson and his wife were accused of adultery on the basis that Rachel had not been legally divorced from her first husband when she married Jackson. Shortly after his victory in 1828, the shy and pious Rachel Jackson died at the Hermitage; Jackson apparently believed the negative attacks had hastened her death. The Jacksons did not have any children but were close to their nephews and nieces, and one niece, Emily Donelson, would serve as Jackson’s hostess in the White House.
Jackson was the nation’s first frontier president, and his election marked a turning point in American politics, as the center of political power shifted from East to West. “Old Hickory” was an undoubtedly strong personality, and his supporters and opponents would shape themselves into two emerging political parties: The pro-Jacksonites became the Democrats (formally Democrat-Republicans) and the anti-Jacksonites (led by Clay and Daniel Webster) were known as the Whig Party. Jackson made it clear that he was the absolute ruler of his administration’s policy, and he did not defer to Congress or hesitate to use his presidential veto power. For their part, the Whigs claimed to be defending popular liberties against the autocratic Jackson, who was referred to in negative cartoons as “King Andrew I.”
Bank of the United States and Crisis in South Carolina
A major battle between the two emerging political parties involved the Bank of the United States, the charter of which was due to expire in 1832. Andrew Jackson and his supporters opposed the bank, seeing it as a privileged institution and the enemy of the common people; meanwhile, Clay and Webster led the argument in Congress for its recharter. In July, Jackson vetoed the recharter, charging that the bank constituted the “prostration of our Government to the advancement of the few at the expense of the many.” Despite the controversial veto, Jackson won reelection easily over Clay, with more than 56 percent of the popular vote and five times more electoral votes.
Though in principle Jackson supported states’ rights, he confronted the issue head-on in his battle against the South Carolina legislature, led by the formidable Senator John C. Calhoun. In 1832, South Carolina adopted a resolution declaring federal tariffs passed in 1828 and 1832 null and void and prohibiting their enforcement within state boundaries. While urging Congress to lower the high tariffs, Jackson sought and obtained the authority to order federal armed forces to South Carolina to enforce federal laws. Violence seemed imminent, but South Carolina backed down, and Jackson earned credit for preserving the Union in its greatest moment of crisis to that date. Jackson survived an assassination attempt on January 30, 1835, beating his would-be assassin, Richard Lawrence, with his walking cane. Andrew Jackson died at his home, the Hermitage, of congestive heart failure on June 8, 1845.
Andrew Jackson’s Legacy
In contrast to his strong stand against South Carolina, Andrew Jackson took no action after Georgia claimed millions of acres of land that had been guaranteed to the Cherokee Indians under federal law, and he declined to enforce a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that Georgia had no authority over Native American tribal lands. In 1835, the Cherokees signed a treaty giving up their land in exchange for territory west of Arkansas, where in 1838 some 15,000 would head on foot along the so-called Trail of Tears. The relocation resulted in the deaths of thousands.
As a slave-owner himself, Jackson opposed policies that would have outlawed slavery in western territories as the United States expanded. When abolitionists attempted to send anti-slavery tracts to the South during his presidency, he banned their delivery, calling them monsters that should “atone for this wicked attempt with their lives.”
In the 1836 election, Jackson’s chosen successor Martin Van Buren defeated Whig candidate William Henry Harrison, and Old Hickory left the White House even more popular than when he had entered it. Jackson’s success seemed to have vindicated the still-new democratic experiment, and his supporters had built a well-organized Democratic Party that would become a formidable force in American politics. After leaving office, Jackson retired to the Hermitage, where he died in June 1845.
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PHOTO GALLERIES
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A 100-year-old woman earned social media stardom having impressed professionals with a few swings at this weekend’s Dutch Open on the European Tour. The joke goes that Susan Hosang was enjoying her 60s as the 16th Solheim Cup got under way at Gleneagles.
A successful opening day for Europe was overshadowed by a curse of modern golf: slow play. The matter was particularly stark in the afternoon fourballs as the first match took five and a quarter hours until ending on the 16th green. Lizette Salas was singled out for a warning by officials but the unwillingness of those presiding to implement proper penalties is as recurring a theme as it is a depressing one. Salas did not appear worse than many others.
Paul Lawrie, a former Open champion, enjoyed his visit to Gleneagles but spoke out about the “absolutely brutally slow” pace of play. Juli Inkster, the US captain, concurred. “It’s painfully slow out there,” she said.
Solheim Cup may have the history but it needs big names too | Ewan Murray Read more
For television viewers, let alone those who had paid good money to spectate, this was borderline unwatchable. It is to the detriment of what should be a marquee sporting event that the scenario continued, and continued, and continued to the point where it was the key narrative. That Europe enter Saturday with a lead, four and a half to three and a half, seemed almost an afterthought.
Captaincy can be defined by bold calls. Catriona Matthew would have been subject to criticism had Anne van Dam and Suzann Pettersen slumped to defeat; instead this unlikely duo delivered a fourball showing which fully endorsed their captain’s faith.
Sign up to The Recap, our weekly email of editors’ picks.
Van Dam, a Solheim Cup debutant, was nerveless as Salas and Danielle Kang were swatted aside by 4&2. Pettersen had undertaken pre-tournament media duties while barely able to speak because of a throat problem; the Norwegian was duly left out of the opening session. In Van Dam and Pettersen - the latter is playing in this event for the ninth time - Matthew had the perfect mix of youth and experience. Pettersen set the tone with a wonderful putt converted from 50ft at the 6th for a two. By the turn this European pair were four up, an irretrievable situation for the US.
As Matthew celebrated the excellence of Van Dam and Pettersen, this proved a grisly Friday the 13th for Caroline Hedwall and Anna Nordqvist. The Swedes were demolished, 7&5, by Angel Yin and Ally McDonald, matching a Solheim Cup record. McDonald is worthy of special praise; she was an 11th-hour substitute here after the back injury suffered by Stacy Lewis.
Anne van Dam takes strength from offbeat route to Solheim Cup debut Read more
Europe took a one point lead into session two. And yet, the overwhelming stars of the foursomes show were American. The Korda sisters, Jessica and Nelly, thumped Jodi Ewart Shadoff and Caroline Masson 6&4. Petr Korda, the golfers’ father and a former grand slam tennis champion, was among the Gleneagles galleries.
The opening match of the competition was halved as Bronte Law and Carlota Ciganda could not be separated from Marina Alex and Morgan Pressel. Law and Ciganda earned another half point but were disappointed as Lexi Thompson holed a lengthy putt at the last to haul the Europeans back. Georgia Hall and Celine Boutier enjoyed a 2&1 foursomes success over Thompson and Brittany Altomare. Hall and Boutier sat out the fourballs.
Charley Hull’s fondness for this biennial competition was again apparent as she combined with Azahara Muñoz for a 2&1 foursomes win over Megan Khang and Annie Park. In the fourballs Hull and Muñoz shared a point with Altomare and Nelly Korda.
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Technology at the Consumer Electronics Show showed how electronic cameras on a vehicle can give a driver a better view than conventional mirrors, eliminating blind spots which can lead to accidents
With forward-looking car technology, the rearview mirror as we know it may soon become a thing of the past.
Technology at the Consumer Electronics Show showed how electronic cameras on a vehicle can give a driver a better view than conventional mirrors, eliminating blind spots which can lead to accidents.
BMW showed its system in which small cameras replace mirrors and offer an electronic display, allowing drivers to get three separate images or a single panoramic view.
According to BMW, this means a driver can look ahead and won't need to turn his or her head to see side mirrors—which have been removed and replaced with small cameras.
French equipment maker Valeo meanwhile offered its "Sightstream" system which uses cameras as well but maintains electronic displays on each side of the car.
The Valeo system offers a less dramatic change than BMW, so drivers who are accustomed to looking right and left don't have to change their habits.
Both companies say their systems offer several advantages: a more complete view of the landscape and better vision at night. And they will avoid problems of side mirrors which get fogged up or covered with rain.
The systems offer a better aerodynamic profile for the car, which can reduce fuel consumption.
None of these systems are in cars yet, but looking ahead, cameras seem to be the wave of the future.
General Motors said the inside mirror in its Bolt electric car, to be introduced soon, will be able to connect to a camera, eliminating the problem of a view blocked by passengers or tall objects in the back seat.
© 2016 AFP
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Republicans’ chances of keeping the Senate are up to about a 4 in 5 (79 percent), according to the “Classic” version of the FiveThirtyEight forecast. Republicans have always been favored to hold the Senate, but that’s nevertheless a meaningful improvement from recent weeks, when their odds were generally hovering between 2 in 3 (67 percent) and 7 in 10 (70 percent) instead.
FiveThirtyEight Senate forecast update for Oct. 10, 2018
This means Republicans have left what you might call the “Hillary Clinton zone” — the name I mentally assign to 70-ish percent chances where you’re only a normal-sized polling error away from losing the election. Less snarkily, Republicans have escaped a situation where Democrats could win the Senate merely by winning all the toss-up races. Instead, Democrats would have to win at least one of the four races — North Dakota, Tennessee, Texas and the Mississippi special election — that our model currently rates as “lean Republican” or “likely Republican.” to have a mathematical shot at the Senate. So, while it’s crucial to remember that a 4 in 5 chance is a long way from 100 percent, the GOP is in a pretty good position.
Rather than get too philosophical, however, let’s pose a more specific question: Is the GOP’s improved position in the Senate because of just one or two races? Or a certain type of race? (For instance, races in red states?) Or is it more broad-based?
Here’s a comparison of the odds our model is showing for each competitive Senate race as of now (Oct. 9), compared with where they stood on Sept. 12. Why Sept. 12? For one thing, that was the day we launched our Senate forecast. But it was also a relatively calm moment in the news cycle. There had been just enough time for some post-Labor Day polls (traditionally a time when voters become more attentive to campaigns) to filter into our polling averages. Brett Kavanaugh’s initial confirmation hearings had taken place, but Christine Blasey Ford had not yet had her name published by The Washington Post.
How Democrats’ odds have changed in Senate races Democratic chances of winning on Sept. 12 vs. Oct. 9 (as of 10 a.m.), according to the FiveThirtyEight 2018 Senate forecast Lite forecast (polls only) Classic forecast (polls plus fundamentals) State 9/12 10/9 Change 9/12 10/9 Change North Dakota 40% 14% -26 62% 31% -31 Tennessee 55 41 -14 31 29 -2 Missouri 59 51 -8 69 57 -12 Indiana 75 68 -7 84 75 -9 Texas 27 23 -4 31 25 -6 Nevada 55 52 -3 59 50 -9 Minnesota special 87 85 -2 91 89 -2 Mississippi special 25 23 -2 16 14 -2 Montana 78 79 +1 90 84 -6 Wisconsin 93 96 +3 95 97 +2 West Virginia 85 88 +3 87 88 +1 Florida 50 57 +7 57 60 +3 Arizona 61 68 +7 64 65 +1 Ohio 88 97 +9 91 95 +4 New Jersey 78 88 +10 93 92 -1 Overall Senate 28 21 -7 32 21 -11 Races in which Democrats’ chances have consistently been greater than 95 percent or less than 5 percent in the Classic version of the forecast are not listed.
As you can see in the table, I’ve shown how the numbers have changed in both the Lite version of our forecast, which sticks to the polls as much as possible, as well as in the Classic version, which incorporates “fundamentals” (non-polling factors such as fundraising and historical trends that help predict the outcome). For some races, these tell different stories. In Tennessee, for instance, the Lite forecast shows Democrat Phil Bredesen’s chances waning, reflecting that Republican Marsha Blackburn has gained in polls. But the Classic version of our Tennessee forecast is essentially unchanged since last month because the shift toward Blackburn was expected based on the fundamentals since Tennessee is a very red state.
In the Lite version of our model, Democrats’ decline really boils down to a few states: Indiana, Missouri, Tennessee and especially North Dakota, where Democratic incumbent Heidi Heitkamp went from slightly behind in polls to way, way behind. Note that these are all very red states and that three of the four feature Democratic incumbents. (And Bredesen, as a former governor, might be thought of as a quasi-incumbent.)
Outside of these states, Democrats’ numbers have held up pretty well. In fact, they’ve improved in several more purplish states such as Ohio, Florida and Arizona. Furthermore, somewhat contrary to the conventional wisdom, Bob Menendez, the embattled Democratic incumbent in New Jersey, has seen his numbers improve in the polls, not worsen.
To summarize, the pattern in Senate polls has been as follows:
In general, Democrats’ position has gotten worse in red states but has been steady-to-improving in purple and blue states. There are a couple of exceptions to this pattern (Joe Manchin has continued to poll well in West Virginia) but not many.
On top of that, Democrats have had particular problems in North Dakota, where Heitkamp has seen her numbers go especially south. In fact, absent Heitkamp’s decline, Democrats’ overall position in the Lite forecast is about the same as it was a month ago. (The declines in states such as Indiana are offset by gains in states such as Florida.) Since North Dakota is rarely polled, that raises the question of whether Heitkamp’s position was this bad all along and didn’t have much to do with her decision to vote against Kavanaugh’s confirmation to the Supreme Court; notably, one of the polls showing her down double digits was conducted almost entirely before the hearing with Ford and Kavanaugh on Sept. 27.
The Classic version of our model adds more complexity to the story. Although the polls have moved in the direction the fundamentals predicted in some states, such as Florida, New Jersey and Tennessee, it’s having trouble with Democratic incumbents such as Heitkamp and Missouri’s Claire McCaskill in very red states. The basic heuristic behind the Classic version of our model is that it’s very rare for a party’s incumbents to lose when national trends favor it. So the Classic model has been expecting these Democratic incumbents to gain ground in the polls. Instead, with the exception of Manchin and arguably Montana’s Jon Tester, the Democratic incumbents have been losing ground.
Overall, this is one of those times where the “what” is easier than the “why.” The what is that Democrats’ position has worsened in the Senate as a result of declining numbers in deeply red states — where, because of their terrible Senate map, Democrats have a ton of exposure. But the why is not totally clear: It might be attributable to Kavanaugh, or it might have been baked in all along.
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At a closed-door presentation in Seattle on August 29, Valve showcased a live demo and details of the new Steam Library, an update that includes a selection of features Valve says game developers have wanted to see on Steam for quite some time.
Better discoverability is the primary focus of the redesign, both in players' own game libraries and the Steam Store itself. At the same time, Valve also talked about its plans for the future regarding Steamworks and Steam Labs, along with how the team is working with alongside developers and community feedback to further develop both sections.
As far as new features go, a new tool for developers called Steam Events will be released on September 4, while an update to the Steam Labs project Micro Trailers and an experimental Search Page will go live September 5. Meanwhile, the open beta for the new, redesigned Steam Library begins on September 17.
The updated version of the Steam Library focuses on integrating user activity into one single space, offering customization to players and developers to organize and promote their games, respectively.
The activity section will now be part of the same desktop app, in a section that is relabeled Library Home. The primary structure focuses on updates from games, the player's recent activities in Steam, and personal sections. At the same time, Valve's Alden Kroll mentioned that the goal is to “help players find the next game that they might want to play.”
Some of the new Steam Library's main features are a showcase of recently played games for quick access, and a section that highlights friend activity (from unlocked achievements to notifications whenever friends start frequenting a particular title owned by all players involved) prominently on the page.
Categories will now be called Collections, and will dynamically work by using store tags and filters set up by the player, including some set based on game features like control support and other options.
There’s also a new ability to drag and drop games onto these collections, or just as standalone titles, into what are called shelves inside the library. It’s up to the player to manually add titles onto a specific collection or filter them automatically. Once a new game that falls into the criteria is added to the library, it will automatically appear on the collection as well. Meanwhile, already created categories will carry over as collections.
As far as how the library will handle this information, it will be based on how much has a user been playing a game recently, in the past, and what they play the most. “If you bought a game and you’ve never played it, then an update for a game will be less likely to show up,” a Valve representative explained.
Another new feature is the post-game summaries, which provide a glimpse of information after exiting the session showcasing unlocked achievements, Steam Trading Cards that dropped, and screenshots taken during play. “Over time we can expand this to include any other content, like items that you have purchased in the game,” Kroll added. From there, players can also go back and look at summaries from past days as well.
Some features in particular that, according to Valve were requested by developers in the past, are becoming available with this update. Announcements and events related to a game will now be combined in a new Events system, and developers will have a new set of tools for communicating information to players. This feature includes support for news surrounding updates, special announcements, game festivals, double-XP weekends, in-game discounts, patch-notes, and more.
These events will now be able to appear at a certain time set by the developers, or scheduled even ahead of time, so Steam can list them in a particular way, like a “coming soon update” or future live streams, for example. Developers are also able to embed things like videos, images, and workshop items can be embedded in Events.
As Kroll added, the idea is for developers to be able to author massive communications that will then be spread out through multiple channels. There are four different ways to distribute them: Inside the new Library Home as small windows under the “what’s new” section, in the Game Details pages (space being recommended for major updates, DLC announcements, etc.), in already existing locations such as inside a store page's Recent Updates section, and by email.
Still, it will be up to developers to determine how big or small each announcement will be. Inside events, players can also scroll down to read older news related to the game.
Events will also support localization, in order for studios to quickly upload them and showcase different languages, along with broadcasts to whitelist which accounts can stream on their store page or the event page itself.
For the Game Details pages in particular, developers can upload different artwork corresponding to a new update or event. Those pages now serve as a hub for players and can house information from the studio, a player's friend activity, and things like artwork that the larger community has contributed.
On the right side of that page, a column showcases additional details for quick access, including achievements, access to the workshop, and trading cards. This last one in particular, as we were able to see in the live demo by Valve, now carries 3D animations when hovering over the cards.
When asked about whether or not these animations can be toggled off, considering low specs’ computers or the battery from laptops, the Valve representative did not clarify. According to the representative, Valve will be looking at users’ surveys and the future open beta for feedback around that feature.
In regards to Steam Labs, there are three main features that Valve is focusing on at the moment. Micro Trailers, which are 6 seconds long, will be soon available for all games on Steam. At the same time, Valve wants players to use these trailers to browse through their tags, and is curious if these teasers will be compelling enough to click and learn more about a game.
As for filters used while browsing the store, the new search tools in Steam Labs there will feature numbers showcasing how much the results can be narrowed down when searching through a tag. On top of that, the experimental feature will include an endless scrolling page, instead of being divided by numbers like the past.
Still, all of this will be subject to change based upon feedback from players, and these experimental search tools will only be available inside the Steam Labs section.
A whole new feature called Deep Dive has been on the works with the collaboration of the independent developer Lars Doucet, which will showcase a selection of games under the premise of “your next favorite,” giving enough information to try and see if the user would be interested in diving more into it. If that rings a bell, it's because the feature is an official, Valve-commissioned spin on Doucet's earlier Diving Bell project. According to Kroll, this will be available soon, although there is no specific release window at the moment.
The Valve representative mentioned that most of the decisions and potential surrounding Steam Labs’ ideas are subject to community feedback. In terms of tools for developers, there are no immediate plans to give room for developer-focused or even developer-only tools in Steam Labs, but Kroll said that they’re actively consulting with different studios about the current experiments, and exclusive tools are something they’d like to see sometime in the future.
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MONTREAL — Even after a humbling loss in Toronto, Montreal Impact fullback Daniel Lovitz is eager to face the Eastern Conference-leading New York Red Bulls.
The Impact (10-14-3) play host to the Red Bulls (17-6-4) on Saturday night at Saputo Stadium looking to strengthen their grip on the conference’s sixth and final playoff spot.
Montreal is coming off a 3-1 defeat last week to rival TFC and now faces a New York squad that is unbeaten in its last six games. A 1-0 win over Houston on Wednesday put the Red Bulls into top spot in the east by one point over Atlanta, which has a game in hand.
"After a loss, most people say you want to win the next game, but if you play a weaker opponent it doesn’t really mean as much compared to playing the top team in the East," Lovitz said this week. "If you can get a good result against that team, it sets a clear standard and precedent for the rest of the games.
"It’s about looking these teams in the eye and playing them straight up because you look at the rest of the games on our slate and I think all of us would say that we really like our schedule, compared to some of the teams we’re competing with."
With seven games to play in the regular season, the Impact are four points ahead of seventh-place New England, who have two games in hand, and six ahead of D.C. United, who have played three fewer games.
Rather than seeing their position as precarious, Lovitz likes where they are. They play at D.C. on Sept. 29 and close the regular season Oct. 28 in New England.
"We have less volume of games and the difficulty of those game may not being as strong as some of the teams we have to face," said Lovitz. "So everyone we’re close to and need to beat to get in the playoffs, we’re going to be playing. That’s incredibly important."
It’s been a busy month for the Red Bulls, who went 4-0-2 in August. New York will be playing it’s fourth game in 11 days and its third in a week.
Against Houston, the Red Bulls made six changes to the starting 11 from their previous game and still managed to win as Brian White scored in his first Major League Soccer start.
"I watched their lineups and I saw that they had three young players starting in the game," said Impact coach Remi Garde. "They have a deep squad and they can rotate a lot.
"Six players from the game before, so I don’t expect a tired team. They will be ready, fit for the last of the five they had to play in the last 15 days. I’m not betting on a tired team at all."
The Impact lost 3-1 in Harrison, N.J. on April 14 in the only other meeting between the clubs this season, with Jeisson Vargas scoring Montreal’s goal from a free kick.
The upside of the loss was that first-year Impact players, who make up much of the starting 11, got an up-close look at the Red Bull stars like Bradley Wright-Phillips and Daniel Royer.
"The coaches can prepare and game plan for what the other team will bring, but on game day it always looks and feels a little different," said Lovitz. "If it’s your first time it can be a little overwhelming.
"I think we’ve seen that a couple of times this year. But in general, we’re focused on us more than anything."
The Impact are expected to move team scoring leader Ignacio Piatti back to the left wing after using him at centre forward in Toronto. Veteran striker Matteo Mancosu is likely to return to the lineup.
There is a question mark in the central defence as Rudy Camacho took a knock on a knee in training this week, but Garde was optimistic he will be able to play. With Victor Cabrera injured and Zakaria Diallo not yet ready to make his debut, Jukka Raitala would move in if Camacho can’t play.
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Great coloring work dude!!!!I also love her pose. And she looks dangerous and so ready for battle. And like how her outfit and weapons have a greek vibe to them(just like Thor)
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Devotees at Sabarimala Sannithanam on Sunday. (Photo: Rakesh Nair)
KASARAGOD: After the Supreme Court allowed the entry of women of all ages into the Ayyappa temple at Sabarimala in Kerala , devotees started putting the paper slips with the writings like "save Sabarimala", "Swamiye Sharanam Ayyappa" inside the donation box .
When the verdict came, there was a campaign not to put money into the donations boxes of all temples which come under Devaswam Board. It was alleged that the government is looting the money of the temple.
The temple found that the total donations this year is less than that in the last year after four days of the Puja in the holy month of Tula.
Darshan started on October 17, and the initial four days received donations worth Rs 44.50 lakh, which is less as compared to the last year’s.
Last year, the temple had received donations worth Rs 8.42 lakh on Day 1, but this year it dipped to 4.83 lakh.
On Day 2, the temple received donations worth Rs 19.30 lakh while the last year it was Rs 45.59 lakh. On Day 3, the temple received donations worth Rs 17.51 lakh while the last year it was Rs 32.30 lakh.
It was only on the fourth day that the temple received donations a bigger amount than that in the last year - worth Rs 15800.
Read this store in Kannada
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Public Health inspectors arrive in work after very serious complaint IT WAS ME
177 shares
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There are some interesting cultural differences in how people experience cognitive dissonance and eating animals.
The “meat paradox” is the phenomenon that many people enjoy eating meat but do not have any interest in — and may even be repulsed by — killing animals. Trying to reconcile those two perspectives can often result in cognitive dissonance and psychological discomfort for people who see themselves as caring about animals but still wanting to eat them. There are many different ways that people “cope” with the discomfort, such as distancing oneself from the killing of animals or through the “denial of mind” that happens when people refuse to accept that farmed animals have “human-like mental states.” Another coping strategy may be to become vegetarian (or vegan); unfortunately, this strategy is employed less frequently than others.
Not all cultures view meat consumption the same way and it’s possible that they experience the meat paradox in different ways as well. Although meat consumption is prominent in diets across the globe, there are many cultural differences in how much people eat, what species they consume, and so on. This study’s aim was to understand how people in two very different countries — China and France — experience the meat paradox. Meat is central to French cuisine and is also playing an increasing role in Chinese cuisine. Meat consumption in China has doubled in the last 20 years and in 2011 meat consumption per capita was at 57kg while in France the per capita consumption was 89kg. The authors looked at two stages of the meat paradox, separated into production and consumption. Because other studies have claimed that “westerners are more likely to experience cognitive dissonance than easterners,” the current researchers hypothesized that “the French, who generally belong to a western culture, should experience more cognitive dissonance due to the meat paradox than the Chinese.”
The study’s authors conducted two surveys, one each to examine production and the consumption sides of the meat paradox. They presented research materials in different orders to test how varying forms of “dissonance reduction” could be used effectively. In the first study (about production), the researchers found that respondents from both cultures reduced their willingness to eat beef when shown the production processes, but the French participants tended to also “reduced their mind attribution to cows when the animal origin of meat was explicitly shown.” In the second study (about consumption), research indicated that participants who were shown a recipe with an animal image led them to “like a dish less, compared with the recipe with dish image and recipe alone.” In study two, there was no significant difference between cultures.
The researchers note that appetite plays an important role, especially in the consumption stage, and that “while reminders of the origin of meat in a live animal may activate cognitive dissonance, other processes, such as activating thoughts about the deliciousness of meat, may also be involved.” Information that presents “relatively salient reminders” of the slaughter process “have the strength to overcome the thoughts of deliciousness of meat.” As for the more nuanced cultural differences, the authors speculate that “in China, especially in rural areas, killing food animals is not as industrialized as in France, and people have more opportunity to witness the killing process.” They note that Chinese people may be more familiar with animal slaughter, which may explain why French people were more affected by that particular imagery.
For animal advocates, the research shows that cognitive dissonance in response to the meat paradox is a general condition across cultures. Figuring out how to get people to cope with that dissonance by changing their behaviour instead of denying animal sentience is a key challenge for animal advocacy.
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Reddit users have raised a fun and interesting theory about Satoshi Nakamoto’s identity.
We know that Dorian Satoshi Nakamoto is a real person.
We also know that Dorian lived down street from Hal Finney.
And we know for sure that Finney was involved with the development of Bitcoin in its earliest public version.
No need to mention this glorious tweet!
(That tweet will be exactly 10 years old tomorrow!)
What are the odds?
There’s actually a guy, a real person, called Satoshi Nakamoto, who lives a few homes down from the guy who first ran Bitcoin (and who, perhaps, created Bitcoin himself).
What are the odds that the Bitcoin whitepaper would be attributed to a random person called Satoshi Nakamoto that had absolutely no relation to that one Satoshi living a few houses away from Hal Finney?
Mr. Dorian Nakamoto has requested his privacy be respected. Fine.
Has said he’s not Satoshi. Okay.
But maybe …his name, not him, is the Satoshi Nakamoto on the famous Bitcoin paper!
He’s telling the truth all along. He is not Satoshi, but his name is!
Neighborhood Prank?
Finney and Nick Szabo are part of the team which created Bitcoin. Perhaps they named their creation after someone who was always around, someone funny and who was frequent at their meeting place.
According to Redditors, “Satoshi” could actually be a prank on Dorian!
They’re neighbors, same street.
Dorian comes over, sees them messing with unintelligible codes, having a laugh while at it. Satoshi jokes about the whole thing and tells Szabo and Finney: “You’re two grown ups acting like kids on these computers. And what’s that alien language you’re working on!”.
They share a laugh, then suddenly Finney and Szabo stare blankly at each other.
At that very moment they decide to peg the “prank” on their visitor.
Szabo: “Dorian, you have no idea what you just got into!”
Mathematical Conjecture
Finney and Szabo are both sitting there doing their usual heavy duty math and suddenly Nick Szabo asks Hal Finney about that funny visitor from down street.
Szabo: “Where’s Dorian….what’s he called again?”
Finney speaks pausedly: “Dorian Satoshi Nakamoto”
Szabo: “Wow! Quite a mouthful! [turns notebook computer screen around] Check this out!”
Finney: “Oooooh yeaaaah. That’s Sato Tate! I’d recognize it a mile away.”
Szabo: “Nailed it!”
Finney: “Yeah, seen that before LOL”
Szabo: “Doesn’t…Sato….Tate sound a bit like your friend’s name? What’s his name again…Mr Sakamoto??”
Finney: [laughs] “Satoshi Nakamoto”
Szabo: “Bingo! That’s it, Hal. He’s our man!”
Finney: “Waddyamean?”
Szabo: “Well, we need a pen name for that paper of ours, right?”
Finney: “Yyyyeeeaaahhh….”
Szabo: “Let’s pin it on your funny neighbor! He’ll be famous! Perfect name, too. Japanese, everyone will immediately respect it.”
[generalized laughs]
Finney: “Deal!”
Pulp Fiction
Could this be the real story?
We’ll never know.
But truth is often stranger than fiction.
Credits
All credit for this delightful trip down imaginary lane go to Redditors vswr, KoBongSN, pitchbend and gloomers!
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The global video game industry is meeting in San Francisco this week for the annual Game Developers Conference, a marquee event for gaming professionals. According to the GDC’s organizing body, the event brings together 28,000 people to discuss the future of an industry that is still underestimated by many.
As the following chart illustrates, gaming has grown into much more than a pastime for moody teenagers unwilling to get out of the house. In fact, video games are now the biggest entertainment industry in the United States based on consumer spending. According to the Entertainment Software Association, Americans spent $35.8 billion on video game content (i.e. software, in-game purchases and subscription), which is more than three times of what they spent on music or movie tickets.
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岡田准一との結婚が明らかになった宮﨑あおい
Ｖ６の岡田准一（３７）が、かねてから交際していた女優の宮崎あおい（３２）と結婚することが２２日、分かった。岡田は、２４日到着のファンクラブ会報で結婚を報告している。２人は２００８年公開の映画「陰日向に咲く」で夫婦役を演じたことで出会い、関係者によると１５年春頃から交際。グループでは井ノ原快彦（４１）、長野博（４５）に続く３人目の既婚者となった。宮崎は１１年に俳優の高岡奏輔（３５）と離婚し、再婚となる。
クリスマス直前に、ビッグカップルの結婚が明らかになった。岡田は、２４日到着のファンクラブ会報を送付。予定より早く届いたファンがツイッター上に投稿したことで、騒動となった。会報では名前は明記されていないとみられるが、相手はかねてから交際していた宮崎。２人が出演している各ＣＭ会社には、結婚報告はされていないという。関係者によると、近日中に正式発表される。
出会ってから約１０年、ついにゴールインを迎える。２人は映画「陰日向に咲く」だけでなく、１２年の映画「天地明察」でも夫婦役で共演。岡田は、当時の舞台あいさつで宮崎について、「現場でまぶしく、癒やされた」と話すなど、役者としても信頼を置いていた間柄だった。
長らく友人関係にあったが、宮崎が１１年に前夫の高岡と離婚した際、週刊誌で２人が温泉旅行に出かけていると報じられたこともあった。報道後は距離を置くようになっていたというが、１５年に再会したことで、同年春に交際をスタート。昨年１２月に写真誌で三重・伊勢神宮でデートする写真が掲載され、ほかにも都内に豪邸を新築したことが報じられていた。
岡田は今年、映画「追憶」「関ヶ原」など２本の主演映画が公開されたほか、グループとしても４年半ぶりにオリジナルアルバム「Ｔｈｅ ＯＮＥＳ」を発売し、２０周年だった１５年以来の全国ツアーも開催するなど精力的に活動を行っていた。今年は２０周年から３年連続で出演していたＮＨＫ紅白歌合戦の出場者の中に名前はなかった。宮崎は先月３日に公開された嵐・二宮和也（３４）の主演映画「ラストレシピ」に出演しているが、今後は新作の出演予定は明らかになっていない。
グループでは０７年に井ノ原が瀬戸朝香（４１）と、昨年に長野が白石美帆（３９）と結婚しており、３人目。いずれも結婚相手は女優。ジャニーズ事務所の現役グループで３人のメンバーが既婚者となるのは異例でもある。
◆宮崎 あおい（みやざき・あおい）１９８５年１１月３０日、東京都生まれ。３２歳。４歳からモデルや子役として活動。２００１年、映画「ＥＵＲＥＫＡ（ユリイカ）」のヒロイン。０２年公開の初主演映画「害虫」でナント３大陸映画祭主演女優賞を受賞するなど、出演作多数。０６年、ＮＨＫ朝の連続テレビ小説「純情きらり」でヒロイン。０８年にはＮＨＫ大河「篤姫」に主演している。
◆岡田 准一（おかだ・じゅんいち）１９８０年１１月１８日、大阪府生まれ。３７歳。９５年、Ｖ６として「ＭＵＳＩＣ ＦＯＲ ＴＨＥ ＰＥＯＰＬＥ」でＣＤデビュー。２００３年「木更津キャッツアイ 日本シリーズ」で映画初主演。１４年に「永遠の０」で報知映画賞、日本アカデミー賞などで主演男優賞を受賞。同年、ＮＨＫ大河ドラマ「軍師官兵衛」に主演。今年は「追憶」「関ヶ原」に主演した。
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By working overtime for the past six months and increasing his overall productivity, Hemstead has given himself the opportunity to earn his boss the San Diego Business Journal CEO of the Year Award.
SAN DIEGO—Following seven straight years of long hours at the office and sacrificed weekends and holidays, all of account manager Sam Hemstead's hard work and single-minded devotion to Pinnacle Automotive Insurance has finally paid off for CEO Charles Pardahee, Pardahee said Friday.
"There were definitely some nights I'd lie awake in bed and wonder, 'Is Sam absolutely killing himself day in and day out for nothing?'" Pardahee told reporters while driving to his weekend home in a recently purchased 2012 BMW luxury sedan. "But Sam just put his head down and never looked back, and this year his blood, sweat, and tears have proven profitable to the tune of a 15 percent larger bonus for myself."
"It just goes to show that if you're really passionate and dedicated, eventually it all comes back around to your superiors," Pardahee continued.
The stress-related physical and psychological tolls for Hemstead, 34, have been high, but the hypertension, weight-gain, and crippling migraine headaches he has suffered due to his rigorous work schedule have been worth the rewards he has reaped for his employer, Pardahee confirmed.
"I'm sure there were times when Sam wondered if it was all really worth it, especially considering he had to pay for a lot of his medication and doctor's visits out of his own pocket," said Pardahee, who in 2009 forced all his account managers to become contract employees so he would no longer have to provide them with health care benefits. "But he never complained once, and now that Sam has helped Pinnacle earn record profits by not taking a single day off for more than five years, I can finally relax and take another long vacation to Turks and Caicos. After all, Sam earned it for me."
The CEO added that nothing is more satisfying than a job well done by someone else.
While Hemstead's total devotion to the company has come at a steep personal cost, these too are reportedly acceptable considering the immense financial gains and professional accolades he has garnered for Pardahee.
"When Sam's wife filed for divorce and eventually won custody of his two daughters, he completely threw himself into his job in an attempt to cope as his life fell apart all around him," Pardahee said. "That was great, because it allowed me to drastically scale back my workload and spend even more time with my wife and children."
"Seeing most of his paycheck go to child support has made me really value all the things I can do with my kids because of Sam's hard work," Pardahee continued. "Considering all he continues to do for this company without even thinking about taking a break, he's afforded me all the time in the world to just enjoy life and not be defined by my job."
According to the CEO, Hemstead's contributions to Pinnacle Insurance will pay even greater dividends when he is let go and replaced with a college graduate willing to work for half the salary, allowing Pardahee to give himself a substantial raise.
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Editor’s note: This column by Chris Hedges was originally published on Truthdig on Aug. 21, 2013. Read Truthdig’s coverage of President Obama’s commutation of the sentence of Chelsea Manning (formerly known as Bradley Manning).
FORT MEADE, Md. — The swift and brutal verdict read out by Army Col. Judge Denise Lind in sentencing Pfc. Bradley Manning to 35 years in prison means we have become a nation run by gangsters. It signals the inversion of our moral and legal order, the death of an independent media, and the open and flagrant misuse of the law to prevent any oversight or investigation of official abuses of power, including war crimes. The passivity of most of the nation’s citizens — the most spied upon, monitored and controlled population in human history — to the judicial lynching of Manning means they will be next. There are no institutional mechanisms left to halt the shredding of our most fundamental civil liberties, including habeas corpus and due process, or to prevent pre-emptive war, the assassination of U.S. citizens by the government and the complete obliteration of privacy.
Wednesday’s sentencing marks one of the most important watersheds in U.S. history. It marks the day when the state formally declared that all who name and expose its crimes will become political prisoners or be forced, like Edward Snowden, and perhaps Glenn Greenwald, to spend the rest of their lives in exile. It marks the day when the country dropped all pretense of democracy, obliterated checks and balances under the separation of powers and rejected the rule of law. It marks the removal of the mask of democracy, already a fiction, and its replacement with the ugly, naked visage of corporate totalitarianism. State power is to be, from now on, unchecked, unfettered and unregulated. And those who do not accept unlimited state power, always the road to tyranny, will be ruthlessly persecuted. On Wednesday we became vassals. As I watched the burly guards hustle Manning out of a military courtroom at Fort Meade after the two-minute sentencing, as I listened to half a dozen of his supporters shout to him, “We’ll keep fighting for you, Bradley! You’re our hero!” I realized that our nation has become a vast penal colony.
If we actually had a functioning judicial system and an independent press, Manning would have been a witness for the prosecution against the war criminals he helped expose. He would not have been headed, bound and shackled, to the military prison at Fort Leavenworth, Kan. His testimony would have ensured that those who waged illegal war, tortured, lied to the public, monitored our electronic communications and ordered the gunning down of unarmed civilians in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Yemen were sent to Fort Leavenworth’s cells. If we had a functioning judiciary the hundreds of rapes and murders Manning made public would be investigated. The officials and generals who lied to us when they said they did not keep a record of civilian dead would be held to account for the 109,032 “violent deaths” in Iraq, including those of 66,081 civilians. The pilots in the “Collateral Murder” video, which showed the helicopter attack on unarmed civilians in Baghdad that left nine dead, including two Reuters journalists, would be court-martialed.
The message that Manning’s sentence, the longest in U.S. history for the leaking of classified information to the press, sends to the rest of the world is disturbing. It says to the mothers and fathers who have lost children in drone strikes and air attacks, to the families grieving over innocent relatives killed by U.S. forces, that their suffering means nothing to us. It says we will continue to murder and to wage imperial wars that consume hundreds of thousands of civilian lives with no accountability. And it says that as a country we despise those within our midst who have the moral courage to make such crimes public.
There are strict rules now in our American penal colony. If we remain supine, if we permit ourselves to be passively stripped of all political power and voice, if we refuse to resist as we are incrementally reduced to poverty and the natural world is senselessly exploited and destroyed by corporate oligarchs, we will have the dubious freedom to wander among the ruins of the empire, to be diverted by tawdry spectacles and to consume the crass products marketed to us. But if we speak up, if we name what is being done to us and done in our name to others, we will become, like Manning, Julian Assange and Snowden, prey for the vast security and surveillance apparatus. And we will, if we effectively resist, go to prison or be forced to flee.
Manning from the start was subjected to a kangaroo trial. His lawyers were never permitted to mount a credible defense. They were left only to beg for mercy. Under the military code of conduct and international law, the soldier had a moral and legal obligation to report the war crimes he witnessed. But this argument was ruled off-limits. The troves of documents that Manning transmitted to WikiLeaks in February 2010 — known as the Iraq and Afghanistan “War Logs” — which exposed numerous war crimes and instances of government dishonesty, were barred from being presented. And it was accepted in the courtroom, without any evidence, that Manning’s release of the documents had harmed U.S. security and endangered U.S. citizens. A realistic defense was not possible. It never is in any state show trial.
Manning’s lawyer, David Coombs, read a brief statement from the 25-year-old after the sentencing:
The decisions that I made in 2010 were made out of a concern for my country and the world that we live in. Since the tragic events of 9/11, our country has been at war. We’ve been at war with an enemy that chooses not to meet us on any traditional battlefield, and due to this fact we’ve had to alter our methods of combating the risks posed to us and our way of life. I initially agreed with these methods and chose to volunteer to help defend my country. It was not until I was in Iraq and reading secret military reports on a daily basis that I started to question the morality of what we were doing. It was at this time I realized that (in) our efforts to meet the risk posed to us by the enemy, we have forgotten our humanity. We consciously elected to devalue human life both in Iraq and Afghanistan. When we engaged those that we perceived were the enemy, we sometimes killed innocent civilians. Whenever we killed innocent civilians, instead of accepting responsibility for our conduct, we elected to hide behind the veil of national security and classified information in order to avoid any public accountability. In our zeal to kill the enemy, we internally debated the definition of torture. We held individuals at Guantanamo for years without due process. We inexplicably turned a blind eye to torture and executions by the Iraqi government. And we stomached countless other acts in the name of our war on terror. Patriotism is often the cry extolled when morally questionable acts are advocated by those in power. When these cries of patriotism drown out any logically based dissension, it is usually the American soldier that is given the order to carry out some ill-conceived mission. Our nation has had similar dark moments for the virtues of democracy — the Trail of Tears, the Dred Scott decision, McCarthyism, and the Japanese-American internment camps — to mention a few. I am confident that many of the actions since 9/11 will one day be viewed in a similar light. As the late Howard Zinn once said, “There is not a flag large enough to cover the shame of killing innocent people.” I understand that my actions violated the law; I regret if my actions hurt anyone or harmed the United States. It was never my intent to hurt anyone. I only wanted to help people. When I chose to disclose classified information, I did so out of a love for my country and a sense of duty to others. If you deny my request for a pardon, I will serve my time knowing that sometimes you have to pay a heavy price to live in a free society. I will gladly pay that price if it means we could have a country that is truly conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all women and men are created equal.
We will pay for our criminality. We will pay for our callousness and brutality. The world, especially the Muslim world, knows who we are, even if we remain oblivious. It is not Manning who was condemned Wednesday, but us. “Under a government which imprisons any unjustly,” Henry David Thoreau wrote, “the true place for a just man is also a prison.” And that is the real reason Bradley Manning is being locked away. He is a just man.
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Chemical tags in ear bones track Alaska’s Bristol Bay salmon
Michelle Ma UW News
A chemical signature recorded on the ear bones of Chinook salmon from Alaska’s Bristol Bay region could tell scientists and resource managers where they are born and how they spend their first year of life.
This bone, called an otolith, accumulates layers as a fish grows, similar to trees. These “growth rings” are produced throughout a salmon’s life. Scientists can tell where the fish lived by matching the chemical signatures of the otolith with the chemical signatures of the water in which they swim, according to a study published May 15 in the online, open-access journal Science Advances.
“Each fish has this little recorder, and we can reveal the whole life history of the fish from the perspective of the otolith. Each growth ring is a direct reflection of the environment the fish was swimming in at the time it was formed,” said lead author Sean Brennan, who completed the study as a doctoral student at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. He is now a postdoctoral researcher in the University of Washington’s School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences.
This chemical signature comes from isotopes of the trace element strontium, found in bedrock. Strontium’s chemical makeup varies geographically. As rushing water weathers the rocks, the element is dissolved and released into the water. The dissolved strontium ions get picked up by fish, either through the gills or gut lining, then are deposited onto the otolith.
As strontium makes its way from rocks into the otoliths of fish swimming in the rivers, its chemical signature does not change, and so it serves as a robust tag that can tie each fish as being in a specific location in the river at a specific time.
“This particular element and its isotopes are very strongly related to geography,” said Matthew Wooller, director of the Alaska Stable Isotope Facility at University of Alaska Fairbanks and a co-author of the paper. “It is a really good marker for where animals have been and whether they move around in their environment.”
This process relies on a river system that has been mapped extensively for its strontium isotope variation. In general, watersheds that are diverse in the types and ages of rocks will also have a lot of variation in strontium isotope signatures – and thus are good candidates for using this technique, Brennan said.
“Alaska is a mosaic of geologic heterogeneity,” he added. “As long as you can look at a geologic map and see rocks that are really different, that’s a good potential area.”
The Bristol Bay region in Alaska produces some of the last remaining wild salmon runs in the world. The area is perhaps best known for its sockeye salmon commercial fishery, but Chinook salmon, particularly those in the Nushagak River where this study took place, supply important subsistence and sport fisheries for the region. The Nushagak Chinook salmon are also the third biggest run in Western Alaska, ranking it as one of the largest worldwide.
About 200,000 Chinook make their way each summer from the ocean to spawn in the river’s upper tributaries and streams. When their eggs hatch in the spring, young Chinook salmon spend a whole year in the river, feeding and growing before migrating to the Bering Sea and the Pacific Ocean.
Scientists need a way to determine the birth streams of adult Chinook when they are caught in coastal fisheries. Once they have that information, they can begin to understand how freshwater habitat, the movement of fish and environmental factors can affect fish survival. Alaska’s Chinook salmon populations have declined dramatically in the past decade, and scientists are still trying to determine why.
“This is science responding to a societal issue and need,” said co-author Christian Zimmerman, U.S. Geological Survey ecologist and chief of water and interdisciplinary studies at the USGS Alaska Science Center in Anchorage. “Using this approach, we will be able to map salmon productivity and determine how freshwater habitats influence the ultimate number of salmon. With declines in Chinook salmon in Western Alaska, fishery and land-use managers need better information about freshwater habitats to guide conservation.”
Using data collected from adult salmon in 2011, the researchers not only determined which parts of the river produced the most fish but also found that the majority of Chinook salmon in the Nushagak watershed stayed in the same place for their entire first year before they migrated to the ocean. About 20 percent left their birthplace for short forays in the river’s lower main stem before swimming to the ocean.
Brennan now works with Daniel Schindler at the UW, where they will expand this work to include sockeye salmon in the same river. They will collect three years of Chinook data and two years of sockeye by end of the project, which will help determine whether birth and life history patterns in Alaskan rivers vary across years, or remain consistent.
The techniques used in Brennan’s study can also help scientists understand the behavior of other animal populations. Strontium also accumulates in things like bird feathers and teeth and also survives even after being fossilized. This allows researchers to study the movements of a wide range of animals including seals, whales, bison, ancient human populations and even dinosaurs.
Other co-authors are Diego Fernandez and Thure Cerling at the University of Utah, where all of the analyses for this research were conducted, and Megan McPhee at the University of Alaska Fairbanks.
This research was funded by Alaska Sea Grant and the U.S. Geological Survey National Institute of Water Resources program.
###
For more information, contact Brennan at srbrenn@uw.edu or 801-633-7906; Zimmerman at czimmerman@usgs.gov or 907-786-7071; Cerling at thure.cerling@utah.edu or 801-581-5558; and Wooller at mjwooller@alaska.edu or 907-474-6738.
Grant numbers: R/100-02 (Alaska Sea Grant); 2012AK108B (U.S. Geological Society)
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モノやサービスを含む海外との総合的な取引を示す経常収支は、２月速報で32カ月連続の黒字となり、同月としては過去最大となった。市場予想も上回った。財務省が10日発表した。
キーポイント
経常収支は前年同月比18.2％増の２兆8136億円の黒字（ブルームバーグ調査の予想中央値は２兆5129億円の黒字）－黒字幅の拡大は２カ月ぶり
輸出から輸入を差し引いた貿易収支は１兆768億円の黒字（予想は9817億円の黒字）－黒字は２カ月ぶり
輸出は12.2％増の6兆3339億円、輸入は0.3％増の５兆2570億円
配当金や債券利子などの第１次所得収支は1.9％減の1兆9751億円
背景
世界経済の改善を反映し、輸出は足元で堅調に推移している。輸出、生産の持ち直しを背景に、日本銀行が３日に発表した企業短期経済観測調査（短観、３月調査）の大企業・製造業の景況感を示す業況判断指数（ＤＩ）は、昨年12月の前回調査に続き２期連続で改善した。
18日にはペンス米副大統領が来日し、麻生太郎財務相らと日米経済対話の初会合を開く。トランプ政権が「貿易不公正」の是正を掲げる中、貿易や為替に加え、経済政策やインフラ投資などが議論される。日本は貿易黒字の大半は海外への投資によって得られる所得収支で、米国経済に利する側面があるとして理解を求める方針だ。
エコノミストの見方
ＳＭＢＣ日興証券の牧野潤一チーフエコノミストは、世界経済の成長率が日本よりも高く、輸出が輸入よりも「早く成長する」と指摘。特にＩＴ関連や自動車、建設機械が好調だという。世界的に利上げの動きが出てきており、内外格差によって「収支を拡大するという流れ」になっていると分析した。
ＩＨＳの田口はるみ主席エコノミストは、外需の改善や国内需要の弱さから「貿易収支の黒字傾向は続く」とみる。経常収支については「１兆5000億円超の黒字水準を当面維持しそうだ」と分析した。ただ日本の対米貿易黒字への修正要求が高まった場合、貿易収支や経常収支が縮小するリスクもあるとしている。
詳細
財務省は、２月の輸出は春節の影響で下振れた前月の反動などで増加したと説明
１－２月期の輸出額は8431億円（7.7％）増加、輸入額は5913億円（5.4％）増加した
旅行収支は黒字幅を縮小。アジア、欧州方面を中心に出国日本人数は11.8％増加したことに加え、前月の春節の反動もあり訪日客が伸び悩んだ
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ST. CLOUD - St. Cloud Police Chief Blair Anderson said in a news conference on Monday that authorities haven't yet found a connection between the Crossroads Mall attacker and the terror group ISIS.
"As I talk to you today, we have not uncovered anything that would suggest anything other than it was a lone attacker," Anderson says.
Nine people were hurt in Saturday's stabbing attack; all have since been treated at the hospital and released. The Islamic State group has claimed the attacker was one of its own, though it’s unclear if the group even knew of the attack ahead of time.
Governor Dayton exits his vehicle to meet with St. Cloud Mayor Dave Kleis. (Dan DeBaun, WJON)
Anderson says so far, signs indicate that the mall attacker acted alone. He also doesn't believe the attack had any connection to the attacks in New York and New Jersey that also happened on Saturday. Anderson did stress that authorities are still in the early stages of their investigation.
Police still won't name or identify the attacker, but the Somali community identified Dahir Adan as the suspect over the weekend. Officials said he was dressed as a security guard when he stabbed people Saturday.
A motive has not been found.
"We spoke with our East African leaders yesterday, they did express their concerns and their fears. As sad as that is, it didn't surprise me," Anderson says.
The comments came after Governor Mark Dayton spoke at the news conference after meeting with St. Cloud Mayor Dave Kleis and other city officials to discuss the Crossroads Mall attack. The meeting lasted for about an hour. Kleis and Dayton both emphasized working with different groups in the community to create unity.
"I implore the citizens of St. Cloud and really citizens throughout Minnesota to rise above this tragic incident and to remember our common humanity and shared citizenship," Dayton says.
Dayton says President Barack Obama called him on Monday morning and that the President was briefed on the Saturday attack.
"He expressed his concern for what had happened. He offered whatever assistance we would need from anyone in the federal government, which we will take advantage of as needed," Dayton says.
Kleis says it's been a trying time for the city and that he has tremendous respect for the off-duty officer who shot and killed the attacker. Officer Jason Falconer, a part time officer with the Avon Police Department, has been identified as the off duty officer that killed the man.
Avon Police Chief Corey Nellis said at a news conference that Falconer "was the person who needed to be there." Falconer was shopping at Crossroads Center on Saturday night when he shot a man who stabbed nine people and then lunged at Falconer with a knife.
Falconer owns a firing range and is the firearms instructor for the city of Avon. Nellis said: "If I was going to ask anybody to fire ... live rounds in a crowded mall, I would trust his abilities next to anybody's."
-This story was written with information from the Associated Press-
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