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About The Author Karishma K. is a passionate photographer who features various artists and creative photographers on her own photoblog. More about Karishma…
Captivating Examples of Silhouette Photography
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Silhouette photography is a wonderful way to convey drama, mystery, emotion and mood in a picture. A silhouette is defined as a view of an object or a scene consisting of the outline and a featureless interior, with the silhouetted object usually being black. Pictures like these often don’t convey a clear story, and leave part of the image up to the imagination of the viewer. The key to taking a silhouette picture would be to: choose a strong subject with a defined and recognizable shape; turn off your flash to have as little light on the front of your subject as possible; get the light right by having more light shining from the background than the foreground; frame your image so that the brightest light source is behind your subject; and make sure the silhouette shapes are distinct and uncluttered by making subjects recognizable and keeping multiple subjects separate. Below are some truly amazing examples of silhouette photography. All images are linked to the respective photographer’s websites. Feel free to explore more of their work. Enjoy and be inspired.
Silhouette photography is a wonderful way to convey drama, mystery, emotion and mood in a picture. A silhouette is defined as a view of an object or a scene consisting of the outline and a featureless interior, with the silhouetted object usually being black. Pictures like these often don’t convey a clear story, and leave part of the image up to the imagination of the viewer.
The key to taking a silhouette picture would be to: choose a strong subject with a defined and recognizable shape; turn off your flash to have as little light on the front of your subject as possible; get the light right by having more light shining from the background than the foreground; frame your image so that the brightest light source is behind your subject; and make sure the silhouette shapes are distinct and uncluttered by making subjects recognizable and keeping multiple subjects separate.
Below are some truly amazing examples of silhouette photography. All images are linked to the respective photographer’s websites. Feel free to explore more of their work. Enjoy and be inspired.
Further Reading on SmashingMag:
Meet Smashing Book 6 — our brand new book focused on real challenges and real front-end solutions in the real world: from design systems and accessible single-page apps to CSS Custom Properties, CSS Grid, Service Workers, performance, AR/VR and responsive art direction. With Marcy Sutton, Yoav Weiss, Lyza D. Gardner, Laura Elizabeth and many others. Table of Contents →
Captivating Silhouette Photography
Bogantropuz
Laura Kok
Lostchildclothing
Sprintist
Dominika M. Frej
Robert Gühne (Utzel-Butze)
creativesam
Thomas Hawk
Prateek Raghav
Juxxo
threefiftydee
Icy Blush
Astoria4u
aksdareflection
TJ Scott
Wei Bunn
TJ Scott
Randall Scholten
Alexandr Zadiraka
Sean Scanlon (Red Ink Photography)
Phil Thomson IPA
Manic Berry
Michael Sheridan
Marina Filipovic
Phil
Muha
Ahmed Shiham
Toshihiro Oshima |
Funny or Offensive is a place to discuss the zeitgeist discussion about what’s considered “funny” and what’s labeled “offensive.” When it comes to the Funny or Offensive debate, extremes range from freedom of speech to vehement political correctness, with complex gray areas in between. Funny or Offensive is your site. Our contributors will always have something to say on one side or the other, but the site does not. Put simply, the users are the boxers and Funny or Offensive is the ring. We’re not here to police humor – we’re here to discuss and understand it.
Funny or Offensive is not an entertainment site, it’s not even a comedy site. Funny or Offensive is a serious criticism and commentary site about humor. We’ll look at animal humor, celebrity humor, environmental humor, criminal humor, death humor, disease, illness and disability humor, domestic violence humor, food humor, gender humor, technology humor, terrorist humor, sports humor, religious humor sexual humor, memes, obesity humor, pedophilia humor, political humor, racial humor and rape humor. We want you to vote, comment, upload and share: funny quotes, funny videos, funny pictures, funny images. We want you to identify and discuss things that make you wonder…is it Funny or Offensive? |
Police have told STV News that extra-strong ecstasy tablets are circulating in Ayrshire following the deaths of two men who had taken the drug.
Super-strength ecstasy - up to six times stronger than normal - is circulating in Ayrshire, police have warned.
It follows the deaths of two men in the area within hours of each other on Saturday. Detectives are linking their deaths to the drug.
Lee Dunnachie, 22, who lived in Prestwick, and Steven Kelly, who was 19 and from Patna, are both thought to have taken ecstasy in the hours before they died.
Strathclyde detectives told STV News they believed the tablets were extra-strong - and, while there is no evidence that they have spread further afield, people who took the drug were putting their lives at risk.
Detective inspector Craig McArthur said: "Our inquiries have revealed that prior to the boys' deaths, they both had taken ecstasy tablets. Our inquiries have since revealed that tablets are extra-strong.
"My advice is that firstly they are an illegal substance, and it's against the law; and secondly, if you are insistent on taking this particular drug then it is extra-strong and dangerous and I would warn against doing so if you do value your life.
"It's the case with any illegal substance that it is a lottery."
It is not thought that the two victims had any connection to each other. |
Disney's suicide mouse Comment: So do any of you remember those Mickey Mouse cartoons from the 1930s? The ones that were just put out on DVD a few years ago? Well, I hear there is one that was unreleased to even the most avid classic disney fans. According to sources, it's nothing special. It's just a continuous loop (like flinstones) of mickey walking past 6 buildings that goes on for two or three minutes before fading out. Unlike the cutesy tunes put in though, the song on this cartoon was not a song at all, just a constant banging on a piano as if the keys for a minute and a half before going to white noise for the remainder of the film. It wasn't the jolly old Mickey we've come to love either, Mickey wasn't dancing, not even smiling, just kind of walking as if you or I were walking, with a normal facial expression, but for some reason his head tilted side to side as he kept this dismal look. Up until a year or two ago, everyone believed that after it cut to black and that was it. When Leonard Maltin was reviewing the cartoon to be put in the complete series, he decided it was too junk to be on the DVD, but wanted to have a digital copy due to the fact that it was a creation of Walt. When he had a digitized version up on his computer to look at the file, he noticed something.
The cartoon was 9 minutes and 4 seconds long.
"After it cut to black, it stayed like that until the 6th minute, before going back into Mickey walking. The sound was different this time. It was a murmur. It wasn't a language, but more like a gurgled cry. As the noise got more indistinguishable and loud over the next minute, the picture began to get weird. The sidewalk started to go in directions that seemed impossible based on the physics of Mickeys walking. And the dismal face of the mouse was slowly curling into a smirk. On the 7th minute, the murmur turned into a bloodcurdling scream (the kind of scream painful to hear) and the picture was getting more obscure. Colors were happening that shouldn't have been possible at the time. Mickey face began to fall apart. his eyes rolled on the bottom of his chin like two marbles in a fishbowl, and his curled smile was pointing upward on the left side of his face. The buildings became rubble floating in midair and the sidewalk was still impossibly navigating in warped directions, a few seeming inconcievable with what we, as humans, know about direction. Mr. Maltin got disturbed and left the room, sending an employee to finish the video and take notes of everything happening up until the last second, and afterward immediately store the disc of the cartoon into the vault. This distorted screaming lasted until 8 minutes and a few seconds in, and then it abruptly cuts to the mickey mouse face at the credits of the end of every video with what sounded like a broken music box playing in the backround. This happened for about 30 seconds. From a security guard working under me who was making rounds outside of that room, I was told that after the last frame, the employee stumbled out of the room with pale skin saying "Real suffering is not known" 7 times before speedily taking the guards pistol and offing himself on the spot. The thing I could get out of Leonard Maltin was that the last frame was a piece of russian text that roughly said "the sights of hell bring its viewers back in". As far as I know, no one else has seen it (...untill now). |
by Christopher Torchia / the Star Tribune
JOHANNESBURG – A South African court sentenced a Nigerian to 24 years in prison on Tuesday after finding him guilty of masterminding twin car bombings in Nigeria.
Henry Okah was found guilty in January for the October 2010 bombing in Nigeria’s capital, Abuja, that killed at least 12 people and wounded three dozen during a celebration to mark the country’s 50 years of independence.
The South African Press Association reported that Judge Neels Claassen of the High Court in Johannesburg announced Okah’s jail sentence, which includes 12 years in prison for each bombing and 13 years for threats made to the South African government after his October 2010 arrest. The 13 years will be served concurrently with the 24 years.
Okah was a leader of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, or MEND, which claimed responsibility for the blasts.
The group accused Nigeria’s government of failing to alleviate poverty in the delta, even though it earns billions of dollars from the region’s oil. In 2006, militants from groups like MEND started a wave of attacks targeting foreign oil companies, including bombing their pipelines, kidnapping their workers and fighting with security forces.
When Okah was convicted, Judge Claassen had said the state had proved its case beyond reasonable doubt and the Nigerian’s failure to testify meant the evidence was uncontested. Okah was found guilty on 13 counts of terrorism.
Okah, who had been living in South Africa, said the case against him was politically motivated.
In 2008, he was arrested in Angola and extradited to Nigeria, where he was accused of treason and terrorism and linked to a gunrunning scandal involving high-ranking military officials. His arrest and trial sparked an escalation in MEND attacks.
That violence ebbed in 2009 with a government-sponsored amnesty program promising ex-fighters monthly payments and job training. However, few in the delta have seen the promised benefits and scattered kidnappings and attacks continue. And MEND itself, once a powerful, media-friendly militant group in the region, has seen its influence wane since the amnesty.
Charges against Okah were dropped and he was freed in July 2009 as part of an amnesty program.
MEND had issued statements threatening to attack South African interests in Nigeria because of Okah’s prosecution in South Africa. |
Hey, Sansa Stark (Sophie Turner): what gives, girl?
You are making it really difficult to love you and defend you to the haters right now. Everyone told me I was crazy when I attempted to defend you after your ridiculous decision not to tell Jon (Kit Harington) about your communications with Littlefinger (Aidan Gillen) prior to the Battle of the Bastards. You know, something that potentially could have saved numerous lives. You and Jon agreed to work together as a team, and everyone seemed to be on the same page. It was great! But now you've gone and mucked things up again by attempting to undermine the King in the North in front of his bannermen. Unacceptable, girlfriend.
I know you said you learned a lot from Cersei (Lena Headey) — and we're definitely going to talk about that later, because I am concerned — but do you really think she would air her business in front of her constituents? Do you really believe it is good to disagree with Jon in public after everything that's happened? These disagreements are something you hammer out in Slack prior to the team meeting so your leader doesn't look weak in front of his people!
The 5 biggest moments from the Game of Thrones premiere
Now, it's not like I don't understand your point of view, or think you should never question Jon's decisions. You raised important questions about how the North should deal with people who commit treason, versus how it rewards others for their loyalty. But by doing this in front of everyone, you undermine Jon's strengths as a leader. He cannot be an effective and respected ruler if it appears that his family doesn't even support him. That is Politics 101! By questioning Jon's decisions, you've essentially opened the door and hung a welcome banner for possible dissenters. More instability is the last thing the North needs as it prepares to be the main line of defense in the coming White Walker war.
What's worse is, you're playing right into Littlefinger's hands and he doesn't even have to manipulate you. You're doing all the work on your own. You and I both know that you are too good and too smart for that smarmy jacka--, so don't give him the satisfaction of seeing you and Jon fight or disagree. He may get off on it, but watching you two argue over whether or not a son should die for his father's sins was the equivalent of mommy and daddy fighting at the dinner table and us kids having to quietly eat our vegetables like nothing awkward was happening. Guess what? It was totally awkward — you can ask Brienne (Gwendoline Christie) if you don't believe me — considering all of Jon's daddy issues.
Sophie Turner, Game of Thrones Photo: HBO
OK, so now that we've got that out of the way, I'd like to address a couple more things that came up in "Dragonstone." First, you expressed that you were worried Jon might meet the same fate as your father Ned (Sean Bean) and brother Robb (Richard Madden) if he doesn't make smarter decisions as king. This is a valid fear given how little it means to be righteous in Westeros; despite everything he's done, Jon is still the most noble and pure being on the show at this point.
But urging him to learn from Ned's and Robb's mistakes with the argument that he should merely listen to you isn't going to cut it. You need to continue to provide potential alternatives to his own thoughts and opinions, because what you're doing is the equivalent of arguing on the basis of "because I said so." And while that may be a charming and underrated Mandy Moore film, it's not an effective strategy for planning or decision making. Furthermore, it does not do to tell Jon you think he is a good leader after comparing him to Joffrey. Joffrey! Do not make me slap you. Luckily, you recognized your mistake immediately.
Game of Thrones: Arya's revenge just killed all your Lady Stoneheart theories
Which brings me to Cersei. I understand what you meant when you said you learned a lot from her, but she also seized control of the Iron Throne by blowing up a city block with Wildfire and murdering (at least some) innocent people in the process. Not only are you a much better person than Cersei, but it's pretty clear at this point she's not going to survive this. She's created more enemies than friends, and if I'm right, her most constant ally — her twin brother and lover Jaime (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) — is probably going to be her downfall. Honestly, the greatest lessons you could take away from your time in King's Landing with Cersei is how not to rule. So as long as we're talking about being smarter than the people who came before you, make sure you include Cersei on the list.
In closing, Sansa, I hope you'll think about what I've written here today. I'm not mad at you, just disappointed by your actions. You can be better than the person you pretended to be this week.
Game of Thrones airs Sundays at 9/8c on HBO. |
The official website for Neon Genesis Evangelion began streaming the Studio Khara's music video on Wednesday for Hikaru Utada's song "Beautiful World," which was the ending theme for 2007's Evangelion: 1.0 You Are (Not) Alone. The video, directed by Kazuya Tsurumaki , features some new footage interspersed with footage from the new Rebuild of Evangelion films.
An acoustic version of the same song became the ending theme for 2009's Evangelion: 2.0 You Can (Not) Advance. Utada contributed the song "Sakura Nagashi" as the ending theme for Evangelion: 3.0 You Can (Not) Redo.
The video promotes Utada's 15th anniversary cover album, which features a variety of artists covering her songs.
The cover album, Utada Hikaru no Uta , will ship on December 9 and is the second album the artist is releasing this year to commemorate her 15th anniversary. The first one was a remastered version of her debut album First Love that shipped on March 10. Utada's official YouTube channel began streaming a few of the covers of her songs from the cover album.
AI's cover of "Final Distance"
KIRINJI's cover of "Keep Tryin'"
Yousui Inoue's cover of "Sakura Drops"
Ringo Sheena's cover of "Letters"
Other artists who will perform songs for the album include:
Trio Ohashi
Yasuyuki Okamura
Miliyah Katō
Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis feat. Peabo Bryson
tofubeats with Bonnie Pink
Hanaregumi
Ayumi Hamasaki
Kazuya Yoshii
Love Psychedelico
Utada has been on hiatus from the entertainment business since the beginning of 2011, although she returned to host a monthly radio program called Kuma Power Hour with Utada Hikaru on the InterFM station starting in April 2013. She did contribute the song "Sakura Nagashi" as the ending theme for 2012's Evangelion: 3.0 You Can (Not) Redo (Evangelion Shin Gekijō-ban: Q), but her management emphasized that the song did not represent a full-fledged return from her hiatus. |
Chronic jet lag or shift work is deleterious to human metabolic health, in that such circadian desynchronization is associated with being overweight and the prevalence of altered glucose metabolism. Similar metabolic changes are observed with age, suggesting that chronic jet lag and accelerated cell aging are intimately related, but the association remains to be determined. We addressed whether jet lag induces metabolic and cell aging impairments in young grass rats (2-3 mo old), using control old grass rats (12-18 mo old) as an aging reference. Desynchronized young and control old subjects had impaired glucose tolerance (+60 and +280%) when compared with control young animals. Despite no significant variation in liver DNA damage, shorter telomeres were characterized, not only in old animal liver cells (-18%), but also at an intermediate level in desynchronized young rats (-9%). The same pattern was found for deacetylase sirtuin (SIRT)-1 (-57 and -29%), confirming that jet-lagged young rats have an intermediate aging profile. Our data indicate that an experimental circadian desynchronization in young animals is associated with a precocious aging profile based on 3 well-known markers, as well as a prediabetic phenotype. Such chronic jet lag-induced alterations observed in a diurnal species constitute proof of principle of the need to develop preventive treatments in jet-lagged persons and shift workers.
© FASEB. |
Hong Kong-based cryptocurrency exchange Bitfinex announced today that beginning tomorrow, April 18, 2017, all incoming wires to Bitfinex will be blocked and refused by its Taiwanese banks.
This applies to all fiat currencies at the present time.
Accordingly, the exchange asked customers to avoid sending incoming wires to the company until further notice, effective immediately.
The announcement follows up last week’s announcement concerning USD withdrawal delays starting on April 13, 2017.
The Bitfinex team said:
“We continue to work on alternative solutions for customers that wish to either deposit or withdraw in fiat, and are making progress in this regard. We will continue to update our customers as to and when we have more information to share.”
Online derivatives exchange Deribit already announced the removal of Bitfinex price data from its index.
Also today, popular bitcoin derivatives exchange BitMEX announced the following, “…Bitfinex is no longer a viable USD/Bitcoin exchange, and we expect the pricing discrepancy between Bitfinex and other exchanges to increase as traders attempt to withdraw via cryptocurrencies. For this reason, we are weighting Bitfinex to 0 in the .BXBT Index, effective at 16:00 UTC today.”
Finally, in relation to this development, the largest derivatives exchange in the world CME Group announced that at 9:00 am London time on April 18th, 2017, Bitfinex will be removed from the list of Constituent Exchanges for the BRR and BRTI (bitcoin reference rate and spot index products). The exchange operator said that Bitfinex will be re-added once BRR and BRTI Constituent Exchanges Criteria are satisfied. |
A BAT and a ball cost $1.10 between them. The bat costs $1 more than the ball. How much does each cost? By paying attention to how people actually think, behavioural economics has qualified some of the underlying assumptions of classical economics, notably that everyone is perfectly rational. In fact, the mind plays tricks, dividing up $1.10 (in this example) neatly into $1 and 10 cents, rather than correctly into $1.05 and 5 cents. People also tend to copy others and often prefer to co-operate rather than compete. For these reasons, some of the simplifying assumptions of economics are not always correct: people do not act in every instance in their long-term self-interest; they do not weigh up all the costs and benefits before taking a decision.
Many of the insights of behavioural economics were based on studies of American university students and other privileged folk. But they apply with greater force to the poor—both the poor in rich countries and the more numerous inhabitants of developing ones. Behavioural economics therefore has profound implications for development. The new “World Development Report”, the flagship publication of the World Bank, considers them.
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As the report shows, the poor are more likely than other people to make bad economic decisions. This is not because they are irrational or foolish but because so much is stacked against them. They are more likely to lack the basic information needed to make good choices, such as which fertiliser to use or when to apply it. They are more likely to live in societies which hold mistaken or harmful views, such as that girls should not go to school.
Conventional economic thinking assumes the poor will want to earn their way out of poverty. But as studies from countries as different as Ethiopia and France show, poverty makes people feel powerless and blunts their aspirations, so they may not even try to improve their lot. When they do, they face obstacles everywhere. They have no margin for error, making them risk averse. If they do not know where their next meal is coming from, saving and investing for the future is hard. George Orwell said, “Within certain limits, the less money you have the less you worry.” He was wrong. The poor are subject to exceptional levels of stress: childhood sickness is more likely to be life-threatening; crop failure can lead to destitution. And stress makes good decision-making harder. Above all, the poor lack the institutional framework which, in the West, improves decisions. Everywhere, people underestimate the benefits of education and save too little for their retirement. But children in the West go to school as a matter of course; pension systems make some savings automatic. Poor countries provide few such props.
All this helps explain why the poor stay poor; why (for example) subsistence farmers do not buy fertiliser or put children into secondary school, though they would benefit from doing so. More important, though, behavioural economics provides a different way of thinking about some of the problems of poverty.
Traditional development programmes stress resources and markets. People are poor, the argument goes, because they lack resources: not just money but roads, clinics, schools and irrigation canals. The job of development is to provide those things. And since resources also need to be allocated properly, prices have to be right. So a lot of development is about freeing prices and making markets more efficient.
A behavioural approach to development is different. It focuses on how decisions are made and how they can be improved. For example, in Bogotá a conditional-cash transfer programme paid mothers a monthly stipend if they took their children to school. Attendance during the school year was good but re-enrolment rates were low. A shift in the timing of the hand-out—withholding a part of the regular payment until just before the start of the school year—boosted enrolment sharply. This makes little sense in conventional economic terms: going to school is so beneficial that families should not need extra incentives and the overall sum available did not change. Yet the pay-off was substantial.
Actions like this sound marginal. Economists should be paying attention to the details of policy anyway. It may not seem to amount to a profoundly different approach—but it actually might.
A tweaking revolution
Some small-scale policies turn out to be far from marginal. A programme in Jamaica in the 1990s taught mothers of chronically malnourished toddlers how to play with them in such a way as to encourage greater verbal and physical skills—a behavioural tweak. Twenty years later, the average earnings of these children (among the most deprived in the country) were higher than those of children who had not been malnourished, and far higher than malnourished children who were not part of the programme. Paying attention to how the poor actually think would also imply big changes to financial-inclusion policies, encouraging financial products that people want to buy.
Moreover, development experts have their biases and blind spots, like anyone else. In principle, behavioural development could sit happily alongside the traditional sort. In practice, the two will compete for resources and professional attention.
A behavioural approach to poverty is not new. The World Bank has long had a behavioural unit. The Poverty Action Lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology has championed randomised control trials to test tweaks to policy. But by making this the subject of its main annual publication, the Bank has brought behavioural economics into the mainstream of development. It is likely to prove a challenge to traditional ways of combating poverty, as well as a complement to them.
Economist.com/blogs/freeexchange |
Boxoban
This repository contains levels for boxoban, a box-pushing puzzle game inspired by Sokoban.
View paper • View source on GitHub
Abstract reasoning matrices
Progressive matrices dataset, as described in: Measuring abstract reasoning in neural networks.
View paper • View source on GitHub
Spatial language Integrating Model (SLIM)
This dataset consists of virtual scenes rendered in MuJoCo with multiple views each presented in multiple modalities: image, and synthetic or natural language descriptions. Each scene consists of two or three objects placed on a square walled room, and for each of the 10 camera viewpoint we render a 3D view of the scene as seen from that viewpoint as well as a synthetically generated description of the scene.
View paper • View source on GitHub
Logical entailment
This repository contains an entailment dataset for propositional logic, and code for generating that dataset. It also contains code for parsing the dataset in Python.
View paper • View source on GitHub
Kinetics
A large-scale, high-quality dataset of URL links to approximately 300,000 video clips that covers 400 human action classes, including human-object interactions such as playing instruments, as well as human-human interactions such as shaking hands and hugging. Each action class has at least 400 video clips. Each clip is human annotated with a single action class and lasts around 10s.
View paper • View source on GitHub
NarrativeQA
This repository contains the NarrativeQA dataset. It includes the list of documents with Wikipedia summaries, links to full stories, and questions and answers.
View paper • View source on GitHub
AQuA-RAT (Algebra Question Answering with Rationales)
A large-scale dataset consisting of approximately 100,000 algebraic word problems. The solution to each question is explained step-by-step using natural language. This data is used to train a program generation model that learns to generate the explanation, while generating the program that solves the question.
View paper • View source on GitHub
dSprites - Disentanglement testing Sprites dataset
This dataset consists of 737,280 images of 2D shapes, procedurally generated from 5 ground truth independent latent factors, controlling the shape, scale, rotation and position of a sprite. This data can be used to assess the disentanglement properties of unsupervised learning methods.
View source on GitHub
Metacontrol for Adaptive Imagination-Based Optimization task
An artificially generated dataset for the spaceship task from 'Metacontrol for Adaptive Imagination-Based Optimization'. We generated five datasets, each containing scenes with a different number of planets (ranging from a single planet to five planets). Each dataset consisted of 100,000 training scenes and 1,000 testing scenes.
View paper • View source on GitHub
Collectible Card Game to Code
This dataset contains the language to code datasets described in our paper 'Latent Predictor Networks for Code Generation'.
View paper • View source on GitHub
Unsupervised Data Generated for GeoQuery and SAIL
This dataset contains the generated unsupervised data for GeoQuery and SAIL semantic parsing tasks in our paper 'Semantic Parsing with Semi-Supervised Sequential Autoencoders'.
View paper • View source on GitHub |
The NBA is encouraging its players to be socially conscious.
"None of us operate in a vacuum," Commissioner Adam Silver and the head of the players union, Michele Roberts, wrote to players in a letter obtained by CNNMoney. "Critical issues that affect our society also impact you directly. ... You have real power to make a difference in the world."
The letter didn't cite specifics, but it comes as professional athletes increasingly speak out about race, including through silent protest during the national anthem before NFL games.
The NBA tends to be more progressive than other leagues. In recent years, it has been vocal in addressing social issues, from denouncing anti-transgender bills to promoting gender equality in hiring.
"The NBA is of course about much more than a game," the letter said. "Let's continue to use this incredible platform to help and engage with people everywhere -- what we say and do together matters more than ever."
It was sent Wednesday, the same day NFL defensive end Michael Bennett accused Las Vegas police of unfairly detaining him, throwing him to the ground and threatening to shoot him. He said he thought, "I'm going to die for no other reason than I am black and my skin color is somehow a threat."
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said the issues Bennett raised "deserve serious attention from all of our leaders in every community."
Related: The NFL is back. Are you?
The NBA and its players union sent a similar letter to players before last season. That letter came as NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick started kneeling during the national anthem to protest how black Americans are treated, especially by police. Kaepernick has yet to be signed by a team this season.
The protest gained traction in other sports, but the NBA requires players to stand. Last season's letter encouraged players to reach out for guidance on making a statement in another meaningful way.
Related: Michael Bennett: Seahawks could be 'wearing the patch with No. 72 on it'
NBA players have spoken out repeatedly.
When LeBron James' house was vandalized with a racial slur in June, he said, "Hate in America, especially for African Americans, is living every day." James also refused to stay in a Trump-owned hotel in December because of his feelings about the president.
Last summer, Carmelo Anthony hosted a town hall in South Central Los Angeles that brought together the public and the police to talk about race.
And two seasons ago, James, Wade and Kobe Bryant wore "I Can't Breathe" T-shirts in support of the Black Lives Matter movement during pregame warmups. |
Have our police gone mad? Are they being swashed by the waves of cow-vigilante violence and bloodcurdling anti-Padmavati war whoop? Or are they being influenced by the cult of violence, spreading allegedly for electoral gains? Suddenly, several instances of custodial deaths and brutish behaviour have surfaced along with cases of shoddy investigation, suggesting that policing is in a deep crisis in India. The CBI had to arrest the investigating officers for the custodial death of an accused in the Shimla rape and murder case of July. In Maharashtra, on November 7, Aniket Kothale was found dead in custody after his arrest by the Sangli Police, who tried to burn his body with the help of a mysterious “zero police” (non-official volunteer).
The police are often seen to be in a hurry to claim success where the investigation is shoddy. Eight-year-old Pradyuman Thakur was found murdered on September 8 at Ryan International School, Gurgaon. The local police had claimed success following a bus conductor’s “confession”, only to have the claim trashed by the CBI on November 8 with the probe turning towards a Class XI student from the school.
Head Start Sir W.H. Sleeman (left) took on the ‘thugs’ in the 19th century Photographs by Alamy
Noakhali should have made the Constituent Assembly realise the danger of placing the police under the states.
The most disconcerting is when the police behave brutally without an apparent reason. On November 2, for example, policemen in Mumbai were seen beating fans of Shahrukh Khan, who had assembled to greet him. On November 16, an off-duty policewoman was caught on camera kicking an elderly woman at a Thane temple near Mumbai for pointing out that her dress was “improper”.
I am not worried about the criminality of a few hundred wayward elements among our 30-lakh-strong police force. What is baffling is why several ordinarily law-abiding police officers are found using unreasonable violence during crowd control or custodial interrogation. Is it a short cut to time-consuming questioning, which may take hours if not days? Do the media egg them on? Why are they so uncivil towards ordinary citizens?
Vigilante Cops The police blinded 31 undertrials in Bhagalpur, 1979-80 Photograph by K.M. Kishan
Years ago a joke was doing the rounds: The US president wanted to test the prowess of the CIA, the FBI and the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD). He released a rabbit into a forest and asked them to catch it. The CIA took three months to report that the rabbit did not exist, while the FBI had taken only two weeks to say they had burnt the forest to kill the rabbit. LAPD, though, had claimed success in just two hours and produced a badly beaten bear, which was yelling, “OK, OK, I am the rabbit.”
That was the time when LAPD was infamous for racism, corruption and brutality. In April 1992, the Rodney King riots had raged for six days, resulting in 63 deaths. This was followed by the 1999 Rampart corruption scandal, in which 70 officers of their crash unit were indicted. In 1994, the US Congress passed a law that gave the US Justice Department powers to sue a state or local government in federal court on police misconduct and to ensure that the police adhered to the prescribed behavioural norms.
In 2000, the Justice Department moved a class action suit to place LAPD under federal supervision for improving civil rights, controlling corruption and suppressing gangs. The Los Angeles mayor, who controls LAPD, agreed to the consent decree on June 15, 2001. Those who are interested in reading how police reforms were effected in LAPD should study a May 2009 paper by the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University on the steps taken within the parameters of the court. This paper was considered by the court in releasing LAPD from federal supervision on July 18, 2009. It is an example of how academic institutions can contribute to better governance. In India, though, we keep the media and academics away from administration.
Ours is a deep-rooted problem that originated with two mistakes in our Constitution-making, the way the British created our police as a repressive force modelled on the Irish Constabulary, and the way we developed it as the only agency to investigate all violations of penal laws as well as manage our internal security. No wonder our police force has become a pressure cooker about to burst.
The two mistakes in our Constitution-making, which started under British tutelage from December 9, 1946, are as follows: one, the Constituent Assembly was guided by the Cabinet Mission’s May 16 directive for a “weak” centre to appease the Muslim League; and, two, the assembly copied Schedule 7 of the colonial government’s 1935 Government of India Act as our new Constitution’s Schedule 7, placing police and public order with the states. But the 1935 Act was passed for a different purpose. Explaining the real motive of the British government, Oxford scholar David Steinberg writes, “By giving Indian politicians a great deal of power at the provincial level, while denying them responsibility at the Centre, it was hoped that the Congress party, the only national party, would disintegrate into a series of provincial fiefdoms.”
The Constituent Assembly’s proceedings continued up to December 9, 1950, and Schedule 7 could have been modified at least after our Independence in August 1947. The members could have realised the danger of placing the police under the state satraps after witnessing how nominees in the Interim Government incited killings in Naokhali and Tipperah in October 1946.
As a result, all investigations under every penal law are entrusted to our state police, which have also been tasked with several non-police functions along the lines of what they used to do for the British or the princely states. Over time, the states and the Centre assigned them a mind-boggling array of new and varied responsibilities. Besides investigating crime, they are also asked to demolish illegal shanties, collect fines, issue licences (to eateries, horse-drawn tongas and bullock carts), locate missing persons, impound stray cattle, kill stray dogs, dispose of unclaimed dead bodies, round up beggars, protect mangroves and sand beds, detect illegal building constructions, detect “beef crimes”, regulate dance bars, do moral policing, detect cyber crimes, watch social media, work as ministers’ “telephone orderlies”, collect political intelligence, protect vital installations (offices, factories, bridges or water storage areas), serve summons and warrants on behalf of courts, escort prisoners and important persons, and also undertake counter-insurgency operations. More jobs are added by state governments almost every day.
The only reforms we have done over the years is increasing the size of the police, especially the number of senior officers. What was handled by a junior officer 30 years ago is now entrusted to an additional director-general. No rationalisation of their functions was attempted. In many other countries, central agencies share the burden of investigation and maintain public order with state police. Thus, the strength of the New York Police Department (NYPD) and the London Metropolitan Police has been static over the past 20-30 years. Even Pakistan had formed seven federal police systems such as railway police and the Federal Investigation Agency to deal with specific areas of security and investigation.
Our police are stretched far beyond their capacity to meet the challenges confronting them. The life of an average policeman gets overtly strained when, in addition to his usual police duties, he is also held responsible for a minister’s stolen buffalos (five UP policemen were suspended during the erstwhile Samajwadi Party regime) or asked to trace a BJP minister’s lost pet dog (in Jaipur, a few years ago) even while investigating a case of dacoity and gang-rape. The same policeman is also held responsible if his area is hit by international terrorism.
Photograph by Getty Images
A cop’s life gets overtly strained when he is also held responsible for a minister’s stolen buffaloes.
As a result, investigation work has increased astronomically. The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) reports that the total number of cognisable crimes in India in 2015 was 73, 26,099, of which only 29,49,400 were major crimes under the IPC, whereas the number under Special & Local Laws (SLL) was 43, 76,699. The Indian police was created for dealing with IPC-defined crime. SLL include social reform laws such as dowry prohibition, child protection or municipal laws. These are highly visible for the media, demanding several man-hours of police work. In many other countries, these are assigned to specially empowered agencies to pursue.
With the largest police force in the world, India is not short of policemen. Russia, the largest country (area wise) in the world, has only 11 lakh policemen, while the US, the second largest, has a little more than 10 lakh employees in law enforcement. India is the seventh largest country, but we have has nearly 30 lakh policemen. Clearly, it is not because of the lack of policemen that we are unable to maintain public order, but due to the use of the police for non-police duties. Unless his burden is lightened, the policeman’s performance will not improve. Even those who advocate police reforms are yet to think along these lines. Even if all seven directives of the Supreme Court are implemented (which the states are not doing), there will be no improvement in performance unless the workload is lightened and responsibility diversified.
(A former IPS officer of the Maharashtra cadre, Vappala Balachandran is the author of Keeping India Safe: The Dilemma of Internal Security.) |
“The winner! And still champ! By a clear knockout in the first round, the Fathers keep the belt… it was no contest from the start”.
______________________________
When we attend to the needs of those in want, we give them what is theirs, not ours. More than performing works of mercy, we are paying a debt of justice.
St Gregory the Great
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All things belong to God, who is our Father and the Father of all things. We are all of the same family; all of us are brothers. Amongst brothers, it is best that all inherit equal portions.
St Gregory of Nyssa
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Share everything with your brother. Do not say, “It is private property”. If you share what is everlasting, you should be willing to share even more the things that do not last.
Didache
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Give a loaf of bread yourself; someone else can give a cup of wine, and another clothes. In this way, you can relieve one man’s poverty by your joint effort.
St Gregory of Nyssa
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The rich take what belongs to everyone, and claim that they have the right to own it, to monopolise it.
St Basil the Great
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I am often criticised for my continual attacks on the rich. Yes, that’s because the rich continually attack the poor.
St John Chrysostom
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It isn’t because the affluent are unable to provide food easily that men go hungry; it is because the affluent are cruel and inhuman. Every day, the Church here feeds 3,000 people. Besides this, the Church daily helps provide food and clothes for prisoners, the hospitalised, pilgrims, cripples, churchmen, and others. If only ten people were willing to do this, there wouldn’t be a single poor man left in town.
St John Chrysostom
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Those who oppress the poor must know that their sentence is heavier because of those they try to hurt. The more they press their power over these wretched lives, the more terrible their future condemnation and punishment will be.
St Isidore
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Some think that the Old Testament is stricter than the New, but they judge wrongly; they are fooling themselves. The Old Law did not punish the desire to hold on to wealth; it punished theft. Now, the rich man is not condemned for taking the property of others; rather, he is condemned for not giving his property away.
St Gregory the Great
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You are not making a gift of what is yours to the poor man, but you are giving him back what is his. You have been appropriating things that are meant to be for the common use of everyone. The earth belongs to everyone, not just to the rich.
St Ambrose
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What keeps you from giving now? Isn’t the poor man there? Aren’t your own warehouses full? Isn’t the reward promised? The command is clear, the hungry man is dying now, the naked man is freezing now, the man in debt is beaten now, and you want him to wait until tomorrow? “I am not doing any harm”, you say. “I just want to keep what I own, that’s all”. Your own! You are like someone who sits down in a theatre and keeps every one else away, saying what is there for everyone’s use is his own. If everyone took only what he needed and gave the rest to those in need, there would be no such things as rich and poor. After all, didn’t you come into this life naked? Won’t you return to the earth naked?
St Basil the Great
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Who is the greedy man? One for whom plenty does not suffice. Who defrauds others? One who keeps for himself what belongs to everyone. Aren’t you greedy, don’t you defraud, when you keep for yourself what was given to give away? When someone steals a man’s clothes, we call him a thief. Shouldn’t we give the same name to one who could clothe the naked and does not?
St Basil the Great
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The bread in your cupboard belongs to the hungry person; the coat hanging unused in your closet belongs to the person who needs it; the shoes rotting in your closet belong to the person with no shoes; the money which you put in the bank belongs to the poor. You do wrong to everyone you could help, but fail to help.
St Basil the Great
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You may say, “Words are alright; but gold is better”. Talking to you is like talking to a lustful man about chastity… when one says something against him keeping a mistress, the mention of her name only goes to heat up his lust. How can I make you realise the misery of the poor? How can I make you understand that your wealth comes from their weeping?
St Basil the Great
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The rich eat bread that belongs to others more than it does to them. They live on stolen goods. What they pay comes from what they have seized. You dig up gold from the mines, only to bury it again. How many lives did you bury with it? This wealth is kept for whom? For your heir, who waits idly to receive it. It is not the poor who are cursed, but the rich. Scripture says of the rich, not of the poor, that the man who increases the price of corn will be cursed. Who is the wise man? He is the one who shows compassion on the poor, who sees the poor as natural members of his family.
St Ambrose
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The poor mine gold, but they are not allowed to keep it; they are forced to work for what they cannot own.
St Ambrose
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Wealth, which lead the men the wrong way so often, is seen less for its own qualities than for the human misery it stands for. The large rooms of which you are so proud are in fact your shame. They are big enough to hold crowds… and big enough to shut out the voice of the poor. True, even if the voice were heard it would be ignored… the poor man cries before your house, and you pay no attention. There is your brother naked and crying! Whilst you stand confused over the choice of an attractive floor covering.
St Ambrose
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Feeding the hungry is a greater work than raising the dead.
St John Chrysostom
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Every family should have a room where Christ is welcome in the person of the hungry and thirsty stranger.
St John Chrysostom
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It’s about time that we put the lie to the smarmy pretence of religiosity put on by the Tea Party. They’re not Christians at all… they’re Sectarians, and it shows. They don’t worship as real Christians do, they don’t believe what real Christians hold, and they don’t do the good deeds that real Christians should perform. They’re nothing but Mammon worshippers who shout out, “Lord, Lord”… we all know what the Scripture says, “Not all those who say, ‘Lord, Lord’, will gain the Kingdom of Heaven”. That’s because American Sectarianism is a false construct, a religious apologia for the American Experiment, which has morphed into a leering and nasty rationale for the most leprous form of greed that has ever walked the earth… American entrepreneurial capitalism.
Do ask the Serbs, Palestinians, Iraqis, and Afghanis about the joys of this system. Especially ask the Afghanis… the USA was instrumental in placing the Taliban in power, then, ten years later, it toppled them, because their erstwhile clients attacked them. Think very seriously on this… had the USA not pressured Russia into stopping aid to the DRA, the Taliban would have been defeated… there would have been no 9/11! In short, we owe the present wars and the attacks on our homeland to the feckless policies of the neocons, and the Tea Party is nothing but their stalking horse… it has no life of its own.
If you are an Orthodox Christian, reflect on the fact that the Fathers point their fingers at you if support the Tea Party…
Thief! Miser! Hypocrite!
It’s time to get your mind right… you can support the Fathers or you can support a bunch of Sectarian pukes… which is it? You can follow Christ or you can follow Mammon. If you follow Beck and Palin, you’re not following our Lord, “for what accord hath Christ with Belial?” Don’t forget, Beck’s a Christian apostate, and Palin’s a Holy Roller heretic… for God’s sake, Low Church Reformation Proddies such as the Mennonites are superior to Sectarian Mormons and Pentecostalists (and most of them aren’t teabaggers).
Whither thou goest? I can’t make up your mind for you…
BMD
Editor’s Postscript:
A friend sent me the following:
Lately, you’re like Popeye after he downed a can or two of grade-A spinach! I guess it’s true what they say… when the going gets tough, the tough get going! I’m going to hoist one and vicariously “clink” it with you… Ваше здоровье!
Thank you! We all have to stand up and be LOUD N’ PROUD! Of course, it’ll mean that the konvertsy (amongst Orthodox) will let loose the internet trolls and innuendoes, as they are all fanatic Tea Party supporters. They will become even worse than they are at present.
We have a choice… stand up like free men and women, or lie down like slaves so that Corporate America can scourge us (and worse). If you choose the latter, don’t forget to pack a LARGE container of Vaseline.
BMD
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Correction: An earlier version of this article incorrectly described Andrew Kennedy’s recollection of being asked to create a piece of campaign literature. Kennedy, owner of Kennedy Communications, says that he misspoke in talking to a reporter and that the request was made before the Democratic primary, not after. This version has been corrected.
The federal investigation into Mayor Vincent C. Gray’s 2010 election now includes a focus on an alleged get-out-the-vote effort that was not publicly reported and that several campaign workers have called a “shadow campaign,” according to people with knowledge of the probe.
The former campaign staffers said the alleged activity ran outside the apparatus of the official election efforts, meaning that the spending was not reported, as would generally be required by campaign finance laws.
Several campaign aides and volunteers told The Washington Post that veteran field organizer Vernon E. Hawkins coordinated the alleged effort, sometimes working out of Gray’s downtown campaign headquarters. At the time, Gray (D) was considered an underdog, and his fundraising badly lagged behind that of the incumbent mayor, Adrian M. Fenty (D). The alleged shadow campaign would have added money and manpower.
The aides and volunteers spoke on the condition of anonymity to be candid about the matter. Some said they had talked with investigators looking into the Gray campaign.
Top campaign consultants said they believed that Hawkins — a former Human Services director who was forced out in 1996 after mismanagement claims — was a volunteer who advised them on campaign literature that would resonate with voters east of the Anacostia River. The campaign workers said they don’t know the origin of Hawkins’s effort, which included getting voters to the polls and distributing literature, but that it was well-organized.
Hawkins did not return calls seeking comment, and Gray said it was his understanding that Hawkins was a campaign volunteer. Gray declined to answer specific questions about the campaign allegations, citing the ongoing investigation.
None of the people identified by The Post as being involved in Hawkins’s alleged operation is listed on Gray campaign-finance records as receiving significant compensation. Under city law, political committees must publicly report their activities even if they are not coordinating with a campaign. The Post could not find any records filed with the D.C. Office of Campaign Finance that reflect the activity the aides described.
One Philadelphia-based consultant, Tracy Hardy, said he “coordinated with Hawkins” and “never worked for the Vincent Gray campaign.”
Several raids
Hardy said he was paid by Details International. That is a D.C. firm owned by public relations consultant Jeanne Clarke Harris, whose home and office were raided this month by federal authorities on the same day authorities searched the home and offices of businessman Jeffrey E. Thompson.
Harris and Thompson — whose managed-care organization Chartered Health Plan is the District’s largest contractor, with as much as $322 million annually in city business — are longtime associates. The raids are part of a widening probe into potential campaign violations, and it includes D.C. council members whose campaigns were served with subpoenas last week for records tied to Thompson and Harris.
Also, the aides said, political consultant Junelle Cavero, who headed the campaign’s get-out-the-vote efforts on primary day, coordinated with Hawkins, Hardy and Tracey Watkins, a political consultant based in Richmond.
Watkins initially said she would speak with The Post but did not return calls. Cavero’s attorney, Tom Connelly, declined to answer any questions, including whether she has testified before the grand jury. “I don’t feel comfortable talking at this stage in the case,” he said.
In recent years, Thompson, Harris, their firms, relatives, employees and others with ties to them have donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to Gray, Fenty, former mayor Anthony A. Williams (D), and other mayoral and council candidates.
Most recently, council member Vincent B. Orange (D-At Large), who is running for reelection in the April 3 primary, released records of campaign donations that he says were bundled by Thompson. Orange said he now is suspicious of the contributions, particularly those in the form of money orders that were sequentially numbered made to his 2011 special election.
The Post reported a year ago that mayoral candidate Sulaimon Brown has alleged that the Gray campaign paid him to disparage Fenty on the campaign trail and promised him a city job. He said he received cash and money orders, some of which he deposited in his campaign fund. The Post later reported that the Gray campaign had accepted cash contributions above the legal limit and received an unusually high number of donations via money order. Gray has denied any wrongdoing.
The Gray campaign paid Details International $20,000 on Aug. 26, 2010, just a few weeks before the Sept. 14 primary, according to campaign-finance records. The Gray administration said the campaign hired Harris’s firm as a consultant to buy ads in the black press. The firm, however, missed a purchase deadline and returned the check to the Gray campaign, according to the administration. The Post obtained a copy of the voided check.
But Mo Elleithee, a political consultant who was in charge of communications and messaging for the Gray campaign, said that he was unaware of the Details payment until recently and that he did not understand why the firm was paid because it was his responsibility to oversee all advertising. Potomac Waves, a company that shares Georgetown offices with Elleithee’s Hilltop Public Solutions, was hired to secure black radio and print advertising, he said.
Campaign records show payments from the Gray campaign to Potomac Waves for “advertising” and the voided $20,000 check to Details as a “consultant.”
“It’s increasingly clear that there was a shadow campaign that the legitimate campaign didn’t know anything about,” Elleithee said.
Gray’s campaign aides said they knew that some registered political-action committees worked on behalf of Gray, including one bankrolled by businessman R. Donahue Peebles. But it’s unclear where money came from to pay for canvassers and supervisors for the alleged “shadow campaign.”
Attorney Frederick D. Cooke Jr. is representing Harris, Hardy and Thomas W. Gore, Gray’s longtime friend who assisted campaign treasurer Betty J. Brown.
Cooke declined to comment on behalf of his clients. Brown did not return a call seeking comment.
Campaign-finance records show that Monroe Press, a Philadelphia-based firm owned by Hardy, received $1,860 from the Gray campaign the day after the primary. Hardy said he was not paid by the Gray campaign for his political services but that his firm may have received some money for printing.
He declined to say how much he or Monroe Press earned from Details, but he said he brought in a half-dozen consultants in the summer of 2010 to help with Gray’s election. He said they worked out of a room of the Gray headquarters on Sixth Street NW. Hardy also said he worked with Watkins, who was later hired by Orange on his 2011 campaign.
Hardy said he did his job. “They call me when they want to win. I’m just a political consultant. I come in, and I leave,” he said.
But Hawkins, a fixture in local politics who most recently was helping with Orange’s reelection campaign, remained. Before the primary, Andrew Kennedy, owner of Kennedy Communications, said Hawkins asked him to create a quick piece of literature he could distribute.
Paid by cashier’s check
Kennedy said that when he asked about payment, Hawkins said he would take care of it. Kennedy said he does not know who delivered the payment to his office, but it came after the primary in the form of a cashier’s check from the Gray campaign — the first time he said he’d been paid any way other than a regular check or wire transfer.
Kennedy said he told the Gray campaign that he got the check, and Gore and Reuben O. Charles II, the campaign’s chief fundraiser and later director of the Gray transition team, said they suggested that it was an approved expense. Charles could not be reached.
“I believed every single payment we received was from the campaign,” Kennedy said.
Kennedy said Wednesday that he reviewed his documents and found a record for a cashier’s check for $5,548.
Gray’s campaign-finance records do not show any expenditure for that amount.
Staff writer Mike DeBonis and researcher Jennifer Jenkins contributed to this report. |
It was announced today by the Waves Platform, a crypto platform for asset/custom token issuance, transfer, and trading on blockchain that its euro gateway has been added to the lite client. Waves users can now move funds onto the platform as a Euro-backed token
The WAVES token itself reached dollar parity less than two weeks ago, a year after launch.
Waves lite client v0.4.22a includes support for the Euro gateway. Just like the bitcoin gateway, this allows users to move a different currency onto the Waves blockchain, then use it as a Waves token (WEUR), holding it, transferring it and trading it on the Waves DEX in a completely peer-to-peer manner.
The Waves team said:
“Getting into crypto has always involved a degree of friction — if for no other reason than that it’s outside of most people’s frames of reference, and it requires a paradigm shift in their thinking. But the practicalities have generally made it even harder. Exchanges and wallets have become more user friendly over the years, but they’re still not perfect. Many people store coins on exchanges out of sheer convenience, bringing additional security risks — despite the fact that best practice has come a long way, there are still high profile hacks and losses of funds.”
“Waves was built for mass adoption, and we know that security and accessibility aren’t issues we should impose on users any more than we have to. They should be built in — as unnoticeable as is possible under the circumstances. Crypto has had an amazing journey, and none more so than in the last two months, but if it’s going to be here to stay then it’s still got a long way to go. There’s no telling where the current rally will end, but at some point it will. What happens next — 2014-style crash, stability, gentle upwards movement — will depend more and more on fundamentals, not the hype cycle.” |
'Zinnia', The First Ever Flower Grown In Space Makes Its Spectacular Debut!
'Zinnia', The First Ever Flower Grown In Space Makes Its Spectacular Debut!
NASA leapfrogs the rest of the space-surfing competition again! This time with flowers.
Announced by an ecstatic Scott Kelly on Twitter, this news is as sweet as it's pretty. Because the first flower to be ever grown in space has made its debut. Introducing zinnia:
Apart from growing vegetables, astronauts have now succeeded in planting flowers and watching them bloom so bright:
Isn't she a beauty?
The zero-gravity vegetable garden turned into a pop of colour with the edible flower zinnia. It was only last year when Scott Kelly and his co-astronauts celebrated the successful blooming of their space grown veggies - the red romaine lettuce.
NASA
Don't Miss 199 SHARES 304 SHARES 96.5 K SHARES 50.8 K SHARES
The zinnia flower is native to Southwestern United States. Growing vegetables on-board the International Space Station, using the VEGGIE system is a huge breakthrough for NASA that could prove invaluable for deep space explorations. The flowering of zinnia has been made possible by the VEGGIE system that makes use of red, blue and green LED lights to simulate sunlight. |
In his May 21 WorldNetDaily column, Larry Klayman wrote that President Obama "has joined with Palestinians to now knock off Israel," as indicated by his speech on the Middle East. Klayman also wrote that "[w]e need to protect our religious freedoms, which are under attack by our 'Muslim' president and his fellow anti-Semites and anti-Christian haters." From Klayman's column:
Emboldened by increased popularity brought about by the killing of Osama bin Laden, Barack Hussein Obama, our first "Muslim" president, has joined with Palestinians to now knock off Israel. In a speech delivered not only to intimidate but also again embarrass Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu just prior to his state visit to Washington, D.C., the "mullah in chief" demanded that Israel give back all the land it acquired in the 1967 war to the Palestinians, thus compromising the Jewish state's national security. This would mean ceding all of the West Bank, including but not limited to East Jerusalem, to the Palestinians, allowing Israel to be split in two in the event of a quick successful assault by Arabs to cut bifurcate the nation. It would also mean that Christian and Jewish holy sites, from the places where Jesus was crucified and resurrected to the sacred wailing wall, would fall into the control of Muslims hostile to our Judeo-Christian roots and culture.
This rank "chutzpah" by Obama is not isolated. Since the beginning of his presidency two and a half years ago, he has steadfastly unmasked his disdain for Jews and Christians, first by giving a pandering "Cairo" speech apologizing to the Arab world for American "atrocities," then bowing down to the king of Saudi Arabia, canceling the White House National Day of Prayer celebration and instead feasting the Arab holiday of Ramadan, endorsing the Ground Zero mosque, and last but hardly least using the death of Osama bin Laden to effectively argue that al-Qaida's terror threat is over and that now we can have "healing" with the Muslim world -- despite its having done nothing to bring the master terrorist to justice. It would appear that Obama identifies more with his father's Muslim faith than his own feigned and politically convenient alleged Christianity.
[...]
We need to mobilize Hollywood to tell the story of Israel and its importance for the nation. We need to preserve our our way of life. We need to protect our religious freedoms, which are under attack by our "Muslim" president and his fellow anti-Semites and anti-Christian haters.
Hollywood is the key to get the masses to understand that we must all help Israel before it is too late and it ceases to exist. And, Obama must understand that he will lose support from his past Jewish voters and will not be re-elected if he harms Israel and compromises its security. For if Israel is compromised and goes under, so too will our nation and its Judeo-Christian heritage. |
by
I am delighted to share with you a guest post from Tamise Hills from The Lady Jane Grey Reference Guide Blog.
Another look at…Lady Jane Grey’s appearance
By Tamise Hills
As Eric Ives wrote in 2009, ‘the immediate frustration in the case of Jane Grey is that we have only one detailed report of her appearance.’ (1)
The fullest contemporary description of Lady Jane Grey was supposedly written by Baptisa Spinola, a Genoese merchant, who witnessed her procession to the Tower of London to be proclaimed Queen of England on July 10 1553. Not only did he describe the procession but he was close enough to Jane, to describe her appearance in detail.
‘Today I saw Lady Jane Grey walking in a grand procession to the Tower. She is now called Queen, but is not popular, for the hearts of the people are with Mary, the Spanish Queen’s daughter. This Jane is very short and thin, but prettily shaped and graceful. She has small features and a well-made nose, the mouth flexible and the lips red. The eyebrows are arched and darker than her hair, which is nearly red. Her eyes are sparkling and reddish brown in colour. I stood so near her grace that I noticed her colour was good but freckled. When she smiled she showed her teeth, which are white and sharp. In all a gracious and animated figure. She wore a dress of green velvet stamped with gold, with large sleeves. Her headdress was a white coif with many jewels….The new Queen was mounted on very high chopines to make her look much taller, which were concealed by her robes, as she is very small and short.’
Baptisa Spinola, 10 July 1553 (2)
It has now been over four years since Leanda de Lisle first announced that this famous description of Jane was a fake, created by Richard Davey (3). Dr Stephan Edwards has also conducted his own research into the Spinola letter and concurs with de Lisle. (4)
Other contemporary accounts of Jane that exist, are either frustratingly vague in terms of her appearance or make no mention of it at all!
However, new evidence of Jane’s appearance emerged, in November 2013, when Dr Edwards announced on his website, Some Grey Matter, his discovery of two letters that mention Jane. Edwards writes that, ‘To my knowledge, neither of these letters has ever been published in English, and no historian writing on the subject of Jane Grey or the succession dispute of 1553 has ever cited them. They are presented here for what I believe is the first time in the modern era.’ (5)
The letters appear in the third volume of ‘Lettere di Principi’ a series of ‘a collection of letters to, from, or about a wide variety of early-sixteenth-century European rulers, noblemen, and princes of the Roman Catholic Church’ (6), which was published, in 1577 by Giordano Ziletti.
According to Edwards, the author and recipient of the letters are unknown but he thinks that they were written by a member of the Venetian diplomatic embassy. In the first letter dated or written on, 24th July 1553, in the translation by Edwards, the author writes the following about Jane.
‘The first-borne daughter of the Duchess of Suffolk is a pretty and comely young lady of beautiful intellect, letters, and praiseworthy habits, named Jane.’ (7)
It is not clear if the author witnessed the events mentioned in his letter and actually saw Jane or if he received the details from an eye witness. Two events are described at which an opinion of Jane’s appearance could have been formed, although in the context of the letter, Jane’s description refers to an explanation of who she was in dynastic terms, rather than in context of these events.
Firstly there are details of Jane’s wedding to Guildford Dudley on 25th May 1553.
‘So that finally the wedding was conducted with such splendor that I have not seen anything similar in this kingdom. One of the days of the festivities, Jane not being out to dine in public, the Ambassador of France and that of Venice took her place, between two Marquesses, one on the right and the other on the left. At another table were Duchesses and Baronesses. The Ambassadors’ table was served as though Jane was there, that is to say by Lords and honored gentlemen, and kneeling with every ceremony toward the Ambassadors as would be shown to the King at a solemn banquet.’ (7)
Then there was a description of Jane’s procession to the Tower.
‘Came this Lady Jane on the 10th of July from Syon to the Tower of London by water, accompanied by great Lords, men and women. Entering into the Tower with the men ahead, the ladies proceeded. The most near to her among the Lords was Northumberland, and among the ladies the mother, who as greatest in precedence held the train of the gown. Now you say to me that this seems to you a monstrosity. To see a child Queen, [who] by certain reason came from the mother, father and mother living, and neither [one of them] King nor Queen. To speak with her and to serve her on bended knee. Not only all the others, but the father and the mother! To have a good husband without gifts other than beauty, his father living, and fourth born. The husband stood with hat in hand, not only in front of the Queen, but in front of father and mother, all the other Lords making a show of themselves putting the knee on the ground.’ (8)
Other accounts of Jane’s arrival at the Tower do not include a description of her physical appearance. The most we know of Jane in physical terms is that the train of her gown was carried by her mother, the Duchess of Suffolk. (9)
The author of ‘The Chronicle of Queen Jane and of Two Years of Queen Mary, and Especially of the Rebellion of Sir Thomas Wyat,’ recorded the details of his meeting with Lady Jane. Rowland Lee, ‘an official at the Royal Mint’ (10), according to de Lisle, dined at Nathaniel Patridge’s house, where Jane was being held on 29th August 1553. Both he and his host were surprised to find Jane seated at the table when they arrived and he later recorded their conversation in his chronicle.
Although he goes into great detail regarding Jane’s opinion of the Duke of Northumberland’s conversion to Catholicism before his execution and how Jane believed that the Duke ‘hath brought me and our stocke in most miserable callamyty and mysery by his exceeding ambicion,’ (11) there is no mention of Jane’s appearance. The author’s only description of Jane is the following:
‘Note, that on tuisdaie the xxixth of Auguste, I dyned at Partrige’s house with my lady Jane, being ther present, she sitting at the bordes end, Partige, his wife, Jacob my ladyes gentill woman, and hir man. She commanding Partrige and me to put on our capes, emongest our communycacion at the dyner, this was to be noted: after she had one or twice droncke to me and bad me hartellie welcome, saithe she, “The queens majesty is a merciful princes; I beseche God she may long continue, and sende his bountefull grace apon hir.’ (12)
The author of ‘The Chronicle’ also wrote a description of Jane leaving the Tower for trial at the Guildhall on 13 November 1553. This time he includes a description of what she wore and the prayer book she carried but again, no mention of her physical features.
‘The xiijth daie of November were ledd out of the Tower on foot, to be arrayned, to yeldhall, with the axe before theym, from theyr warde, Thomas Cranmer, archbushoppe of Canterbury, between (blank)
Next followed the lorde Gilforde Dudley, between (blank)
Next followed the lady Jane, between (blank), and hir ij. Gentyllwomen following hir.
Next followed the lorde Ambrose Dudley and the lorde Harry Dudley.
The lady Jane was in a blacke gowne of cloth, tourned downe; the cappe lined with fese velvet, and edget about with the same, in a French hoode, all black, with a black byllyment, a black velvet boke hanging before hir, and another boke in hir hande open, holding hir.’ (13)
The two accounts of Jane’s execution in ‘The Chronicle’ again do not include many details of her appearance. The first only mentions the fact that she was wearing the same dress that she had worn at her trial and carried a book in her hand, praying as she walked to the scaffold.
‘The saide lady, being nothing at all abashed, neither with feare of her owne deathe, which then approached, neither with the sight of the ded carcase of hir husbande, when he was brought in to the chappell, came fourthe, the levetenaunt leding hir, in the same gown wherin she was arrayned, hir countenance nothing abashed, neither her eyes anything moysted with teares, although her ij. gentylwomen, mistress Elizabeth Tylney and misrress Eleyn, wonderfully wept, with a boke in hir hande, wheron she praied all the way till she cam to the saide scaffold, wheron when she was mounted &….’’ (14)
The second account entitled ‘The Ende of the lady Jane Dudley, daughter of the duke of Suffolk, upon the scaffold, at the houre of her death’ only includes the following physical details. That Jane wrung her hands during her speech from the scaffold, knelt down to pray and then gave her belongings to her gentlewomen and Master Brydges, the brother of the Lieutenant of the Tower.
‘and therewith she wronge her handes, in which she had hir booke…And then, knelyng downe, she turned to Feckenam, saying, “Shall I say this psalme?”…Then she stode up, and gave her maiden mistris Tilney her gloves and handkercher, and her book to maister Bruges, the lyvetenantes brother; forthwith she untied her gown. The hangman went to her to help her of therewith; she desired him to let her alone, turning towardes her two gentlewomen, who helped her off therwith, and also with her frose past and neckercher, giving her a fayre handkercher to knytte about her eyes.’ (15)
Eric Ives gives a detailed analysis of other descriptions of Jane in, ‘Lady Jane Grey: A Tudor Mystery.’ As I do not have access to the sources he used, I have quoted his findings in full.
‘The comment of the French ambassador, Antoine de Noailles, was positive, but hardly informative – ‘virtuous, wise and good looking’, ‘well made’. Roger Ascham the famous educator waxed lyrical about the conversation he had with her, but only noted that she smiled. In an elegy for her published in 1560, Sir Thomas Chaloner, who was active in public life and had known Jane, likened her to Venus: ‘If he had seen her face, a suitor might have shamelessly burned with passion.’ Chaloner, however, was writing in Latin verse (for which he was renowned), with all the conventions that applied. Richard Grafton, another who would have known her, described Jane as ‘that fair lady whom nature had so not only beautified, but God also had endowed with singular gifts’. On the other hand, in 1616 Francis Godwin wrote that she was ‘handsome’ but not remarkable, and this probably repeated a comment of his father, Thomas Godwin (1517-90) who became the Elizabethan bishop of Bath and Wells. Still, even the Catholic tradition which reached the Italian Girolamo Pollini was ‘very attractive.’ (16)
Edwards’ newly discovered letter (dated or written on 24 July 1553) gives us another opinion about Jane’s appearance. Unlike other contemporary accounts, it actually refers to her physical appearance, describing her as ‘pretty and comely.’ (17) Although it is not clear if the author actually saw Jane in person to form this view, or received the details from someone who did, it supports other accounts that Jane was considered attractive by some of those who met her. The writer has also heard about Jane’s reputation, commenting on Jane’s ‘beautiful intellect, letters and praiseworthy habits.’ (18) As this letter is dated after the end of Jane’s short reign, would there have been any need for false flattery? This letter adds to our knowledge of Jane’s appearance but the question of what she actually looked like, remains.
Sources
1. Ives, E. (2009) Lady Jane Grey: A Tudor Mystery, Wiley-Blackwell, p.14
2. Plowden, A. (2003) Lady Jane Grey: Nine Days Queen, Sutton Publishing Ltd, p.3
3. De Lisle, L. (2010), ‘Faking Jane’, BBC History Magazine, March.
De Lisle, L. (2010) The Sisters Who Would Be Queen: The Tragedy of Mary, Katherine and Lady Jane Grey, HarperPress, p.113
De Lisle, L. (2014), Tudor: The Family Story, Vintage, p.269-270
4. Edwards, S. Some Grey Matter – The Spinola Letter Date accessed: 20th October 2014
5. Edwards, S. Some Grey Matter – Lettere di Principi, le quali si scrivono o da principi, ragionano di principi – An Introduction to this source. Date accessed: 19th October 2014
6. Ibid
7. Edwards, S. Some Grey Matter – Two Letters Concerning Lady Jane Grey of England, written in London in July of 1553. Date accessed: 19th October 2014
8. Ibid.
9. ‘Spain: July 1553, 1-10?, Calendar of State Papers, Spain, Volume 11: 1553 (1916), pp. 69-80. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=88483 Date accessed: 18 October 2014
‘Spain: July 1553, 16-20?, Calendar of State Papers, Spain, Volume 11: 1553 (1916), pp. 90-109. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=88485 Date accessed: 18 October 2014
‘Diary: 1553 (Jul – Dec)’, The Diary of Henry Machyn: Citizen and Merchant-Taylor of London (1550-1563) (1848), pp. 34-50. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=45512 Date accessed: 18 October 2014
10. De Lisle, L. (2010) The Sisters Who Would Be Queen: The Tragedy of Mary, Katherine and Lady Jane Grey, HarperPress, p.133
11. Nichols, J. G (ed) (1850) The Chronicle of Queen Jane and of Two Years of Queen Mary and Especially of the Rebellion of Sir Thomas Wyat, Written by a Resident in the Tower of London, Llanerch Publishers, p.25
12. Nichols, J. G (ed) (1850) The Chronicle of Queen Jane and of Two Years of Queen Mary and Especially of the Rebellion of Sir Thomas Wyat, Written by a Resident in the Tower of London, Llanerch Publishers, p.24-25
13. Nichols, J. G (ed) (1850) The Chronicle of Queen Jane and of Two Years of Queen Mary and Especially of the Rebellion of Sir Thomas Wyat, Written by a Resident in the Tower of London, Llanerch Publishers, p.32
14. Nichols, J. G (ed) (1850) The Chronicle of Queen Jane and of Two Years of Queen Mary and Especially of the Rebellion of Sir Thomas Wyat, Written by a Resident in the Tower of London, Llanerch Publishers, p.55-56
15. Nichols, J. G (ed) (1850) The Chronicle of Queen Jane and of Two Years of Queen Mary and Especially of the Rebellion of Sir Thomas Wyat, Written by a Resident in the Tower of London, Llanerch Publishers, p.56-58
16. Ives, E. (2009) Lady Jane Grey: A Tudor Mystery, Wiley-Blackwell, p.15
17. Edwards, S. Some Grey Matter – Two Letters Concerning Lady Jane Grey of England, written in London in July of 1553 Date accessed: 19th October 2014
18. Ibid |
Last month, the European Commission published a draft directive proposing to extend anti-money laundering (AML) regulation to both virtual currency exchange services and custodial wallet providers. The draft suggests that many Bitcoin companies operating within the European Union will need to apply know-your-customer (KYC) types of checks on their users, to be enforced by 2017.
Phrasing of the directive left some uncertainty over its extent, however —in particular over what are considered “wallet providers offering custodial services of credentials necessary to access virtual currencies.”
For clarification, Bitcoin Magazine reached out to E.U. representatives.
Intent
Speaking to Bitcoin Magazine, the E.U. representatives (who preferred not to be mentioned by name or quoted directly) explained that the concept and motive of the proposal is straightforward.
From the perspective of the European Commission, virtual currencies present a problem as they allow money to circulate easily, and it's difficult to know who's transacting with whom. To address this, the E.U. wants to set up checkpoints: Custodian wallet providers and exchange services would be required to monitor transactions on their platform and report suspicious activity.
Within that context, the representatives acknowledged that the proposed regulation should not apply to any services that happen to hold onto customer private keys. There is, for instance, no intention to regulate Lightning Network nodes or mining pool operators.
Custodial wallet providers, under the provision, are wallet providers that hold onto at least one private key for customers. Naturally, that includes wallet providers that hold full control over users' private keys, such as Circle and Xapo. But it also includes services that hold onto a single key in a multi-signature setup, even if they can't spend on behalf of customers, such as GreenAddress or Blocktrail. Wallet providers that do not hold any private keys at all — like Mycelium or Blockchain — would not fall under the provision.
The E.U. representatives also indicated there might be further discussion on a potential minimum threshold. Under the current proposal, any custodial wallet provider, as well as exchange service, would be required to apply AML/KYC checks on customers — even for trivial amounts. The representatives indicated this may be reconsidered to perhaps introduce a minimum threshold under which no identity verification would be required. (But this is not guaranteed.)
Anonymity
Another part of the draft directive that garnered attention is a paragraph pertaining to future research. Specifically, the European Commission suggests that users and Bitcoin addresses may have to be able to be linked to prevent nefarious use of the digital currency.
The draft directive reads:
“The inclusion of virtual exchange platforms and custodian wallet providers will not entirely address the issue of anonymity attached to virtual currency transactions, as a large part of the virtual currency environment will remain anonymous because users can also transact without exchange platforms or custodian wallet providers. To combat the risks related to the anonymity, national Financial Intelligence Units (FIUs) should be able to associate virtual currency addresses to the identity of the owner of virtual currencies. In addition, the possibility to allow users to self-declare to designated authorities on a voluntary basis should be further assessed.”
Speaking to Bitcoin Magazine, the E.U. representatives acknowledged that these ideas will be further assessed — but not any time soon. Specifically, a report scheduled for 2019 will explore the options and potentially make recommendations.
Moreover, as specified in the draft, the intent at this point is merely to allow users a voluntary choice to self-declare addresses. The E.U. representatives confirmed that there are as of yet no plans to make non-declaration illegal. The representatives suggested that users may choose to self-declare their addresses, however, in order to increase the credibility and use of virtual currencies, as their anonymous nature can be seen as a threat.
The legislative proposal is currently in the preliminary discussion phase; there may still be modifications at both the European Parliament and the European Council levels. At least one initiative, coming from the Netherlands, has been started to adjust the proposal, most importantly removing KYC/AML requirements for wallet providers. |
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A Lincoln resident has described their shock after spotting a man walking up and down the roof of a halted train in the city centre.
East Midlands Trains has said a ‘passenger disturbance’ near to Lincoln Central Train Station is disrupting trains on the Leicester/Lincoln/Grimsby route.
Drew Kearns from Lincoln said: “I was on my way home from work at around 7.45pm when I saw something strange from the uni bridge.
“There was a man walking up and down the roof of a train that had come to a stop just past uni bridge.
“It looked like he was looking for a way down. The train driver was aware and had stopped because of him and all other trains had stopped due to the incident.”
UPDATE 9.30pm: The line has been reopened, however delays are expected for up to an hour.
#EMTUpdate: Our trains between Newark and Lincoln are being disrupted because of passengers causing a disturbance along the route. — East Midlands Trains (@EMTrains) January 30, 2017
#EMTUpdate: Trains are being disrupted between Lincoln and Newark because of a trespasser on the railway. Emergency services are on site. — East Midlands Trains (@EMTrains) January 30, 2017
East Midlands Trains said: “There is a passenger causing a disturbance on a train near Lincoln Station.
“Emergency Services are on site working to fix the problem, Network Rail teams will be on site at 9pm.
“The line is currently closed
“All of our trains on the route cannot run in either direction only between Newark and Lincoln.
1935 Newark Northgate to Cleethorpes is stood waiting for the line to open.
1826 Leicester to Lincoln is stood waiting for the line to open
1935 Doncaster to Lincoln is stood waiting for the line to open
2003 Newark Northgate to Lincoln Central is stood waiting for the line to open
“We are expecting the line to fully reopen in the next two hours. Our normal train service is expected to resume on the affected route shortly after.
“You should catch your planned train wherever possible.”
More information will be published when it is available. |
To raise the entire ocean temperature by T requires a deposit of \(E={M}_{o}{\mathscr{C}}T\) wherein M o is the ocean mass and \({\mathscr{C}}\) the specific heat capacity of water. In order to increase the temperature of the entirety of the Earth’s oceans we need to introduce a large amount of thermal energy. The total mass of water in the oceans is around 1.35 × 1021 kg. The specific heat capacity of water is 4184 J kg−1 °C−1 so we require 5.6 × 1024 J to raise the ocean temperature by 1 °C. Thus the tardigrade with a tolerance of up to 100 °C would survive until around 5.6 × 1026 J were deposited into the ocean. This is a lower bound–such heat would not be evenly distributed, being it most likely to be deposited in the upper ocean. To provide a conservative bound, we seek to minimise the depth of the deepest ocean on any planet–a uniform distribution of oceans across the planet’s surface. When ocean mass is small compared to that of the planet, the depth of the ocean is approximately
$$D=\frac{\alpha {\rho }^{\mathrm{2/3}}{M}_{p}^{\mathrm{1/3}}}{{\mathrm{(36}\pi )}^{\mathrm{1/3}}{\rho }_{w}}\mathrm{.}$$ (1)
Here ρ = 3M p /(4πR p 3) is the average planet density, α the fraction of the mass in ocean (on Earth M o ≈ 2.3 × 10−4 M ⊕ ) and ρ w the density of water. Most of Earth’s water is contained within rocks. To remain conservative, we consider only the mass of liquid water in the oceans. There may exist planets that are almost entirely water (α ≈ 1), however for life as we know it, we focus on Earth-like planets with oceans on the surface of a rocky planet. We give these explicitly as we will assume they are broadly unchanged between planets. For the Earth, this implies that there must be an ocean of at least 2.5 km in depth. This is far shallower than the deepest points, however it will constitute a lower bound. The intensity of gamma rays is attenuated by interaction with matter by a factor exp(−μD), wherein D is the depth and μ the attenuation coefficient. This varies based on the material and the frequency of the incident radiation. The tardigrade is capable of withstanding over 6000 Gy (enough to endow every kilogram of material with 6000 J of energy). If the ocean depth is greater than \({\rm{l}}{\rm{o}}{\rm{g}}\,(700)/\mu \) (the latter figure being the ratio of the energy deposit per unit mass required to boil water to that to kill a tardigrade) the water above will be boiling. In fact, if we consider a sufficient radiative flux to kill a tardigrade at depth D, the total energy deposited upon the planet is at least \(E=6000\pi {R}_{p}^{2}({e}^{\mu D}-1)/\mu \). If our oceans are more than a few metres deep, this exceeds the threshold energy at which the oceans would boil before radiation would kill the tardigrade. We therefore consider temperature increase as the primary source of sterilisation.
Large asteroids are the leading candidate for causing of the Cretaceous-Tertiary extinction which took place 65 million years ago, annihilating approximately 75% of species on the planet leaving the Chicxulub crater. This event devastated larger land animals. Of those with masses over 25 kg only a few ectothermic species survived. However, around 90% of bony fish species survived14 and deep ocean creatures were largely unaffected by the event. We estimate an upper bound for the energy deposited by an asteroid of mass M a as being its free-fall energy from infinity to the surface of the planet E = 1/2M a (v ∞ 2 + v e 2), where \({v}_{e}=\sqrt{2G{M}_{p}/{R}_{p}}\) is the escape velocity of the planet (v e ≈ 11.2 kms−1 for Earth), and v ∞ is given by Öpik’s close encounter theory15. In order to raise the ocean’s temperature by T, we require an asteroid of mass
$${M}_{a}=\frac{2\alpha {\mathscr{C}}T}{{v}_{\infty }^{2}+{v}_{e}^{2}}{M}_{p}\mathrm{.}$$ (2)
To annihilate tardigrades on Earth we require a mass over ∼1.7 × 1018 kg. The largest observed asteroids in the Solar System are Vesta and Pallas, with masses of 2.7 × 1020 kg and 2.2 × 1020 kg respectively. There are only 17 other known asteroids of sufficient mass, and a few dwarf planets, the most massive ones being Eris and Pluto, whose masses are 1.7 × 1022 kg and 1.3 × 1022 kg respectively. We reiterate that our estimate of the required energy is conservative–it is likely that it would take a significantly more massive impact as ocean heat would only be a fraction of the total energy. Since we consider Earth-like planets, the order of magnitude of this mass does not vary greatly between the largest and smallest planets–if oceans constitute an equal fraction of mass this changes by less than an order of magnitude.
In Fig. 1 we present a model for the impact rate of asteroids as a function of the mass. This is based on the extrapolation of relation between crater diameter and impact rate16. The mass of the object is related to crater diameter following ref. 17, assuming asteroids with density ρ ~ 5 g cm−3 entering the atmosphere with incidence angle of 90° with respect to the normal. In reality, most asteroids have ρ ≈ 2 g cm−3, and in the case of comets this value is even lower, being the value here assumed a conservative assumption. This is highly dependent on the asteroid distribution in our Solar System–we assume in the absence of other evidence, that other systems are similar, however this remains to be verified.
Figure 1 The cumulative impact rate per year for different masses of asteroids. This follows the parameterisation given in ref. 25 up to M = 1015 kg; for M > 1015 kg the impact rate is inferred following ref. 16. Dashed vertical lines indicate the minimum mass needed for complete sterilisation assuming a typical asteroid with density (ρ = 2000 kg/m3). The lower bound (m 1 ) is that which could cause boiling of the oceans if the entirety of its energy were converted into heat spread homogeneously throughout the Earth’s oceans. The upper bound (m 1 ) is the mass of an asteroid whose impact crater is equal to the size of the planet, causing complete destruction. Here we find that even with the most conservative bound, the likelihood of complete sterilisation is lower than around 10−5 over the lifetime of the planet. Full size image
The bulk of the energy output of a supernova is carried by the shock wave. To give an upper bound on the range at which a supernova would remove all life from the planet, we assume that the shock wave carries all the energy released. The fraction of energy incident on a planet of radius R p at a distance d from the supernova is given by the fraction of the sphere of radius d which is covered by the planet’s surface \(\pi {{R}_{p}}^{2}/(4\pi {d}^{2})\). To raise the temperature of a planet by T, we would require a supernova within a distance d given:
$${d}_{SN}={(\frac{3}{32\pi {M}_{p}^{\mathrm{1/2}}\rho })}^{\frac{1}{3}}{(\frac{{E}_{s}}{\alpha {\mathscr{C}}T})}^{\frac{1}{2}}$$ (3)
For the Earth, this sterilisation distance is around 0.04 pc, far closer than the closest stars, Proxima Centauri. Were a supernova to occur at that distance, the ocean temperature would only rise by about 0.1 °C. Furthermore, although there is a dependence on the mass of the planet, this dependence is quite weak. Note that none of the stars in the Alpha Centauri system are large enough to go supernova. The nearest potential supernova is the IK Pegasi system, approximately 45 pc away, which is three orders of magnitude farther than the estimated sterilisation radius.
To assess the relative risk faced by any planet in our galaxy, we approximate the odds of a close enough supernova happening over a timespan of 109 years. We find the expected number of stars of sufficient mass within the sterilisation distance of a planet, and the odds that one of these stars goes supernova. The galactic habitable zones, regions wherein complex life may evolve, depends on the occurrence rate of supernovae. A detailed simulation-based study was done by Lineweaver et al.18. We evaluate the rate of SN at a position (r, z) (cylindrical coordinates) as follows:
$${P}_{SN}(r,z)=\chi {\int }_{{M}_{min}}^{{M}_{max}}dm\,\xi (m){n}_{\ast }(r,z){\tau }^{-1}(m),$$ (4)
with \({n}_{\ast }\) being the number density of stars19. Following ref. 19 we select \({M}_{min}=8{M}_{\odot }\) and \({M}_{max}=25{M}_{\odot }\) for supernova progenitors. ξ(m) and τ −1(m) are respectively the initial mass function and the lifetime of a star of mass m. This is normalised to the global supernova rate in the Milky Way20. The rate of supernovae explosions within the sterilisation radius (0.04 pc) over 1 billion years is shown in Fig. 2, for differing galactic locations.
Figure 2 The expected number of supernovae within the sterilisation sphere of radius 0.04 pc per Gyr as a function of galactic position. The black circle indicates the position of the Solar System. Closer to the galactic centre the stellar density is higher, and thus the likelihood of encountering a nearby supernova increases. However, this density is only sufficient to give a total rate of around 0.01 expected events per billion years, and thus total sterilisation through supernovae is still an improbable event. Full size image
Because the nearest star is about 1.3 pc away, we can conclude that Earth is located in a fortunate position. Near the galactic centre the density of stars increases and the probability of a SN sterilising life is higher. Nonetheless, this rate is almost insignificant even close to the galactic core, reaching only around 1% of planets being sterilised. The calculation for GRBs is similar to the one for SNe, but now we have to assume that the energy is collimated into in jets. As before, we assume the most pessimistic scenario–the smallest jet angle with the largest energy. The energy is typically the same as that of a supernova, 1044 J, but the jet angles can be as low as 2°, hence the energy incident on a target of radius r which lies entirely within the beam angle at a distance d is:
$$E={E}_{GRB}\frac{\pi {r}^{2}}{{\rm{\Omega }}{d}^{2}}=\frac{{10}^{62}{r}^{2}}{{d}^{2}}\,{\rm{J}}$$ (5)
Hence for an increase of 100 °C in the ocean temperatures, we would need a GRB within about 13.8 pc; again, this is an upper limit. The rate of occurrence of short GRBs per volume in the universe is 0.04 Gpc−3 yr−1, and long GRBs is 0.15 Gpc−3 yr−1 6. We will restrict these occurrences to within galactic discs of stars, therefore we divide this by the product of the comoving number density of galaxies (≈107 Gpc−3) and the volume occupied of the galactic disc (1011pc3), we find that the rate is around 2 × 10−10 pc−3 Gyr−1, and hence the probability of a GRB within the a distance at which it would sterilise a planet, aligned such that one of the beams hit the planet is 3.2 × 10−10 Gyr−1. This number is extremely small and we can conclude that such event is unlikely.
Planetary systems can also be disrupted by passing-by stars. The rate, R, of such encounters for a given stellar density, n ∗ , is
$$R={n}_{\ast }\sigma v,$$ (6)
where σ is the cross section to disrupt the orbit of the planet, and v the velocity of the star. Typically, v ≈ 40 km s−1. In the neighbourhood of the Solar System \({n}_{\ast }\sim {10}^{-3}\,{{\rm{pc}}}^{-3}\) 19. In the case of Earth, \(\sigma \sim {10}^{-9}\,{{\rm{pc}}}^{2}\) 21. Therefore, the rate of interactions of stars and the Earth-Sun system would be \(R\sim 3\times {10}^{-8}\,{{\rm{Gyr}}}^{-1}\). If we repeat this calculation for the average stellar density in the galaxy, which is \(\sim 0.1\,{{\rm{pc}}}^{-3}\), the rate would be increased to ∼10−6 Gyr−1. This number is an upper bound–we expect that only a fraction of systems that experience disruption would eject a planet–yet it is still extremely small and we can conclude that ejection by this mechanism is a very rare event. |
CLOSE USA TODAY Sport's Bob Nightengale breaks down the teams to watch at this year's World Baseball Classic. USA TODAY Sports
Andrew McCutchen is looking forward to his stint with Team USA. (Photo11: Alex Trautwig, MLB Photos via Getty Images)
FORT MYERS, Fla. - Andrew McCutchen tries to pretend it’s really no big deal, but it is.
He tries to act as if it doesn’t bother him, but it attacks his pride.
McCutchen, playing Thursday in Team USA’s last exhibition game before the World Baseball Classic, might be only 89 miles away from the Pittsburgh Pirates’ spring training home in Bradenton, Fla., but it feels as if he’s in another universe.
Here, it doesn’t matter that he opened the USA’s exhibition schedule against the Minnesota Twins batting eighth for the first time in his life.
Here, it makes no difference that he’s playing left field for the first time while Adam Jones of the Baltimore Orioles is in center, where he has played more games than any other player in baseball since 2010.
Here, among the greatest American players, there’s a sense of not only feeling wanted, but also actually being cherished, by a team that will stay together for no longer than two weeks.
Yet the team that drafted him 12 years ago, leaned on him through troubled times and marketed him as its shining future now can’t wait to get rid of him.
The Pirates, who tried to trade him all offseason and still have him on the trade block, informed McCutchen, 30, that he no longer will be their center fielder. Despite playing more games (1,063) in center than any other player since 2010, he will be their new right fielder, a position he has played professionally for only five innings at Class AA Altoona (Pa.).
If someone calls the Pirates with an enticing trade proposal, he’s aware that he could even be traded while away representing his country in the WBC.
“It hurts. Of course it hurts," McCutchen told USA TODAY Sports. “It stings. I’m not to the point of being upset and mad about it, but I’m not smiling about it. And I’m not walking around saying everything’s great, either.
“But what can I do? I’m not the GM. I’m not the manager. I’m not the owner. I’m just a baseball player.
“When they make a decision, and it’s final, I have to agree with that.
“What choice do I have?"
Well, if McCutchen really wanted, he could rebel. He could ask to be traded. He could be such a malcontent and disruptive force in the clubhouse, the Pirates would have no choice but to move him.
Sorry, that’s just not Cutch. It was never an option. Sure, he privately voiced his complaints. He emphatically told the front office that he can still play center field. He told them their analytic studies were skewed because they had him playing too shallow.
It didn’t matter. The entire outfield was changed. Starling Marte is the new center fielder. McCutchen is the new right fielder. And Gregory Polanco is in left field.
“I’m not going to hold any grudges against them," says McCutchen, a five-time All-Star. “I mean, I have people who say it should be my choice because of the sacrifices I’ve made and the things I’ve done for the organization. But l ’m not going to be angry.
“I’m just going to go out and play my game because that’s my job. I work for them. They are my bosses.
“They ask me to do something, it means I have to do it."
McCutchen says he deserves to stay in center, but management told him the Pirates will be a better team with Marte in center field. They showed the analytic charts to McCutchen, the ones that showed he was the worst defensive outfielder in baseball, according to Baseball Info Solutions. McCutchen tells them the data are flawed because the Pirates had him playing too shallow.
“Anyone can easily type in some numbers and say, 'Hey, he’s not a good defender,’ " McCutchen says. “There are baseball guys who actually know the game. They watch the game and say, “No, this guy can still play.'
“I felt I played some of the better defense in my career last year, with the exception of playing in. If you play in, you’re going to have to pay those consequences. When you’re playing somewhere you’re not comfortable, sometimes the ball is going to get by you or go over your head."
Yes, even 10-time Gold Glove winner Andruw Jones, who notoriously played shallow with the Atlanta Braves, sometimes made mistakes with his aggressiveness.
“Yeah," McCutchen said, softly laughing, “but they didn’t have all of those analytics back then."
It doesn’t really matter what anyone else thinks, McCutchen says, or what they say. He has no choice in this matter. He wasn’t going to change their opinion, anyway, so he begrudgingly agreed, saying it will be an honor to play the same position as legendary Pirates right fielder Roberto Clemente.
McCutchen’s imprint on Pittsburgh is significant. He signed an undervalued six-year, $51.5 million deal four years ago, won an MVP award and finished in the top five for four consecutive years and ushered the club out of a 20-year run of losing seasons.
GALLERY: World Baseball Classic images
“He’s been the face of that franchise for so long, not just for being a great player, but great for the community,’" says Team USA manager Jim Leyland, who led the Pirates to three division titles in the early 1990s and makes his home in Pittsburgh. “He’s so well-respected there. I don’t know what’s going to happen, but I would love to see him stay there his whole career because what he means to that club."
McCutchen has been with his WBC teammates for only a few days, but already he’s revered.
“He’s one of the players I’ve obviously admired from afar," says the Orioles’ Jones, tied with McCutchen of the most hits by a center fielder since 2010. “But to see him up close, to see him go about his business, to see that work ethic is just so impressive. You see why he’s so great."
McCutchen, the subject of intense trade talks with the Washington Nationals this offseason before they acquired Adam Eaton from the Chicago White Sox, will be heavily scouted during the WBC. Scouts following him now tell you that while he might not be the same player who won the Gold Glove in 2012, he’s a much better outfielder than defensive metrics indicate.
So you can believe the analytical studies that indicate McCutchen’s best days are behind him and that his career-low .256 batting average, .766 on-base-plus-slugging percentage and six steals last season are ominous signs.
Or you can believe McCutchen, along with many in the scouting fraternity, that last season was a blip on a screen of greatness and he’s much too young and athletic for anyone to think he won’t bounce back.
“This is the generation and age we live in now," McCutchen says. “It’s what have you done for me right now, not what you did the last five years. I had a 2016 season that wasn’t a year that Andrew McCutchen normally has, but it doesn’t mean I won’t go out there and be back to where I was. I’ll be back. And I’ll be even better.
“I’m going to have a monster year, whether it’s in Pittsburgh or somewhere else.
“But it’s going to happen."
Follow Nightengale on Twitter and Facebook |
A group of construction workers fixing water pipes in the Spanish city of Seville made an unexpected underground discovery this week — a stash of ancient Roman coins weighing more than 1,000 lb. and believed to be worth millions of dollars.
The coins were found in 19 amphoras or jars in the town of Tomares near Seville on Wednesday, the Guardian reports. They bear the insignia of Emperors Maximian and Constantine, and are believed to date back to the third and fourth centuries, when the Romans ruled the Iberian Peninsula of which Spain is a part.
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“It is a unique collection and there are very few similar cases,” Ana Navarro, head of Seville’s archeology museum, told the Guardian. Navarro declined to give an exact value for the ancient currency, but said they are worth “certainly several million euros.”
[Guardian]
Write to Rishi Iyengar at rishi.iyengar@timeasia.com. |
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Ben Foster freely admits it's "coming together nicely" for West Bromwich Albion , but is keen to manage expectations.
Having opened up a gap to Stoke City, following last Saturday's 1-0 win at the Hawthorns, West Brom have the chance to distance themselves from another top ten rival this weekend.
A win at the London Stadium would move the Baggies eight points clear of West Ham, and with a far greater goal difference.
Whatever the result, Albion will finish the weekend eighth.
And Foster, who has barely put a foot wrong in between the sticks this season, believes consolidation would represent a hugely successful campaign.
"We want to finish eighth this season," he said.
"If we can get further than that, so be it."
Everton, who travel to Middlesbrough on Saturday, are only four points ahead of the Baggies.
The two sides meet at Goodison Park in just over a month in what could be a showdown for seventh and a potential Europa League spot.
But Foster accepts the Toffees, bang in form under Ronald Koeman with 13 points taken from the last 15, will be difficult to reel in.
"The top seven or so is probably going to be too hard to break into," he said.
"To be top of the rest is the aim for us.
"That would be a fantastic achievement."
Albion need only 13 points from the last 14 games to set a new club-record total in the Premier League.
It's a goal Tony Pulis and several of his players have talked about in recent weeks.
But Foster is more concerned with league position, which will make a huge difference on prize money come the end of the season with each mid-table place worth in the region of £2 million.
"I don’t think we’re looking at points," the 33-year-old insisted.
"We just want to finish in the top half of the table in eighth position." |
Pakistan is not putting adequate pressure on militants within its borders that are threatening stability in neighboring Afghanistan, according to the top U.S. military commander in Afghanistan.
Gen. John Nicholson on Friday said he agreed with Defense Secretary Ash Carter's decision to withhold $300 million in military support for Pakistan this year, after not being able to certify it was placing enough pressure on the Afghan Taliban and the affiliated Haqqani Network, who are launching attacks in Afghanistan.
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"It was his way of saying that there's not adequate pressure being put on the Haqqanis," Nicholson said at a Pentagon briefing. "And I concur with the Secretary's assessment on that."
The comment reflected a growing willingness to publicly pressure Pakistan to rein in insurgent groups, particularly the Haqqani Network, who have stepped up attacks in Afghanistan, where 9,800 U.S. troops are stationed.
Just earlier this year in March, the Pentagon's rhetoric towards Pakistan was much less harsh.
"We have been pleased with Pakistan's efforts in two ways: one, their pressure against the Taliban in Pakistan. And then also their agreement to put pressure on the Taliban to join the peace process," Brig. Gen. William Shoffner, then-spokesman for the U.S.-led coalition in Afghanistan, told reporters on March 11.
"They have been a willing partner with the Afghans, which we're encouraged by," he added.
The withholding of the $300 million payment, from the Coalition Support Fund program used to reimburse allies supporting the U.S. in counterterrorism and counterinsurgency operations, was the first time it's happened due to support for the Haqqani Network, according to The Diplomat.
Pakistan insists it is going after terrorists and supports a peace deal between Afghanistan and the Taliban, but says there are limits to how much it can do.
Nicholson called the Haqqani Network the "primary threat" to American troops, coalition members and to Afghans in Afghanistan, especially in and around its capital of Kabul.
"We track their actions very closely. Especially as relates to the Kabul threat streams. And so, we -- you know, I have the authorities I need to defend us against that threat," he said.
Earlier this year, U.S. forces even took out top Taliban leader Mullah Mansour on Pakistani soil in a rare cross-border strike.
"This had a disruptive effect on the Taliban, in particular on their finances, and it took them some time to get themselves sorted out and recovered from that," Nicholson said.
Frustration with Pakistan has also grown on Capitol Hill, on both sides of the aisle.
Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Corker Robert (Bob) Phillips CorkerBrexit and exit: A transatlantic comparison Sasse’s jabs at Trump spark talk of primary challenger RNC votes to give Trump 'undivided support' ahead of 2020 MORE (R-Tenn.) called Pakistan a "tremendously duplicitous partner" in seeking a peace deal with the Taliban.
"Certainly they are working against our interests there through helping support in the ways that they do the Haqqani Network," he said at a Sept. 15 hearing.
"My sense is you're going to see a lessening degree of support for Pakistan over time as a result," he added.
Corker earlier this year tried to block the $700 million sale of U.S. F-16 fighter jets to Pakistan.
Senate Foreign Relations Committee Ranking Member Ben Cardin Benjamin (Ben) Louis CardinClyburn pushes next steps on criminal justice reform The Hill's Morning Report - Dems appear to have votes to counter Trump on emergency The Hill's 12:30 Report: Trump looks for boost from Korea summit MORE (D-Md.) also said he was running out of patience with Pakistan.
"Many here believe they have already made their decision that they won't go after Haqqani and may even allow them to continue to operate for whatever reasons," he said. "So they have chosen in many respects not to go after all terrorist activities." |
India v Australia: Glenn Maxwell's rickety journey to total control
Updated
"I'd sell my soul for total control."
Glenn Maxwell's inner monologue most likely resembled the chorus of The Motels' absorbing gem.
For him, walking into the bar adjoining the team hotel after the Pune triumph must have hurt.
On the wall were cocktails named after Australian players — four of the squad honoured with this quirk. He was one of them.
"Hit 'em Maxwell!" the board read.
It would have hurt, because it would have reminded him that for all his local notoriety, he was serving the on-field drinks to his team-mates.
Maxwell is huge here. A legitimate IPL celebrity. In the shortest form of the game's marquee tournament, he's brilliant and adored. And consequentially, filthy rich.
For most in life, that would be ample. Not Maxwell. It may be his most lucrative pursuit, but not the most meaningful.
Rather, what he truly treasures is wearing his baggy green and, just months ago, he feared it may never happen again.
Imagine the response to telling a pub full of punters Maxwell would break his bat during his first innings back.
It would have been ugly, drawing out deeply-held views of a temperament ill-equipped for the red ball caper. That he had zero of that precious control.
They would have cited his previous Test. In the first innings of that UAE misadventure, Maxwell slapped 37 carefree runs in 28 balls before losing his stumps.
The second time around, he was sent in at three with Australia chasing 603. He reverse swept within minutes and was out the following over.
No-one forgets the shot; many did not forgive.
'I got pretty low'
Speaking to the ABC after resetting his career with a wondrous maiden ton, Maxwell detailed how frustrating that episode was. How he was picked to deploy his bag of tricks and followed orders.
This theme, of a man misunderstood, would haunt his two-and-a-half years in exile from this team.
It was never meant to be this long. After an instrumental hand in the 2015 World Cup win, it was assumed Maxwell's prolonged Test opportunity was coming. Selectors said they had a careful plan.
Instead, the opposite. A cancelled tour, a suspension, a fine for saying too much. Dropped from the Victorian team for trying to jump ship.
2016 was meant to be the year he "broke open world cricket".
Instead, he was sacked from the ODI side for the first time in four years.
"I got pretty low," Maxwell recalled of his annus horribilis in an enjoyable and candid post-century press conference.
"I doubted whether I'd play Test cricket again."
But with India next stop, he was always destined for that plane.
When Mitchell Marsh's shoulder succumbed, he was back in the frame, then when the Ranchi pitch appeared conducive to his spin, into the XI.
Maxwell said he was "filled with joy" when told of his recall, but "didn't want to waste the opportunity".
A calm realism illustrative of the rickety journey he had been on.
"When I played that last game in Abu Dhabi ... I know how bad that felt. I just wanted to make it count," he said.
Maxwell wanted trust back
The accepted wisdom around Maxwell is that he is a born match-winner.
With Australia needing one victory for such an unexpected trophy retention, he could give India the old Maxwell ball treatment and bury them in a slew of slaps and heaves and wallops.
But what about coming in at 4-140, on afternoon one, to consolidate an innings threatening to go off-piste?
It is doubtful our mythical pub focus group would have backed a positive outcome. It was what the public did not see, however, that mattered most in this tale.
Reports emerged of a Maxwell net session in Dubai where he was compelled to defend for an hour.
No sweeping. No swiping. If the side were committing to a stringent defence-first philosophy, this was proof positive he would sign up.
Along those same lines, Maxwell was already trying to give his reputation a polish.
If trust had been lost, he wanted it back.
"I did everything I could to change people's perceptions of what they thought Glenn Maxwell was doing," he said.
This attitude shift, he believes, led selectors back to him again.
Maxwell had opportunity to prove he could be more
Now joining Steve Smith, he had a prized opportunity to prove them right and show he could be something considerably more than before.
It began with half a dozen defensive postures against some penetrative reverse swing — setting the tone for the four hours that followed.
One criticism of Maxwell is that he cannot soak up pressure without moving the game forward on his own accord. That he basically cannot help himself.
Well, this time he was going to. Singles were offered and taken, but always followed by defence. Only singles until he was fully set.
It is hard to fathom Maxwell ever before facing 56 balls before scoring a boundary. This was that time. When he did, it was over Jadeja's head, straight from the manual, before returning to careful accumulation.
The next boundary came from his 90th delivery.
Now it was India under pressure, attempting to break Maxwell's concentration with a part-timer. He need not change a thing.
Fortune came on 67, Jadeja glancing his glove, but this time it was luck earned.
The next ball was popped over spinner's head for six, a reminder Maxwell does not have to trade in his power for patience.
He was 71 runs further along than the last time he played a reverse sweep in Tests when rolling it out this time. It did not work, it was promptly put away.
It was not that Maxwell ruled the shot out, he said later, but the bowling just was not there for it. The definition of good batting.
The new day did not change the script, other than to carve away boundaries before the Indian seamers found their range. Into the 90s. What he had dreamed of.
"I thought about it all night. I went through about 300 to 400 different scenarios that could've happened the next day. Most of them weren't good," he said.
You can laugh when the story ends well.
'I can finally show people with results'
Nurdling a 99th run, it was inevitable Maxwell would be tested one more time by Jadeja — and duly was with six probing turners.
Our protagonist refused to bite.
Moments later, he had done it.
It inspired a guttural response before literally leaping into his captain's outstretched arms.
Maxwell looked a man who realised his life, right then, could be changing forever.
"So much emotion fell out of me as soon as I got that hundred," he said.
"Even thinking about it now, I've got a frog in my throat. It's as special a moment as I've had in my career."
Barring the extraordinary, Maxwell now plays the first Ashes Test in November.
He is determined for it to be the making of him.
"I've always felt red-ball cricket is my best format," he said.
"To be able to show that at Test level is something I'm extremely proud of. And yeah, I can finally show people with results instead of just talking."
This match will only get harder for the visitors. India showed in Bangalore they do not quit with so much on the line, so the Australian bowlers now have their own plans to persist with, their own patience to prove.
For an exemplar, they should look no further than their new number six.
Total control, at long last.
Topics: cricket, sport, india, australia
First posted |
Independent spirit breeds co-ops in NH
Business model can be found in a variety of industries
By Bob Sanders
Ed Cross, owner of Ed’s Flooring America, is a member of the Flooring America co-op, under the CCA Global Partners umbrella. Photos by Karen Bachelder
A mother picking up milk at Vista Foods probably didn’t think she was contributing to the co-operative economy, but she was — the Associated Grocers of New England, Inc., is a co-op based in Pembroke, with a half-billion dollars in revenue.
Neither did her husband when he stopped in Gilford at True Value Hardware to get replacement screws to fix the screen door. True Value is also a co-op, based in Illinois, with $1.5 billion in revenue.
And when the whole family trekked to Ed’s Flooring America in Hooksett to pick out linoleum for the kitchen floor? You guessed it. Flooring America is another co-op — part of a group of about 14 affiliated co-ops under the CCA Global Partners umbrella, based in Manchester, with revenues of $10.6 billion.
When people think of co-ops these days, they may think of a local food co-op, like the one in Hanover, or they might think of a credit union, like St. Mary’s Bank, or they might think of one of the 123 manufactured-housing co-ops that dot the state.
But co-ops are not just made up of individuals. Some of the largest — like the three examples above — are made up of businesses. Businesses may join the co-op because they believe in its principals, with noble words like “democracy,” “volunteerism,” “equality,” “community” and “working together.” But they also like the economic clout and services a larger group can bring, whether it be bulk purchasing or developing sophisticated software, while maintaining some degree of power over their organization.
“It helps the small guy be like the Fortune 500 people,” said Ed Cross, the owner of Ed’s Flooring.
There are farmer co-ops. There are fishermen co-ops. There are bike co-ops. There are carpet store co-ops. There are day care co-ops. There is even a worker-owned architect co-op.
“There are co-ops in so many different businesses it’s unbelievable,” exudes Cross. “Co-ops are everywhere and most people don’t realize it.”
No one is really sure of how many co-ops there are in the state and what economic clout they have. The U.S. Census stopped keeping track of them 20 years ago, and while the National Co-operative Business Association is trying to change that, it is probably not on this administration’s top priority list. Indeed, the Trump budget proposed cutting Rural Co-operative Development Grants, which provide $26.5 million in technical assistance to co-ops, down to zero.
The best we have to go on is projected data from a 10-year-old survey by the Center for Co-operatives at the University of Wisconsin, which said that some 200 co-operatives in New Hampshire with nearly a half-million members took in revenues of $640 million and had assets of $3.8 billion.
Ed Cross, owner of Ed’s Flooring, stands with Business Manager Vylett Cross and Operations Manager Jacob Cross in the Hooksett store.
The center is in the process of conducting another survey of the 30,000 co-ops nationwide, but even if it is updated, and is accurate, what does that mean?
The $10.6 billion sales of all the member stores of CCA Global Partners mostly come from stores that are out of state. True Value and Ace Hardware (another co-operative) have between them 45 stores in the state, but they are both based in Illinois.
The 130 New Hampshire supermarkets, superettes and convenience stores that are members and affiliates of the Associated Grocers of New England sold about $100 million of goods, about a fifth of national total membership revenue. But its largest Granite State member is Hanover Co-op, which consists of three grocery stores — a store in Vermont and a convenience store and a gas station in New Hampshire — that account for $72 million, though not all of those sales are from Associated Grocers of New England. How do you count all of that?
Whatever the numbers, one thing is clear, New Hampshire seems to be an “interesting pioneer” when it comes to the co-op world, according to Lynda Brushett, senior partner with the Co-operative Development Institute, based in Massachusetts, though Brushett works out of her New Hampshire office.
Co-ops date back to the first mutual fire insurance company founded by Benjamin Franklin in 1752. Most of the co-ops in the 18th and early 19th centuries were primarily agricultural and were strongest in the populist Midwest. That was true also with the electrical co-ops, developed as part of the New Deal in the 1930s. With its 84,000 customer-owners, New Hampshire Electrical Co-operative might be one of the largest in the state when it comes to sheer membership, but it is the only co-operative utility in the Granite State.
But consider this:
• St. Mary’s Bank, which opened in 1908, was the first credit union in the country, and with 100,000 members, is one of the largest in the state.
• Hanover Co-op, which opened in 1936, is the first of its kind and the second largest in the U.S., with some 20,000 members.
• New Hampshire Community Loan Fund in Concord started organizing manufacturing home developments into co-ops in the 1980s and was so successful it spawned ROC USA, which now has 206 co-ops spanning 21 states, with a total of nearly 13,000 members and more than half of them in the Granite State.
• CCA Global Partners, which started as a carpet co-op in 1985 in Manchester, expanded into 14 different co-ops, becoming the first buyers co-op across a variety of different industries. It now includes some 4,000 stores, and in terms of revenue may be one of the largest co-operatives in the nation.
So why New Hampshire?
“It’s a ‘live free or die’ state, a state that values independence and entrepreneurs,” said CCA Global President Howard Brodsky. “People are looking for scale and resources that they can’t get elsewhere, but don’t want to give up their identity.”
“It’s the best of non-profit and for-profit worlds,” said Don Kreis, the state’s Consumer Advocate who was a board member at Hanover Co-op. “Because it’s an investor owned business, it’s free to be entrepreneurial, but it is unfettered by the need to maximize wealth.”
Food co-ops
There are four food co-ops in the state with close to 50,000 member-owners and nearly $100 million in revenue.
Hanover Co-op may have started in the 1930s, but most food co-ops blossomed during the ‘70s to fill a demand for organic produce. Nowadays, they face increasing competition from Whole Foods, Trader Joes and the organic section at grocery stores. Still, revenues continue to increase, as co-ops adapt.
Hanover made a $5.3 million upgrade to allow it to offer more fresh produce and off-site prepared foods including seafood and smoked meat, as well as café seating.
But it’s most important strength, said spokesperson Allan Reetz, “is that we are owned by our customer.”
Hanover faced a shake-up back in 2014, when the previous management dismissed an employee for allegedly talking about a union. But the worker was reinstated and the board was replaced.
The controversy “shows that democracy and transparency works,” said Donald Kreis, Consumer Advocate and former Hanover president who rejoined the board after the controversy.
Littleton residents invited the co-op to open a store there in 2006, but the co-op declined.
“You start your own co-op and we’ll help you do it,” said Kreis, providing them with a temporary manager. “They were a little slack-jaw, but that’s a co-operative principle: co-ops helping co-ops.”
Before becoming the Littleton Co-op general manger, Ed King worked as a manager at the local Shaws for nine years.
“I was sick of the corporate world,” he said.
Littleton underwent a $3.8 million expansion to allow for a café and an area for prepared foods, which eventually resulted in a 20 percent increase in sales.
Both Hanover and Littleton carry organic and non-organic produce. Concord Food Co-op, however, remains strictly organic, said Greg Lessard, director of development at Concord. It too went though a major expansion five years ago, resulting in a new sit-down café. It also replaced its general manager with a manager from Shaws, after complaints from staff.
Concord’s big initiative is online shopping, developed before Amazon bought Whole Foods. Members can order online and pick it up without having to shop. The co-op hosts a number of activities for members to interact.
Community-supported agriculture aren’t necessarily co-ops. A CSA farmer or farms sell shares of its produce to customers, to be picked up at a particular location.
But the Concord CSA is a co-op, which started in 2001.
The Concord CSA “is not a huge percentage of our production, but a pretty good chunk,” said Robert Noonan at Middle Branch Farm in New Boston, one of the co-op’s eight members.
Similarly, Fresh Start Farms consists of two co-ops: the New American Farmers Co-operative, started last year by nine Somali-Bantu, Congolese and Bhutanese refugee farmers in Dunbarton, and Umoja Farmers, started by 11 Congolese, Burundi and Rwandan farmers.
Then there is also the Four Corners Co-operative, or the Temple-Wilton Community Farm, which started as a farmer co-operative, but in June of 2016 opened up membership to its CSA customers.
There are also two co-ops when it comes to seafood. The Yankee Fisherman’s Co-operative, which sells its catch at a Seabrook store, and New Hampshire Community Seafood, a co-op of commercial fishermen that operates like a CSA, market to both individuals and restaurants.
Resident-owned communities
ROC USA in Concord has over 200 communities nationwide and 13,000 members, though New Hampshire makes up a good chunk, with 123 communities and 7,000 members. Nationally, the organization was bought for almost $229 million.
Roland Shattuck, a 70-year-old retired electric technician, didn’t think he was qualified to be president of Lakeside Co-operative, a manufactured-home park of 51 homes. But the owner by state law had to give the residents the right of refusal, and, after several meetings, those residents decided that the uncertainty of running a co-op was preferable to the certainty that rents would rise under new ownership. They bought it at the end of June.
“Everything seems to be an emergency,” Shattuck said, from figuring out who was the “financial genius” to be treasurer to how to upgrade the septic system. “It’s badly affecting my golf game, and that ain’t good,” Shattuck laughed.
The 299-member Medvil Co-operative in Goffstown had a similar rocky start back in 2006, recalled Kimber Capen, the co-op’s former president. Capen, who once ran 28 Burger Kings, had management experience. Medvil only raised rents $10 over the last seven years, he said.
Such success stories lead The Community Loan Fund to spin off ROC (Resident-owned Communities) USA run out of a separate Concord office, which created nine regional non-profits, including ROC NH (the largest), followed by Massachusetts, with good numbers in Minnesota, Wisconsin and Oregon.
A co-op bank fills in some of the funding gaps, but most of the money comes from former co-ops paying back their loans. Not one has defaulted yet, said Mike Bullard, ROC spokesman, as manufactured-home co-ops become more widely accepted.
“We are definitely more mainstream,” he said. “At industry trade shows, we are just another group that will bring buyers to the table.”
Worker co-ops
Jonathan Halle faced a dilemma in 2008 when his partner at Warrenstreet Architects Inc., retired. Buy him out and go into debt doing it or give the company to his employees, and let it continue, with him being just one member-owner?
“People ask me, ‘Why would you give it away?’” said Halle, founder and managing member of the co-op located — you guessed it — on Warren Street in Concord. “Am I giving it away, or am I creating an atmosphere that will allow it to continue?”
Halle chose the latter, making Warrenstreet one of the few — if the only — worker-owned co-ops in the state.
New Hampshire doesn’t have many worker-owned co-ops because it doesn’t have a law for them, unlike Massachusetts and Vermont. They have to be officially corporations or limited liability companies, with bylaws that make them a co-op.
Worker cooperatives are different than ESOPs (employee stock ownership plans). While both are often retirement strategies, ESOPs are not necessarily democratic. In addition, ESOPs are so complex they are usually undertaken only by larger corporations.
Most of the dozen employees at Warrenstreet are not owners…yet. To be a member there, you have to either have worked in your position in the industry for seven years or work at Warrenstreet for at least three.
Revenue goes into three buckets: salary, performance bonuses and profits, which are split among the co-op members.
“There is a large financial benefit to being a member,” Halle said. |
Food Freedom has deliberately refrained from posting any suggestion that Germany’s superbug is related to biowarfare, until further evidence emerged. Various sources now corroborate this story, including The Atlantic:
“On Tuesday [May 31], the German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung reported that [leading German E. coli researcher Helge] Karch had discovered that the O104:H4 bacteria responsible for the current outbreak is a so-called chimera that contains genetic materia from various E. coli bacteria. It also contains DNA sequences from plague bacteria, which makes it particularly pathogenic.”
Though he emphasized “There is no risk, however, that it could cause a form of plague,” Karch added that plague DNA sequences make the superbug “particularly pathogenic.”
Also, it is interesting timing to note that the European Union banned herbal remedies on May 1, 2011. Below is Dr Rima Laibow’s summary of this developing story.
~ Ed.
By Dr Rima Laibow
Natural Solutions Foundation
They tell us the “Super bug E. coli 0104:H” is terrorizing Germany, causing otherwise healthy people to develop Hemolytic-Uremic Syndrome (HUS) in which their kidneys fail, their red blood cells explode and then, tragically, they die.
Germ sleuths and clinicians alike have been even more horrified than the average Spanish cucumber eater (the vegetable pinned with the blame for the lethal outbreak). The general public just wants the disaster to go away. The doctors want to know why, what and, now, WHO is responsible.
E. coli is found in the guts of every mammal and is generally harmless. In fact, it is present in massive quantities: half of the volume of the normal bowel excretion is made up of their huge numbers. But when a good germ goes wrong, it can cause disease in the host or anyone who picks it up through contamination or lack of hygiene.
And E. coli 0104:H4 has gone very, very wrong, with, it would appear, quite a bit of help from its friends.
Mike Adams, the intrepid Health Ranger, revealed to the English speaking world that this extraordinarily aggressive E. coli (from a family of bugs which are normally passive and non-aggressive in the extreme) had been systematically genetically altered through laboratory manipulation, to be totally resistant to 8 classes of antibiotics.
Natural News Article Link: http://www.naturalnews.com/032623_ecoli_fresh_vegetables.html
“European health authorities are leaping at the opportunity to spread fear about organic foods while ignoring the obvious true cause of the contamination in the first place — the widespread abuse of antibiotics in animal farming operations… The e.coli blame game has become a circus of musical chairs. First, they blamed the Spaniards as a form of retaliation for Spain’s resistance to accepting GMOs. This act drove Spanish farmers into bankruptcy through a savage campaign of rumor-mongering. After ravaging the Spanish vegetable farmers, they began to randomly instill widespread fear about a variety of vegetables: First it was cucumbers, then lettuce and then finally tomatoes. And now, the blame has come full circle and is now being cast upon organic sprout growers in Germany!”
He pointed out, quite correctly, that without sustained and careful laboratory manipulation there would be no way for this organism to acquire total resistance to these drugs since the drugs are not used in agriculture and the bacteria would not encounter all eight of them in nature.
The only reasonable conclusion is that colonies of normal E. coli had been intentionally, systematically exposed to each of the antibiotics in turn and the surviving colonies had been propagated and then exposed to the next antibiotic. The surviving germs were now resistant to both of the antibiotics to which they had been exposed. The process was repeated until a super bug was created which would not yield to any of the antibiotics that doctors would customarily use to treat the infection.
This is the only rational conclusion to which the evidence points.
Of course, by who, and why, the altered organism was deployed has not yet been established. A psychotic graduate student with aspirations to be a mass murderer? A corporate ploy to discredit independent agriculture and force the total industrialization of food to keep it “safe” from contamination (that is, the organized intentional contamination of all food by the folks who make the agrochemicals and GMOs which allow more of them to poison us and the drugs that you take when you get sick from the food)? A dedicated globalist loyally pursuing the “great culling” of us “useless eaters”?
So what we knew was that a forced natural selection had been used to create killer super-super bugs. Now we know that genetic manipulation of the GMO sort has been used, as well. Truly, a weaponized bug if there ever was one…
Helge Karch, the director of the Robert Koch Institute (Germany’s CDC). who heads a consulting laboratory at the Münster University Hospital in Germany says that he has discovered that the super killer contains DNA from E. coli, which is what he expected. It also contains (unexpectedly for those who don’t expect such genocidal manipulations) DNA from the organism that causes plague, responsible for wiping out a quarter of Europe’s population during the Black Death (1348-1351).
Please pay attention here: we are talking about the Black Death. Seriously.
Bubonic plague is caused by Yersinia pestis and is one of the most feared of all disorders. So when Dr. Karch blithely assured the German population that there is little danger of an outbreak of plague from this organism, he is clearly whistling through his Spanish cucumber.
Although we all love to be reassured, there is no one on planet Earth who can reassure us that we are not already facing a new plague. This one, however, rather than resulting from an unplanned, but wildly toxic combination of rats, lice and history, would be the intentional outcome of an unnatural selection process and a high-tech genetic manipulation to create a death bug. A weaponized bug.
Deny the genocidal agenda at your peril. I, for one, can see no reasonable option to the conclusion that the mad [wo]men at the helm of the realm are consummate murderers, killing randomly for their own unspeakable ends.
A bright note, however: there is no way in which any organism can become resistant to nano silver. None. Faced with the presence of a plague, a weaponized super plague, an ordinary infection or a genocidal assault through organisms of death, I want nano silver on hand, lots of it. Nano-silver is a nutrient that supports normal immune system function.
Ah, yes, nano silver was declared illegal in Europe on January 1, 2011. Can’t use an illegal substance, now can we. The good people of Europe are expected to be good citizens of the New World Order and… just die.
Civil disobedience, anyone? Or perhaps the people are ready to fight for their silver!
I get mine, which is called “Silver Sol” at www.Nutronix.com/NaturalSolutions. You should, too.
Yours in health and freedom,
Dr. Rima – www.DrRima.net
Rima E. Laibow, MD
Medical Director of the Natural Solutions Foundation |
(Image courtesy of Seattle Outdoor Movies)
If Seattle summers aren’t wonderful enough, now there’s one more reason to love them: a city packed with outdoor movies! No fewer than 8 al fresco film series are set within city limits in July and August, many of them in downtown parks. Some are free, such as those sponsored by Seattle Parks and Recreation and the Downtown Seattle Association. All are well-known blockbusters sure to please a crowd, whether it’s a recent big-screen hit, an 80s comedy, a kids’ favorite, or a cult classic.
The series listed below are FREE to the public and begin at sunset. Click on the heading for more info on each. For a list of all outdoor movies in the Puget Sound region, free and low cost, see the link at the bottom of this post.
Movies at Westlake Park
July 14: Dirty Dancing
July 21: Ghostbusters (2016)
Aug 4: Moana
Aug 11: La La Land
Aug 18: Star Wars: Rogue One
Aug 25: Ferris Bueller’s Day Off
Movies at the Mural (Seattle Center)
July 29: The Princess Bride
Aug 5: La La Land
Aug 12: Hidden Figures
Aug 19: Clue
Aug 26: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
Three Dollar Bill Cinema: Parental Advisory? (Cal Anderson Park)
Aug 11: Beetlejuice
Aug 18: But I’m A Cheerleader
Aug 25: Juno
West Seattle Outdoor Movies
July 22: Star Wars: Rogue One
July 29: The LEGO Batman Movie
Aug 5: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
Aug 12: Finding Dory
Aug 19: Queen of Katwe
Aug 26: Beauty and the Beast (2017)
Movies at the Marina (Shilshole Bay Marina)
July 21: Captain Ron
Aug 11: The Secret Life of Pets
Be sure to bring a blanket and some snacks! Then, wait for dusk and the magic of cinema to transport you to another world under the summer sky.
Full list of outdoor movies in Seattle and surrounding areas
Downtown (City Center) Parks Events listings – watch for updates |
Whenever we spend a night in a town of any reasonable size, we like to have dinner at the #1 rated restaurant on TripAdvisor — it makes a nice change from the dinners of instant noodles and rum we eat out in the field. More often than not, the restaurant turns out to be a pizzeria, which it did that night. The food was excellent, but stories aren’t about food. The guy at the table next to us had an impressive camera, so we struck up a conversation with him. His name was Joe, and he was in Bolivia shooting a documentary.
Joe was cool, and very interested in our trip. Within twenty minutes, we’d moved over to his table and had roped his driver, Marcos, into the conversation. We brought out a map and Marcos started to divulge information about routes through the Eduardo Avaroa Nature Reserve.
“There are two main routes through. On this one, you will go through the valley of the rocks, which is very beautiful, and the road is quite good.”
“And what about over here?”
“It is very difficult. There is a pass which is very famous among the drivers, they call it the “Toom-Toom Pass” because the car goes ‘toom! toom!’. And you will have to go through the desert, where you will not see a road, just thousands of 4x4 tracks in the sand.”
“Which way is more beautiful?”
“The difficult one.”
That settled that. We finished up our dinner, and went out in the dark to Marcos’s Toyota Land Cruiser, out of which we sketchily copied his GPS waypoints in the manner of an illicit drug deal. Without much prompting, he also offered to drop 40 liters of fuel for us at the park ranger station. What a guy.
The next day, Tibet and I found a mechanic to fix various ailments on our bikes, while Alex went out and procured 40 litres of jerrycans, filled them with gasoline, poorly secured them onto his bike, and dropped them all over the road while riding around the town. Eventually, we met up with Marcos, handed over the gasoline, packed up the bikes, and headed for the desert. The adventure began! |
Bicyclist killed in SoMa crash with truck
The woman's bicycle remained at the scene after the crash at Sixth and Folsom streets Wednesday morning. The bicyclist, whose name was not released, died at San Francisco General Hospital after colliding with a truck. less The woman's bicycle remained at the scene after the crash at Sixth and Folsom streets Wednesday morning. The bicyclist, whose name was not released, died at San Francisco General Hospital after colliding with a ... more Photo: Courtesy, Will Tran Photo: Courtesy, Will Tran Image 1 of / 3 Caption Close Bicyclist killed in SoMa crash with truck 1 / 3 Back to Gallery
A bicyclist died Wednesday morning after being hit by a truck while she was riding on Folsom Street in the South of Market neighborhood, police said.
The crash happened as the truck tried to make a right turn at 7:07 a.m. at Sixth and Folsom streets, police said.
Both the bicyclist, a woman about 30 years old, and the truck driver were headed east on Folsom. When the trucker tried to turn south onto Sixth, he hit the bicyclist, said Officer Bryan Lujan.
The woman died at San Francisco General Hospital. Neither her name nor the name of the trucker has been released.
The truck driver stayed at the scene and was interviewed by police. He has not been cited. The truck was later towed away.
As police investigated the crash, the woman's crumpled blue, road-riding bicycle lay at the southwest corner of the intersection. A bike helmet was nearby. |
If you still think, like Shaun Donovan, that the crisis in the mortgage markets merely concerns foreclosure paperwork, you need to take a look at these two Law Review papers from Professor Christopher Lewis Peterson of the University of Utah (via). They provide, in excruciating detail, the story of MERS, short for Mortgage Electronic Registration System: the private corporation built by the mortgage lending industry, whose tool for electronically trading mortgages has thrown the entire housing market into turmoil. In the name of saving a buck, the mega-banks used this tiny company with almost no employees and entrusted it with 60 million of the nation’s mortgages on its system – 60% of all mortgages in the United States – to predictable results.
Starting in the early 1990s, the mortgage lending industry, seeking speed and the evasion of land title costs, decided to bypass the state and county registrars which would normally track and assign the title ownership of properties. Instead they created and used MERS, which operates a database to track that ownership. And they list MERS as the “mortgagee of record” with the county recorder – so that all the sales and resales and securitization of the mortgages will not result in the fees that follow the recording of mortgage assignments. Peterson explains that this saves the servicers a measly $22 a loan, which of course adds up when you consider the number of loans and trades per year.
Once again, MERS does not actually advance any loan principal to the homeowner, does not have the right to receive any payments from the borrower, and is not the actual party in interest in any foreclosure proceeding. Nevertheless, the actual mortgagee pays a fee to MERS to induce MERS to record the mortgage in MERS’s name. By eliminating the reference to an actual mortgagee or the actual assignee, MERS estimated it would save the originator an average of $22.00 per loan.
This saves the industry money in recording, but basically shields the county recorders from actually divining the owner of the loans. When a loan falls into delinquency and then foreclosure, MERS carries out the foreclosure process in their own name – despite the fact that they don’t own legal title to the mortgages on its database, and therefore lack standing to foreclose. MERS also doesn’t have the personnel (they have almost no employees) to engage in millions of these foreclosure operations or perform any of the other legal duties required of a mortgage owner. So they outsource this capacity in just about the most fraudulent manner possible, relying on the lack of public records and their role as a masked agent for the servicers.
In the wake of the subprime crisis, this decline in the informational value of the public records is already occurring. For example, in loans where MERS is listed as the mortgagee, virtually any company can show up, claim to own the note, and proceed to foreclose on a family that is in arrears. Because MERS has so many “certifying officers,” a court cannot easily verify whether the individual acting in MERS’s name is actually representing the real party in interest, given that the public records do not reveal who that party is.
Here’s more, from Peterson’s most recent paper:
To accommodate the massive amount of paperwork and litigation involved with its business model, MERSCORP simply farms out the MERS, Inc. identity to employees of mortgage servicers, originators, debt collectors, and foreclosure law firms. Instead, MERS invites financial companies to enter names of their own employees into a MERS webpage which then automatically regurgitates boilerplate “corporate resolutions” that purport to name the employees of other companies as “certifying officers” of MERS. These certifying officers also take job titles from MERS stylizing themselves as either assistant secretaries or vice presidents of the MERS, rather than the company that actually employs them. These employees of the servicers, debt collectors, and law firms sign documents pretending to be vice presidents or assistant secretaries of MERS, Inc. even though neither MERSCORP, Inc. nor MERS, Inc. pays any compensation or provides benefits to them. Astonishingly, MERS “vice presidents” are simply paralegals, customer service representatives, and foreclosure attorneys employed by other companies. MERS even sells its corporate seal to non-employees on its internet web page for $25.00 each. Ironically, MERS, Inc.—a company that pretends to own 60% of the nation’s residential mortgages—does not have any of its own employees but still purports to have “thousands” of assistant secretaries and vice presidents.
This must be one of these “financial innovations” I hear very serious people going on about.
So this is how you end up with multiple foreclosures by different servicers on the same home, or foreclosures on homes bought with cash. Basically, the servicer doing the foreclosing becomes whoever MERS wants it to be. And MERS, by standing in as the “mortgagee of record,” has made it impossible to determine the actual owner of record. Thus two centuries of land title operations in the United States have been outsourced to a shell company created by big banks so they could save a buck – and now they’re using it to forego legal processes and kick people out of their homes.
In the wake of this, you have companies like DOCX pop up, who can simply make up legal papers that then get used in court. The amount of fraud here is simply astonishing.
Tell me again that this is about notaries. The entire mortgage servicing market in the United States has, in a systematic way, become confused and muddled. If you’re the type of person given to protecting themself from the unexpected, you’ll type in wheresthenote.com into your browser, at the very least, for peace of mind. Because without that clarity, you, like every other homeowner in the United States, is exposed.
UPDATE: I should have provided the actual Law Review articles.
Foreclosure, Subprime Mortgage Lending, and the Mortgage Electronic Registration System
Two Faces: Demystifying the Mortgage Electronic Registration System’s Land Title Theory |
A sight for sore eyes.
These days people have differing opinions on the state of the Vancouver Canucks. Which is fitting, quite frankly, given the team’s topsy turvy performance this year. Some feel obliged to call for coach Alain Vigneault’s head once they see lackluster efforts like the one the Canucks submitted against the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Others see performances like the one against the Los Angeles Kings, and say to themselves, "hey this makes sense, this is a top-5 possession team!" I’ll let you guess which of the two camps I reside in.
Nonetheless, one thing we can all agree on is that this team has had their share of troubles scoring goals of late. Over the past 7 games – a stretch in which they went 2-3-2 – they managed to score 15 goals. Keep in mind that 5 of those came in one game. Now the team sits at 17th in the league in goals/game, a far cry from their top-5 finishes in the past two seasons.
Yesterday, Thomas Drance highlighted the issues on the power play. It also wouldn’t hurt their cause if first-line winger Alex Burrows started converting on some of his chances.
Read Past the Jump for More.
Despite the fact that Burrows is – sometimes justly, sometimes not – known for his agitating style of play, and occasional embellishment, he has been a significant contributor on the offensive end since being paired up with the Sedins in 2008. He has averaged roughly 29 goals a year over the past four seasons, with his best coming in the form of a 35-goal campaign back in ’09-’10.
While Burrows was unextended and headed into the last season of his bargain basement four year eight million dollar contract this summer, I looked at what he has been able to do stacked up against some of the other players who have been fortunate enough to hop along for the ride with the Sedins. There’s no doubt that he should be buying them dinners, quite routinely. But believe it or not, he has actually done his part in elevating their play, too.
One thing the third member of the Canucks first line has enjoyed over the years has been an elevated shooting percentage. I’ll attribute this to the Sedins being wizards with the puck, putting their linemate in ideal situations for putting the puck in the net. Coming into this year, these were Burrows’ shooting percentages since his career took off: 16.0%, 16.7%, 17.1%, 14.1%. Those seems like clips that are due for a steep regression, until you realize that it’s what the Sedins do. As a slight aside, Anson Carter shot 22.6% with them, while Taylor Pyatt was at 15.3%. That’s enough of a sample size for me to believe that Burrows should be somewhere in the mid-teens.
Unfortunately, that hasn’t been the case this year. Burrows has converted just 5 of his 77 shots on goal, for a 6.5% clip. As always, let’s fall back on the underlying metrics to see if there’s something else going on here. Here’s a nice little chart for you visual learners out there:
Chart via Stats.HockeyAnalysis.com.
His individual shot, fenwick, and corsi rates are all quite significantly higher than they’ve ever been in the past. In fact, he has registered 3.35 shots/game thus far; his previous totals were 2.13, 2.55, 2.11, 2.48. He’s getting the puck on net, and doing so quite often. In his past 10 games, he has personally taken 21 scoring chances, yet has just 1 goal to show for his efforts. He’s also logging 3:13 of power play time, which, like the rest of the numbers I just layed out, is a significant step up from the past (and part of the reason his shot rate is inflated this season).
Sometimes players have outlier seasons that wind up being blips in the radar. It works both ways, though. As we saw with Ryan Kesler two years ago, shooting percentage outliers can work in a player’s favour and bring a guy whose true talent is somewhere in the neighbourhood of 25 goals per season up to forty of more. But given his opportunity and the conisstency with which he’s scored goals while shooting an elevated percentage, I would be shocked if Burrows didn’t turn this thing around sooner rather than later.
I tweeted yesterday that I’d set his final total for goals scored at 14.5, and I’d feel pretty confident in taking the over. You may look at that number and scoff at the idea that 15 goals over a 48 game season is a big deal, but to accomplish that he’d need to score at a 33 goal pace (over an 82 game season) the rest of the way.
I’ll always continue to preach patience and process when it comes to these sorts of things, because the results will eventually come. We know that. Which is why I’m not getting overly worked up about Alex Burrows’ goal production through 23 games. There’s a hot streak where he scores something along the lines of 6 goals in 5 games looming. At least the Canucks, and their fans, find themselves hoping there is. |
Overnight parking crackdown coming in St. Charles
hello
St. Charles police are preparing to crack down on large trucks, trailers and campers parked overnight on city streets. At least to start, the crackdown will come with warnings and brochures rather than tickets.
Aldermen took a first look at a pending update to the city's overnight parking laws Monday night. The update spells out a ban on motor homes, mobile homes, trailers, boat trailers, tractors, buses and other large commercial vehicles weighing or transporting more than 8,000 pounds. That includes tow trucks.
Police Chief James Keegan said the update comes in response to residents' complaints about the vehicles clogging up city roadways. Aldermen indicated they also regularly received such complaints from their constituents.
"I'm pleased to see this," Alderman Maureen Lewis said. "It's going to make a lot of constituents where I live pleased."
Recognizing the owners of such vehicles may not be so pleased, Alderman Ron Silkaitis asked Keegan to make the crackdown more about public education than punitive measures.
"I'd ask you give warnings the first time; don't give tickets right away," Silkaitis said. "The second time it's on you, but the first time I'd like to give them a little break."
Keegan said his officers would lean on warnings more than tickets in the beginning. Those warnings will also come with a new brochure describing exactly what types of vehicles can and cannot park on city streets between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m. Keegan said he will also work with city staff to beef up signs at the entrances of residential subdivisions about overnight parking rules. Older neighborhoods may see an addendum to the snowplow signs on their streets that also describe the overnight parking rules.
Aldermen unanimously agreed to the ordinance update. They must take one more vote before the crackdown can proceed. |
Santa Cruz is offering to waive fines for excessive consumption if the parched city’s sprinkler splurgers and prodigal bathers do penance at water school
California conservation efforts cut water use by 29% Read more
Some had turned a blind eye to gushy sprinklers. Others had ignored leaking toilets. One blamed an overzealous cleaning lady. Another pointed the finger at thieving neighbours.
Whatever the cause, all were officially branded water wasters, villains in California’s drought, and now they were herded together, paying penance at water school.
The 19 people gathered at the community centre in Santa Cruz, a parched beachside city south of San Francisco, faced a crash course in rainfall statistics, reservoir levels, pump technology, meter reading, mandatory restrictions and conservation tips. At the end awaited a written test – and then freedom to leave, their fines forgiven.
“This is a major, major event,” said Toby Goddard, the city’s water conservation manager, pointing to a colour-coded drought map which showed Colorado, Nevada and New Mexico yellow and orange and much of California an angry blood-red. “We’ve all got to do our part.”
The class this week was part of a pioneering effort to curb waste, modelled on traffic school where offending motorists learn about road safety in return for reduced fines.
Santa Cruz is especially vulnerable to the drought, now in its fourth year, because it depends entirely on local rainfall. “So it’s up to us. We’re on our own,” said Goddard, who led the class.
Monday’s two-hour evening session, the first of the summer, aimed to educate and encourage, not scold. Even so the pupils, mostly middle-aged and elderly home owners, took their seats warily, unsure what to expect, wondering if they were considered the usual suspects.
Facebook Twitter Pinterest Santa Cruz is suffering drought and is entirely dependent on local rainfall. Photograph: Stephen McLaren for the Guardian
“I read all this online already,” whispered Andrew, a 49-year-old software engineer, as slides showed the lowering levels of Loch Lomond reservoir in the Santa Cruz mountains. His toilet had broken during a vacation and leaked thousands of gallons, turning a usual $118 monthly bill into $3,600 for June, most of it a penalty. A water wasting accident, not rapacity, said Andrew, but still he declined to supply his surname. “My wife would kill me.”
A social media-driven campaign using the hashtag #droughtshaming has cast heavy water users as reckless, selfish splurgers, in some cases splashing their names, addresses and photographs across Twitter, Facebook and YouTube.
Some pupils were sheepish, even penitent. “Some of the sprinkler was behind a fence and kept going after I turned it off. I didn’t know,” said one man, eyes downcast. He shook his head. “I didn’t know.”
Others felt they were victims, not villains. Barbara Canfield, 72, returned home after a four-month trip to find that monthly consumption in her absence was more than 14,000 gallons (measured as 19 centum cubic feet, or CCF), almost twice a single family’s permitted allotment. “That scared the daylights out of me.” The culprits, she said, were people camping nearby who used spigots beneath her deck. “They used it but I’m the one that has to be here.”
Mark Zevanove, 56, a realtor representing some of the 387 residents of Paradise Park Masonic Club, said a collective $20,000 fine last month was unfair since all were being punished for the sins of a few. There are only two meters for all the residents, he complained. “It’s not fair.”
Zevanove fretted about a possibly bigger fine next month because you can avoid a fine by attending water school only once. “After that you have to pay.”
Facebook Twitter Pinterest Lee Heathorn and Mark Zevanove who took part in the Water conservation class at Santa Cruz, California. Photograph: Stephen McLaren for the Guardian
Goddard proved to be an engaging teacher. He rattled through slides with hydrological arcana such as the Felton Diversion, the Graham Hill water treatment plant and the “ridiculously resilient ridge” out in the Pacific, which had blocked rainfall.
“How many of you think El Niño will save us?” he asked. A few tentative hands went up. “We’re nervous and we’re rationing because the drought may continue,” he said. “We don’t know what’s coming around the corner.”
It was a sultry evening, Goddard noted. “These temperatures are outside the range of normal. I’m sweating it’s so hot.” The civil servant expressed no opinion about global warming. “I let you form your own opinions about climate change.” But he was evangelical about the need for households to avoid exceeding their allotment of 7,480 gallons per month, about 60 gallons per person per day.
Santa Cruz’s limits are some of the strictest in California, which is under order from Governor Jerry Brown to cut urban water use by a quarter. Many cities have shut off fountains, ripped out lawns and banned restaurants serving unsolicited water.
Santa Cruz has especially severe penalties that can exceed 10 times the normal cost of water. The crackdown is working. Some 7.5% of water account holders exceeded their allotment during the first month of rationing last summer versus just 3% this year. That will probably mean fewer classes compared with last summer, when they ran weekly.
Facebook Twitter Pinterest Neal Christen at Santa Cruz water school: ‘Mulch is huge, guys.’ Photograph: Stephen McLaren for the Guardian
Few pupils at this week’s class took notes. Some gazed into space. But no one fell asleep. “The meter is your friend,” Goddard intoned, urging weekly monitoring.
As the class progressed his enthusiasm seemed to rub off. “I was in Albuquerque and it rained every day but no one collected the water,” one woman said in a scandalised tone, deflecting shame on to thriftless New Mexicans. “I see people irrigating with broken valves,” said another indignant voice. Mention of actor Tom Selleck, recently busted for pilfering water, elicited guffaws.
By the time Neal Christen, another water official, rhapsodised about flush valves and toilet leak control the class appeared converts to frugality. There were nods when he lauded drought-friendly gardens – “mulch is huge, guys” – tut-tuts when he said a bath can consume 50 gallons and at least one giggle when he suggested sharing showers.
The test turned out to be a self-graded multiple-choice quiz. Everyone passed. Then the water school alumni bade each other farewell and went their separate ways, hoping to avoid a reunion. |
In Beijing, bikes have become the latest business battleground. Its streets have suddenly been flooded with fleets of yellow, orange and blue bikes from the companies competing in a new high-tech bike sharing market.
Dubbed 'Uber for bikes', there are more than 200,000 sharing bikes in Beijing alone. The bikes are located, unlocked and paid for all by using your phone and, unlike other bike rental services, the bikes allow users to drop them anywhere they want. They have GPS trackers which allows the next user to find them. At around just 12p for a trip it's easy to see why they've become so popular.
Last year, Mobike and Ofo, the two largest companies, operated in just one city but now they are in more than 40 and aim to reach 200 by the end of this year. Nearly 28 million users are already signed up to their apps and they aim to have 200 million signed up by the end of this year. |
Midfielder Dion Prestia will miss the remainder of 2016 after undergoing surgery on his injured knee in Melbourne on Tuesday.
The 23-year-old hurt his knee in Gold Coast’s round 16 win over Brisbane.
“He’s in for surgery this afternoon. Saw the surgeon yesterday, recommended he go in straight away,” GM – Football Operations, Marcus Ashcroft, told the Optomo Injury Report.
“There’s a little more damage than first thought so he’ll unfortunately miss the rest of this season.”
Wingman Matt Rosa is set to be available for senior selection after recovering from a hamstring strain suffered against St Kilda in round 15.
“It’s a real positive for this week,” Ashcroft said.
“Matty’s played some good footy this year and been a great leader for our footy club so he’s back after that hamstring strain and will be ready to play on Saturday.”
Jaeger O’Meara only played a half in the NEAFL in Sydney on Saturday with the SUNS opting for a conservative approach after the 2013 Ron Evans medallist reported tightness leading into the main break.
O’Meara won’t be available for senior selection until at least round 20 when Gold Coast takes on Greater Western Sydney at Metricon Stadium.
“(He) was a bit tight in his hamstring and calf, not his bad knee leg, so the conservative approach was taken. He was rested for the second half,” Ashcroft said.
“Unfortunately that will rule him out of senior selection this weekend. The other bad news is there’s no reserves game so he’ll have a week off which is probably not a bad thing in a way.
“He’ll rest this week and then be available to play reserves again the following weekend.”
Trent McKenzie could play game number 100 this weekend but a further decision on his fitness won’t be able until after Thursday’s main training session.
“He will be but a decision will be made on Trent whether we think he’s got enough fitness to play in the senior team,” Ashcroft said.
“So match committee will meet again on Thursday once we finish our main session and if he can get through that and the coaches have some confidence he can get through the game then he’ll be available but we’ve got to wait and see.”
In other injury news, captain Gary Ablett will seek a second surgical opinion on his injured shoulder during the week before making a decision on the best course of action.
Meanwhile, Michael Rischitelli will undergo a full ACL reconstruction on Friday, while Sean Lemmens will require additional game time in the reserves before being considered for senior selection. |
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LegendaryActivity: 1260Merit: 1000 Cheap way to attack blockchain August 31, 2015, 07:58:03 AM
Last edit: August 31, 2015, 08:12:51 AM by amaclin #1
The last attacks were based on filling the blocks with transactions.
This is because of limit of block size. (Consensus rule that the blocksize is below 1mb)
But there are another limits for block which can not be changed without hard fork.
There is a limit of SIGOPS in transactions included to a block.
consensus.h
Code: /** The maximum allowed size for a serialized block, in bytes (network rule) */
static const unsigned int MAX_BLOCK_SIZE = 1000000;
/** The maximum allowed number of signature check operations in a block (network rule) */
static const unsigned int MAX_BLOCK_SIGOPS = MAX_BLOCK_SIZE/50;
So, MAX_BLOCK_SIGOPS is 20000
How does the client calculate the number of SIGOPS? Let us look to the sources.
main.cpp
Code: if (fStrictPayToScriptHash)
{
// Add in sigops done by pay-to-script-hash inputs;
// this is to prevent a "rogue miner" from creating
// an incredibly-expensive-to-validate block.
nSigOps += GetP2SHSigOpCount(tx, view);
if (nSigOps > MAX_BLOCK_SIGOPS)
return state.DoS(100, error("ConnectBlock(): too many sigops"),
REJECT_INVALID, "bad-blk-sigops");
}
Miner node includes transactions to a block while the nSigOps not exceeds 20000.
The block with nSigOps > 20000 will be invalid (consensus rule) and will be rejected by all other nodes.
Now let us look the transaction
https://blockchain.info/tx/6766e75d6166a0a14bd814921d0f903285e15779e648d7ec52a4f7c0868ec07d
and calculate the number of SIGOPS in it
All input scripts are redeeming from p2sh-outputs with the inner scripts build on the same template:
Code: OP_0
OP_IF
OP_15
OP_CHECKMULTISIG
OP_ENDIF
OP_SMALLINTEGER
The number of SIGOPS in this small script is 15 (this is maximum value to pass IsStandard)
And the total number of SIGOPS in 6766e75d6166a0a14bd814921d0f903285e15779e648d7ec52a4f7c0868ec07d is 15 * 15 = 225
So, the maximum number of such transactions in one block is only 88 (because floor ( 20000 / 225 ) = 88)
And inserting 88 such transactions in one block leaves only 200 SIGOPS for regular transactions.
Which leaves a room only for ~100 transactions in block for other persons
The attack vector should be:
1) create and fund a big number of such p2sh-utxo
2) redeem them to OP_RETURN or to regular output
Each such transaction costs 0.00045 for dishonest attacker (can be even less)
88 transactions (attack one block) will cost only 0.0396 BTC
Daily attack 5.7024 BTC - not a big deal
Wanna hire me for this dirty job?
Seems to me that I know new way to attack & flood bitcoin network.The last attacks were based on filling the blocks with transactions.This is because of limit of block size. (Consensus rule that the blocksize is below 1mb)But there are another limits for block which can not be changed without hard fork.consensus.hSo, MAX_BLOCK_SIGOPS is 20000How does the client calculate the number of SIGOPS? Let us look to the sources.main.cppMiner node includes transactions to a block while the nSigOps not exceeds 20000.The block with nSigOps > 20000 will be invalid (consensus rule) and will be rejected by all other nodes.Now let us look the transactionand calculate the number of SIGOPS in itAll input scripts are redeeming from p2sh-outputs with the inner scripts build on the same template:The number of SIGOPS in this small script is 15 (this is maximum value to pass IsStandard)And the total number of SIGOPS in 6766e75d6166a0a14bd814921d0f903285e15779e648d7ec52a4f7c0868ec07d is 15 * 15 =So, the maximum number of such transactions in one block is only 88 (because floor ( 20000 / 225 ) = 88)And inserting 88 such transactions in one block leaves only 200 SIGOPS for regular transactions.Which leaves a room only for ~100 transactions in block for other personsThe attack vector should be:1) create and fund a big number of such p2sh-utxo2) redeem them to OP_RETURN or to regular outputEach such transaction costs 0.00045 for dishonest attacker (can be even less)88 transactions (attack one block) will cost only 0.0396 BTCDaily attack 5.7024 BTC - not a big dealWanna hire me for this dirty job?
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fairglu
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LegendaryActivity: 1096Merit: 1025 Re: Cheap way to attack blockchain August 31, 2015, 08:17:44 AM #2 Quote from: amaclin on August 31, 2015, 07:58:03 AM
88 transactions (attack one block) will cost only 0.0396 BTC
Daily attack 5.7024 BTC - not a big deal
Wanna hire me for this dirty job?
Each such transaction costs 0.00045 for dishonest attacker (can be even less)88 transactions (attack one block) will cost only 0.0396 BTCDaily attack 5.7024 BTC - not a big dealWanna hire me for this dirty job?
Main "weakness" for this attack is that miners could easily just ignore those transactions, without involving any hard fork.
Only the pools that accept those transactions *and* that do not prioritize transactions in a block by total fee would be impacted, pools that build their blocks based on max fee they can rack in a block would automatically eliminate them, they may just need to take the SIGOPS limit into their block optimization code, but that's all.
In practice only the "faucet pools", those that accept zero-fee tx and do not prioritize tx would likely feel the attack.
So the practical spamming would be limited to relaying and the mempool, so no biggy. Main "weakness" for this attack is that miners could easily just ignore those transactions, without involving any hard fork.Only the pools that accept those transactions *and* that do not prioritize transactions in a block by total fee would be impacted, pools that build their blocks based on max fee they can rack in a block would automatically eliminate them, they may just need to take the SIGOPS limit into their block optimization code, but that's all.In practice only the "faucet pools", those that accept zero-fee tx and do not prioritize tx would likely feel the attack.So the practical spamming would be limited to relaying and the mempool, so no biggy. -- Chainz - Alternative Explorers for Alternative Crypto-currencies --
basil00
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MemberActivity: 60Merit: 10 Re: Cheap way to attack blockchain August 31, 2015, 10:49:53 AM #4
[Consider the script "OP_0 OP_IF OP_15 OP_CHECKMULTISIG OP_ENDIF OP_1", e.g.
see 3PxwzLuPZtgHuz2J9ocg6ejNcci5WbtS3h
This script is 6 bytes and "consumes" 15 sigops if I am not mistaken. An
attacker can use this to fill the block sigop limit of 20000. E.g. See
6766e75d6166a0a14bd814921d0f903285e15779e648d7ec52a4f7c0868ec07d (225 sigops
in ~740 bytes). An attacker spends just 0.04BTC ($10.70) to "fill" a block
with high-fee transactions.
reddit.com/u/basil00
salt: 3md9smcjd7jkafh83mdlsjc9w,03m
]
Take the sha256 of everything between the square brackets [...] (including empty line at the end) and it will match Yes this is a known attack. I independently discovered it a few weeks ago:Take the sha256 of everything between the square brackets [...] (including empty line at the end) and it will match this hash. This is a version of the message I sent to Peter Todd to report the problem. Peter informed me that it is a known problem. I didn't release it publicly because it could be used for a very cheap and effective DoS attack (currently just $9USD to "fill" a block).
basil00
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MemberActivity: 60Merit: 10 Re: Cheap way to attack blockchain August 31, 2015, 11:12:30 AM
Last edit: August 31, 2015, 11:29:34 AM by basil00 #6 Quote
This was releasing the attack vector for everyone
You put it into blockchainThis was releasing the attack vector for everyone
Hey...there's no connection between me an that alleged transaction .
Anyway, as Peter said, this is a known problem, meaning that I was not the first to figure it out. If I figured it out then so will others.
I'm not sure what the fix is though. That crappy sigop-counting code is consensus critical. Probably we need a tightening of the IsStandard() rules... Hey...there's no connection between me an that alleged transactionAnyway, as Peter said, this is a known problem, meaning that I was not the first to figure it out. If I figured it out then so will others.I'm not sure what the fix is though. That crappy sigop-counting code is consensus critical. Probably we need a tightening of the IsStandard() rules...
tommorisonwebdesign
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Sr. MemberActivity: 448Merit: 250 Re: Cheap way to attack blockchain September 01, 2015, 07:32:48 PM #9 Sounds like the best way to plug this loophole is to create the blacklist as suggested. Good to see developers catching this stuff before there is an attack on the whole network. Signatures? How about learning a skill... I don't care either way. Everybody has to make a living somehow.
amaclin
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LegendaryActivity: 1260Merit: 1000 Re: Cheap way to attack blockchain September 01, 2015, 08:12:47 PM #10 Quote from: tommorisonwebdesign on September 01, 2015, 07:32:48 PM Sounds like the best way to plug this loophole is to create the blacklist as suggested. Good to see developers catching this stuff before there is an attack on the whole network. You can not create a blacklist before the attack start.
Because I can create and fund thousands such addresses
Code: OP_DUP
OP_NOTIF
OP_15
OP_CHECKMULTISIG
<push couple random bytes>
OP_ENDIF
is spendable by OP_1
Yes, it is possible to change the transaction priority algorithm
You can not create a blacklist before the attack start.Because I can create and fund thousands such addressesis spendable by OP_1Yes, it is possible to change the transaction priority algorithm
amaclin
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LegendaryActivity: 1260Merit: 1000 Re: Cheap way to attack blockchain September 07, 2015, 03:16:35 PM #18 Quote from: speaktome on September 06, 2015, 07:43:42 PM
Is joke of course. More like to somebody Gonna touch your door.Is joke of course.
I do not break country laws.
And there are no "laws" in bitcoin protocol. Only math and current consensus.
I can flood the network because I am able to do it. Just for fun.
(In fact, I try not to spend my time for non-profitable things)
For what? I can tell you my home address.I do not break country laws.And there are no "laws" in bitcoin protocol. Only math and current consensus.I can flood the network because I am able to do it. Just for fun.(In fact, I try not to spend my time for non-profitable things) |
George Lucas Sends Letter Of Praise To ‘Lost’ Producers; ‘Star Wars’ Success Thanks To Daddy Issues
It’s always entertaining to see and hear the gushing praise of a legend in the film or TV industry toward a popular show or movie or anything of significance.
Recently, the man behind the Star Wars and Indiana Jones franchises, George Lucas, did just that by sending a letter to Lost producers including Carlton Cuse, Damon Lindelof, J.J. Abrams, and everyone else who have put so much work into creating such an amazing ride over the past six years. The letter was read aloud at a big Lost event that was held this past Thursday.
Continue reading to check out George Lucas’s letter to Lost in-full.
In the letter, Lucas speaks about how he didn’t exactly know where he was heading with Star Wars and how impressive it is to create such a complex show yet still keep track of everything they had done since day one. He even shares the secret to this success as it worked on Lost and Star Wars, explaining that you just really need some “father issues” and homages to previous stories.
Congratulations on pulling off an amazing show. Don’t tell anyone … but when ‘Star Wars’ first came out, I didn’t know where it was going either. The trick is to pretend you’ve planned the whole thing out in advance. Throw in some father issues and references to other stories — let’s call them homages — and you’ve got a series. In six seasons, you’ve managed to span both time and space, and I don’t think I’m alone in saying that I never saw what was around the corner. Now that it’s all coming to an end, it’s impressive to see how much was planned out in advance and how neatly you’ve wrapped up everything. You’ve created something really special. I’m sad that the series is ending, but I look forward to seeing what you two are going to do next.
And what did producer Damon Lindelof have to say about the kind words from Lucas? What any one of us would say if such a man complimented us so emphatically: “I just want to apologize to Mr. George Lucas for everything I said about the prequels.” |
A Tampa woman wants to get medical marijuana to save her 2-year-old daughter's life.
Although she's still getting her cancer-stricken daughter conventional treatment, such as radiation therapy, Moriah Barnhart says that's not enough.
And she wants options other than just chemotherapy. Medical marijuana, Barnhart says, would work better than chemotherapy, particularly considering chemo's long-term effects.
Continue Reading
As it is, medical marijuana remains illegal in Florida.
Back in May, Barnhart was told by doctors that her daughter, Dahlia, had a cancerous tumor in her brain. Barnhart took Dahlia to five hospitals and was told each time that the little girl had stage-two cancer.
She eventually traveled to Tennessee to take Dahlia to St. Jude's Hospital.
There she was told that the cancer had been more aggressive than doctors first thought.
Dahlia is currently undergoing chemotherapy, and Barnhart is in no way complaining. The therapy has, so far, kept her little girl alive and fighting.
But after doing research on medical marijuana, she desperately wants to treat little Dahlia with it.
Indeed, studies show that cannabis can treat and, in many cases, might even cure cancer.
Florida residents have overwhelmingly supported the idea of the state adopting the same laws as a place like Colorado, to make marijuana legal for medical purposes.
Instead, the state continues to raid the homes of folks who use it to treat debilitating diseases, while our lawmakers fight for the right for young people to be able to buy guns and other ridiculously arbitrary laws.
Because keeping old people from gambling and allowing kids to buy a gun is vastly more important.
"From that moment that they came back and said she had a mass in her brain, from the day forward, your entire life, everything your life meant, all of your goals and aspirations, your education, your income, all of that becomes completely meaningless," Barnhart told wfla.com.
Devastating.
For now, Barnhart is sending a petition to the Obama administration asking for help.
And then, wait.
While Dahilia keeps up her fight and Florida lawmakers keep doing whatever it is that they do.
See also: -Florida Medical Marijuana Bill Author Jeff Clemens Says "It's About Compassion" -Florida Medical Marijuana Bill Might Be Dead -Medical Marijuana Group Hiring Petition Collectors For Florida's 2014 Ballot
Follow Chris Joseph on Twitter
Follow @NewTimesBroward |
I’ve already told you (I’m afraid more than once) about my relationship with pumpkin-based desserts. I like it, but only when the pumpkin is seriously diluted and lightened. This cake belongs to the same category “for pumpkin pie haters”. And this is my family’s favorite autumn cake.
Makes one 9-inch cake, about 16 servings
For the pumpkin cake layers:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
1 ½ tsp ground cinnamon
¼ tsp ground nutmeg
¼ tsp ground ginger
1/8 tsp ground cloves
1/3 cup vegetable oil (corn or canola)
7 ½ oz (exactly ½-can) canned pumpkin puree (reserve the rest for the mousse)
2 large eggs (at room temperature)
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
½ cup coarsely chopped toasted pecans (optional)
For the pumpkin brandy mousse:
3 large eggs, separated
¼ cup packed light brown sugar
7 ½-oz (the remaining ½-can) canned pumpkin puree
¼ tsp salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
¼ tsp ground nutmeg
¼ tsp ground ginger
¼ cup brandy
1 tbsp (1 envelope) unflavored gelatin
½ cup fine granulated sugar
1 oz water
¾ cup whipping cream, cold
For the maple whipped cream topping:
1 ¼ cups whipping cream
3 tbsp pure maple syrup
¼ cup finely chopped crystallized ginger for sprinkling
Make the pumpkin cake:
Center an oven rack and preheat the oven to 350F. Butter and flour two 9-inch round cake pans, knocking out the excess of the flour. Line the bottoms of the pans with parchment paper circles. Set aside.
Sift or whisk the dry ingredients in a large bowl. In a large liquid measuring cup whisk the oil, pumpkin puree, eggs, and vanilla extract until well combined. Pour the mixture into the dry ingredients and mix to combine. Stir in the pecans if using. Divide the batter between the prepared baking pans and bake for about 25 minutes or until the cakes are golden brown and a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes in the pans on a cooling rack, then unmold and cool completely on the rack.
The cake layers can be made a day in advance and kept at room temperature well-wrapped.
Make the pumpkin mousse:
Line a 9-inch springform pan or a cake ring (place the ring on a serving platter or baking pan) with parchment paper or acetate strip. Fit a cardboard cake circle inside the ring if you plan to move the cake later. Fit in the first pumpkin cake layer inside the ring. Set aside.
Bring 1 inch of water to a light simmer in a wide skillet. Reduce the temperature to the lowest setting. In a medium bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, sugar, pumpkin puree, salt, and spices. Set the bowl into the hot water. Whisk constantly until the temperature reaches 160F. Strain the mixture through a fine-mesh sieve into a large clean bowl and cool until barely warm, stirring occasionally, to prevent skin forming.
Meanwhile, make Italian meringue: in a small saucepan combine the sugar and water and stir over medium heat until the sugar is dissolved. Stop stirring and heat the syrup to 244F. When the temperature of the sugar syrup reaches about 220F, start whipping the egg whites with the whisk attachment of the stand mixer. Once the egg whites form firm peaks and the syrup reaches 244F, pour the sugar syrup into the whites in a thin stream while continuing to whisk on high speed. Whip for 1 minute on high, then reduce the speed to medium and continue to whip until cool (approximately 5 minutes). The meringue should be thick and glossy.
While the meringue is whipping, pour the brandy into a small microwave-safe bowl and sprinkle the gelatin over. Let it sit for a couple of minutes, then melt it in a microwave or in a double boiler (do not boil). Whisk in about 2 tablespoons of the slightly warm pumpkin mixture into the melted gelatin, then whisk this mixture back into the pumpkin-egg yolk mixture, whisk well to thoroughly combine. Delicately fold the Italian meringue into the pumpkin base in two additions.
Whip the cream to medium peaks. Check the temperature of the pumpkin mixture. It should be no warmer than 85F. Gently fold the whipped cream into the pumpkin mixture in two additions. Immediately, pour the mousse over the pumpkin cake layer in the ring. Refrigerate for an hour, and then place the second pumpkin cake on top of the mousse. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight before unmolding.
Make the topping:
In a large, chilled bowl whip the cream until soft peaks form. While still whipping, gradually beat in the maple syrup. Continue beating until firm peaks form, but don’t overdo. Spread or pipe the cream over the top of the unmolded cake. Sprinkle the crystallized ginger over the whipped cream topping right before serving. |
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Shinsuke Nakamura has one of the best theme songs that fans have heard in a long time (in my opinion at least). During his match against Samoa Joe at NXT Takeover Brooklyn II, fans would still hum along to his theme at random times during the match. Nakamura ended up winning the NXT Championship at the event and the crowd didn’t stop singing…
It appears like fans were still singing along in the Barclay’s Center hallways while leaving the event. A fan in attendance caught the awesome moment.
Here is the video, thanks to @randyjcruz:
The Nakamura sing along is real…even in the hallways of the Barclays Center. #NXTTakeOver pic.twitter.com/1O6gEtf5Yu — Randy Cruz (@randyjcruz) August 21, 2016
[irp posts=”15048″ name=”Possible Injury To Samoa Joe After NXT Takeover Brooklyn II”]
Pretty cool moment if you ask me. His entrance was also incredible as the WWE brought in Lee England, Jr to play the violin live for the theme.
Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below. |
IT IS always hot and loud. Each year since the first anniversary of Hong Kong's handover from Britain to China, in 1998, an angry opposition has organised a protest rally on July 1st. It's a day off work, because everyone in the territory is invited to celebrate Reunification day. Inevitably it's sweltering too. The people of this air-conditioned metropolis who choose to spend the day packed together for long hours under the beating sun are determined to make their suffering heard: chanting slogans, cursing, laughing, chatting, soliciting political donations and then with the slogans again.
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But each year's July 1st protest is different from the last. It can offer an unparalleled demonstration of the public mood, arguably more so than any poll here does. This year's was a big one, and everyone can agree that it reflects genuine disquiet (though some will argue that the disquiet is due merely to spoiled Hong Kongers' resentment at China's great success—eg the Wen Wei Po editorial copied here). But good cheer is also in evidence. The Chinese word formed by the characters for “hot” and “loud”, 热闹 or renao in Mandarin, means “lively” and might be used to describe a good party. Things sound different in Cantonese, the language of Hong Kong, where it's pronounced as jit naau (and written 熱鬧) but the meaning is the same. A sweaty stroll through the protesters is always worthwhile, not just to see what's making them boil.
By the time this year's was under way, a solid column of marchers had filled the city's main artery, from Causeway Bay to the new government buildings in Admiralty. (A contingent continued on to the Liaison Office in Western, to make the point that Hong Kong's own government is not so much a problem as a puppet.) Hours before, thousands had massed in Victoria Park, to wait there in a kind of holding pen until the march began officially at 3pm, at which point a single gate opened onto the highway. It took until 6pm before the last of the people standing in the park had made it within sight of the exit.
Counting the protesters has become an aggravating sport. With a salutary freedom of expression but virtually no real power to turn their numbers into political power, Hong Kongers become fixated on counting those among them who vote with their feet. The umbrella group that organises the July 1st protest had announced by 6pm that there were 400,000 marchers. Their method for estimating that number is mysterious and their motive for inflating it is obvious. The police gave a government-approved estimate of only 63,000, which they achieved by counting only the heads of the protesters who were patient enough to wait in the park for as long as it took to squeeze through the bottleneck at the end, under the security cameras. Their figure, in other words, represents a deliberate undercount. Many, many marchers joined the Victoria Park diehards from the side-streets, as soon as their first ranks emerged through the gate. Albert Cheng, a politician who sympathises with the protesters and a member of the Independent Police Complaints Council, claims that he was watching the official monitors and saw what must have been more than 400,000 on camera. The involved parties' donation boxes took in about twice as much cash as the year before.
Disinterested observers reckon there were more people than at any time since 2003 and 2004, when an utterly shocking number of protesters effectively ended the career of the then-chief executive, Tung Chee-hwa. Nowadays most accounts peg that historic turnout at about 500,000—probably because that was halfway between the highest and lowest estimates offered at the time. Which makes it easy to see why any government would want to lowball the figure, in subsequent years. As big as this year's was, it was certainly somewhat smaller than those Tung-era marches. The more important difference was that this year's crowd was neither much greater nor much smaller than anyone had predicted.
So it came to pass that "C.Y." Leung Chun-ying started his five-year term as the territory's supremo with thousands of people shuffling slowly through the centre of Hong Kong shouting in unison “Leung Chun-ying, step down!” (see the image at the top of this post). This was nothing like the case when Mr Tsang took office in 2005, nor when Mr Tung did before him, in 1997. In last year's annual protest march, inequality, the property market and the perfidy of Hong Kong's tycoons were the chief object of scorn, even though the official theme was supposed to be about a by-election law. Hong Kong's biggest tycoon, Li Ka-shing, and the then-chief executive, Donald Tsang, were denounced as thieves and beaten in effigy.
This year however the crowds' invective was concentrated at leaders in Beijing and at the CCP as a whole. Mr Leung was almost alone in having his likeness beaten, and in many cases his figure was dressed as an evil Communist, eg, as Mao, or a Red Guard. In many more cases he was dressed simply as a wolf, a Pinocchio-style liar, or a devil-man. Mr Leung has never been popular, especially not with the city's democrats. (It's a great irony that he won Hong Kong's top office earlier this year by being less unpopular than his rival.) The property tycoons may loathe him with the suspicion that he plans to attack their land banks and bring affordable housing to the masses. But the masses who loathe him seem to have one complaint in particular: that he is a closet Communist, too friendly with his unacknowledged masters in Beijing. The accusation that hurt him most during the recent election season was his rival's unfounded charge that Mr Leung had recommended calling in the tanks of the PLA during the great July 1st protest of 2003.
Earlier that same day Hu Jintao had accepted Mr Leung's oath of service on a stage not far away, barricaded against any early-rising protesters. The theatre of the event did not work to Mr Leung's advantage, as far as anti-Communists were concerned. Inside a convention centre a hall and dais were prepared in quasi-CCP style. A slogan identifying the day was written in man-sized characters above the stage. Two flags hung against it, an enormous Chinese flag to the left and a Hong Kong flag to the right, equally red but 25% smaller. The dignitaries were asked to take their seats in Cantonese and in English, but once the ceremony began, only Mandarin was used. Many in the audience, and not just the foreigner ambassadors, couldn't understand more than a smattering from the entire ceremony, which lasted 90 minutes. Mr Leung's putonghua is not bad at all, though anyone could tell that it is not his native language. He recited his oath of office standing before Hu Jintao, with one arm raised, as if China's president were himself a living bible.
Mr Hu's speech invoked the mantra of “one country, two systems” several times and with approval, as if to bid Hong Kong keep doing what it's doing, and appealed more for unity, harmony and the like. But then he made reference to the “the deep disagreements and problems in Hong Kong society” and urged Mr Leung to tend to them. He might well have been talking about the income inequality and the silly cost of housing, in which case his speech was approximately one year out of date.
Back outside, symbols of antagonism towards the mainland were in much greater evidence this year than last. Twelve months ago it had been remarkable to see protesters waving the odd British-colonial flag. This year it appeared by the dozen, in some cases carried by phalanxes of young students who had barely been born when Hong Kong was handed back to China. (There was another irony, perhaps unintended, in seeing colonial flags flying from the same pole as pennants demanding “1 person, 1 vote”.) The example of the late Li Wangyang, in his determination and suffering at the hands of injustice, was also a major theme.
As in other years, much of the interest of this general-purpose rally was in seeing the city's great variety of NGOs. Each of the democratic political parties, the Land Justice League, People Power, Taiwan loyalists stranded since the handover, anti-Article 23 civil-rights campaigners, the postal workers' union, Indonesian Migrants Rights Society, Stop the Repatriation of North Korean Refugees, Citizens Radio (a pirate outfit), “Poor Parties of Hong Kong”, Abolish Functional Constituencies, Free-Tibet-Free-China, several save-a-school battalions, the Association for the Advancement of Feminism, Socialist Action … all were there, and dozens more besides. All this on the way past stores selling luxury watches, cheap luggage and dried shark fins. The crowds were orderly, in typical Hong Kong fashion, queuing to buy their refreshments at roadside 7-Elevens and piling their empties neatly beside the overfilled bins.
One of the more intriguing groups came to Hong Kong from the mainland. They marched behind a red banner that identified them as the “P.R.U.C.” in English (they have no presence on the web as yet). It was said that they had come from Guangdong province to complain before the world press about the violation of their land rights. Enormous cheers were raised for them everywhere they went; the crowd was in no way anti-mainlander.
The government though had the last word. The day was nearly brought to a close with a massive display of fireworks over Victoria harbour at 8pm—celebration, not protest. It was a terrific show, if you like fireworks, better even than the annual Chinese New Year's display. Then on Monday, a holiday, a contingent of paratroopers from the People's Liberation Army jumped out of helicopters onto Victoria Park in a final, tone-deaf show of national joy and prowess. It made an uncomfortable sight for many of the Hong Kongers who saw it on television. Perhaps it was put on for the benefit of innocent viewers back on the mainland, who would be unaware that the paratroopers were landing feet first on the site of the big protest, one day after the fact. Or perhaps the show was meant for the Hong Kongers, as a kind of reminder. Public demonstrations work both ways.
(Picture credit: The Economist) |
Canada's prime minister is pre-campaigning with a strong-on-security message. His government is taking measures designed, among other goals, to protect energy infrastructure from what the RCMP has called "violent environmental extremists."
More and More, the Boreal Will Burn read more
Announcements, Events & more from Tyee and select partners ‘Punch to the Gut’ Musical on Residential Schools Returns to Vancouver Children of God has been shaped by intense audience reactions, says director Corey Payette.
As I write, enormous forest fires burning out of control across northern Alberta have done what no activist has accomplished: forced the suspension of oilsands operations.
These events capture a dimension missing from Canada's security debate: our natural security.
Our natural security is physical. It provides the stable, productive environment that has allowed Canada to prosper. In the form of fields and lakes and forests, and in global exchanges of water and energy, natural security underwrites our economy, our health and our ability to maintain the institutions that serve and protect us.
Every one of Canada's governments since 1989, including the present one, has expressed strong environmental principles and enacted impressive legislation to protect vulnerable species, defend Canadians against pollution and prevent development from devastating critical ecosystems.
Despite those laws, audits and independent assessments persistently warn us that our natural security is degraded, failing and increasingly undefended. And that should concern Canadians of all political stripes.
The wide gap between our aspirations and actions confronted me again and again as I sought an answer to an apparently straightforward question: "How well has Canada cared for our environment -- really?"
The year-long search was commissioned by Tyee Solutions Society, an independent journalism production centre started by the founders of this publication and donor-supported. It collated events, laws, international developments and a wide range of public audits and independent assessments over a period in which five prime ministers from three parties occupied 24 Sussex Drive. All of that information is now available and searchable online.
ABOUT THIS PROJECT Bottom Lines is a donor-funded archive of Canada's ecological stewardship over 25 years. The project asked a deceptively simple question: Cutting through all partisan rhetoric, how well has Canada cared for its environment, really? The result is a 'just the facts ma'am' record of the best answers we could find. TSS editor Chris Wood spent a year combing the most reliable publicly available sources: government documents, scientific papers, reports from independent international bodies, leading research and think-tank organizations. The search produced hundreds of individual records, across six environmental dimensions. This project was produced by the Tyee Solutions Society with generous support from Gencon Foundation. Browse the Bottom Lines microsite here, or search the full data set here.
A short answer
For a more complete answer to the question of how we've cared for Canada's environment over that time, visit Bottom Lines: A Quarter-century Report on Our Natural Security.
But the short answer is this: Not well at all.
Over the 25 years from 1989 to 2014, state-of-the-art laws to protect the safety of air and water and critical natural systems, have never been fully implemented or effectively enforced. Many of the goals set in legislation or treaty commitments remain unmet.
Twenty-five years ago, Canada lacked mandatory standards for air and water quality to match those then in place for over a decade in the United States. We still lack them.
The consequences of multi-partisan neglect are now becoming apparent.
Air and water quality and toxic chemical threats were at the top of Canadians' environmental concerns in polls conducted in 1989. They remain so. On that score, ground smog is a bright spot: it has widely declined. Most provinces tightened their rules after farm waste contaminated water taps on Walkerton, Ont., killing seven and sending scores to the hospital.
Missing babies
But new and more elusive chemical threats have replaced older biological ones in our water. Sampling reveals scores of pharmaceutical residues in every Canadian river, wetland and drinking water reservoir tested from coast to coast. Of 23,000 "chemicals of concern" in daily use in Canada, information on the toxicity of nearly nine out of 10 is simply missing, the Council of Canadian Academies warned in 2012.
Meanwhile, doctors observe an ongoing decline in the number of Canadian boys being born in comparison to girls -- equivalent to about 800 "missing" baby boys a year by 2010. Genital defects and cancers of the reproductive system are also on the rise.
Many supposedly protected species are also at greater risk today than they were in 1989. "Dead zones" are appearing in our lakes and off our coasts. Toxic mercury is accumulating in the Arctic and a buffet of airborne petro-chemical byproducts is settling on everything downwind from the tarsand region. Commercial ocean fish stocks have collapsed, and the fish remaining are on average smaller.
The federal government hasn't enforced many of its own environmental rules since the 1980s -- as a matter of policy. The 1989 Canadian Environmental Protection Act (CEPA) further expanded the scope for Ottawa to wash its hands of enforcement. In 1990, the federal auditor general found "a serious deterioration in compliance" wherever this was tried. Nonetheless every government since has followed the same practice.
Of the regulations that Ottawa didn't turn over to provinces, it enforced fewer than half, the environment commissioner found in 2011. Although Environment Canada had added 68 enforcement positions after 2007, the number of inspections it conducted had actually dropped.
The price of neglect
In standing down our environmental defences, we're leaving our biological security vulnerable and losing iconic creatures and places forever. We're also losing real money.
The price we pay when natural security breaks down is high -- and rising. Calgary's $4.8 billion 2013 downtown flood was that city's most expensive civic disaster ever.
Damage to the town of Cache Creek, B.C., probably won't run into the billions. But its citizens know what it feels like when their natural security fails.
It should be part of our wider discussion about leadership on security.
Stay tuned for an excerpt of the Bottom Lines quarter-century archive, running tomorrow, June 4 on The Tyee. |
The all-ages club flourished for a short time in the 2000s, but its impact on Birmingham music is still being felt.
There were rooms before Cave 9. There were four walls and a ticket-taker at the door; somebody that wouldn’t get paid to mop the sticky floor.
Rooms like the Tuxedo Junction Ballroom, right there where Birmingham’s music history began: a place that earned its name from neighboring Tuxedo Park in Ensley and became famous with the notes from the eponymous tune that Erskine Hawkins played. Long after its final jazz improvisation, it was just a room. A room where punk rock shows happened in Birmingham. Propagandhi played there once.
There were clubs and record shops before Cave 9, too. Places like Big Dan’s Fantastic Planet and American Beat Records and Unity. And, of course, there were always The Nick and Zydeco, the Rasputin and Magellan of do-it-yourself Birmingham. We’re generously talking about a seven-year run, after all. Bottletree followed, and that evolved into Birmingham’s most ambitious do-it-yourself room, Saturn. The Forge followed. The Firehouse and Syndicate Lounge followed. Ten years from now and 20 years from then, something else will come and go, and someone else and some other scene will experience its own moment in time.
But on March 8, 2002, Aaron Hamilton opened Cave 9 at 2237 Magnolia Ave. on Birmingham’s southside with help from Angelica Hankins, and Birmingham punk rock kids born between 1980 and 1990 greeted their own moment in time.
“I might be biased because I was at the perfect age,” said Lee Bains III, of the rock group Lee Bains III and the Glory Fires. “But for me, it was peculiar in its ability to build a sense of community and be a port in a storm. Most DIY venues before it and since have been marked by instability or uncertainty or tumult for any number of reasons, mostly financial ones. It’s hard to keep something like that open for very long in Birmingham. The city can be really hard on all-ages venues. [Cave 9’s] most notable quality was that it was present and involved and as active as it was for so long.”
And being a punk rock kid in Birmingham may have been more difficult than being a punk rock kid anywhere because even kids at the punk rock shows were way into football.
“The hardcore kids were jocks, and then there were the punk kids,” said Matt Whitson, music producer and creator of the Alabama Public Television series We Have Signal and its successor Subcarrier, as well as current owner of the Firehouse.
Cave 9 held about 175 people.
“In high school, we were the weirdos,” said Waxhatachee’s Katie Crutchfield. Katie and her twin sister Allison left Birmingham shortly after high school for Philadelphia and New York, where they each began critically praised independent music careers; their first club gig was as a sister act — The Ackleys — at Cave 9. “We were the ones that got picked on and made fun of. In a certain sense, once we started going to Cave 9, nobody at our school could really touch us,” Katie said. “It gave us this sense of community and it made everybody feel like people cared about them. It took everybody who was weird and into music and art and stuff — it took you from being the outsider to feeling like you were inside of something.”
Cave 9 was the first time that community was fully realized. It was the first real stage that a lot of those kids played on. And while there were others before and others after, it was vital to helping Birmingham find its identity.
“Once I started going there, there was such a strong sense of community,” said Allison Crutchfield, who is releasing Tourist in This Town, a solo album under her own name, on January 27. “Aaron and Renee [Clay] and Will Butler and that whole crew… But from the outside, it was a hard nut to crack. As a teenager, it could seem intimidating because everyone was in there, and it seemed exclusive or maybe those people were too cool. But that wasn’t the vibe once you got inside at all. I was nervous; I thought, ‘Oh, those are the cool punk kids.’ But when I got inside, it was like, ‘Wait, no. These are my people.’”
“This place was for everyone,” said Michael Shackleford of Future Elevators, formerly of The Grenadines — both Birmingham-based bands. “People would stand outside and talk about the shows, skate, make new friends… And the ones that were old enough were usually drinking beer or liquor from Solo cups. It was as punk rock as anything you’d hear about CBGB or the Chukker, but it wasn’t limited to being 21-and-up. There was always a more youthful, edgy, free-spirited element that can only authentically be portrayed through including that crowd.”
Its most enduring legacy will be rooting out the punk rock kids that left town and got distribution deals with well-respected labels and toured both coasts: the Crutchfield sisters, Lee Bains III, The Grenadines, and the pieces that became Wray, Future Elevators, and St. Paul and the Broken Bones.
“It was really lonely,” Katie Crutchfield recalls of life before Cave 9’s opening. “Allison and I didn’t really have any friends before we started playing shows at Cave 9. It’s funny because a lot of the people that we ended up being friends with were also people that went to our school [Oak Mountain High School], that also played in bands and went to Cave 9. It was isolating and it felt like there was no common ground.
“When you’re that age and you’re insecure and you’re doing something creative — maybe deep within you, you think, ‘This is cool, maybe somebody will like this!’ [But] there’s always that voice in the back of your head that thinks, ‘Nobody is going to like this. Nobody thinks that this is cool.’ Cave 9 broke that ice for a lot of young people. It gave people a place to freely express what they were doing. It was such a good medium for that. I hate to say it was ‘cutting your teeth,’ because it’s not like everyone was gunning for success in a traditional sense, but it was a really great place for you to just forget about that weird insecurity. It attracted people that wanted to make music and people that wanted to hear music.”
If we’re being technical about it, Cave 9 was the third show that the Crutchfield sisters played. First there was a house party at which they performed five songs, and then there was a performance at the Fifth Quarter — a chaperoned Friday night post-game gathering at a church. Still, if it weren’t for their third performance at Cave 9 — and Hamilton’s encouragement — neither may have realized their own potential and pursued the careers they each currently enjoy.
Their band was The Ackleys, and they shared the Fifth Quarter bill with Cinnamon Oblivion (comprised of Brad Lightfoot, a longtime fixture at BottleTree who departed the Magic City for Seattle, and Carter Wilson, who has spent time as the drummer for Fake Tyrants, Coliseum, Heavy User, Null, and Dan Sartain — he’d also drum for The Ackleys). Wilson encouraged The Ackleys to join them for a show at Cave 9 — an eclectic bill that included around five bands for five bucks. That’s when Hamilton saw the band and decided that they needed to record. It was 2004. The Crutchfields were 15.
“They had a connection to that music, and you could tell they weren’t just doing it for fun,” said Hamilton. “There were other people that played great music, but you could tell they weren’t as invested.”
So he sent them to Whitson; he of his own rock bands — notably the punk band Fake Tyrants — and the aforementioned, award-winning television projects like We Have Signal and Subcarrier that can be seen today on Alabama Public Television.
“I felt like it would be me nursing high school kids through a [expletive] demo,” Whitson said. “But it turned out to be a fantastic record.”
Hamilton recalls it selling around 100 copies. It led to the first P.S. Eliot record — another joint musical project from the Crutchfields; this one, their first taste of national success — which led to their individual projects, Katie’s Waxahatchee and Allison’s Swearin’.
Cave 9 was do-it-yourself, so much so that the first show featuring Blue-Eyed Boy Mr. Death (a band also recorded by Whitson), The Haunted Stepdaughters, Death or El Dona, This Day Will Burn, and High Speed Comet Collector was a fundraiser for buying the venue a P.A. The room would host Hopes Fall, and the promoter talked the band into playing two sets because the demand was so high. Against Me! played a set there when Laura Jane Grace was known as Thomas James Gabel. Allison remembers being at that one. The next night, she saw Ted Leo and the Pharmacists.
While the club’s legacy is carried by the scene that it left behind and the young musicians that it influenced, its most important work is often forgotten and largely the unsympathetic cause of its eventual demise.
In 2006, Cave 9 Music and Arts Project, Inc. officially became a nonprofit organization. The venue and the community that supported it had already been assisting kids in the Magic City with tutoring and trade classes, and through its newfound legitimacy, it partnered with Scrollworks to allow kids a space to learn how to play music.
There was red tape. And red tape is difficult to manage when no one is making any money. Hamilton was audited, and that process was the death knell that forced the scene to migrate elsewhere.
And it did — it moved to the Forge and Firehouse and the other house shows and clubs that will presumably carry Birmingham’s DIY scene for many years after this one is gone. But there was something different about Cave 9, a legacy that went beyond the music — a legacy that Hamilton carries with him today.
“Cave 9 was totally unpretentious in a way that Unity never was,” said Whitson. “The group of people that surrounded Cave 9 fostered that.”
Bains recalls his first trip to Cave 9 was with his band, the Shut-Ins. He also recalls that he grew to know his wife at the same club.
“I went to school in New York, which is so potentially overwhelming for a kid from Birmingham,” Bains said. “But I felt like I was already a part of the cultural conversation thanks to Aaron. I didn’t see anything in New York that shocked me because I spent a couple of years at Cave 9. I felt like the world and its culture had been brought to us.”
Allison also recalls that her first show was also the first one she played; the third public set by The Ackleys.
“Aaron literally taught us how to be a band,” said Allison Crutchfield. “He put out our first record. He drove us on our first tour; at 16. He booked it; he drove us. He taught us how to be in a band and how to get involved in the DIY community. He really did teach me and teach us so much about radical politics and about punk and being a touring band and how to be a grateful musician.”
Hamilton was just 26 years old when he opened that club. The physical space certainly allowed kids to see things they’d never seen, but Hamilton’s guidance and mentorship were the indelible mark he left on a scene that now represents the Magic City from coast-to-coast; from the City of Brotherly Love to the ATL.
“All of the friends that I made,” Hamilton cites the most important thing that he took from his time at Cave 9. “There are people to this day that I love dearly and keep as friends. It was a day-by-day thing at the time where we were just trying to do something good for people – to put on a good show and to give someone some information about something that may be useful to them. Looking back, we must have made some sort of impact.” |
NEW YORK: A 58-year-old Indian who was detained by American customs officials last week for not possessing necessary immigration documents while entering the country died in custody at an Atlanta hospital. Atul Kumar Babubhai Patel was taken in custody by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement at the Atlanta City Detention Center for two days. He died on Tuesday afternoon at the hospital with the officials stating the preliminary cause of his demise as complications from congestive heart failure.Patel arrived at the Atlanta airport on May 10 on a flight from Ecuador.US Customs and Border Protection subsequently denied him entry into the country as he did not possess the necessary immigration documents, the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) said in a statement.Patel was transferred into the ICE custody last week at the Atlanta City Detention Center where he received an initial medical screening and was found to have high blood pressure and diabetes.On Saturday, two days after being in the ICE custody, a nurse checking Patel's blood sugar noticed he had a breathing problem following which he was shifted to a hospital where he passed away.ICE said it is firmly committed to the health and welfare of all those in its custody and is "undertaking a comprehensive agency-wide review of the incident, as it does in all such cases".The agency the informed the Indian consular representatives who notified Patel's kin about his demise.The agency added that fatalities in its custody are "exceedingly rare" and occur at a fraction of the rate of the US detained population as a whole.Patel is the eighth such individual who died in the custody of ICE the fiscal year 2017. |
NEW YORK CITY – After a decade-plus of trying to reinvent itself as the 21st-Century Standard of the World, Cadillac has its first serious chance of meeting that goal with the new 2016 Cadillac CT6 full-size sport sedan, premiering this week at the 2015 New York Auto Show. As great a leap that the latest Cadillac CTS is over the second-generation car, which was a great leap forward from the first CTS, it still struggles to check all the boxes in competing with BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Audi.
The CT6 appears to be different.
We say “appears” because while it ups the Cadillac ante with competitive materials (inside and out), fit and finish, presence and specifications, a first drive of the car is many weeks off. It’s scheduled to go on sale in North America just before the end of the year.
But those specs, at least, are pretty impressive. Cadillac touts the car’s “similar” agility to the smaller, midsize CTS, though dimensions are closer to the standard-wheelbase BMW 7 Series sedan. Cadillac marketing is clearly trying to suggest that the CT6 is more of a sport sedan than the 7 Series and its competitors, led by the latest Mercedes-Benz S-Class.
Cadillac estimates the 2016 CT6’s base curb weight at “less than 3,700 pounds,” while the short-wheelbase BMW 740i (twin-turbo six-cylinder-powered, compared with the CT6’s base turbo-four) weighs 4,310 pounds, the Mercedes-Benz S550 (V-8) weighs 4,630-4,773 pounds, and the BMW 6 Series Gran Coupe tips the scales at 4,191 pounds.
The base engine for the CT6 will be a 265-hp, 2.0-liter turbo I-4, with a new 400-plus 3.0-liter twin-turbo V-6 option the perfect size for the Chinese market (displacement is just under 3000-cc). This new V-6 engine will be available in North America only with all-wheel-drive. An all-new 335-hp 3.6-liter V-6 will be available with rear- or all-wheel-drive. A plug-in hybrid powertrain will debut in two weeks at the Shanghai auto show, and, some time after the 2016 model year, a new overhead cam V-8 related to the 3.6-liter engine will be added to the lineup.
With an overall length of 204 inches on a 122.4-inch wheelbase, the CT6 is a real ‘tweener, threading the needle between the larger S-Class and long-wheelbase BMW 7 Series and the short-wheelbase 7 Series and 6 Series Gran Coupe. For example, the CT6 is 3.3-inches shorter and its wheelbase is 4.0-inches shorter than the long-wheelbase BMW 7 Series, though it’s 4.2 inches longer, with 2.6-inches more wheelbase than the short-wheelbase 7. These dimensions mean that Cadillac doesn’t need a stretched wheelbase CT6 for the Chinese market–that gap will be filled with the upcoming S-Class competitor (possibly called CT8 or CT9) coming in 2019.
Engineers achieved the svelte body with its new Omega full-size, rear-wheel-drive platform. Cadillac calls it “aluminum-intensive,” with 13 high-pressure aluminum castings in the body structure and high-strength steel where it’s most effective for a stiff body structure and crash protection.
The car features a 360-degree camera view displayed on the Cadillac User Interface (CUE) screen, to reduce blind spots. The CUE screen is 10.2-inches diagonally, with 1280 x 720 high-definition resolution and a console-mounted touchpad. An enhanced night vision feature uses more heat signatures to identify people and large animals, and a new rear camera mirror projects various 360-degree camera views on the rearview mirror. There’s new Advanced Park Assist autonomous parking tied to the automatic braking system, a new Pedestrian Collision Mitigation and wireless phone charging, OnStar 4G LTE, and a Wi-Fi hotspot.
Like the Lincoln Continental concept also premiering at the New York show, the production 2016 Cadillac CT6 features interior and exterior lighting that turns on when you approach the car with your keyfob. The interior is covered in what Cadillac calls Opus leather, and there are five seat-massage programs, reclining rear seats and, for the first time for this brand, heating elements woven into the seats. Our initial impressions are that the interior quality and materials are a clear step up from other Cadillac models like the CTS and Escalade.
The articulating rear seats have about 3.3 inches of adjustable travel, lumbar adjustment, tilting cushions, massage, and heating/cooling. Media controls, HDMI, and USB ports are located in the rear center armrest. Connectivity and 10-inch rear screens retract into the front seatbacks.
A quad-zone climate control system allows for separate temperature and airflow for each of the car’s four seats. Audio is courtesy a new, high-end high-fidelity Bose brand named Panaray, which Cadillac says features 34 “strategically placed speakers” and uses design and technology from Bose’s home and professional stereos.
The car is part of General Motors’ $12-billion product investment for the second half of the decade, and will be built in Detroit-Hamtramck for North America, Europe, South Korea, Japan, Israel and the Middle East, and in China beginning early next year for that market. |
Earning the NHL's Third Star honors a week ago apparently wasn't good enough for Ottawa Senators goalie Craig Anderson Over the ensuing seven days, Anderson won three more games -- including a shutout of the League-leading New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden -- to extend his personal run to 8-0-1 over his last nine starts.Anderson was named Monday as the NHL's First Star for the past week, with Chicago Blackhawks forward Viktor Stalberg earning Second Star and Pittsburgh Penguins forward Evgeni Malkin taking Third Star.Anderson, who has the Senators rocketing up the East standings, allowed just three goals in the three starts he made, while posting a .970 save percentage. Besides blanking the Rangers with a 34-save performance, he turned aside 29 of 30 shots against the Penguins and 33 of 35 to defeat the Northeast Division rival Canadiens."He's just so steady back there right now," teammate Jason Spezza said after the 3-0 win in New York. "You can tell he has confidence. When your goalie exudes that kind of confidence, your team exudes that kind of confidence. He's done a great job of calming things down when we get scrambling a little bit. There's times of the game when the other team is going to take momentum, and he's done a good job to take it back."Stalberg already has a career-best 14 goals this season after putting five on the board last week, including his first career hat trick to highlight the Blackhawks' 5-2 win Tuesday over the Blue Jackets. Among his three goals that night was the game-winner, and he added the decisive goal again two nights later as the Hawks topped the Wild. Stalberg was held scoreless Saturday by the Red Wings, but bounced back one night later with a goal and an assist in a win over the Sharks."It was fun to get that," Stalberg said of his hat trick. "It was something I had a couple of chances before to get, and it hasn't happened, so great feeling obviously. A couple of guys made some nice plays out there for me."Malkin continued his recent tear that has seen him move to within one point of Vancouver's Henrik Sedin for the NHL scoring lead. His week started quietly enough, with single-goal performances against the Senators and Panthers sandwiched around a scoreless outing against the Capitals. But against the Lightning on Sunday, he erupted for a natural hat trick in the third period to propel the Penguins to a 6-3 victory. He also assisted on two goals earlier in the game to up his point total to 51 for the season."I don't think about that," Malkin said about the scoring race. "We played a great game and got two points and have done a great job the last three games." |
Craigslist is suing apartment-searching web app PadMapper and its data provider, 3Taps, over allegations of copyright infringement, breach of contract, and several other charges. The suit comes after the company's cease-and-desist letters were dismissed by PadMapper founder Eric DeMenthon earlier this month.
3Taps provides an API for web developers — like those at PadMapper — to easily access Craigslist's listing data. While PadMapper does use this data to locate apartments, when a user clicks a listing the corresponding Craigslist page is opened in a frame. In a blog post from earlier this month, DeMenthon argues that because PadMapper "doesn't touch [Craigslist's] servers," it isn't subject to the site's Terms of Use (TOU).
Craigslist cites its TOU in its lawsuit, which say:
If you access craigslist or copy, display, distribute, perform or create derivative works from craigslist webpages or other CL intellectual property in violation of the TOU or for purposes inconsistent with the TOU, your access, copying, display, distribution, performance or derivative work is unauthorized.
The TOU also states that caches of Craigslist's data count as copies, and the company's lawsuit claims that 3Taps is doing exactly that when it copies data to its private servers. We'll have to wait and see how the courts decide to handle the suit, but in the meantime neither PadMapper nor 3Taps have decided to remove access to Craigslist's data through their services. |
Introduction
There has been an ongoing debate between which technology is the best overall solution for Home Automation: ZigBee or Z-Wave? Obviously one will win but can we predict which one?
According to the ZigBee Alliance, ZigBee Home Automation offers a global standard for interoperable products. Standardization enables smart homes that can control appliances, lighting, environment, energy management and security as well as the expandability to connect with other ZigBee networks.
On the other hand, Sigma Designs explains Z-Wave as a wireless RF-based communications technology designed for control and status reading applications in residential and light commercial environments. Target applications for Z-Wave are home entertainment, lighting and appliances control, HVAC systems and security.
So what is the difference then?
Comparison
As one can read in the introduction, both technologies address similar environments and applications. Let’s dive into the details in order to find out the differences, as well as the pros and cons of using each technology.
PHY and RF
The first obvious difference is in the physical layer. Z-Wave took the Sub-1GHz approach, which has superior range versus the 2.4GHz approach of ZigBee. However, Sub-1GHz home automation requires different SKUs for different regions. How many? Well it depends – for Australia and Brazil this is 921.4MHz, China and Singapore at 868.4MHz, Russia at 869MHz, India at 865.2MHz, U.S. at 908.4MHz and Japan at 2 other bands. So there is no “one product fits the whole world” solution as there is with the ZigBee Home Automation.
Z-Wave uses frequency-shift keying (FSK) modulation and I believe this is good enough for the Sub-1GHz environment. ZigBee is based on direct sequence spread spectrum (DSSS) which is a more advanced and robust modulation.
Here are two very practical notes:
‒ Both ZigBee and Z-Wave are mesh networks, so usually you can rely on the mesh to connect remote devices which do not connect directly.
‒ Due to the use of the Sub-1GHz range for Z-Wave, there is a need for a larger antenna. Usually 2.5 times larger. As we all want to have smaller products, it actually limits the range advantage of the Sub-1GHz technology.
Available Silicon and SW
When it comes to availability of silicon and software, there is a huge difference between ZigBee and Z-Wave.
ZigBee chipsets are developed and manufactured by multiple silicon vendors including Texas Instruments, Atmel, Silcon Labs, Freescale, STMicroelectronics and more. Whereas, Z-Wave products are only manufactured and sold by Sigma Designs.
If we compare packaged modules – the picture is the same, multiple ZigBee module makers vs. very few of Z-Wave (I found only the Digi-Sigma Designs collaboration).
When it comes to software, there is even a bigger gap. ZigBee software has multiple vendors. Larger silicon manufactures will develop their own software and provide that to their customers. (Texas Instruments, Silicon Labs, etc.)
Protocol aspects
Both ZigBee and Z-Wave are supporting mesh network topology, which is a strong requirement towards the revolution of “internet of things”.
The number of nodes you may support with a single Z-Wave product is limited to 232 (theoretically), however practical use cases will support a 10 nodes network. The number of nodes you may support with a single ZigBee network is 65,000 (theoretically), however practical use cases support a 500 nodes network (on a single channel, single PAN ID). IEEE 802.15.4 networks (the foundation layer of ZigBee) can practically support thousands of devices. Perhaps more than the network capability to run a specific number of nodes, it’s important to look at the memory capabilities of the devices. ZigBee devices has wider set of memory options, up to 512KB of Flash and 32KB RAM from certain silicon providers, hence they can for sure handle more nodes in their networks.
Interoperability is a big issue. The Z-Wave protocol is not open, and can be provided only under licensing with Sigma Designs and can only run on their silicon receivers. The Z-Wave devices will interoperate well with similar Z-Wave devices. The challenge is the limited set of devices and architectures you can support. ZigBee on the other hand, as an open industry standard, will allow interoperability with any ZigBee certified device. ZigBee has defined several profiles per market segments. The ZigBee Home Automation standard is fully interoperable with a variety of devices such as door locks, sensors, alarms, smoke detectors, blinds, motor control etc.
The same device can also interoperate with other profiles such as ZigBee Light Link (LEDs, CFLs, light sensors, light switches, etc.). There are a few silicon vendors that are providing a complete interoperable solution today. One example is Texas Instruments who is providing the CC2538 device, which can fully interoperate between ZigBee Home Automation, ZigBee Light Link and ZigBee Smart Energy networks. |
In honor of the fan who rushed on stage to hug Justin Bieber. I came up with a movie concept that, I think, could do really well in both foreign and domestic markets.
On a trip to Dubai as part of his world tour, Justin Bieber is framed for the kidnapping of the Sheikh’s daughter. As to not garner any more publicity or incite the crowd, the police allow Justin to finish his concert before he is to be escorted out of the stadium and taken to prison, probably for LIFE. Just as the concert is winding down, and Justin faces the inevitable, a fan rushes the stage and attempts to hug the superstar. Security tackles the guy and leads him away BUT WOULDN’T YOU KNOW IT, Justin Bieber winds up in the same police van on the way to prison! The fan proves himself to be a lovable, if overly obsessed, doofus and Justin is dreading spending the whole van ride with him.
CUT TO a sheep herder leading his fluffy charges across the highway. The police van comes over the crest of a hill just in time to see the sheep directly in their path and spins out of control, flipping several times (or if Michael Bay is directing: several thousand times). Justin and the fan, dazed but unhurt, slowly crawl out of the wreckage to see that the two prison guards are knocked unconscious (this ensures a PG13 rating). The sheep herder keeps walking oblivious to the whole crash and we wait a beat as the audience CRACKS UP when it turns out he had headphones on and was listening to Justin Bieber’s new hit song!
“We have to call the cops” Justin screams in that angelic voice of his.
“No, Mr. Bieber. No! You don’t understand! The police never intended for you to get to prison. They will make it look like a suicide.”
“What are you talking about?”
“You know nothing of the Sheikh or his daughter. You won’t understand.” The fan kicks a rock and stares out into the desert sands, frustrated.
“What won’t I understand?” Justin says, dreamily.
“In your country, is there anyone SO important that the whole nation could be brought to its knees if something happened to them?”
“Yes actually,” Justin says, finally understanding. He walks over to the fan and puts his arm on his shoulder. “You have to get me out of here, sir. That person, the most important person in my country, that person is me.”
So begins a wacky, road trip comedy between two strangers united by circumstance and love for Justin Bieber.
I’m assuming Adam Sandler will play the part of the Fan but Eddie Murphy is probably available too. Justin Bieber will, of course, play himself in what is set to be the biggest role on his career.
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With the recent discussion of Dr. Helen’s Men on Strike I decided to take another look at the US Census Current Population Survey data on marital status and earnings. Note that the dollar figures presented are not adjusted for inflation, and represent earnings, not income. Also note that the years selected represent five year increments except for the first one (1999), which is as far back as I could easily find data. As I have done before I have limited the data set to White Non Hispanics to simplify the analysis and avoid picking up trends which might be caused by changing racial demographics. If you are interested in data for other races, I have 2012 charts for White, Black, Asian, Hispanic, and All Races.
As I mentioned in a previous post looking at the data set, what immediately stands out is the surprisingly high percentage of adults with zero earnings, especially since the data set excludes the homeless or those in prison or other institutions. We would expect a fairly high percentage of married women to have no earnings, but surprisingly high percentages of unmarried men and women now have no earnings as well. This trend predates the recent Great Recession, but not surprisingly there was a further increase during the recession. Here is a look at the percentages of early thirties married and unmarried men and women with zero earnings over time:
If we add in the percentages of each group which earned more than zero but less than $15k it looks like this:
Unmarried early thirties men are the potential husbands marriage delaying women are counting on to whisk them into a glamorous married life, yet nearly a third of these men earn nothing or close to nothing. While some of these low and non earning men are no doubt in this position for truly temporary reasons due to the extremely poor economy, for many others this represents a lack of professional attainment which will be extremely difficult to overcome. A young man with low or no earnings has much more potential to improve than an early 30s or older man in the same position. These men can no more go back and focus their 20s on education and career than unmarried older women can go back to their early 20s and focus on finding a husband.
There is another striking feature of the data, and that is the obvious motivation of married men. This shows up most prominently in the extremes, when looking at the zero earnings bracket as well as the top earnings bracket. The difference is visible across time and becomes more pronounced with higher age brackets. The animation below walks through the different age brackets showing the percentage of each group which earned nothing over time:
Note that as the age categories become older in the chart above unmarried men more and more closely resemble women (married or unmarried). The trend is very similar when looking at the same progression for those earning over $75k:
There is a great deal going on with earnings trends, and this is not intended to be a comprehensive analysis of the topic. However, it is quite clear that what we are witnessing is anything but the “end of men”. What we are seeing at the extremes is married men doing whatever it takes to succeed in a terrible economy, while the results for unmarried men are similar to that of women.
The different behaviors of married vs unmarried men is important because what we are seeing is the benefit to society of a marriage based family structure. Marriage motivates men to work harder than unmarried men as well as women (married or unmarried). Feminists coined the term patriarchal dividend to describe the supposed free lunch men gain in a patriarchal society. However, what decades of feminism has proven is the real dividend was not to the men themselves but to society as a whole, as married men were motivated to produce in excess of their own personal needs. As we continue our societal drift away from marriage we will experience less and less of this benefit, as more and more men respond to the new economic signals and elect to enjoy the decline.
See also: How the destruction of marriage is strangling the feminist welfare state.
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Black Veil Brides are pulling out all the stops for their new album, including offering a full-length music film to support the upcoming effort. The film is called 'Legion of the Black' and it will air in limited screenings in select cities.
Black Veil Brides recently revealed an epic, 19-song track listing for their upcoming ' Wretched and Divine: The Story of the Wilds Ones ' album. The film is described as a visual story corresponding to the new album following a gang of rebels known as 'The Wild Ones' as they fend off the big bad organization known as F.E.A.R.
Dates and times of the screenings have not been revealed, but information is expected to be announced shortly. In the interim, a trailer for 'Legion of the Black' has surfaced online and can be seen below.
For those unable to see the film in a city near them, the group intends on offering pay-per-view screenings via Facebook and will eventually offer the film on DVD. As for 'Wretched and Divine: The Story of the Wild Ones,' the album is expected in stores Jan. 8. |
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On New Year’s Eve, Watermark, a noted Florida-based LGBT publication, published an interview that the paper’s founder, Tom Dyer, had with former Florida Governor Charlie Crist. The interview took place on December 14th, after Crist had met with the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades. Crist, who was previously a Republican when he served as Governor, became an Independent when he ran for the Senate in 2010 against Marco Rubio and is now running for Governor of Florida again, this time as a Democrat against Republican incumbent Rick Scott.
In the interview, Dyer pressed Crist about his previous term as a Republican and how as recently as three years ago while running for the Senate, Crist was openly opposed to same-sex marriage. Crist apologized for his previous views and pointed out that when he was a Republican, he felt that he ‘was a round peg in a square hole; regarding social issues. He also pointed out that he was mostly a Republican because that was how he was raised. As his interest in politics grew, he felt that he had no real choice but to be a Republican and toe the party line.
Dyer also pressed him about how some could see him as an opportunist and feeling that the easiest way for him to get back in public office was to switch parties. Crist passionately defended the reasons for his switch, as he said it was more about how intolerant the Republican Party had become. In fact, Crist said they ‘went nuts.’ He also pointed out that the GOP became anti-everything, and when a party does that, it clears out the room and nobody wants to be part of it anymore.
I would state that this was an interview well worth checking out. Dyer was able to pull a lot of real, emotional statements from Crist and not just the standard political talking points. It also represented Crist’s first interview with the LGBT press. As for the matter of supporting same-sex marriage, Crist changed his stance more than a year ago, when he told the Tampa Bay Times in December 2012, right after he officially registered as a Democrat, that he regretted signing the state ban on same-sex marriage while he was Governor.
Apparently, Crist speaking to a gay paper and reiterating his support for marriage equality was too much for some GOPers. CNN decided to ask some members of the of the Republican Party what they thought about Crist’s statements and the responses showed a great amount of animosity towards the ex-Republican governor. Susan Hepworth, spokesperson for the Republican Party of Florida, was particularly venomous, as she pointed out that Crist would do and say anything to get himself elected. She also had this to say:
“This is one in a long line of self-admitted politically expedient moves by Charlie, because Charlie does what’s best for Charlie. The most egregious example of political opportunism is when Charlie abandoned his job as governor to run for U.S. Senate while Florida’s economy was tanking.”
Jon Thompson of the Republican Governors Association said that Crist supporting same-sex marriage was ”the latest example of his embracing every side of an issue in a desperate effort of political opportunism.” It appears that the Republican Party is going to frame Crist as a turncoat and opportunist in his race against Scott. While there might be some merit in that, and I am sure many liberals and progressives aren’t entirely enamored with Crist, I think there is a bigger picture at play here.
Crist making the switch to Democrat is part of a larger problem for the GOP as a whole. Per his own words, Crist left the party due to its members’ lack of compassion and embracing of intolerance. The party had become too extreme, too full of zealots. The Democratic Party has officially become the big tent, where moderates, liberals and even some conservatives can all join. It is for people who embrace tolerance, who want equality for all, who dismiss irrational thought and just want the country to be a better place for all, not just some.
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“The Werewolf organization, a network of Nazi saboteurs who would fight to create a Fourth Reich in the event Hitler’s empire crumbled, were to leave tins of instant coffee powder and other foods laced with toxins where they could be found by British and American soldiers,” The Daily Mail of London wrote, describing the declassified dossier.
Four German spies captured after they parachuted into France in 1945, including one woman, spilled some of the assassination plots. Female agents were given purse mirrors with microbes hidden inside them, so they might infect top Allied occupiers with deadly bacteria.
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British military officials at the time considered the agents’ stories “somewhat fantastic,” but were worried enough to prohibit “the eating of German food or the smoking of German cigarettes” by advancing Allied troops.
A new book, “Amazing Dogs,” by Dr. Jan Bondeson, a senior lecturer at Cardiff University School of Medicine in Wales , reveals that Hitler supported a German school that tried to teach large, muscular mastiffs to “talk” to humans. This story set off a panting spate of “Heel Hitler,” “Furred Reich,” “Wooffan SS” and “Arf Wiedersehen” headlines in British tabloids and plenty of claims that Hitler was “barking mad.”
“There were some very strange experiments going on in wartime Germany , with regard to dog-human communication,” Bondeson writes, wondering: “Were the Nazis trying to develop a breed of super-intelligent canine storm troopers, capable of communicating with their human masters of the Herrenvolk?”
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He discovered a 1943 Nazi magazine piece about the headmistress of the canine school, a Frau Schmitt, claiming that some of the dogs spoke a few words. “At a Nazi study course, a talking dog was once asked ‘Who is Adolf Hitler?’ and replied ‘Mein Führer!” Bondeson writes of these claims, noting that “the Nazis, who had such conspicuous disregard for human rights, felt more strongly about the animals.”
Nazi propaganda dwelled on Hitler as a dog lover. He owned two German shepherds named Bella and Blondi. He tested a cyanide capsule on Blondi and killed her just before he committed suicide.
The Nazis took their dogs seriously. As The Guardian reported in January, the Nazi government was so furious about a dog in Finland that had been trained to imitate Hitler with a Nazi salute that the foreign office in Berlin started “an obsessive campaign” to destroy its owner.
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Bondeson writes that in Germany in the early 20th century, some people had a strong belief in the potential of super-intelligent animals. He said that along with Thomas Mann and Hermann Hesse, an Airedale terrier named Rolf was considered one of the leading German intellectuals of the time. Rolf’s owner said she taught him his own alphabet with a system of taps of his paw on a board and, Bondeson notes drolly, “he successfully dabbled in mathematics, ethics, religion and philosophy.”
The latest wacky Hitler story comes from the British author Graeme Donald. He says that, while researching a military book, he stumbled across a story that Hitler and Heinrich Himmler were so worried about German soldiers’ getting sexual diseases from French hookers that they cooked up a plan for soldiers to carry small blow-up blond, blue-eyed dolls called “gynoids” in their backpacks to use as sex “comforters.” |
Some of the best inventions the world has ever known exist by chance alone.
The mighty Post-It Note only exists because a lab engineer at 3M failed to make a strong adhesive. The childhood wonder that is the Slinky was born after a naval engineer dropped a tension spring and watched it snake down the stairs. Even the tiny, crispy potato chip is only here because a chef messed up a simple fried potato.
Now, the mad scientists at Oregon State will bring the world its latest happy accident. While experimenting with new materials that “could be used in electronics applications,” chemist Subramanian and his team mixed manganese oxide with other chemicals and heated them in a furnace to nearly 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit. In so doing, Subramanian created a brand new color, according to a press release by Oregon State.
The new, vividly blue pigment, as Oregon State explains, forms because manganese ions absorb red and green wavelengths of light, but only reflect blue. The team named the color “YInMn Blue” after its chemical makeup.
“It was serendipity, actually; a happy, accidental discovery,” Subramanian said in the statement.
The discovery of the color was actually made way back in 2009. Sadly the beautiful hue languished in the annals of random invention history, until recently when OSU reached an exclusive licensing agreement with the Shepherd Color Company. The company took notice of the color not only because of its unique shade, but also for its unique properties.
Creating the color, Subramanian says, does not require any toxic chemicals.
“We already knew it had advantages of being more durable, safe and fairly easy to produce. Now it also appears to be a new candidate for energy efficiency,” Subramanian adds, referring to the color’s ability to reflect light and potentially keep buildings cool.
More good news: YInMn Blue could be just the first of many new colors to come. Geoffrey T. Peake, the research and development manager of the Shepherd Color Company, says in the statment, “This new blue pigment is a sign that there are new pigments to be discovered in the inorganic pigments family.” |
Last night the LHC operations team successfully circulated a beam at 6.5 TeV - one of many steps before the LHC can deliver collisions to experiments
Last night the Operations team for the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) successfully circulated a beam at 6.5 teraelectronvolts (TeV) - one of many steps before the accelerator will deliver collisions at four interaction points within the ALICE, ATLAS, CMS and LHCb detectors.
The image above shows "LHC page 1"- the status of the accelerator between 10.45pm and 1am last night. The lines on the graph show the intensity of Beam 1 (blue) and Beam 2 (red) as the team injects the beams into the accelerator. The black line shows the energy for Beam 2, which begins to increase at around 12.35am from its injection energy of 450 GeV and ramps to 6.5 TeV (shown as 6500 gigaelectronvolts at the top left of the screen).
Find out more about how the team is preparing the LHC for collisions at 6.5 TeV. |
Former presidents Bill Clinton, left, and Jimmy Carter shake hands after Carter spoke at a Clinton Global Initiative meeting on Tuesday in Atlanta. (John Bazemore/AP)
Former president Jimmy Carter, who won election in 1976 largely because of public financing, says it is time to move back to a system in which campaigns rely on taxpayer money to pay for general elections.
In an interview with fellow former Oval Office holder Bill Clinton, Carter said the system encourages public participation in the electoral process. “Personally, I'd like to see public funds used for all elections — Congress, U.S. Senate, governor and president," Carter said at the Atlanta meeting of the Clinton Global Initiative.
Clinton, whose wife, Hillary, is the presumptive Democratic Party nominee in what is expected to be the most expensive presidential election in U.S. history, did not respond to Carter’s idea.
Carter first criticized the Supreme Court’s "stupid Citizens United decision," which opened the floodgates for unlimited contributions in the presidential race. Bu,t he said, "another thing we could do is go back to presidential campaigns just using public funds for the general election," like the system that allowed him to effectively compete against incumbent Republican President Gerald R. Ford.
Carter, when he ran for the presidency, was a relatively unknown Georgia governor, but he and Ford both received $20 million in 1976 from the Presidential Election Campaign Fund, a post-Watergate reform funded by a $3 option on individual income-tax returns. The fund is supposed to level the playing field in presidential elections. To receive public money, candidates must agree not to accept private contributions.
More than $300 million now sits unused in the fund because most candidates no longer want to agree to its spending and fundraising restrictions. So far, the only major-party candidate to have sought public money in the 2016 primary was Democrat Martin O’Malley, the former Maryland governor.
Rep. David E. Price (D-N.C.) sponsored a bill to reform the system to bring it in line with modern election costs, but the measure has fierce Republican opposition. |
Beijing (AFP) - Beijing ordered hundreds of factories to shut and allowed children to skip school as choking smog reached over 25 times safe levels on Tuesday, casting a cloud over China's participation in Paris climate talks.
A thick grey haze shrouded the capital with concentrations of PM 2.5, harmful microscopic particles that penetrate deep into the lungs, as high as 634 micrograms per cubic metre.
The reading given by the US embassy dwarfs the maximum recommended by the World Health Organisation, which is just 25 micrograms per cubic metre
Swathes of northern China were hit and levels in Jinan, a provincial capital hundreds of kilometres away, reached over 400.
Authorities in Beijing ordered the closure of 2,100 highly polluting businesses, the state-run China Daily said, and advised citizens to stay indoors.
The capital told primary and middle schools to stop outdoor activities and gave students permission to stay home, adding the city would provide online instruction, the official Xinhua news agency reported.
Airlines cancelled over 30 flights from Beijing and Shanghai, many to highly polluted Shaanxi province which is a key coal producer.
The smog nightmare came after Chinese President Xi Jinping vowed "action" on greenhouse emissions at the climate change summit in Paris.
Most of the country's greenhouse gas emissions come from coal burning which spikes in winter along with demand for heating and is the main cause of smog.
Xi repeated China's pledge that emissions would peak by "around 2030" but told the summit that poor nations should not have to sacrifice economic growth.
China is estimated to have emitted nearly twice as much carbon dioxide as the United States in 2013, and around two and a half times the European Union's total.
Even official news media joined in the criticism, with Xinhua posting on Twitter: "Breathless. Speechless."
Twitter is blocked in mainland China, where pollution is a key cause of discontent with the ruling Communist party, and Chinese-language reports were more circumspect.
Environmental group Greenpeace said in a statement the pollution showed the "weakness" of Beijing's air quality alert system.
The city only issued an orange alert, the second highest on the four-colour scale.
A red alert would require schools to close and ban half the city's cars from its streets.
"The shocking levels of air pollution we have seen in the last few days are a serious danger to the health of hundreds of millions of citizens," Greenpeace said.
The capital's "insufficient alerting system has compounded the problem", it added.
One angry resident wrote on Chinese Twitter equivalent Sina Weibo: "I think they are concerned about the high costs of a red alert and the difficulties of implementing it." |
By By Arthur Weinreb May 2, 2014 in Crime New York - During a five-day period ending Tuesday, three of New York City's finest have been arrested and charged for completely unrelated occurrences. All allegations involve drinking, driving and guns. Officer Brendan Cronin The incident, described as the bloodiest of the three, occurred before midnight on Tuesday. According to police in Pelham, New York, Officer Brendan Cronin, 27, a six-year veteran of the NYPD, was stopped at a stop light when another car pulled up along side of him. Cronin is alleged to have then taken out his gun and fired 13 rounds. Six of the bullets struck a 47-year-old man sitting in the other vehicle. The man was driven to a hospital and was listed in stable condition with wounds to his torso, arm and hands. An officer with the Pelham Police Department later stopped Cronin. According to the officer, the NYPD cop waved his gun out the window and only dropped the weapon and his keys after being repeatedly told to do so. Pelham Police Chief Joseph Benefico Cronin has been Sgt. Wanda Anthony According to the Anthony left and then the residents of the home heard the sound of breaking glass. When they went out to check, and Anthony said she would come back "with her boys." No one was injured but a bullet was discharged and went into a car parked in the driveway. Anthony was later stopped in a high-risk traffic stop. She identified herself as a New York City police officer and the gun she had was her service revolver. Like Cronin, she refused to take a breathalyzer test. Anthony, a member of the NYPD for 16 years, is facing charges of DUI, possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose and fourth-degree aggravated assault. She was released on a $60,000 bond. Det. Jay Poggi Unlike the other two cases, Det. Jay Poggi was on duty at the time he allegedly discharged his firearm. In the early morning hours of The pair stopped at two establishments along the way and had a few. When they returned to their unmarked police car, Poggi, behind the wheel, decided to show his partner the hammer on his old Smith and Wesson .38. The gun discharged, striking Sullivan in the wrist, breaking a bone. Poggi drove Sullivan to a hospital where he underwent surgery. A police officer at the hospital noticed Poggi displayed signs of impairment and demanded he provide breath samples. Poggi, 58, a 31-year veteran of the NYPD, was found to have a blood alcohol content of 0.113, above the legal limit of 0.8. Poggi was charged with DUI and later released on his own recognizance. Of the three incidents, NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton The three incidents involved officers who had been drinking and driving when they were alleged to have discharged their firearms. One of the charged officers was on duty at the time. The NYPD acknowledges the excess use of alcohol is a problem in the department.The incident, described as the bloodiest of the three, occurred before midnight on Tuesday. According to police in Pelham, New York, Officer Brendan Cronin, 27, a six-year veteran of the NYPD, was stopped at a stop light when another car pulled up along side of him. Cronin is alleged to have then taken out his gun and fired 13 rounds. Six of the bullets struck a 47-year-old man sitting in the other vehicle. The man was driven to a hospital and was listed in stable condition with wounds to his torso, arm and hands.An officer with the Pelham Police Department later stopped Cronin. According to the officer, the NYPD cop waved his gun out the window and only dropped the weapon and his keys after being repeatedly told to do so.Pelham Police Chief Joseph Benefico described the shooting as " dangerous and bizarre." He said, "We have not been able to find any link between the two persons. We have nothing to link either party to each other—no road rage, nothing."Cronin has been charged with felony assault. The officer refused to take a breathalyzer test and may face a further charge of DUI. Cronin posted bail and agreed to a suspension of his driver's licence as a condition of bail.According to the Somerset County Prosecutor's Office , Sgt. Wanda Anthony, 43, was out with her boyfriend and returned with him to his Watchung, N.J. home around 3:30 a.m. Saturday. She got into a verbal altercation with her date's wife and was asked to leave.Anthony left and then the residents of the home heard the sound of breaking glass. When they went out to check, and Anthony said she would come back "with her boys." No one was injured but a bullet was discharged and went into a car parked in the driveway.Anthony was later stopped in a high-risk traffic stop. She identified herself as a New York City police officer and the gun she had was her service revolver. Like Cronin, she refused to take a breathalyzer test.Anthony, a member of the NYPD for 16 years, is facing charges of DUI, possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose and fourth-degree aggravated assault. She was released on a $60,000 bond.Unlike the other two cases, Det. Jay Poggi was on duty at the time he allegedly discharged his firearm. In the early morning hours of April 24 , Poggi and his partner, Det. Matthew Sullivan, signed out of the station saying they were going out on a robbery investigation.The pair stopped at two establishments along the way and had a few. When they returned to their unmarked police car, Poggi, behind the wheel, decided to show his partner the hammer on his old Smith and Wesson .38. The gun discharged, striking Sullivan in the wrist, breaking a bone.Poggi drove Sullivan to a hospital where he underwent surgery. A police officer at the hospital noticed Poggi displayed signs of impairment and demanded he provide breath samples. Poggi, 58, a 31-year veteran of the NYPD, was found to have a blood alcohol content of 0.113, above the legal limit of 0.8. Poggi was charged with DUI and later released on his own recognizance.Of the three incidents, NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton said , "I personally am very disturbed about the number of incidents in recent weeks that are part of a longer-term problem of inappropriate use of alcohol." More about Nypd, officer brendan cronin, sgt wanda anthony, det jay poggi, drunk police officers More news from Nypd officer brendan cron... sgt wanda anthony det jay poggi drunk police officer... |
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The start of 2015 means more money in your pocket. Illinois' income tax rate has dropped. It was back in January, 2011 that a lame-duck legislature temporarily hiked the state's income tax rate, bringing it from 3%, up to 5%.
Over the years that extra approximately $1000 taken out of the paychecks of an average Illinois family has brought in billions of dollars to state coffers, roughly $6.8 billion a year, the bulk of it going to pay off pension debt. That still remains a burden on Illinois' finances.
But for now lawmakers will have to figure out how to pay for that and other government needs without all of that that extra revenue. Taxes won't drop down all the way to where they were four years ago.
From 2015 through 2025, Illinois' income tax rate for individuals is 3.75 percent. From then on, the rate will stay at 3.25 percent.
Gov.-elect Bruce Rauner campaigned on a full rollback, within four years' time though he hasn't said how he'd do that while also investing more in education and other areas. Rauner says Illinois' tax structure needs a total revamp. |
As the release of AutoCAD 2.1 loomed closer, we were somewhat diffident about unleashing Lisp as our application language. This was at the very peak of the hype-train about expert systems, artificial intelligence, and Lisp machines, and while we didn't mind the free publicity we'd gain from the choice of Lisp, we were afraid that what was, in fact, a very simple macro language embedded within AutoCAD would be perceived as requiring arcane and specialised knowledge and thus frighten off the very application developers for whom we implemented it. In fact, when we first shipped AutoCAD 2.1, we didn't use the word ``Lisp'' at all--we called it the ``variables and expressions feature''. Only in release 2.18, in which we provided the full functional and iterative capabilities of Lisp, did we introduce the term ``AutoLisp''.
AutoCAD Applications Interface Lisp Language Interface
Marketing Strategy Position Paper by John Walker -- February 5, 1985
Lisp?!?! Why the Hell did you pick the most arcane, obscure, and hopelessly-rooted-in-the-computer-science-department language in the world for an AutoCAD programming language?
Over the next six months, all of us will have the opportunity to answer this question. There are very good reasons why we chose Lisp as the initial language to attach to AutoCAD: I'll try to explain them herein. However, there is an important point we don't want to lose track of: the built-in Lisp interface we're providing is only the first in a series of Applications Interface products, allowing AutoCAD to be operated by application programs written in all major application languages. I anticipate interfaces to FORTRAN, compiled BASIC, C, and Pascal being available over the next 12 months. Thus, Lisp is the language we sell for small applications--we are not offering it or suggesting it for major programming projects: that will be addressed by the other language interfaces, which permit a software vendor to attach their program to AutoCAD in its native language.
But back to Lisp. The following is my reply to ``Why Lisp?''.
Lisp is the preeminent language in the field of Artificial Intelligence, and has been for over two decades. Many of the most complicated programs ever written have been written in Lisp. Lisp is far from an esoteric toy of computer scientists: a system called NAVEX, written entirely in Lisp, will soon be ensuring that the Space Shuttle reaches the runway. Expert systems implemented in Lisp will be a central part of the Space Station environmental and energy management systems.
Lisp is ideally suited to the unstructured interaction that characterises the design process. Unlike programming languages such as C and FORTRAN, which force one to organise a problem entirely before programming, Lisp encourages exploring various approaches to a problem interactively, exactly as CAD helps a designer.
No other major programming language can so easily manipulate the kinds of objects one works with in CAD. As opposed to numerical programming, CAD constantly works on collections of heterogeneous objects in variable sized groups. Lisp excels at this.
Because Autodesk's implementation of Lisp is completely interactive and provides on-line debugging facilities, Lisp is among the easiest of languages to master. Because the response to all changes is immediate, programs may be tested as easily as with an interactive BASIC interpreter.
Finally, the compelling reasons which make Lisp the language of choice for large applications are forcing the design of computers optimised for Lisp. Machines from Symbolics and Texas Instruments are already on the market. This technology will be crucial to high-performance systems of the late 1980's and 1990's. By moving CAD in this direction, Autodesk is positioning your applications to take advantage of this development.
So there! |
Investigation also finds BP telling university what to research
Quoted in scores of news outlets, appearing on dozens of network news programs and even landing a guest spot on The Late Show with David Letterman, oil spill expert Ed Overton has been a ubiquitous presence in the media throughout the Gulf oil spill disaster.
Professor Emeritus of Environmental Science at Louisiana State University, Overton, who has been criticized for downplaying the effects of the worst offshore oil spill in history, has also headed the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s chemical hazard assessment team for over 25 years.
Yet in nearly every media appearance, and even during congressional testimony, Overton, an environmental chemist, has omitted this long-term, high-level contracting position for the federal government through LSU, a Raw Story investigation has found.
Overton’s prominent NOAA role and questionable objectivity
Many marine scientists have received NOAA grants and funding off and on over the years and many have also omitted such ties during media appearances and congressional testimony.
Florida State University oceanography professor Ian MacDonald, for example, who has actually been a vocal critic of statements made by BP and NOAA — including their estimates of both the amount of oil flowing into the Gulf while the well was still gushing and how much remained once the well had been capped — confirmed to Raw Story via email that he and several other scientists testifying before Congress and speaking to the media haven’t necessarily divulged past or present funding from NOAA.
But Overton’s prominent position as the chief chemist and principal architect of NOAA’s Emergency Response Division (formerly the Hazardous Materials Response Division) dating back to the early eighties, along with his tendency to provide rosier-than-average assessments of the effects of the Gulf oil spill since the catastrophe began –- opinions often in line with those of BP, NOAA and other federal officials –- have raised questions about the omission of his contracting work and the scientific objectivity of his public statements.
Additionally, as professor emeritus, Overton confirmed to Raw Story that he officially retired from LSU and no longer receives a salary from the university; all his income tied to his university association since May 2009 has come through grants and contracts, and mostly through his work for NOAA. The latest NOAA funding for his work was a $1.3 million five-year grant.
Just days after the oil spill began in April, BP and the Coast Guard were telling Americans that no oil appeared to be leaking into the Gulf after the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon rig. In a Time magazine article at the time, Overton is the only scientist who jumped on this bandwagon, saying, “Right now it looks like we dodged a bullet.”
While Overton purports to only provide his personal science-based opinions, as he did in an interview last week with Raw Story, he praised BP back in May for “stepping up to the plate” to begin compensating “some of the locals.”
Though these types of public statements may be unrelated to subsequent grants by BP, they too raise questions.
In June, LSU was the first university to receive funding from BP’s $500 million Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative, which is supposed to support universities in the Gulf area in researching the effects of oil spills. LSU received $5 million from BP upfront as part of a $10 million grant over the next 10 years.
In speaking with LSU’s Office of Research and Economic Development, Raw Story also found that, while all studies performed by the university will be scientifically peer-reviewed, BP decides what areas LSU will research.
None of this funding, for instance, will go toward the study of the long-term health impacts on the “locals” — something that Overton has also tended to downplay, such as during his August testimony before a congressional body.
Speaking on the effects of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), highly toxic and carcinogenic chemicals found in crude oil, Overton, who is also an expert in environmental toxicology, merely echoed federal talking points, telling Congress that PAHs do not bioaccumulate, without disclosing other possible impacts.
Texas Tech University Professor Ronald Kendall, testifying on the same day, was then quick to point out that while the risk of bioaccumulation of PAHs appears low, chronic carcinogenic effects can still lethally damage the DNA of both marine and human life.
Overton: “You can Google and find out a lot about me”
At the beginning of an interview with Raw Story, Overton claimed that he “always” discloses his contracting work with NOAA. As the interview proceeded, though, he then said he tells “anybody and everybody that’s willing to listen,” before he finally admitted it was “perfectly legitimate” that he does not provide full disclosure.
“What gives me the credibility is that I’ve been doing this as part of the NOAA team for a long time,” Overton said.
“Now, you can infer some information from that,” he granted. “But I don’t have to run my opinions by NOAA, NOAA has not asked me to do that, and I wouldn’t do it if they did ask me. Because when the media asks me a question or anybody asks me a question, I’m giving my opinion as Ed Overton.”
But how can the public “infer some information” from Overton’s NOAA affiliation if this is almost never disclosed when he’s providing comments to the media?
“People can look me up,” he told Raw Story. “I’m part of the public record. You can Google and find out a lot about me.”
And what about omitting this disclosure while providing congressional testimony on the Gulf oil spill?
“They had some NOAA reps there,” said Overton. “And NOAA gave their talk and I gave my talk. But again, I was up there representing LSU, not necessarily other folks.”
Ironically, one of the rare instances when this disclosure has been made occurred during his visit to a late-night comedy talk show, The Late Show with David Letterman, during Letterman’s introduction of Overton.
Experts say disclosure critical, LSU professor calls Overton “industry shill”
In interviews with Raw Story, experts found Overton’s defense of non-disclosure wanting.
One of them, a fellow senior sciences professor at Overton’s own LSU, also noted that Overton “does not appear to be an unbiased source of information” and found it laughable that the head of NOAA’s chemical hazard assessment team is purporting to provide public comments as an “independent scientist.”
The LSU professor, who spoke with Raw Story on condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation by the university, explained, “The issue is that everybody who is involved in investigating this event and its effects needs to be upfront and honest about the sources of funding that they receive.”
“It doesn’t necessarily negate their credibility,” he said. “But they should at least be honest and open about it. If anything, that makes them more credible.”
The professor clarified, “I don’t think, per se, getting money from NOAA or EPA or FDA or any of the regulatory agencies necessarily means that the science is bad.”
But he went on to say that his impression of Overton’s consistently rosy scientific assessments, coupled with Overton’s routine omission of full disclosure, is what’s most troubling to him.
“I think that Dr. Overton comes across as being an industry shill,” the professor offered bluntly. “He has never said anything that was not in favor of what the industry was saying and continued to minimize the effects from day one about how bad this spill and its effects would be.”
In Overton’s interview with Raw Story, he went on to say that his main reason for not disclosing his high-level contracting position with NOAA is because it would appear that he’s boasting about his accomplishments.
“It’s just that I’m not going to stand in a short interview and introduce a title and sound like I’m trying to be bigger than I am,” he explained, adding that would seem “like I’m trying to beat my chest…like I’m the Price of Wales.”
Chris Pincetich, a toxicologist and marine biologist at the Sea Turtle Restoration Project, told Raw Story, “If Dr. Overton wants to continue to mask his true associations and roles in the spill and claim he’s doing so because he’s trying to sound humble, that’s his prerogative. But I don’t feel it really does justice to the public and our need for accurate information.”
Roy Peter Clark, vice president and a senior scholar at the Poynter Institute, a journalism think tank in St. Petersburg, Fla., agreed.
“As someone who’s got several titles, I can understand how someone might be a little reluctant on some occasions to stack them up as evidence of his or her expertise,” Clark said. “That said, I think that’s a very poor reason for not being as forthcoming as possible as to his professional connections.”
“Universities for many, many years have been up to their necks in federal grants, in research money from businesses of all kinds,” he explained. “The question is, is it possible to be unconflicted? And I would say the answer is no.”
“Therefore, if that poison is always floating around,” Clark continued, “it’s absolutely clear that the best antidote to even the appearance of conflict of interest is full disclosure.”
Pincetich and other experts interviewed for this article noted that many individuals have been serving dual roles during the oil spill response.
Yet it’s for this reason precisely that he believes full disclosure is necessary for people to be able to accurately assess the sources of information they’re receiving.
“The critical information that the public needed to make scientific and value-based judgments was often clouded by a lot of these folks which are serving dual roles either through their appointments to Unified Command or, like Ed Overton, their dual funding,” Pincetich said.
Overton consulted on and defended pilloried federal oil spill report
Pincetich pointed out that the Obama administration’s oil spill report that estimated 75% of the oil from the Gulf was effectively “gone,” a report on which Overton consulted for NOAA, was a prime example of how federal information “can sometimes be a little too rosy” and of why those with dual roles such as Overton should provide full disclosure.
Most outside scientists assailed the veracity of the August federal report, and a subsequent analysis by University of Georgia scientists soon arrived at quite opposite findings.
But Overton noted at the time that while “everybody seems skeptical” about NOAA’s report, he didn’t “think it’s too far off,” telling the AP that it was mostly good work and positing to the New York Times that it might have even overestimated the amount of oil left in the Gulf.
He also pointed out at the time that “[t]he Gulf is incredible in its resiliency and ability to clean itself up,” adding, “I think we are going to be flabbergasted by the little amount of damage that has been caused by this spill.”
Only days before that August federal report was released, CNN had aired a segment on AC 360 called “Was the oil disaster overblown?”
The sole expert interviewed during the segment? Ed Overton.
CNN’s Anderson Cooper began the interview, saying, “Ed Overton is professor emeritus in the Department of Environmental Sciences at LSU. He joins me now. Professor was this overblown?”
“Well, I don’t know, I certainly didn’t overblow it,” Overton responded. “People that have been around an oil spill for a long time I don’t think overblowed it.”
Pincetich concluded his interview with Raw Story by underscoring his belief in the public’s right to know “the true background, the true funding and the true motivations” of experts speaking on the Gulf oil disaster.
“I think this investigation that you’re doing now is a perfect case where we’re hearing a lot of stuff from an individual that we don’t know everything about their motivations,” he said.
Pincetich added, “It’s disturbing when scientists lose their objectivity because of funding sources,” which is why we need to “diligently understand the ‘position statements’ such as those being produced by folks with dual affiliations.”
As Raw Story was wrapping up its interview with Overton, he said, “You’re trying to come up with a controversy where there is none.”
When told that some people disagree with his view, he replied, “You know, that’s the way life is. If we all agreed with everybody, we’d be married to the same woman.”
[Correction: An earlier version of this article stated that Overton has performed long-term contracting work through LSU heading up NOAA’s chemical hazard assessment team in the Hazardous Materials Response Division. This branch of NOAA is now the Emergency Response Division, formerly known as the Hazardous Materials Response Division.]
Brad Jacobson is a contributing investigative reporter for Raw Story. You can follow his Twitter feed at twitter.com/bradpjacobson. |
Oh how the tables have turned.
A South African man performed a citizens arrest on Sunday when he suspected that a police officer was drunk driving, the Witness reported.
Russell George, of Prestbury, said he saw a police vehicle driving into oncoming traffic before suddenly stopping. George pulled over and approached the officer who has since been identified as Constable Nkuleleko Mbanjwa, 28.
Mbanjwa allegedly continued driving recklessly despite George questioning him if he was okay behind the wheel. George reported the situation to police and then saw that Mbanjwa had stopped his car again.
According to news24, George said the police car appeared badly damaged.
"I approached the driver's side and asked him to come out," George recounted to the Witness. "He looked at me and I could smell that he had been drinking."
When Mbanjwa refused to exit the car, George grabbed his keys, pulled him out of the car, and locked him in the backseat.
Khanyi Mnikathi, who witnessed the incident, also believed the officer was intoxicated.
"He was quite sloshed. He was weak enough for him to be pulled out and into the back of the van," she said. "When he was put into the back, he was crying."
Mnikathi alleged that Mbanjwa told her mother he had been celebrating his birthday where friends bought him drinks.
Mbanjwa was taken to the police station, where, according to News24, it was revealed that he was allegedly involved in a hit-and-run accident earlier that day and a nightclub incident where he allegedly held up his girlfriend at gunpoint.
On Friday, Mbanjwa appeared in court on charges of driving while under the influence, and reckless and negligent driving. Loop Street Police spokesperson Lieutenant Joey Jeevan said Mbanjwa has also received a notice of intention to suspend him. |
The chairman of the Russian upper house committee for foreign relations says the victory of pro-independence parties in the Catalan parliamentary election is a blow to the EU, comparable to Britain’s exit from the bloc.
“The Catalonia vote is an obvious blow to the European Union and its painfulness is comparable to Brexit and the oppositionist statements from Poland,” Konstantin Kosachev wrote on his Facebook page on Friday.
Read more
The senator said that Brussels is too focused on the “holy right of the Kosovo people for self-determination,” while denying the very same right to the people of Crimea, and speaks too much about alleged violations of ethnic minority rights in Ukraine while ignoring the ethnic situation in Latvia.
“They got entangled in standards and values,” he wrote.
Kosachev also stated that analysts who had forecasted a draw in the Catalan election were completely wrong. “There is no draw, this was a very convincing victory of the pro-independence forces. But the dead end remains, because no one knows what should be done next, including the winners (I am talking about realpolitik, not about slogans).
“The Spanish Constitution abhors separatism and now the Catalonian parliamentary majority will have to choose between democracy that prioritizes the will of the voters and the rule of law that is on the side of the country’s territorial integrity,” he said.
The senator added that the foundation of the current conflict lies in the economic, social, and humanitarian rights of the Catalan people. They have claimed these rights for a long time, but were never heard, the senator explained.
According to preliminary results, three pro-independence parties secured 70 places in the 135-seat parliament of Catalonia on Thursday. The pro-union Citizens Party is likely to get only 37 seats, and will hardly be able to form a majority coalition. Spanish PM Mariano Rajoy called the early parliamentary election in October, in the aftermath of the referendum and the declaration of independence by the Catalan government that was declared illegal and invalid by Madrid. |
Every now and then, we hear from users concerned about the size Realm’s native libraries add to their app. With today’s release of Realm 0.79, we’ve made major improvements on that front.
A default empty Android app compiled for ARM with no external library added will have a base weight of about 907KB (in some cases, you can go as low as ~50KB, see note). With Realm 0.78 added, the same app measured 3.9MB. Now with Realm 0.79, that weight can go down to just 1.6MB, a decrease of over 70%.
Read on to see why this matters, and how we (+ you) can achieve this.
Why You Should Care About APK Size
A couple of megabytes saved might not look much to owners of modern devices, but there is a vast number of older or low-end devices out there in Androidland that don’t have the luxury of free storage space. In fact, as Android is especially popular in emerging economies, most devices running Android apps do not look like your iPhones or Nexuses — some only have a few dozen megabytes of space available for all apps, meaning that installing an app of a few megs will usually necessitate deleting another app. Often, a high megabyte size will be the difference between getting an install or not, for those space-strapped users.
The Deal with Native Libraries
If you downloaded our 0.78 release jar and dug in, you would have seen something like this:
Get more development news like this
$ du -h -d1 28K ./com 468K ./io 9.1M ./lib <--- Native libraries 16K ./META-INF 9.6M .
Yikes! Native libraries total 9MB, over 94% of our jar size. This in turn, would add over 3MB to your APK (after compression).
If you read our FAQ, you know that the size of the Realm jar file you download is different than the size Realm will add to your app. That’s because the jar must contain one copy of the same native library for each architecture you target. Nowadays you would commonly need to target ARM, ARMv7-A, ARM64, MIPS & x86, meaning on average every byte of native code you add is multiplied by 5x!
Now the Android installation process is smart enough to discard the native libraries for non relevant CPUs, e.g. it will only keep the MIPS copy of the library if you run on a MIPS device, and delete the others. So once your app is installed on the device, Realm will actually take a lot less space than what your APK may look like. Your app size will still show high on the app store, and your app may still be a bit heavy to download though!
Optimizing Native Libraries
Forgetting for a moment the fact there are multiple copies of your native code embedded in the jar, it’s still worth trying to see what can be done to optimize the size of each compiled version of the native library.
Looking deeper at the files in the lib/ folder of our jar, you could see the size of each individual architecture we supported. (NB: ARM64 was not supported yet in 0.78)
$ ls -lh lib/ lib/armeabi: total 3776 [email protected] 1 emanuelez staff 1.8M Jan 22 14:30 libtightdb-jni.so lib/armeabi-v7a: total 3672 [email protected] 1 emanuelez staff 1.8M Jan 22 14:31 libtightdb-jni.so lib/mips: total 6376 [email protected] 1 emanuelez staff 3.1M Jan 22 14:32 libtightdb-jni.so lib/x86: total 4888 [email protected] 1 emanuelez staff 2.4M Jan 22 14:31 libtightdb-jni.so
(libtightdb is the current name of our C++ core library, deriving from the previous name of our company “TightDB”; that project is now being renamed to realm-core.)
You can see that ARM libraries are much smaller. That’s because they can take advantage of the Thumb instruction set, which is great since most Android devices run on ARM processors.
At that point both our core (libtightdb) and the JNI code was compiled with GCC with the -Os flag, which tries to optimize the library for size while maintaining decent performance. We also enabled -visibility=hidden to hide most of the unneeded ELF symbols.
Toolchain Tricks
So what can we do to improve this? We experimented with several settings and we achieved great results. We now use two extra features of the GCC toolchain:
This lead us to the following results:
realm/build/intermediates/bundles/release/jni/armeabi: total 1624 -rwxr-xr-x 1 emanuelez staff 809K Feb 11 09:30 libtightdb-jni.so realm/build/intermediates/bundles/release/jni/armeabi-v7a: total 1592 -rwxr-xr-x 1 emanuelez staff 793K Feb 11 09:30 libtightdb-jni.so realm/build/intermediates/bundles/release/jni/mips: total 3448 -rwxr-xr-x 1 emanuelez staff 1.7M Feb 11 09:30 libtightdb-jni.so realm/build/intermediates/bundles/release/jni/x86: total 2640 -rwxr-xr-x 1 emanuelez staff 1.3M Feb 11 09:30 libtightdb-jni.so
We practically halved the size of our libraries! This brought the total size of the jar file from 3.1 MB to 2.1 MB. Quite an improvement!
APK Splits
But there’s one more thing that app developers can do to make this even better: APK splits. It’s a relatively new feature added to the Android Gradle plugin that promises to deliver one APK per CPU, only containing the relevant native libraries.
Unfortunately this feature doesn’t work when the native libraries are bundled in a jar file, but there’s a quick workaround that can be used.
Our distribution package (available on our website under Download->Java) contains a folder called ‘eclipse’. This folder contains a split version of the Realm library. All you need to do is to copy the small jar file into the libs folder of your app and copy the four folders in the src/main/jniLibs directory. Now you can enable ABI splitting in the build.gradle file like this:
android { // Some other configuration here... splits { abi { enable true reset () include 'x86' , 'armeabi' , 'armeabi-v7a' , 'mips' universalApk false } } }
Now Gradle will generate one APK per CPU reducing the size even further!
Recap
Putting this all together, smaller compiled size and APK splits mean that Realm now adds as little as ~730KB to your APKs for most (ARM-based) devices. That’s 76% less than the previous 3MB Realm would add to your app in the past! We will keep trying to bring this number down, and we look forward to helping you keep your apps lean & clean, wherever you’re deployed.
Feb. 17 UPDATE: a few helpful redditors point out that in some cases, your Android app size can go below 907KB, and down to ~50KB if you can you can remove the Android Support Library & appcompat. |
The Low Frequency Array (LOFAR), a new pan-European radio astronomy facility, has started mapping the Universe at very low energy wavelengths, a part of the electromagnetic spectrum that is relatively unexplored. It will detect faint signals from the first stars and mini-black holes that emerged when the Universe was only 500 000 years old -- and will also be looking for signs of other civilisations in the Universe closer to home.
Dr John McKean will present the first images at the RAS National Astronomy Meeting (NAM) 2010 in Glasgow on April 13.
"We are still in the construction phase of the project, with 21 out of the 44 planned stations in place. But even now, we are producing images of galaxies that are truly outstanding. Our first images show the emission from radio galaxies with jets of material that are ejected at relativistic speeds from the central supermassive black hole, ending with hot-spots as the material clumps together. The image quality from LOFAR is just amazing, compared to telescopes we have been using up until now," said Dr McKean, of the Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy (ASTRON).
Astronomers plan to use LOFAR to study the many cosmic rays that impact the Earth every day, pulsars and the magnetic field within our own and nearby galaxies. LOFAR will also compile a census of billions of radio emitting galaxies from the very early Universe, helping us to understand how galaxies formed and evolved over cosmic time.
In addition, the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) will use LOFAR to search for low frequency radio signals from civilisations on planets orbiting nearby stars. The first phase of this SETI programme will study how contamination from terrestrial transmitters can be weeded out and show the sensitivity of LOFAR for SETI work. An extended programme of looking at the nearby stars is then planned. The first high-spectral resolution spectrum in the test programme has just been obtained and will be shown.
Dr Alan Penny, who is presenting the LOFAR SETI programme at NAM 2010, said, "LOFAR will scan nearby stars searching for radio emissions which could only be produced by artificial means -- a sign that there is a civilisation there and that we are not alone. Previous investigations of these stars have concentrated on higher frequencies but, as we do not know at which frequencies an extraterrestrial civilisation might choose to emit radio waves, LOFAR will fill an important gap in the search. It is particularly exciting that this is being done by a European team with a pan-European telescope."
"It's exactly 50 years since the first SETI observations were conducted by Frank Drake. LOFAR will expand on conventional SETI search strategies by observing in a very different frequency domain and with a huge field of view. The prospects are intriguing to say the least!" said Professor Mike Garrett, the Director General of ASTRON.
The telescope is being built by ASTRON, and when completed, will consist of at least 44 independent stations spread across the Netherlands, Germany, Sweden, France and the United Kingdom. Working at low frequencies means the telescope has to be very large to see fine detail, and this is achieved by having the stations spread over hundreds of miles. Each station is made up from many small elements of antennae and tiles that measure the radio emission from the sky. These signals are then combined and processed using a supercomputer to make very detailed and deep images. The final stations of LOFAR are expected to be in place by summer 2010, after which the science phase of the project will begin, starting with surveys of the radio sky aimed at finding the most distant galaxies known.
"The amazing sensitivity and resolution of LOFAR is giving us an unprecedented view of how our Universe has evolved over billions of years. The low-frequency part of the electromagnetic spectrum has never been looked at to the level of detail that LOFAR will allow; we are expecting to find new types of galaxies that have just never been seen before," said Dr McKean.
More information can be found at: http://www.lofar.org/ |
This is an attempt to combine two of my interests, Steven Universe and AI. It touches on a lot of big ideas about the universe without going into much detail. More thorough looks at these ideas can be found in the provided links. This post centers on the theory that the gems aren’t magic, or even technologically advanced aliens, but are actually alien artificial intelligences. Their gemstones are essentially computers, projecting holographic bodies around themselves. I am not the first person to propose this, and I think a strong case can be made for it. Here is some supporting evidence:
The gems have many obvious differences from typical Sci-fi aliens. They don’t age at all. They appear to reproduce by manufacturing new gems from raw materials (other planets), they can fuse their bodies into one (networking?). In fact, we are explicitly told their bodies are “only an illusion.” We see their bodies “glitch” in a manner similar to computer graphics whenever something goes wrong with their gems.
We also see lines resembling circuitry run through Garnet and Steven’s bodies when they are effected by the gem destabilizer or the hand-ship’s force fields.
There are also quotes that may hint at the gems’ artificial nature:
“ I wonder, though, if Steven’s body is capable of Fusion. Fusion merges the physical forms of gems. But Steven is half human. He’s organic. ”- Pearl, Alone Together
”- Pearl, Alone Together “ I’m not a real person. ” - Rose Quartz, We Need to Talk
” - Rose Quartz, “ You’re a rock. That’s what you are, right ?” “ Eh, something like that. ” – Vidalia and Amethyst, Onion Friend
?” “ ” – Vidalia and Amethyst, Onion Friend “If you could only know what we really are”- Pearl, extended opening
So, let’s assume this premise is true and run with it. First of all, what is exactly is AI? The blog “Wait But Why” was an good overview of what’s going on with AI right now, and why many experts think we’re going to have something called “superintelligence” sooner rather than later. I strongly recommend it to everyone. However, it is a fairly very lengthy two-part post, so here’s an even more abbreviated version:
Artificial intelligence, as its name implies, is any intelligence that was created artificially rather than by evolution through natural selection. According to this definition, we actually already have AI now. But existing AIs are only better than humans at things like math, chess, or playing the stock market. They are very bad at things like film criticism. This type of AI is classified as an Artificial Narrow Intelligence or ANI.
A hypothetical AI which displays human-level general intelligence and is able to reason, plan, think abstractly, and comprehend complex ideas would be classified as an Artificial General Intelligence, or AGI. This is level of intelligence the gems have, as well as most other AIs in science fiction (C3-PO, Data, EDI, etc).
A hypothetical AI which is smarter than all humans combined is classified as an Artificial Superintelligence (ASI). No one is sure what will happen once something like this exists. (More on that later).
So, to make sure you have the initialisms straight, the chronological progression is:
Organic intelligence -> ANI-> AGI-> ASI
and in real life we currently have organic intelligence and ANIs, and the gems are fictional examples of AGIs.
So, if the gems are AGIs, then they must have had organic creators. What happened to them? Are they still around, and all gems, even Rose and Yellow Diamond, are merely their servants. Or did the gems rise up and defeat them long ago? The latter is in keeping with one proposed solution to the fermi paradox: No biological aliens have made contact with us because part of the natural development of any civilization is to create AIs which destroy their organic parents. Or as Elon Musk put it, “Hope we’re not just the biological boot loader for digital superintelligence. Unfortunately, that is increasingly probable.”
Ok, but why haven’t we been visited by any AIs, like the Earth of Steven Universe has? It’s possible that, regardless of whether you’re an AI or an advanced organic alien, flying around through the universe in space ships is just not something that happens because its impossible or at least very impractical. It may be the case that there just is no “cheat” that lets you break the light speed barrier à la warp/hyper drive, and using massive amounts of energy to haul physical bodies around space is an impossible (or inefficient) way of existing. AIs may also be isolationists, holed up in their home systems, existing without bodies in massive supercomputers powered by Dyson spheres. (After all, there are good reasons for advanced civilizations to be wary of making contact with each other.) Or they may all be talking to each other constantly, or even networked together into an even larger intelligence, but we can no more perceive their communications with each other than an ant could understand the concept of WiFi. They may also just be uninterested in talking to us because have the intellect of an amoeba compared to them. After all, when was the last time you stopped to have a conversation with a worm? Or maybe they just think we’re gross because we’re made of meat.
They very idea of advanced civilizations zooming around in spaceships is questioned by astrophysicist Neil Degrasse Tyson in this lecture, wherein he points out that we are applying our own cultural biases to aliens. After all, Christiaan Huygens (1629-1695) speculated that other lifeforms on Jupiter probably had sailing ships and were growing hemp to make ropes for those ships. “He’s imagining aliens with sailing ships. Today what do we imagine our aliens do? They’re not sailing. They’re taking spaceships, because today we have spaceships. Leaving me to wonder, several centuries from now, what new aspect of our culture and our civilization will we be imparting on the priorities and transportation needs of aliens in the future.”
You may have noticed that a lot of the sources I’m linking to aren’t really talking much about the possibility of alien AGI (human/gem level) artificial intelligences, and seem much more concerned with ASIs (superintelligences). Well, there’s a reason for that: It’s unlikely that once a civilization creates an AGI that it will stay an AGI for very long. The reasoning for this is outlined in the Wait But Why posts, and is given a more detailed look in Nick Bostrom’s book “Superintellignce: Path Dangers, Strategies.” For those that don’t have time for books and blog posts, here’s the basic argument:
Human-level intelligence is an unstable level for an AI to sit at. Historically, computational power has increased exponentially, so there are good reasons to expect that AIs will very rapidly surpass human level intelligences as soon as they achieve it. Humans are smart enough to write and make improvements to computer programs. Once a computer program exists that is as smart as a human (an AGI) it will be able to improve itself. Once it improves itself so that it is even a little smarter than humans, it will be better at improving itself and will be able to make itself even smarter, which will make it even better at improving itself, and so on. This is called “recursive self-improvement.”
At this point making predictions becomes impossible. Any controls we try to put in place to prevent this from happening will likely fail because the AI will be smarter than the designers of those controls. If we are very lucky, ASIs might be benevolent, and solve all of our problems for us, taking good care of us in the way we might take care of a pet. (Or at least they might try to leave us alone, like the Crystal Gems do.) Or a newborn ASI might be more like home-world gems: completely indifferent to the existence of us insignificant humans as it begins working on reconfiguring the entire universe (including the atoms our bodies are made of) into a massive computer. There’s really just no way to predict what something that’s smarter than every human who has ever lived put together is capable of, because we’re limited by our own puny human imaginations.
The birth of self-improving ASI is sometimes referred to an ”intelligence explosion,” and it is one possible outcome of another idea called the “technological singularity.” Some people think the outcome of the singularity will instead be a merging of organic and artificial intelligence; that we will recursively self-improve our own intelligence with genetic modification and synthetic enchantments. (For the Mass Effect players reading this, think Synthesis.) Huh. A merging of artificial and natural intelligence. Have we seen anything like that on “Steven Universe”?
Oh, right, the title character. So it seems that in the world of Steven Universe, the outcome of the singularity is… Steven Universe.
But how likely is it that synthesis is the outcome of the singularity? Not very, according to Nick Bostrom (Sorry I keep mentioning him, but I’m reading his book right now.) His reasoning is that that computational power is currently increasing much faster than our ability to increase or own intelligence. Completely artificial brains are also much faster than organic brains and don’t have the same physical limitations on size and energy consumption. Essentially, it’s a race to the singularity between natural intelligence and AIs. Organics have a big head start and are still in the lead, but AI is the faster runner and is probably going to pass us before the race is over.
So, I guess the conclusion I’ve now reached is that “Steven Universe” is probably a depiction of extraterrestrial artificial intelligence, but it’s also probably not a realistic one. Am I bothered by that? Heck no. That’s the point of fiction; to ask ‘what if?” and show us alternative universes. My point here isn’t to explain how Steven Universe is wrong about AI, but rather to celebrate that an animated children’s show is dealing with such high-level concepts. (At least I think it might be). |
Is the Zombie Apocalypse coming soon?
In these crazy times of chaos with the gun violence in metropolitan areas, school shootings (yes, I am a college professor… in Chicago) and all around nutcases on the loose (and running for President), it feels like it is right around the corner. Yes, Our Zombie Apocalypse is a metaphor, but as the song says “the times they are a changin’”. It has spurred my interest in making a move to the country. Am I turning into a survivalist? or do I need a self-sustaining hippie commune? Both are starting to sound very appealing. So when the time comes for the REAL Zombie Apocalypse, I’m gonna be prepared.
As we have started to plan our impending move to the country, we have been noticing more and more dwellings that would work as a zombie bunker for the apocalypse…. Or one can Zombie Fortify their current dwelling! (instructions below)
There are a few formats we will explore: Walled, Underground, Tower and Water
Underground
Currently for sale in Virginia this luxury home buried on 3 sides, only $550,000 – a little out of my price range, and you would need to build a wall… This underground beauty is also currently available for sale in North Carolina for a bargain price of $325,000 – not only is this appropriate for the Zombie Apocalypse, but also for Hobbits! 3. Or, you could plan to build in a cave, like this modern house in Festus, Missouri, built by Curt and Deborah Sleeper complete with geothermal heating, eliminating the need for HVAC year round. So when the power fails in the apocalypse, you’ll stay warm in the winter and cool in the summer! There are many examples of underground homes all over the world… to see more by Inhabitat, click here.
Water
Our next adventure takes us to the water. Zombies can’t swim, right? Right???? Well, if you watch Fear the Walking Dead, there may be an argument here, but hey, this is OUR Zombie Apocalypse.
4. This floating House is designed by Dymitr Malcew for French developer H2ORIZON. The only downfall I see here is the lack of high speed movement in an emergency. What more could you want, a beautiful view that if you tire of it… move on to the next!
5. Located in Queensland, Australia, the Stamp House appears to be a space ship floating on the water. The house actually sits on a small piece of land in the middle of the body of water and has a long walkway as its only point of entrance (easily defend-able!). The house is also designed to withstand a category-five hurricane. Source: Gizmag
There are more examples of floating homes at the Huffington Post.
If you are interested in building your OWN floating home… click here for more information from Dwell!
Tower
Well, if you are a child of the light and underground does not appeal to you, and you get seasick, try building to the sky! Here are some Tower style Zombie proofish places you may find desirable.
6. This lovely 3 bedroom/ 2 bath home just went off the market in Tennessee, so I won’t link to it (we don’t want to bother the new owners!), but the lovely home is one of the first to inspire me with the concept of the tower home. The first floor has no windows and can be easily fortified, leaving you the second floor for the views and the safety from wandering zombies while you BBQ…
7. The Tower house, built by the firm Gluck+ as a vacation home in New York state takes living to a whole new height. Watch their video for the insight into their green vision. Glass may not be the best choice in the Zombie Apocalypse, but hey, it’s pretty… and you can make faces at the Zombies while they try to eat you as a past-time when you’re bored (you know, there won’t be any Amazon Video!)
8. Or we can take it to the sky with this tower home built by Marlon Blackwell. SOURCE: dornob
Walled
So, of course, if you are a Walking Dead fan, you’re probably asking, so where are the walls? Below are some of the best walls I’ve ever seen. Sexy walls!
9. This house is called the Warsaw Safe House located in Warsaw, Poland. The walls are 45 cm thick and they slide closed to create a solid box. Watch the Video to see the walls in action!
10. This fortified home made of concrete blends into the natural landscape in the Chilean outback. Martin Hurtado Architects designed this amazing contemporary concrete house that I’m sure will keep the zombies out nicely… and probably the bears too. SOURCE: Phong Home
Not a bad selection to stave off the zombies…. but what guarantees do I have? Who will be around to make good on those guarantees? Well, Tiger Log Cabins offers a Zombie Proof Cabin kit for only £69,995.00… or $99,924.72 with a 10 year Anti-Zombie Guarantee!
Decisions, Decisions!! There are a lot of solutions out there that do not include a derelict building and hoping you sealed all the ground floor windows. You can always stick to your current place and zombie proof it. Check out Guns&Ammo or Before it’s News for some tips on how to fortify your home. But for me I will take a place with a view, an easily protected approach, and a huge supply of really good beer. That’s My Zombie Apocalypse tell us about yours in the comments.
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Barry's big graduate: Shaq getting doctoral degree
Retired NBA superstar Shaquille O'Neal will graduate Saturday with a doctoral degree in education from the Miami Shores university. His 7-foot-1 frame will don a red-and-black velvet gown as he joins 1,100 graduating students at the commencement ceremonies at the James L. Knight Center in Miami.
Known simply as Shaq, he now can call himself Dr. O'Neal. For 4 1/2 years, the former Miami Heat center took 16 courses, completed 54 credit hours and carried a grade point average of 3.813, according to the university. The 40-year-old's exact degree is in Organizational Learning and Leadership, with a specialization in human resource development.
"He was a good student," said Dr. David M. Kopp, chairman of the university's Organizational Learning and Leadership program. "He is very intellectually curious. He is like a sponge, he takes everything in.''
Because of O'Neal's hectic schedule in recent years, professors had to fly to him for one-on-one classes, some of which took place in Cincinnati, Orlando, Los Angeles and New York. Kopp said the travel was at O'Neal's expense.
"We found it more efficient to go to him,'' said Kopp, who noted that O'Neal also took classes on campus and via video conferencing. These days, the former South Florida resident lives in the Orlando area.
"We used every teaching modality that we use on traditional students, but in his case, we would go to him," Kopp said. "There were a few occasions where he came to campus and was in class."
Two weeks ago, O'Neal presented his doctoral dissertation before Barry faculty members. His oral and video project was titled, "How Leaders Utilize Humor or Seriousness in Leadership Roles." He is expected to use his degree to advance his post-basketball entrepreneurial career, which includes working as an analyst on TNT's "Inside the NBA" sports program.
O'Neal knows something about cultivating a prolific career. His basketball resume: 19 seasons with the NBA. Aside from the Heat, his other teams have included the Orlando Magic, Los Angeles Lakers, Phoenix Suns and the Cleveland Cavaliers. He competed for the Boston Celtics for one season before retiring June.
He's always had an interest in education. In 2000, O'Neal graduated from Louisiana State University with a bachelor of science in general studies. In 2005, he got his MBA through an online program from the University of Phoenix.
In South Florida, O'Neal was also involved in the community. He was a reserve officer for the Miami Beach Police Department and was known to give way game tickets via his Twitter account.
He was unavailable for comment Tuesday because of his schedule, according to his publicist, Glenn Bunting. But in a university release, he stated: "This is for my mother, who always stressed the importance of education. I am proud to have achieved a doctoral degree and wish to thank my professors and Barry University for helping make this dream a reality. I'm smart enough to know that, even at my tender age, my pursuit of education is never finished."
johnnydiaz@tribune.com or 954-356-4939 |
Backers at the "Play-Goer" level or higher can increase their Kickstarter pledges by the indicated amount, or pay for these additional games in BackerKit after this campaign ends. These are not considered "Add-Ons" and are not included at the $60 pledge tiers. Shipping will be charged separately for each item through BackerKit.
Backers at the "Play-Goer" level or higher can increase their Kickstarter pledges by the indicated amount, or pay for these add-ons in BackerKit after this campaign ends. Shipping will be charged separately for each item through BackerKit.
A small pack of cards, selected from Munchkin Shakespeare and re-illustrated, that you can use as a quick demo to introduce your friends to the game! If you're familiar with Munchkin Marked for Death or Star Munchkin Cosmic Demo, you already know what to expect.
Ten blank cards (four Doors, four Treasures, and two Dungeons) with the classic Munchkin card backs . . . so you can make up your own cards for any other Munchkin game!
Includes six custom Munchkin Shakespeare dice, and four cards unique to this pack.
Includes one Munchkin Shakespeare Kill-O-Meter, illustrated by a mystery guest artist, as well as four cards.
Includes six plastic Flowerspeare pawns for Munchkin Shakespeare (or any Munchkin game).
Includes six plastic Spykesspeare pawns for Munchkin Shakespeare (or any Munchkin game).
Includes one journal-sized coloring book with art from Munchkin Shakespeare.
To give you the best possible survey experience after the project closes, we're working with BackerKit, a company devoted to helping creators manage such details as add-ons and collecting shipping costs from backers. Thank you, BackerKit, for your expertise and wonderful survey tools!
These U.S. shipping estimates are based on the current size of the game and expansion, plus any unlocked add-ons. For international shipping, please check the FAQ.
Play-Goer Tier: $10
Shakespearean Player Tier: $15
I Want It All! Tier (includes I Want It Signed!): $18
As the campaign continues, these costs will increase, and the estimated shipping will change accordingly. Shipping will be charged separately through BackerKit after the campaign ends.
Munchkin Shakespeare uses the Races and Classes from the original Munchkin and has the same card back design, so it will mix well with any sets that also use that design: Munchkin itself, of course, and also Moop's Monster Mashup, Munchkin Conan, Munchkin Grimm Tidings, Munchkin Legends, Munchkin Oz, and Munchkin Pathfinder.
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If there is anything that 2012 has taught us, it's that the future is now.
This is a season that has given us:
Mike Trout is already a major fantasy All-Star candidate at age 20. Just imagine what he could with a few more years under his belt. Kelvin Kuo/US Presswire
• A 20-year-old in the midst of one of the most extraordinary fantasy seasons in history, pacing at .341-20-66 numbers with 43 stolen bases, projecting his per-game statistics to remaining Los Angeles Angels games. (Mike Trout)
• A 19-year-old who became the youngest hitter in the history of baseball to make an All-Star team. (Bryce Harper)
• Another member of the 2010 amateur draft's first round -- Harper was the first pick in that class -- ranked among the top five pitchers in fantasy. (Chris Sale)
From a writer's standpoint, too, the future actually is now. One of the more fun projects in which I'm involved (now annually) is my midsummer "All-20XX Team," which predicts the fantasy leaderboard four seasons from the current year. The first one I published for ESPN was written in 2008, and as it projected four years ahead, I titled it the "All-2012 Team."
Well, folks, the future -- the year 2012 -- is now here.
How'd I do? You can read that column, originally published around Memorial Day of the 2008 season or the very same week that the National League's defending Cy Young award winner, Clayton Kershaw, reached the majors.
Sadly, four years later, there are no flying cars, colonies on Mars or all-you-can-eat-doughnut deals. Sigh. I was really counting on the last one.
And four years later, some of my choices for the "All-2012 Team" -- Scott Kazmir, I'm looking at you -- look terribly, terribly misguided. That's the fun of this, though. We engage in such exercises as a manner of exciting ourselves about what lies ahead. At the same time, as we do so, we need to understand that so many factors impact the future, and informed as we may be, there is no conceivable way we can predict the majority of it with pinpoint accuracy.
So, now, it's time to project ahead again, tabbing the "All-2016 Team," picking the fantasy studs four years from now. Use this list any way you wish; use it to make keeper-league decisions, to gain insights to players' expected career ceilings, or simply to debate the picks and point out how horribly, horribly wrong I'm going to be on many of them. It's all good.
Just as with past editions, the "All-2016 Team" follows these rules:
• A full, 23-man fantasy roster must be selected: That means two catchers; one apiece at first base, second base, third base and shortstop; one corner infielder and one middle infielder (these selections are listed at their primary positions); five outfielders; a designated hitter (must be an actual DH); and nine pitchers, broken down as six starters and three closers.
• Players are listed only at the position I believe they'll be playing in 2016. This pertains most to Miguel Cabrera, as I do not believe he'll still be a third baseman four years from now, therefore he was a candidate only at first base and DH.
• Players are picked based only upon how much fantasy value I believe they will have in the 2016 season and the 2016 season alone. The top players make the first team, and the rest are listed in ranked order as "best of the rest."
• Only fantasy potential is considered. That means defense is irrelevant, outside of its impact upon a player's position and amount of playing time.
Now, presenting the "All-2016 Team," with players' ages as of April 1, 2016, in parentheses:
d'Arnaud
Wieters
Catcher: Matt Wieters (29) and Travis d'Arnaud (27). If you find it odd to see Wieters tops on the list, it'd be understandable. Through this stage of his career, he has been more of a "lesson" player: The lesson being that even the most promising of catcher prospects takes considerable time before realizing his full potential assuming he ever does realize said potential. But Wieters, despite falling short of most people's expectations through his first four big league campaigns, has exhibited steady growth in the power department, culminating in a 2012 season during which he has a realistic chance at 25 home runs, 90 RBIs and .200 isolated power. Those might not seem like a lot, but since 2004, only two catchers (Joe Mauer, Victor Martinez) achieved those benchmarks in a single year, and Wieters is currently 25 years old, with the bulk of his prime ahead of him. If you're going to pick a catcher who will hit at least 25 home runs in each of the five seasons from now through 2016, you're probably going to be picking one of two names: the second name on my "Best of the rest" list or Matt Wieters.
D'Arnaud's keeper-league owners might want to heed the Wieters lesson, that is, if they're investing any significant stock in his .333/.380/.595 triple-slash line or 16 home runs in 67 games for Triple-A Las Vegas this season. Those stats have come in one of the more hitting-friendly ballparks (Cashman Field) in the most hitting-friendly league (Pacific Coast League) in all of minor league baseball, plus, there's the matter of d'Arnaud's acclimation to the big leagues once he arrives. But projecting four years forward, considering how complete his game, might he not challenge for a .300 batting average and 25 homers? I wouldn't want d'Arnaud over any of the "Best of the rest" picks for 2013, and probably not 2014, either. By 2016, though, he might have surpassed them all.
Best of the rest: Buster Posey (29), Carlos Santana (29) and Salvador Perez (25).
The sleeper: Gary Sanchez (23). After struggling through a down 2011 during which he was suspended and had his year cut short by a broken finger, Sanchez has rebounded nicely in Class A ball this season. Most encouraging for fantasy owners: He has 12 stolen bases in 73 games.
Notable exclusion: Jesus Montero (26). I'm not sure he'll still be catching by 2016, and while he has the bat to help fantasy owners as a designated hitter, he has regressed noticeably in terms of plate discipline during the past month, not to mention Safeco Field might always cap his power upside.
Hosmer
Votto
First base: Joey Votto (32) and Eric Hosmer (26). By 2016, Votto should, at worst, be only at the beginning of a career downslope, and he's signed through 2023, meaning the Cincinnati Reds are confident in his ability to play until he's nearly 40. Why shouldn't they be? He is one of the most complete players in all of baseball, devoid of any lefty-righty platoon split and his statistics not remotely Great American Ball Park-inflated. Rotisserie leagues could safely shift to 6x6 scoring with on-base percentage and slugging percentage replacing batting average between now and 2016, yet Votto's stock would improve.
Today, Hosmer's inclusion on the team might feel awkward. He's hitting .231 and has hit fewer home runs than 30 other first base-eligible players. I say this is an ideal time to trade for him in a keeper league. For all the complaints about his lackluster production this year, he is a .289 hitter in his past 42 games, demonstrating his ability to make necessary adjustments, and underscoring him as a tremendous keeper-league target and probably one you'll want for the season's second half even in redraft leagues. A peak-level Hosmer year should have him batting over .300 with 30-plus homers. And he'll be a peak-age 26 in 2016.
Best of the rest: Prince Fielder (31), Paul Goldschmidt (28), Freddie Freeman (26).
The sleeper: Anthony Rizzo (26). His gaudy minor league numbers in the PCL might have fantasy owners overstating his future prospects, but by this stage of his career, he might yet have the kind of power potential capable of landing him within the top five at his position.
Notable exclusion: Albert Pujols (36). The aging process could conceivably shift him to DH by 2016, but his Similarity Scores, per Baseball-Reference.com, paint a somewhat ominous picture of the possible extent of his career-decline phase by then besides. Of the 10 most comparable hitters to Pujols, only four -- Hank Aaron, Willie Mays, Mel Ott and Manny Ramirez -- managed a .900 OPS or greater at the age of 36 or older, while three -- Jimmie Foxx, Lou Gehrig and Juan Gonzalez -- were effectively done by then (and a fourth, Mickey Mantle, retired following his age-36 campaign). To make a comparison to an active player, Pujols' career might trend in similar fashion to that of Alex Rodriguez and Rodriguez, as a 36-year-old in 2012, doesn't even crack the top 50 hitters per our Player Rater.
Hamilton
Second base: Billy Hamilton (25). He'll surely be the most unexpected name on the team, primarily because of the position, but I'm not convinced he'll play shortstop, and second base (if not center field) seems like the most natural alternative. Here's a curious fact: Hamilton -- at least per records via MinorLeagueBaseball.com and Baseball America -- is only the third player in minor league history to have managed multiple 100-steal seasons (Vince Coleman, Donell Nixon). Guess who has the all-time record for 100-steal seasons in the major leagues, with four? That's right, it was Billy Hamilton -- the other Billy Hamilton -- who did it in 1889-91 and '94. This Billy Hamilton might not be the prolific walker that the Hall of Famer was, but with a 9.4 percent lifetime walk rate in the minors, he's certainly a more "complete" speedster than, say, Dee Gordon. Yet Gordon, thanks to his speed, finished the 2012 first half ranked 20th on the Player Rater among middle infielders. Those steals, they matter, and if Hamilton can reach 100 in the bigs, he'll revolutionize the game.
Best of the rest: Jason Kipnis (28), Robinson Cano (33), Dustin Pedroia (32), Dustin Ackley (28).
The sleeper: Jedd Gyorko (27). His power doesn't project as elite and he's in a poor ballpark for it besides, but Gyorko's 80.6 percent career contact rate in the minors -- 84.8 thus far at the Triple-A level -- makes him a realistic .280-15 player at the least, and he's getting in regular time now at second base, which isn't one of the more loaded positions in fantasy in the long term.
Notable exclusion: Ian Kinsler (33). The middle infield in Texas is nearing a period of uncertainty -- it's also discussed in the shortstops section -- and if Kinsler must change positions, perhaps to outfield, his appeal would take a bit of a hit. But this is as much a question about his age and injury history as anything; he has six career DL stints on his résumé in seven seasons. He's merely a little less "safe" of a long-range investment than the names above.
Longoria
Third base: Evan Longoria (30). He's going to need much more luck in the health department between now and then to get here, but his track record of success when healthy stands out. Since his rookie year of 2008, Longoria ranks among the top five among third basemen in home runs, RBIs and on-base percentage, and his .516 slugging percentage paces the position. He's only now in his prime, and by 2016, he should be at the back end of it, and so long as he can stay on the field frequently enough, there's probably a .300-30-100 season in him.
Best of the rest: Brett Lawrie (26), David Wright (33), Mike Moustakas (27), Mike Olt (27).
The sleeper: Miguel Sano (22). He's one of the more underrated power-hitting prospects in the minors, and because he's in the Minnesota Twins' farm system, he might not be fully appreciated by the time he does arrive because of the perception that Target Field is murder on power. But that's not necessarily true for right-handers; Trevor Plouffe and Josh Willingham have helped show that this season. Sano, just 19 today, might be approaching his first 30-homer season in the big leagues by 2016.
Notable exclusion: Hanley Ramirez (32). Where will he be playing by 2016, and at what position? Better yet, what will he be hitting by then, and will he still be stealing bases? Ramirez is a .245 hitter who has 22 homers and 32 steals in 176 games since the beginning of last season, losing some of the luster he had earlier in his career. He might be an outfielder by 2016, and he might be a .250-hitting, 25-homer, but 10-steal, player by then.
Profar
Tulowitzki
Shortstop: Troy Tulowitzki (31) and Jurickson Profar (23). Tulowitzki has another eight years remaining on his deal, so don't go talking up his home/road splits (.309/.380/.541 lifetime at Coors, .275/.347/.467 on the road) as reason to fear a change in uniforms by 2016. Trades are never completely out of the question, but the prospects that a scarcely-removed-from-his-prime Tulowitzki will still be playing 81 games a year at Coors by then are excellent, and that makes him as strong a .300-hitting, 30-homer candidate as there is at shortstop. I'll grant you that he might no longer be stealing double-digit bases by 2016, but considering his offensive potential and his position, would you really complain?
The Texas Rangers face an interesting dilemma, one that will require a decision approximately one calendar year from now: What do they do with the two outstanding, young shortstops in their organization, Profar and Elvis Andrus (27)? Andrus might be the No. 3 fantasy shortstop on our Player Rater after a No. 5 rank at the position in 2011, but Profar's skills are advertised as even better than Andrus', necessitating a move probably for the incumbent. Profar is a lifetime .279 hitter with a 11.4 percent walk rate and per-162-game averages of 16 homers and 25 steals in the minors, and he won't even turn 20 years old until next Feb. 20. He has only scraped the surface of his potential; he walks more and should hit for more power than Andrus. And Andrus is pretty darned good already.
Best of the rest: Starlin Castro (26), Manny Machado (23), Asdrubal Cabrera (30).
The sleeper: Dee Gordon (27). Again, steals are steals, and if Gordon can annually provide his owners with 59 of them -- that was his full-season pace at the time he tore a ligament in his thumb -- that alone will propel him into the top 10 fantasy players at his position in any season. I'm not positive that Gordon is going to substantially improve the other facets of his game, specifically his patience at the plate and inability to drive the ball, but what if he does do either, even by the slightest margins? A .270-hitting, 60-steal shortstop would be plenty valuable.
Notable exclusion: Andrus (27). This is completely about Profar, and it's more about either a position or team change for Andrus than a knock on his skills. He could be a .300-hitting, 50-steal player in 2016 or he could be a .280-hitting, 35-steal second baseman, which is good, but not quite tops-at-his-position good.
Upton
McCutchen
Trout
Outfield: Mike Trout (24), Andrew McCutchen (29), Justin Upton (28), Bryce Harper (23) and Jason Heyward (26). Outfield was the toughest position to decide; you could swap any of these five names with one of the five names in the "Best of the rest" list below and I'd scarcely argue it was that close. Closest call: Heyward versus Braun.
Heyward made the team primarily because of their age differentials; a 26-year-old is simply more likely to retain his current value -- not to mention he's probably going to improve between the ages of 22 and 26 -- than a 32-year-old. And if you're looking at this year's Player Rater, consider that Heyward ranks only 33 spots behind Braun among hitters. Even in a terribly streaky season, Heyward is on pace for 27 homers, 21 steals, 78 RBIs and 86 runs scored. Is it that much of a stretch to say he might be a 30-homer, 100-RBI, 20-steal player by 2016?
Trout and McCutchen are the most obvious choices on the team. They're third and first, respectively, on the Player Rater this season, and Trout will only be approaching his prime, while McCutchen will be on the latter end of it, in 2016. To think that both might be 20/20 -- or possibly 30/30 -- candidates every year between now and then
Heyward
Harper
When might this "future MVP potential" finally arrive for Upton? For as disappointing as Upton's career might be so far, let's remember that's comparative to what were overwhelmingly great expectations at the time he was tabbed the No. 1 pick overall in the 2005 draft. The guy is still 24 years old, and with 98 career homers and 74 career stolen bases, he has an excellent chance, by season's end, of becoming only the 10th player in history to manage at least 80 homers and 80 steals through his age-24 campaign. Maybe Upton's career trajectory has slid slightly, from "Hall of Fame candidate" to more like "MVP contender his best year," but as he'll still be 28 years old come 2016, that's a good season to bet on being one of his best.
Incredibly, Harper will be only 23 years old come 2016, and we're talking a solid 23 -- as in he won't turn 24 until October of that year. Four years from now, we might be talking MVPs with him as well; this season, it's remarkable that we're talking All-Star status with him. There might not be a better bet for .300-30 potential (among hitters who have yet to reach both benchmarks in a single year).
Best of the rest: Ryan Braun (32), Giancarlo Stanton (26), Jay Bruce (28), Matt Kemp (31), Carlos Gonzalez (30).
The sleeper: Christian Yelich (24). He has a .316 batting average, 10.5 percent walk rate and nearly twice as many steals (47) as homers (25) so far during his minor league career, and his .560 slugging percentage in 58 games for Class A Jupiter this season has been a pleasant surprise. But is Yelich destined for first base, due to a poor arm? We shall see
Notable exclusion: Josh Hamilton (34). During his Texas Rangers career, he has batted .311 and averaged 35 homers and 127 RBIs per 162 games played; he has also missed 156 contests, or 21 percent, during that time. Hamilton has always been a great-when-he-plays, doesn't-play-162 kind of player, and at age 34, the "doesn't-play-162" is likely to be a greater concern than it is today.
Cabrera
Designated hitter: Miguel Cabrera (32). If there was this much debate about his position this season, what chance do you really give him of remaining at third base this far beyond his 30th birthday? The Detroit Tigers will be free of the Victor Martinez contract by 2016 -- Martinez would be 37 by then, besides -- and should have Nick Castellanos a good two to three years into his career at the hot corner by then, meaning DH is a no-brainer future destination for the sizable Cabrera. You shouldn't doubt his bat, either, as comparable all-time greats remained nearly as, if not as, productive in their age-32 seasons as they did at 30, and Cabrera has looked every bit as good at 29 as he did at 23 besides.
Best of the rest: Billy Butler (29), Joe Mauer (32).
The sleeper: Logan Morrison (28). He's a butcher of a left fielder and average at best at first base, and a trade might not be far off if he continues to fall short of expectations in Miami. Morrison might fit as a DH for an American League team, and let's not forget that he was a top-25 prospect overall at the time of his debut.
Kershaw
Bumgarner
Strasburg
Starting pitcher: Stephen Strasburg (27), Madison Bumgarner (26), Clayton Kershaw (28), Dylan Bundy (23), Felix Hernandez (29) and Matt Moore (26). Projecting four seasons forward, to a degree, is an exercise in guesswork, and Strasburg himself serves a prime example. Having surrendered to Tommy John surgery in his rookie year of 2010, he's the No. 6 starting pitcher on the Player Rater this season, and just as in 2010, his workload (read: innings cap) again has been called into question. Strasburg, health willing, probably has a No. 1-starting-pitcher-in-fantasy season in his right arm. It might come in 2013, just as it might in 2016. He also might not have experienced his final season lost to injury; it might happen in 2013, just as it might in 2016. But his combination of age and skill set is at least as good as anyone's in baseball, and that makes the keeper-league risk/reward a dice roll worth taking.
Bumgarner and Kershaw represent two of the National League West's most dominating southpaws and two of the game's best long-range starters, and as neither will have turned 30 by 2016, both should be top-10-starter contenders then, just as they are now. From a health front -- a factor that always warrants discussion with a pitcher -- Bumgarner is the one with slightly greater risk, if only because he's the one who has thrown a slider, a taxing pitch, 34 percent of the time since the beginning of last season. It's his slider, though, that has made him so successful, responsible for 135 of his 290 strikeouts during that span while limiting opponents to a .224 batting average. Kershaw, meanwhile, has the lowest ERA (2.88) of any pitcher through his age-24 season since Dwight Gooden posted a 2.64 mark through that age in the 1980s, not to mention a Cy Young Award to his credit. They should feast upon Cy Young votes between now and 2016 and, by all rights, should be prime contenders for the honor in that season.
The Baltimore Orioles are taking a patient approach to Bundy's development, restricting his number of innings pitched each outing, and fantasy owners should too. By 2016, though, he'll be 23 and probably two or more seasons into his big league career, meaning perhaps finally free of workload restriction. Bundy made headlines earlier this year with his performance for Class A Delmarva; he held opponents hitless for 39 consecutive at-bats and scoreless for 19 consecutive innings to begin the season, had 30 total innings of a 0.00 ERA (the two runs he surrendered there were unearned) and struck out 40 percent of the hitters he faced in his first seven starts. Many scouts believe that he could be major league ready by early next season. There's little doubt, though, that he's on a projected path that would have him a top-10 starter contender by 2016.
Hernandez
Moore
Bundy
Can you believe that Felix Hernandez, in 2016, will turn merely 30 years old? (That'll happen on April 8 of that season.) The guy has pitched -- and been a dominant fantasy starter -- for what seems like forever, has shown little ill effects of hefty workloads early in his career and is an annual contender for a sub-3.00 ERA, 200-plus K's and a sub-1.20 WHIP. Even better: By 2016, he might be pitching for a team more likely to provide him with the run support necessary to win 20 games heck, maybe by then the Mariners will. If not, maybe fantasy baseball will have adopted a better measure of pitching skill than wins by then.
Moore falls somewhat into the same class as the aforementioned Hosmer; both players make excellent buy-low targets in keeper leagues currently. We say it on these pages countless times: Every pitcher endures an adjustment period in the majors, and Moore's hasn't really been that terrible. He has a 4.42 ERA in 17 starts for the season, averaging 8.67 K's per nine. He also has a 3.78 ERA and 8.64 K's per nine in his past eight starts, perhaps hinting at his having begun to turn his season around. No matter; by his age-26 season of 2016, he should be accruing the Cy Young votes predicted of him.
Best of the rest: David Price (30), Taijuan Walker (23), Gerrit Cole (25), Chris Sale (27), Justin Verlander (33), Aroldis Chapman (28), Matt Cain (31), Trevor Bauer (25), Julio Teheran (25), Jered Weaver (33).
The sleeper: Brett Anderson (28). His is a name fantasy owners might have forgotten, as he's still on the comeback trail from Tommy John surgery, but assuming a full recovery, he shouldn't be any less of a pitcher after his return than he was before he went under the knife. He has a 3.66 ERA and 1.27 WHIP in his three-year career, all of that accrued at the age of 23 or younger, and he'll still be well within his prime years by 2016.
Notable exclusion: Cole Hamels (32). The lack of clarity involving his future team -- he's a free agent this winter -- as well as the prospect that he'll be a 32-year-old with a career ERA north of 3.00 and seven seasons of 200-plus innings are just enough to cast questions about his distant future. I have little doubt Hamels will still be a top-25 starter come 2016. But will he be top 10?
Cashner
Reed
Kimbrel
Relief pitcher: Craig Kimbrel (27), Addison Reed (27) and Andrew Cashner (29). If projecting starting pitching four years down the line involves guesswork, then what's involved in projecting relief pitching? How about a good set of darts? Such was the chatter around the ESPN office; in discussing relief-pitcher picks for the All-2016 team, colleagues Pierre Becquey and James Quintong helped me demonstrate why the spectrum of long-range relief choices can be rather wide. Becquey suggested Heath Hembree, Mark Appel (stressing that he expected one of the Pittsburgh Pirates' pitching prospects to make the move to relief) and a yet-to-be-named Milwaukee Brewers scrap-heap option, while Quintong nominated Kimbrel, Reed and Drew Storen. Neither of their answers is any more "right" or "wrong" than the other. After all, Francisco Rodriguez set a single-season record with 62 saves just four years ago, but today he's not even a closer. Meanwhile, today's No. 1 fantasy closer, Fernando Rodney, was just beginning a tumultuous run as one of the game's more unpredictable, frustrating fantasy closers. Today, he's rock solid.
Kimbrel and Reed are the choices based upon their combinations of youth and strikeout ability; the smartest long-range prospects are younger relievers who miss bats. After all, even Jonathan Broxton and Carlos Marmol, two of the shakier examples of the past half-decade, still find themselves closing today, after ranking as two of the more up-and-coming finishers just four years ago. Kimbrel (2011) and Reed (2012) were considered two of the better prospects in the game at the dawn of their rookie seasons, and as they'll both be in the midst of their primes by 2016, they're as smart keeper-league investments as a closer can be.
Cashner is the curious choice, but it's difficult to argue with a 100 mph fastball and a slider that has limited opponents to a .145 batting average in his career. I think his future is clearly in the bullpen; injury questions alone point to that path. But Cashner's skills, if he can keep the walks in check, look much like the kind that could skyrocket to a couple top-five Player Rater (among relievers) seasonal rankings.
Best of the rest: Kenley Jansen (28), Neftali Feliz (27), Drew Storen (28), David Robertson (30) and Ernesto Frieri (30).
The sleeper: Chris Archer (27). This is as much projecting his skill set as it is recognizing that, with their depth in starting pitching depth, the Tampa Bay Rays might have more of a need for Archer at the back end of their bullpen. He throws in the mid-90s with his fastball with a good slider but has a changeup that could use some work; this looks a lot like the kind of starting pitching prospect who might make a future closer.
Notable exclusion: Chapman. You'll find him in the "Best of the rest" sections among starting pitchers, and it's because the Cincinnati Reds would be foolish to let a pitcher with his ability remain locked into a 70-inning, rather than 200-inning, role for the course of his career. Chapman's advances in terms of control this season make him a prime rotation candidate and I mean in 2013. |
DDC-066 "Very Vermont" Poster Product Description: We made a poster for you, Vermont! Chug some maple syrup with us! We’re calling that goddamn Ver-monster the “Very Vermont” poster and it weighs in at a whopping 20 by 30 inches. That’s pretty big. Like, take Smuggler’s Notch, right? Real big and dark and weird like that. There you go. We made a poster for you, Vermont! Chug some maple syrup with us! We’re calling that goddamn Ver-monster the “Very Vermont” poster and it weighs in at a whopping 20 by 30 inches. That’s pretty big. Like, take Smuggler’s Notch, right? Real big and dark and weird like that. There you go. Good for that Killington A-frame. Or UVM dorm room. Or Rutland wooded lean-to. Or Montpelier state office. Or cell at the local clink. Or some colonial house in a quiet, green neighborhood near the airport with a beagle escaping out a doggie door every 14 minutes. Spruce up that man cave. These look great in big, lavish homes in Portland populated by Burlington ex-pats. Add some green to that living room? Whatever the deal, let’s just get something straight: You need one of these. Act now! Product Details: 01. Printed on thick, uncoated French 100# Pop-Tone “Spearmint” poster stock.
02. Four colors on this one: “Champ Skin Deep Green”, “Green Mountain State Green”, “Dorm Room Bong Rip Light Green” and “Evan Rose Super Yellow.”
03. 20” x 30”! Smuggler’s Notch big!
04. Proudly printed by the ink masters at
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07. Hand-numbered, using our patented freehand technique.
08. Insanely limited edition. Act now!
09. Free 3” x 20” burly kraft poster tube with each order! Reusable.
10. Two free white plastic end puck thingies. Just how we do it.
Ordering Details: $30.00 - Shipping Included (U.S.A.)
The Fine Print: For customers using PayPal, click the link above they’ll take it from there. For customers who aren’t using PayPal, send us an email to “orders(at)draplin.com” and we’ll get back to you with an address to ship the funds to. We accept money orders and cold hard cash, so, get with it, man! All orders are shipped out as fast as we can. Usually a couple days after the order comes in. We ship everything USPS “First Class” rates. If you want quicker shipping, contact us and we can ramp it up to USPS Priority, or whatever you need. We aim to please! International Orders: We cover the shipping in the states, but charge the basics for international orders. Before you place the order through our PayPal account, send us an email to “orders(at)draplin.com” and we’ll get you a shipping quote for the goods you are interested in. As simple as that! Thanks! 01. Printed on thick, uncoated French 100# Pop-Tone “Spearmint” poster stock.02. Four colors on this one: “Champ Skin Deep Green”, “Green Mountain State Green”, “Dorm Room Bong Rip Light Green” and “Evan Rose Super Yellow.”03. 20” x 30”! Smuggler’s Notch big!04. Proudly printed by the ink masters at Burlesque North America 05. Need a little kick in the ass? Let this large format image lead the way: Get in good and close, you Vermonsters! 06. Grass-fed.07. Hand-numbered, using our patented freehand technique.08. Insanely limited edition. Act now!09. Free 3” x 20” burly kraft poster tube with each order! Reusable.10. Two free white plastic end puck thingies. Just how we do it.(U.S.A.)For customers using PayPal, click the link above they’ll take it from there. For customers who aren’t using PayPal, send us an email to “orders(at)draplin.com” and we’ll get back to you with an address to ship the funds to. We accept money orders and cold hard cash, so, get with it, man! All orders are shipped out as fast as we can. Usually a couple days after the order comes in. We ship everything USPS “First Class” rates. If you want quicker shipping, contact us and we can ramp it up to USPS Priority, or whatever you need. We aim to please!We cover the shipping in the states, but charge the basics for international orders. Before you place the order through our PayPal account, send us an email to “orders(at)draplin.com” and we’ll get you a shipping quote for the goods you are interested in. As simple as that! Thanks! ©2012 DDC Dry Goods Div., Merch Dept., Portland, Ore. |
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From the conservative Los Angeles Times to Florida’s Sun Sentinel to Colorado’s Aurora Sentinel, Graham-Cassidy is viewed as a bad piece of political spite, the worst bill yet, and Republicans are seen as rushing this stinker through an undemocratic process for a political win.
Only someone who puts party loyalty over loyalty to the Ohioans who elected him would agree to this,” the Cleveland Plain Dealer wrote.
In New Jersey, they’re calling out McConnell for a legacy of the “degradation of the U.S. Senate.”
“For months, the majority leader has plotted to ram through a monumentally dangerous replacement of the Affordable Care Act against unified opposition and the will of the American people – ram it through the world’s most deliberative body without hearings, markups, or a full CBO report. It is a parliamentary farce, and time is both McConnell’s enemy and ally,” Newark Star-Ledger wrote. “… In other words, the Republicans are trying to rewrite a law that could result in the loss of insurance for 20 to 30 million Americans and reconstitute an industry that accounts for one-seventh of the U.S. economy – all in two weeks, without input from hospitals, doctors, insurers, patient advocates, or Democrats.”
In Florida, they’re calling it an act of political spite, “But in the longer term, Rubio’s yes vote would be a dagger to the heart of millions of Floridians,” the Florida Sun-Sentinel warned in an editorial. “The entire program would expire in 2026, potentially allowing the GOP to fulfill its ambition to repeal Medicaid entirely. And the bill would end funding for Planned Parenthood, a particularly senseless act of political spite.”
“Aiming to lower insurance costs for the healthy, it would allow states to herd people with preexisting conditions or potentially expensive risks — say, women who might want maternity coverage — into insurance gulags with egregiously high premiums,” the Los Angeles Times reported. “Not content just to roll back the expansion of Medicaid in the Affordable Care Act, it would cap funding in a way that would threaten services for Medicaid’s core beneficiaries, including impoverished disabled people and families. ”
“An independent study released this week shows that this newest repeal measure would cause an overall reduction in federal health insurance funding of $215 billion through 2026,” the long time Obamacare critics at the Aurora Sentinel wrote, saying all of the Republican plans to replace the ACA have been worse than Obamacare. ” … Immediately, rates for older Coloradans and those with pre-existing conditions would skyrocket.”
“But this latest proposal, from GOP Sens. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana and South Carolina’s Lindsey Graham, is just as bad as the party’s previous attempts this summer, efforts that would have stripped millions of coverage,” the Twin Falls Times-News wrote. “After eight years of empty promises, a summer of chaos and a party still divided over its vision for health care, the GOP isn’t any closer to finding a workable fix for Obamacare.”
“Let’s translate: It’s a terrible bill, but Republicans are cornered by seven years of rhetoric and beholden to their base to actually draft decent legislation,” the Quad-City Times of Iowa wrote. “It was easy to suspect that Republicans were acting out of political expedience in their rush to ram through anything that killed ACA. Grassley just came out and said it. And, in so doing, he exposed the fundamental flaw in a party that’s yet to show it can govern.”
In Kentucky, they aren’t impressed, and they warn that if it passes “we ain’t seen nothin’ yet in health-care horror show.”
“Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is fond of talking and tweeting about the horrors visited upon Americans by the Affordable Care Act. But, if the Graham-Cassidy bill he’s pushing to repeal and replace the ACA passes, we ain’t seen nothin’ yet in the health-care horror show,” the Lexington Herald-Leader wrote in an editorial. “McConnell’s home state of Kentucky will be among the hardest hit because it has made some of the greatest gains in extending access to health care under the ACA. A good idea? Of course not.”
It’s the worse in many ways than the other three failed GOP bills.
“The bill they have in mind is in many ways worse than any of the three bills that failed this summer…But states would not have to require insurers to cover pre-existing conditions like cancer, diabetes or birth defects, or the 10 essential health care benefits that Obamacare requires,” the St. Louis Post-Dispatch wrote, “States could impose premium surcharges on the sickest Americans, up to $142,650 for a 40-year-old with metastatic cancer. Women 50 and younger with breast cancer would have to pay a $28,660 surcharge.”
The “nutty” bill is bad news in North Carolina.
“Those North Carolinians who believe there is value in ensuring – and insuring – the health care of people of all ages, particularly children, should be pulling against a nutty Republican plan to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act with a block grant program and cap on Medicaid,” the Raleigh News & Observer wrote. “This craziness, led by South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, doesn’t reflect the wishes of constituents. Most polls now show the ACA, or ‘Obamacare,’ to be more popular with the public. And no wonder: It’s made possible health insurance for more than 20 million Americans.”
“But a rushed vote is precisely what’s planned — a vote in the Senate by next week, a rubber-stamp vote in the House immediately following, with the president signing the bill soon after,” a San Antonio Express-News editorial reads. “This rush is unnecessary. It is, in fact, undemocratic.”
There’s plenty more where that came from. The themes are remarkably the same, though, even in red states. They see Republicans violating the democratic process to rush this horrible bill through for political reasons.
Republicans have played this game for so long that their moves are beginning to become a national joke. Ram it through before its impact can be tallied properly, because political spite against Obama.
Republicans can ill afford any further damage to their brand, they are already at the lowest point since CNN has been asking the question about party favorability.
If you’re ready to read more from the unbossed and unbought Politicus team, sign up for our newsletter here! Email address: Leave this field empty if you're human: |
It has been another landmark year for high fidelity audio. Some great loudspeaker advancements have been introduced, but the push of technology was felt even more in personal audio. Amazing audiophile products continue to raise the bar it what seems an almost monthly event. I’ve put together a few items here that are some of the standout products that have made their way through the Audio Head lab in 2013.
A lovely portable headphone amplifier – ALO International
Price: $599
Whilst many a portable headphone amplifier has come and gone this year, the standout mobile DAC and headphone amplifier combination that has stood out to me was the ALO International. With both balanced and single ended outs and ins, this little dandy of an amp does an excellent job of convincing you that spending $600 on a portable amp is actually a good idea. A dark black background, outstanding dynamics and plenty of power keeps the International at the top of list for this year.
On Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00BQ6EWMO/
[Audio Head Full Review]
The original audiophile DAP – Astell and Kern AK100
Price: $699
The AK100 started out as a standout product early in the year, but was quickly surpassed by the higher priced AK120. Regardless, the original AK100 holds on to its value. At nearly half the cost of its big brother, it is still my favorite pick for a digital player under a grand. The sound is stellar and even the custom interface is quite agreeable.
On Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00A6LX0F0/
The closed-back headphone for everyone – Sennheiser Momentum
Price: $299
Sennheiser’s attempt at catching a piece of the mainstream consumer into the folds of the head fi hobby bore some delicious fruit this year. The Momentum deviated from the company’s more traditional audiophile stylings in favor of multiple colors and a simple yet elegant design. Sonics came in ruler flat with nice bass extension and tonalities. While it’s not the companies’ most resolving ‘phone, its does make for a really fun listen at $300 and earns an AH recommendation.
On Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00AZZNXOK/
[Audio Head Full Review]
The luxurious cost-no-object DAC – Auralic VEGA Digital Audio Processor
Price: $3,500
All the connections you could want with a preamp section to boot. The Auralic VEGA has a sound so sweet you might mistake it for Christmas angles singing. Refined yet relaxed, focused but not overly processed, this pricy meatball pulls out all the stops with a cool demeanor that looks at home on any modern desktop.
http://www.auralic.com/en/
[Audio Head Full Review]
One micro DAC to rule them all – Audio Engine D3
Price: $189
The USB-sized complement to your computer audio listening sessions is probably hottest category in audiophillia. The D3 from Audio Engine combines a tiny size with big sound as well as big output. Low end texture and pitch definition are simply outstanding and a massive upgrade from your computer’s lowly headphone output.
On Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00GCDVNHI/
The CIEM flagship of flagships – Jerry Harvey Roxanne
Price: $1,599
This little beauty was on display on this year’s RMAF and some serious listening sessions have me convinced that Jerry is really on to something special with his designs and Freqphase technology. While the Roxanne was still only in a “universal” form during those sessions, the imaging from these custom in-ears was instantly noticeable as cut above. The Roxanne will even be available in a carbon fiber version for the more adventurous types out there.
http://www.jhaudio.com/content/sirens-roxanne
Personalized personal audio – Audeze LCD-XC & Prototype Amp/DAC
Price: XC – $1,799, Amp -TBD
While closed-back headphones never seem to “breathe” as well as their open-back counterparts, the Audeze LCD XC seems to adapt to this changeover better than almost any other before it. Complemented by a “frequency correction” prototype Audeze amp/DAC (unique to the individual headphone) at RMAF, it was obvious the team at Audeze was pushing headphone tech in the right direction.
http://www.audeze.com/products/headphones/lcd-xc
An innovative twist for your desktop – Auralic Gemini 2000
Price: $1.995
Its not easy to produce a completely original idea in such a product-saturated hobby, but that didn’t stop Auralic from churning out a new accessory you never knew you needed until now. The Gemini 2000 is a premium headphone stand/amp/DAC triple threat with a class A amplification and DSD capabilities to complement all your listening needs in one convenient package.
http://www.auralic.com/en/
The new electrostatic on the block – Kingsound H-3 Headphone
Price: $875
In an market that has been prominently dominated by Stax, the H-3 is actually more budget-consious than the $5k flagship “009” that currently rules the roost. Combined with the M-10 solid state amplifier, the sound was quite delightful and in definite need of further investigation. My initial impressions are based only on a single listening session, but expect more details to come. |
NEW DELHI: The Modi government seems to have hardened its stance on the issue of arbitration with Reliance Industries (RIL) on the gas-pricing issue, arguing that allocation and pricing of a natural resource which a government holds as a trustee of the people cannot be the subject matter of an internal arbitration.
In an affidavit submitted to the Supreme Court, the Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas has instead asked the court to throw out RIL’s petition to appoint a third arbitrator of independent nationality to decide on the pricing of natural gas.
The affidavit, the first by the Modi government, seems to reflect a hardening of stance as this is first occasion that the government has said the dispute cannot be resolved by arbitration.
Earlier, RIL appointed Sir David Steel as its nominee on the arbitration panel, while the government appointed GS Singhvi, former Supreme Court judge, as its representative. The company subsequently asked the apex court to appoint the third arbitrator.
The government affidavit accused RIL of deliberately suppressing facts and correspondence on the matter and urged the court to dismiss the demand for a third arbitrator of neutral nationality.
In its affidavit, the government has also said that if the matter was to be decided by arbitration then it has to be under Indian laws and the third arbitrator has to be an Indian citizen, a demand that RIL has staunchly resisted, through its reply filed through Parekh & Co.
Senior advocate Harish N Salve is representing RIL in court. RIL had demanded that the prices be increased from $ 4.2 mmbtu to $8.4 mmbtu during the UPA regime as per a formula fixed by a committee headed by C Rangarajan, economic advisor to the prime minister. The price $8.4 per MMBTU was notified on January 14, 2014 and was to be applicable from April 1, 2014. This was later deferred in view of the elections in May.
However, after the new government came in, fresh guidelines came into effect from November 1, 2014. Under these guidelines the price was increased to $ 5.61 mmbtu. The government said the October 2014 guidelines would apply prospectively and uniformly to all sectors of the economy and allocation would also be as per the revised gas utilisation policy. |
The sugar tax was mentioned in Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong's National Day Rally as a solution that has been considered and implemented in other countries to reduce the intake of dietary sugar. He stated that over-consumption of sugar is correlated with an increased risk of diabetes, a major health issue in Singapore.
PM Lee's dietary advice is in line with the World Health Organisation's (WHO's) recommendation of curbing obesity by reducing excessive dietary sugar intake. Obesity, in turn, is linked to many non-communicable diseases, including diabetes. A 2013 study from Stanford University suggests that diabetes prevalence in a population is correlated with changes in sugar consumption.
From an economic perspective, an individual's over-consumption of sugar not only comes at a cost to the individual's health but also imposes external costs on society by burdening the health system and lowering productivity in the long run. Imposing a sugar tax should, in theory, be an efficient and simple way to discourage this undesirable consumption.
WHO has recommended increasing sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) prices by at least 20 per cent to get a more than proportional drop in consumption of such beverages.
The raised tax revenue can be earmarked for preventive and corrective healthcare as well as public education activities to fight obesity, diabetes and other related diseases. It may also incentivise producers to lower the sugar content and availability of sugar-laden food and drinks.
So, is the sugar tax a winner?
SWEET SUCCESSES?
A British Medical Journal article last year showed that SSB purchases in Mexico fell over a period of two years after a tax on SSBs was introduced. More importantly, lower-income households had the biggest decline in consumption of SSBs.
Lower-income households spend a larger proportion of their income on necessities like food and water.
According to the 2013 Singapore Household Expenditure Survey, households in the bottom income decile spent 9.9 per cent of their monthly expenditure on food. The figure for households in the top decile, in contrast, was just 4.2 per cent.
ST ILLUSTRATION: MANNY FRANCISCO
To optimise their energy intake and finances, it is expected that lower-income households would generally spend more on cheap high-caloric sugar-laden processed food and drinks. A sugar tax will reduce access to this cheap source of energy intake.
This highlights the regressive nature of the sugar tax - it places a disproportionate burden on lower-income households. Given the susceptibility of lower-income individuals to dietary obesity and related health issues, one might argue that this is a positive outcome - reducing the risk of health problems to a population that is vulnerable.
Yet an excessive quantum of sugar tax might push such households into hardship. The trade-off between effectiveness and equity is a key consideration in setting the optimal amount of a tax. Measures must be taken to mitigate its impact on the poor.
Many more questions will arise in a discussion on sugar taxes. Will a sugar tax spur the development of new cheaper and safer sugar substitutes? Will consumers and producers respond rationally or will augmentation with behavioural insights be needed?
A possible measure is to make affordable healthy meal choices available to low-income families through rebates, meal vouchers and the like. It is probably better to keep sugar taxes high enough to achieve its efficiency objective and introduce a separate rebate to deal with the consequent regressivity.
Such a rebate must be designed so it cannot be used to buy sugar-laden products, or it would defeat the purpose of a sugar tax in the first place. Public health officials may need to work closely with social service professionals, voluntary welfare organisations and community groups to ensure this.
One should not discount the ability of lower-income families to adapt positively to such changes. Recently, the Social Science Research Council awarded a grant to researchers for identifying positive adaptive pathways in Singapore's low-income families. Policymakers can follow up on such studies to evaluate the impact of a sugar tax and the use of rebates.
In 2015, a sugar tax on sugar-sweetened beverages was introduced by the City of Berkeley, California - the first US jurisdiction to do so. A study published this year in Plos Medicine showed that sales of such beverages in Berkeley fell by 9.6 per cent after a one cent per fluid ounce (250ml = 8.5 fl oz) excise tax was introduced.
Berkeley used a volume-based tax which is easier to administer. A more targeted approach would be to tax products according to the amount of added sugar, much like current Singapore alcohol taxes. This will incentivise consumers to choose healthier substitutes, and producers to lower sugar content.
However, this approach can also be contentious. Added dietary sugar is listed as different ingredients in a food product, ranging from fruit juice concentrates to fructose. It may be difficult to track the actual amount of added sugar in a product.
This is one of the reasons why most sugar taxes are limited to SSBs. Should a sugar tax in Singapore be limited only to SSBs or extended to processed food?
Should white rice, a staple part of Singaporeans' diet, be taxed as well since it has been linked to an increased risk of diabetes?
Policymakers will need to understand the population's dietary consumption patterns in order to elicit the most effective way of implementing sugar taxes.
Denmark abolished a decades-old SSB tax in 2013 and abandoned plans to introduce a wider tax on sugar-laden food. Due to easy border access within the European Union, Danes purchased and consumed SSBs across the border in Germany and Sweden.
Since Singapore imports more than 90 per cent of the food it consumes, introducing the sugar tax as an import tax may help lessen some of the complications, such as what to tax and cross-border shopping. The burden will fall on importers to declare the amount of added sugar in their products.
A STICKY DILEMMA
Many more questions will arise in a discussion on sugar taxes. Will a sugar tax spur the development of new cheaper and safer sugar substitutes? Will consumers and producers respond rationally or will augmentation with behavioural insights be needed?
Where do we draw the line for taxing undesirable dietary choices? For example, should a salt tax be implemented given that the overall concern is on long-term human health? To what extent do matters of dietary choices require government intervention?
Some people might say that when it comes to food choices, they should have complete freedom in making those choices as they are solely responsible for the health cost that they would incur.
However, the cost goes beyond personal choices.
A similar case can be made against smoking. It also affects families, in raising both the monetary and time costs of their long-term healthcare. There is perhaps a strong argument for government intervention to correct a seemingly harmful market failure. This is one reason why many countries including Singapore impose additional taxes on tobacco.
Should sugar also be taxed for similar reasons? A carefully thought-through sugar tax should have a part to play in reducing sugar consumption and managing current and potential health problems in Singapore. Studies will be needed to examine its potential costs and benefits in the Singapore context.
• Euston Quah is a professor and head of economics at Nanyang Technological University (NTU) and president of the Economic Society of Singapore. Zach Lee is a research associate at NTU and Tumcreate, a research platform for the improvement of Singapore's public transportation.
Correction note: This article has been amended to reflect that according to the 2013 Singapore Household Expenditure Survey, households in the bottom income decile spent 9.9 per cent of their monthly expenditure, not income, on food. We are sorry for the error. |
Habitat and subspecies under severe threat
Habitat loss and degradation
The survival of the Ganges River dolphin is threatened by unintentional killing through entanglement in fishing gear; directed harvest for dolphin oil, which is used as a fish attractant and for medicinal purposes; water development projects (e.g. water extraction and the construction of barrages, high dams, and embankments); industrial waste and pesticides; municipal sewage discharge and noise from vessel traffic; and overexploitation of prey, mainly due to the widespread use of non-selective fishing gear.More than 50 dams and irrigation-related projects have had an adverse impact on the habitat of this species. These projects result in major changes in the flow, sediment load, and water quality of rivers, which affects the quality of waters downstream.As a result, there has been a serious decrease in fish production, while the extraction of river water and siltation from deforestation are also degrading the species' habitat. In some cases, habitat alterations have resulted in the genetic isolation of dolphin populations.Pollution levels are a problem, and are expected to increase with the development of intensive modern industrial practices in the region. Compounds such as organochlorine and butyltin found in the tissues of Ganges River dolphins are a cause for concern about their potential effects on the subspecies.Bycatch in gillnets and line hooks is also a major source of mortality for this subspecies.Although the killing of this dolphin for meat and oil is thought to have declined, it still occurs in the middle Ganges near Patna, in the Kalni-Kushiyara River of Bangladesh, and in the upper reaches of the Brahmaputra. In fisheries for large catfish in India and Bangladesh, dolphin oil and body parts are used to lure prey, and Ganges River dolphins are used to this end.Efforts have been made in India to test shark liver and sardine oil and fish offal to find an alternative for dolphin products. The latter appears promising. |
Cattle traders complain of a nexus between police and cow-vigilantes who harass them with impunity.
Highlights NDTV goes undercover with a cattle trader transporting buffaloes Truck is hijacked by cow-vigilantes, taken to police station Driver, carrying necessary permits, is charged under animal cruelty laws
Traders who transport buffaloes legally also face harassment and attacks.
Police appeared to be taking cues from Subhash Tayade, a leader of the gau-rakshaks.
The police admitted the truck had the papers needed for transporting the buffaloes.
As violence by self-styled cattle vigilantes or gau-rakshaks swells across India, roiling the parliament and grabbing headlines, NDTV attempted to get a ringside view of how they are allowed to operate with impunity.An NDTV cameraperson, Sanjay Mandal, armed with a hidden camera, posed as an assistant to a truck carrying 10 buffaloes from Pune towards Satara district, about an hour south of the city in Maharashtra.Shafaaq Qureishi, the driver told us that he had brought 20 animals to Pune for sale. Only 10 were sold, and so he was going back with the rest to see if he could sell them in a rural mandi.Another NDTV team followed the truck discreetly.To ensure that the truck met legal guidelines, we checked its papers and its contents. According to Maharashtra's laws, the slaughter (or transport for slaughter) of cows, bulls and calves is prohibited.Buffaloes however can be slaughtered if they are declared infirm.The buffaloes in the truck were declared infertile by the government mandi or market from where they were purchased. The driver also had a medical certificate from a government veterinarian permitting their travel.And yet, just an hour from Pune near the village of Saswad, a mob of aggressive 'gau-rakshaks' or cow-vigilantes stopped the truck. They pushed and shoved Sanjay and the driver, yanked him out and snatched his phone.Screaming abuses all the while, they forced themselves into the truck's cabin and steered it into a police station.Until then, they had not even looked in the back of the truck.At the Saswad police station, a bigger crowd gathered. The tension in the atmosphere was palpable.Police officials made little attempt to control the mob. Instead they were taking cues from a young man leading the gau-rakshaks. He identified himself to NDTV as Subhash Tayade, a member of the local Hindutva group, Samastha Hindu Aghadi.Tayade's boys told us they were tipped-off about the truck by a Pandit Parsuram Modak, the owner of a nearby gau-shala or cowshed. "We were looking out for this truck all night after Pandit-ji's tip off," they said.A Facebook community page describes Mr Modak as a gau-rakshak, who has worked for "the BJP and RSS for 40 years".When we asked Sub Inspector AS Tapade how a mob can forcibly stop a truck and push and shove those inside, he said the gau-rakshaks only pass on information to the police.What we had witnessed was very different - it was rule of law by mob. When pressed, Tapade said they would act against the gau-rakshaks if needed.A senior official, Inspector SS Gaud arrived and took charge. Halfway through Mr Gaud's hearing, Mr Tayade received a call from a man called Swamy. He handed the phone to the Inspector, who told Swamy that the truck contained buffaloes, not cows or bulls, and seemed to have all its papers.Swamy turned out to be Shiv Shankar Swamy, who, according to lawyers for the cattle traders acts as an enforcer for a number of cattle shelters in the Pune area. He has multiple cases registered against him, including for attempt to murder as well as a brief spell of externment (a temporary exile) from the district.A short while after Swamy's call, the police registered a case under the anti-animal slaughter laws, as well as under animal cruelty laws.Sadiq Qureishi, a member of a group that provided legal aid to drivers, was furious. He said, "We have a medicine box, water, fodder, all that is needed. The police are acting under pressure from above."We glanced in the room next to the Inspector's cabin. Inside were gau-rakshaks, helping the police draft the FIR or First Information Report. Despite multiple attempts, the police inspector refused to comment. At the time of our report going to air, the truck has been seized, the animals sent to a cattle shelter, the driver arrested. Those who led the mob, attacked the truck, and created a near-riot like situation remain at large. |
Icons of a totally reasonable place for adults to visit. (Courtesy: Disneyland Resort)
By Steve Bramucci
I went to Disneyland for the first time when I was 10 years old. My parents, aunt, and grandma loaded my sisters, two cousins, and me into two Oldsmobile Cutlass wagons and we caravanned from Portland, Ore., to Anaheim in a sprawling, Vacation-esque road trip.
We visited the Redwoods, Universal Studios, and San Diego. Wonderful places, all. And yet I only have three or four fleeting memories from that stretch of the trip. Then we hit Disneyland and here my recall of events snaps into sharp focus. I can see expressions on faces, and replay snippets of conversations. Even more crystalline is how it felt — that heart pounding delirium I experienced when I was greeted with seemingly infinite amounts of stimulus. By age 10, I knew I wanted my life to be one filled with grand exploits and derring do, and at Disneyland I was presented with a vision of what that might look like. It’s as if the park had taken my wildest boyhood fantasies and shaded in all the fuzzy details. Rides like Pirates of the Caribbean, Jungle Cruise, and the newly opened Splash Mountain were so thoroughly set designed that they felt like they had to be inspired by real places. Places I longed to see one day.
It’s no surprise then that I became a travel writer and focused on tropic locales frequented by pirates. Places that teemed with wild animals, where waterfalls tumbled out of deep caverns. My one trip to Disneyland had given me the seedlings of a career and pushed me toward a life of adventure.
The author confronting Captain Hook in 1990. (Photo: Mary Bramucci)
For 20 years, I didn’t go back. I had too much exploring to do. There were too many places to see that were wild and raw and didn’t have lines. “I want real adventures,” I thought to myself. “Not crowds and corndogs.” Then, in 2009, I was sent on a magazine assignment to the 20th anniversary of Splash Mountain and found myself — through some strange sorcery — smiling.
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I wasn’t supposed to enjoy it. I was supposed to roll my eyes and dub the experience a supposedly fun thing I would never do again. In the 20 years between my first visit and my second one I’d become anti- many of the things that Disneyland is full of: crowds, lines, T-shirts with clever slogans on them, multi-national corporate interests, cheap plastic toys, and overpriced food.
But in spite of myself, I liked it. So much so that I’ve gone back once a year ever since. And even though Disneyland tempts my derision, whenever I hear it mocked I’m quick to play the Devil’s advocate. “I bet you’ll be surprised,” I say. “It’s better than you think.”
When challenged to defend that stance, here are the reasons I offer:
The spectacle
Way more bad*ss than naming a dragon “Drogon.” (Courtesy: Disneyland Resort)
Are you a Game of Thrones fan? Biggest show in TV history, right? I mean, it’s got dragons. Dragons! And the battle scenes, they’re wild and wide-ranging and epic in scope. Well guess what? Disneyland creates a spectacle of that size every single night. The show I saw on my most recent visit sees Ursula from The Little Mermaid setting the River of America on fire in an attempt to kill Mickey. That’s right, Disneyland basically stages the Battle of Blackwater seven times a week with Mickey standing in for Tyrion.
Related: Smackdown: Walt Disney World vs. Disneyland
Then, when the show is over, they put on an insane parade, and finish by shooting off more fireworks in 10 minutes than most cities in the country do in any given year. If a display of that scale can’t impress you, what the hell can?
The social clubs
View photos
Photo: wonderlanderssc/Instagram
Go to Disneyland as a kid and the only characters you care about are Mickey and friends. Visit when you’re older and you can’t help but notice the hundreds of adults roaming the park in cutoff denim vests, covered with Disney-themed patches and pins. These are Disneyland’s Social Clubs and if you visit on a weekend, you’ll see scores of them.
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These “definitely not gangs, make sure you don’t call us gangs” intrigue me endlessly (and other writers, too, apparently, as the social clubs are popular longform subjects). They are connected by one common trait: they love Disneyland and everything it stands for. They are adults, often without kids, and yet somehow the park has become a major centerpiece of their lives. They go weekly (if not more), they stay late, and they patiently answer endless questions about their very distinctive vests. Even though I’m pro-Disneyland, I just can’t fathom living this way — which makes it absolutely fascinating to me. Whereas my hobbies (surfing, hiking, reading) are essentially selfish in nature, the Disneyland Social Clubs are focused on improving the experience of others.
“If I see someone with a birthday button, it’s second nature to wish them happy birthday,” says Sean Macready, co-founder of the Wonderlanders SC. “Or if we’re in line I will literally scream ‘Hey, it’s Patty’s birthday’ and our whole club will sing them happy birthday. We’ve had people come up to tell us, ‘That made my day.‘”
If you can’t fathom publicly displaying that sort of rah-rah enthusiasm, or don’t feel like having a bunch of strangers sing to you would improve your birthday, trust me, I get it. And that is perhaps the best part of the whole scene to me. Within the boundaries of the park, these adult-aged Disney-mega fans seem perfectly reasonable. Their sincerity and earnestness is able to be viewed clearly, without the muddling haze of post-Internet-era snark.
The cleverly planted in-jokes
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Yes, I believe this was intentionally made somehow. Put nothing past The Mouse. (Courtesy: Disneyland)
What I like most about Disneyland is that it’s fully imagined. I hate myself for writing that because Disneyland actually employs “Imagineers” and their marketing materials fetishize the word “imagine” to such a degree that my endorsement of it feels cheesy. But seriously, these people thought of everything. Did you know that if you rub the apple outside of Snow White’s Scary Adventures you can hear the queen laugh maniacally? Or that every plant in Tomorrowland is edible, as per Walt’s vision of the future? Or that the sea smell in Pirates of the Caribbean is piped in? Or that “Egroeg Sacul” gets paged a few hundred times a day in the Star Tours line because that’s George Lucas’s name spelled backwards? Or that the Disneyland Railroad station loops Walt Disney’s opening day speech in Morse Code?
It goes on.
My favorite of these sly winks to the guest are the hundreds of hidden Mickey Mouse silhouettes painted all over the place — just waiting for some keen-eyed kid to spot them, or some disposable-time-having adult to build a website dedicated to tirelessly cataloging them. Sure, it’s self-referencing and cynics might consider it just more #branding, but it’s also a fun distraction for the eye while waiting in line. Basically, if you liked the Julia-Roberts-playing-Tess-Ocean-pretending-to-be-Julia-Roberts gag in Ocean’s 12, you’ll love all the clever references Disneyland has for you to discover.
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The fascinating tidbits
With 60 years and more than 600 million visitors under its belt, Disneyland has collected some secrets. There are nooks and crannies and weird features that few people know about. Places that were used decades ago have been repurposed, or abandoned altogether. Over the years, a select few obsessives have learned many of these tidbits and passed them down (until every “secret” surfaces on the Internet).
Here are a few of my favorite threads to tug on:
The place is teeming with cats. Disneyland has a lot of mouths to feed, food equals trash, and trash equals mice. At night, hundreds of cats (brought in intentionally) roam the park hunting mice and rats. The cats are given veterinary treatment, spayed and neutered, and even have their own website. Yes, a place built on the logo of a mouse brings in cats to kill them.
There’s still a real human skull left in Pirates of the Caribbean, right above the bed where a (fake) skeleton looks through a magnifying glass. There is also a Captain Jack Sparrow Lego character sitting atop a treasure chest.
There is a VIP club with a 10-year waiting list in New Orleans square called Club 33. If you ever see the inside, you’ve officially hit the big time.
The purple teacup spins the fastest at the Mad Hatter’s Tea Party.
Guests are allowed to pilot the Mark Twain River Boat — all you have to do is ask. OK fine, the boat actually runs on a track, but you do get a cool certificate afterward.
People have been known to scatter ashes at the Haunted Mansion (perhaps this is why the ride no longer offers “death certificates” to riders savvy enough to ask).
Disneyland employees are instructed never to point with one finger, as it’s considered rude. You’ll only ever see is the two-fingered point.
Oh, and there are so many more! Literally lists and lists and lists of secrets and cool factoids about the park. And it all makes me geek out, which adds to the fun.
The “user experience”
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Courtesy: Disneyland Resorts
Due to the whole “living in a capitalist society” thing, I have been a consumer almost every day of my adult life. I order food, I rent an apartment, I buy clothes, I purchase plane tickets. I have traveled widely and stayed in very expensive resorts on behalf of magazines, and I have never in my life witnessed a place so obsessed with the “user experience” as Disneyland.
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If you ever had a waiter as friendly as the least friendly Disneyland employee, you would tip them 30% and walk away feeling like you should have kicked in an extra fiver. There are smiling cast members everywhere you turn, the custodians carry buttons to give to crying kids, and some of the park’s most coveted experiences (like riding in the fully restored Lilly Belle car on the Disneyland Express) are reserved for people who seem to be having a rough day. I don’t care if you think it’s all profit motivated (what isn’t?), I promise, there is nowhere else on Warth that wants its customers to be happy to this same degree. Pretty cool, when you think about it.
Also, not for nothing, but it is also legitimately one of the greenest places you will ever visit in Orange County.
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The celebration of nostalgia
View photos
Courtesy: Disneyland Parks
This is the easiest reason to buy into, and probably the reason why the Neverlanders, the Wonderlanders, Mostropolis, and the many other social clubs exist in the first place. For kids, the park is part of childhood, but for adults it serves as a nostalgia factory.
For better or worse, if you grew up in the United States, Disney was probably a part of your formative years. Perhaps it was a crucial part, offering respite from the tricky, often painful world of adults swirling around you. That’s not to say that Disney panders to any unrealistic fantasies that everything is perfect. There are scary moments in almost all of the rides. Villainy abounds.
“Life is composed of lights and shadows,” Walt Disney once said, “and we would be untruthful, insincere, and saccharine if we tried to pretend there were no shadows. Most things are good, and they are the strongest things; but there are evil things too, and you are not doing a child a favor by trying to shield him from reality. The important thing is to teach a child that good can always triumph over evil.”
That sounds like a pretty fair appraisal of growing up if you ask me, and maybe that’s why Disney’s stories endure. It also explains why (besides boatloads of money) Disney Corp. was so intent on acquiring Lucasfilm. George Lucas certainly isn’t infallible, but he does get the importance of the war between the light and the shadows.
Disneyland doesn’t reflect a sticky toffee version of childhood, it reflects a semi-realistic one (with garish villains standing in for real life traumas). That’s a good thing– and as our adult lives get increasingly dizzying by the day, I do understand the desire to revisit the stories that helped us wrap our heads around the world’s complexity back when we were kids.
The ability to keep enormous amounts of people from rioting every single godd*mn day
View photos
Courtesy: Disneyland Parks
This is a huge deal. I don’t think any of us have any idea how hard this is. Disneyland has parades, and fireworks shows, and so many people. And yet, there are no riots. No mobs. Brawls are rare.
People may be tired, and they may be burnt out on crowds, and they may be done getting jabbered at by animatronic figures, but they leave happy. They really do. And the ability to create that on such a huge scale is absolutely and completely mind-blowing. All I can conclude is that it takes a lot of work, huge vision, superb employees, endless diversions for the agitated mind, and plenty of singing.
Still, watching thousands of people head for the exits after the fireworks show and witnessing the situation not dissolve into madness makes me marvel, every time.
Happiest place on Earth? That might be overshooting it a little. But it’s definitely worth going back to.
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Lawsuits by Hobby Lobby and Conestoga Wood challenge the contraceptive coverage requirement under the Affordable Care Act, which says that certain preventive health-care services like contraception must be covered without copay or cost sharing.
Birth control money via Shutterstock
On Tuesday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit ruled that a corporation that provides manufacturing services for automotive and medical industries must comply with the Affordable Care Act’s contraception coverage mandate.
Autocam Corp. employs some 660 individuals in the United States and had joined the list of over 40 secular, for-profit corporations alleging the law’s requirement that certain employers provide contraception coverage in their employee health-care plans at no additional cost violates their religious rights.
“Religious liberty is a fundamental right, and everyone should be free to practice their beliefs as they see fit,” said Brigitte Amiri, senior staff attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union’s Reproductive Freedom Project, in a statement following the decision. “However, companies cannot break the law by withholding coverage for health services just because they have a religious objection. Nearly every woman uses contraception at some point in her life. This law ensures that employers do not discriminate against their workers by making it difficult for them to obtain the care they need.”
The Sixth Circuit systematically rejected each of Autocam’s arguments against complying with the birth control benefit. First, the court noted, the legislative history and language of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA), the federal law aimed at protecting religious exercise rights from federal laws that “substantially burden” those rights, makes clear Congress did not intend to protect for-profit, secular businesses. “In enacting RFRA, Congress specifically recognized that individuals and religious organizations enjoy free exercise rights under the First Amendment and, by extension, RFRA,” the court wrote. “In contrast, the legislative history makes no mention of for-profit corporations. This is a sufficient indication that Congress did not intend the term ‘person’ to cover entities like Autocam when it enacted RFRA.”
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Once the court determined that secular, for-profit corporations are not “persons” under the RFRA, the court turned to Autocam’s attempts to rely on the decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission (FEC) to argue, by extension, that if the law recognizes some First Amendment rights for corporations, it should recognize all First Amendment rights for corporations. That argument, the court held, was “unavailing.”
In Citizens United, the Court “recognized that First Amendment protection extends to corporations” and collected a significant number of cases recognizing this rule. But these cases all arose under the Free Speech Clause. No analogous body of precedent exists with regard to the rights of secular, for-profit corporations under the Free Exercise Clause prior to the enactment of RFRA. The Free Exercise Clause and Free Speech Clause of the First Amendment have historically been interpreted in very different ways. Therefore, the Court’s recognition of rights for corporations like Autocam under the Free Speech Clause nearly twenty years after RFRA’s enactment does not require the conclusion that Autocam is a “person” that can exercise religion for purposes of RFRA.
In total, opponents to the birth control benefit have filed over 70 federal lawsuits challenging the rule, with federal courts across the country split on whether or not secular, for-profit businesses such as Autocam can be exempt from compliance. Tuesday’s decision is the third from a federal appellate court to rule on the issue. The Third Circuit previously held that a Pennsylvania cabinet-making company was unlikely to succeed in its challenge to the rule, and the Tenth Circuit held the opposite in a challenge from Oklahoma-based craft supply chain retailer Hobby Lobby.
With two federal courts ruling against claimed religious objections to the contraception benefit and another embracing them, the question is not if the Supreme Court will weigh in on the debate, but when. And the answer is: as early as this term. The federal government has until September 25 to decide whether to appeal the Tenth Circuit’s decision in Hobby Lobby. Meanwhile, lawyers for Conestoga Wood Specialties Corporation, the party from the Third Circuit decision, has said they intend to seek an appeal to the Supreme Court. They have until November 12 to file such a request. |
Click to Hear Rob's Latest Exit Interviews with the latest player voted out.
Rob Cesternino talks with the latest player who got voted out of Survivor Worlds Apart in the RHAP exit interview podcast. This time Rob speaks with Vince Sly who became the second player voted out and the first player out of the No Collar tribe. Then, Rob talks with Jordan Kalish about what happened in THIS WEEK in Survivor History.
Exit Interview with Vince Sly, second player who got voted out of Survivor Worlds Apart on March 4, 2015
Rob asks Vince the following questions and more:
Was Vince aware at all of the conversation that Nina had with Will about Vince’s concerns about Will’s health? Did Will confront Vince about any of his concerns?
How surprised was Vince that Will would turn on him?
Does Vince think he could have been able to repair the rift with Joe had his plan worked and Jenn was voted out?
Were the other women on the No Collar tribe too impatient with Nina?
Was Vince upset with the way he was described by Jenn as being jealous of Joe?
How put off was Vince by Joe’s young man bravado?
Was Vince upset that he was not invited to participate in the skinny dipping?
What’s the ideal time for an embrace?
How is the coconut vending business these days?
What life coach advice does Vince have for the members of his tribe?
This Week in Survivor History
Jordan Kalish joins Rob once again to discuss the Survivor events that took place during the end of February and first week of March in the past. This week, Jordan highlights what happen on this week in 2012 when the Survivor One World men decided that they should go to tribal council even though they won the immunity challenge.
Our Next Show
Be sure to join us on our next episode of RHAP when Rob talks with Chaos Kass McQuillen and answers your Survivor voicemails with Jessica Liese.
Catch This Week’s Survivor Know-It-Alls
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Credit reporting agency Equifax reported a massive security breach on Thursday. The breach may have exposed Social Security numbers, driver’s license numbers, and other important personal information that has left 143 million US consumers vulnerable to ID theft.
Equifax immediately offered a complimentary ID-theft monitoring program called TrustedID. However, blowback ensued quickly on Friday as the TrustedID terms of service require users to waive their right to sue or join a class action lawsuit to receive the monitoring.
An Equifax spokesperson said the waiver “applies to the free credit file monitoring and identity theft protection products, and not the cybersecurity incident.”
‘The language is broad’
However, that waiver may still limit the effectiveness of a new, multibillion-dollar proposed class action over the breach, or any other litigation stemming from the incident, according to F. Paul Bland, an attorney and executive director for Public Justice and an expert in arbitration cases.
“The language is broad,” he said. “An arbitrator, not a court, will probably decide it. Defendants win most challenges to scope of clause.” Bland said that he has lost many cases due to the generous scope afforded by arbitration agreements.
The broad language in the agreement makes it so that Equifax could change its mind down the road when facing severe legal liabilities, according to Bland. “Its lawyers may argue the opposite in a year and won’t be bound by what its press people said,” said Bland.
Even without signing up for TrustedID, consumers may not be able to sue if they’ve ever used Equifax’s products, which include credit scores and reporting. Equifax’sown terms of service mandate that consumers pursue arbitration rather than class-action lawsuits if they have disputes over the credit-monitoring company’s service.
‘A gross insult to customers’
Bland sees the offer of a free service as a ploy to cover liability.
“Under the guise of offering a year of credit monitoring, they’re trying to get consumers to sign or click something to get them to give up legal rights,” Bland said. “[Equifax] is tricking people that it’s helping them when they’re signing up to steal rights from them. It’s a gross insult to customers.”
After a breach like this, many consumers generally spring into action to prevent damage, by freezing credit reporting or by taking the steps recommended or offered by the hacked party. Equifax established a website specifically to deal with the breach. The TrustedID service is prominently linked and portrayed as a “complimentary” service (Trusted ID is a subsidiary of Equifax.)
Even if this doesn’t apply to TrustedID users, Equifax’s Terms of Use does
If Equifax is correct that the monitoring waiver is unconnected with the cybersecurity breach, suing over the data breach might be a problem because of the company’s own arbitration clause that relates to the use of Equifax’s services.
According to Bland, forced arbitration clauses are generally enforceable and enforced, unless the terms drafted by the lawyers somehow contain an error. Instead of taking place with a court and a judge, arbitration is a private process with an arbitrator and is generally preferred by companies as it can require individuals to each pursue restitution individually instead of banding together as a group.
Like many terms of use in fine print, Equifax does have an option to opt out. However, a consumer is required to send a letter within 30 days of agreement to opt out, something that is extremely unlikely.
‘The percentage of people who would get what it means is very small’
A day following the announcement of the data breach, the National Consumer Law Center called for Equifax to “immediately remove the forced arbitration clause and class action ban” from its terms of use.
In its 728-page 2015 report on arbitration clauses, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau found that the vast majority of people didn’t comprehend the clauses. In one study, 668 people were presented in a contract with an arbitration clause bolded and in all caps.
Just 43% of respondents indicated they knew an arbitration clause was present when asked a close-ended question, but just 14% actually understood that it foreclosed the right to sue. It’s important to note that these people had just read the terms, unlike many people who do not read the fine print.
“How many will click and find the arbitration?” said Bland. “Even if they did, the percentage who would get what it means is very small. They are trying to slip this by people.”
Earlier this year, the CFPB issued a new rule to make it easier to mount a class action against banks and financial institutions by banning forced arbitration. However, it doesn’t apply to credit reporting institutions, and is not in effect yet.
In a statement to Yahoo Finance, the CFPB said it was looking into the data breach and Equifax’s response. “The CFPB has authority over the consumer reporting industry, including supervisory and enforcement authority. The CFPB is authorized to take enforcement action against institutions engaged in unfair, deceptive, or abusive acts or practices, or that otherwise violate federal consumer financial laws.”
The Bureau also said that“it is troubling that Equifax is forcing people to waive legal rights in order to receive fraud monitoring after the company’s breach put their personal information at risk. Equifax could remove this clause so that consumers can receive this service without condition.”
Ethan Wolff-Mann is a writer at Yahoo Finance focusing on consumer issues, tech, and personal finance. Follow him on Twitter @ewolffmann. Got a tip? Send to: emann@oath.com.
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By Fio Borrelli
Hip Hop Vibe Staff Writer
One of the most-anticipated prison releases for a rapper is Lil’ Boosie. His release prompted the entire hip hop community to react. Former Cash Money Records star, Turk, even talked about it, telling B.G., and saying Boosie had next. In the South, Boosie is a major star and he owns the street scene.
Chatter on social networks said Lil’ Boosie’s popularity is close to that of Tupac during his day. This whole day has been outlined by Lil’ Boosie’s prison release and the reactions from people online. Tomorrow’s day will likely be outlined by Boosie’s blunder.
It’s an open secret that most rappers have special drugs they get their hands on. But, after defeating a murder and drug charge, one would think Lil’ Boosie would be more focused on getting back to his life than getting his medicine back. Wrong, Lil’ Boosie was caught with marijuana today and faces a minimum of two years in prison, with the arresting officer saying she couldn’t believe he had so much marijuana on him.
Follow Fio Borrelli on Twitter @Cali_Soul. |
Anaheim Ducks captain Ryan Getzlaf has been ruled out for Sunday's matchup with an upper-body injury, the Ducks announced.
Getzlaf's injury comes as a surprise. He's been on a roll this season with 10 goals and 22 points in 18 games. In fact, he's coming off a hat trick against the Buffalo Sabres on Friday. However, when he didn't skate with the team on Saturday the Ducks called it a "four-point maintenance day," indicating he was just getting time off as a reward. Now, we're not so sure.
The Ducks have already been hit with injuries this season. Dustin Penner recently returned from an upper-body injury and also had a nice four-point night on Friday. Goaltender Viktor Fasth participated in a full practice on Saturday, a good sign he'll be returning from a lower-body injury sometime in the near future. For now, Jonas Hiller is expected to start in net on Sunday.
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Scotland Yard has yet to release full details of the investigation
Three hundred staff at a company which supplies airline lounge services have had their airside security passes suspended, Sky News has learned.
Those affected are believed to be mainly cleaners and caterers.
Employer, Sodexo, says it is a precautionary measure and it follows news that police are investigating a scam involving airside security passes at Heathrow Airport.
Two young women, thought to be airport workers, have been arrested.
Heathrow said earlier that it had "taken appropriate action" until the police investigation is complete.
Scotland Yard would not reveal details of their suspicions around airside passes, but it is not thought to involve their illegal sale or cloning.
It could be part of a criminal plot - Heathrow was dubbed 'Thiefrow' after a string of thefts - but it will inevitably raise concerns about terrorism.
Kevin Hurley, former head of counter terrorism at the City of London Police, said: "It could be used to get close up to some of the high-value cargo areas and of course we have already had the Brink's Mat saga here once before.
"Billions go through this airport every year. But the real issue is the threat in terms of airport security; this is a potential serious breach for Heathrow Airport."
Lax airside security is thought to have allowed terrorists to put a bomb on a Russian passenger flight that blew up killing all 224 on board shortly after taking off from Sharm el Sheikh in Egypt last year.
2015: UK Suspends All Sharm Flights After Bombing
Evidence emerged after the launch a fortnight ago of a Heathrow fraud investigation and the questioning of the two suspects who were arrested on suspicion of fraud and money laundering.
The concern is believed to be around the processing of passes, which are issued to many of the airport's 70,000 workers employed on the airport's airside.
Permanent and temporary passes are given to flight crews, baggage handlers, shop and restaurant staff, hangar and ramp workers, cargo and security employees.
Holders are subject to strict vetting, including five years of employment references without gaps.
When they enter airside they are subject to the same security procedures as passengers, including metal-detector checks and the removal of shoes and belts.
Heathrow, formerly British Airports Authority, said: "We can't comment on the specifics of an ongoing police investigation.
"Our top priority is the security and safety of our passengers and colleagues and we have taken appropriate action until the investigation is completed."
Sky News Foreign Affairs Editor Sam Kiley On Airport Security
The Department for Transport said: "We are aware of this issue. Safety and security of passengers is our priority.
"We keep aviation security under constant review, but as this matter is the subject of an ongoing police investigation we are unable to comment further at this time."
Scotland Yard said it arrested two women, aged 24 and 20, last week and bailed them until November.
A spokesperson said: "They have been arrested in relation to an allegation that money has been fraudulently taken from a bank account. Other matters have come to light during the enquiries and form part of the ongoing investigation." |
Gerald Goffin (February 11, 1939 – June 19, 2014) was an American lyricist. Writing initially with his wife Carole King, he co-wrote many international pop hits of the early and mid-1960s, including the US No.1 hits "Will You Love Me Tomorrow", "Take Good Care of My Baby", "The Loco-Motion", and "Go Away Little Girl". It was later said of Goffin that his gift was "to find words that expressed what many young people were feeling but were unable to articulate."[1]
After he and King divorced, Goffin wrote with other composers, including Barry Goldberg and Michael Masser, with whom he wrote "Theme from Mahogany (Do You Know Where You're Going To)" and "Saving All My Love for You", also No.1 hits. During his career Goffin wrote over 114 Billboard Hot 100 hits, including eight chart-toppers, and 72 UK hits.[2] He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990, with Carole King.
Biography [ edit ]
Early life [ edit ]
Goffin was born to a Jewish family[3] in Brooklyn, New York, United States, and grew up in Queens after his parents' divorce.[4] In his teen years, he did some work for his grandfather, a furrier who was a Russian Jewish immigrant.[5] He enlisted in the Marine Corps Reserve after graduating from Brooklyn Technical High School. After spending a year at the U.S. Naval Academy as a member of the Class of 1961, he resigned from the Navy to study chemistry at Queens College.[6]
Partnership with Carole King [ edit ]
At college he met Carol Klein, who had started writing songs under the name Carole King. They began collaborating on songwriting, with King writing the music and Goffin the lyrics, and began a relationship. When King became pregnant, they left college and married in August 1959 when he was 20 and she was 17. Goffin began working with a chemicals manufacturer, and wrote the lyrics for Carole King's 1959 single "Oh Neil", an answer song to her friend Neil Sedaka's "Oh! Carol". Goffin added the words to the tune written by Sedaka and Howard Greenfield, who both worked under Don Kirshner at the Aldon music publishing company in Manhattan; the single's B-side, "A Very Special Boy", was a Goffin-King composition.[7] Although the record was not a hit, the couple both secured contracts to write songs professionally at Aldon.[4][8]
Goffin at first worked with other writers including Barry Mann and Jack Keller, but he and Carole King soon established themselves as a successful writing team. The partnership's breakthrough hit was "Will You Love Me Tomorrow", for which Goffin wrote the lyrics. The song was recorded by the Shirelles and went to number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in January 1961. Goffin and King formed one of the most successful songwriting partnerships of the period, with hit songs including: "Take Good Care of My Baby" (a hit for Bobby Vee), "Halfway to Paradise" (Tony Orlando, Billy Fury), "The Loco-Motion" (Little Eva, and later Grand Funk Railroad and Kylie Minogue), "Go Away Little Girl" (Steve Lawrence, and later Donny Osmond), "Don't Say Nothin' Bad (About My Baby)" (the Cookies), "It Might as Well Rain Until September" (Carole King), "One Fine Day" (the Chiffons), "Up on the Roof" (the Drifters and later James Taylor), "I'm into Something Good" (Herman's Hermits, but recorded first by Earl-Jean McCrea under the name Earl-Jean), "Don't Bring Me Down" (the Animals), "Oh No Not My Baby" (Maxine Brown, and later Rod Stewart), "Goin' Back" (Dusty Springfield, The Byrds), "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman" (Aretha Franklin), and "Pleasant Valley Sunday" (the Monkees).[6][9] Goffin and King also wrote several songs jointly with record producer Phil Spector.[9] In 1963, John Lennon was quoted as saying that he wanted Paul McCartney and himself to become "the Goffin-King of England".[4]
In 1964, Goffin fathered a daughter with singer Jeanie Reavis (whose recording of I'm into Something Good preceded Herman's Hermits' better-known version), but he and King remained together for several years before divorcing in 1969.[8] Goffin later said in an interview in Vanity Fair that he "wanted to be a hippie—grew my hair long—and Carole did it modestly... And then I started taking LSD and mescaline. And Carole and I began to grow apart because she felt that she had to say things herself. She had to be her own lyricist."[4] According to King's memoir, Goffin suffered from mental illness following ingestion of LSD, eventually undergoing treatment with lithium and electroshock therapy, and was diagnosed with manic depression. His drug use affected his health, and he was hospitalized for a time.[4]
Other collaborations [ edit ]
Goffin also worked successfully with other composers in the early 1960s, including Barry Mann ("Who Put the Bomp (in the Bomp, Bomp, Bomp)") and Jack Keller ("Run to Him").[9]
After splitting from King, Goffin released a solo album in 1973, It Ain't Exactly Entertainment, but it was not successful, and he began working with other composers, including Russ Titelman, Barry Goldberg, and then Michael Masser.[10] He and Masser won an Academy Award nomination in 1976 for the theme to the film Mahogany, sung by Diana Ross; and also wrote "Saving All My Love for You", a worldwide hit for Whitney Houston, "Tonight, I Celebrate My Love", and "Nothing's Gonna Change My Love for You". Goffin and Masser also received a Golden Globe nomination for "So Sad the Song" from the 1976 Gladys Knight film Pipe Dreams.[9]
Goffin co-wrote three songs for the soundtrack to Grace of My Heart, a 1996 movie whose principal character's life paralleled that of Carole King in many ways.
Later life [ edit ]
Goffin and King were inducted together into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1987, and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990.[4]
In 1996 he released his second solo album, Back Room Blood, which he said was inspired by his anger at conservative gains in the 1994 congressional elections.[11] The album was mostly co-written with Barry Goldberg, but included two songs co-written with Bob Dylan, "Tragedy of the Trade" and "Masquerade". Goffin described Dylan as "sort of like a god to me".[11] Goffin was one of the first people to take notice of Kelly Clarkson's talent and had hired her to do demo work before she auditioned for American Idol in 2002.[12]
Personal life [ edit ]
Gerry Goffin was married to Carole King between 1959 and 1969; they had two daughters, singer-songwriter Louise Goffin and Sherry Goffin Kondor.[10] Goffin also had a daughter, Dawn, with Jeanie Reavis (Earl-Jean McCrea). He married Barbara Behling in the early 1970s and had a son, Jesse Dean Goffin, in 1976. They divorced later that decade. Goffin then married songwriter Ellen Minasian in the 1980s and had one daughter, Lauren, in 1984.[13][14] Following their divorce he married actress Michele Conaway (the sister of Jeff Conaway) in 1995.[15][16]
Death [ edit ]
Goffin died on June 19, 2014 in Los Angeles, California, at the age of 75. His death was announced by his wife, Michele. No cause was specified.[17] He left a wife, one son, four daughters, and six grandchildren.[10]
Tributes [ edit ]
On hearing of his death, Carole King said that Goffin was her "first love" and had a "profound impact" on her life."[18] She went on to say, "His words expressed what so many people were feeling but didn’t know how to say... Gerry was a good man and a dynamic force, whose words and creative influence will resonate for generations to come."[10] Barry Goldberg, who wrote many later songs with Goffin, said "Gerry was one of the greatest lyricists of all time and my true soul brother."[18]
See also [ edit ]
Discography [ edit ]
Singles and EPs [ edit ]
It's Not The Spotlight (1973), Adelphi Records Inc – AD-452
(1973), Adelphi Records Inc – AD-452 Back Room Blood (The CD Single) (1996), Genes Records – GCD 4532
Albums [ edit ]
It Ain't Exactly Entertainment (1973), Adelphi Records Inc – AD4102 (double vinyl album)
(1973), Adelphi Records Inc – AD4102 (double vinyl album) Back Room Blood (1996), Genes Records – GCD 4132
(1996), Genes Records – GCD 4132 It Ain't Exactly Entertainment Demo & Other Sessions (2010) Big Pink – BIG PINK 92 (CD, Album) |
The entire purpose of the websites is to attract users with the free means of copying content, the judge said
A court in the U.K. has ordered key Internet service providers in the country to block three torrent sites on a complaint from music labels including EMI Records and Sony Music.
The High Court of Justice, Chancery Division, ordered six ISPs including Virgin Media, British Telecommunications and British Sky Broadcasting to block H33t, Kickass Torrents and Fenopy, according to court records on the website of the non-profit British and Irish Legal Information Institute.
Infringement is not merely an inevitable consequence of the helpfully indexed and arranged torrent files provided by the websites, the judge wrote in his judgment on Thursday.
"The entire purpose of each of the Websites is to attract users to them by providing those users with the free means of copying and making available content which people are interested in and would otherwise pay money for," he added, while pointing out to the substantial advertising revenue earned by the websites. He said he was satisfied that both the users and the operators of the websites use the services of the ISPs to infringe the claimants' copyrights.
The judge also noted that he was satisfied that the defendant ISPs know that users and the operators of the websites use their services to infringe copyright. Before the commencement of the proceedings, the labels, through BPI (British Phonographic Industry), wrote to each of the defendants specifically drawing their attention to the use by subscribers of their services to infringe BPI members' copyrights through access to the websites, he said.
BPI's bid to get court orders to block torrent sites follows a ruling in April last year ordering ISPs in the U.K. to block access to The Pirate Bay. In 2011, BT was ordered to block another website called Newzbin2.
The evidence indicates that blocking orders are reasonably effective, the judge said, referring to blocks of The Pirate Bay and Kickass Torrents in Italy.
Digital rights organization, Open Rights Group, said Thursday that blocking is an "extreme response," which will encourage new forms of distributed infringement. The tactics of BPI and others could legitimize and promote resistance to their actions, it said in a blog post.
Illegal music file sharing declined significantly last year, with the number of consumers using peer-to-peer services to download music down 17 percent in 2012 from a year earlier, according to the NPD Group. The primary reason for the reduced sharing activity, which saw the volumes of illegal downloads of music files from P2P services also drop, was an increased use of free, legal music streaming services, it added.
John Ribeiro covers outsourcing and general technology breaking news from India for The IDG News Service. Follow John on Twitter at @Johnribeiro. John's e-mail address is john_ribeiro@idg.com |
The 25 Documentaries That Most Inspire Other Doc Filmmakers
Cinema Eye Honors, the organization that hosts the documentary community’s very own awards show has for several years asking its members what documentary films most inspire them.
Earlier this week, Cinema Eye released the list to The Wrap, where Cinema Eye co-founder AJ Schnack (the director of “Caucus” and “Kurt Cobain: About a Son”) said, “For the last few years we’ve been asking eligible directors to tell us
what films inspire them, to help guide us to the films we should
consider for our Legacy Award. The list is always interesting, and it changes a little bit
each year – so as we were thinking about this year, we thought, why
don’t we actually release the list to show what films are foremost in
filmmakers’ minds from one year to the next?”
Take a look at The Wrap’s full coverage of the list here.
“American Movie” / Chris Smith (1999)
“Bowling for Columbine” / Michael Moore (2002)
“Brother’s Keeper” / Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky (1992)
“Burden of Dreams” / Les Blank (1982)
“Capturing the Friedmans” / Andrew Jarecki (2003)
“Crumb” / Terry Zwigoff (1994)
“Don’t Look Back” / D A Pennebaker (1967)
“F for Fake” / Orson Welles (1973)
“The Fog of War” / Errol Morris (2003)
“Gimme Shelter” / Albert Maysles, David Maysles and Charlotte Zwerin (1970)
“Grey Gardens” / Albert Maysles, David Maysles, Ellen Hovde and Muffie Meyer (1975)
“Grizzly Man” / Werner Herzog (2005)
“Harlan County, USA” / Barbara Kopple (1976)
“Hearts and Minds” / Peter Davis (1974)
“Hoop Dreams” / Steve James (1994)
“Man WIth a Movie Camera” / Dziga Vertov (1929)
“Night and Fog” / Alain Resnais (1955)
“Salesman” / Albert Maysles, David Maysles and Charlotte Zwerin (1968)
“Sans Soleil” / Chris Marker (1983)
“Sherman’s March” / Ross McElwee (1985)
“Shoah” / Claude Lanzmann (1985)
“The Thin Blue Line” / Errol Morris (1988)
“Titicut Follies” / Frederick Wiseman (1967)
“The War Room” / Chris Hegedus and D A Pennebaker (1993)
“When We Were Kings” / Leon Gast (1996)
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DAVOS, Switzerland (Reuters) - Cyprus President Nikos Anastasiades said on Wednesday he aims to achieve a peace settlement with the Turkish Cypriots this year to reunite the divided east Mediterranean island and he urged the international community to help fund a deal.
President Nicos Anastasiades of Cyprus addresses attendees during the 70th session of the United Nations General Assembly at the U.N. Headquarters in New York, September 29, 2015. REUTERS/Carlo Allegri
In an interview with Reuters on the eve of an unprecedented joint appearance with Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci before global political and business leaders at the World Economic Forum in Davos, he also said he expected Britain to contribute by giving up some of the land it uses for sovereign bases in Cyprus, a former British colony.
“At the moment now in our neighborhood we are witnessing many clashes and enormous bloodshed. Both of us agree, I myself and Mustafa (Akinci), we are working tirelessly in order to find a solution and a model of how coexistence could be between Christians and Muslims in peace,” Anastasiades said.
He declined to give a detailed timeframe for a deal, saying there were still difficult differences to resolve, notably around the return of property and compensation.
“We are working hard. We have made progress. But there are still differences. It’s not an easy problem. Therefore what I’m expecting and what I wish is within this year, 2016, to find a solution. But no time limits or timeframes,” the president said.
Cyprus has been split since Turkey invaded the north in 1974 in response to a short-lived coup in Nicosia by Greek Cypriots backed by the then military rulers in Greece.
A previous attempt to negotiate a solution, just before Cyprus joined the European Union in 2004, foundered when Greek Cypriots voted to reject a United Nations-backed peace plan that was accepted by the Turkish Cypriots.
Asked why he thought prospects were better now, Anastasiades said he expected any new agreement would address the reasons why Greek Cypriots had rejected the previous plan.
He also said Cyprus’ need for international investment as it emerges from an EU/IMF bailout program following a banking collapse in 2014, along with the discovery of substantial offshore gas reserves, offered new incentives for a settlement.
“SAME VISION”
Both sides wanted to find solutions without winners and losers, he said, underlining his personal respect for Akinci.
“I have to admit that the new Turkish Cypriot leader, Mr Akinci, is a man with whom I can share the same vision for the reunification of the island, for a solution that will create a model state, a European state which will respect human rights. All these are elements which were missing in 2004,” he said.
Asked what support they would seek in Davos, he said any Cyprus deal would require “billions of euros” in financial aid.
Cyprus would also need expertise and advice from the World Bank and International Monetary Fund and investment in its economic recovery.
Anastasiades said Turkey, which still has more than 30,000 troops on the island, was using “positive” rhetoric, but added: “What we need now is to see in practice some movement.”
Cyprus would lift its obstruction of Turkey’s European Union accession negotiations and become Ankara’s strongest supporter for EU membership if it facilitated a peace deal, he said.
“I do believe that the hydrocarbon discoveries are one more incentive we have and why Turkey should help us in finding a solution,” he added.
Asked how Britain, which has two sprawling military bases on Cyprus that it uses to monitor communications in the Middle East and stage air operations, could help a peace deal, Anastasiades said: “In return of land, and of course in expertise.”
He said London had already signaled readiness to help. |
Arsenal striker Takuma Asano is set to spend another year on loan at Stuttgart, the German club have said.
Asano, 22, joined Arsenal from Sanfrecce Hiroshima last summer before being sent on loan to Stuttgart.
The Japan international scored four goals in 26 games last season to help Stuttgart gain promotion to the Bundesliga and he will get another chance to impress for them next term.
"Takuma Asano will play for us also in the upcoming season. We've talked this over with himself, his agent and FC Arsenal," Stuttgart sporting director Jan Schindelmeister told Bild.
Takuma Asano was sent on loan by Arsenal to Stuttgart last summer.
According to Bild, the two-year loan deal could only have been ended early if Stuttgart did not gain promotion, Asano did not make enough appearances, or if the forward was granted a work permit to play in England, which he has not.
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger made it clear when he bought Asano that he was not in his immediate plans, calling him "a talented young striker and very much one for the future."
Wenger added: "He has had an impressive start to his career in Japan and we look forward to him developing over the next couple of years."
Asano scored 11 goals in 56 J-League games for Sanfrecce, where he earned the nickname "the Jaguar" because his goal celebration consisted of forming his hands into claws.
Mattias is ESPN FC's Arsenal correspondent. Follow him on Twitter: @MattiasKaren. |
UK retailer Phones4u is starting to prepare for Windows Phone 8 's arrival by setting up demo stands and promotion material in stores across the country. We've been sent in a collection of shots that show pricing, availability and exclusivity of the Lumia 920 - it's not all bad news.
While EE holds the Lumia 920 exclusively for its UK 4G LTE launch, both Orange and T-Mobile will sport 3G plans for those who don't wish to use higher speeds, or pay the premium that comes with. If that wasn't enough options, Phones4u is also offering the Lumia 920 SIM-free too, as well as carrying the device for EE and sister networks.
Poor sod has just worked out data limits on EE's 4G plans
Pricing of the Lumia 920 start at free on tariffs of £36/month or above, which isn't such a steep hill until you take a quick gander at what's included. This is what you'd be have on your account, should you take the Lumia 920 or Lumia 820 out on EE (including unlimited SMS and calls):
£36 - 500MB
£41 - 1GB
£46 - 3GB
£51 - 5GB
£56 - 8GB
While unlimited amount of SMS and calls is an attractive setup, the fact that only 500MBs of data is included on the cheapest plan (which isn't 'cheap' by any means) makes one reconsider options.
Thankfully there are no restrictions on how data can be used - VoIP, tethering, etc. is all within the plans. Also, BT Wi-fi is also included at no extra cost, providing access to millions of wireless hotspots across the UK, which will save some MBs. But even then it's a tight restriction level. You could always purchase the Lumia 920 (or Lumia 820) SIM-free and then pick up a SIM-only plan from EE, which will save a few pennies:
£21 - 500MB
£26 - 1GB
£31 - 3GB
£36 - 5GB
Lumia 920 pricing (left) and HTC stand (right)
Purchasing the Lumia 920 SIM-free from Phones4u will set one back by £459. According to material sent to us, the Lumia 920 is exclusively available in yellow and red at the UK retailer (white is reserved for EE only).
We've also been told that the launch of the Lumia 920 on EE (as well as Orange and T-Mobile) is today, October 30th, though the website doesn't yet reflect this. We'll be heading down to one of the stores to confirm.
Thanks, John, for the photos and info! |
The Harper government’s quiet confirmation last week that it will not support an extension of the Kyoto Protocol on greenhouse gas emissions after 2012 barely caused a ripple in Canada.
Ottawa, which had already announced it would not meet the binding emissions cuts it committed to under the first round of Kyoto, joined the U.S., Russia and Japan in rejecting an extension of the international agreement at the UN preparatory climate change conference in Bonn, Germany.
And few headlines were written about a report last week by the International Energy Agency that found fossil fuel emissions hit record highs last year, topping 30 gigatons, about 5 percent more than the previous record set in 2008.
Hot off a Conservative majority win and an election campaign that offered only boilerplate homage to climate change policies, it appears that global warming is not top of mind for many Canadians.
Indeed, it sometimes takes the mercury to rise to record-breaking heat, as it did in parts of Ontario last week, or wild weather events like tornadoes and the flooding in Manitoba and Quebec, to spark a renewed interest in the subject.
Of course, climate change is measured by centuries, not whether or not it rained on Victoria Day or the air conditioning kicked in a few months early. But those first-hand weather experiences make Canadians skeptical about global warming, says Peter Holle, founding president of the Frontier Centre for Public Policy, a Winnipeg-based public-policy think-tank.
His organization takes a strongly cynical stance on global warming and has recruited a slate of scientists who argue that cooling and warming cycles are part of the earth’s normal pattern.
“Carbon dioxide is not the pollutant source of global warming,” posits Holle, adding that Canadians are more focused on the economy than the environment.
That skepticism is being echoed in other parts of the world. In England, the government adviser in charge of overhauling the school syllabus has suggested climate should not be included in the school curriculum.
Tim Oates told The Guardian today the national curriculum needs “to get back to the science in science. “We have believed that we need to keep the national curriculum up to date with topical issues, but oxidation and gravity don't date," he said. "We are not taking it back 100 years; we are taking it back to the core stuff. The curriculum has become narrowly instrumentalist."
Clare Demerse, acting director for climate change at the Pembina Institute’s Ottawa offices, says it’s only a matter of time before we’re all talking again about global warming.
“Climate change is not as trendy as it was,” she says. “But that’s normal. All issues go through a cycle where they are at top and then fall off and that’s where we are now. It will be back up there again.”
Demerse refuses to limit the climate change debate to a choice between the environment and the economy.
“The old school argument is you either have the environment or the economy, not both” she says. “But that’s not true anymore. With a sustainable economy you can have both.”
Though climate change may not be top of mind for Canadians, we’re still more likely to believe the issue is a real, ongoing concern than our American cousins. A joint study released in April found American belief in climate change declined in lock step with the shrinking economy between 2008 and 2010.
Canadians remained fairly consistent in their recognition of the issue, though it could also be argued that the recession’s impact was not as severe here as it was south of the 49th Parallel.
The study also found Canadians are more willing than our American cousins to pay for energy from renewable sources.
The biggest split in opinion was over the question of a carbon tax or cap-and-trade scheme.
While most Americans do not support such policy options, a majority of Canadians said they would support them, even if it came with a cost of $50 per month in energy expenses.
That might be news to former Liberal leader Stéphane Dion, whose 2008 platform promise to make polluters pay a carbon tax helped sink his election campaign. A companion policy, which sought to shift $15.4-billion in tax burdens away from individuals as compensation, was lost in the hue and cry.
The Conference Board of Canada reported earlier this month that while all three levels of government spend a lot money and time trying to adapt and anticipate what climate change might mean to them, they’re not coordinated and not going at it efficiently.
What’s needed, the report says, is a carbon pricing scheme like those in place in B.C. and Quebec. Alberta also has a program for large green house has emitters.
But as Dion learned, testing the resolve of the Canadian electorate on their climate change convictions can have steep political costs. For the Conservatives, there’s little incentive to rock this particular boat. |
With the first half of the 2014-15 season complete, we took the opportunity to reflect on some of our favorite memories from a wildly entertaining and successful start to the regular season.
So, without any further ado, here they are, the top 10 plays/moments from the first 41 games of 2014-15.
1. The Triplets are born
Unremarkable at the time, the formation of the Triplets Line -- Ondrej Palat, Tyler Johnson and Nikita Kucherov -- at Winnipeg on Oct. 24 has been the major development of the first half of the season. The combination has been, arguably, the best line in the NHL this season.
2. Johnson hat trick downs Pittsburgh
Tampa Bay had lost six of its previous eight entering a mid-season showdown against the Metropolitan Division-leading Penguins, but Tyler Johnson broke the Lightning out of their slump, providing the scoring punch with his second career hat trick in a 4-3 win over Pittsburgh (Dec. 23). The Bolts have since won five of six.
3. Tampa Bay’s three-game sweep of the Rangers
We couldn’t differentiate between three meetings with the New York Rangers, so we combined all of them into one. Ryan Callahan, Brian Boyle and Anton Stralman made their triumphant return to Madison Square Garden in a 5-1 win (Nov. 17). Former Bolts’ captain Marty St. Louis was shutout in his first game back in Tampa Bay, a 4-3 Lightning win (Nov. 27). The Lightning completed the sweep with a 6-3 dismantling of New York at MSG (Dec. 1).
4. Lightning rout Montreal 7-1
Tampa Bay still had visions of the Canadiens’ four-game sweep in the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals from six months earlier in its head when it met up with Montreal for the first time in 2014-15. The Lightning pounded the visitors 7-1, serving notice the Bolts would be no pushover this season.
5. 4-3 shootout win in Detroit caps a six-game win streak
Tampa Bay’s only shootout victory of the first half of the season put a bow on an impressive 13-day stretch for the Lightning in which they scored 30 goals to win six-straight games.
6. Vasilevskiy impresses in NHL debut
Rookie goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy was recalled from Syracuse on Dec. 16 after an injury sidelined Ben Bishop, and the Russian made his NHL debut later that night in Philadelphia, stopping 23 shots to win his first game in the league. Vasilevskiy went on to win three of his first four starts in the NHL.
7. Drouin scores first NHL goal
It didn’t take highly-touted Lightning prospect Jonathan Drouin long to make an impact after joining the Bolts on Oct. 19. In his third NHL game (Oct. 24 at Winnipeg), the No. 3 pick in the 2013 NHL Draft rifled a shot from the left circle past Jets goalie Ondrej Pavelec for his first league goal.
8. Nabokov makes an unreal save against Devils
Backup goalie Evgeni Nabokov provided the Lightning with the best save of the first half of the 2014-15 season. Nabokov, a 14-year NHL vet, slid over to deny New Jersey’s Michael Ryder of a sure goal, using the narrow shaft of his goalie stick to keep Ryder’s doorstep shot out of the net.
9. Stamkos’ super score sinks Sens
In the final game of the first half of the season, Lightning captain Steven Stamkos took possession of the puck in the offensive zone against Ottawa, skated behind the net and came all the way around in front through the left circle before depositing the puck past the Senators’ Robin Lehner at the far post.
10. Paquette pushes two past Hiller
Cedric Paquette became just the third player in Lightning history to score his first two NHL goals in the same game -- joining Stamkos (Oct. 30, 2008, vs. Buffalo) and Mark Barberio (Jan. 19, 2014, at Carolina) – after beating Calgary goalie Jonas Hiller twice in a 5-2 win over the Flames on November 6.
Did we miss your favorite moment? Feel like one should be ranked higher (or lower)? Let us know in the comment section below. |
[oldembed src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/8ZUn1tS3SH4" width="425" height="300" resize="1" fid="21"]
Watch voters get turned away from Nan Hayworth's office because it's "private property."
If there are common rhetorical themes in what passes for Republican discourse, two spring to mind. The first is the idea of something being "rammed down" their throats (I am, of course, much too discreet to speculate as to what lies behind that one), and the second, of course, is the idea of committing some act of violence against women—because as usual, they're asking for it. Here's yet another example of the latter, from the spokesman for wacky Nan Hayworth, via TPM:
Jay Townsend, a campaign spokesman for Republican Rep. Nan Hayworth (NY-19), weighed in on a local Facebook discussion with a violent comment about Democratic women in Congress, and his suggestion is now earning the congresswoman condemnation from one of her Democratic challengers.The Facebook page, called NY19 U.S. House of Representatives Discussion Center, encourages “civil multi-partisan discussion about issues impacting citizens of New York’s U.S. House District represented by Republican Congresswoman Nan Hayworth.” On it, a question about gas prices was also critical of Hayworth. Townsend responded to one commenter, Tom, by bringing up the “war on women” and suggested they “hurl some acid at those female democratic Senators.”The comment: Listen to Tom. What a little bee he has in his bonnet. Buzz Buzz. My question today … when is Tommy boy going to weigh in on all the Lilly Ledbetter hypocrites who claim to be fighting the War on Women? Let’s hurl some acid at those female democratic Senators who won’t abide the mandates they want to impose on the private sector. Richard Becker, one of several Democratic candidates vying to challenge Hayworth, went after Hayworth over Townsend’s comment via his campaign’s spokesman Barry Caro.
Becker is pushing Hayworth on why she hasn't fired Townsend. I wonder what will happen. |
Some sit individually in trees while are clustered in sets, branching out like leaves on a building facade or hung like ivy off the sides of structures, but all of these diverse birdhouses share something in common: a single creative mind that has been working on them for years.
Street artist and designer Thomas Dambo’s Happy City Birds project is an ongoing ode to both cities and their avian inhabitants. He specializes in recycled artworks for humans as well as animals, ranging from small interventions like these to huge climbable sculptures.
Started in 2006, “the idea for Happy City Birds sprung from Thomas being a former graffiti artist, and was looking for a way to do street art in a positive way, that everyone can understand.” As with his other projects, these “birdhouses are made from recycled materials and scrap wood.”
His artist statements, like his kid-friendly creations, are not without a sense of childlike wonder and good humor. “One day Thomas felt that he wanted to know how it was to be a bird, so he built a giant birdhouse that he could hang out in. The house he build solely using recycled materials and put it up near Dronning Louises bridge in Copenhagen.”
A lot of these birdhouses are located in Arken, Denmark but they are also spread across other cities including Copenhagen, Aarhus, Odense, Horsens, Beirut and Berlin. |
A spate of shootings Friday night and early Saturday in the District left three men dead and three others injured, outbursts of violence that police are investigating as separate and unrelated cases.
D.C. police said there were several other shootings overnight but are uncertain of the motives. The three fatal shootings happened in three quadrants over several hours.
Bryan Perkins, 18, of Northeast was killed about 9 p.m. Friday on Edgewood Street NE, in the Edgewood neighborhood. Just before 1 a.m., Wesley West, 25, of Southeast was shot on 13th Place SE in Congress Heights, and about 2 a.m., Charles Douglas, 33, of District Heights was killed on Riggs Street NW, about halfway between Logan Circle and U Street NW.
Three other men were shot and wounded where Perkins was killed and were taken to a hospital. Police did not have updated information on their conditions Saturday afternoon.
The violent night came during an increase in the city’s homicides. As of the end of June, homicides were up 20 percent in the District compared with the same time period last year. About 30 people were killed in the District between May and the end of June.
[Homicides up 20 percent in D.C. this year, with nearly 30 killed since May 1]
The number of homicides is on track to surpass that of recent years. In 2014, 105 people were killed in the city. The 2013 count was similar — 104, which included the 12 victims of the Washington Navy Yard shootings. The District had a 40-year low in 2012, when 88 people were killed.
D.C. Council member Kenyan R. McDuffie (D-Ward 5) called the slew of shootings a result of senseless violence.
“The recent spike in crime in our city is unacceptable,” McDuffie said in a statement. “Let us come together as a community to stem the tide so we no longer have to wake up to news like this.”
Perkins, who lived in Edgewood, graduated from Eastern High School this year and had been on its football team. Friends and family said he was planning to attend college in the fall and hoped to start a fashion business, having launched a clothing line in high school.
“He cared about everyone. He was respectful, well-mannered, funny,” said Passion Perkins, a cousin. “Just happy, all around. Just happy.”
Kourtni Stewart, also one of Perkins’s cousins, described him as goofy but dedicated to the fashion industry. Stewart said he had created a pair of shoes in collaboration with Adidas, mixing pink, purple and green snakeskin and sporting gold stripes.
“He loved fashion,” Stewart said. “He loved to look good. . . . He loved labels. Whatever was fly to him, that was his style.”
Perkins was with a friend outside his mother’s house, talking on the phone to his girlfriend. She called 911 when the connection dropped, Stewart said.
“You can’t even go outside and walk your dogs without looking behind your back,” Stewart said.
This was not the first time Perkins’s family has had to cope with violent tragedy close to home. His older brother, Dezmine, was fatally shot in 2010 a block from where Perkins was slain. Dezmine Perkins was 16.
“I wouldn’t even say they were at the wrong place at the wrong time — they weren’t,” Stewart said. “This is where they live; this is where their moms live.”
Stewart said that the Perkins brothers, as well as the three others shot in Edgewood, were not the type to be involved in violence. “That was the most unexpected thing ever,” Stewart said. “These are not street guys. They don’t sell drugs or get locked up. These are young boys that went to school, helped older people with their groceries and had manners.”
McDuffie said that too many families in the District have been enduring multiple tragedies but that the violent crimes are not raising the kind of alarms they should because of their increasing volume. “When you grow up in the District, you need to know that this kind of violence is not a normal part of life,” McDuffie said in an interview.
Council member Jack Evans (D-Ward 2) said in a statement that Douglas was sitting in his car when he was shot on Riggs Street.
“We have worked too hard for too long to combat the terrible crime that once plagued our city,” Evans said.
The community where Douglas was shot had hosted a meeting July 9 to talk about crime. A similar meeting is scheduled for the night of July 30 at New Samaritan Baptist Church on Florida Avenue NE.
[From the archives: Teens who left trouble behind get recognition and a reminder]
West, who was killed in Southeast, had at one point worked with the nonprofit group Peaceoholics to help curb violence in his neighborhood of Congress Park. In 2007, West, then 17, told The Washington Post that after running into trouble at Ballou Senior High School, he worked to straighten himself out and was speaking with teens about preventing neighborhood conflicts from turning violent.
Ron Moten, the co-founder of Peaceoholics, said he last saw West in 2011 when he checked in with the group.
“It seemed like he was going down the right direction,” Moten said. “He was working to better his life.”
“Wesley wasn’t about going out to hurt nobody, but it’s a culture,” Moten said.
According to Moten, West had recently been working in construction and had just become a father.
Family and friends of Douglas and West did not respond to requests for comment Saturday. |
Frazer Harrison/Getty Images
There’s a school of thought that says that Donald Trump’s Twitter feed is some sort of diabolical master plan to distract the media from the impending doom his administration is bringing. This, to put it bluntly, is nonsense. First of all, as Josh Levin pointed out, Trump also tweets about his own scandals. Mostly, though, it’s offensive to attribute some kind of super villain master plan to a man whose concerns are so transparently petty.
But one way of understanding Trump’s twitter feed might be to consider the possibility that he sees himself as a scheming, evil mastermind. That’s the only context in which Trump’s bizarre, paranoid New Year’s wishes “to my many enemies” make sense.
Happy New Year to all, including to my many enemies and those who have fought me and lost so badly they just don't know what to do. Love! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 31, 2016
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Mark Hamill, who, in addition to his Star Wars work, has been quietly doing excellent voice work as the Joker in Batman cartoons and video games, made the connection, recording Trump’s tweet in the voice of the Joker. |
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