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Each week in our new column, "No Sleep Til...," we'll be talking to cool kids around the globe, asking them to fill us in about the bands, DJs, music venues and night spots they and their friends are obsessing over. Next time you visit their home city, leave your Fodor's and Lonely Planet guides behind and go party like a local instead.
Name?
Rey Pila -- "Alexander" / "Lady In Red"
</div> <br/><font style="font-size: 1.25em;"><a href="http://joevolume.bandcamp.com/">Joe Volume</a> -- "Oh Lord"</font><br/><br/> <div style="text-align: center;"><font style="font-size: 1.5625em;"><span style="display:block;position:relative;padding-top:56.25%;" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="P967XF1551242429"><iframe lazy-loadable="true" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/D1pbrXhe02Y?rel=0?enablejsapi=1" width="100%" height="auto" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;"> <br/><br/></font><div align="left"><font style="font-size: 1.5625em;"><a href="http://www.bungalow.de/losfancyfree/bio.htm">Los Fancy Free</a> -- "Temporary Secretary"</font><br/></div></div><br/> <div style="text-align: center;"> </div><br/><font style="font-size: 1.25em;"><a href="https://myspace.com/titantitan">Titán</a> -- "Corazon"<br/><br/> </font><div style="text-align: center;"><font style="font-size: 1.5625em;"> </font></div><br/><font style="font-size: 1.25em;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/losinfierno">Los Infierno</a> -- "Soy el Rock n Roll"</font><br/><br/> <div style="text-align: center;"> <br/><br/></div><font style="font-size: 1.5625em;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Rebolledo/33562199144">Rebolledo</a> -- "Guerrero"<br/><br/> </font><div style="text-align: center;"><font style="font-size: 1.5625em;"> </font></div> <br/><font style="font-size: 1.25em;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/denalgas">De Nalgas</a> -- "Promesas y Perdones"</font><br/><br/> <div style="text-align: center;"> </div> <br/><font style="font-size: 1.25em;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/discoruido">Disco Ruido</a> -- "Mrs Love"<br/> <br/><br/><font style="font-size: 0.8em;"><i>Check out Diego's nightlife listings:</i></font><br/></font><br/><a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/El-Imperial/134411983251080">Imperial</a>, Alvaro Obregón 293 esq. Oaxaca, Mexico City <br/><br/><a href="https://www.facebook.com/caraduramx">Caradura</a>, Nuevo León 73. Colonia Condesa., Mexico City<br/><br/><a href="http://www.theunder.org/under3/index.php">El Real Underground</a>, Monterrey n°80 and Oaxaca 137 Col. Roma, Mexico City<br/><br/><a data-ls-seen="1" href="http://www.papermag.com/2013/05/more_from_our_no_sleep_til_ser.php"><font style="font-size: 1.25em;"><b>More from our 'No Sleep Til...' series including nightlife and music in Paris, Mumbai, Seoul, Bogotá and more!</b></font></a><br/>
Diego Solórzano29Mexico CityI'm a musician in the band. [and Rebolledo . My first band (Los Dynamite) was a bit punk so we played in a lot of punk venues around the city so that's how I got to meet Joe Volume. He's a very talented musician that just moved to L.A. Los Infierno and De Nalgas are a couple of local punk bands that I met the same way I met Joe. Los Fancy Free is an awesome New Wave/Pop/Punk band that I met through the owner of a cool indie record label called Noiselab. Titán is an OG band in Mexico, they released only one album a while ago but the songs still sound new and fresh. I haven't heard another band like that anywhere in the world. Disco Ruido and Rebolledo are two of the best dance acts in Mexico, people love them. They can bring the party. Joe Volume sounds like Wire on acid. Los Fancy Free is more all over the place but in a good way. Titán sounds like early Beck. Los Infierno are as classic as it gets with punk. Rebolledo is signed to Kompakt, the German techno label that has a very cool selection of artists, so the sound is in the same vein as The Field and Matias Aguayo. Disco Ruido is a good balance between pop music and dance music.It's always very hard to describe the type of music you make because you always end up having a completely different angle on what people say about it. My mother and father always say that I make alternative music and I've learned to like that term because it is very ambiguous. I try to make music that has a popular vibe with a touch of experimental and New Wave elements.The music scene in Mexico is really interesting, there's a large amount of punk and goth bands and Depeche Mode, The Misfits and Morrissey are gods in Mexico. There's is also a large variety of pop rock bands and indie bands.Mexico City has two very well known clubs for bands to play in,and. Every small/medium band from the city has played there. They're both rock clubs with cool music and cool bands, good vibes. There are also a lot of small bars in the suburbs of the city that are punk as fuck. It's a very large city so sometimes it's hard to get there if you live near downtown because of the traffic but if you play a show there you are guaranteed to have a blast.The crowd that goes to these type of clubs are basically young people that go out to dance, have a good time and get wasted. The drinking age here is 18 but most clubs let younger kids in, which makes the club experience more interesting and diverse.The cool areas to hang out here are Roma, Condesa, Cuauthemoc, Centro and Coyoacan. These places are where you can bar hop, sightsee, and go to good restaurants all by walking (Mexico City is like L.A. so you mostly need a car to get around). There are a lot of bars in these areas, too. Some of them are trashy, some fancy but most of them are fun.One of my favorite clubs is called El Real Underground . It has three different rooms with different types of music, mainly 80's New Wave, Goth and Punk. The DJ's there have been spinning records at the place for more than 10 years. It's a classic here in Mexico.I'm easy going when it comes to nightlife but if I had to pick a place I would never go to I guess I would have to say any club in Santa Fe. It's really far from where I live and the music sucks -- it's so posh and only has Top 40 stuff. |
I know what you’re thinking: does this girl eat anything other than coconut and peanut butter?
Nope! Not lately. It’s getting a little ridiculous.
This has been a pretty hectic week with a trial and various other school things. I’ve been a grumpy, sleep-deprived mess for the past few days. I should probably be fueling up with salads and other healthy, nourishing things. Instead, my instinct when I come home starving is to eat pancakes or… worse, boxed mac and cheese. Annie’s makes a rennet-free version that hits the spot, and lately its become somewhat of an addiction. Sorry Mom.
Anyway, I made this coconut curry last week and it lasted me a good 4-5 days. The sauce? Mmmm. Good enough to drink. The stars of the show:
Pretty simple, right? In a pot, warm the coconut milk (I recommend full fat) and about 1/4 to 1/2 of a jar of red curry paste, depending on how much spice you can handle. Whisk in peanut butter, apple cider vinegar, water, salt, and a little sugar and let it simmer.
Seriously, try to hold back from drinking this sauce. I used chunky peanut butter, which is why there are some brown specs in there. I didn’t mind the crunch of the peanuts, but I’d use creamy peanut butter next time.
Meanwhile, pan fry some drained and sliced tofu until brown and crispy on each side.
In a separate pot, I steamed carrots and potatoes and then added this to the sauce. You could maybe even just throw the raw veggies into the simmering coconut sauce until they soften. But I was impatient. And hungry.
Served atop soba noodles (my new favorite noodles ever), sprinkled with extra cayenne pepper on top. Indulgent but healthy. My kind of food.
Thai Coconut Curry
Ingredients
1 can coconut milk (preferably full-fat)
1/4 – 1/2 jar red curry paste, depending on spice level
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup sucanat or organic cane sugar
2 T apple cider vinegar
1/2 c water
Salt to taste
2 potatoes, peeled and chopped
3 large carrots, peeled and sliced
Put all ingredients except for vegetables into a pot and bring to a slow boil, whisking continuously. Let the mixture simmer for 3-5 minutes over low heat. At this point, you can remove the pot from the burner so it doesn’t scorch.
In a separate pan, pan fry the drained and sliced tofu until it’s brown on each side.
Steam the sliced carrots and potatoes in a pot until soft. Add tofu and vegetables to the coconut curry and mix well. If you’re not ravenous, let it sit in the fridge for a few hours before serving so that the vegetables and tofu can soak up the flavor.
Serve with rice or noodles. |
After his acceptance speech in Tampa, Fla., Mitt Romney repeated his pledge to slash the deficit and balance the budget, vowing to lead where Republicans have failed in the past.
“We’re going to finally have to do something that Republicans have spoken about for a long time, and for a while we didn’t do it,” he told a crowd in Cincinnati, Ohio on Saturday. “When we had the lead we let people down. We need to make sure we don’t lead them down this time — I will cut the deficit and get us on track to a balanced budget.”
The remark received a roaring applause. But it’s difficult to square with many of Romney’s other promises, which involve raising federal spending or reducing revenues, that are core to his case against President Obama.For instance, Romney has vowed to restore the $716 billion in cuts to Medicare provider reimbursements under Obama. His plan to make Medicare solvent by converting it into a voucher system would not take effect for a decade, and without Obama’s cuts the program is projected to go bankrupt by 2016.
The Republican nominee has also pledged to roll back the president’s $489 billion in 10-year military cuts as well as the half a trillion dollars in 10-year automatic Pentagon cuts, known as sequestration, established in last year’s debt limit law.
In addition to that, Romney’s plan to cut taxes across the board would diminish revenues by $5 trillion, according to the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center. That doesn’t include the hit to the treasury if the Bush tax cuts on high incomes are extended. He maintains that he’ll recover the revenues by closing tax loopholes, but he and his campaign have steadfastly refused to identify a credit or deduction he’d unwind.
The candidate has also steered clear of offering a plan to shore up Social Security, which is projected to exhaust its trust fund in 2033.
The cuts Romney says he’ll make during his presidency come largely from non-military, non-entitlement spending, which accounts for about one-fifth of the federal budget. Those savings would come from slashing Medicaid and other programs for low-income people, although the campaign has been light on details.
Parsing his domestic cuts with his deficit-raising policies on health care, taxes and the military — all of which are central to his case against a second term for Obama — it’s unclear that Romney would be able to make strides toward a balanced budget during his presidency. If the Republican nominee enacts the budget policies he has specified, the federal deficit is likely to surge, not diminish, while he’s in office.
A Romney spokesperson did not immediately return a request for comment.
Asked on CNN’s “State of the Union” why the campaign hasn’t been more detailed in its platform, top Romney adviser Eric Fehrnstrom said, “Well we’ve put out a lot of policy over the last 18 months.” |
A Japanese air traffic controller has been questioned after apparently blogging about the flight plans of the US president's plane, Air Force One, reports say.
The unnamed controller, who works at Tokyo International Airport, faces possible charges or disciplinary action.
The information, including a map showing the route and altitude of Air Force One, was apparently published during a visit by President Barack Obama to Asia in November.
Details about US drone flights near the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant are also said to have been included.
Japanese media reports said the controller, in his 50s, took photographs of the information on computer screen images at work and later uploaded them onto his blog.
Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda was planning to apologise to Mr Obama when they met in New York in September, government officials have been quoted as saying by Japanese newspaper Yomiuri Shimbun.
Suspected motivation
The information, relating to the movements of Air Force One, is said to have included two pages of details.
A non-specialist would not have been able to understand all the data, the Japanese ministry of transport was quoted as saying, as much of it was presented in numerical form.
The ministry added that the man's motivations had apparently been to impress his friends, rather than to cause any risk to Mr Obama.
The information has now been removed.
The exact timing has not been revealed, so it is not clear whether the blog was posted before or after Mr Obama flew from South Korea to Japan for the summit in November. |
Apple’s plan to manage upcoming HomeKit-compatible accessories could revolve around a new iOS app called “Home,” according to sources familiar with the app. Introduced at last year’s Worldwide Developers Conference, HomeKit is an Apple initiative designed to encourage accessory makers to integrate “connected home” accessories such as Wi-Fi garage door openers, smart thermostats akin to Nest’s Learning Thermostat, and wireless door locks with iPhones and iPads. Using Siri or the Home app, users will be able to remotely control parts of their homes directly from iOS devices…
While HomeKit’s capabilities are interesting in theory, they have only been modestly demonstrated due to ongoing development delays, reportedly including HomeKit-specific code that will be embedded in new accessories. But according to a source, Apple has quietly continued to work on the HomeKit framework and Home app, which could shown alongside iOS 9 at WWDC. The Home application is currently represented by a “house” glyph atop a dark yellow background, and is said to be “fairly basic” in its functionality, including:
Wirelessly discovering and setting up compatible HomeKit devices
Creating a virtual representation of rooms in the home to easily organize and connect HomeKit devices
Utilizing the Apple TV as a hub connecting all of the HomeKit devices
Offering a series of screens to help users find new HomeKit devices and apps
Just as Apple’s HealthKit framework worked with the Health app to create a signature new iOS 8 feature, HomeKit will rely in part upon the Home app to securely manage a connected home full of accessories and data. Indeed, a major HomeKit manufacturer has told us that its accessories do not have a release date, as “our launch timing is greatly dependent on Apple’s launch.”
While the new Home app is currently embedded in iOS 9 builds for Apple employees, sources have warned that the Home app’s currently minimal functionality may indicate that it is not ready to show to the public, and so it remains unclear whether it will be announced at WWDC in June. It is also possible that the new Home app could remain solely for internal usage and Apple could push for customers to control their HomeKit devices solely via Siri and accompanying App Store apps.
Nonetheless, in response to rumors claiming a HomeKit launch delay until the fall, Apple did confirm that HomeKit accessory announcements would be made in June. “[We] already have dozens of partners who have committed to bringing HomeKit accessories to market,” Apple said, “and we’re looking forward to the first ones coming next month.” Sources have previously indicated that Apple is also working on its own in-house HomeKit hardware, but no launch timetable has been provided.
Image via Getty Images |
Below you will find three examples of questions from previous final exams at Trump University. Use these sample questions and the answer key provided to prepare for next week’s big test.
Two plus two equals what?
(a) Maybe four.
(b) Could be four. Could be. Lotta people saying it’s five.
(c) I’m not saying it’s five; I’m saying it could be—could be five. You see these establishment hacks, losers, like Mitt Romney? Real crank. They hate me. They take answers like “could be” and say, “Oh, he says two plus two equals five.” I never said that. I never—I said “could be.” Could be six. We don’t know.
(d) All of the above.
(e) None of the above.
(f) D and E.
Describe a major theme of “The Old Man and the Sea.”
(a) Well, the theme is big. That I can assure you. Definitely no problem in the theme department. Quite big. Quite.
(b) I know what you want me to say here. You want me to say “yuge.” Well, I’m not. I’m not gonna say that.
(c) Should I say it? . . . No. I’m not gonna say it. But it is.
(d) Now—and I don’t even wanna bring it up—but you got a lot of people. I’m not going to mention names. O.K., Marco. You got Little Marco, who has a tiny theme. No, it’s true. Very small. Probably why he’s outta the race. Seriously, find me one person who says there was a big theme behind that campaign. But anyway, here’s Little Marco, saying I’m the one with the small theme. Can you believe that? Says I’m like Santiago in “The Old Man and the Sea.” Says I sometimes lose my harpoon—you know, prematurely—when I try to reel in the big fish. Totally not true.
(e) In fact, reminds me of the time I tried to get a date with Brooke Shields. Remember Brooke Shields? Gorgeous. Not like my wife. Gorgeous, though. I asked her out. She said no. Career went downhill after that. Left me like Santiago at the end of the book, hauling this gigantic mast home with nothing to show for my troubles.
(f) Seriously, “The Old Man and the Sea”? Please. Santiago’s not a winner. Here’s what you need to read: “The Art of the Deal.” Best book since the Bible. Probably better. People say that. I don’t. People do. Bible was, like, God with sixty ghostwriters. “The Art of the Deal” was just me, dictating to Tony Schwartz. Great guy. Takes dictation better than Moses.
H 2 O is the chemical symbol for what compound?
(a) What the hell’s “huh-twenty”?
(b) No, that’s what it says, “huh-twenty.” Or maybe the “H” is silent. I dunno.
(c) I didn’t say “huh-twenty.” You said “huh-twenty.” You asked me what “huh-twenty” was. You see, this is what the media does. They claim, “You said ‘huh-twenty!’ ” And I’m like, “I said? No you said ‘huh-twenty.’ I just repeated what you said.”
(d) That’s all they do, ask these totally bogus questions, when what they should be asking about is Hillary’s e-mails. That’s what this question should be about. Because what she did—wow. I mean, that’s why she’s hugging Obama every chance she gets.
(e) You know who else hugs Obama? Chris Christie.
(f) But we love Chris, don’t we? We love Chris.
Answer key:
I like A. I like B, too. D doesn’t do much for me, but E and F are real winners. I’m gonna have to look into A and B. C is very compelling. Very. I hear good things about D through F. But I don’t wanna say anything yet. I don’t know why people are saying there were three questions. There weren’t. I mean, do you have video? Show me the video where there were three questions. You can’t, because there is no video. People come here. They try to make trouble, saying we started a question three. We did not. And lemme tell ya, we’re gonna fight back. I’m not saying we’ll sue, but we could. Throw a few punches, ya know. Because this test prep is a great test prep. You thought so, too: you signed the agreement saying that you thought this was the greatest test prep of all time and that you wanted to be sued if video surfaced of you saying otherwise.
Congratulations, this was actually the final. You’ve passed. Now give me $35,000. |
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This week brings the return of Billy Bob Thornton‘s boozing thief and part-time mall Santa in Bad Santa 2, an intermittently promising, wholly miserable sequel to Terry Zwigoff‘s exceptional original. The debut of this sequel, like so many other comedy sequels, begs a question that’s been uttered toward innumerable sequels: Who asked for this? I’m sure if I took a deep dive into Reddit or the comments section of IMDB, I’d get my answer, so, I guess the bigger question is: Why are comedy sequels so consistently bad? There’s no singular answer for this but one has to imagine that laziness and indifference toward the art form are two major reasons for this. The point is not to make a good movie. The point is to make something with brand-recognition to fill out the spaces between blockbusters and Oscar bait.
So, when Isla Fisher announced today on…Today that a sequel to Wedding Crashers is in the works, my skepticism skyrocketed immediately. According to Fisher, Vince Vaughn told her the news during a recent run-in and though nothing is even close to confirmed, the gears seem to be in motion. To me, this feels like a test balloon, a comment made to see just how interested the public would be in seeing Owen Wilson and Vaughn return as the not-so-classy diptych, along with Fisher and Rachel McAdams. If this article gets a lot of good comments, shares, and the news is picked up on several different sites, then they’ll know that there is an audience and they’ll start taking it more seriously.
Then again, Fisher seems to intimate that the wheels have been in motion for a bit, so there’s no real telling at this point. All that I can say at this point is that if they do end up making Wedding Crashers 2, I hope they hire an actual director with experience or ambition to make it something halfway memorable. The last thing anyone needs is another depressingly mediocre jumble of repetitive jokes and call backs that largely don’t work for the low, low cost of tens of millions of dollars. |
At the MIT Media Lab's recent 25th anniversary celebration, the program included a number of alumni of the graduate program speaking about their time there. One of the most compelling stories was that of Eran Egozy, who helped form Harmonix, the company that brought us Guitar Hero. Egozy traced how a set of projects gradually built both the desire and technology needed to give everyone the chance to think they're a musician.
Egozy came to MIT with an interest in music, since he is a classically trained clarinet player (The man who introduced him joked, "if there were no business concerns, Eran would actually have created Clarinet Hero.") But the first project he recalled involved the piano, specifically the player piano, a machine that played a regular upright piano using notes encoded as gaps in a roll of paper.
Egozy had apparently come across a series of scrolls that dated from the 1920s, but had nothing to play them on, a problem he solved in true Media Lab style. To feed the scrolls, he built a mechanism out of LEGO that fed them under a video camera. The video feed went to a NeXT box, which digitized it, read it, and converted it to MIDI. The MIDI was then sent over the network to a MIDI piano that resided in the basement.
From there, he moved on to a project called the hyperviolin, the second in a series that started with a hypercello played by YoYo Ma. The hyperinstruments contain sensors that captured the instrument's motion and the player's gestures. These are then digitized and incorporated into the musical performance. For the hyperviolin, played by Ani Kavafian, this required a system that, in Egozy's words, was "freakin' complicated." Two computers were needed, one doing pitch detection in real time, and another controlling the output. The experience got Egozy hooked, since he and his fellow students "weren't holed up in a lab working on something nobody saw."
But his next project involved repurposing the sensors, which could detect changes in motion in their vicinity. The first step involved turning a table top into a gesture-based interface, much like a mouse pad, but operating in three dimensions, without the operator needing to touch anything. One faculty member apparently used this to advance slides in his talk by waving his arm.
From there, Egozy helped bring the focus back to music by creating a device that read gestures and converted them directly to notes. The hardware itself went on tour with Penn and Teller, and Egozy has pictures with them. Although it might seem like a simple extension of the hyperviolin, the project was distinctly different, in that there was no music involved; the computers had to ensure that it sounded good, had the right key, right timing, right tempo.
With that system in place, just about anything that could control a computer could produce music. That's where his partner, Alex Rigopulos, came into the picture. Apparently, Rigopulos was a big flight simulator fan, and convinced Egozy to work with him to get a flight sim joystick to control the music software. The project got a big boost when musician Peter Gabriel stopped by to check the system out, and apparently came away impressed.
Harmonix came about due to a simple fact of life. "Alex and I had to graduate—it's one of those sad things that happens once in a while," Egozy said. "We knew no one would ever give us a job doing that, so the only solution really was to start a company." That seems to have worked out pretty well for them. |
You are about to experience one of the strangest meetings ever convened — a joining of […] the most unusual people on Earth! Sit quietly in the shadows of this clandestine conference and observe it well! For from it shall soon be born … The DOOM PATROL (Arnold Drake)
Welcome to Doom Charts, representing some of the finest bloggers, radio and podcasters and album reviewers from the doom-stoner underground around the globe. Each month, our critics submit their picks for the best new doom-sludge metal and stoner-psychedelic rock albums. The results are compiled and tabulated into the chart below. This is a one-stop shop for the best new albums in the world.
WHITE DWARF – ‘ISM Demo’
Swedish fuzz rock, like sex, defies the law of diminishing returns. My Scandinavian friends tell me that Swedish babies are born with guitars in their hands (Those poor Swedish mothers). Swedish babies don’t have umbilical cords, they have patch chords. The Swedish curriculum consists of the three R’s: reading, writing and rocking out. Anyways, the discovery of this White Dwarf in the northern climes of the planet Earth was a pleasant surprise and totally won’t destroy us all. GET IT
SHEPHERD – ‘Stereolithic Riffalocalypse’
“Shepherd’s release is one of the best debut albums of 2015. It’s already gaining some major buzz within the Sludge/Stoner Metal world. What’s not to love about it? ‘Stereolithic Riffalocalypse’ plays out like a weird and wonderful hybrid of Noise, Grunge, Stoner, Doom and Sludge Metal riffs. Shepherd feel they were brought up in the legendary Seattle Grunge scene instead of coming from India. From the opening seconds of Snake Pit you know you’re in for a heavy and wild time. Shepherd has combined classic Melvins style humour with hard-hitting riffs. They’ve released a stunning debut that plays out like a warning shot to the doom-stoner world that a truly great band has arrived. Start looking over your shoulders as Shepherd is coming for you all.” GET IT– Steve Howe (The Sludgelord)
SATURNDUST – s/t
“Brazilian band Saturndust first captured my attention a year ago with the St Vitus like tones on the Sons of Water EP, and I realised then that the band was a bit special. The album Saturndust has confirmed what I originally thought. Aided by crystal clear production,each track leaves you both crushed and mesmerised. A stoner/doom masterpiece.” GET IT– Steve Woodier (Pull The Legs Off The Spider, Tear The Wings Off The Fly)
BATHSHEBA – ‘The Sleepless Gods 10” EP’
This is how I like my doom, slow and sweaty. When I listen to doom I want to be reminded of the inevitable futility of all human pursuit, to be crushed under the weight of the purposeless of it all. This double sided EP (from Svart Records) is my de-motivational music. GET IT
ABRAHMA – ‘Reflections in the Bowels of a Bird’
The “de facto torchbearers for the French heavy underground scene,” Abrahma is keeping Small Stone Records at the forefront of the worldwide heavy movement during what has been trying times. Psychedelic nearly to a fault and uncompromisingly idiosyncratic, Abrahma is here to blow minds, then read the brain splatter like tea leaves, presumably to divine the future so that they can go ahead and define it once again. GET IT
WEEDPECKER – ‘II’
After their widely loved debut album back in 2013, the Polish guys in Weedpecker are back with their aptly titled sophomore album ‘II”. It’s more of their same psyched out stoner rock, just with the band having a couple more years of experience under their belt. Mixing expansive soundscape sections with massive fuzz riffs that come out of nowhere and overpower everything else that was going on. It’s like dropping an acid bomb on a peaceful woodland meadow when some of these riffs fall into the mix, I’m not talking the Alien blood sort of acid either. The melodic and often reverb saturated vocals don’t do anything but emphasize the psychedelic vibe at times, even lending a darker atmosphere to some tracks like “The Vibe”. All in all, it’s a damn fine second album, a place where some bands do not fare so well. GET IT – Dermie Skipper (Ride With the Devil)
HYPERWÜLFF – ‘Volume 1: Erion Speaks’
Hyperwülff’s Volume One: Erion Speaks is a captivating debut album, distorted guitar layers and scorching percussions give birth to 8 magnetic tracks concentrated with a savage flavour in which 2 wolves sink you among obscure and foggy star battles. GET IT – Mari Knox Knox (Doomabbestia)
WEEDEATER – ‘Goliathan’
The new record Goliathan is as heavy as they come and as sluggish and methodical as we have come to love. And with the southern or Dixie touches they bring to the backyard barbecue there is a little bit of smoky air between those bayou sounds as well. Smoky air, Weedeater, Hehe. GET IT–Joop Konraad (Stoner HiVe)
ELDER – ‘Lore’
The Massachusetts trio hits us with swirling stoner metal, touched by holy psychedelics and brushed off with some sludge that all seem to shimmer and shine like pure gold. It is progressive and it is fuzz. But perhaps even more importantly, the album is one entire long tension arc that makes you forget all about time and place. Epic!” GET IT–Joop Konraad (Stoner HiVe)
UFOMAMMUT – ‘Ecate’
Ecate, or Hecate is the title of the 7th studio record of the legendary Italian psychedelic-doom band. Anyone who has delved into mythologies and ancient religions knows that Hecate is the goddess of magic, theurgy, necromancy, and apparitions. She is the goddess of crossroads, thresholds, and transitions – the guard of the gates between worlds. Not only that, but Hecate even connects the past, present, and future. A more appropriate name could not be offered for this record. Ufomammut connects on this 46-minute record all aspects from the last 16 years of their musical career from Godlike Snake (2000) to the Oro (2012) records.” GET IT–Doombeard (DoomBeardZine)
UNDERSMILE – ‘Anhedonia’
Undersmile masters both the alluring and the melancholic vocalities that bring you to a whirling black abyss like hypnotic sirens chants, riding contemplative riffs and atmospheric yet metal tonalities. GET IT – Mari Knox Knox (Doomabbestia)
DEMON EYE – ‘Tempora Infernalia’
From the very first track on Demon Eye’s sophomore record, you know you’re in for something out of the ordinary. Beautifully recorded, Pentagram and Deep Purple-influenced, up-tempo retro occult, doom, and heavy metal! Enough adjectives for ya? Well, the Raleigh, North Carolina trio live up to each and every one of them. We’ll be talking about this album well into the year. GET IT– Billy Goate (Doomed & Stoned)
SATURNALIA TEMPLE – ‘To The Other’
The Upsalla band describes their latest ritual offering this way: “A dark Swedish forest at night, while out of the body.” Couldn’t have said it better. GET IT
HORSE LUNG – ‘Gethsemane Haze’
After the warning shot of their demo in 2014, Horse Lung from Canada return with their first full length album called “Gethsemane Haze”. This means that for the next 53 minutes from the moment you’ll press the “play” button, your speakers will be filled with massive stoner doom tunes and your neighbors will admire the low end of your stereo. Here Horse Lung refined their demo material and added two more tracks. The result is a killer instrumental album that you will appreciate from the very first note. The guitar tone is fuzzed out as it should be, and the riffs are mainly laid back pentatonic monoliths, that would make Sleep proud of their Canadian sons. There will be no surprise if “Gethsemane Haze” appears in a lot of top 10 lists by the end of 2015. GET IT – Vasilis Durden (All the Heavy Lifting)
GRUSOM – s/t
Blues rock sparks, vintage stoner nuances and psychedelic rock magic are all combined into a wondrous heavy blues feast by the very promising band namedGrusom. Their self titled debut full length due out next July by Kozmik Artifactz abounts with heavy rock honesty and it graciously grants us powerful moments of psych-blues and retro rock bliss. Astonishing. GET IT. – Phantasmagoria (Phantasmagoria)
BRUME – ‘Donkey’
Brume’s sound is to doom what fart jokes are to comedy: a classic, a guaranteed crowd pleaser. This is not a put down. Some of the more high-minded connoisseurs out there might be “so over it,” but for those with a sense of tumor it will never get old. Tumor, get it … GET IT.
MONOLORD – ‘Vænir’
They climb higher this month even though the competition is fierce. With their second album Vænir, the Swedish trio Monolord continue that doom trek through the meandering psychedelic landscape. Packing multiple punches in their grimy and extremely thick grooves they aim to crush all opposition this time around. With their very own majestic rhythms they stomp on the terra, not aiming to leave an wavering imprint, but to make lasting impression on all that stand before them. And surely one can argue that everyone can pound and destroy with overtones of distortion and bass; but what if we declare that the soundscapes provided by that spaced out guitar are the heaviest of all? GET IT– Joop Konraad (Stoner HiVe)
CAVE OF SWIMMERS – ‘Reflection’
This power duo will no doubt pummel your mind with its eclectic reflection of opera-esque vocals, proggy weirdness and straight up monster riffs. Sounds a lot bigger than just two dudes originally from Venezuela. Or does it? GET IT– Bucky Brown (The Ripple Effect)
VALKYRIE – ‘Shadows’
Valkyrie return from a 7 year absence with their latest album – Shadows – and what an album to come back with. Okay, so they may have released a split single with Earthling back in 2012, but it’s ‘Shadows’ which cements their return to the Doom/Heavy Rock world.
‘Shadows’ offers the classic twin guitar sound that Thin Lizzy and Iron Maiden perfected, but gives the twin guitar sound a more refined Doom/Stoner Metal makeover. If you dig Baroness, Thin Lizzy and The Sword then Valkyrie should satisfy the massive hunger you have for epic riffs as the album is full of them. This is another contender for album of the year for me. Even though the riffs are fantastic, it’s the lyrics and vocals that make this album as you can’t but help singing along. I was blown away on first listen and it still excites me every time I listen to it. Standout tracks – Golden Age, Temple and Shadow Of Reality make this a must have album. Sure the album pays homage to their musical heroes a little too close at times but Valkyrie are a fucking brilliant band in their own right. This album is a future classic in my eyes in the years to come. GET IT – Steve Howe (The Sludgelord)
LIBIDO FUZZ – ‘Kaleido Lumo Age’
This is what I want from my psychedelic rock. If you’re going to be psychedelic, be psychedelic all the way. These guys wear the busy shirts and do the whole thing. No half measures here. This is music to freak out by. GET IT.
ACID KING – ‘Middle of Nowhere, Center of Everywhere’
“Acid King return with the comeback album of the year.Middle Of Nowhere, Centre of Everywheresees the band more moodier and focused than ever before. From the opening space rock driven riffs of Intro you know Acid King are here to unleash 10 years’ worth of heavy Stoner greatness upon us. Wait until Lori sings. Wow. Majestic as ever. This album is the real deal. Embrace the riffs. Embrace the legend of Acid King before Outro sadly ends this heavy as hell trip.” GET IT – Steve Howe (The Sludgelord)
ARENNA – ‘Given to Emptiness’
The first time I listened to Given to Emptiness by Spanish five piece Arenna it was on headphones at work, it passed me by without much thought or engagement. A week later I gave it another listen and immediately followed it with a third and fourth run through. It’s not that the album is a ‘grower’ but more that it can be listened to on multiple levels – at work, fangin’ down the highway or stoned on the couch. It doesn’t demand attention but has plenty of complexity if you listen for it. Arenna’s previous album Beats of Olarizu precedes Emptiness by four years and shows up the progression in the band’s sound, writing and production. In Emptiness they have rolled back the bottom end and the overall heaviness in favour of a more accessible tone which suits the intricately structured songs. The opening track Butes draws similarities to Truckfighters whilst Chroma aligns with Colour Haze and neither influence is proflligate or dissolute. Drums For Sitting Bull is the highlight of the album and marks a distinct alt-grunge sound akin to Screaming Trees that weaves its way among all of the tracks. GET IT – Cam (Motherslug)
THE ATOMIC BITCHWAX – ‘Gravitron’
If I can get personal for a minute here, this is been one of my favorite albums of the year. Make that of the past three years. There’s no fucking around on this record, it’s just rock n roll at a steady clip with big hooks that stick. Leave it to the veterans to show the world how it’s done. GET IT.
GOATSNAKE – ‘Black Age Blues’
If you’ve been around the stoner and doom thing and paying attention for a while then you were probably expecting big things from this record and Goatsnake delivers absolutely. If a better song than “Elevated Man” emerges this year then I’ll consider my ears to have been blessed. Goatsnake is another veteran band that keeps things uncomplicated and delivers with strong hooks. GET IT.
DOPETHRONE – ‘Hochelaga’
Seven filthy, evil, dirty tracks. The venomous vocal spit and low, slow bluesy doom claw riffs are infectious – you’ll be spinning that volume to the right and hitting this up for repeated listens. In short, Dopethrone have delivered one of the best albums of 2015 to date, and arguably their best so far. Crank this! – GET IT – Clint (Hand of Doom Radio)
Contributors to The May Doom Chart:
A.S. Van Dorston (Fast n’ Bulbous); Bill Goodman (The Evil Engineer); Billy Goate (Doomed & Stoned); Blasting D (Blasting Days); Bucky Brown (The Ripple Effect); Cam Crichton (Motherslug); Clint (Hand of Doom Radio); Doktor420 (Stoner HiVe); Doombeard (DoomBeardZine); Double A Doom (The Sludgelord); Emmit (wonderock.com); Gram Pola (Dirty Denim); Lucas Klaukein (Stoner HiVe, The Sludgelord, You May Be Dead & Dreaming); Joop Konraad (Stoner HiVe); Lyk (Phantasmagoria); Mari Knox Knox (Doommabbestia); Melissa (Doomed & Stoned); Mr. Fuzz (More Fuzz); Pat Harrington (The Electric Beard of Doom); Paul Rote (Doomed & Stoned); Rod Reinhardt (Captain Beyond Zen); Skip (Ride With the Devil); Soggy Bob (Soggy Bog of Doom); Steve Howe (The Sludgelord); Steve Miller (Vertical Chamber Apparatus); Steve Woodier (Pull The Legs Off The Spider, Tear The Wings Off The Fly); Tony Maim (Stoner HiVe); Ulla Roschat (Wicked Lady); and Vasilis Durden (All the Heavy Lifting).
This June 2015 edition of The Doom Chart edited by LK Ultra.
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A new engine for an intercontinental ballistic missle (ICBM) is tested at a test site at Sohae Space Center in Cholsan County, North Pyongan province in North Korea. REUTERS/KCNA
By Jack Kim and David Brunnstrom
SEOUL/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Ahead of a rare ruling party Congress next month, secretive North Korea is revealing details of its weapons development program for the first time, showcasing its push to develop long-range nuclear missiles despite international sanctions.
Until recently, information on the North's weapons program was hard to come by, with foreign governments and experts relying on satellite imagery, tiny samples of atomic particles collected after nuclear tests and mangled parts and materials recovered from long-range rocket launches.
No longer. In just over a month, the North has published articles with technicolor photographic detail on a range of tests and other activities that point to fast-paced efforts to build a nuclear-armed intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM).
The reason for the revelations, many analysts say, is that Pyongyang believes convincing the world, and its own people, of its nuclear prowess is as important as the prowess itself. Nevertheless, isolated North Korea's true capabilities and intentions remain unknown.
"Close-up pictures of ground test activities are almost unprecedented from the DPRK," John Schilling, an aerospace engineer specializing in satellite and launch vehicle propulsion systems, told Reuters.
DPRK stands for Democratic People's Republic of Korea, the North's official name. The reclusive state has conducted four nuclear tests in the past 10 years, the last in January.
"The openness suggests that the underlying strategy is as much diplomatic as military: it is important to Pyongyang not only that they have these capabilities, but that we believe they have these capabilities," Schilling said.
In its latest revelations, North Korean state media reported on Saturday that the country had carried out a successful test of a new ICBM engine. Pictures showed what experts said were the engines of two Soviet-designed R-27 missiles clustered together, ejecting two exhaust plumes.
The claims indicate the North has no intention of slowing down, despite last month's United Nations sanctions and stern warnings from Washington and elsewhere, said Michael Elleman, a U.S.-based rocket expert with the International Institute for Strategic Studies.
"The revelations, pronouncements and 'tests' appear to be part of a campaign to establish the narrative that Pyongyang has, or will soon have, a nuclear-armed, long-range missile that could threaten the U.S. mainland," he said.
"Each unveiling, if real, would be part of a structured program aimed at developing the capability. The open question is: How real are these tests?"
The activities are likely to be watched closely by U.N. experts assigned to enforce sanctions prohibiting the North from engaging in work that involves ballistic missile technology.
CONVINCING THE DOUBTERS?
There is an increasing feeling among international arms experts that North Korea's capability may be more advanced than previously thought. It could have a primitive but operable ICBM "later this decade," said a U.S. government source with intelligence on the North's weapons program.
Overcoming such scepticism, and fuelling alarm for its neighbors and the United States, may be the intended effect, with significant domestic propaganda value ahead of the May ruling party congress, said Yang Moo-jin of the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul.
"To a normal military, arms development is supposed to be classified," he said. "But Kim Jong Un had years of the South and the U.S. putting his military down, so now he wants to maximize the perceived threat of what he's trying to develop."
The recent ICBM engine test followed the March test of a solid-fuel rocket engine and a simulated test of atmospheric re-entry of a missile warhead.
Kim has vowed another nuclear warhead test soon, which would be the country's fifth. Some analysts say it could be timed to take place just before the congress, at which Kim is likely to unveil an official policy of twinning economic development with nuclear capability.
Kim also claimed in March that his country has miniaturized a nuclear warhead to be mounted on a ballistic missile. Media reports displayed a spherical object and a jubilant Kim standing before a large rocket-shaped object similar to the KN-08 ICBM. |
It wasn’t all that long ago that Cody Hodgson was pegged as a potential first-line centre in the Buffalo Sabres rebuilding plan. It’s been quite a fall for the former first-round pick.
Hodgson is a potential buyout candidate for the Sabres, according to Paul Hamilton of Buffalo’s WGR 550 Sports Radio.
Citing conversations with Sabres general manager Tim Murray and new head coach Dan Bylsma on Thursday, Hamilton said Hodgson continues to work on his skating at Murray’s request. The GM is reportedly still weighing whether or not to buy out the 25-year-old centre.
Via WGR 550:
Cody Hodgson is in Sweden trying to become a better skater. Murray said his agent Claude Lemieux has been sending video updates showing his progress.
Murray said he told Hodgson that he needed to improve his skating and needs to be in better condition.
Murray said a buyout is still a decision.
Hodgson had an awful 2014-15 campaign, scoring just six goals and 13 points in 78 games with the Sabres. The former 20-goal scorer shot a career-low 4.7 per cent and carried a sub-40 per cent Corsi for rating on a woeful Sabres club.
Hodgson was made a healthy scratch for the second time this past season ahead of a January meeting with the Vancouver Canucks, the club who drafted him 10th overall in 2008. The Canucks traded him to Buffalo for Zack Kassian in February of 2012.
Hodgson is set to earn a total of $17 million over the next four seasons. |
Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton celebrates with her vice presidential running mate Tim Kaine as balloons drop from the ceiling on the final day of the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia.
July 28, 2016 Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton celebrates with her vice presidential running mate Tim Kaine as balloons drop from the ceiling on the final day of the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia. Michael Robinson Chavez/The Washington Post
A look at what happened at the convention in Philadelphia before Hillary Clinton accepts the nomination.
A look at what happened at the convention in Philadelphia before Hillary Clinton accepts the nomination.
A look at what happened at the convention in Philadelphia before Hillary Clinton accepts the nomination.
What happened on the fourth day at the Democratic National Convention
What happened on the fourth day at the Democratic National Convention
The country’s two major political parties, emerging from their conventions to square off in the general election, are speaking to Americas unrecognizable to each other in voices that sound like a political and ideological role reversal.
For Republicans, the country is a place of near-apocalyptic gloom whose best days are fast receding.
“Our convention occurs at a moment of crisis for our nation. The attacks on our police, and the terrorism in our cities, threaten our very way of life,” GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump declared in Cleveland in his acceptance speech, in which he described a country gripped by “violence in our streets and the chaos in our communities.”
The nation of the Democrats who met here this week to nominate former secretary of state Hillary Clinton, meanwhile, is a vibrant and diverse place. First lady Michelle Obama summarized it in her address on the first night of the convention: “Don’t let anyone ever tell you that this country isn’t great, that somehow we need to make it great again. Because this, right now, is the greatest country on Earth.”
Clinton stressed that sentiment in her address Thursday night.
President Obama's speech electrified the crowd in Philadelphia on July 28, leaving some with chills and others in tears. (Alice Li,Jenny Starrs/The Washington Post)
“He’s taken the Republican Party a long way from ‘Morning in America’ to ‘Midnight in America,’ ” she said, recalling Ronald Reagan’s 1984 reelection slogan. “So don’t let anyone tell you that our country is weak. We’re not. Don’t let anyone tell you we don’t have what it takes. We do.”
The sights and sounds of the convention hall echoed that pitch. Chants rose up Thursday night — “U-S-A! U-S-A! — as John R. Allen, the retired Marine general, thunderously addressed the Democratic convention. Delegates waved American flags in the air and held up signs that formed a sea of red, white and blue.
The visceral shift in the parties’ political narratives represents a profound break from the way they have often spoken about the country and themselves.
Going at least as far back as Reagan, Republicans have prided themselves as being the party of optimism and confidence, leading an exceptional country whose greatness was coded into its DNA.
Going back further, to Franklin D. Roosevelt, it has been the Democrats who have made common cause with the aggrieved and the left behind, who have been criticized for dwelling too much on the nation’s flaws and being squeamish about asserting power internationally.
[Can Democrats beat Trump with his own words? (It didn’t work in the GOP primaries.)]
For some Republicans, it is an unsettling juxtaposition.
Democrats in Philadelphia reflect on the significance of nominating Hillary Clinton for president – the first time a major party has nominated a woman for the nation's highest office. (Peter Stevenson,Alice Li,Sarah Parnass,Jayne Orenstein,Nikita Mandhani,Adriana Usero/The Washington Post)
“The Democrats used to be the party that said people are being taken advantage of and it’s time to settle the score. Now that’s the Republicans’ message,” said Stuart Stevens, who in 2012 was GOP nominee Mitt Romney’s chief strategist. “To let them become the optimistic party that wants to lift us up and unify America, it’s a disaster for Republicans.”
Or maybe it is smart positioning, given that parts of the country are in a prolonged funk, as evidenced by the fact that polls since 2009 have consistently shown more people believe it to be headed in the wrong direction than the right one.
That creates a challenge for those who have been running the country during that time to make a stay-the-course argument. It is compounded by voters’ historic reluctance to leave the White House in any party’s hands for more than two consecutive terms.
“You really can’t afford to paint an unrelentingly dark picture of the country. To do that is to say, in effect, that your predecessor has failed,” said William A. Galston, a Brookings Institution senior fellow who was a top adviser to Bill Clinton’s 1992 presidential campaign.
So the themes being sounded by each party reflect the natural cycle of being in and out of power.
But there are other factors at play this year that amplify what would have been happening anyway.
The Republican Party’s once-omnipotent establishment has ceded control to a vocal faction fixated on issues such as illegal immigration and their angst over the reweaving of the social fabric.
“There have been so many changes in the culture that to many Americans, it’s an unrecognizable country,” said William J. Bennett, a prominent conservative voice going back to his time in Reagan’s Cabinet.
“It’s a country where you have to watch everything you say, and you can’t count on your kids to do better than you did, where the middle class doesn’t prosper and things that were once honored aren’t honored anymore.”
Then there is the unique figure they have embraced as their standard-bearer. Trump has a worldview in which there is no nuance or self-doubt.
The Republican nominee “very openly worships strength. His crucial dyads are strength and weakness, winning and losing,” Galston said.
The shape-shifting of the two parties goes beyond tone.
On many issues, Democrats and Republicans have drifted away from their traditional postures and orthodoxies.
Trump has excoriated free-trade agreements and resisted his party’s calls to revamp entitlement programs. And the hawkish instincts of the first woman to head a major political party’s ticket are putting a different stamp on what was once known as the “mommy party.”
Recent history might suggest that the sunnier candidate has the advantage.
When George W. Bush accepted the Republican nomination in this very city 16 years ago, he concluded his acceptance speech with a call to “live on the east side of the mountain. It is the sunrise side, not the sunset side.”
That year, then-Vice President Al Gore used his party’s convention in Los Angeles to pivot to a “people vs. the powerful” theme, rather than running on the prosperity of the Clinton years. That decision was later regarded as a strategic blunder.
Whatever the parties sought to project in their conventions, there remains a question of what will ring true to voters.
William Kristol, editor of the Weekly Standard magazine, said in an interview that he is dubious that the Democrats “can change who they are with a few phrases” and said the party’s soul is still “with George McGovern” and proudly liberal.
“Liberals kid themselves by thinking Nixon and Reagan won because they had rhetorical tricks about how they spoke about the country. They always make that mistake, not realizing it was about different policies,” Kristol said.
At the same time, Republicans in most respects remain the party of the corporate class, especially at the congressional level, where House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) has been promoting a traditional agenda.
Trump believes that his message will resonate beyond his base to reach suburban swing voters in industrial regions.
Clinton and the Democrats are doing their best to persuade those same voters to celebrate the progress that has been made during the Obama era and build confidence that economic and social advances lay ahead.
In his convention speech Wednesday night, President Obama spoke directly to those voters — paradoxically enough, by quoting Reagan.
“It looks like they’re trying to play to the middle really hard and capture moderates and independents,” said Brett O’Donnell, a veteran Republican strategist who specializes in helping candidates use effective language.
The goal, O’Donnell said, is to “convince them the Democrats are better on national security and jobs, and at a more fundamental level, that they’re more American than Trump.”
Trump insisted on Twitter on Thursday that voters would not be swayed.
“President Obama spoke last night about a world that doesn’t exist. 70 percent of the people think our country is going in the wrong direction,” he wrote.
Bruce Reed, who was Vice President Biden’s chief of staff and head of domestic policy in the Clinton White House, said the Democratic message represents a natural progression.
He ticked off the campaign slogans of the two Democrats who have most recently occupied the Oval Office, and of the woman vying to be the next one: “We’ve done well with ‘a man from hope’ and ‘hope and change.’ And we’re going to do well with ‘stronger together.’ ” |
COLUMBUS — The Columbus Crew announced on Thursday it has agreed to a Homegrown contract with Lewis Center native and University of Akron standout Chad Barson. Per Major League Soccer and club policy, details of the contract were not disclosed.
Barson’s signature makes him the fifth Homegrown player in club history after his Akron teammate Wil Trapp signed with the Black & Gold last month. The Lewis Center native recently graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Biology from Akron with a 3.99 Grade Point Average after earning First Team NSCAA All-American honors. Barson started and appeared in 93 out of 95 games during his college career, tying Anthony Ampaipitakwong’s program record in matches played. The three-time All-MAC First Team defender played a team-high 2,254 minutes during the Zips 2010 NCAA Championship-winning season on a team that featured eight players who were on MLS rosters in 2012.
“Chad is a strong addition to our team and a player that we’ve had our eye on for some time,” said Crew Technical Director Brian Bliss.” “We’re obviously familiar with his abilities from our Youth system, and he enjoyed a successful career at the University of Akron. Chad will make a fine pro and we look forward to his contributions.”
In his time with the Crew Youth Program, Barson anchored the Black & Gold backline to the 2010 USYS U-19 and 2010 USL Super-20 League national championships. The Lewis Center native also saw time with the United States U-15, U-17 and U-18 National Teams while leading the Crew Soccer Academy to the U-18 U.S. Soccer Development Academy National Final.
Barson will join the Black & Gold on January 17 when the team reconvenes for preseason training in Columbus.
Name: Chad Barson
Position: Defender
Height: 5’11”
Weight: 170
Born: February 25, 1991
Hometown: Lewis Center, Ohio
Citizenship: United States
Acquired: Homegrown signing on January 10, 2013 |
This (cycling) life
I AM 71; 67 years ago I took my first bike ride, wobbling down the sandy back lane of a tiny goldfields town. There were no training wheels, just my brother's steadying hand under the saddle. At age seven I was given a bike of my own - much used and in need of paint, but priceless.
My bikes progressed from being the proud means to an illusory independence at 10 to an embarrassment in adolescence. In between, I delivered the afternoon newspaper, chucked broggies in slippery riverside tracks, prowled distant neighbourhoods - and dinkied my sister to the Saturday afternoon movies.
At 16 I took my first job, as a post office telegram boy. With my hip pouch slung low and cap at a rakish angle, I weaved the heavy old government bike through the city traffic. I leered at the office girls, sneered at their bosses and affected a nonchalance to disguise my trembles when I delivered to an infamous red light precinct of the time.
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When finally I acquired a car, I allowed my faithful old treadly to rust forlornly away behind my parents' shed; it would be 15 years before the pleasures of cycling would recapture me. Ten gears and a lightweight frame replaced the old fixed-speed, back-pedal-braked clunker.
There have been years of riding 20km to the office, weekend jaunts around Perth's many bike tracks, and numberless circuits of Rottnest Island. At 60 I did the Big Ride around rural NSW: 600km of beautiful but wearying hills and carnival nights in the welcoming little towns. In the mornings we shook the ice from our bikes and set out into fog or pelting rain.
On my weekly ride into Perth's CBD, I follow the bike path north along the freeway. To my left is the broad estuary of the Swan River, beyond that the heights of Kings Park. Wind-whipped waves slosh over the low wall; two pelicans squat on a small groyne, hiding their heads from the spume. On some days dolphins leap and spin in the shallows, but today it is just the birds of the water waiting patiently on the shore.
There are other cyclists: pre-teens awkwardly laden with school gear, helmets unfastened in the fashion of the young; a lady, dignified and battery assisted, whirrs along with her bemused little dog in the front basket; a speedster hunched over a sparkling minimalist machine; a young father towing a pair of toddlers, secure in their custom trailer.
From behind comes the whirr and mutter of a party of serious cyclists. Bells tinkle: "Bike right!" Hands flap in the arcane language of the peloton. With faces set in determined intensity they swish by. Off you go, I think, you reckon you've bettered me, well you'd better get a move on, I'm 40 years ahead of you.
Review welcomes submission to This Life. To be considered for publication, the work must be original and between 600 and 650 words in length. Submissions may be edited for clarity. Send emails to thislife@theaustralian.com.au |
Why does Seattle Seahawks coach Pete Carroll think his former linebackers coach Ken Norton Jr. is ready to take the next step as Raiders defensive coordinator?
Just ask him.
“He’s a born leader. This guy has done so much in his career. He stands for leadership. He stands for standards and toughness and the willingness to step to the front and take on what’s out there. He’s been that kind of a person,” Norton said. “His father has raised him in that manner, with a tremendous backup system from a great father and Kenny has taken those lessons and moved ahead and done marvelous.
“He’s the only guy in history that has won three straight world championships. How could you do that? He did on two different clubs. And he was a leader in each one of those seasons. He takes all of that. In our process we tried to get him ready to convey and translate the message so he can transfer it to the players.
“I think he does a marvelous job. Just look at the guys he’s coached, back to the college years and all. I think he’ll have the same kind of success and I think he’s crucial to young men. He’s a great guy for guys to be around because of what he stands for and who he is. I’m thrilled for this opportunity for him.” |
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A while back after reading about peer-to-peer lending (or social lending) via a variety of personal finance blogs I decided to look into it a bit more. The idea sounds intriguing. Instead of dealing with big banks who could care less about providing good rates, good customer service or giving you a personal touch, you borrow money from other regular people – all who are lending you as little as $25 a piece. You get a lower rate and they get a better return than the 1.5% offered via their savings account. Everybody wins.
While I liked the idea itself, I wasn't sure what the risks might be when engaging in this type of lending. What were the default rates, and what kind of returns could you expect when investing your money? Would it last?
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There were a couple of main players in the Social Lending arena, among them Lending Club and Prosper. Lending Club was the one that I decided to give a try.
Opening A Lending Club Account
Opening an account with Lending Club is a pretty easy process. First, however, be aware that Lending Club and other P-2-P sites are not available in all states. To check the availability of becoming a lender, check out this link.
After determining if LC is available in your state, click on this link and it will take you to the signup page. When signing up you will follow this process:
Click on Join Now link at the top right of the screen and complete the application to be a borrower or investor on the screen that comes up. Sign up through us and you should get $25 to start your account! You'll get a confirmation email. Click on the link in your email to confirm your registration. Go back to the Lending Club website and login with your new login info. Click on the Invest button. Fill in your profile information in order to verify who you are, and to link your bank account to Lending Club. (Lending Club will make two small deposits into your account to verify that you have access to the account). Once your bank account is verified, go to the My Account tab, and then choose Add Funds. You’ll need to transfer at least $25 to your Lending Club account in order to get started. This may take a few days. From My Account tab, click on Invest to start lending money
Lending Money Through Lending Club
Once you have added funds to your Lending Club account, it's time to start investing! This is the fun part of the process. Just click on “invest” on the navigation bar, and it will take you to the Lending Club automatic “Build A Portfolio” screen. You can either let Lending Club choose loans for you in $25 increments (Using a conservative, moderate or aggressive setting), or you can choose to browse notes manually and select the loans you want to purchase.
Choosing the loans can actually be kind of fun. You get to browse through listed loans that are going through the funding process, and fund the ones you feel are good credit risks. If you want you can even choose to ask questions of possible borrowers.
For me, I'm a less aggressive lender, so I tend to follow these criteria in the loans I choose.
Loans less than $10,000 : Lower loan amounts means a lower monthly payment and a lower risk of defaulting on their loan.
: Lower loan amounts means a lower monthly payment and a lower risk of defaulting on their loan. A & B credit rating : I’ve invested in loans that have either an A or B credit rating (good credit). I've also sprinkled in a few C ratings for flavor. Never anything lower.
: I’ve invested in loans that have either an A or B credit rating (good credit). I've also sprinkled in a few C ratings for flavor. Never anything lower. Zero delinquencies : When you view borrower’s profiles you can see from their credit report if they’ve had any reported delinquencies on their account. If they have, I skip their loan. If they’ve been late in the past or missed a payment – they’re likely to do it again.
: When you view borrower’s profiles you can see from their credit report if they’ve had any reported delinquencies on their account. If they have, I skip their loan. If they’ve been late in the past or missed a payment – they’re likely to do it again. Debt to income ratio below 25% : I like to invest in loans where the borrowers have a lower DTI ratio. You want to make sure they can afford the loan!
: I like to invest in loans where the borrowers have a lower DTI ratio. You want to make sure they can afford the loan! Loans over 60% funded : I like to do my due diligence when giving out a new loan. But when enough other people have invested in the loan, that's usually a good sign as well.
: I like to do my due diligence when giving out a new loan. But when enough other people have invested in the loan, that's usually a good sign as well. Borrower answers to investor questions: Lenders can ask borrowers questions before they purchase a piece of their loan. If answers aren't forthcoming, or if the person seems flaky, I skip the loan.
So those are some of the criteria I have used to find good loans in my Lending Club account. After lending for about a year it has worked well so far, I haven't seen any defaults on the 35 notes I have bought in on. My net annualized return is currently around 10.30%. That's better than a high yield savings account, and part of the reason I'm adding more money to my account this year!
Using Lending Club As A Borrower
You can also use Lending Club as a borrower. I have read quite a few interesting stories on the personal finance blogs of people getting a loan to help pay off high interest credit card debt, or second mortgages. Usually they do this because they can obtain a better rate through Lending Club than through their bank.
I would never suggest consolidating all of your loans into a Lending Club loan unless all the rates are higher than the rate you can get with Lending Club.
When you're borrowing there are currently only 2 loan terms you can sign up for:
36 Months
60 Months (only recently added this past month)
You can borrow up to $25,000 from other Lending Club users, and the rate you receive will depend on a variety of factors including your credit score.
It isn't for everyone, but for some it's a good alternative to the big banks.
Conclusion
I've been investing in Lending Club for over a year now, and in that time I've made a net annualized return of 10.30%, and due to my careful lending habits – I've had zero defaults on the loans I chose to fund.
Lending club can be a great investment option, as long as you are careful about who you're lending to, are sure to keep reinvesting the funds that you're making.
As a borrower it can make sense as well, as long as the loans you're getting are lower than rates you can get elsewhere. If they are, why not? You're then paying interest to individuals instead of a big bank!
What do you think of Lending Club? Have you used it as a Lender or Borrower? What have your returns been like? Have you seen any defaults in your account? Tell us your thoughts on Lending Club and social lending in general in the comments.
Sign up for Lending Club Now! Details Here
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A larger-than-life statue of Broncos owner Pat Bowlen will be unveiled Saturday night in a private ceremony at Sports Authority Field at Mile High.
The tribute was commissioned and financed by a group of community leaders with sponsorship ties to the Broncos. The 9-foot statue captures Bowlen in his customary pose on the sideline, wearing a business suit, cowboy boots and sunglasses. It will be placed in the center of the Ring of Fame Plaza, which is outside the stadium on the south side.
Brian Hanlon, the sculptor for the 27 busts in the Ring of Fame Plaza, began working on the Bowlen statue in January.
The ceremony will be attended by the Bowlen family, members of the Broncos and community leaders. Bowlen’s wife, Annabel, and Broncos general manager John Elway are among those who will speak during the ceremony.
The first owner in NFL history to post 300 victories in 30 years, Bowlen, 70, decided after eight AFC championship games, six Super Bowl appearances and two Lombardi Trophies to relinquish control of the Broncos this year so he can focus on his battle with Alzheimer’s disease. |
A Seattle man says he was brutally beaten during an early morning encounter in Gas Works Park last Thursday. (Photo: KOMO News)
SEATTLE - A Seattle man says he was brutally beaten during an early morning encounter in Gas Works Park last Thursday.
The 36-year-old’s father told KOMO News that his son suffered several broken bones in his face, as well as a severe concussion and memory loss during the incident. The father, Jay, asked KOMO not to use his last name or his son’s name for protection.
Jay told KOMO his son was in the picnic area at Gas Works Park between midnight and 2 a.m. last Thursday when a gray SUV pulled in and several people got out.
Those people, he says, chatted with his son for nearly 30 minutes, until one of them suddenly started beating the young man.
“He described him to me as somebody who was about 25-years-old, he said a big guy,” Jay said. “And strongly built. He said he was a mixed-race male, white and black.” That description is also listed in the report taken by Seattle Police.
Jay’s son got himself home. Their apartment is just down the street from Gas Works Park. The next day, Jay found his badly bruised son in bed.
“It was a jolt,” Jay said. “It was a shock to my system.”
Jay and the family put up flyers in Gas Works hoping for tips, and offering a $500 reward for information that leads to an arrest and conviction in the case.
Seattle Police say they don’t have much information to go on in this case, but they say it has been assigned to a detective.
His son’s memory is slowly returning, but Jay says he will need major reconstructive surgery. A long recovery lies ahead.
“You know you try to recover over time,” Jay said. “I just hope things get better.” |
ISLAMABAD: While members of the five-judge Supreme Court bench that conducted marathon hearings into the Panama Papers scandal are busy authoring what is being billed as one of the most important judgements in the country’s history, speculation is rife about what the outcome of the case may be.
Before closing the final hearing into Panamagate, the bench announced on Feb 23 that their decision would have to be one that remained relevant and valid for at least 20 years.
Read: Suspenseful wait begins as Panama trial concludes
The case filed by various petitioners — Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf chief Imran Khan, Jamaat-i-Islami emir Sirajul Haq and Sheikh Rashid Ahmed — essentially seeks disqualification of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif over his alleged misstatement in his address to the nation on April 5 and his speech before the National Assembly on May 16, 2016.
The petitioners claim that the prime minister lied about the investments made by his children in offshore companies, which led to the acquisition of four apartments in London’s upscale Park Lane neighbourhood.
While nobody is willing to stick their neck out, there is a general consensus that whatever the court’s decision, it will strengthen the apex court’s powers to intervene for the enforcement of citizens’ fundamental rights in future cases.
“It is difficult to guess what dimension [of the case] the Supreme Court will consider while writing the judgement, since there were many that came to light during the proceedings,” a senior lawyer said on condition of anonymity.
He said that it was too early to presume whether the court would actually consider the papers released by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) or not.
Legal experts say Sharif family’s failure to challenge leak’s veracity ‘amounts to admission’
The court could focus on the controversy regarding the admissibility of the material that had been placed on the record, he added.
During proceedings, the bench repeatedly raised doubts over the evidentiary value of the Panama Papers and the newspaper clippings filed before it.
On different occasions, the court dubbed the documents submitted by both sides “hearsay”, highlighting that both the leaked documents and the Qatari letters did not meet the stringent criteria of the Qanoon-i-Shahadat (Law of Evidence).
Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) President Rasheed A. Rizvi was of the view that it would be difficult for the court to accept or reject the documents contained in the Panama Papers leaks, since they had not been submitted under oath by a witness, who could have been cross-examined to determine the authenticity of their source.
At the same time, the Sharif family and other respondents have not questioned or denied the allegations contained in the documents.
“In numerous countries authorities [have] launched investigations based on the Panama Papers revelations,” said Frederik Obermaier, investigative reporter at the German publication Süddeutsche Zeitung, which first obtained the Panama Papers documents.
The European Union (EU) formed a Committee of Inquiry into Money Laundering, Tax Avoidance and Tax Evasion to investigate the Panama Papers revelations.
In Iceland, Prime Minister Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson failed to explain his links with Wintris Inc, a company in the British Virgin Islands that held shares in one of Iceland’s failed banks, leading to his eventual resignation.
Former UK prime minister David Cameron had to face embarrassment when it emerged that his late father’s offshore investment fund Blairmore Holdings Inc. did not pay any UK taxes on its profits.
In addition, Britain’s Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond told parliament in Nov 2016 that 22 people were under investigation for tax evasion and 43 high net-worth individuals were “under examination”, the Guardian reported.
In Malta, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat is under increasing pressure after the EU committee described a case involving his cabinet minister, Konrad Mizzi, as a “textbook case of money laundering”.
In Hong Kong, Reuters reported that the Financial Services and Treasury Bureau is looking to impose anti-money laundering laws on non-financial businesses and requiring private companies to disclose their true owners.
And in Panama, the country thrust into the global spotlight as the tax haven of choice for those looking to stash their wealth, the two owners of Mossack Fonseca have been charged with money laundering and destroying evidence of a bribery scandal.
“To my knowledge, apart from Pakistan, the authenticity of the Panama Papers documents has not been seriously questioned in court in any country worldwide,” Mr Obermaier said when asked about the veracity of the documents.
Accepting the legal principle involved, senior counsel Chaudhry Faisal Hussain said that the Sharif family’s failure to challenge the Panama Papers’ veracity in any court in Pakistan or abroad amounted to an admission.
“The message is more important than the messenger,” he said, recalling that one of the judges on the bench hearing the Panamagate case had observed that the allegations levelled by the petitioners did not seem frivolous.
But in the opinion of former additional attorney general Tariq Khokhar, the Panama Papers contains the official records of certain offshore companies, which does have an intrinsic evidentiary value.
“They were the basis of the Supreme Court case,” he said, “hence their evidentiary value cannot be denied. But it is for the judges to decide whether or not they are sufficient basis for a finding against the prime minister.”
He pointed out that UK’s parliament had deemed the Panama Papers sufficient proof for a complete disclosure from former prime minister David Cameron.
“But here, there has not been any disclosure; neither before parliament nor in the Supreme Court,” Mr Khokhar said.
Published in Dawn, March 3rd, 2017 |
The right to organize is one more casualty of the filibuster.
The right to organize is one more casualty of the filibuster.
Faced with a barrage of attacks from congressional Republicans and corporate groups, the National Labor Relations Board has been struggling to fulfill its mission of protecting workers' rights to organize (or not) and participate in concerted action. The agency's difficulties, from legislative threats to constant lawsuits to an outright refusal by Senate Republicans to allow board members to be confirmed, are a threat to the rule of law and the operation of the government. It's not all abstract, though. There's also a massive human cost. Dave Jamieson details this human cost at one West Virginia mine
The Cannelton mine went bankrupt and was acquired by the now-notorious Massey Energy in 2004. The bankruptcy put hundreds of miners out of work, and rather than rehire them when it acquired the mine, Massey did everything possible to avoid hiring those experienced local workers—because they had been union members.
Massey searched far and wide for non-UMWA workers. A freshly laid off Barry Kidd spotted a billboard on the highway inviting experienced miners to apply for jobs. Kidd called the number and it was Massey, he said. With no jobs and plenty of spare time, some former Cannelton workers were vacationing in Myrtle Beach, S.C., a favorite shore spot for West Virginia miners, when they saw a plane fly over the beach dragging a banner, the kind that usually promotes a tiki-bar happy hour or wet t-shirt contest. Instead, the advertisement was soliciting applicants for their old jobs at Cannelton. Massey managers who were doing the hiring went so far as to create a spreadsheet to track the amount of applicants' "union time"—how many years they'd logged as UMWA members, which served as an approximation of union loyalty. [...] In the end, out of 219 miners hired for Massey's new operation, only 19 came from the union, and none of them were union officers or committee members, the labor board found. Many of the new workers seemed to come from outside the area, with no roots in nearby Smithers or other local communities. Several of them had no mining experience whatsoever.
Many of the miners went from earning $50,000 and more to earning less than half that in the new jobs they were able to find. According to the National Labor Relations Board, 85 of them are owed back pay and reinstatement because of Massey's illegal discrimination. In fact, that decision has come twice. The first time, it was invalidated by a court decision saying the NLRB can't operate without a three-member quorum, which didn't exist at the time of the decision. The second time, it's been hit by the appeals court ruling overturning President Obama's recess appointments—appointments without which the NLRB wouldn't have had a quorum. And of course, Senate Republicans are blocking nominees to the labor board. The NLRB continues to operate while it appeals that ruling to the Supreme Court, but its power to enforce decisions is sharply limited.
So the situation is this: The NLRB can't function without a three-member quorum. Senate Republicans will filibuster the confirmation of basically any Obama nominee. And thanks to the decision of three Republican appeals court judges, companies can block any decision made by the current NLRB since its quorum relies on recess appointments. Meanwhile, the Cannelton miners wait, and struggle to get by, and wonder if they'll be too old or unhealthy to reclaim their old jobs by the time a final decision is made and enforced. And that's exactly the outcome that Senate Republicans are aiming for when they block nominations and that the Chamber of Commerce and law-breaking employers are aiming for when they sue to block any and every decision by the NLRB. Broken government and broken unions and broken workers are the goal.
Tell Harry Reid it's time to reopen filibuster reform. |
Sweetwater Jaycees clean and skinned rattlesnakes during the rattlesnake roundup in 2015. (AP/Odessa American, Courtney Sacco)
The little city of Sweetwater, Texas, has 11,000 residents and one very big event each year. It features a pageant, food stands and contests, but the centerpiece is a bloody hunt: Thousands of Western diamond rattlesnakes are rounded up, milked of their venom and then beheaded and skinned in front of crowds at a county coliseum.
Sweetwater’s “World’s Largest Rattlesnake Roundup” ends Sunday, 59 years after the Junior Chamber of Commerce, or “Jaycees,” launched it as a way to ostensibly control the region’s abundant population of rattlers, which were accused of killing cattle and biting dozens of people each year.
These days, it draws more than 25,000 visitors, among them out-of-state snake hunting teams and foreign tourists who stop by to see the Wild West in action. Last year, 3,780 pounds of snakes were netted, and they were first thrown live in a pit — it looks something like an above-ground swimming pool — where a man in what must be very sturdy boots stood among them, stirring the pile of reptiles to keep them from suffocating each other. The 2014 Miss Texas joined him for a bit.
A reporter for the Midland Reporter-Telegram described the spectacle as “a spaghetti of writhing angry reptiles” that emanates “a strange dense smell with an evil vomit-like edge to it.” Then, he wrote, “denim-clad Jaycees lob off their heads, strip their skin and disembowel their gizzards. The snake’s tiny hearts are set aside into a gory pile, each one still beating out its own rhythm — a hundred little pebble-sized hearts still twitching with life.”
[Chart: The animals that are most likely to kill you this summer]
There are other events, including a Miss Snake Charmer contest, which nets the winner a scholarship. And the snakes, the Jaycees note, aren’t sacrificed for nothing: Their skin is sold, their meat is eaten — plates of fried snake are a highlight of the event — and their venom is purchased for research.
But while the Sweetwater roundup boasts of being the world’s biggest, it’s also one of a dying breed. Six states, five of them in the South, still host rattlesnake roundups, but the hunts have fallen out of fashion amid urbanization and complaints that they promote cruelty and a dysfunctional relationship with wildlife.
“At these events, it’s common to see snakes swollen and bloody from being restrained or thrown by handlers, dead and dying snakes, snakes too weak or stressed to defend themselves, unsanitary conditions, cruelty and dangers to the public,” Melissa Amarello, cofounder of the Tucson-based Advocates for Snake Preservation, said in a statement. “Rattlesnakes rattle when they are terrified, not angry or preparing to attack. … The sound of rattling at these roundups is in fact a thousand snakes screaming.”
Larry Martin, right, lets visitors touch a live rattlesnake at the 2016 roundup. (Nellie Doneva/The Abilene Reporter-News via AP)
Critics note that snakes aren’t really much of a menace. Each year, between 7,000 and 8,000 Americans are bit by venomous snakes, the Centers for Disease Control says, and about 6 die. Four times more people were killed in lightning strikes in 2015.
David Steen, a wildlife biologist who specializes in amphibians and reptiles at Auburn University, said rattlesnake bite victims include exterminators, drunk people and others who somehow mess with snakes.
“If you don’t do any of those things, the risks of getting bitten by a snake are really low. What does a snake have to gain by attacking you? It’s not going to try to eat you,” Steen said. “If we respect their place in the environment and also respect their space, then I think we can live alongside them with no problem at all.”
It’s unclear, too, whether snakes pose a threat to livestock. While snake venom typically can’t kill a large animal, bites to a cow’s or horse’s muzzle can cause swelling that can lead to suffocation, according to the website Progressive Cattleman. But the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s most recent reports on cattle deaths does not indicate any were felled by snake bites, though it’s possible they were counted as deaths caused by “unknown predators.”
Dennis Cumbie milks a snake at the roundup. (Nellie Doneva/The Abilene Reporter-News via AP)
There’s no question, however, that the roundup is a crucial money-maker in a town where there’s not much else going on. An analysis found that last year’s event pumped $8.4 million to the local economy, and the Jaycees use the profits for community projects, including feeding people on Thanksgiving.
Backers also argue that the roundup — unlike some in the southeast, where the quarry is a dwindling population of Eastern diamondbacks — is only controlling snake numbers, not decimating them.
“We’re not cutting the population any,” Rob McCann, a Jaycee spokesman, told the Midland paper. “I’ve been hunting the same dens for 25 years — the exact same dens. I get from 10 to 20 every year from the same dens.”
Visitors, including children, can make rattlesnake blood handprints at the roundup. (Jo-Anne McArthur)
The method used to gather those snakes may ultimately spell the end to the Sweetwater roundup. Hunters typically fill a garden sprayer with gasoline, then pump gas or its fumes into caves and crevices in rocks where snakes spend time, forcing them out. But the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department is considering banning that process, as several other states have done, amid real concerns it is toxic to the environment and lots of other wildlife, some of it protected.
Rural lawmakers have said they’d fight a ban. Supporters have filed letters in support of gassing, many arguing that the roundup will be doomed without it.
“It would be a devastating blow to us,” David Sager, a snake handler at the roundup and a member of the Jaycees, told the New York Times in 2014. “The rattlesnake roundup is our ways and means.”
Whatever happens, the department said in January, “there are no studies suggesting that rattlesnakes will become overabundant in the absence of this means of collection.”
1 of 7 Full Screen Autoplay Close Skip Ad × Unraveling the mystery of the flying snake View Photos Researchers are closing in on solving the mystery of how some snakes fly. Studies show that they transform their cross-sectional shape to help them become more aerodynamic. Caption Researchers are closing in on solving the mystery of how some snakes fly. Studies show that they transform their cross-sectional shape to help them become more aerodynamic. While in the air, the snakes transform their cross-sectional shape, splaying their ribs and flattening their bodies. Through computational and physical modeling, researchers have discovered that this modified shape helps them become more aerodynamic and allows vortices of air above their bodies to suction them upward. Jake Socha Buy Photo Wait 1 second to continue.
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Dear Massachusetts residents: Venemous snakes are coming to an island near you |
Monster of the Deep: Final Fantasy XV Preview — Fishing Fantasy
Jordan Boyd October 17, 2017 11:30:40 AM EST
Monster of the Deep: Final Fantasy XV for PlayStation VR is quite a catch, despite it being a departure from the original FFXV VR reveal.
I can’t deny that I had some fun with Monster of the Deep: Final Fantasy XV when I tried it out at New York Comic Con. As you may remember, it was surprising to see the previously revealed Final Fantasy XV VR spinoff go in a completely different direction after the original concept of an action-heavy shooter starring Prompto, debuted during Sony’s E3 2016 press conference. However, if you really appreciate the world and cast in Final Fantasy XV then it’s easy to get sucked into Monster of the Deep: Final Fantasy XV.
Square Enix has really nailed mixing the fishing gameplay alongside the scenes where you’re interacting with the characters. For instance, after the main gameplay in the demo wrapped up, I got to sit in on a campfire scene with that really catchy tune that always plays while Ignis cooks something up. This was one of my favorite sequences from the original game and it makes the transition into VR a lot better than I expected it to. It’s very cool that VR allows for us to have that experience and I hope Square does it with another Final Fantasy game coming later on down the line (*cough* Final Fantasy VII Remake).
“…if you really appreciate the world and cast in Final Fantasy XV then it’s easy to get sucked into Monster of the Deep: Final Fantasy XV.“
While there were moments where I had issues with the controls, it was only for a short period; once I got the gameplay down I never had any other experiences where the motion controls didn’t work. In fact, after I got the hang of the control scheme I found myself having a ton of fun fishing in the game.
Players are given a scanner that makes it easier to detect exactly where to cast your line. My objective during the demo was to simply catch a few fish and then take on a boss battle.
Thefishing mechanics are not too different from the main game: players toss their line out to a marked area and wait for an inevitable bite. The PlayStation Move controllers vibrate and make sounds like a fishing rod, so it’s a fun little experience that replicates real fishing as well as it can for the technology.
If the boss battles in Monster of the Deep: Final Fantasy XV are consistently as fun as the one I got to go up against then the whole package should be exciting to play through. Not to mention that the giant fish monster I got to face-off against continuously gets up in your face and it actually got kind of intense in VR. At the end of the battle the game uses the PlayStation 4’s camera to take a picture of you where you can hold up your catch using the PlayStation Move controllers.
While it’s not the VR game we were originally shown, I’m very glad Monster of the Deep: Final Fantasy XV manages to mix in the moments of fishing, action, and interacting with the characters of the underlying title. Additionally, they’ve done a great job making sure that you’re not thrown into any part of the game for too long. I’m looking forward to seeing what other fun tie-ins the team has decided to put in from the game’s world.
“While it’s not the VR game we were originally shown, I’m very glad Monster of the Deep: Final Fantasy XV manages to mix in the moments of fishing, action, and interacting with the characters of the underlying title.“
If you’re a fan of Final Fantasy XV in any capacity and happen to own a PS VR headset, Monster of the Deep: Final Fantasy XV is a worthy edition to the ever-growing world Square Enix has built for this universe and its characters. If you haven’t graced your VR headset with any new games recently then definitely do yourself a favor and check this one out.
Monster of the Deep: Final Fantasy XV will be available exclusively on PS VR on November 21 later this year. If you’ve never played Final Fantasy XV before then you should totally check out our original review of the game from last year so that you can get all caught up. |
Image copyright MGM Image caption Freeman plays downtrodden insurance salesman Lester Nygard in the TV version of Fargo
Actor Martin Freeman, best known for The Office and Sherlock, talks to BBC News about his chilly new role in a TV version of Fargo and preparing to play Richard III in London's West End.
From Tim Canterbury in TV's The Office and John Watson in Sherlock to Bilbo Baggins in the Hobbit films, actor Martin Freeman has often found himself typecast as sweet-natured, dependable, stoic salts-of-the-earth.
His latest project, however, sees him take on a far more ambivalent and morally suspect character - while his next will find him playing one of the all-time great stage villains.
The Martin makeover kicks off this week with Fargo, a TV adaptation of the Oscar-winning 1996 film that casts the British actor as a hen-pecked Minnesotan who gets mixed up in murder.
Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Fargo has been adapted for TV with plenty of new twists and characters
It continues in July when the 42-year-old takes the title role in Richard III, a new production of William Shakespeare's history play that marks his first professional encounter with the Bard.
"When you get known for something, you get a few more of those roles and before you know it you're in people's consciousness as that thing," Freeman tells the BBC News website.
"But I'm not just that optimistic, nice person or mild-mannered sweetheart next door. So it's nice when people see something in me that isn't Love Actually."
Freeman is referring to Richard Curtis's 2003 romantic comedy, in which he appeared as a love-struck movie stand-in obliged to simulate naked intercourse with an actress he secretly fancies.
Image copyright MGM Image caption Billy Bob Thornton plays the other lead role in the US series, that of mysterious drifter Lorne Malvo
Some may recall that Billy Bob Thornton also had a role in that star-laden affair, a nugget of movie trivia that takes on an additional resonance now that he and Freeman have been cast beside each other in the Fargo TV series.
"We'd never met on Love Actually but we got on instantly like a house on fire," says Freeman. "As soon as we had our first line run it was apparent it was going to be a breeze.
"It's nice as well when you're working with an actor who you like watching. I was enjoying his performance as Martin, even as I was horrified by it as Lester."
Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Martin Freeman tells 5 live: "I'm glad not to be doing The Office any more"
The Lester that Freeman refers to is one Lester Nygard, a downtrodden insurance salesman whom the actor describes as "unconfident and pretty much scared of his own shadow".
"He's someone who's been apologising all his life and who has no control over his life," he goes on.
"He's married to a woman who doesn't shower him with love, and he's in a not very good job he's not very good at."
A chance encounter with Thornton's character, a mysterious and possibly malevolent drifter named Lorne Malvo, sets Lester's life on a different and wholly unexpected trajectory.
"His mind is opened up to the possibilities to how life can be," Freeman explains. "He doesn't have to keep being a victim and on the receiving end of life and can take it in his own hands a little bit."
Before you ask, this is not the Fargo you may remember.
Image caption Freeman has made three series of Sherlock with Benedict Cumberbatch and says a fourth will be made
The characters are different, the story is a new one and there is no room for Marge Gunderson, the pregnant police chief Frances McDormand won an Oscar for playing in the Coen brothers original.
Yet the blackly comic tone and sudden bursts of graphic violence will be all too familiar to fans of the film-making siblings' oeuvre.
Joel and Ethan Coen, for the record, serve as the new Fargo's executive producers - an endorsement missing from an earlier attempt to turn their film into a TV series that did not make it past pilot stage in 1997.
"Obviously it inhabits the same universe, the same world, but it's not the same people," says Freeman. "I hope that after five minutes of watching our first episode, you won't be thinking about the film any more.
"The general tone of the piece was right up my street, and I do think it's its own thing. If it hadn't have been called Fargo, I'd still have wanted to do it."
One aspect from the original remains resolutely unchanged - the wintry, snowbound landscape against which the action unfolds.
Freeman admits that shooting in Calgary, Canada, in temperatures that would sometimes descend to 40 degrees below freezing was "not always comfortable".
"It's not easy to act in - your lips and your face stop moving - and you couldn't not wear a hat," he recalls.
"But I was actually looking forward to being that cold. It was something I wanted to experience, and I'm quite pleased I did."
Image copyright Film company Image caption Freeman will be seen later this year as Bilbo Baggins in the third Hobbit film, There and Back Again
Fargo's appearance on British TV screens will coincide with rehearsals for Richard III, which will run at London's Trafalgar Studios from 1 July to 27 September.
"It's my first Shakespeare professionally, so it's good that it's something that will ease me in gently," Freeman laughs. "It's probably a ridiculous idea but I'm very excited about it."
How did Freeman feel, though, when he heard his Sherlock co-star Benedict Cumberbatch is to offer his own take on Richard III in a BBC dramatisation of the play? "Surprised," he concedes.
"I didn't see it coming but fair enough - it's in the public domain and actors are allowed to do it."
Fargo begins on Channel 4 on 20 April. |
I first met then-Lt. Col. John Kelly when he was the Marine Corps liaison to the House of Representatives, and I was speaker of the House. We traveled together on a number of overseas trips. He was the best liaison officer I have worked with in any service.
Even then, Kelly was smart, diplomatic, personable, a good listener – and knew how to get things done. I found him short on words and long on wisdom.
Gen. Kelly later served multiple tours in Iraq, where he excelled. He understood the military challenges there, but even more importantly he understood the cultural and political challenges.
His last active duty assignment was serving as commander of the Southern Command. I visited him at SOUTHCOM headquarters and was deeply impressed with his grasp of Latin American economics and politics, as well as the challenges posed by organized crime.
I was delighted when Gen. Kelly agreed to serve as secretary of Homeland Security. I thought he brought with him a unique understanding of the challenges we face at our border and with violent multinational gangs. In fact, I thought the choice of Kelly was a good indicator of the caliber of people then-President-elect Trump wanted in his Cabinet.
On several occasions, I have had the opportunity to discuss a wide range of homeland security issues with Secretary Kelly. Every time, he impressed me with how much he understood, how clear his plans were, and how effective his implementation was going to be.
President Trump has made a big decision in bringing Kelly to the White House to be chief of staff.
It will be fascinating to watch these two powerful, experienced leaders forge a unique working relationship.
I predict the White House will become more orderly and disciplined – with clear lines of authority, serious planning and strong teamwork.
The person who may benefit most from this change is President Trump. He has worked with many smart, successful people in his remarkable career, but he has never worked this closely with someone as used to command, organization and dignified insistence on teamwork as Secretary Kelly.
If these two powerful leaders truly become a team, the Trump presidency will become one of the most effective in our history. |
Lou Vincent (right) departs Southwark Crown Court with his wife Susie after giving evidence in the perjury trial of former New Zealand cricketer Chris Cairns in London.
Jurors in the Chris Cairns trial have been warned by the judge they must treat the evidence of confessed match-fixer Lou Vincent with care given his tendency to lie.
The warning is important, given the perjury charge Cairns is facing.
To be proved, perjury requires more than the evidence of one witness to be accepted as true.
CARL COURT/GETTY IMAGES Former New Zealand cricketer Chris Cairns' perjury trial in London is nearing an end, with the judge offering advice to the jury on Friday (Saturday NZ Time).
Justice Sweeney, told the seven women and five men on the jury they had to be sure of the evidence of at least two of the three key Crown witnesses.
Vincent is one. New Zealand cricket captain Brendon McCullum and Ellie Riley - Vincent's ex wife are the others.
In his summing up, Justice Sweeney said Cairns was of good character, apart from keeping money in cash to avoid tax, while his co-accused Andrew Fitch-Holland had an unblemished record.
Justice Sweeney spent a large part of his summing up in Southwark Crown Court on Friday (Saturday NZ Time) outlining the various flaws of Vincent, the opening witness in the Crown case against Cairns.
He pointed out the "potential danger" Vincent "might have his own interests to serve" in both the case of Cairns and Fitch-Holland, who had been the cricketer's legal adviser.
Vincent has told the court Cairns introduced him to match-fixing when his captain at the Chandigarh Lions in the 2008 Indian Cricket League. He also said the former New Zealand captain approached him to fix a game in England that year.
Vincent confessed to fixing in 2013, and copped a life ban for it last year.
Cairns, 45, is accused of lying under oath in court when he said during his Lalit Modi libel trial "I have never, ever cheated at cricket. Nor would I ever contemplate such a thing".
Perjury is a criminal charge which carries a maximum sentence of seven years.
Cairns is also charged with perverting the course of justice, alongside Fitch-Holland. They have denied all charges.
Vincent surreptitiously taped Fitch-Holland in 2011, when he Skype-called him to get him to provide a statement to the Modi hearing. That recording led to the English barrister being charged with seeking a false statement.
Justice Sweeney noted Vincent had admitted fixing games across the world, was involved in trying to recruit Englishman Mal Loye, New Zealander Andre Adams, Zimbabwean Murray Goodwin, and Pakistani Azhar Mahmood to fix. All except Adams reported him.
He had admitted to corruption, fraud, money laundering and bribery in England, to working for bookies to fix games, and tried to lie his way out of trouble.
While the prosecution contention was that "you can be sure that Vincent is telling the truth", the defence has argued with the vultures circling he needed to hand the authorities a big name - Cairns - to minimise the consequences of his cheating.
While banned for life from cricket, Vincent had already given the game up at the time, and was said to be writing a book.
Vincent was giving himself an "insurance policy", the defence has argued, not confessing for the good of the game as he has claimed.
Justice Sweeney said the jury should be particularly cautious Vincent might have his own interests to serve by testifying.
Care had to be taken when a witness asserted someone else was involved his crime, so he could escape or reduce punishment by reducing own role and "aggrandising the role of others", the judge said
He also criticised the police investigation, which he said appeared to regard the International Cricket Council life bans "as a sufficient way to deal with his behaviour".
The court had been told before Vincent testified he was "still in peril" of criminal charges, and didn't have to answer questions that might incriminate him.
He had relied on that guidance to avoid answering on a "few occasions", the judge said. It later emerged he was actually "not in peril", Justice Sweeney said.
Vincent was not in danger of prosecution in England up to the time he gave evidence, and the possibility of a private prosecution "is modest", he said.
"Any impression given that he was in peril of prosecution was wrong and should not form any part of your considerations.
"With those warnings firmly in mind, what you make of his evidence in the end is entirely a matter for you."
While there had been rumours about fixing in India, Modi's 2010 tweet linking the defendant to fixing and former Chandigarh player Andrew Hall saying Cairns had told him the ICL had kicked him out for alleged fixing "you have heard such evidence for strictly limited purposes," Justice Sweeney told the jury.
It could be used as background, or be relevant to state of mind. The same applied to witnesses Vincent told about Cairns, and witnesses McCullum told Cairns had approached him to fix.
McCullum has alleged Cairns twice asked him in 2008 to get involved, once in India and once in England.
Cairns has denied the allegations.
The prosecution had argued those witnesses proved "the fact" that Vincent and McCullum had told people well before they went to the authorities, so the statements were not a "recent invention.
The defence had argued they were part of the Vincent "insurance policy" while McCullum had "aggrandised" two meetings into something they never were.
The Fitch-Holland quotes relayed by former Black Cap Chris Harris - "he's guilty, Cairnsy's guilty" were evidence only in the case of the English barrister.
The previous good character of Cairns "is not a defence as such", the jury was told.
It did count in his favour, in that it supported his credibility, and pointed to him being "less likely" to have committed an offence.
The jury would have to decide what weight to give that, he said.
While the prosecution had pointed out Cairns carried out "a tax fiddle", the defence did not agree, he said.
"Such activity is very different to the offences he is charged with."
The jury should avoid emotion "of any type", guard against speculation, and use their common sense.
If Cairns was found not guilty on the perjury charge, the perversion charges against him and Fitch-Holland would automatically fail, as they could not have been seeking a "false" statement.
Only a unanimous verdict could be accepted, he said.
Justice Sweeney will complete his summing up on Monday (Tuesday NZT), with the jury likely to retire the following day.
The case started on October 6. |
ISLAMABAD / GUJRAT: Around 50 Pakistani asylum seekers have been deported from Norway.
Many more will soon be sent back to their home country or to Russia, as the Norwegian government has now introduced stricter rules for asylum seekers, Norwegian Ambassador Tore Nedrebø said in a statement here on Thursday.
More than 400 Pakistani citizens have applied for asylum in Norway during the current year. Most of them have crossed the Norwegian-Russian border in the High North during the last month.
Also read: EU warns of tough action against Pakistani migrants
Like in other European countries, the number of asylum seekers arriving in Norway has recently increased sharply. It is estimated that between 30,000 and 40,000 asylum seekers will come to Norway in 2015. The new rush is particularly challenging at the Norwegian-Russian border crossing station at Storskog, where winter has now set in.
Norwegian authorities consider that most of those currently crossing the border are not fleeing from civil war or persecution. Earlier this autumn, the majority was from Syria. Now well over half are from other countries, such as Afghanistan and Pakistan. A large proportion of them are single young men. “Few are entitled to protection and they are putting an unnecessary burden on the Norwegian system,” the ambassador said.
Legislative amendments adopted by Oslo last week enable a speedy return of asylum seekers without real need of protection to their home country, or to their country of habitual residence, which may be Russia. The new legislation also contains provisions making it possible to arrest and remand in custody foreign nationals whose asylum applications will most likely not be processed, or to impose on them a duty to report to the authorities and to stay in a specific place.
Benefits for asylum seekers have been reduced and rules for family immigration are tightened.
The new rules also increase the discretion of Norwegian immigration authorities not to process an asylum request if the applicant has already resided in a safe third country. “Norway considers Russia to be a safe country,” Mr Nedrebø said.
He points out that to be eligible for asylum under the international Refugee Convention, a person must be in real need of protection. People whose applications are denied must return to their home country or the country of habitual residence. Those who do not leave voluntarily will be returned by force. Asylum applications that appear likely to be denied will be given priority and fast-tracked.
“Applications from Pakistani nationals generally fall into this category,” the ambassador said.
Some central region districts of Punjab such as Gujrat, Mandi Bahauddin, Jhelum, Sialkot and Gujranwala have been the potential areas of those who seek asylum in European countries, including Norway. Some 40,000 expatriates of Pakistani origin are currently residing in Norway and around 30,000 of them belong only to Gujrat district. It is generally believed that those who have recently been refused asylum by the Norwegian government are from Gujrat and Mandi Bahauddin districts.
Talking to Dawn, Attaché (Migration) of Norwegian Embassy Torben Sveaass Kalland said that “between 20 and 30 Pakistanis have been deported during the past few weeks. It shows that the number of people, who are trying to go to Norway illegally, has suddenly increased”.
He said majority of people who crossed the Norwegian-Russian border had valid Russian visa which showed that they travelled to Russia legally and then they crossed the border illegally.
“We have informed the Russian embassy in Islamabad about the situation at Storskog and the new policy.”
Replying to a question, he said that generally people, who cross borders illegally, destroy their passports.
All the people crossing the Norwegian border with Russia had documents. “The part of Russia bordering Norway is a militarised area, so Pakistanis cannot afford to travel without documents in those areas. So they carry their passports and identity documents,” he added.
“We obviously cannot stop people travelling from Pakistan to Russia. But we will certainly consider all possibilities to reduce the number of people crossing the border without a visa.”
Director of the Federal Investigation Agency (Immigration) Inam Ghani told Dawn said that he was aware that the people had been trying to go to Norway from Russia but claimed that they were going to Russia on legal documents.
“Currently two types of people have been going to Russia. Some are going after getting a visit visa and others on a student visa. We cannot stop those who travel on legal documents,” he said.
“We, however, have started profiling of travellers. During profiling, we ask them the purpose of their visit abroad and why they want to go especially to Russia. If a person who intends to go to Russia has just $150 and it is confirmed that he never travelled even to Murree in the past we stop him from proceeding,” he said.
“I believe that Norway should take up the issue with Russia and persuade its embassy to change its visa policy,” Mr Ghani said.
Published in Dawn, November 27th, 2015 |
Aurora police said a 31-year-old Denver man became so angry that the new “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3” game wasn’t in stock, he threatened to show them some real violence instead.
Best Buy employees told police Lomorin Sar threatened to blow up the store and shoot employees in the parking lot just after the midnight release of the game.
A store manager called 9-1-1, and police pulled over Sar’s Infinity sport-utility vehicle outside the store at 3511 North Salida Court, near Interstate 70 and Tower Road.
Sar was angry because he said he had pre-ordered the game on Monday and his copy was not available at the store.
Police issued Sar a summons alleging misdeameanor disorderly conduct. His only previous record in Colorado was a traffic ticket in 2009, in which he pleaded guilty to driving with an unauthorized license, records show.
“Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3,” a military-themed multi-player war game, was released at midnight and has been called “the most anticipated game ever” by its creators. |
Officials at Our Lady of the Resurrection are considering closing the Portage Park hospitals, but opponents said that would turn Portage Park into a "health care desert." View Full Caption DNAInfo/Heather Cherone
PORTAGE PARK — A decision about the fate of Our Lady of the Resurrection Medical Center is expected in December as hospital officials weigh whether to shutter the Portage Park hospital while keeping its emergency room open, Ald. Tim Cullerton (38th) said Monday.
Hospital leaders met Friday with Cullerton and other elected officials concerned about the impact the proposed closure would have on the Far Northwest Side.
"Their plan is not real clear," Cullerton said. "When I asked how many beds they were eliminating, they said the plan was still developing."
The fierce opposition to the proposed closure from employees, residents and elected officials caught hospital officials off guard, Cullerton said. A group of employees have launched an online petition and begun lobbying elected officials in an effort to block the closure.
"[Hospital officials] don't understand the [Portage Park] community," Cullerton said, adding that he believes Presence Health, which operates 12 Catholic hospitals in the Chicago area including Our Lady of the Resurrection, is "running from the community," which has a high percentage of people who are uninsured and poor.
Eighty percent of the hospital's patients were covered by Medicare or Medicaid, or paid out of pocket, according to the hospital’s 2011 report to the Illinois Department of Public Health.
The 269-bed hospital expects to lose $20.7 million this year and another $5.7 million next year, according to a memo sent to the nearly 900 employees who work at the medical center at 5645 W. Addison St. by hospital CEO John Baird.
Presence Health spokeswoman Angela Benander said in a statement the meeting was productive and will help hospital leaders craft a "workable plan" for the hospital "with an appropriate complement of inpatient services, comprehensive emergency services and outpatient services."
That plan, which could include reinvestment in Our Lady of the Resurrection if the changes save enough money, is expected to be presented to the Presence Health board in December, Benander said.
Hospital officials had proposed ending in-patient services at the hospital while keeping the emergency room open. State law requires hospitals with emergency rooms to have at least 100 beds.
Patients who need to be admitted to a hospital would be transferred to Resurrection Medical Center, 7435 W. Talcott Ave., five miles away, according to hospital officials.
Cullerton said Baird told him the hospital would be increasing "ambulatory and primary care" at the same time it was scaling back in-patient services. Cullerton said it was unclear what impact that would have on hospital patients and residents of the Far Northwest Side.
"I don't know how they are coming to this decision," said Cullerton, adding that he has requested another meeting with hospital officials about their plans. In addition, the alderman said he hopes to address the hospital's board before they make a final decision on the hospital's future.
Hospital officials never requested assistance from any of the elected officials represented at Friday's meeting, including U.S. Reps. Mike Quigley and Luis Gutierrez, Cullerton said.
"I'm concerned it is a forgone conclusion," Cullerton said. "It will hurt people's ability to get health care."
The move is especially confusing because of the population growth on the city's Far Northwest Side, which has packed local elementary and high schools, Cullerton said.
"I hope they take another look," Cullerton said. "I'm hopeful we can save the health care services and those jobs."
It is unclear how many people would lose their jobs if the proposed closure occurs. Those job losses would be felt throughout the neighborhood, Cullerton said.
"It would hurt Portage Park, no doubt about it," Cullerton said. "It would be a double whammy." |
Trailer Frenzy A special place to find the newest trailers for movies and TV shows you're craving.
The faux documentary No Men Beyond This Point takes place in a world where biological males are going extinct. Because it turns out once cisgender men were no longer needed for reproduction, they were no longer needed... at all. This film combines a “historical” look at the decline of the Y chromosome with modern “interviews” with people like Andrew Meyers, the youngest man on the planet (he’s 37).
Based on this extremely silly trailer, it appears the movie will mix a bit of the feminine utopia trope (no wars) with a bit of the retaliation that tends to crop when those in power are supplanted, although the women’s antagonism to their former oppressors and the men’s haplessness at losing their privilege is played for laughs. It’s kind of deliberately exaggerated, almost like a spoof on a man’s worst nightmares about a female-dominated world.
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And indeed, that’s what writer-director Mark Sawers was going for, as he told eFilmCritic a while back: “I was rehearsing with Cam McDonald, who plays the leader of the men’s movement. I was working with him on a scene and working on getting him to play it as deadpan as possible, and we suddenly had to stop because I had pretty much fallen out my chair laughing. And I never laugh! That’s when I knew the tone I was going for was going to work.”
[FlavorWire] |
Dressed in a flashy black belly-dancing outfit, Nancy is a hobby transgender dancer from Iraq, ready to take to the stage with full make-up and skinny high heels. She is preparing to entertain more than 200 other Arab gays, lesbians and transgender people in Stockholm, Sweden.
The setting is the Stockholm headquarters of the Swedish Federation for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Rights (RFSL). The occasion is the launch of Arab Initiative, the first Arab LGBT rights group in Europe.
Nancy has been in Sweden six years now. She lives with her Iraqi family in a Stockholm suburb and hides her preferred gender identity and hobby from her family.
“I was a hobby trans even back in Iraq. I believe most of my friends back then were bisexuals, they just refused to admit it, even if I had a relationship with them,” Nancy says, as she keeps watch of the entrance to the RFSL party premises.
She lets a fellow Iraqi in, and kisses him on both cheeks. Turning around, Nancy says her family would never accept her lifestyle and explains how she has to stay out with other Iraqi friends when she's in town dressed up as the person she prefers to be.
“However, people here are more open to accepting a transgender belly dancer than in the Middle East.”
Ali, who started the Arab Initiative, takes some time off from serving alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks to members and their friends to speak about the purpose of the organization.
“Our aim is to create new bridges between European and Arab cultures, spread information about the Arab world in Sweden, support LGBT people with an Arabic background, and hopefully to bring more tolerance and understanding of their issues and defend their rights in Sweden and abroad,” he says.
“We as Arabs are discriminated against in general as an immigrant group, and then we are discriminated against again amongst our own minority for being gay,” he adds.
Ali and his peers have received funding from the European Union, which supports several LGBT organizations for immigrant minorities around Europe.
Since its establishment last May, the Arab Initiative has held parties, partaken in two Pride festivals, arranged three film showings, and four seminars.
“We have been making connections with LGBT groups in the Middle East, promoting ourselves locally through word of mouth, and standing up for LGBT rights against media producers who portray this particular group in a negative way.”
Ali adds that it is not a political organization, but mostly a place for Arab LGBT people to find support and meet their peers.
Karin Båge, head of RFSL in Stockholm, says that her group was contacted by the Arab Initiative. RFSL quickly gave the group full access to its premises, skills, and contacts.
The difficulties faced by gays in Iraq was brought into sharp relief this week as Human Rights Watched published details of a murderous militia-led campaign against homosexuals in the Middle Eastern country. In response, RFSL called on the Swedish government to halt all deportations to Iraq of people who have sought asylum on the basis of sexual orientation or gender.
"We urge Sweden to investigate the possibility of evacuating homosexuals, bisexuals and transgender people who are at risk of being subjected to 'sexual cleansing'," RFSL chairperson Sören Juvas wrote in a press release on Monday.
Sa'ad Ibrahim, 37, is an Iraqi citizen who was granted asylum last May after being threatened with death due to his sexual orientation.
“One day in 2006, I received a call between 8 and 9 in the evening when I had arrived home from work. A friend of mine told me that another friend of ours had disappeared. So we asked around and after ten days we found out that his dismembered body had been found. Three of my friends were killed this way. I am the only one alive in my previous circle of friends,” Sa'ad tells The Local.
He had previously received written threats in his ladies' shoe shop in a conservative Shiite district of Baghdad, where he was told he was a “fag” and that “God hates fags."
“Around 9.30 to 10 at night there were six people asking about me around the corner. I got the message to leave before they made it to my shop: I escaped through the back door and left everything behind me. I went far away to my uncle's place where I stayed for the next five months. Every day I would imagine myself torn to pieces.”
He made his way to Sweden through a smuggling network, using up all the money he had managed to gather. When he came to Sweden he was devastated and lonely, he says.
“Now I am very happy because here I am able to mingle and mix with all sorts of people. I met an Iranian man who became my boyfriend. I fell in love with him, as he took me to the Pride festival, which turned my life around 180 degrees. I was totally amazed by the energy of the festival.”
Meanwhile, it was time for Nancy to mount the stage and wow the crowd with her belly dancing shakes to Arabic music. Swedes, Arabs, Africans and people of other ethnicities, men and women, straight and gay, gathered around the stage and clapped to the rhythm – a sight unseen in any Arab country.
Ali said the Arab Initiative will be organizing similar parties this autumn. The soonest will be in observation of Ramadan, the holy fasting month in the Islamic calendar, which starts this Saturday. |
It has been absolutely delicious to watch the American media melt down since last week's Brexit vote. Nothing terrifies liberal elitists more than an aware and energized electorate. The MSM fears the rise of a voting class that doesn't march to its orders, and they fear this Brexit stuff will spread.
At least they're being honest about the end game now, whether intentionally or unintentionally.
While the original article headline used the less offensive "shoulddn't be decided by referendum," the Post's tweet was a lot more forthcoming:
Brexit is a reminder some things just shouldn’t be decided by the people https://t.co/R3r9Ikb4Xn via @Wonkblog — Washington Post (@washingtonpost) June 27, 2016
The author of the article earnestly makes the case that in places like the United States and Great Britain we elect people to legislatures to handle these things for us. In a perfect world, we could trust said representation. In the United States, especially at the federal level, legislating has become a career path that almost inevitably sees our elected officials representing themselves more than their constituents (John McCain comes to mind).
There's the dilemma: should the same people who keep electing legislators who don't adequately represent them be allowed to vote on referenda?
Yes. |
As the chair of Canada's broadcast regulator rides off into the sunset, he has been tossing a few last coins at the many supplicants who follow him wherever he goes. Cantonese and Punjabi newscasts; measures to slow the loss of local TV; more opportunities for female directors, writers and producers; more flexibility for broadcasters – the benevolent Jean-Pierre Blais, outgoing chair of the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), seems to have a little something for most.
He doesn't leave much of a legacy for himself, however. Once again, his piecemeal approach offers no consistent strategy to address the challenges facing Canadian television production in the Netflix age.
Monday's CRTC announcement renewing the licences of all the major English and French TV groups for another five years is the last major broadcasting decision on Blais's watch – his term ends June 17 – and it's couched as an even-handed political pleaser. Blais has found a way to revive Rogers Media's multicultural channel OMNI Regional by giving it a spot on basic cable. He has stuck his finger in the dike to protect local news: Broadcasters must now give the CRTC 120 days notice if they plan to close a station and are obligated to broadcast at least six hours of local news every week. And he wants broadcasters to start reporting to the CRTC the number of senior female creatives in the productions they air – a move that may yet shame the male-dominated TV industry into more gender equity.
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But the CRTC is also offering the broadcasters "flexibility" on programming requirements by cutting the percentage of their revenues they have to spend on "programs of national interest." That category includes scripted dramas and comedies, feature documentaries and scripted children's shows; previously in this area Bell Media and Corus Entertainment were required to spend 8 per cent and 9 per cent respectively but Rogers, because it traditionally did less scripted and more sports, was only required to spend 5 per cent. The new decision reduces everybody to 5.
Similarly, when it came to protecting local news, the CRTC also took a lowest-common-denominator approach: That six-hours-a-week minimum is well below what some larger broadcasters, such as Bell's CTV, traditionally produce. In an environment where broadcasters find it increasingly difficult to make any money on local news, the floor may rapidly become the ceiling.
Meanwhile, on the scripted side, the guilds that represent the actors, directors and screenwriters who make TV shows have calculated that the decision to go with the lower percentage for dramas, docs and kids will take at least $200-million out of scripted television production over the next five years. The broadcasters still have to spend 30 per cent of their revenues on Canadian programming in general but now they can shift money over to reality or lifestyle shows.
Both Blais and Minister of Canadian Heritage Mélanie Joly have stressed the need for Canadian shows to be internationally competitive. In a news release announcing these licence renewals, the CRTC trumpeted its support for "the creation of diverse, compelling and original Canadian content," but the move to cut spending on programs of national interest seems calculated to do the reverse – and sends an oddly mixed message.
Previously, Blais has sliced away at Canadian-content quotas, a method of support that is becoming less effective anyway as people watch less linear TV. Specifically, in 2015, the CRTC dropped the content requirements for daytime TV, a move that was justified as a way of letting broadcasters concentrate their money on higher-quality shows in prime time. Yet, this week's decision actively encourages the broadcasters to shift money out of quality scripted programming toward areas – reality TV, talk TV, lifestyle shows, sports or possibly news and current affairs – that are not considered of "national interest" nor likely to raise international interest either.
Having started by trimming the Canadian programming requirements, Blais is now cutting the money, subtracting from the other side of the equation that is still an effective support for Canadian TV production. Following a decision last fall that reduced the number of Canadian creatives who need to be involved for shows to qualify for investments for certain production funds, this latest move continues a pattern of chipping away at supports randomly without offering a clear vision of what might replace them or where that "compelling and original Canadian content" is going to come from.
As Blais packs up the coffee mugs and family photos, the pressure is now on Joly. She needs to offer clearer solutions in her forthcoming cultural-policy review – and appoint a new CRTC chair who will help carry them out. |
A legal challenge to the Auckland Unitary Plan could "make the whole process grind to a halt", the city's deputy mayor says.
Photo: Supplied / ATEED
Lobby group Auckland 2040 and heritage advocacy organisation Character Coalition are seeking a judicial review of the plan's higher-density residential zones by the High Court.
A report prepared for Thursday's Auckland Council meeting said, until it was resolved, the legal action would have a major impact on some proposed housing developments.
Council staff said the action could freeze some zones for up to a year.
Read the report prepared for the council - including a list of appeals so far
Auckland deputy mayor Penny Hulse told Checkpoint with John Campbell the action was not unexpected but it was disappointing.
"This one has the potential ... to make the whole process grind to a halt."
Photo: RNZ / Claire Eastham-Farrelly
The two groups are challenging the legality of many of the higher-density zones, arguing they have gone beyond the scope of what could be decided by the plan's independent hearings panel and adopted by the council.
Council staff said the action would mean the city's old zoning plans would remain in force, and new development applications would be weighed up against both the old and new plans.
Ms Hulse said this would add "cost, time and complexity to the process".
"Obviously you can't build anything if you don't have reference to the zoning in which that sits."
She said the council did not want to spending huge amounts of ratepayer dollars fighting the appeal in court, and hoped to resolve the issue through mediation.
In total, 65 smaller appeals have been lodged with the Environment Court about the Auckland Unitary Plan. There have been 41 appeals on points of law to the High Court, and eight parties were seeking judicial reviews. |
Lately ofono and ConnMan have been in the news, and that’s sparked some discussion about how these two projects relate to NetworkManager. I’ve mostly just been ignoring that discussion and focusing on making NetworkManager better. But at some point the discussion needs to become informed and the facts need to be straightened out.
So what makes NetworkManager great?
Flexibility: NM’s D-Bus interface provides a ton of control and information about the network connections of your machine. Developers and applications simply don’t take enough advantage of this. Imagine mail automatically pulled whenever the corporate VPN is up. Or more restrictive firewalls when connected to public networks. Yeah, you can do that today with NetworkManager.
NM’s D-Bus interface provides a ton of control and information about the network connections of your machine. Developers and applications simply don’t take enough advantage of this. Imagine mail automatically pulled whenever the corporate VPN is up. Or more restrictive firewalls when connected to public networks. Yeah, you can do that today with NetworkManager. Works everywhere: from the mainframe to the power desktop to the netbook and lower. There’s nothing stopping you from running NetworkManager on an s390 or a Palm Pre.
from the mainframe to the power desktop to the netbook and lower. There’s nothing stopping you from running NetworkManager on an s390 or a Palm Pre. Integration: most users like NetworkManager’s distro integration, so it’s on by default (but can be turned off for running bare-metal). NM will read your distro’s network config files: ifcfg on Fedora, /etc/network/interfaces on Debian, etc. It doesn’t pretend the rest of the world doesn’t exist, but it can if you tell it to.
most users like NetworkManager’s distro integration, so it’s on by default (but can be turned off for running bare-metal). NM will read your distro’s network config files: ifcfg on Fedora, /etc/network/interfaces on Debian, etc. It doesn’t pretend the rest of the world doesn’t exist, but it can if you tell it to. Connection Sharing: you can share your 3G connection to the wired or the wifi interface, or the other way around. How you share is completely up to you.
you can share your 3G connection to the wired or the wifi interface, or the other way around. How you share is completely up to you. VPN: it’s got plugins for Cisco (vpnc), openvpn, openconnect, and pptp. An ipsec/openswan plugin is being written. It’s just easy to use the VPN of your choice.
it’s got plugins for Cisco (vpnc), openvpn, openconnect, and pptp. An ipsec/openswan plugin is being written. It’s just easy to use the VPN of your choice. Makes Linux better: by not working around stupid vendor drivers or other broken components, NetworkManager drives many improvements in drivers, kernel APIs, the supplicant, and desktop applications. Five years ago I posted a list of wifi problems, many of which got fixed because NetworkManager users complained about them. Stuff like WPA capability fixes, hidden SSID fixes, suspend/resume improvements, Ad-Hoc mode fixes, and lots of improvements to wpa_supplicant to name just a few. By encouraging drivers to be open, by fixing bugs in the open drivers and the stack instead of hacking around them, and by encouraging vendors to work upstream, NetworkManager makes Linux better for you.
What great stuff is coming next?
All in all, a lot of great stuff is on the plate. NetworkManager already works well for a ton of people, but we’d like to make it work better for a lot more people. And it will.
So what about ConnMan?
I recently came across a slide deck about ConnMan which makes both disappointing and inaccurate claims about NetworkManager. It’s also worth emphasizing the philosophical differences between the two projects.
First, ConnMan primarily targets embedded devices, netbooks, and MIDs (slide #1). When ConnMan was first released in early 2008, NetworkManager 0.7 was under heavy development, and NetworkManager 0.6 clearly did not meet the requirements. But 0.7, released in November 2008, works well for a wide range of use-cases and hardware platforms.
NetworkManager scales from netbooks, MIDs, and embedded devices with custom-written UIs to desktops to large systems like IBM’s s390. You get the best of both worlds: from phenomenal cosmic power down to itty-bitty living space.
ConnMan explicitly doesn’t try to integrate with existing distributions (slide #5), partly due to it’s requirements to be as light-weight as possible. But NetworkManager will use your distro’s normal network config and startup scripts if you tell it to do (but you don’t have to). Early in NetworkManager days we tried to ignore the rest of the world too. Turns out that doesn’t work so well; users demand integration with their distribution. But ConnMan doesn’t pretend to be general purpose, and due to its embedded focus, it can wave this issue away.
Both ConnMan and ofono reject well-established technologies like GObject (but still uses glib) in favor of re-implementing much of GObject internally anyway. This is a curious decision as GObject is not a memory hog and not a performance drag for these cases. The NIH syndrome continues with libgppp, libgdhcp, and libgdbus, where instead of improving existing, widely-used tools like dhclient/dhcpcd, pppd, and dbus-glib, ConnMan opts to re-implement them in the name of being more “lightweight”. With embedded projects that ConnMan targets (like Maemo and Moblin) already using GObject and dhcpcd, I don’t understand why this tradeoff was made. Perhaps this visceral dislike of GObject and dbus-glib was one reason the project’s creators decided to write their own connection manager instead of helping to improve existing ones.
NetworkManager in contrast re-uses and helps improve components all over the Linux stack. Because of that, more people benefit from the fixes and improvements that NetworkManager drives in projects like avahi, wpa_supplicant, the kernel, pppd, glib, dbus-glib, ModemManager, libnl, PolicyKit, udev, etc.
Taking a look at the deck
I have things to say about most of the slides, but I’ll concentrate on the most interesting and misinformed ones instead.
Very Complex Design: a complete strawman, because it doesn’t say anything. NetworkManager 0.7 is a mature project with many useful features. NM is based around a core of objects, each one performing actions based on signals and events from other objects. It’s modular and flexible. It’s just not a ConnMan-style box of lego blocks with a rigid plugin API and all the problems that causes.
Large Dependency List: NM requires things like wpa_supplicant, udev, dbus, glib, libuuid, libnl, and a crypto library. pppd and avahi are optional. This list is certainly not large . When you take ConnMan and its optional dependencies (most of which are needed in a useful system) the list is just about the same.
. When you take ConnMan and its optional dependencies (most of which are needed in a useful system) the list is just about the same. Too Much Decision-making in the UI: Completely bogus and frankly incomprehensible. The core NM daemon provides a default policy which is in no way connected to the UI, and the rest is up to the user. nm-applet contains no policy whatsoever. If the objection is to nm-applet’s desktop-centric interaction model, then it’s important to know there is no lack of applets for different use-cases.
and frankly incomprehensible. The core NM daemon provides a default policy which is in no way connected to the UI, and the rest is up to the user. nm-applet contains no policy whatsoever. If the objection is to nm-applet’s desktop-centric interaction model, then it’s important to know there is no lack of applets for different use-cases. Tries to work around distro problems: this is completely a matter of perspective. Since Intel was creating its own Linux distribution (moblin), they didn’t have to work around any existing issues; these were simply waved away. Unfortunately NetworkManager lives in the world of reality and not some universe full of ponies. For users that expect it, NetworkManager integrates with your distros existing network config, init scripts, and DNS resolution. For users that don’t care, NetworkManager can run bare-metal.
and not some universe full of ponies. For users that expect it, NetworkManager integrates with your distros existing network config, init scripts, and DNS resolution. For users that don’t care, NetworkManager can run bare-metal. Too much GNOME-like source code: seriously, what the hell? I’m not sure where to begin with this one. The NetworkManager core does not depend on GNOME. At all. Yeah, the source-code is in the Gnome style, but is that seriously an issue?
(Misinformation shaded blue for your protection)
The User Settings service is contained in the applet, and it’s completely optional. The System Settings service has been merged back into the NetworkManager core daemon and is no longer a separate process. That same commit ported NM from HAL to udev; thus HAL is no longer required. NetworkManager always used HAL/udev for device detection instead of RTNL (ie, netlink). NetworkManager also hasn’t used WEXT for a long time; wpa_supplicant handles kernel wireless configuration. NetworkManager uses distro networking scripts only for service control, as does ConnMan. The rest of the slide is quite petty and just splits hairs.
Where to?
It’s unlikely that either NetworkManager or ConnMan will disappear in the near future. That means we’ll all have to live with two mutually exclusive connection managers and two completely different network configuration systems. I think that’s pretty pointless, but I don’t get the last word anyway, since that’s not how Open Source works. The users will decide which solution works best for them. And that means NetworkManager will keep getting better, keep getting more useful, and will continue to be the easiest network management solution around. |
JP Yim/Getty Images
Billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates has purchased nearly 25,000 acres of land in southwestern Arizona for the construction of a brand-new "smart city," AZ Central reports.
In conjunction with Belmont Partners, who holds the property, Gates's investment firm Cascade Investment LLC has committed $80 million to build a community composed of offices, stores, schools, and homes. The community will be known as Belmont.
Roughly 3,800 of the 24,800 acres will be devoted to office, commercial, and retail space, according to Belmont Partners, while 470 acres will be set aside for public schools. The new community will feature 80,000 residences, giving it a population of about 182,000, comparable to that of Tempe, Arizona.
Belmont Partners expects its development to feature all the trappings of a futuristic city: high-speed internet embedded in the built environment, accommodations for self-driving cars (such as traffic lights that communicate with one another to minimize congestion), and smarter manufacturing technology.
Belmont will be located 45 miles west of Phoenix, near a highway that runs straight to Las Vegas. Shutterstock
"The experimentation that takes place in this new community has the potential to demonstrate the viability of new smart city concepts and serve as an example for cities nationwide and globally," Brooks Rainwater, the director of the City Solutions and Applied Research Center at the National League of Cities, told Business Insider.
He added that Arizona is an ideal spot for pilot cities and testing of autonomous vehicles (AVs), "especially now that Gates' project will join the AV pilots run by Google's Waymo in Chandler, right outside of Phoenix."
One of the world's richest looks toward the future
Ever since Gates stepped down from Microsoft in 2006, he and his wife, Melinda, have been committed to reducing poverty around the world, typically through the Gates Foundation, and improving education in the US. He's spent a lot of time learning about what makes successful communities, visiting farms, and reading up on the best ways to reuse and recycle.
The picture that has emerged for Gates, like many interested in future urban planning, is one in which cities can support a growing population with limited resources. The UN predicts 2.5 billion people will move into cities by 2050. Experts say that migration will only be feasible if there's housing, transportation, and digital communication that can bear the burden.
In many cities, infrastructure technology is decades old and holds the city back.
Belmont Partners said in a statement that the city "will transform a raw, blank slate into a purpose-built edge city built around a flexible infrastructure model." It has not yet specified a timeline for construction. Rainwater said that when details are released, he hopes technology will serve as the "backbone" of the city, "not the purpose of its existence."
"I do hope that there will be a core focus on design, livability, and the people who will live, work, and play there," he said.
Clarification: An earlier version of this article misstated the structure of Bill Gates' investment in the Arizona property Belmont. The wording has been updated to highlight the role of Cascade Investment LLC, Gates' personal firm. |
Visit our Re-post guidelines This article is copyrighted by GreenMedInfo LLC, 2015
20 years ago, the MMR vaccine was found to infect virtually all of its recipients with measles. The manufacturer Merck's own product warning links MMR to a potentially fatal form of brain inflammation caused by measles. Why is this evidence not being reported?
The Vaccinated Spreading Measles
The phenomenon of measles infection spread by MMR (live measles-mumps-rubella vaccine) has been known for decades. In fact, 20 years ago, scientists working at the CDC's National Center for Infectious Diseases, funded by the WHO and the National Vaccine Program, discovered something truly disturbing about the MMR vaccine: it leads to detectable measles infection in the vast majority of those who receive it.
Published in 1995 in the Journal of Clinical Microbiology and titled, "Detection of Measles Virus RNA in Urine Specimens from Vaccine Recipients," researchers analyzed urine samples from newly MMR vaccinated 15-month-old children and young adults and reported their eye-opening results as following:
Measles virus RNA was detected in 10 of 12 children during the 2-week sampling period.
In some cases, measles virus RNA was detected as early as 1 day or as late as 14 days after the children were vaccinated.
Measles virus RNA was also detected in the urine samples from all four of the young adults between 1 and 13 days after vaccination.
The authors of this study used a relatively new technology at that time, namely, reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), which they believed could help resolve growing challenges associated with measles detection in the shifting post-mass immunization epidemiological and clinical landscape. These challenges include:
A changing clinical presentation towards 'milder' or asymptomatic measles in previously vaccinated individuals.
A changing epidemiological distribution of measles (a shift toward children younger than 15 months, teenagers, and young adults)
Increasing difficulty distinguishing measles-like symptoms (exanthema) caused by a range of other pathogens from those caused by measles virus.
An increase in sporadic measles outbreaks in previously vaccinated individuals.
Twenty years later, PCR testing is widely acknowledged as highly sensitive and specific, and the only efficient way to distinguish vaccine-strain and wild-type measles infection, as their clinical presentation are indistinguishable.
Did the CDC Use PCR Testing On The Disneyland Measles Cases?
The latest measles outbreak at Disney is a perfect example of where PCR testing could be used to ascertain the true origins of the outbreak. The a priori assumption that the non-vaccinated are carriers and transmitters of a disease the vaccinated are immune to has not been scientifically validated. Since vaccine strain measles has almost entirely supplanted wild-type, communally acquired measles, it is statistically unlikely that PCR tests will reveal the media's hysterical storyline -- "non-vaxxers brought back an eradicated disease!" -- to be true. Until such studies are performed and exposed, we will never know for certain.
Laura Hayes, of Age of Autism, recently addressed this key question in her insightful article "Disney, Measles, and the Fantasyland of Vaccine Perfection":
"Has there been any laboratory confirmation of even one case of the supposed measles related to Disneyland? If yes, was the confirmed case tested to determine whether it was wild-type measles or vaccine-strain measles ? If not, why not? These are important questions to ask. Is it measles or not? If yes, what kind, because if it's vaccine-strain measles, then that means it is the vaccinated who are contagious and spreading measles resulting in what the media likes to label "outbreaks" to create panic (a panic more appropriately triggered by our 25 year history of epidemic autism). It would be what one might call vaccine fallout. People who receive live-virus vaccines, such as the MMR, can then shed that live virus, for up to many weeks and can infect others. Other live-virus vaccines include the nasal flu vaccine, shingles vaccine, rotavirus vaccine, chicken pox vaccine, and yellow fever vaccine."
Additional Evidence That the Vaccinated Are Not Immune, Spread Disease
The National Vaccine Information Center has published an important document relevant to this topic titled "The Emerging Risks of Live Virus & Virus Vectored Vaccines: Vaccine Strain Virus Infection, Shedding & Transmission." Pages 34-36 in the section on "Measles, Mumps, Rubella Viruses and Live Attenuated Measles, Mumps, Rubella Viruses" discuss evidence that the MMR vaccine can lead to measles infection and transmission.
Cases highlighted include:
In 2010, Eurosurveillance published a report about excretion of vaccine strain measles virus in urine and pharyngeal secretions of a Croatian child with vaccine-associated rash illness. [1] A healthy 14-month old child was given MMR vaccine and eight days later developed macular rash and fever. Lab testing of throat and urine samples between two and four weeks after vaccination tested positive for vaccine strain measles virus. Authors of the report pointed out that when children experience a fever and rash after MMR vaccination, only molecular lab testing can determine whether the symptoms are due to vaccine strain measles virus infection. They stated: "According to WHO guidelines for measles and rubella elimination, routine discrimination between aetiologies of febrile rash disease is done by virus detection. However, in a patient recently MMR-vaccinated, only molecular techniques can differentiate between wild type measles or rubella infection or vaccine-associated disease. This case report demonstrates that excretion of Schwartz measles virus occurs in vaccinees."
A healthy 14-month old child was given MMR vaccine and eight days later developed macular rash and fever. Lab testing of throat and urine samples between two and four weeks after vaccination tested positive for vaccine strain measles virus. Authors of the report pointed out that when children experience a fever and rash after MMR vaccination, only molecular lab testing can determine whether the symptoms are due to vaccine strain measles virus infection. They stated: "According to WHO guidelines for measles and rubella elimination, routine discrimination between aetiologies of febrile rash disease is done by virus detection. However, in a patient recently MMR-vaccinated, only molecular techniques can differentiate between wild type measles or rubella infection or vaccine-associated disease. This case report demonstrates that excretion of Schwartz measles virus occurs in vaccinees." In 2012, Pediatric Child Health published a report describing a healthy 15-month old child in Canada, who developed irritability, fever, cough, conjunctivitis and rash within seven days of an MMR shot. [2] Blood, urine and throat swab tests were positive for vaccine strain measles virus infection 12 days after vaccination. Addressing the potential for measles vaccine strain virus transmission to others, the authors stated, "While the attenuated virus can be detected in clinical specimens following immunization, it is understood that administration of the MMR vaccine to immunocompetent individuals does not carry the risk of secondary transmission to susceptible hosts.
Blood, urine and throat swab tests were positive for vaccine strain measles virus infection 12 days after vaccination. Addressing the potential for measles vaccine strain virus transmission to others, the authors stated, "While the attenuated virus can be detected in clinical specimens following immunization, it is understood that administration of the MMR vaccine to immunocompetent individuals does not carry the risk of secondary transmission to susceptible hosts. In 2013, Eurosurveillance published a report of vaccine strain measles occurring weeks after MMR vaccination in Canada. Authors stated, "We describe a case of measlesmumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine-associated measles illness that was positive by both PCR and IgM, five weeks after administration of the MMR vaccine." The case involved a two-year-old child, who developed runny nose, fever, cough, macular rash and conjunctivitis after vaccination and tested positive for vaccine strain measles virus infection in throat swab and blood tests.[3] Canadian health officials authoring the report raised the question of whether there are unidentified cases of vaccine strain measles infections and the need to know more about how long measles vaccine strain shedding lasts. They concluded that the case they reported "likely represents the existence of additional, but unidentified, exceptions to the typical timeframe for measles vaccine virus shedding and illness." They added that "further investigation is needed on the upper limit of measles vaccine virus shedding based on increased sensitivity of the RT-PCR-based detection technologies and immunological factors associated with vaccine-associated measles illness and virus shedding."
In addition to this evidence for the disease-promoting nature of the measles vaccine, we recently reported on a case of a twice vaccinated adult in NYC becoming infected with measles and then spreading it to two secondary contacts, both of which were vaccinated twice and found to have presumably protective IgM antibodies.
This double failure of the MMR vaccine renders highly suspicious the unsubstantiated claims that when an outbreak of measles occurs the non- or minimally vaccinated are responsible. The assumption that vaccination equals bona fide immunity has never been supported by the evidence itself. We have previously reported on a growing body of evidence that even when a vaccine is mandated, and 99% of a population receive the measles vaccines, outbreaks not only happen, but as compliance increases vaccine resistance sporadic outbreaks also increase -- a clear indication of vaccine failure.
There is also the concerning fact that according to the MMR vaccine's manufacturer Merck's own product insert, the MMR can cause measles inclusion body encephalitis (MIBE), a rare but potentially lethal form of brain infection with measles. For more information you can review a case report on MIBE caused by vaccine strain measles published in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases in 1999 titled "Measles inclusion-body encephalitis caused by the vaccine strain of measles virus."
Global Measles Vaccine Failures Increasingly Reported
China is not the only country dealing with outbreaks in near universally vaccinated populations. Between 2008-2011, France reported over 20,000 cases of measles, with adolescents and young adults accounting for more than half of cases.[4] Remarkably, these outbreaks began when France was experiencing some of their highest coverage rates in history. For instance, in 2008, the MMR1 coverage reached 96.6% in children 11 years of age. For a more extensive review of measles outbreaks in vaccinated populations read our article The 2013 Measles Outbreak: A Failing Vaccine, Not A Failure to Vaccinate.
Given that clinical evidence, case reports, epidemiological studies, and even the vaccine manufacturer's own product warnings, all show directly or indirectly that MMR can spread measles infection, how can we continue to stand by and let the media, government and medical establishment blame the non-vaccinated on these outbreaks without any concrete evidence?
References
[1] Kaic B, Gjenero-Margan I, Aleraj B. Spotlight on Measles 2010: Excretion of Vaccine Strain Measles Virus in Urine and Pharyngeal Secretions of a Child with Vaccine Associated Febrile Rash Illness, Croatia, March 2010. Eurosurveillance 2010 15(35).
[2] Nestibo L, Lee BE, Fonesca K et al. Differentiating the wild from the attenuated during a measles outbreak. Paediatr Child Health Apr. 2012; 17(4).
[3] Murti M, Krajden M, Petric M et al. Case of Vaccine Associated Measles Five Weeks Post-Immunisation, British Columbia, Canada, October 2013. Eurosurveillance Dec. 5, 2013; 18(49).
[4] Antona D, Lévy-Bruhl D, Baudon C, Freymuth F, Lamy M, Maine C, Floret D, Parent du Chatelet I. Measles elimination efforts and 2008-2011 outbreak, France. Emerg Infect Dis. 2013 Mar;19(3):357-64. doi: 10.3201/eid1903.121360. PubMed PMID: 23618523; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC3647670. Free full text Related citations |
Opinion
Chevron owes more to Richmond
This week, Fortune magazine released its list of the 500 largest corporations in the world. With a nearly 25 percent increase in its revenues from 2007, Chevron Corp. moved from the sixth to the fifth largest corporation in the world. Only 36 countries on the planet had GDPs larger than Chevron's $263 billion in 2008 revenues.
By revenue, Chevron is the largest corporation in California, the second-largest U.S. oil corporation and the third-largest corporation in the nation. Chevron's nearly $24 billion in profits for 2008 were its largest on record and the fourth-highest profits of any corporation in the world. Chevron's profits have increased every year since 2002, increasing by an astounding 2,100 percent.
Those who have not benefited are the Richmond community, the site of Chevron's oldest refinery, and the state of California.
In November, Richmond voters passed Measure T. At the current price of oil, it would provide the city with an additional $16 million annually from Chevron (adding 11 percent to the city's tax revenues). Chevron sued, challenging the new tax.
Chevron has also repeatedly blocked state initiatives to impose a severance tax on oil extracted in the state. California is the only major oil producing state in the nation without such a tax. It is estimated that imposition of a severance tax could bring in over $1 billion a year to the California state budget.
Moreover, the Los Angeles Times reports Chevron's role in lobbying to keep initiatives to increase corporate taxation more broadly off the table in the state's budget negotiations.
The Chevron Richmond refinery is already the largest industrial polluter in the Bay Area. The Environmental Protection Agency reported nearly 100,000 pounds of toxic waste from the site in 2007, including more than 4,000 pounds of benzene, a known human carcinogen. The refinery is now, and has been, listed as in "high priority violation" of air compliance standards, among other violations, by the EPA every year since at least 2006.
Chevron now wants to retool the refinery to burn heavier crude that can be much more polluting than lighter grades. The senior scientist at Richmond's Communities for a Better Environment has found no technological fix available to ensure that a refinery can mitigate this type of pollution. CBE joined other community health and environmental groups to block the retooling, and the court ruled in their favor. The groups are now asking the city to better regulate the refinery by specifically capping the type of crude it can refine to ban the heavier more polluting grades. Chevron has said it plans to appeal the ruling. (It will also give Richmond community programs $565,000 in grants connected to the project.)
Unfortunately, Chevron had already begun construction at the refinery and subsequently laid off 1,100 workers. Community groups have asked Chevron to instead work on necessary upgrades they have been demanding for years to make the refinery cleaner and safer - work that would create many jobs.
More beneficial to the long-term health of all who live in the city - including refinery workers - is not only a cleaner and safer refinery, but a company willing to give back to the communities within which it operates and the state it calls home. |
Roughly five million liters of dispersants have now been used to break up the oil spilling into the Gulf of Mexico, making this the largest use of such chemicals in U.S. history. If it continues for 10 months, as long as Mexico's Ixtoc 1 blowout in 1979 in the same region, the Macondo well disaster has a good chance of achieving the largest global use of these chemicals, surpassing 10 million liters.
And there is no doubt that dispersants are toxic: Both types of the dispersal compound COREXIT used in the Gulf so far are capable of killing or depressing the growth of a wide range of aquatic species, ranging from phytoplankton to fish. "It's a trade-off decision to lessen the overall environmental impact," explained marine biologist Jane Lubchenco, director of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), at a press conference on May 12. "When an oil spill occurs, there are no good outcomes."
The trade-off in this case is the addition of toxic chemicals in a bid to protect the marshes of Louisiana and the beaches of Florida. But the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), for one, has become concerned about the toxicity of the most-used dispersant at the Gulf of Mexico spill—COREXIT 9500—and ordered BP to look at alternatives. (COREXIT 9527 was used earlier during the spill, but it was discontinued because it was considered too toxic.)
The problem? The EPA's industry-generated data is unclear as to the relative toxicity of various dispersants. "If you think the data on COREXIT is bad, try to find any decent toxicology data on the alternatives," says toxicologist Carys Mitchelmore of the University of Maryland's Chesapeake Biological Laboratory, who helped write a 2005 National Research Council (NRC) report on dispersants. "I couldn't compare and contrast which one was more toxic than the other based on that."
Dispersed oil
Both COREXIT 9500 and 9527 are produced by Naperville, Ill.–based Nalco, a company better known for its water purification work with the oil industry. "For every barrel of oil produced, 3.5 barrels of water are produced," explains chemist Mani Ramesh, chief technology officer for Nalco. "That needs to be treated before it can be released. That water treatment has been a core area for us."
But at the same time Nalco keeps busy cleaning the oil industry's water, it also provides COREXIT, a product to minimize the impact of any oil that spills into the water. Developed in a joint venture with ExxonMobil, the compound is largely made at facilities in Sugarland, Tex., and Garyville, La. The company expects to sell some $40-million worth of COREXIT as a result of the latest spill. "What the dispersant process enables is to prevent the oil from reaching the shore and converts that oil to easy food for naturally occurring microbes," Ramesh says. "If the oil reaches the shore the decomposition rate of oil is so low it would remain on the shore for probably 100 years."
By last week, the EPA and Nalco had both released the ingredient list for COREXIT 9500 in response to widespread public concern. Its constituents include butanedioic acid (a wetting agent in cosmetics), sorbitan (found in everything from baby bath to food), and petroleum distillates in varying proportions—and it decomposes almost entirely in 28 days. "All six [ingredients] are used in day-to-day life—in mouthwash, toothpaste, ice cream, pickles," Ramesh argues. "We believe COREXIT 9500 is very safe."
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention agrees, noting in a document for health professionals that "the dispersants contain proven, biodegradable and low-toxicity surfactants," which are "detergentlike" and "in low toxicity solvents."
However, those solvents—petroleum distillates—are also known animal carcinogens, according to toxicology data, and make up 10 to 30 percent of a given volume of COREXIT. And those same everyday products can be deadly to wildlife. "It's the same products in Dawn dishwasher soap," Mitchelmore notes, which is being used widely to clean up oiled birds and other animals. "I wouldn't want to put a fish in Dawn dishwashing soap either. That would kill it."
As a result, the EPA ordered BP to stop spraying dispersants on the oil slick on May 26. The EPA also ordered BP to look for less toxic alternatives on May 20, and the company responded in a letter dated that same day that "BP continues to believe that COREXIT EC9500A is the best alternative." The dispersant continues to be sprayed onto the ongoing oil spill.
No alternative
One reason BP can make such claims is due to a lack of clear data on any of the alternative dispersants. As part of the National Contingency Plan required for offshore drilling, one of 18 EPA-approved dispersants must be on hand to handle spilled oil. Each of those dispersants has been preapproved for use, and each of those dispersants has been tested—by the companies that make them—for toxicity using representative species of estuarine shrimp (Mysidopsis bahia) and fish (Menidia beryllina). Specifically, these animals are exposed to a mix of one liter of dispersant for every 10 liters of heavy fuel oil in water.
Yet, the results of those tests vary wildly, from toxic impacts occurring at levels of just 2.6 parts per million for COREXIT to 100 ppm for another dispersant, NOKOMIS 3-F4. That suggests to experts that the tests which showed lower toxicity may have employed heavy fuel oil that had lost its potency. After all, volatile organic compounds in oil evaporate quickly when exposed to air and can even wash off in water. "These are order of magnitude differences," Mitchelmore notes. "A lot of that can relate to how those tests were set up."
Adds Nalco toxicologist Sergio Alex Villalobos, "If the oil is aged, then the oil loses its toxicity. Using an oil that is not very toxic, if you disperse that oil you are going to get very favorable numbers. Do those numbers really exist?"
EPA, for its part, did not show the best understanding of toxicological data in making its recommendations, urging BP to use dispersants with less than a certain cutoff of toxicity (pdf). Of course, in toxicology the lower the concentration the more toxic a given substance is. "They completely got that wrong," Mitchelmore says. EPA is now undertaking its own toxicology testing of COREXIT and Louisiana crude oil, but results are pending.
Nevertheless, just 20 ppm of COREXIT 9500—or one drop in 2.5 liters of water—inhibits growth of Skeletonema costatum, a Gulf of Mexico diatom, according to toxicology test data presented in the 2005 NRC report. It appears to inhibit the phytoplankton's ability to perform photosynthesis, specifically blocking part of the biochemistry that enables the photosystem II complex, Villalobos says. "Skeletonema seems to fall among the most sensitive ones," he says. "Like many aquatic plants, these are organisms that are resilient, that tend to come back even though you wipe them out in some cases chemically."
COREXIT is also not approved for use in U.K. waters because it fails the so-called "limpet test". That test involves spraying the dispersant and oil on rocks and seeing if limpets (a type of small mollusk) can still cling to them, a test which COREXIT and many other dispersants with slippery surfactants fail. "This is not a product for rocky shores," Villalobos says. "These are only for open sea waters."
Novel use
Of course, in the case of the oil spewing from BP's Macondo well in the Gulf of Mexico, COREXIT is being used in another unapproved way. A wand from one of the remote-operated robots has sprayed more than 1.5 million liters of dispersants directly onto the escaping oil and natural gas roughly 1,500 meters beneath the ocean's surface. "I don't think anybody knows what would happen by applying the dispersants at depth," Ramesh says. "We do not have any knowledge that would allow us to predict what would happen."
In addition to creating subsurface plumes (and providing a rich feast for oil-eating microbes), it remains unclear what kind of dosage of dispersed oil sea life throughout the water column is facing. NOAA measurements show that levels reach 100 ppm of dispersed oil in the first half-meter of water, dropping to 12.5 ppm at 10 meters and unknown levels even deeper. "There isn't any information on what is the environmentally relevant level of dispersant," Mitchelmore notes. "Dispersed oils are going to be toxic, particularly in the top 10 meters that contains all the sensitive life stages. Anything that has sensitive membranes can be affected by dispersants and dispersed oil."
Sunlight falling on the dispersed oil may make the problem worse through a phenomenon known as phototoxicity. Compounds in the oil act as a catalyst to transfer some of the sun's energy into oxygen, converting the latter to a more reactive state that can literally burn up cells. And as fish and other sea life ingest the dispersed oil, it can be broken down into more toxic by-products. "What do these things break down into?" Mitchelmore says. "In toxicology it's quite often not the original compound that's the toxic entity."
Ultimately, the problem is that too little is known about the dispersants and the dispersed oil. "Given that this is a billion-dollar industry, why were those data gaps not filled?" Mitchelmore asks. "The whole issue regarding limited toxicity data—that's not just common to dispersants, that's common to tens of thousands of chemicals we're putting out into the environment daily."
After all, it was only after decades of using bisphenol A, polybrominated flame retardants and other chemicals that significant concerns began to manifest. In effect, usage replaced safety testing—and that's exactly what is happening with dispersants and the massive spill in the Gulf. Different regulation of chemicals and the chemical industry might forestall toxicological mysteries like those surrounding dispersants—and their thousands of chemical cousins—in the future.
"We're using an awful lot of dispersants," said EPA administrator Lisa Jackson during the same May 12 press briefing on the chemical's use at which NOAA's Lubchenco spoke. "This is going on longer than one might have known on day three or four. We're still dealing with a constant release of fresh oil and we need to continue to disperse." |
For as long as the NFL has been administering the Wonderlic Test to players those scores have been leaking to the public. Of course it can be difficult to verify whether or not these numbers were the true scores (and we’re not going to claim the authenticity of these), we’ve done our best to collect the most comprehensive list of these leaked NFL Wonderlic scores from the combine and put them all in one convenient location. You can sort the columns by clicking on the column headers to sort by name, score or position.
The Wonderlic test is similar to an IQ test. Average Wonderlic scores are about 20, similar to how an average IQ score is 100. If you want to see how you stack up, try our sample test for yourself.
Are You Smarter Than These NFL Players? Find Out! Take a Wonderlic Sample Quiz:
Time limit: 0 Quiz-summary 0 of 50 questions completed Questions: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 Information Take our 50-question Wonderlic test by clicking the “Start Quiz” button below! You have already completed the quiz before. Hence you can not start it again. Quiz is loading... You must sign in or sign up to start the quiz. You have to finish following quiz, to start this quiz: Results 0 of 50 questions answered correctly Your time: Time has elapsed You have reached 0 of 0 points, (0) Average score Your score Categories Not categorized 0% 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 Answered Review |
Now that the initial weekend flush is behind it, that hot period when pretty much anything that had the Star Wars name on it could have earned $500 million worldwide, audience fervor for Star Wars: The Last Jedi has cooled off like a chilly winter evening on planet Hoth.
In North America, daily holds for the Rian Johnson-directed flick have been significantly worse than those experienced by Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, and if the pattern continues The Last Jedi could actually wind up doing not much better than the 2016 spin-off movie.
That, of course, would be a catastrophic result, akin to Warner/DC’s disastrous, money-losing fiasco with Justice League.
Just as Justice League jammed all of DC’s biggest and most valuable superheroes into a single, swing-for-the-fences mash-up that failed to earn even as much as the single-hero, half-priced (yet far superior) Wonder Woman, so it appears that Disney may have turned the one-time opportunity to put Luke and Leia together in their last movie into an under-performing debacle that earns little more than the band-of-nobodies Rogue One.
Not that Star Wars: The Last Jedi is in any danger of losing money. There’s too much momentum behind the franchise, too many people who will pay to see it even when they’ve heard it’s a disappointing mess. Disney could have called it The Star Wars Movie That Will Completely Turn You Off From Ever Seeing Another Star Wars Movie Again and it still would have collected $1.2 billion at the box office and turned a tidy profit.
But for Disney, and for anyone watching, this isn’t really a matter of whether The Last Jedi turns over a billion or more in revenue. That was always an easy target. This is a matter of how well the film succeeds in meeting financial expectations, how well it fulfills the needs of the franchise, and whether it strengthens the Star Wars brand for future projects.
By those measures, The Last Jedi already looks like a dud.
After opening at nearly 90 percent of The Force Awakens‘ strength, The Last Jedi has steadily fallen behind, and by Wednesday, its 6th full day in release, it was holding its audience at a lesser rate than every one of the previous eight live action Star Wars movies. It had retained just 16 percent of its opening day gross, a figure that, as the chart below shows, is well below the holds for The Force Awakens, Rogue One, and the last of the prequels, Revenge of the Sith.
I wanted to avoid cluttering up the chart, but I could have added all five of the other previous Star Wars live action movies and the image would remain the same: The Last Jedi is the rock-bottom, worst-holding movie of the entire 9-film franchise. Even Attack of the Clones looks like a champ in comparison.
In fact, The Last Jedi isn’t even holding as well as Justice League did. On its sixth day the DC film retained 27 percent of its opening day audience, nearly double what the Star Wars picture has done.
If you object to comparing Last Jedi‘s daily grosses to the film’s $104.6 million opening day with its $45 million in Thursday previews included, compare the grosses instead to the Saturday number. Or Sunday. Or Friday without the preview figures. The story is consistent: The Last Jedi is flying like a fat turkey in the Star Wars universe.
The movie’s flight trajectory will more than likely improve as schools let out for the holidays and Christmas week arrives. But the Yuletide competition has begun to boil with Downsizing, Father Figures, Pitch Perfect 3, The Greatest Showman and Jumanji all arriving in theaters to stake their claims on the box office. It’s far from certain that The Last Jedi will hold its own against such an onslaught, especially since it’s being led by Jumanji‘s Dwayne “The World’s Biggest Movie Star” Johnson.
Star Wars will survive, of course, in the domestic market and in the handful of territories where it’s a successful legacy franchise. But in key markets like Korea and Mexico and China and India, places where The Force Awakens wasn’t well received and audiences could go either way, The Last Jedi may burn that bridge, and truly turn off mass audiences from ever seeing another Star Wars movie again.
Read More: No, Santa Isn’t Going To Suddenly Turn ‘The Last Jedi’ Into A Box Office Miracle
If you liked this post, please click on my photo above and on the "Follow" button on the next page, and see my prior posts HERE. And connect with me on Twitter @robcain, or on LinkedIn. |
Well, here’s a scary new storm story: the passenger ramp to the East River Ferry in Greenpoint collapsed this morning, shortly after transporting a bunch of passengers over the icy water. Per the Daily News: “Commuters had crossed the gangway about 9 a.m. at the East River Ferry service’s Greenpoint terminal when the ramp detached and dropped into the river.” Aaaah!
Ferry Service is still running at all other docking stations, but earlier this morning, the Ferry tweeted the following:
ERF ALERT: Service to/from #Greenpoint suspended until further notice. http://t.co/7VqojmZDjs Sign up for text updates: text "ERF" to 57682. — East River Ferry (@eastriverferry) February 13, 2014
They also issued a statement, saying, “East River Ferry service to and from the Greenpoint Pier is suspended until further notice as we continue to assess the cause of a gangway that detached this morning. A team of engineers will be sent to investigate the cause and repairs will be made as soon as possible.”
We trust they’ll get it all sorted out, but there you have it: a New York nightmare scenario, come to life. Next thing you know all the grates I have to convince myself to walk over will start collapsing, too. Anyway, as if any further incentive was needed: stay home today if at all possible. Just. Stay. Home.
Follow Virginia K. Smith on Twitter @vksmith. |
Long before whales, the oceans of Earth were roamed by a very different kind of air-breathing leviathan. Snaggle-toothed ichthyosaurs larger than school buses swam at the top of the Triassic Period ocean food chain, or so it seemed before Mount Holyoke College paleontologist Mark McMenamin took a look at some of their remains in Nevada. Now he thinks there was an even larger and more cunning sea monster that preyed on ichthyosaurs: a 'kraken' of such mythological proportions it would have sent Captain Nemo running for dry land.
McMenamin is presenting the results of his work on Oct. 10 at the annual meeting of the Geological Society of America in Minneapolis.
The evidence is at Berlin-Ichthyosaur State Park in Nevada, where McMenamin and his daughter spent a few days this summer. It's a site where the remains of nine 45-foot (14-meter) ichthyosaurs, of the species Shonisaurus popularis can be found. These were the Triassic's counterpart to today's predatory giant squid-eating sperm whales. But the fossils at the Nevada site have a long history of perplexing researchers, including the world's expert on the site: the late Charles Lewis Camp of U.C. Berkeley.
"Charles Camp puzzled over these fossils in the 1950s," said McMenamin. "In his papers he keeps referring to how peculiar this site is. We agree, it is peculiar."
Camp's interpretation was that the fossils probably represented death by an accidental stranding or from a toxic plankton bloom. But no one had ever been able to prove that the beasts died in shallow water. In fact more recent work on the rocks around the fossils suggest it was a deep water environment, which makes neatly arranged carcasses even more mysterious.
This question -- shallow or deep ocean death -- is what attracted McMenamin to the site.
"I was aware that anytime there is controversy about depth, there is probably something interesting going on," McMenamin said. And when they arrived at the remote state park and started looking at the fossils, McMenamin was struck by their strangeness.
"It became very clear that something very odd was going on there," said McMenamin. "It was a very odd configuration of bones."
First of all, the different degrees of etching on the bones suggested that the shonisaurs were not all killed and buried at the same time. It also looked like the bones had been purposefully rearranged. That it got him thinking about a particular modern predator that is known for just this sort of intelligent manipulation of bones.
"Modern octopus will do this," McMenamin said. What if there was an ancient, very large sort of octopus, like the kraken of mythology. "I think that these things were captured by the kraken and taken to the midden and the cephalopod would take them apart."
In the fossil bed, some of the shonisaur vertebral disks are arranged in curious linear patterns with almost geometric regularity, McMenamin explained.The proposed Triassic kraken, which could have been the most intelligent invertebrate ever, arranged the vertebral discs in double line patterns, with individual pieces nesting in a fitted fashion as if they were part of a puzzle.
Even more creepy: The arranged vertebrae resemble the pattern of sucker discs on a cephalopod tentacle, with each vertebra strongly resembling a coleoid sucker. In other words, the vertebral disc "pavement" seen at the state park may represent the earliest known self portrait.
But could an octopus really have taken out such huge swimming predatory reptiles? No one would have believed such a tale until the staff of the Seattle Aquarium set up a video camera at night a few years ago to find out what was killing the sharks in one of their large tanks. What they were shocked to discover was that a large octopus they had in the same tank was the culprit. The video of one of these attacks is available on the web to anyone who uses the search terms "shark vs octopus."
"We think that this cephalopod in the Triassic was doing the same thing," said McMenamin. Among the evidences of the kraken attacks are many more ribs broken in the shonisaur fossils than would seem accidental and the twisted necks of the ichthyosaurs. "It was either drowning them or breaking their necks."
Of course, it's the perfect Triassic crime because octopuses are mostly soft-bodied and don't fossilize well. Only their beaks, or mouth parts, are hard and the chances of those being preserved nearby are very low. That means the evidence for the murderous Kraken is circumstantial, which may leave some scientists rather skeptical. But McMenamin is not worried.
"We're ready for this," he said. "We have a very good case." |
Down in the depths of the Conservative Political Action Conference are the booths showcasing the sponsors, co-sponsors and exhibitors. In perhaps the most prominent position, just to the left as you enter the exhibit hall after taking the escalator down, is Google's booth.
The booth sits next to NewsMax Media, a Republican news site, and across from the Heritage Foundation. Just to the right is a Tea Party booth. To get to Google's booth you have to walk by a large display put up by another sponsor, the National Rifle Association. Google is the only major American corporation that paid the $20,000 fee to be full sponsors.
I went up and spoke to to a couple of the young men that were operating the Google booth on Friday morning.
"I wasn't a part of the process," said Zachary Yeremian, when I asked him why Google had chosen to sponsor CPAC instead of just buying a less expensive co-sponsor or exhibitor booth, "We have no idea," he said. Yeremian said the booth was being used to show conference attendees how to use Google Plus and also to promote their new election page google.com/elections.
For its part, Google issued a statement saying the event was attractive because half the audience was under 25 and heavy users of technology. Yeremian gave me the Google representative's email who arranged the sponsorship, but she didn't respond to my questions.
Yeremian was careful not to weigh into the possible public relations issues Google's presence at CPAC may cause.
"We're not trying to advocate for anything," said Yeremian, "We're just here to promote google.com/elections and Google Plus."
There were only a few other major corporations that sponsored booths at CPAC: Koch Industries and Altria, the holding company that owns Phillip Morris, were listed as specialty sponsors and AOL and Microsoft/ElectionMall had bought a $5,000 co-sponsorship booth, according to the list of sponsors.
The majority of the other sponsors and co-sponsors were attending CPAC to push forward their ideological issues or companies. Co-sponsors included Grover Norquist's Americans for Tax Reform, Christians United for Israel, FreedomWorks, The American Petroleum Institute, Tea Party Patriots and the New York State Conservative Party.
But in the way back of the hall, at the exhibition booths, there were some real characters. Back there I found a mannequin adorned with body armor and a fake m-16. There was a booth selling books by Glenn Beck, Scott Rasmussen and Herman Cain. A second amendment advocate told me, "guns are the civilian defense weapon." A student at the Students for Life of America booth told me he didn't support abortions for women who were raped, "Two wrongs don't make a right, even though the rapist is a criminal, the child is still innocent."
I was surprised to see a booth back there advocating for the elimination of crony capitalism. I asked the two women standing behind it how they funded it. They said they received a grant from Koch Industries. The Western Center for Journalism tried to recruit me to write stories the liberal media tries to cover up.
"Like what?" I asked
"The Obama subpoena," said one of the staffers. Apparently she is referring to a story about a Georgia Judge who refused to throw out a subpoena asking for the President's appearance at a "birther" trial.
But at the very back, in fact the farthest table back, was a booth selling a t-shirt making light of the controversy in which American Marines peed on the bodies of dead Taliban. I asked the guy if the shirt had been selling well.
"Most people like it," said Chris Montesano, "But they're afraid to wear it."
Perhaps Google is trying to deviate from a perception that the company supports Democrats. Eric Schmidt, their CEO, previously served as an adviser to Obama. And, Google's workforce has donated $139,030 to Obama's campaign, according to Businessweek. But still, why would you want to surround your well-respected brand with controversial ideas like these: |
Numerous members of the LoCo faithful have contacted us today to ask: What is going on in Blocksburg? Reports are that numerous law enforcement agents have posted up at the Blocksburg dump, with a helicopter shuttling personnel and product to and from the hinterlands?
Lt. Steve Knight of the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office just partially filled us in. Yes, deputies are out there in Blocksburg assisting with raids. Just assisting, though. The lead agency is none other than the state of California’s newly re-rechristened Campaign Against Marijuana Planting.
Blast from the past! CAMP became “CERT” a few years ago, but apparently someone in state government decided to go back to the old name, which longtime locals will remember well.
Knight said he hoped to provide more detail on today’s raids soon.
Awesome CAMP badges via Fred’s Patch Corner. |
Tottenham have announced another delay to plans for a new stadium adjacent to their present home Andrew Matthews / PA
Why would anyone sell a Premier League club right now? And why would anyone spend money on a new stadium? To understand what’s happening at Tottenham Hotspur, these questions need to be answered.
This week, there have been reports that Spurs are up for sale. The price? A ludicrous £1 billion. Almost at the same time, the seemingly endless saga of the new stadium took another twist. The club announced another delay to the construction and claimed they may have to move out of White Hart Lane for a season while building takes place on the site.
Making sense of all this is not easy. Yet events in north London illustrate the changing financial nature of the sport and its relationship with the local community. |
I don’t do a whole lot of HG kits, but this one I kind of had to buy, and I’ll tell you why. Ramble mode engage. Actually, wait, post-cold open picture first, then ramble mode engage.
Now, where was I? Oh, right. After I completed the PG Unicorn and couldn’t stop gushing about how much I loved it, it was pretty much clear that I’d have to get the PG Banshee as well. And I do have the kit, but it’s probably going to be a while until I get around to building it. Right now my plan is pretty much just to paint all the armor black and do whatever I think needs to be done to the rest, so it’ll probably take less time than the Unicorn as there’ll be no pre-shading, but it’s still a big undertaking and I’ll need to have some free time to do it. Plus the LED unit, which is an absolute must for me, is curiously hard to come by. Not to mention I’ve got a lot of other stuff I want to get to that doesn’t involve painting the exact same parts I already painted this spring.
But I really wanted a Banshee on my shelf. By default, I’d get the MG, but… this brings me to the next problem. I vastly prefer the Norn version to the regular Banshee, and much to my continued befuddlement, Bandai only ever made the MG Norn available as a limited P-Bandai release, so it’d be ridiculously expensive. I generally wouldn’t mind all that much since if you do a lot of painting, the price of the kit can be kind of a drop in the bucket compared to what you end up blowing on supplies, but to be perfectly honest, the MG Unicorn is my least favorite version of that suit that I’ve built because of its well-documented ricketiness and general fally-aparty-tude, so I’m… reluctant, let’s say, to pay some scalper an insane amount of money for a kit that’ll look nice, but that I know I won’t have much fun building.
Meanwhile, I actually quite enjoyed building my HGUC Unicorn, and it’s a very nice looking representation of the Unicorn Gundam. It’s not without issues – I have the Full Armor version, so it’s pretty much a brick, and the legs have a tendency to fall off. But overall, I actually prefer it to the Master Grade version, especially since the PG does everything the MG tried to do, except successfully and better. The HGUC doesn’t really do anything but look good, but it’s also relatively sturdy and actually a pretty complex build for an HGUC kit because there’s only so much you can simplify on a Unicorn in destroy mode.
And of course there’s a HGUC version of the Banshee Norn in destroy mode readily available, and since I also have an RG Sinanju, it makes a nice little display together with the aforementioned HGUC Unicorn, as seen here.
However, I have to say I’m a bit disappointed with this kit. Here’s what it looks like straight out of the box with no stickers except the eyes and the shoulder vulcans.
Now you have to realize, this is kind of a flattering picture. The gold pieces around the head look oddly ok here, but they’re a really terrible light orange in real life, and the lighting somehow makes the detail on the armor pop. In real life it appears much darker, and that basically makes all the detail disappear. On top of that, there are no marking stickers at all to break things up a bit.
It does come with an ass-ton of foil stickers for detail that isn’t molded in the proper colors, though.
The big ones go on the “mane” parts on the back and the rest are vents on the legs and skirts that are meant to be gold. I trust I’ve mentioned my abject hatred for these kinds of stickers enough times at this point that you can imagine I was overjoyed when I saw this. The fact that the mane, which is obviously the most striking visual feature of the Banshee Norn, actually gets most of its gold color by means of FUCKING STICKERS is… I dunno, guys, words fail me. All they needed was two extra pieces on the same sprue that has, y’know, the two mane parts that actually are molded in the same color as the collar and the v-fin. And about half of the vents that are meant to be gold are actually separate parts as it is, so they could’ve just split up those sprues and molded them in gold. It’s ridiculous.
This was supposed to be a simple build – I knew I’d have to paint the v-fin, collar and some of the mane because I didn’t like the color of the gold plastic, but other than that, I was going to leave it as is. Because I like complementary colors, I actually wanted to have a version of the Banshee in this blue color that all the Bandai kits come in. Instead, this became a three-night project.
First I did what I knew I’d have to do and painted the v-fin, the collar and the parts of the mane that are molded in “gold” with Tamiya’s Gold Leaf. You’ll notice I did actually use the detail sticker on the forehead; I also used the two on the shoulder vulcans because I just didn’t think I’d be able to match the specific blue of the armor, so it seemed pointless to try and paint these parts.
Notice also the violently embarrassing sprue nub on the left side of the v-fin that I literally didn’t notice until I edited these pictures. Sigh.
Up next was the rest of the mane, i.e. the parts that the big gold stickers are supposed to go on. I’m not entirely convinced it was necessary to mask of the back of these as the airbrush probably would’ve only hit the front, but I did it anyway. I also painted the orange stripes that represent psychoframe with a brush, which turned out to be really easy because the groove is nice and deep.
Sadly, I didn’t take the time to compare the kit to its larger scale counterparts and so I didn’t realize that the grooves on the inside mane parts are also meant to be psychoframe. In my defense, the kit doesn’t come with stickers for these, so there’s nothing in the box to tell you that they’re supposed to be orange.
Then came the leg and skirt vents. Obviously this was going to be the hardest part, and to be honest, all I was able to pull off was a “looks good from a distance” detail job. Up close, it’s kind of a mess.
And since I’d decided to toss most of the detail stickers, I also painted the cameras on the head and the beam magnum, but that’s barely noticeable.
Now, accessories. The kit comes with the big-ass Armed Armor DE, of course, and the beam magnum with the rotating grenade launcher and an effect part that I never use because it looks dumb. You also get a spare ammo clip and grenade launcher, this round part to swap out if you want to use the effect part on the launcher, attachment pieces to mount the Armed Armor DE on the arm or on the back, and a trigger finger hand.
There are also no less than four beam saber handles (the other two are stored in the arms and I couldn’t be bothered prying them out for the photo, you get the idea), but in another galling omission among many for this kit, there are no, as in zero, as in count ’em, none, blade effect parts. The funniest thing about this is that the instructions actually show you how to use them, but they don’t exist.
Poseability is okay, but nothing to write home about. It does stand up very well even with the Armed Armor DE attached to its arm, and it can hold up the beam magnum just fine despite the added weight. I just really don’t like these open “holding fist” hands, especially since they don’t actually hold anything – the beam saber handles fall right through them, and the secondary handle on the beam magnum won’t fit unless you shave off the bottom.
Looking at it now, I kind of wonder if I should’ve painted the psychoframe silver on the inside to make it pop more, but other than that, like I said above, the HGUC Unicorn in general really is a beauty, and this version is no exception. It’s probably also worth mentioning that I had zero problems with parts falling off while I was posing the kit for these shots.
Do I recommend this kit? Not unless you’re willing to paint it. The stickers are a joke, and the gold plastic looks terrible. I’m happy with what mine looks like now, save for the mistakes I noticed when I took the pictures and the fact that I still think I should probably go back and paint the gun, but OOB it’s seriously flawed.
Those issues aside, though, it’s a solid kit with great detail, so if you’re willing to go the extra mile to make it shine, by all means, pick one up. Especially if you already have the Unicorn to go with it – otherwise I’d get that one first.
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WELCOME TO WANDERER
First off, thank you so much for coming to our Kickstarter page. We hope you enjoyed yourself thus far and remember that after watching our video, you'd still like to see the rest of our film email us here: somekindafilms@gmail.com
SYNOPSIS
Rick is a man living in New York City torn between his irrepressible desires of one night stands and a meaningful relationship. Will Rick continue his familiar ways or make the change he yearns for? It's a dark, psychological thriller that takes risks with its characters and plot, challenging our first impressions.
THE BUDGET
So far Writer/Director Diego Siragna has funded the entire process willingly out of his own pocket. Now we're asking for your help to get this film into the hands of very talented working professionals to add all those extra layers that make a film as good as it can be and stand out amongst its competition.
Your donations will secure proper POST in these areas:
ADR + SOUND DESIGN + SOUND MIXING + SCORING + MUSIC RIGHTS + COLOR CORRECTION + FESTIVAL DISTRIBUTION
Making a short film is a great labor of love, but without the proper support and financing it won't travel beyond that. Festival distribution is a very costly affair, but one of the most important aspects of getting a short film noticed. We dream of sending our short film to over 50 festivals because we truly believe that it has the potential to amaze the crowds with originality, style, but most importantly story. So that's why we're really here and we NEED YOUR HELP to get it out there in the best shape possible.
PROMOTING "WANDERER"
Creating BUZZ around a film is the best way possible to get people excited and on board. So, if you're part of a community (web-based or not), social media site, magazine/news agency, and/or a filmmaker forum please help us spread the word and get our project funded. Any exposure is immeasurable and extremely appreciated. Please spread the word and help us reach our goal! It's all or nothing...let's make it happen together! Thanks a million!
If you have any questions feel free to contact us anytime at somekindafilms@gmail.com |
A Romanian group is linked to travellers in Ireland in a scam of staging car crashes to mount fraudulent personal injury claims, a judge has stated.
A Romanian group is linked to travellers in Ireland in a scam of staging car crashes to mount fraudulent personal injury claims, a judge has stated.
Circuit Court President Mr Justice Raymond Groarke said the people who gained from these profit-making criminal activities were paying Roma drivers for crashing their cars into other vehicles.
Barrister Conor Kearney, counsel for Aviva Insurance Ltd, told the Circuit Civil Court the company was challenging 79 outstanding claims, 60pc of which were around Galway, and would be alleging they had been fraudulently staged or had never taken place.
After throwing out two €38,000 claims by former Galwegian brothers Martin and John Gerard Corcoran, now living in a London halting site, Judge Groarke said a vast amount of research by Aviva, into geographical and inter-associate and family connectivity, had confirmed the scam.
He told barrister Moira Flahive, who also appeared with Mr Kearney and solicitor Alan Synnott for Aviva, that the evidence of fraud they had produced was utterly compelling. He said the highest standard of proof that could be provided to a judge had been put before the court in the case.
Ms Flahive told the court there were a number of outstanding claims involving Axa Insurance.
Judge Groarke said that from the evidence it was an inescapable conclusion there was liaison between members of the Irish traveller and Roma communities to set up staged accidents and claims to defraud insurance companies.
The judge described Romanian Neagu Alexandru, found to have driven his Honda Civic into the back of the Ford Galaxy people carrier in which the Corcoran brothers and five of their cousins were travelling, as “a crook.”
It was an extraordinary state of affairs that so many involved in so many accidents should have similar descriptions, addresses, locations and country of origin and were residing, but not exclusively, in Galway.
He said, from his work in the West of Ireland, he recognised that the names of people involved were traveller family names from around Galway. Neagu Alexandru, “a man experienced in fraudulent activities,” had switched his insurance policy on a JCB digger on to his Honda Civic for a few days and then back again following the collision.
Judge Groarke told Mr Kearney and Ms Flahive there was no damage whatsoever on the Galaxy which was consistent with the damage to the Honda and he concluded Mr Neagu was up to his usual criminal activity.
Aviva’s research confirmed direct connections between the Corcorans and other claimants who lived close to them in Lynton Close halting site in London. The investigation raised a considerable question mark over the veracity of evidence given by the Corcorans and he believed they were well aware of what had been taking place and were a party to the attempted fraud.
The court had heard that the crash had occurred at a roundabout near Blanchardstown in July 2012 and that seven claims had been made by occupants of the Corcoran vehicle. Aviva’s legal costs were directed to be paid by the Corcoran brothers.
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Personal development is such a nebulous topic. In reality every single book on this (now 200+ title) list is a great personal development book.
For the sake of this list, my choices for this section all revolve around books that are more about igniting passion and giving ideas rather than a step-by-step action plan. This list includes, the grandfathers of all self help books, and it also has some of the modern masters of inspiration, education and self-empowerment. These books all DO have actionable steps to take, you will learn things, but I feel that their true purpose is as inspiration and motivation.
What are the "Best of the Best"?!
Would you rather watch a video that profiles the top books on this list? Want to know what are the best of the best? If so, we identified fourteen books that you should read and added them to this motivational video. So sit back, press the play button, and enjoy the content! (And if you'd like to enjoy more actionable, habit-related videos, then be sure to subscribe to our brand new YouTube Channel. )
Don't Have a Lot of Time?
Are you a busy person who doesn't have time to read an extensive review?
If so, we've simplified this list of the top 20 personal development books into a handy table. Just click on ones that interest you and check out these titles on Amazon.
And here's a brief synopsis of the self-help books that we think can help you become a better person and live a more fulfilled life.
1. The Success Principles by Jack Canfield
Any avid reader of self-help books will recognize Jack Canfield. Creator of the popular motivational “Chicken Soup for the Soul” series, Jack has been inspiring people for years. In “Success Principles”, Jack gives 65 methods for transforming your life. If you are looking for a single self-help book that gives you a ton of great ideas on how to improve your life and your success, this would be the one.
However, die-hard personal development fans may find some of these ideas to be rehashed versions of ideas they have heard before, not fresh new ideas. The principles are repeated here due to the simple fact that they work! Even if you know all 65 principles before buying the book, I believe it can be an excellent refresher on things you need to do to achieve the success you desire.
2. Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill
It could be very easy to think that a book about achieving success written 80 years ago and based on the success principles of men like Andrew Carnegie, Thomas Edison and Henry Ford would be stale and out of date, like a dry history lesson. This simply is not true. While there are admittedly parts where you have to substitute modern methods of execution for old fashioned counterparts, the basic principles themselves are based on human nature and just as true today as they were 80 years ago.
This book is a classic and for good reason. Over the past 80 years many successful people have read this book and gained from it knowledge and insight that have helped them to achieve their own success. When a self-improvement book sticks around for as long as this one has, there has to be a reason for its longevity and success.
3. The Power of Positive Thinking by Dr. Norman Vincent Peale
Most people who achieve any degree of success will tell you that attitude is a big part of the success equation. Positive thinking will not magically make success happen, as this books “successor” The Secret, would have you believe, but positive thinking can put you into position to make the most of it when it happens. So skip the “Secret” and go write to the first (and best) book on getting your mind right for success. One slight negative is that many people complain because of some of the religious overtones of the book. While Dr. Peale is clearly a faithful Christian, I believe this book has merit for you regardless of personal faith. Just listen to the good advice.
Note: some of you may like The Secret. I mean no offense to you in this review. The positivity aspect of the book is fine, I simply have a problem with the idea that the “universe will deliver” success. I believe the only way you get success is to go out and work for it. Let’s agree to disagree. 4. Outliers The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell
Outliers takes a scientific look at what it actually takes to achieve success. Unlike some of the other books on this list, it does not give a specific list of the things you need to do to achieve success. It looks at very interesting anecdotes that support the main point of the book, that success is not achieved by luck, attitude or even skill, but that the only real measurement is the time we put into our skills. People who achieve higher degrees of success almost always have more time building the skills they use for their success.
This book is quite interesting with some really good stories and anecdotes. It is an enjoyable read.
5. Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress Free Productivity by David Allen
I am not by nature an organized person. Due to this fact I would say that reading GTD for the first time was a life changing experience. Allen gives solid advice on how to plan all the aspects of a hectic life (both business and personal).
This book comes with a solution to all the chaos life throws your way. It can help you stay organized and on top of everything. I do not currently follow all the tenants of GTD. I have incorporated a more web based approach as I discuss in my book on Evernote. But I still feel Getting Things Done is a must read, even if you discard his specific approaches, the core ideas will still shed light on many ways to be more productive. 6. The Power of Full Engagement by Jim Leohr and Tony Schwartz
Everyone thinks time is the enemy. I can’t count how many times I have heard, “I don’t have time for that” or “I wish I had the time”. The central idea of this book is that people have it backwards. Loehr and Schwartz state that energy is the key, not time.
Success is about creating a series of “life-sprints” not a marathon. By laser focusing on tasks, then completely resting, you actually can get a lot more done in less time and live a happier and more fulfilling life at the same time. This book makes some excellent points. The next time you hear yourself saying, “I don’t have time” to do something important, you should reach for a copy of this book. Unless you don’t have time for that… then I can’t help you. 7. How to Win Friends & Influence People by Dale Carnegie
Just like the previous entry, “Think and Grow Rich” Carnegies book is another classic from the 1930s that still packs a ton of truth bombs in it’s nearly 90 year old pages. While T&GR was about the principles of success, Carnegie discusses the personal habits that lead to success. Included are: the twelve ways to convert people to your way of thinking, six ways to make people like you, and the nine ways to change people’s opinions without arousing resentment.
Regardless of what you intend to do with your life, other people will always be there. Carnegie gives you the tools to effectively recruit others to your cause, rather than have them potentially be obstacles. A must read classic on dealing with other people. 8. The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich by Timothy Ferris
I have to admit, I have a few mixed feeling on Tim Ferris in general. On one hand, let’s face it, the guy is a bit of jerk. Additionally while there is some great information, it might not pertain much to people who just want more from their 9-5 lifestyle, and are not really into the idea of a “digital lifestyle”. On the other hand, however, this book does an excellent job of challenging people to rethink the status quo and evaluate how to make the most of their time. Time does an great job of explaining how to make the most of the digital lifestyle, how to get started with this business and does it all with a fierce energy that will get you motivated.
If the idea of making a living online appeals, this book should be a must read, and is likely already on your bookshelf. If you are just looking for tidbits to develop your personal productivity, attitude or health, this might be a book you can miss. 9. Crush It! Why NOW Is the Time to Cash In on Your Passion by Gary Vaynerchuk
Crush It! has a few problems these days. Mainly is that the core idea of the book, fresh and new when it was first released, has become a bit dated. Most people have come to understand the revolutionary power of Social Media and the effect this can have on any and every single business.
However, a good portion of this book is also about following your dreams and turning your passion in a career. While this book no longer imparts what I would call “new” information, it is still extremely motivational. Gary Vaynerchuk has an incredible amount of energy and reading what he has to say is sure to get you motivated to get out and conquer the world. 10. Let Go! by Pat Flynn
“Let Go!” is Pat Flynn’s inspiring story. If you do not know Pat, he is a normal guy, trained as an architect who began to work as an online entrepreneur when the architect business got rough. In this inspiring story Pat shares the challenges he faced and the keys to his success.
Much like “Crush It” the value of the specific lessons are of less value than the inspiration it can give you to achieve success. If you want specific’s for achieving success through Pat’s methodology his podcasts and website are chocked full of actionable information. 11. Habit Stacking: 127 Small Changes to Improve Your Health, Wealth, and Happiness by Steve Scott
Yes, that’s me. I won't give any qualitative review of this book, since I am biased. But I do think it is a good one. Habit stacking is based on a method to incorporate small habits into daily life. These small habits are easy individually, but are often the sort of things that “fall through the cracks” in a hectic life. Habit stacking makes it possible when you add DOZENS of small changes to your daily routine. Rather than trying to make dozens of individual habits part of your routine (something next to impossible) you only have to work to incorporate each "stack". By doing these small tasks in a block you can plan for the time to act on these tasks in your daily schedule and stick firm to implementing these habits on a daily basis. These habits don’t require much effort. In fact, most of these habits ONLY take five minutes or less to complete. by doing these small tasks in a block you can plan for the time to act on these tasks in your daily schedule and stick firm to implementing these habits on a daily basis. 12. Choose Yourself! Be Happy, Make Millions, Live the Dream by James Altucher
The climate of business and personal success is changing. The times when going to college, working a job for 40 years and retiring a success are evaporating before our eyes. Altucher shows a path to creating art, make money and achieve success through non-traditional methods. Altucher’s sense of humor and brutal honesty make this book a great read. He doesn’t pull any punches even sharing many of his personal failures as well as successes. Choose yourself. Choose this book. 13. Awaken the Giant Within: How to Take Immediate Control of Your Mental, Emotional, Physical and Financial by Tony Robbins
This is another book I struggled with the decision of whether to place on this list. On one hand Robbins has always seemed to me to be as much of a salesman of change as he is someone with fresh ideas. However, there is no denying that this book covers some important ground while still being inspirational. Robbin’s point with this book is to take charge of your life in all the important ways: emotional, physical, mental and financial. All of these important parts dovetail together and work with each other for you to achieve greater success. Only when you are at the peak of performance in all categories can you truly be your best self. 14. Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience by Mihaly Csikszentmihaly
Have you ever felt on the top of your game? Answers and ideas flow freely. You feel energized and alert. You feel happy and content. You are in control. This is a state Dr. Csikszentmihaly refers to as “flow” The flow state happens to everyone from time to time, but it can be engineered to happen more frequently and when it does the happiness, content and satisfaction it brings can have a lasting halo effect on our lives. Part science and part philosophy this book does an exceptional job of relating to us not only how to get more done, but how to live happier and fuller lives due to having an understanding of the “Flow.” 15. 177 Mental Toughness Secrets of the World Class by Steve Siebold
This book is great at what it is, a summary of all the current thinking in the realm of peak performance. While not groundbreaking, it digests hundreds of self-help and personal development books and relays the important pieces succinctly and clearly. A wonderful book that will save you time and money giving you the highlights of the best modern thinking on the subject of improving your personal performance in all aspects of life. 16. Why We Do What We Do: Understanding Self-Motivation by Edward L. Deci
One of the keys to success in life is self-motivation. Most people will perform when they have to at work or at home. Self-motivation means going that extra mile and not needing the external commitments to get things done. When you can become self-motivated, achievement will follow as surely as the sun rises in the east. But self-motivation is not something that is always as easy as it might sound. Deci showcases all the current science on the subject of motivation and explains the hows and whys in simple to understand terms. You likely have ideas of what motivates you already, but reading this book will give you a clean and clear understanding of your motivation. 17. Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking by Susan Cain
Being an introvert I kept saying. “That’s right” and “So True” constantly while reading this book. Another book on this list, “How to Win Friends and Influence People” does a great job of showcasing the importance of being a “people person” and how this can lead to success. However, this advice introverts (myself included) have a hard time following. Being the loudest and driving your ideas home to others does not necessarily make your ideas the best.
Susan Cain has a book that can make any introvert proud of their nature. She shows ways many introverts have achieved high levels of success, even in “people person” positions of authority. This is an important read for introverts to understand why we act the way we do and an important book for extroverts to help them understand the remaining 1/3 of the population. 18. Virtual Freedom: How to Work with Virtual Staff to Buy More Time, Become More Productive, and Build Your Dream Business by Chris Ducker
This is a personal development book for a fairly narrow niche. These days many tasks can be outsourced and delegated, specifically if you have your own business or side hustle. Trying to do everything yourself is not a growth mindset. This book lays out clear paths to outsourcing significant amount of work in a methodical manner. If you have no need for outsourcing this book is not for you. However if you have ever thought about the possibilities of outsourcing mundane tasks, then this book should be a must read. 19. Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion, Revised Edition by Dr. Robert Cialdini
Why do people say yes? Why do they buy things? Dr. Cialdini’s classic book shows the science behind why people are persuaded. This book will help you understand the importance of social proof, scarcity, authority, reciprocation and more on others and how it can help you to get the important “yes” or purchase in your business or at work. People’s decisions are often not made by a rational argument and well laid out plans. It is important to truly understand why people really choose the way they do. 20. The Now Habit: A Strategic Program for Overcoming Procrastination and Enjoying Guilt-Free Play by Neil Fiore
Procrastination is a problem that plagues many people. I might even be bold enough to say that MOST people suffer from procrastination from time to time. It is human nature. However, there are good scientific reasons why people procrastinate and just as many good science backed methods to overcome procrastination. Dr. Neil Fiore gives an exhaustive overview of why we procrastinate and what we can do about overcoming procrastination.
A Smarter You in 15 Minutes? If you enjoy reading nonfiction books, then I encourage you to check out the Blinkist app. Blinkist is an interesting concept… Blinkist summarized over 2,000 of the bestselling books and put them into condensed 7 to 15 minute reads (or “blinks”). The idea here is to give you the key insights and important lessons -- without wasting your time on pointless information. Blinkist book summaries are perfect for anyone who wants to maximize those random moments when you have to kill time. Like when you want to kill time before an appointment or you’re standing on a long line at Starbucks. You can use Blinkist to complete a book daily, learn the valuable lessons, and avoid the fluff that often pad longer books. Click here to try a 1-Day Free Trial for Blinkist |
In this modern world, Garbage collection logs are still analyzed in a tedious & manual mode. i.e. you have to get hold of your Devops engineer who has access to production servers, then he will mail you the application’s GC logs, then you will upload the logs to GC analysis tool, then you have to apply your intelligence to anlayze it. There is no programmatic way to analyze Garbage Collection logs in a proactive manner. Thus to eliminate this hassle, gceasy.io is introducing a RESTful API to analyze garbage collection logs. With one line of code you can get your GC logs analyzed instantly.
Here are few use cases where this API can be extremely useful.
Use case 1: Automatic Root cause Analysis
Most of the DevOps invokes a simple Http ping or APM tools to monitor the applications health. This ping is good to detect whether application is alive or not. APM tools are great at informing that application’s CPU spiked up by ‘x%’, memory utilization increased by ‘y%’, response time dropped by ‘z’ milliseconds. It won’t inform what caused the CPU to spike up, what caused memory utilization to increase, what caused the response time to degrade. If you can configure Cron job to capture thread dumps/GC logs on a periodic interval and invoke our REST API, we apply our intelligent patterns & machine learning algorithms to instantly identify the root cause of the problem.
Advantage 1: Whenever these sort of production problem happens, because of the heat of the moment, DevOps team recycles the servers with out capturing the thread dumps and GC logs. You need to capture thread dumps and GC logs at the moment when problem is happening, in order to diagnose the problem. In this new strategy you don’t have to worry about it, because your cron job is capturing thread dumps/GC logs on a periodic intervals and invoking the REST API, all your thread dumps/GC Logs are archived in our servers.
Advantage 2: Unlike APM tools which claims to add less than 3% of overhead, where as in reality it adds multiple folds, beauty of this strategy is: It doesn’t add any overhead (or negligible overhead). Because entire analysis of the thread dumps/GCeasy are done on our servers and not on your production servers..
Use case 2: Performance Tests
When you conduct performance tests, you might want to take thread dumps/GC logs on a periodic basis and get it analyzed through the API. In case if thread count goes beyond a threshold or if too many threads are WAITING or if any threads are BLOCKED for a prolonged period or lock isn’t getting released or frequent full GC activities happening or GC pause time exceeds thresholds, it needs to get the visibility right then and there. It should be analyzed before code hits the production. In such circumstance this API will become very handy.
Use case 3: Continuous Integration
As part of continuous integration it’s highly encouraged to execute performance tests. Thread dumps/GC Logs should be captured and it can be analyzed using the API. If API reports any problems, then build can be failed. In this way, you can catch the performance degradation right during code commit time instead of catching it in performance labs or production.
How to invoke Garbage Collection log analysis API?
Invoking Garbage Collection log analysis is very simple:
Register with us. We will email you the API key. This is a one-time setup process. Note: If you have purchased enterprise version with API, you don’t have to register. API key will be provided to you as part of installation instruction. Post HTTP request to https://api.gceasy.io/analyzeGC?apiKey={API_KEY_SENT_IN_EMAIL} The body of the HTTP request should contain the Garbage collection log that needs to be analyzed. HTTP Response will be sent back in JSON format. JSON has several important stats about the GC log. Primary element to look in the JSON response is: “isProblem“. This element will have value to be “true” if any memory/performance problems has been discovered. “problem” element will contain the detailed description of the memory problem.
CURL command
Assuming your GC log file is located in “./my-app-gc.log,” then CURL command to invoke the API is:
curl -X POST --data-binary @./my-app-gc.log https://api.gceasy.io/analyzeGC?apiKey={API_KEY_SENT_IN_EMAIL} --header "Content-Type:text"
It can’t get any more simpler than that? Isn’t it? 🙂
Compression
GC log files are quite large in size. For fast and efficient processing, we recommend you to compress and send the GC log files. When you are compressing the GC log, you need to pass ‘Content-Encoding’ element in the HTTP Header element or in the URL parameter.
Say suppose you are compressing GC log file into ‘zip’ format, then you can invoke the API with HTTP header element
curl -X POST --data-binary @./my-app-gc.zip "https://api.gceasy.io/analyzeGC?apiKey={API_KEY_SENT_IN_EMAIL}" --header "Content-Type:text" --header "Content-Encoding:zip"
or you can also invoke the API with ‘Content-Encoding’ element in the URL parameter
curl -X POST --data-binary @./my-app-gc.zip "https://api.gceasy.io/analyzeGC?apiKey={API_KEY_SENT_IN_EMAIL}&Content-Encoding=zip" --header "Content-Type:text"
We support following compression formats :
zip, gz, xz, z, lzma, deflate, sz, lz4, zstd, bz2, tar
You may use the one of your choice. Whatever compression format you used for compressing the GC log files should be passed in ‘Content-Encoding’ element.
Note: use the option “–data-binary” in the CURL instead of using “–data” option. In “–data” new line breaks will be not preserved in the request. New Line breaks should be preserved for legitimate parsing.
Other Tools
You can also invoke the API using any webservice client tools such as: SOAP UI, Postman Browser Plugin,…..
Fig: POSTing GC logs through PostMan plugin
Sample Response
{ { "isProblem": true, "problem": [ "Our analysis tells that Full GCs are consecutively running in your application. It might cause intermittent OutOfMemoryErrors or degradation in response time or high CPU consumption or even make application unresponsive.", "Our analysis tells that your application is suffering from long running GC events. 4 GC events took more than 10 seconds. Long running GCs are unfavourable for application's performance.", "342 times application threads were stopped for more than 10 seconds." ], "jvmHeapSize": { "youngGen": { "allocatedSize": "7.5 gb", "peakSize": "6 gb" }, "oldGen": { "allocatedSize": "22.5 gb", "peakSize": "22.5 gb" }, "metaSpace": { "allocatedSize": "1.04 gb", "peakSize": "48.52 mb" }, "total": { "allocatedSize": "30 gb", "peakSize": "28.5 gb" } }, "gcStatistics": { "totalCreatedBytes": "249.49 gb", "measurementDuration": "7 hrs 32 min 52 sec", "startTimestamp": "2018-12-15T15:58:37.622+0100", "endTimestamp": "2018-12-15T15:58:44.622+0100", "avgAllocationRate": "9.4 mb/sec", "avgPromotionRate": "1.35 mb/sec", "minorGCCount": "62", "minorGCTotalTime": "1 min 19 sec", "minorGCAvgTime": "1 sec 274 ms", "minorGCAvgTimeStdDeviation": "2 sec 374 ms", "minorGCMinTIme": "0", "minorGCMaxTime": "13 sec 780 ms", "minorGCIntervalAvgTime": "7 min 25 sec 442 ms", "fullGCCount": "166", "fullGCTotalTime": "14 min 11 sec 620 ms", "fullGCAvgTime": "5 sec 130 ms", "fullGCAvgTimeStdDeviation": "5 sec 207 ms", "fullGCMinTIme": "120 ms", "fullGCMaxTime": "57 sec 880 ms", "fullGCIntervalAvgTime": "2 min 19 sec 104 ms" }, "gcKPI": { "throughputPercentage": 99.952, "averagePauseTime": 750.232, "maxPauseTime": 57880 }, "gcDurationSummary": { "groups": [ { "start": "0", "end": "6", "numberOfGCs": 212 }, { "start": "6", "end": "12", "numberOfGCs": 4 }, { "start": "12", "end": "18", "numberOfGCs": 2 }, { "start": "42", "end": "48", "numberOfGCs": 1 }, { "start": "54", "end": "60", "numberOfGCs": 1 } ] }, "gcCauses": [ { "cause": "Allocation Failure", "count": 57 }, { "cause": "Concurrent Mode Failure", "count": 162 }, { "cause": "Full GC - Allocation Failure", "count": 369 } ], "commandLineFlags": " -XX:CMSInitiatingOccupancyFraction=65 -XX:+CMSScavengeBeforeRemark -XX:CMSWaitDuration=2000 -XX:ConcGCThreads=8 -XX:+DisableExplicitGC -XX:GCLogFileSize=104857600 -XX:+HeapDumpOnOutOfMemoryError -XX:InitialHeapSize=32212254720 -XX:InitialTenuringThreshold=4 -XX:+ManagementServer -XX:MaxHeapSize=32212254720 -XX:MaxTenuringThreshold=4 -XX:NewRatio=3 -XX:NumberOfGCLogFiles=10 -XX:OldPLABSize=16 -XX:ParGCCardsPerStrideChunk=32768 -XX:+PrintClassHistogram -XX:+PrintGC -XX:+PrintGCApplicationStoppedTime -XX:+PrintGCDetails -XX:+PrintGCTimeStamps -XX:+PrintPromotionFailure -XX:+PrintTenuringDistribution -XX:SurvivorRatio=3 -XX:ThreadStackSize=334 -XX:+UnlockDiagnosticVMOptions -XX:+UseCMSInitiatingOccupancyOnly -XX:+UseCompressedClassPointers -XX:+UseCompressedOops -XX:+UseConcMarkSweepGC -XX:+UseGCLogFileRotation -XX:+UseParNewGC ", "heapTuningTips": [ "It looks like you have over allocated Metaspace size. During entire run, Metaspace's peak utilization was only 4.53% of the allocated size. You can consider lowering the Metaspace Size." ], "tipsToReduceGCTime": [ { "issue": "15.34% of GC time (i.e 54 min 13 sec 710 ms) is caused by 'Concurrent Mode Failure'. The CMS collector uses one or more garbage collector threads that run simultaneously with the application threads with the goal of completing the collection of the tenured generation before it becomes full. In normal operation, the CMS collector does most of its tracing and sweeping work with the application threads still running, so only brief pauses are seen by the application threads. However, if the CMS collector is unable to finish reclaiming the unreachable objects before the tenured generation fills up, or if an allocation cannot be satisfied with the available free space blocks in the tenured generation, then the application is paused and the collection is completed with all the application threads stopped. The inability to complete a collection concurrently is referred to as concurrent mode failure and indicates the need to adjust the CMS collector parameters. Concurrent mode failure typically triggers Full GC..", "solution": "The concurrent mode failure can either be avoided by increasing the tenured generation size or initiating the CMS collection at a lesser heap occupancy by setting CMSInitiatingOccupancyFraction to a lower value and setting UseCMSInitiatingOccupancyOnly to true. CMSInitiatingOccupancyFraction should be chosen carefuly, setting it to a low value will result in too frequent CMS collections." } ], "throughputPercentage": 99.996, "responseId": "8296b5c3-25c7-4157-92df-a54d9083bab7", "graphURL": "http://gceasy.io/my-gc-report.jsp?p=YXJjaGl2ZWQvMjAxNy8wMi8xNy8tLWFwaS1lMDk0YTM0ZS1jM2ViLTRjOWEtODI1NC1mMGRkMTA3MjQ1Y2NjOWU0NGEzMS0yMDg2LTRhMzAtOWU5YS1jMDc0ZWQ4MWNlZjgudHh0LS0=&channel=API" }
JSON Response Elements
Element Description responseId Unique transaction Id that is generated for every response. This is used for any debugging or diagnosis purposes graphURL Graphical visualization of the GC log can be found at this location. isProblem true’ is returned if any memory problems are found. ‘false’ is returned if no memory problems are found. This element can be used to build any alerts for proactive GC monitoring problem Description of the memory problem is reported in this element. Like what type of memory problem, it is. What are the side-effects and symptoms it might cause jvmHeapSize The data points in this section is gathered from the GC log, thus It may or may not match with the size that is specified by the JVM system properties (i.e. –Xmx, -Xms,…). Say you have configured total heap size (i.e. –Xmx) as 2gb, whereas at runtime if JVM has allocated only 1gb, then in this report you are going to see the allocated size as 1gb only. youngGen > allocatedSize Young Generation’s allocated size (i.e. specified at the JVM level) > peakSize Young Generation’s peak utilization size at runtime oldGen > allocatedSize Old Generation’s allocated size (i.e. specified at the JVM level) > peakSize Old Generation’s peak utilization size at runtime metaSpace > allocatedSize Metaspace’s allocated size (i.e. specified at the JVM level) > peakSize MetaSpace’s peak utilization size at runtime permGen > allocatedSize Perm Generation’s allocated size (i.e. specified at the JVM level) > peakSize Perm Generation’s peak utilization size at runtime total > allocatedSize Total allocated heap size (i.e. specified at the JVM level) includes Young + Old + Perm (or Metaspace) > peakSize Peak utilization of the heap size at runtime gcStatistics GC statistics summary is based on ‘real’ time reported in the GC Logs. For more details on difference between user, sys, real time refer to https://blog.gceasy.io/2016/04/06/gc-logging-user-sys-real-which-time-to-use/ > totalCreatedBytes Total amount of objects created by the application > measurementDuration Total time duration application has been running > startTimestamp Timestamp at which first GC event was reported > endTimestamp Timestamp in which last GC event was reported > avgAllocationRate Objects creation rate by the application. When more objects are allocated, young generation gets filled up quickly, and Minor GC runs more frequently. > avgPromotionRate Objects promoted rate from Young Generation to Old Generation. When more objects are promoted to Old generation, Full GC will be run more frequently. > minorGCCount Number of Minor GCs occurred in the application > minorGCTotalTime Total time spent in Minor GCs > minorGCAvgTime Average time taken by the Minor GCs (i.e. total time taken by all minor GCs / number of minor GCs) > minorGCAvgTimeStdDeviation Standard Deviation of the Minor GC average times > minorGCMinTIme Minimum Time of all the minor GCs > minorGCMaxTime Maximum time of all the minor GCs > minorGCIntervalAvgTime Average time interval between minor GCs > fullGCCount Number of Full GCs occurred in the application > fullGCTotalTime Total time spent in Full GCs > fullGCAvgTime Average time taken by the Full GCs (i.e. total time taken by all full GCs / number of full GCs) > fullGCAvgTimeStdDeviation Standard Deviation of the Full GC average times > fullGCMinTime Minimum Time of all the full GCs > fullGCMaxTime Maximum time of all the full GCs > fullGCIntervalAvgTime Average time interval between Full GCs gcKPI Key Performance Indicators of this GC analysis >throughputPercentage Percentage of time spent in processing real transactions vs time spent in GC activity. Higher percentage is a good indication that GC overhead is low. One should aim for high throughput. >averagePauseTime Average GC Pause time in milliseconds >maxPauseTime Maximum GC Pause time in milliseconds gcDurationSummary > groups Array of GC Duration summary group. Example of a group:
{
“start”: “0.2”,
“end”: “0.3”,
“numberOfGCs”: 5
}, Indicates that 5 GCs completed between 0.2 second and 0.3 seconds >> start Group’s start time reported in seconds >> end Group’s end time reported in seconds >> numberOfGCs Number of GCs that completed between ‘start’ time and ‘end’ time gcCauses array reporting the GC Causes > cause The reason which triggered the GC. Values could be: Concurrent Mode Failure, Allocation Failure, System.gc() calls > count Number of time GC occurred because of this reason commandLineFlags JVM arguments that were passed to the application heapTuningTips Array. Optional Element. Provides tips to tune your JVM heap size tipsToReduceGCTime Array. Optional Element. Provides tips to reduce GC time >issue Indicates the reason what caused the GC >solution Solution to reduce this GC cause
Preserving GC Log file name in the report
This step is optional. Response JSON contains ‘graphURL’ element. This URL provides visual report of the GC log that was parsed through API. At the top of report GC file name is printed. If you want to print a unique file name in the report, then you can pass request parameter: ‘fileName‘. i.e. https://api.gceasy.io/analyzeGC?apiKey={API_KEY_SENT_IN_EMAIL}&fileName={GC_LOG_FILE_NAME}.
Whatever value you pass in the ‘fileName’ parameter will be printed at the top of the visual report. Users find this feature handy especially when they are sending GC logs from multiple production servers. When they are sending GC log files from the multiple production servers, in the file name they suffix the production server’s name, so that it becomes handy when they switch between multiple reports in the web browser.
XML Response
By default API response in sent in JSON format. However if you would like to get response in XML format, you can pass ‘accept’ HTTP header element with value ‘xml’
Curl –X POST --data-binary @./my-app-gc.log https://api.gceasy.io/analyzeGC?apiKey={API_KEY_SENT_IN_EMAIL} –-header "accept:xml"
or you can also invoke the API with ‘accept’ element in the URL parameter
Curl –X POST --data-binary @./my-app-gc.log https://api.gceasy.io/analyzeGC?apiKey={API_KEY_SENT_IN_EMAIL}&accept=xml
Normalized Units
Response elements which has memory sizes are sent back in kb, mb, gb, tb units. Example:
“allocatedSize”: “2.9 gb”,
“peakSize”: “1.36 gb”
Similarly elements with time are sent back in hours, minutes, seconds, milliseconds units. Example:
“minorGCTotalTime”: “1 min 9 sec 408 ms”,
“minorGCMaxTime”: “1 sec 65 ms”,
However if you would like to get the memory units to be normalized in ‘bytes’ and time in ‘milliseconds’, you can pass ‘normalizeUnits’ URL parameter with value to be ‘true’
Curl –X POST --data-binary @./my-app-gc.log https://api.gceasy.io/analyzeGC?apiKey={API_KEY_SENT_IN_EMAIL}&normalizeUnits=true
When you invoke API with option, response elements will be normalized as shown below:
“allocatedSize”: “3.113877504E9”,
“peakSize”: “2.95285248E9”
“minorGCTotalTime”: “69408.36”,
“minorGCMaxTime”: “1065.17”,
Time based Filtering
Sometimes users you want to analyze GC logs for a certain time interval instead of analyzing the entire GC Log. Here are the use cases for it:
1. If GC logs are not configured to roll over (which is typically the case in most organizations), one single GC log file will end up having the information of all GC events. Certain applications would have been started days/weeks back. Thus, one single GC log file would end up having all those days/weeks’ worth of GC events. The user might want to analyze only for last 24 hours’ worth of GC activities
2. Each application will have high traffic volume and low traffic volume time in a day. User might want to analyze the GC only during peak volume time periods. Say, if the user is from the financial industry, and he wants to monitor GC activities only during COW (Critical Online Window) i.e. 9:00am to 6:00pm.
To do such time based processing, refer to this article.
Relative to Absolute Timestamp
In your GC log file, timestamps might be printed in relative format i.e.
[0.209s] .....
But however if you would like the GCeasy graphs to be painted in absolute timestamp, you might consider passing the ‘initialTimestamp‘ parameter in the API request. More details on this feature can be found here.
Key elements in API Response
GCeasy’s JSON APIs are used for application monitoring, analyzing code quality during CI/CD pipeline and several other purposes. API response contains rich set of information (i.e. lot of elements). In this article, we have highlighted few key elements in the API response. If values of these elements exceed or drops below certain threshold, you might consider raising alerts/warnings or breaking the build.
Best Practice: Building alerts
For production monitoring or for performance tests, you can build alerts around the JSON response.
a. If “isProblem” element has value to be “true” then alert can generated with the content from “problem” element.
b. You can also setup thresholds on the elements like: “fullGCCount”, “fullGCTotalTime”, “fullGCAvgTime”, “fullGCAvgTimeStdDeviation”, “fullGCMinTIme”, “fullGCMaxTime”,
“fullGCIntervalAvgTime”. If any these elements value exceeds your threshold then alerts can be triggered. |
3. They're just really, really, really unlikable
Nobody loves the Pats because it's almost impossible to like the Pats.
Bil Belichick acts like a jerk, treats the press like a bunch of 3-year-olds, dresses like a slob and makes no effort to be likable because he's there to win football games, not care what you think about him. Tom Brady pulled a Brad Pitt on his pregnant actress girlfriend and upgraded to a supermodel. He tries to act too cool for the room until you see him in magazines holding goats, promoting Uggs and paying somebody to give him a personality on a Facebook page. Brady desperately cares what you think about him, even more so after he was fingered as a cheat.
Speaking of that, the Pats were the subjects of Spygate, Defeflategate and rumors of malfeasance so underhanded you open the team media guide expecting to see G. Gordon Liddy listed somewhere.
New England's first playoff game of the Belichick era was won because of a since-deleted technicality in the NFL rulebook. The team won its first two Super Bowls on last-second field goals, took its third when Donovan McNabb ran a final drive with the urgency of a hungover Sunday afternoon stroll and won the fourth after Russell Wilson gift-wrapped a goal-line interception. All told, their four rings are by a combined 13 points, a margin of victory that has been exceeded in half of all the other Super Bowls.
That led to the sense, at least early on, that the team was more lucky than good. You got the feeling that the football karma would eventually even out and the Pats would come back to earth. And it kind of did -- the team didn't win a Super Bowl for a decade and was caught up twice in major scandals with the feeling that just as many weren't discovered. But as that was happening, the Patriots were making it clear they weren't some sort of historical fluke. They were among the best teams ever and, probably when it's all said and done, the greatest. Thus, they became hatable for an entirely different reason. |
Ultiworld’s All-Club 2014: 1st Team (Women’s)
With Nationals over and the winners crowned, it is time to take a moment to recognize the top performers in the Women’s division this season. The Ultiworld staff has watched and researched the players that were making a difference for their squads this season. While the talent of the division reaches far beyond two lists of seven, these players put together what we believe to be the best seasons in the women’s game this year.
Players were selected based on both their regular season and postseason performances.
Emily Baecher (Boston Brute Squad)
The leader on the division’s regular season winner, Baecher’s talents shined in a system to utilized her unique skills. Her offensive game propelled the Boston D-line, a hub handler capable of finding great field position and setting up her teammates. The backhand became a dangerous tool for Baecher, whose sizable hucks could let her speedster cutters open up the field, or whose offhand high release was a common goal line break throw that became something of a signature.
On top of her offensive capabilities, Baecher proved to be a premium defender. She often took on some of the opponent’s best matchups and excelled defending dumps, able to use her supreme footwork and game IQ to deny opportunities to opposing handlers. While “EBae” could make a big play, it was her rock solid consistency that made her one of the division’s top performers this season. It was no wonder Riot decided to bring her along to claim Gold in Italy.
Sarah “Surge” Griffith (Seattle Riot)
Surge is a singular talent with virtually unmatched productivity. One of the game’s feature athletes is a total package. Her defensive prowess has been notably documented; she’s not only capable of neutralizing elite offenders, she’s able to do it while continuing to play stellar team defense. She’s an active mark and can be devastating in all zones.
And the terrifying thing is that she keeps getting better. Her ability on O seems to grow and grow as she develops as a break thrower and hucker. Her athleticism and motor are still the hallmarks of her game, the same attributes that landed her as a 1st team selection last season. Even with her late season being hampered by injuries, it is hard to argue Surge’s impact for the World Champions. As everything rounds out, it’s hard to imagine her as anything but one of the division’s superstars.
Anna Nazarov (San Francisco Fury)
There may not be a more well-rounded player than the Fury stud. Nazarov is an excellent embodiment of the strengths of her San Francisco team: she’s an aggressive, yet responsible defender, is a strong thrower with excellent field sense, and is plenty capable of doing work downfield, even in the deep lane. Her high flying layouts are great for the highlight reel, but her smooth breakthrows and snap decision making grease Fury’s wheels.
As exceptional as “Maddog” is on offense, she might be even better on defense. While she demands an answer when she’s on O, she provides one on defense to whatever questions the opposition poses. She’s an expert backfield stopper, able to use explosive movements and intelligent positioning to create turnovers. But Nazarov is a fine defender against fierce cutters too, where her workmanlike attitude combines with her playmaking to disrupt offenses.
Sandy Jorgensen (Washington D.C. Scandal)
Returning to her second 1st Team selection, it is no surprise that the division’s most dominant athlete continues to reign supreme with an unmatched skillset. Jorgensen wrapped up a second Championship for Scandal, scoring two of the team’s last three goals, a pair of her 21 at the tournament, ranking her second in the category. Few – if any – can so consistently dominate the field with their speed and imposition.
The difference maker for Jorgensen can be summed up as range. In one sense, it is the incredible defensive range she has: if you saw her incredible recovery D in the semifinals, you know what that means. Her bait strategies hook big fish, making victims of the best throwers and receivers, with skies and run through Ds. Her offensive range allows her to run down discs defenders tap out on. And her vertical range is scary and has left many in her wake. All that to say nothing of her lefty throws and confidence.
Rohre Titcomb (Seattle Riot)
Titcomb made a triumphant return to the field after being plagued with her injury during her last season (and her stint with Team USA, with most of her fellow 1st teamers). If you had yet to find out what the primetime handler could do, she made sure to show off her array of talents this season on her way to a World Championship. Titcomb was the poster child for this year’s Riot: great disc movement, disciplined spacing, and merciless break throws.
The Riot captain is one of the game’s best leaders, on and off the field. She’s commanding from behind the disc, driving the offense to the most valuable field locations. It doesn’t hurt that she’s armed with monstrous pulls and is a elite defender, making her just as good at leading her team to breaks as she is holds. Her Spirit of the Game combined with her competitive drive make her a role model that inspire the throngs of elite youth players in Seattle, as they do her teammates and peers.
Opi Payne (Washington D.C. Scandal)
When asked how he planned to deal with Anna Nazarov in the final of Nationals, Scandal Coach Alex Ghesquiere smiled and said “I’ve got an Opi.”
Ghesquiere’s confidence in Payne is not unfounded. What team wouldn’t benefit from adding a passionate, confident, inspiring defender like her? There’s nobody who drops jaws like Payne, taunting physics as she careens around the field like a rocket and takes flight in spectacular fashion. She’s the gritty core at the center of the two-time champions.
Last year’s Ultiworld All-Club team made the controversial choice of slotting Payne on to the 2nd team, citing her rash decision making and risk taking as detrimental to her and her team’s success. Opi curbed a lot of those instincts, playing within her system and using her intensity to power her to play a better team game. With super sized bombs for hucks, blazing upline speed, and a boundless supply of heart, Payne is capable of taking over a game any time she takes the field, regardless of the setting or stage.
Claire Desmond (San Francisco Fury)
It is official: Claire Desmond has arrived. “Dezzy” hardly came out of nowhere. She was 4th in the Callahan voting in 2012, a college star who was arguably the best performer on the Women’s U23 team that took home Gold in Toronto. In some respects, she’s hard to miss.
That’s in part because she seems to come up with huge plays every game. Second effort layout in the World’s final? No problem. How about a big layout goal to kick off her nationals against Showdown? It was one of her 12 goals in Frisco, tying her for 9th. She makes poster perfect bids and skies seem routine. But what sets up her highlight reel plays is just as valuable: smart cutting, brilliant timing, and impressive awareness for a player still growing. For now, she’ll just have to settle for being one of the division’s premier deep threats, but soon, may be one of its brightest stars. |
This one is really a shocker for all PC gamers, id Software has announced that PC version of RAGE does not feature advanced graphical options.
id Software's Tim Willits, Lead Designer of RAGE has said that id Tech 5 scales automatically with player's system and take maximum advantage of its resource, and at the same time it retain 60FPS mark.
PC gamers will only get resolution, brightness, anti-aliasing and GPU transcoding option with RAGE.
Check out below, what Tim Willits said:
"This is a feature of the id Tech 5. The Engine automatically adjusts to your hardware to ensure the best performance and graphics the hardware can provide.
For example: You have a video card with 512MB VRAM, 4GB of normal RAM and a decent processor. Now the id Tech 5 adjusts the quality of the Level of Detail to the available resources. If you have twice the RAM the engine scales dynamically up to it, improves the textures and objects in the far look sharper and more detailed. At the same time the engines tries to keep running at 60 FPS even though this is not also possible – dependent on the situation."
What you guys think about this, let us know in the comment section below.
Update:
Check out some tips to adjust graphical setting of RAGE PC version, HERE.
Update 2:
Bethesda has announced a patch for PC version of RAGE. The patch will add "Graphics Option", more details HERE.
Next page |
A 24-year-old man released from state prison one year ago is now accused of shooting and killing a man near the Five Points MARTA station, police said Friday.
Allan Delano Dumas, 24, of Atlanta, was charged with murder following the Thursday rush-hour shooting, Sgt. Greg Lyon with Atlanta police said.
Investigators believe Dumas shot Maurice Cosby about 6 p.m. in a hallway that leads from the Underground Atlanta entertainment district to the MARTA rail station. Cosby, 25, ran into the station and fell on the sidewalk by Peachtree Street, Atlanta police Capt. Michael O’Connor said. He was rushed to Grady Memorial Hospital, where he died.
No information was released on a possible motive. But witnesses saw the two men arguing before the shooting.
Dumas is a convicted felon who was released from the Coffee Correctional Facility on June 10, 2014, according to Georgia Department of Corrections. Dumas spent just over three years in prison following his conviction on burglary and obstruction charges, records showed.
Dexter Dixon told FOX 5 Atlanta Cosby was his son and had just made it downtown to meet his girlfriend for dinner when he was shot.
“It’s just heartbreaking right now,” he told the news station.
Dixon said he has no idea why anyone would shoot his son. All he has are questions: Was it robbery? A case of mistaken identity? He said he is trying to “put pieces together try to see why these guys done it.”
Dixon called his son a good man who was doing what he could to support two children. Father and son planned to go fishing this weekend. They discussed those plans during their last conversation hours before the fatal shooting.
Now, Dixon said, “I just don’t know which way to turn.”
— Photographer Ben Gray and staff writer Steve Visser contributed to this article. |
With so much demolition and construction activity happening around the city, it can be tough to keep track on what is happening in each neighborhood. Fortunately, with the city’s permitting system, it’s possible to search for activity on your block and in your neighborhood to see if that old house down the street is being renovated or demolished.
However, zoning changes can be a little more complicated. As aldermen control the zoning in their ward, there’s no single process that is followed throughout the city when it comes to zoning changes. Many aldermen inform community groups and host public meetings to discuss proposed zoning changes, while others simply only follow the mandated requirement of posting public notices near the property and alerting direct neighbors by mail.
The construction and development data portal Chicago Cityscape has unveiled a feature which allows users to keep track and get automatic alerts when any zoning change is introduced for a specific area. Users can select one of the thousands of mapped “places” or draw their own and subscribe to get alerts to changes within that “place.” Otherwise, users can also search for a specific address and subscribe to receive alerts on any changes that are proposed within a two-block radius.
Once a zoning change has passed through the city council, it’s essentially too late to provide input to the elected officials who are responsible for making the decisions. However, residents now have various tools to help them stay informed on what is happening on their block and in the broader neighborhood area. |
An expert in banking corruption and finance has joined the Bernie Sanders campaign. William K. Black, an associate professor at the University of Missouri-KC, is Bernie Sanders’ new economic advisor. Black was one of the central figures in exposing and prosecuting corruption in the savings and loan crisis from the late 1980s and mid-1990s. His addition to the Sanders campaign brings important knowledge in laws pertaining to finance and banking.
The savings and loan banking crisis resulted from a multitude of causes, one of which were two laws that helped deregulate them. The Depository Institutions Deregulation and Monetary Control Act of 1980 was signed into law by President Jimmy Carter. That law allowed credit unions and savings and loans to offer checking deposits, and to charge any loan interest rate they chose.
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In 1982, Ronald Reagan furthered the deregulation of savings and loans by signing the Garn-St. Germain Depository Institutions Act, which allowed property owners to put real estate into trust accounts to avoid future lawsuits or creditors. Both bills reduced regulatory oversight and by the time the crisis was in full swing in 1995, 1,043 out of 3,234 savings and loan associations had failed due to risky and illegal behavior.
Among others, Black exposed the Keating Five, a group of five senators involved in doing favors for savings and loans in exchange for contributions. Charles Keating, the chairman of Lincoln Savings & Loan was deeply involved. Sen. John McCain was one of those senators Black exposed. He, along with the rest of the senators, was reprimanded but otherwise unpunished.
Black’s tenacity in investigating the banking corruption angered so Keating, he wrote a memo ordering his death.
“…get Black — kill him dead. If you can’t you ought to retire.”
William K. Black [Image via Kristen Hellstrom | Wikimedia Commons | CC BY-SA 3.0] In 1999, President Bill Clinton signed the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, which repealed the Glass-Steagall Act, further deregulated banking institutions in the United States. Although some economics experts disagree on whether repealing Glass-Steagall actually had anything to do with the financial crisis that devastated the economy in 2008, many agree that its absence amplified the recession’s effects.
In 2009, Black appeared on Bill Moyers to discuss the effects of the recession caused directly by Wall Street and the reckless lending of banking institutions. During the show, he claimed that these large corporations were engaging in a Ponzi-like scheme to make bad loans purposefully to “increase their own personal income.”
“All of those checks and balances report to the CEO, so if the CEO goes bad, all of the checks and balances are easily overcome. And the art form is not simply to defeat those internal controls, but to suborn them, to turn them into your greatest allies. And the bonus programs are exactly how you do that.”
Black claimed banking institutions knowingly made bad loans in order to profit from them. In 2010, he appeared before the House Financial Services Committee to testify about the role of Alt-A mortgages, or what he calls “liars’ loans” on residential real estate. These types of loans, he said, were major causes of the downfall of Lehman Brothers.
“Lehman’s failure is a story in large part of fraud. And it is fraud that begins at the absolute latest in 2001, and that is with their subprime and liars’ loan operations.”
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In his column on Naked Capitalism, Black criticized President Obama and Hillary Clinton, both of whom have poor records concerning Wall Street regulation. Obama, he said, could not take money from banking felons and then pass meaningful regulations. He also criticized Clinton’s acceptance of Wall Street contributions. He supports Sanders because the Vermont senator refuses to accept Wall Street donations.
Black lambasted the Dodd-Frank bill, which he wrote “failed to mandate fundamental change” within the banking industry.
“…prosecutors he appointed lack the will to use their new statutory powers to require fundamental change. The system remains rigged because those that have the gold (Wall Street), and those that accept their gold, make the rules the rig the system and they commit hundreds of thousands of felonies with impunity for Wall Street elites.”
Sanders has also been critical of the bill, saying it doesn’t go far enough in regulating the industry.
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In 2008, Black traveled to Iceland to help train and assist prosecutor and financial regulators. And although Iceland’s Prime Minister was discovered to be involved in tax havens via the Panama Papers, Black is hopeful that the small island country’s example can inspire Americans. After Icelanders took to the streets to protest, the prime minister resigned. Black expressed admiration for them.
“They know how to engage the rage. Sure it has one city and one capital — it’s easier. But the fundamental point is that they don’t put up with it.”
Black’s announcement comes at a critical juncture in Sanders’ campaign, less than two weeks before the New York primaries. It is especially important given Sanders’ lackluster interview with the New York Daily News, after which Hillary Clinton accused him of not being experienced enough to “break up the big banks.” Black’s experience in regulatory banking and law, and his ability to elucidate his points skillfully, will certainly help Sanders do the same. And perhaps Black’s position of support will help him gain more credibility with voters still wary of his economic policies.
Most of all, maybe Bill Black can help Bernie Sanders’ campaign “engage the rage,” as well.
[Photo by Charles Dharapak/AP Images] |
A top Democratic pollster thinks Hispanic voters may sit out the 2014 midterm elections because President Barack Obama did not enact his executive amnesty by the end of the summer.
Pollster Celinda Lake told The Hill that Democrats face “a big uphill battle for the Latino turnout, and that’s going to affect our candidates” in places like Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, and Georgia.
In fact, she said Senate Democrats were wrong to urge Obama to delay his executive amnesty until after the midterm elections.
“It was a real disappointment to the Latino voters–rightly so,” Lake said. “I think if we’d done something, it would have energized the Latino vote and drawn a clear distinction with the Republicans.” Lake said Obama was “deferential to a number of candidates who were lobbying him not to do it,” and she felt “those candidates were absolutely mistaken in their assessment.”
Public polling, though, has hammered Obama on the issue. Obama has had record-low approval ratings on illegal immigration and it is the issue in which he gets the highest disapproval ratings in various national polls, like the most recent Economist/YouGov poll.
The numbers are so bad that Obama was silent on amnesty when he addressed the Congressional Black Caucus Dinner. As Breitbart News has reported, “a recent New York Times/CBS poll found that a plurality of Americans (39%) would be less likely to support a candidate who supports a pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants.” |
On XM radio, Chris Russo interviewed NJ Governor Christie.. For this who don't know.. Russo is a sports talk show host.. And in my opinion, an amazing interviewer.. Russo has ties to the Nj shore and a host on his station is friendly with Christie, so he got Christie on..
It was a great interview. Christie praised President Obama for his assistance.. He admitted they don't agree on much but in this matter Obama has been amazing and has helped in many ways, not just words.
Russo wanted to be fair so he asked Christie about Mitt and if Mitt had called him. Answer "Governor Romney last called me on Sunday as Sandy was approaching",
Ouch.. No call to check and see how the state was... Granted mitt isn't President but it struck me as a terse answer and Chrisie seemed unimpressed.. Russo didn't press it and moved on
All in all a great interview.. NJ shore has been wrecked (like other areas)... |
A slightly older fighter who speaks German came back into the room where we drank tea and perused the findings. Among them was a very thick, professional Dell laptop — one of those rugged, military-style Latitude XFRs, which has a ballistic armor protection system and is sold in stores for a few thousand dollars. They are meant to be used in demanding environments by oil workers, the police, and the army. It's an expensive piece of equipment, but something you can probably easily pick up after having robbed the central bank of Mosul.
"They also found a few things of his, which they took with them," Dayan told me.
The last few days have brought some similar advancements by the local Kurdish forces. Streets and strategic buildings have been taken over by slow street fighting, which culminated in the important December 22 recapturing of Kobane's Cultural Center. A few hours earlier, the happy fighters of this YPG unit had managed to make their own successful early morning attack against a house on the southern front, where an IS leader named Emir Abu Zahra was known to reside. They told me that in the firefight he was shot and killed.
Heading in that direction, Mustafa and I soon reach the western part of the neighborhood of Botan, and a small base of the People's Protection Units (YPG). A dozen or so young fighters wearing Kurdish fatigues are there, and they're all in a very good mood, offering smiles and cigarettes. Dayan, the 32-year-old local commander, invites us in for tea. Inside, he explains how this area was liberated from IS about 15 or 20 days earlier, partly with the help of coordinated US aerial bombardment. Two US-made M16 rifles that were said to be found with the fundamentalists are leaned up against a wall behind him.
It's around noon on the day before Christmas, and I'm out walking in the Syrian city of Kobane, with the local Kurdish journalist Mustafa Ali as my guide. The streets are lined with piles of broken concrete, smashed glass, and a few bullet-riddled car wrecks. Explosions rip the air, and the different sounds tell me whether they're coming from the Islamic State (IS), the peshmerga reinforcements from Iraqi Kurdistan, or the Obama administration. For half a week I've been trying to locate a very specific female fighter to interview, and we just received word that she's alive and based at the southern front.
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It's around noon on the day before Christmas, and I'm out walking in the Syrian city of Kobane, with the local Kurdish journalist Mustafa Ali as my guide. The streets are lined with piles of broken concrete, smashed glass, and a few bullet-riddled car wrecks. Explosions rip the air, and the different sounds tell me whether they're coming from the Islamic State (IS), the peshmerga reinforcements from Iraqi Kurdistan, or the Obama administration. For half a week I've been trying to locate a very specific female fighter to interview, and we just received word that she's alive and based at the southern front.
Heading in that direction, Mustafa and I soon reach the western part of the neighborhood of Botan, and a small base of the People's Protection Units (YPG). A dozen or so young fighters wearing Kurdish fatigues are there, and they're all in a very good mood, offering smiles and cigarettes. Dayan, the 32-year-old local commander, invites us in for tea. Inside, he explains how this area was liberated from IS about 15 or 20 days earlier, partly with the help of coordinated US aerial bombardment. Two US-made M16 rifles that were said to be found with the fundamentalists are leaned up against a wall behind him.
The last few days have brought some similar advancements by the local Kurdish forces. Streets and strategic buildings have been taken over by slow street fighting, which culminated in the important December 22 recapturing of Kobane's Cultural Center. A few hours earlier, the happy fighters of this YPG unit had managed to make their own successful early morning attack against a house on the southern front, where an IS leader named Emir Abu Zahra was known to reside. They told me that in the firefight he was shot and killed.
"They also found a few things of his, which they took with them," Dayan told me.
A slightly older fighter who speaks German came back into the room where we drank tea and perused the findings. Among them was a very thick, professional Dell laptop — one of those rugged, military-style Latitude XFRs, which has a ballistic armor protection system and is sold in stores for a few thousand dollars. They are meant to be used in demanding environments by oil workers, the police, and the army. It's an expensive piece of equipment, but something you can probably easily pick up after having robbed the central bank of Mosul.
There's also a traditional looking Middle Eastern dagger among the possessions they said they took from the now dead IS leader. Surprisingly, it's not an authentic one, but a tacky copy with an Egyptian sphinx emblazoned on the case, and a horned goat head on the shaft. There are no blood traces on the blade.
And finally, sitting in front of me, is a large, transparent plastic bag filled with white powder. The YPG fighters told me they are not sure what this could be. So I dipped my index finger into it, and sure enough, it's a big bag of cocaine. I must admit, I am familiar with the taste of the drug.
"Cocaine? What is that?" they ask.
The other guys have no knowledge of this drug, or how people use it. It's nothing they have heard of or encountered before. But Dayan suggests that the powder is something Abu Zahra was distributing in smaller portions to his fighters.
There have been persistent rumors and accusations of drug use in the ranks of Islamic State fighters. Leaders in the group have been said to drug their militants to give them greater courage as they go into battle. This has led to both successful, but also reckless and ineffective suicide attacks by fighters who can easily be shot down. Certain IS militants have been described as "drug-crazed," and Kurds report having found mysterious pills, capsules, and syringes on living and dead IS fighters. And the slurred speech of the murderer behind the infamous beheadings of kidnapped Westerners, the man dubbed "Jihadi John," has been explained as him being high on khat.
All of this stands in sharp contrast to the official image that the Islamic State has been trying to present, as strict adherers to sharia law. Propaganda videos have shown IS members setting fire to piles of cannabis plants apparently found in the vicinity of Aleppo, while others have shown them breaking bottles of liquor, and even burning cigarettes and pharmaceutical drugs. All of these things are illegal under sharia law, and the group's policy on addictive drugs has officially been so strict that even smoking tobacco has been punished with chopped off fingers.
With the finding of what seems to be Abu Zahra's cocaine in Kobane, this could be the first confirmed and concrete evidence of drug use among IS fighters — and of a double standard of men who preach fundamentalism, yet are getting high as they commit massacres.
'Everywhere Around Is the Islamic State' — On the Road in Iraq with YPG Fighters. Read more here.
All photos by Joakim Medin |
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Everton have been back in talks with the agent of Andriy Yarmolenko.
But the Blues are unlikely to make a move for the Dynamo Kiev playmaker until the summer.
Everton’s chief scout Kevin Reeves went to Ukraine earlier this month to watch Yarmolenko in Champions League action against Maccabi Tel Aviv.
The 26-year-old only lasted 18 minutes before coming off with an ankle injury but Kiev still won the game 1-0 to book their place in the last 16 of the competition.
And Dynamo’s progression into the knockout stages of the Champions League means president Ihor Surkis will not be willing to sell Yarmolenko when the window opens next month.
But the Blues believe they could force through a deal in the summer.
Everton failed in a bid to sign the Ukraine international in the summer, even though they were willing to meet the player’s £14.5m buy-out clause.
The Blues found Dynamo difficult to do business with but it has not deterred Roberto Martinez, who has retained an interest in the player.
Yarmolenko signed a new five-year-deal with Kiev in October but his representative Vadim Shabliy confirmed that it was his priority to secure his client a Premier League move. |
By Jacob Steinberg
Not that sort of player
FOOTBALL is increasingly starting to resemble a popularity contest. We know who we like, we know who we tolerate, and we know who we hate. That’s just the society we live in these days. Some people are simply meant to play the good guy while others, like Craig Bellamy, are meant to be the villain of the piece. Life’s just easier for us to understand that way, which means Bellamy’s script-straying charity work in Sierra Leone blurs the lines. Are we still meant to jeer him for his unfathomably irritating body of work on the pitch, or cheer him for his altruistic and ultimately more important efforts away from the day job? Maybe just boo, because now the evil genius has got us more confused than the plot in Sherlock.
This ideal was fulfilled with more assurance during the World Cup. ITV’s indignant frothing at Uruguay following Luis Suarez’s selfless handball against Ghana might have inadvertently earned the South Americans the bastard’s vote, but at least we had been given a team to root against. Holland, too, were cast as thugs, which they admittedly were, even if you grudgingly came to admire the utter shamelessness of Mark van Bommel. Strangely though, every shuddering foul by Van Bommel was greeted with far more vitriol than any of Paul Scholes’s specials for Manchester United are afforded. Odd, that.
When the Dutch faced Spain in the final and Nigel de Jong produced that karate kick on Xabi Alonso, we knew who we were meant to support, even if the Spanish were more than capable of getting stuck in too. Carles Puyol, in particular, put in a few crunching tackles but Spain are not remembered for any sort of dirty tactics. Not that sort of team, you see.
The debate over whether or not someone is “that sort of player”, a cod excuse used to defend a player sent off for a bad tackle, resurfaced following the opening Premier League weekend, when Liverpool’s Joe Cole endured the worst debut since the infamous words, “Welcome to the first episode of James Corden’s World Cup Live!” Cole, of course, was shown a red card for scything down Arsenal’s Laurent Koscielny 45 minutes into his first Premier League game for Liverpool and while the Sky pundits, Jamie Redknapp and Paul Merson, admitted that Cole deserved to go, they also insisted that, yes, he’s not that sort of player.
While the utterance feels instinctively hackneyed and clichéd, an almost meaningless defence mechanism, it somehow still manages to ring true. When it comes to certain footballers, it really is impossible to see them as that type of player and Cole – tricksy, loveable and forever young – doesn’t fit the role of the bad guy. Everyone likes Cole; even Arsene Wenger, usually so quick to hit out when his Arsenal players when his Arsenal players have been injured in the past, refused to criticise him, despite the fact that Koscielny, who did play on, was lucky to escape serious injury. The situation is further exacerbated when we consider that players such as Cole are usually more likely to be on the end of a reducer from time to time – indeed when he was a youngster at West Ham, he suffered two serious ankle injuries in the space of six months, after being fouled by Derby’s Rory Delap and Newcastle’s Lomana Lua Lua.
Cole doesn’t have a record of nasty tackles either, although in the era of YouTube it would not be difficult to find evidence of one in the past. Yet to peddle that view is arguably missing the point. Cole might not have been that sort of player in the past. But technically he is one now. Once you commit that sort of tackle, you are that player, regardless of a previously faultless copybook.
Even then it remains necessary to take into account the sort of foul Cole was guilty of. Brainless? Yes. Needless? Yes. Reckless? Yes. But malicious? Pre-emptive? Definitely not. It certainly gave credence to Carlo Ancelotti’s opinion that Yossi Benayoun is a more intelligent player than Cole, but rather than being responsible for setting out to hurt Koscielny, a more obvious scenario was that he had been frustrated by his own anonymous performance and, seeking to impress his new supporters with old-fashioned hard graft, ended up losing the run of himself. Commendable intentions, cock-eyed execution.
The subject of bad tackles and injured players is a sensitive one for Arsenal, who have seen two players, Eduardo Da Silva and Aaron Ramsey, suffer horrendous, potentially career-ending broken legs in the past two years. On both occasions we were told that the players who fouled them, Birmingham’s Martin Taylor and Stoke’s Ryan Shawcross, were not that sort of player, lovely guys off the pitch. Yet while we can only judge footballers by their actions on the football pitch, perhaps it is the furious reaction from Arsenal that prompts this defence.
It is understandable that dreadful injuries to his players would infuriate Wenger, but his risible condemnation of Taylor, insisting (admittedly these comments were made immediately after the game and were later retracted) that the defender should be banned for life were entirely unhelpful. Look at the tackle again, and it is clear that Taylor was simply beaten for speed by a better and quicker player, and is not deserving of his pariah status. Taylor’s contrition afterwards indicated that there was no intent, and Wenger should have been big enough to forgive him. In a contact sport, accidents happen.
Taylor on Eduardo:
There is nothing wrong with a manager defending his club, of course, but this sort of attitude means people are unable to take Wenger seriously, accusing his side of being too soft when they visit physical sides up north. It’s a vicious circle which dictates that these sort of incidents are destined to keep on occurring, and as long as Wenger refuses to criticise bad tackles from some of his own players when they step out of line (William Gallas, Abou Diaby and Robin van Persie are no angels) his incensed remarks can too easily be labelled myopic and hypocritical.
This is not intended as a polemic against Arsenal or Wenger, merely to explore why it is that people feel compelled to stand by, essentially, leg-breakers. Certainly there are some who merely appreciate the rougher side of the game and grow tired with the praise of Arsenal’s brilliant football, but there are others who recognise the difference between malice and clumsiness. In incidents where a leg is left black and blue, the issue is not always black and white, which is what leads to us being assured that Joe Cole is a really top guy.
Ultimately when a referee has a decision to make, it should be as irrelevant to him whether the player meant to hurt his opponent as it is if he’s a really top bloke off the pitch or whether a red card will ruin the game as a spectacle. When Ben Thatcher knocked out Portsmouth’s Pedro Mendes with a sickening elbow when he was playing for Manchester City in 2006, Harry Redknapp, then the Portsmouth manager said, “Off the field, you could not meet a nicer boy. Unfortunately, on the pitch he is capable of doing things like that.” The first part of that quote is immaterial. This is football, not a popularity contest.
Jacob Steinberg is a freelance sports journalist for The Guardian and occasional blogger for mirrorfootball.co.uk. He supports West Ham
More by Jacob:
Harry Redknapp is English football’s wrecking ball |
CLOSE Google halts its ultra high-speed Internet service Time
Google Fiber is halting its rollout and CEO is leaving. (Photo11: Google)
SAN FRANCISCO — Google Fiber is halting its rollout in 10 cities and laying off staff as its chief executive, Craig Barratt, steps down, dealing a major setback to the Internet giant's ambitions of blanketing the nation in super-speedy Internet.
Barratt, CEO of Alphabet's Access division who had been in charge of Google Fiber, said in a blog post that he would stay on as an adviser.
Fiber is changing its business and product strategy to focus on new technology and deployment methods "to make superfast Internet more abundant than it is today," Barratt said.
Cities that have begun to roll out Fiber will continue. But, Barratt said, operations will pause in "potential Fiber cities" where Fiber has been in exploratory discussions.
"We’re confident we’ll have an opportunity to resume our partnership discussions once we’ve advanced our technologies and solutions. In this handful of cities that are still in an exploratory stage, and in certain related areas of our supporting operations, we’ll be reducing our employee base," Barratt wrote.
Google Fiber is in eight metropolitan areas and is committed to building in another four. It has been rethinking how it delivers speedy broadband access, shifting to wireless, a less expensive alternative to digging up streets and laying down fiber cables. Fiber is striving to bring Internet speeds of one gigabit per second to cities around the country, but progress has been slow.
Fiber recently said it would buy Webpass, which delivers its services to homes and businesses by sending data between transmitters installed on top of buildings.
Fiber is looking at a combination of Webpass, its own wireless technology and leases of existing fiber and municipal broadband networks to accelerate its expansion to supplement its efforts to deliver fiber-optic cable to each home and business it serves.
Google Fiber is part of Alphabet's Access division, which was created in the corporate restructuring of Google as Alphabet.
On recent earnings calls with analysts, Ruth Porat, chief financial officer of Google and Alphabet, defended the investment in Google Fiber, which is the most expensive division inside Alphabet apart from Google itself.
"Alphabet seems to have been rethinking lots of its non-core activities and either focusing them more narrowly, divesting them or making other changes. It feels like this is the latest shoe to drop," said Jan Dawson, chief analyst with Jackdaw Research. "Although Google is framing this as a pause while it considers next generation technologies, I would hope that it’s actually a concession on the company’s part that being in the access business is a distraction rather than a strategic imperative."
The reason? "You could argue that Google has actually achieved its objective of getting more fiber broadband built by opening the doors to AT&T and other companies who are now building out fiber much more rapidly thanks to the changes to the franchising process driven by Google," Dawson said. "Fiber is rolling out much more quickly now — it’s just not Google’s fiber."
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Legislators Proudly Call Gridlocking Session A 'Team Effort'
WASHINGTON—Exhausted but satisfied leaders from both parties came together Tuesday night to announce that Congress had successfully completed 12 solid hours of nonstop gridlocking, once again going above and beyond to needlessly prevent the nation from moving forward.
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In a marathon session that lawmakers proudly called "one of [their] least productive ever," each of the 535 members of the House and Senate gridlocked deep into the night to ensure that no bipartisan compromise could be reached, no laws intended to aid the American people could be passed, and no sense of national unity or progress could possibly be achieved.
"There is nothing more satisfying than knowing you've just put in a full day of bringing our nation's legislative branch to a complete standstill," said House Speaker John Boehner, who like the vast majority of his colleagues worked without break throughout the day and night fostering political disharmony and rejecting the passage of crucial legislation. "We got a lot of good, quality gridlocking done today. We gridlocked efficiently, we gridlocked passionately, and we gridlocked as best we could for the American people. Now we go home, rest up, and get ready for another full day of gridlocking tomorrow."
"It's a great feeling," Boehner added. "Today, everyone realized what it is we're here to do, and that's put a wrench right into the machinery of democracy."
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According to Capitol sources, the impassioned gridlocking session was one of the most demanding in recent memory, requiring each and every member of Congress to work in total cooperation to frustrate one another's political agendas, and even requiring a number of dedicated lawmakers to stall as many as seven different bills at once.
Legislative leaders said they were enormously pleased with the sustained intensity of gridlocking Tuesday, especially considering the fact that, as early as last week, a number of laws under consideration were thought to have stood a decent chance of being passed.
"I wasn't sure at first if I would have the stamina to not advance a single item on my docket, but my constituents expect me to get in there, roll up my sleeves, and grind things to a halt, so that's exactly what I did," said Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV), who claimed to have gridlocked straight through his lunch hour, despite protestations from concerned aides. "I think a lot of people out there may not realize just how much gridlocking we do here in Congress. They think we just sit around passing bills and turning the wheels of progress all day. Well, let me tell you, nothing could be further from the truth. We got some great gridlockers here, in both parties, many of whom have been thwarting our democracy for decades."
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"This place is like a perfectly un-oiled machine," Manchin added. "We don't rest until absolutely nothing has been accomplished."
According to Boehner, Thursday's "spectacular display of inaction" was nearly derailed when Sens. John McCain (R-AZ) and Bill Nelson (D-FL) briefly attempted to pass crucial and long-delayed campaign finance reform, but key committee members acted quickly to weigh the bill down with needless riders before shuttling it off toward a certain death on the floor.
At another point, congressional sources reported, the rate of gridlocking was so intense that the passage of a resolution honoring Southern Sudan's recent independence as well as a bill mandating improved FAA safety regulations were blocked simultaneously in an astonishing 51-second period of time.
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While pleased with their failure to do anything even close to what they were elected to do, the men and women of the United States Congress announced after Tuesday's session that it wasn't praise or recognition they sought, but merely the knowledge that they had done everything in their power to confirm every American's worst suspicions about the country's legislative system.
"My reward is the feeling I get when I arrive home at the end of the day, look my family in the eyes, and say, 'We didn't do it,'" a smiling Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) said. "That's what really matters to me. Obviously we're not always going to agree on everything in Congress. But something that every single one of us, to a person, can agree on is that when there is important gridlocking to be done, then it's time to set aside the hopes and dreams of the American people and focus on what really matters: our own blind self-interest."
In response to the 112th Congress's solid showing of utter nothingness, President Obama issued a brief statement in recognition of the day's gridlocking.
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"Congress truly lived up to its reputation today," read the president's statement. "This is exactly the kind of performance we have come to expect from our leaders in the House and Senate, and I for one am confident that we'll be seeing much, much more of it in the future." |
There is many an online theory attempting to get to the bottom of who exactly Rey's parents are, but Director J.J. Abrams just threw a big wrench into a few of them.
J.J. Abrams reveals Rey's parents aren't in The Force Awakens @slashfilm pic.twitter.com/O2j8gFNqtF — emily chi (@theemilychi) April 15, 2016
The Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens director spoke about it during a Q&A at the Tribeca Film Festival, where a young fan asked: "Who are Rey's parents?"
After joking with the fan, he then dropped a small bombshell, saying:"Rey's parents are not in Episode VII. So I can't possibly say in this moment who they are. But I will say it is something that Rey thinks about, too." That eliminates a few suspected candidates, including the big one in Luke Skywalker. Luckily the Obi-Wan Kenobi theory is still possible, but Abrams didn't stop there. He then revealed that he does actually know who it is, but of course he won't comment on it.
"Obviously it’s not for me to talk about in this moment because this is [Episode VIII director] Rian [Johnson]’s story to continue now," Abrams continued. "The last thing I’m going to do is reveal something that he would be upset about. I want to make sure that Rian gets the courtesy that he showed me."
Just because she isn't a Skywalker doesn't mean she has no connection to Luke, it just means that it's not via bloodline. Still, lots of fun theories to debate about until Star Wars: Episode VIII drops on December 15th, 2017. |
I delivered a keynote yesterday at BlogWorld Expo (Dave Thomas from SAS has great notes here). In it, I called for us bloggers that have been around for a bit to step up our game, to get to work, to bring this all up a level. The speech was one part arrogance, nine parts passion. For what I think happens next is this: companies either do or don’t get into these tools. We, however, have to consider the tools and the business and what we’re going to do with it all, whether or not the mother ships in our lives are ready to come along.
Here’s some of what I pointed out in my presentation.
Set Up Shop – if you’re an independent business and you’re blogging to make content marketing for your business, be sure you’ve built “how to do business with me” into your site. Do you have a “work with me” page? Do you have a “contact me” page? Are you putting out obvious calls to action? Take it from blogging about what you know is cool into blogging about ways to help the customers you hope to attract.
Think Like a Business – if you’re in this for business, always ask yourself how this work ties to more sales (and if you’re not trying to make money, think of “sale” as whatever you hope to convert. Hint: it’s not “more audience.”). If you’re just writing to write, shooting video to get it up there, tweeting because people said you should, rethink all that. Decide what’s going to ring your register and work on that. Use this as marketing if you want, but be sure to have a call to action, then, so that it’s really marketing and not just words.
Be a Consistent Brand – make sure that everything coming out of you syncs with your brand. It’s okay to talk business and personal (without the personal touch, you’ll miss some of the beauty of the human web), but make sure all that you’re doing is as consistent as possible. If you’re positioning yourself as a luxury expert, do you have all kinds of junk ads on your site? If you’re saying that you’re into relationships and quality human contact, are you spamming people with a newsletter they didn’t opt into? If you have other people working with you, are they representing the feel you’re hoping to portray with the EXPERIENCE of working with you?
Extend Your Platform – get beyond the blog. I don’t mean to just tweet, either. Get out into physical space and start meeting people from time to time. Don’t go to social media events, only. Go to the events where clients are, instead of the events where the cool kids hang out. Move your voice into as many places as you can. Consider video. Write speeches and things you’d love to say on a stage on your blog (it’s how I got my start speaking professionally).
Build Small Powerful Networks – go beyond using social media tools just to chat and keep up. Stop playing Farmville and start building networks of people you feel are important, energizing, uplifting, and potentially useful to your future business plans. Get into collaborative efforts with people who share your thoughts. There are lots of people going solo when they could team up and have even more power from the small organization. Don’t overthink this one. Just build networks that extend beyond having a “groups” tab in Tweetdeck.
Equip Your Customers – instead of writing about your stuff, write about your customers. Give them ideas on how they can improve their world, and for a REAL strong effect, don’t even mention your product every post. Your customers need much more than your product to succeed. How else can you equip them? Giving people useful information, useful things, a step up on the world is a powerful way to build new relationships and deliver potential sales.
Focus on the Relationship – to me, the new unit of business should be relationships. You get more fruit from an apple tree if you nurture it and pick apples when it’s ripe, instead of uprooting the tree and forcefully shaking the apples into your barrel. It takes a bit longer, but you’re a farmer and a steward, not a machinist. (This is a great part of why I feel many businesses failed over the last two years)
Make Trust a Must – If you’re in this for the long haul, work to earn trust. People want to trust you. It’s a matter of giving them signs of trust, including being there, being consistent, being everywhere they need you to be, and being authentic to your internal and external needs. People aren’t stupid. They need to feel your conviction and your support all the way throughout the experience with you.
Beyond that, I’ll save the rest for another post.
Does this make sense? Are you ready to get to work? Can you see what should come next from this?
photo credit saad.akhtar |
VIKING SOCIETY WEB PUBLICATIONS
The Viking Society for Northern Research is making virtually all its publications (and some other related items) from inception in 1893 to the present freely available on this website, though recent titles may not be released until three years from the date of publication.
These digital versions are not intended to replace our printed publications, and titles currently in print will remain available to buy in book form as long as there is a demand for them (the list can be seen at www.vsnr.org/publications/ ). The digital versions are intended to make the range of our publications known to a wider public, and may be used for reference purposes, to evaluate books for purchase or for university courses and for private study. The copyright belongs either to the authors or to the Viking Society, as stated at the beginning of each work, and permission must be obtained from the Society to use downloaded versions either in whole or in part for any other purpose.
Click on the titles to see the entire text in pdf. To download you will need Acrobat Reader, which is available to download free from www.adobe.com. Some publications are very large and may take several minutes to download. Titles which do not at present have a link will be added in due course. Parts of some publications, such as images, may have had to be deleted for reasons of copyright.
The editions of Prologue and Gylfaginning and Skáldskaparmál 1 have been converted to Unicode by Antonio Costanzo (antoniokostanzo@hotmail.it) so that it will be easier to search for Icelandic words and names and phrases, and his files have been added below alongside the original files which used the now outdated Reykjavík Times font. He will be glad to receive a note of any errors in his conversions so that he can swiftly correct them.
For any queries about the content of this website contact anthony.faulkes@talktalk.net
DOROTHEA COKE MEMORIAL LECTURES
G. N. Garmonsway: Canute and his empire. 1964.
Sven B. F. Jansson: Swedish Vikings in England: the evidence of the rune stones. 1966
Gabriel Turville-Petre: Haraldr the Hard-Ruler and his poets. 1968.
Dag Strömbäck: The Epiphany in runic art. 1970.
Alistair Campbell: Skaldic verse and Anglo-Saxon history. 1971.
Brita Malmer: King Canute’s coinage in the northern countries. 1974.
Folke Ström: Níð, ergi and Old Norse moral attitudes. 1974.
Harry Loyn: The Vikings in Wales. 1977.
Ursula Dronke: The role of sexual themes in Njáls saga. 1981.
John Kousgard Sørensen: Patronymics in Denmark and England. 1982.
Raymond Page: “A most vile people”: early English historians on the Vikings. 1987.
Anthony Faulkes: Poetical Inspiration in Old Norse and Old English Poetry. 1997.
G. Fellows-Jensen: The Vikings and their Victims. The Verdict of the Names. 1995, repr. 1998.
P. Foote: 1117 in Iceland and England. 2003.
G. Nordal: Skaldic Versifying and Social Discrimination in Medieval Iceland. 2003.
Stefan Brink: Lady – bryti andLord and deigja. 2008.
Richard Perkins: The Verses in Eric the Red’s Saga. 2011.
SAGA-BOOK
Volume I (1895–97). Searchable version
Volume II (1898–1901). Searchable version
Volume III (1902–04). Searchable version
Volume IV (1905–06). Searchable version
Volume V (1907–08). Searchable version
Volume VI (1909–10). Searchable version
Volume VII (1911–12). Searchable version
Volume VIII (1913–14). Searchable version
Volume IX (1920–25). Searchable version
Volume X (1928–29). Searchable version
Volume XI (1934–36). Searchable version
Volume XII (1937–45). Searchable version
Volume XIII (1946–53). Searchable version
Volume XIV (1953–57). Searchable version
Volume XV (1957–61). Searchable version
Volume XVI (1962–65). Searchable version
Volume XVII (1966–69). Searchable version
Volume XVIII (1970–73). Searchable version
Volume XIX (1974–77). Searchable version
Volume XX (1978–81). Searchable version
Volume XXI (1982–85). Searchable version
Volume XXII (1986–89). Searchable version
Volume XXIII (1990–93). Searchable version
Volume XXIV (1994–97)
Volume XXV (1998–2001)
Volume XXVI (2002)
Volume XXVII (2003)
Volume XXVIII (2004)
Volume XXIX (2005)
Volume XXX (2006)
Volume XXXI (2007)
Volume XXXII (2008)
Volume XXXIII (2009)
Volume XXXIV (2010)
Volume XXXV (2011)
Volume XXXVI (2012)
Volume XXXVII (2013)
Volume XXXVIII (2014)
Volume XXXIX (2015)
Volume XL (2016)
Volume XLI (2017)
Volume XLII (2018)
A NEW INTRODUCTION TO OLD NORSE
The Study of Old Icelandic: An Introduction to the Sources
Grammar
Reader. Facsimiles
Glossary and Index of Names
TEXT SERIES
Ágrip . Ed. M. J. Driscoll
Clemens saga. Edited and translated by Helen Carron
Einar Ólafur Sveinsson: Dating the Icelandic sagas
Einar Ólafur Sveinsson: The Folk-Stories of Iceland
Fourteenth-Century Icelandic Verse on the Virgin Mary. Ed. Kellinde Wrightson
Gunnlaugssaga ormstungu. Ed. Peter G. Foote and Randolph Quirk
Guta lag. Translated and edited by Christine Peel
Guta saga. Ed. Christine Peel
Hávamál. Ed. David A. H. Evans
Hávamál. Glossary and Index. Compiled by Anthony Faulkes
Hervarar saga ok Heiðreks. Ed. G. Turville-Petre
A History of Norway and The Passion and Miracles of the Blessed Óláfr. Translated by Devra Kunin. Edited with an intro. and notes by Carl Phelpstead
Hrafnagaldur Óðins (Forspjallsljóð). Ed. Annette Lassen.
Íslendingabók. Kristni saga. The Book of the Icelanders. The Story of the Conversion. Translated by Siân Grønlie
Richard Perkins: Thor the Wind-raiser and the Eyrarland Image. Frontispiece
The Saga of Bishop Thorlak. Translated with introduction and notes by Ármann Jakobson and D. Clark.
Dag Strömbäck: The Conversion of Iceland
Theodoricus Monachus: The Ancient History of the Norwegian Kings. Translated and annotated by David and Ian McDougall
G. Turville-Petre: Nine Norse Studies Two Icelandic Stories. Ed. Anthony Faulkes. New edition, 2011.
Diana Whaley: Heimskringla. An Introduction
The Works of Sven Aggesen. Translated by Eric Christiansen
THE PROSE EDDA
Prologue and Gylfaginning. Ed. Anthony Faulkes. Unicode version
Skáldskaparmál. Ed. Anthony Faulkes. 1: Introduction, Text and Notes. 2: Glossary and Index of Names. Unicode version of Skáldskaparmál 1
Háttatal. Ed. Anthony Faulkes. 2nd edition, 2007.
The Uppsala Edda
Snorra Edda. Tr. Anthony Faulkes
The Fourth Grammatical Treatise. Ed. Margaret Clunies Ross and Jonas Wellendorf.
A newly discovered manuscript of Magnús Ólafsson’s Edda
Anthony Faulkes. Six papers on The Prose Edda:
Descent from the gods.
Edda.
The Genealogies and Regnal lists in a Manuscript in Resen’s Library.
Pagan Sympathy.
The Sources of Skáldskaparmál.
What was Viking Poetry for?
OTHER EDITIONS AND TRANSLATIONS
Bandamanna saga. Ed. Hallvard Magerøy
Egils saga . Ed. Bjarni Einarsson. Map of Borgarfjǫrðr
The Elder or Poetic Edda. Part 1. The Mythological Poems. Tr. Olive Bray
The Fljotsdale Saga and The Droplaugarsons
Færeyinga saga (The Saga of the Faroe Islanders) . Tr. Anthony Faulkes
Grottasǫngr. Ed. Clive Tolley
Heimskringla I. Tr. Alison Finlay and Anthony Faulkes
Heimskringla I . Tr. Alison Finlay and Anthony Faulkes. 2nd edition
Heimskringla II. Tr. Alison Finlay and Anthony Faulkes
Heimskringla III . Tr. Alison Finlay and Anthony Faulkes
Hemings þáttr. Tr. Anthony Faulkes
The Icelandic Rune-Poem. Ed. R. I. Page
Illuga saga. Ed. and tr. Philip Lavender
The Life and Death of Cormac the Scald. Tr. W. G. Collingwood and Jón Stefánsson
The Life of Gudmund the Good. Tr. G Turville-Petre and E. S. Olszewska
The Saga of Gunnlaug Serpent-Tongue . Ed. R. Quirk
The Saga of King Heiðrek the Wise . Ed. Christopher Tolkien
The Saga of the Jomsvikings . Ed. N. F. Blake
The Saga of the Volsungs. Ed. R. G. Finch
Specimen Lexici Runici
Stories from Sagas of Kings . Ed. Anthony Faulkes
Three Icelandic Outlaw Sagas
Two Tales of Icelanders
Rauðúlfs þáttr:
Anthony Faulkes: Rauðúlfs þáttr. A Study. Supplementary note (2007)
Rauðúlfs þáttr, text and translation
The Story of Rauð and his Sons. Tr. J. E. Turville-Petre
STUDIES
W. E. D. Allen: The Poet and the Spae-Wife = Saga-Book XV:3 (1960)
Árni Björnsson: Wagner and the Volsungs
R. T. Farrell: Beowulf, Swedes and Geats = Saga-Book XVIII:3 (1972)
First International Saga Conference 1971
Peter G. Foote: The Pseudo-Turpin Chronicle in Iceland
Harðar saga introduction
Introductory Essays on Egils saga and Njáls saga
Making History
Birger Nerman: The Poetic Edda in the Light of Archæology
Ólafur Halldórsson: Danish Kings and the Jomsvikings in the Greatest Saga of Óláfr Tryggvason
Ólafur Halldórsson: Text by Snorri Sturluson in Óláfs saga Tryggvasonar en mesta
Old Norse Made New
Neil S. Price: The Vikings in Brittany = Saga-Book XXII:6 (1989)
Alan S. C. Ross: The Terfinnas and Beormas of Ohthere
Seventh Viking Congress 1973
Sixth Viking Congress 1969
Stefán Karlsson: The Icelandic Language
Knut Stjerna: Essays on Questions Connected with the Old English Poem of Beowulf
The Viking Age in the Isle of Man (Ninth Viking Congress 1981)
Viking Revaluations
Anthony Faulkes: Miscellaneous articles and lectures:
‘The influence of the Latin Tradition on Snorri Sturluson’s writings.’
Last Rituals (review).
‘A New Medieval Carol Text?’
‘Outlaws in Medieval England and Iceland’.
‘Snorra Edda’ (Oxford Dictionary).
‘Snorri Sturluson’ (Viking World).
‘The Viking Mind’.
Elizabeth Jackson: Old Icelandic Truce Formulas (Tryggðamál).
MISCELLANEOUS PUBLICATIONS
Alice Selby: Icelandic Journal = Saga-Book XIX:1 (1974)
Jean Young: Letters from Iceland 1936
Jessie M. E. Saxby: Birds of Omen in Shetland. With W. A. Clouston: Notes on the Folk-Lore of the Raven and the Owl
Thorsteinn Erlingsson: Ruins of the Saga Time.
W. G. Collingwood and Jón Stefánsson: A Pilgrimage to the Saga-Steads of Iceland
Matthias Egeler: Lejre. Ein mythologischer Führer
Unpublished Stories and Translations
Icelandic Folk Tales
The Life and Works of James Easson, the Dundee People’s poet.
Faulkes CV & Publications
J. A. B. Townsend: Index to Old-Lore Miscellany
J. A. B. Townsend: Index to Old-Lore Series
J. A. B. Townsend: Index to Saga-Book volumes 1–23
Orkney and Shetland Records I
Orkney and Shetland Records II
Orkney and Shetland Records III
Caithness & Sutherland Records
Old-Lore Miscellany 1
Old-Lore Miscellany 2
Old-Lore Miscellany 3
Old-Lore Miscellany 4
Old-Lore Miscellany 5
Old-Lore Miscellany6
Old-Lore Miscellany 7
Old-Lore Miscellany 8
Old-Lore Miscellany 9
Old-Lore Miscellany 10 |
At 2 p.m. next Thursday, in the federal courthouse in downtown Toronto, a sheriff appointed by the court will unseal a set of confidential bids and settle, perhaps once and for all, the fate of the M.V. Jadran, an anachronistic junker long moored in the middle of Toronto’s waterfront and better known to a generation of tourists and locals alike as “Captain John’s.”
The saga of the now defunct seafood restaurant and party boat has been dragging on, through city council and the courts, for years. It could end on July 31 if any of the bidders meets the appraised price (which is confidential for now) and agrees to a series of conditions, most notably an undertaking to remove the boat from its current home at 1 Queen’s Quay West, at the foot of Yonge Street.
The boat’s owner, Ivan “John” Letnik (Captain John himself) has, over the years, wracked up a long series of unpaid municipal taxes and utility fees. His current outstanding balance with the City of Toronto sits at $741,955.72, according to a recent bill.
Mr. Letnik is challenging that debt in court. He argues the city has no right to charge him property taxes for a boat that remains in the water. But he also seems, at this point, mostly resigned the fact that the floating home of Captain John’s, which was closed down in June 2012, is soon to be sold.
On Monday, Mr. Letnik took a National Post reporter and photographer through the Jadran, where he still lives at least part of the time.
One condition of the Jadran’s sale is that any buyer take it as is. And after two years of mothballed decline, “as is” isn’t very pretty.
On the main deck, once home to the Captain John’s dining room, the smell of mould is nearly overpowering. The wall nearest the prow has been stripped away and dirty pink insulation sits piled on the carpet.
One floor up, in the Dubrovnik Room, where weddings and banquets were once held, the ceiling has partially caved in. Black mould is creeping up the walls. The smell is, if anything, worse.
Mr. Letnik still keeps an apartment on the top deck. Like everything on the Jadran, it is a tremendous mess. Boxes of dried food are stacked loosely on the floor in one room. In another, a makeshift pallet of blankets and sheets serves as a bed.
Mr. Letnik wouldn’t say what he plans to do if the sale goes through next week. He has relatives in Mississauga and Scarborough. He also owned, as of last year, an apartment complex in Scarborough.
In any case, he plans to be there next Thursday when the bids are unsealed. Several interested parties have already toured the Jadran, said Erin Mikaluk, a spokesperson for the Toronto Port Authority, although what any of them would do with the aging, now engineless craft remains to be seen.
Whatever it is, they won’t be doing it at 1 Queen’s Quay West. Unless a new deal is reached, the new owners will have only until Aug. 22 to drag the boat away, whether to a scrap yard or to some new home. |
Yellow, Black, Lothrop Stoddard's analyses of the world's "primary races" White Brown , and Amerindian , and their interactions.
The Rising Tide of Color: The Threat Against White World-Supremacy (1920), later republished in other titles, like The Rising Tide of Color Against White World-Supremacy, is a book about geopolitics and racialism by Lothrop Stoddard. The book describes the collapse of white supremacy and colonialism due to population growth among people non-white people, rising nationalism in colonized nations, and industrialization in China and Japan. Stoddard advocated restricting non-white migration into white nations, restricting Asian migration to Africa and Latin America and slowly giving Middle Eastern and Asian colonies independence. A noted eugenicist, Stoddard supports a separation of the "primary races" of the world and warns against miscegenation.
In popular culture [ edit ]
The book is referenced in F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel The Great Gatsby (1925), in which antagonist Tom Buchanan attempts to comment on Stoddard's predictions.[1][2]
See also [ edit ] |
Dagenham & Redbridge were one of the best teams in the FA Trophy, admits Worthing joint-manager Gary Elphick
Zack Newton of Worthing and Frankie Raymond of Dagenham & Redbridge (pic: David Simpson/TGS Photo) ©TGS Photo tgsphoto.co.uk +44 1376 553468
Rebels management team believe team display saw them stun Daggers
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Worthing joint-manager Gary Elphick believes his side’s shock win at Dagenham & Redbridge saw them eliminate one of the favourites from the FA Trophy.
Daggers were the victims of arguably the biggest shock of the first round as the National League promotion hopefuls crashed out at home to the Ryman Premier relegation battlers.
Despite the gulf in positions between the sides, the Essex club rarely threatened the Rebels and Elphick coped well with a side who are the joint-eighth top scorers in non-league’s top flight.
“We nullified all kinds of threats and we were unlucky to go in a goal behind,” he told the Worthing Herald.
“When you’ve got players like Omar Bugiel, Lloyd Dawes and Zack Newton all firing on the counter-attack you can cause a lot of teams many problems and we done that today.
“The defence were terrific as well, we saw a different side to Jack Cook, Corey Heath, Sam Rents, my back four and goalkeeper defended excellently.
“On paper we’ve knocked out one of the highest-ranked teams in this competition away from home, it does speak volumes.”
Fellow Rebels joint-manager Jon Meeney was equally pleased with his team’s display after knocking out Dagenham, adding: “From one to 11 you’ve seen a complete team performance and we’ve got our just rewards.
“I’ve not been involved in a changing room like this one; it’s a special group who get on really well on and off-the field.” |
Who Was Isaac Newton?
Isaac Newton (January 4, 1643 to March 31, 1727) was a physicist and mathematician who developed the principles of modern physics, including the laws of motion, and is credited as one of the great minds of the 17th century Scientific Revolution.
In 1687, he published his most acclaimed work, Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica (Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy), which has been called the single most influential book on physics. In 1705, he was knighted by Queen Anne of England, making him Sir Isaac Newton.
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When Was Isaac Newton Born?
Isaac Newton was born on January 4, 1643, in Woolsthorpe, Lincolnshire, England. Using the "old" Julien calendar, Newton's birth date is sometimes displayed as December 25, 1642.
Isaac Newton’s Discoveries
Newton made discoveries in optics, motion and mathematics. Newton theorized that white light was a composite of all colors of the spectrum, and that light was composed of particles.
His momentous book on physics, Principia, contains information on nearly all of the essential concepts of physics except energy, ultimately helping him to explain the laws of motion and the theory of gravity. Along with mathematician Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibniz, Newton is credited for developing essential theories of calculus.
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Isaac Newton Inventions
Newton's first major public scientific achievement was designing and constructing a reflecting telescope in 1668. As a professor at Cambridge, Newton was required to deliver an annual course of lectures and chose optics as his initial topic. He used his telescope to study optics and help prove his theory of light and color.
The Royal Society asked for a demonstration of his reflecting telescope in 1671, and the organization's interest encouraged Newton to publish his notes on light, optics and color in 1672. These notes were later published as part of Newton's Opticks: Or, A treatise of the Reflections, Refractions, Inflections and Colours of Light.
The Apple Myth
Between 1665 and 1667, Newton returned home from Trinity College to pursue his private study, as school was closed due to the Great Plague. Legend has it that, at this time, Newton experienced his famous inspiration of gravity with the falling apple. According to this common myth, Newton was sitting under an apple tree when a fruit fell and hit him on the head, inspiring him to suddenly come up with the theory of gravity.
While there is no evidence that the apple actually hit Newton on the head, he did see an apple fall from a tree, leading him to wonder why it fell straight down and not at an angle. Consequently, he began exploring the theories of motion and gravity.
It was during this 18-month hiatus as a student that Newton conceived many of his most important insights—including the method of infinitesimal calculus, the foundations for his theory of light and color, and the laws of planetary motion—that eventually led to the publication of his physics book Principia and his theory of gravity.
'Principia' and Newton’s 3 Laws of Motion
In 1687, following 18 months of intense and effectively nonstop work, Newton published Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica (Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy), most often known as Principia. It is said to be the single most influential book on physics and possibly all of science. Its publication immediately raised Newton to international prominence.
Principia offers an exact quantitative description of bodies in motion, with three basic laws of motion:
1) A stationary body will stay stationary unless an external force is applied to it.
2) Force is equal to mass times acceleration, and a change in motion (i.e., change in speed) is proportional to the force applied.
3) For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.
Newton and the Theory of Gravity
Newton’s three basic laws of motion outlined in Principia helped him arrive at his theory of gravity. Newton’s law of universal gravitation states that two objects attract each other with a force of gravitational attraction that’s proportional to their masses and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between their centers.
These laws helped explain not only elliptical planetary orbits but nearly every other motion in the universe: how the planets are kept in orbit by the pull of the sun’s gravity; how the moon revolves around Earth and the moons of Jupiter revolve around it; and how comets revolve in elliptical orbits around the sun.
They also allowed him to calculate the mass of each planet, calculate the flattening of the Earth at the poles and the bulge at the equator, and how the gravitational pull of the sun and moon create the Earth’s tides. In Newton's account, gravity kept the universe balanced, made it work, and brought heaven and Earth together in one great equation.
Early Life and Family
Isaac Newton was the only son of a prosperous local farmer, also named Isaac Newton, who died three months before he was born. A premature baby born tiny and weak, Newton was not expected to survive.
When he was 3 years old, his mother, Hannah Ayscough Newton, remarried a well-to-do minister, Barnabas Smith, and went to live with him, leaving young Newton with his maternal grandmother. The experience left an indelible imprint on Newton, later manifesting itself as an acute sense of insecurity. He anxiously obsessed over his published work, defending its merits with irrational behavior.
At age 12, Newton was reunited with his mother after her second husband died. She brought along her three small children from her second marriage.
Isaac Newton: Education
Newton was enrolled at the King's School in Grantham, a town in Lincolnshire, where he lodged with a local apothecary and was introduced to the fascinating world of chemistry.
His mother pulled him out of school at age 12. Her plan was to make him a farmer and have him tend the farm. Newton failed miserably, as he found farming monotonous. Newton was soon sent back to King's School to finish his basic education.
Perhaps sensing the young man's innate intellectual abilities, his uncle, a graduate of the University of Cambridge's Trinity College, persuaded Newton's mother to have him enter the university. Newton enrolled in a program similar to a work-study in 1661, and subsequently waited on tables and took care of wealthier students' rooms.
When Newton arrived at Cambridge, the Scientific Revolution of the 17th century was already in full force. The heliocentric view of the universe—theorized by astronomers Nicolaus Copernicus and Johannes Kepler, and later refined by Galileo—was well known in most European academic circles.
Philosopher René Descartes had begun to formulate a new concept of nature as an intricate, impersonal and inert machine. Yet, like most universities in Europe, Cambridge was steeped in Aristotelian philosophy and a view of nature resting on a geocentric view of the universe, dealing with nature in qualitative rather than quantitative terms.
During his first three years at Cambridge, Newton was taught the standard curriculum but was fascinated with the more advanced science. All his spare time was spent reading from the modern philosophers. The result was a less-than-stellar performance, but one that is understandable, given his dual course of study.
It was during this time that Newton kept a second set of notes, entitled "Quaestiones Quaedam Philosophicae" ("Certain Philosophical Questions"). The "Quaestiones" reveal that Newton had discovered the new concept of nature that provided the framework for the Scientific Revolution. Though Newton graduated without honors or distinctions, his efforts won him the title of scholar and four years of financial support for future education.
In 1665, the Great Plague that was ravaging Europe had come to Cambridge, forcing the university to close. After a two-year hiatus, Newton returned to Cambridge in 1667 and was elected a minor fellow at Trinity College, as he was still not considered a standout scholar.
In the ensuing years, his fortune improved. Newton received his Master of Arts degree in 1669, before he was 27. During this time, he came across Nicholas Mercator's published book on methods for dealing with infinite series. Newton quickly wrote a treatise, De Analysi, expounding his own wider-ranging results. He shared this with friend and mentor Isaac Barrow, but didn't include his name as author.
In June 1669, Barrow shared the unaccredited manuscript with British mathematician John Collins. In August 1669, Barrow identified its author to Collins as "Mr. Newton ... very young ... but of an extraordinary genius and proficiency in these things." Newton's work was brought to the attention of the mathematics community for the first time. Shortly afterward, Barrow resigned his Lucasian professorship at Cambridge, and Newton assumed the chair.
Isaac Newton & Robert Hooke
Not everyone at the Royal Academy was enthusiastic about Newton’s discoveries in optics and 1672 publication of Opticks: Or, A treatise of the Reflections, Refractions, Inflections and Colours of Light. Among the dissenters was Robert Hooke, one of the original members of the Royal Academy and a scientist who was accomplished in a number of areas, including mechanics and optics.
While Newton theorized that light was composed of particles, Hooke believed it was composed of waves. Hooke quickly condemned Newton's paper in condescending terms, and attacked Newton's methodology and conclusions.
Hooke was not the only one to question Newton's work in optics. Renowned Dutch scientist Christiaan Huygens and a number of French Jesuits also raised objections. But because of Hooke's association with the Royal Society and his own work in optics, his criticism stung Newton the worst.
Unable to handle the critique, he went into a rage—a reaction to criticism that was to continue throughout his life. Newton denied Hooke's charge that his theories had any shortcomings and argued the importance of his discoveries to all of science.
In the ensuing months, the exchange between the two men grew more acrimonious, and soon Newton threatened to quit the society altogether. He remained only when several other members assured him that the Fellows held him in high esteem.
Isaac of all trades. English scientist and mathematician Isaac Newton is most famous for his law of gravitation, and was instrumental in the scientific revolution of the 17th century. Above: A photo of Newton Investigating Light, a portrayal of Isaac Newton created by J A Houston, circa 1879. (Photo by UniversalImagesGroup.) (Photo: Universal History Archive/Getty Images)
The rivalry between Newton and Hooke would continue for several years thereafter. Then, in 1678, Newton suffered a complete nervous breakdown and the correspondence abruptly ended. The death of his mother the following year caused him to become even more isolated, and for six years he withdrew from intellectual exchange except when others initiated correspondence, which he always kept short.
During his hiatus from public life, Newton returned to his study of gravitation and its effects on the orbits of planets. Ironically, the impetus that put Newton on the right direction in this study came from Robert Hooke.
In a 1679 letter of general correspondence to Royal Society members for contributions, Hooke wrote to Newton and brought up the question of planetary motion, suggesting that a formula involving the inverse squares might explain the attraction between planets and the shape of their orbits.
Subsequent exchanges transpired before Newton quickly broke off the correspondence once again. But Hooke's idea was soon incorporated into Newton's work on planetary motion, and from his notes it appears he had quickly drawn his own conclusions by 1680, though he kept his discoveries to himself.
In early 1684, in a conversation with fellow Royal Society members Christopher Wren and Edmond Halley, Hooke made his case on the proof for planetary motion. Both Wren and Halley thought he was on to something, but pointed out that a mathematical demonstration was needed.
In August 1684, Halley traveled to Cambridge to visit with Newton, who was coming out of his seclusion. Halley idly asked him what shape the orbit of a planet would take if its attraction to the sun followed the inverse square of the distance between them (Hooke's theory).
Newton knew the answer, due to his concentrated work for the past six years, and replied, "An ellipse." Newton claimed to have solved the problem some 18 years prior, during his hiatus from Cambridge and the plague, but he was unable to find his notes. Halley persuaded him to work out the problem mathematically and offered to pay all costs so that the ideas might be published, which it was, in Newton’s Principia.
Upon the publication of the first edition of Principia in 1687, Robert Hooke immediately accused Newton of plagiarism, claiming that he had discovered the theory of inverse squares and that Newton had stolen his work. The charge was unfounded, as most scientists knew, for Hooke had only theorized on the idea and had never brought it to any level of proof.
Newton, however, was furious and strongly defended his discoveries. He withdrew all references to Hooke in his notes and threatened to withdraw from publishing the subsequent edition of Principia altogether.
Halley, who had invested much of himself in Newton's work, tried to make peace between the two men. While Newton begrudgingly agreed to insert a joint acknowledgement of Hooke's work (shared with Wren and Halley) in his discussion of the law of inverse squares, it did nothing to placate Hooke.
As the years went on, Hooke's life began to unravel. His beloved niece and companion died the same year that Principia was published, in 1687. As Newton's reputation and fame grew, Hooke's declined, causing him to become even more bitter and loathsome toward his rival.
To the very end, Hooke took every opportunity he could to offend Newton. Knowing that his rival would soon be elected president of the Royal Society, Hooke refused to retire until the year of his death, in 1703.
Newton and Alchemy
Following the publication of Principia, Newton was ready for a new direction in life. He no longer found contentment in his position at Cambridge and was becoming more involved in other issues. He helped lead the resistance to King James II's attempts to reinstitute Catholic teaching at Cambridge, and in 1689 he was elected to represent Cambridge in Parliament.
While in London, Newton acquainted himself with a broader group of intellectuals and became acquainted with political philosopher John Locke. Though many of the scientists on the continent continued to teach the mechanical world according to Aristotle, a young generation of British scientists became captivated with Newton's new view of the physical world and recognized him as their leader. One of these admirers was Nicolas Fatio de Duillier, a Swiss mathematician whom Newton befriended while in London.
However, within a few years, Newton fell into another nervous breakdown in 1693. The cause is open to speculation: his disappointment over not being appointed to a higher position by England's new monarchs, William III and Mary II, or the subsequent loss of his friendship with Duillier; exhaustion from being overworked; or perhaps chronic mercury poisoning after decades of alchemical research.
It's difficult to know the exact cause, but evidence suggests that letters written by Newton to several of his London acquaintances and friends, including Duillier, seemed deranged and paranoiac, and accused them of betrayal and conspiracy.
Oddly enough, Newton recovered quickly, wrote letters of apology to friends, and was back to work within a few months. He emerged with all his intellectual facilities intact, but seemed to have lost interest in scientific problems and now favored pursuing prophecy and scripture and the study of alchemy.
While some might see this as work beneath the man who had revolutionized science, it might be more properly attributed to Newton responding to the issues of the time in turbulent 17th century Britain. Many intellectuals were grappling with the meaning of many different subjects, not least of which were religion, politics and the very purpose of life. Modern science was still so new that no one knew for sure how it measured up against older philosophies.
Changing the British Currency from Silver to the Gold Standard
In 1696, Newton was able to attain the governmental position he had long sought: warden of the Mint; after acquiring this new title, he permanently moved to London and lived with his niece, Catherine Barton. She was the mistress of Lord Halifax, a high-ranking government official who was instrumental in having Newton promoted, in 1699, to master of the Mint—a position that he would hold until his death.
Not wanting it to be considered a mere honorary position, Newton approached the job in earnest, reforming the currency and severely punishing counterfeiters. As master of the Mint, Newton moved the British currency, the pound sterling, from the silver to the gold standard.
The Royal Society and Conflicts with Other Scientists
In 1703, Newton was elected president of the Royal Society upon Robert Hooke's death. However Newton never seemed to understand the notion of science as a cooperative venture, and his ambition and fierce defense of his own discoveries continued to lead him from one conflict to another with other scientists. By most accounts, Newton's tenure at the society was tyrannical and autocratic; he was able to control the lives and careers of younger scientists with absolute power.
In 1705, in a controversy that had been brewing for several years, German mathematician Gottfried Leibniz publicly accused Newton of plagiarizing his research, claiming he had discovered infinitesimal calculus several years before the publication of Principia.
In 1712, the Royal Society appointed a committee to investigate the matter. Of course, since Newton was president of the society, he was able to appoint the committee's members and oversee its investigation. Not surprisingly, the committee concluded Newton's priority over the discovery.
That same year, in another of Newton's more flagrant episodes of tyranny, he published without permission the notes of astronomer John Flamsteed. It seems the astronomer had collected a massive body of data from his years at the Royal Observatory at Greenwich, England.
Newton had requested a large volume of Flamsteed's notes for his revisions to Principia. Annoyed when Flamsteed wouldn't provide him with more information as quickly as he wanted it, Newton used his influence as president of the Royal Society to be named the chairman of the body of "visitors" responsible for the Royal Observatory.
He then tried to force the immediate publication of Flamsteed's catalogue of the stars, as well as all of Flamsteed's notes, edited and unedited. To add insult to injury, Newton arranged for Flamsteed's mortal enemy, Edmund Halley, to prepare the notes for press. Flamsteed was finally able to get a court order forcing Newton to cease his plans for publication and return the notes—one of the few times that Newton was bested by one of his rivals.
Final Years
Toward the end of this life, Newton lived at Cranbury Park, near Winchester, England, with his niece, Catherine (Barton) Conduitt, and her husband, John Conduitt.
By this time, Newton had become one of the most famous men in Europe. His scientific discoveries were unchallenged. He also had become wealthy, investing his sizable income wisely and bestowing sizable gifts to charity.
Despite his fame, Newton's life was far from perfect: He never married or made many friends, and in his later years, a combination of pride, insecurity and side trips on peculiar scientific inquiries led even some of his few friends to worry about his mental stability.
How Did Isaac Newton Die?
By the time he reached 80 years of age, Newton was experiencing digestion problems and had to drastically change his diet and mobility. In March 1727, Newton experienced severe pain in his abdomen and blacked out, never to regain consciousness. He died the next day, on March 31, 1727, at the age of 84.
Legacy
Isaac Newton's fame grew even more after his death, as many of his contemporaries proclaimed him the greatest genius who ever lived. Maybe a slight exaggeration, but his discoveries had a large impact on Western thought, leading to comparisons to the likes of Plato, Aristotle and Galileo.
Although his discoveries were among many made during the Scientific Revolution, Isaac Newton's universal principles of gravity found no parallels in science at the time. Of course, Newton was proven wrong on some of his key assumptions. In the 20th century, Albert Einstein would overturn Newton's concept of the universe, stating that space, distance and motion were not absolute but relative, and that the universe was more fantastic than Newton had ever conceived.
Newton might not have been surprised: In his later life, when asked for an assessment of his achievements, he replied, "I do not know what I may appear to the world; but to myself I seem to have been only like a boy playing on the seashore, and diverting myself now and then in finding a smoother pebble or prettier shell than ordinary, while the great ocean of truth lay all undiscovered before me." |
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They’re known for providing their fair share of drama and it’s taken less than 24 hours for tensions to boil over on filming for the new series of Geordie Shore after Holly Hagan accused one of her co-stars of sleeping with her ex Kyle Christie.
After a dramatic departure from the show last year following his break up with Middlesbrough girl Holly, Kyle returned to Geordie Shore for its Big Birthday Battle specials and also starred alongside Holly in new MTV series Car Crash Couples.
We’ve been told by a show source over in Magaluf, where the cast are currently filming, that the girl in question is Chloe Ferry.
Chloe, the youngest member of the cast, has been getting close to newcomer Marty McKenna both on and off the show so the rumour that she’s been getting close to Kyle gave the cast a massive bombshell on their first night of filming in Spain.
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In a video which has been published online, Holly can be heard shouting “I’ve just heard that she’s been f***ing sh***ing my ex!” before breaking down and being comforted by co-star Gaz Beadle.
She then goes onto scream “F*** off cos you f*****g knew an’ all.”
Chantelle, who has been incorrectly named as the girl responsible by other sites, can also be seen trying to talk to Holly shouting “I did not know.”
Photographer Terry Blackburn, who's over in Spain snapping the Geordie Shore cast, took to Twitter on Tuesday to shoot down the Chantelle rumours, posting : "Im no 'spokes person' but.. It's not Chantelle Connelly that has been sleeping with Holly Hagan's ex ! Just to clear that up"
Our source in Magaluf has told us that Holly is now in a hotel away from the rest of the cast as show bosses try to convince her to stay for filming which is expected to last for six weeks.
The show hasn’t been short of drama in the past week with Charlotte Crosby shocking everyone by revealing she’d quit. |
078 – Review of Gaia’s Garden, Chapter 8 Part 1
Paul Wheaton and Jocelyn Campbell review Gaia's Garden the first part of Chapter 8, by Toby Hemenway, on polyculture. First, Paul talks about his response from the kickstarter video he put up for his CFL project. He mentions his video on colony collapse disorder. Paul expresses some gratitude for all the help people have given him, and frustration with trying to communicate with people that are in a different place on the Wheaton Eco Scale.
The chapter mentions interplanting with things that don't compete for space, and then compares that to companion planting, which capitalizes on how plants can benefit each other. This is a step in the right direction, but is still a little too close to monoculture. Jocelyn brings up that plant communities are dynamic, and not static, so it is important to create a real plant community. Polycultures are self-organizing, and multi-organism plant communities. Paul and Jocelyn talk about Ianto Evans' gardens. Ianto invented the rocket mass stove. Yield is greater in a polyculture than in the same sized monocrop.
Toby's advice is: to seed several varieties of each species; don't sow seeds too thickly; begin harvest early; mix plant families, (not just species); include many seeds of fast growing, shallow rooted species; overlap the harvest; avoid root-light competition; harvest whole plants; save a few plants for seed; and examine it every day. Paul talks about Sepp Holzer's approach. Paul describes what a guild is. Toby talks about the 3 sisters. Guilded corn yield can be 3 times larger than monocropped corn. Paul brings up his debate with Helen Atthowe. And lastly, Paul and Jocelyn talk about the "4th sister," in the southwest, the rocky montain bee plant. With diversity comes greater (and more quality) yield.
Relevant Threads
Gaia's Garden by Toby Hemenway
Podcast 075 - Review of Gaia's Garden Chapter 7
Podcast 043 - Review of Gaia's Garden Chapter 5
You can discuss this podcast on this thread at Permies.
Get all of the podcasts in convenient, giant zip files |
2K Confirms Kurt Angle: Two Playable Versions, Official Art, Trailer Date!
After Kurt Angle "leaked the news" on his Twitter account earlier today, 2K Sports officially announced that the Olympic Gold Medalist will indeed be the pre-order bonus character in WWE 2K18.
We now know what it feels like to be hit with an Angle Slam. ? But it's true! @RealKurtAngle is the #WWE2K18 pre-order Superstar! https://t.co/zm4Pp1b80q — WWE 2K18 (@WWEgames) 29 giugno 2017
The confirmation came complete with the official Artwork / Poster of Kurt Angle (below), as well as the date for the release of the official Pre-Order Bonus Trailer, which will be featured on the July 10 episode of Monday Night RAW.
2K also revealed in a Press Release that Kurt Angle will be playable through two different characters: his WWE "American Hero" persona, and his ECW "Wrestling Machine" persona.
Here is the complete official statement from 2K:
2K today announced that decorated Olympian, WWE Hall of Famer and current Raw General Manager, Kurt Angle, will return to WWE in-ring action for the first time in more than a decade – virtually – through WWE 2K18, the forthcoming release in the flagship WWE video game franchise.
Best known for his remarkable in-ring accomplishments spanning nearly two decades, as well as his gold medal win in freestyle wrestling at the 1996 Summer Olympic Games, Angle will appear in WWE 2K18 through two playable characters representing key milestones in his career: his WWE “American Hero” persona, as well as his ECW® “Wrestling Machine” persona. The playable characters will be available as bonus content for those who pre-order the game at participating retailers. For more information on all pre-order options, please visit wwe.2k.com.
“I was thrilled to return to WWE earlier this year, be honored as a WWE Hall of Fame inductee and find a new home with the best in the business every Monday night as the Raw General Manager,” said Kurt Angle. “And now, I get to follow in the footsteps of many incredible names, like Bill Goldberg, Sting, Ultimate Warrior and Arnold Schwarzenegger, and be featured as the WWE 2K18 pre-order character.”
“Kurt Angle has been the most fan-requested Superstar in the WWE 2K franchise for some time now, so it’s a pleasure to celebrate his popularity and incredible career through this year’s WWE 2K18 pre-order offer,” said Chris Snyder, Vice President of Marketing at 2K. “His WWE and amateur wrestling achievements are also a perfect fit to help carry the torch for this year’s ‘Be Like No One’ worldwide marketing campaign. There’s no question Kurt succeeds on his own terms in everything he does.”
In addition to today’s news, media and fans are encouraged to watch Raw on Monday, July 10 – airing live on USA Network at 8:00 p.m. ET/7:00 p.m. CT – to see the official pre-order bonus trailer.
Developed collaboratively by Yuke’s and Visual Concepts, a 2K studio, WWE 2K18 is scheduled for worldwide release on October 17, 2017 for the PS4™ system and Xbox One, with Early Access players receiving their copies and in-game bonuses beginning four days early on October 13, 2017.
For more information on Kurt Angle's character in WWE 2K18 check out his Profile in the WWE 2K18 Roster Page |
The fastest way to change career is to quit one job and start another. If you intend to work for yourself – and have no prior experience – this path is also stupendously reckless.
The smartest way is to moonlight.
Moonlighting — v. The act of balancing one job on top of another, often in the dirtiest recess of the night while mere mortals are sleeping.
Many Internet Marketers grow in to their jobs by slowly increasing their online earnings until they can afford to work without a secured pay cheque. Another great number of Internet Marketers are looking for jobs having misjudged when that should be.
For most of us who have been lucky enough to make it online, the ‘dream job’ is preceded by at least 6 months of the purest Hell balancing full-time employment.
Are you moonlighting to change career? Are you juggling multiple jobs in the hope that you’ll one day have none? Maybe you’re hunting for that enigma… the ‘residual passive income’?
Let me give you a hint: The typical search for ‘residual passive income’ ends in a realisation that ‘passive’ is code name for the Internet Marketer that managed to get to sleep. Most of us work hard, even when we’re ahead.
Here are some tips for moonlighting and staying sane. Each is easier said than done.
Learn to counter ‘ego depletion’
Did you know that your self-control and willpower are exhaustible commodities?
When you are forced to perform a task that requires effort – cognitive or emotional – you are far less likely to be able to maintain the same level of self-control when the next challenge arrives.
The psychologist Roy Baumeister is well known for his experiments in this field.
In one of his studies, test subjects were asked to watch an emotionally charged film while making a conscious effort not to react to the footage. They were then asked to take part in a test of physical endurance – grasping a dynamometer for as long as they could manage.
The people who had watched the film and exerted self-control in managing their reactions gave in long before the people who had not seen the film.
They were ‘ego depleted’. Their reserves of willpower had been reduced.
Now imagine the willpower you are forced to exert on a daily basis by going to work.
There’s the morning commute, the meetings that drag, the water cooler bitching, and – of course – that need to bite your tongue and avoid slapping a boss on the way out.
Every day, you go to work and exhaust your willpower to the point where you get home and find your ability to resist temptation severely diminished.
The more unhappy you are at work, the greater the demands on your self-control throughout the day. It’s a cruel cycle. Those who detest their day jobs with a burning passion are more likely to find themselves instinctively surfing to Facebook or switching on the television when they complete Task A (the 9-5). They just don’t have enough self-control in the tank to manage Task B.
So how can a moonlighter conquer ego depletion?
A new study by Baumeister shows that people can replenish their levels of self-control with a positive mood stimulus. Test subjects who were shown short bursts of stand-up comedy from Robin Williams and Eddie Murphy were able to restore their ability to self-control and perform better in subsequent tasks.
We have a long way to go before we truly understand how to reverse ego depletion, and especially how Robin Williams qualifies as a stand-up comedian. But it would seem that distraction in the form of laughter – and the endorphins it releases – is as good a start as any.
Baumeister best describes willpower as a mental muscle, one that must be trained if you wish to get the best out of yourself. He suggests carefully planned routines, a good night’s sleep and a slow-burning diet as important exercises for our willpower.
Failing that, recent tests have shown that a shot of glucose is the closest thing to an instant willpower pick-me-up.
My suggestion?
When you get home from a hard day at the office, don’t even think about moonlighting. Take an hour’s break. Enjoy dinner with your family.
Eat slowly away from the computer. Watch whatever makes your guts burst with laughter. In my case, I’ll take some Karl Pilkington.
Most of us know how it feels to reach the end of the night with tasks still to finish and a rapidly deteriorating focus. It’s easy to beat yourself up. What you must realise is that in all likelihood, you already have.
Find ways to alleviate the levels of stress earlier in the day
This ties in quite appropriately with ego depletion.
Very few people realise that to moonlight successfully, you will need to work twice as hard in your day job.
When I was juggling two jobs, I would pose a challenge, “How can I detach myself emotionally from this office? How can I work more efficiently? How can I keep more in the tank for later?”
The answer was simply to let it go. Accept your job and the many arseholes that come with it (I was lucky, I only had the one)
It pays not to rise to the trivial complaints that infest lunch time. People bitch about their jobs because they are addicts to misery and the satisfaction that it brings. Your best ally is the ability to disconnect and simply not give a flying turd.
The sooner you realise that there is always going to be something to complain about, the faster you can unravel emotionally from the negativity that is out of your control.
Remember: By getting stressed, you are eating in to your own capacity to perform two jobs. Enjoy the day job as best you can. It’s your safety net. Not your future.
Work to a schedule but remember to schedule rest.
I can’t think of a faster ticket to the loonie bin than strict adherence to a schedule that neglects your need for sleep, or family, or friends.
Most moonlighters relish in repeating this old chestnut…
Entrepreneurship is living a few years of your life how most people won’t, to spend the rest of your life how most people can’t.
It’s touching, isn’t it?
Until you bump in to the average moonlighter at eight o’clock in the morning. Eyes bulging, neck ticking, a mouthful of venom for any bastard that suggests it’s not a good look.
This guy moonlights:
This savage hasn’t stopped since 1986:
I’ve grown a little wiser and learnt to appreciate that working balls to the walls is a poisonous trait of our industry. The ‘grind’ has become quasi-slang for “One day they’ll be grinding my carcass off this desk.”
Dedication to work is admirable. A heart attack before 50 is just sad.
You should have at least one full day where work is forgotten. And I’m sure your wife would enjoy one full night, too.
For every notepad I’ve wasted projecting financial figures in to the future, I’ve yet to see the day where realising any of them felt like I’d arrived somewhere.
To steal a quote from my favourite TV show…
“A life, Jimmy… you know what that is? It’s the shit that happens while you’re waiting for moments that never come.”
Track your progress in quarters
Some people prefer to setup a yearly review of their progress. I find the idea self-defeating. It gives the average healthy British male only 81 opportunities to pat himself on the back, of which the seminal years he’s likely to be found laying drunkenly in a gutter.
Some people prefer to use monthly reviews. As an affiliate marketer, I find comparing 30 day profits to be anything but an accurate depiction of how hard I’ve worked.
And some maniacs prefer to review daily. They grow old fast.
I, personally, like to review my progress in quarters. You can achieve a lot in 3 months, and can also confirm in good faith when you’ve achieved nothing. Better yet, you can tell your lavish spending missus that you’re ‘in recession’ before it’s too late.
Either way, a year juggling two jobs for zero progress is a poor transaction by anybody’s standards. And yet there’s always the royal optimist shouting from tree tops, “2013 is definitely gonna be my year!”
Bullshit. So was 2012 until she left you in the dust.
Subject your moonlit earnings to the same scrutiny as a public company is bound to by law. Imagine you are explaining your progress to an invisible investor, the bathroom mirror.
Write a report and track what has gone right versus what has gone wrong.
What are the risks for the next quarter? What are the opportunities?
While I’m a realist who sees the pitfalls in everlasting growth, your quarterly profits should be heading in an upward direction for most of the first couple of years.
If you started with nothing and you still have nothing, the omens are not good. Perhaps delivering papers is more your realm.
Understand short term cash vs. long term assets
I started this post by bashing the popular interpretation of ‘residual passive income’, I’m going to end it by offering some hope.
While the dream of working hard for period X to do nothing for period Y is most certainly flawed, the idea of thinking long term rather than ‘servicing hours’ is a good one.
Internet Marketers tend to veer in one of two directions.
Build websites, applications and products in the hope that they’ll one day be worth money. Use sites like Elance, Guru and oDesk to service clients and make money by the hour – or by the project.
It shouldn’t take a genius to look at those trajectories and see:
Which strategy could result in a higher income in the future, with a greater sense of fulfillment.
Which strategy is likely to solve short-term cash flow issues, i.e paying the water bill.
If you are moonlighting to raise extra cash for short-term monetary needs, throw your skills at servicing clients. It’s the easiest way to raise emergency funds. You don’t need to think big.
If you are moonlighting because an entrepreneurial flame burns inside you, the fastest way to screw yourself over is to forget about value creation and steer towards money creation. Trust me. It works nearly every time.
Note: Affiliate marketers, this applies to us now more than ever.
If you’ve decided to spend the deathly hours working on projects that have no short-term monetary gain, you should never be thinking small in scale.
To quote yet another great ‘Mad Man’:
“When you reach for the stars, you may not quite get one, but you won’t come up with a handful of mud either.”
– Leo Burnett
I wish I could come up with a suggestion more apt for Internet Marketers, but there isn’t one.
Recommended This Week |
After delving into Q3 financial reports coming straight from the Bavarian automaker, the British motoring outlet discovered that BMW and its subsidiary Mini are going to get some new EVs to catapult into willing and unwilling driveways. In the blue and white corner is the X3. While its skin won’t look anything like its electric cousin the i3, it’s powertrain will be powered by electricity, giving EV buyers put off by the i3’s polarizing style a more pedestrian looking alternative. That SUV will come in 2019 once the next generation of X3 is out. We already knew that the next X3 was going to get a plug-in hybrid option good for 249 horsepower using the 2.0-liter four-banger that’s mated to an electric motor that’s found in the 330e. |
Up to 10 million people on five continents are expected to demonstrate against the probable war in Iraq on Saturday, in some of the largest peace marches ever known.
Yesterday, up to 400 cities in 60 countries, from Antarctica to Pacific islands, confirmed that peace rallies, vigils and marches would take place. Of all major countries, only China is absent from the growing list which includes more than 300 cities in Europe and north America, 50 in Asia and Latin America, 10 in Africa and 20 in Australia and Oceania.
Many countries will witness the largest demonstrations against war they have ever seen.
The majority will be small but 500,000 people are expected in London and Barcelona, and more than 100,000 in Rome, Paris, Berlin and other European capitals. In the US, organisers were yesterday anticipating 200,000 marching in New York if permission is given. A further 100,000 are expected to march in 140 other American cities.
What is extraordinary, say the organisers, is the depth and breadth of opposition that the US and Britain are meeting across the world before a war has even started.
"This is unprecedented. Demonstrations only got this large against the Vietnam war at the height of the conflict, years after it started," said a spokesman for Answer, a coalition of US peace groups which helped organise a march of 200,000 people last month in Washington.
Many in the global peace movement optimistically hope that public opposition to a war is becoming politically significant and could now affect the timing of an invasion of Iraq and possibly even help avert conflict altogether.
"The internationalism of the opposition is the most powerful weapon people have. It's all we have. We think that Bush and Blair are well aware that global opposition is mounting fast and that they are now desperate to start the war before they are completely isolated by world opinion," said a spokesman for United for Peace and Justice, a US coalition.
New polls in Europe and the US yesterday suggested that opposition is still mounting and is likely to continue even if the US gets a second resolution. Spanish and Dutch polls showed that more than 70% now oppose even UN-mandated action, with slightly fewer in Italy. Yesterday CND reported that it was struggling to cope with the deluge of people wanting to join.
In Germany, more than 300 towns are sending coaches to Berlin, where more than 100,000 people are expected to march.
"Opposition is broader than at any time in the past. This will be the largest peace march in 20 years," said Malte Keutzseldt of Attac, Germany. "The peace movement is getting older now, but a new generation of young people is deeply concerned. The churches and unions have linked to make the coalition far broader than even the anti-nuclear missile marches in the 1980s".
In Paris, a march organiser said that feeling was running high and that he expected the anti-war demonstration to be largest ever. The most unusual rally is expected to be in the international territory of Antarctica, where dozens of scientists and others at the US McMurdo base on the edge of the Ross sea will take to the ice.
The idea of an international day of action against the war was first suggested in London after the last peace march in October. It was discussed by peace and anti-globalisation groups from 11 countries at the European social forum in Florence in November, but only became truly international following meetings in Cairo, Egypt and Porto Alegre, Brazil, last month.
Since then the idea of coordinating international peace protests has spread rapidly across the world and up to 30 new cities a day are believed to be planning demonstrations. Next month activists from all continents will meet in London to propose further global actions.
Coordinated international demonstrations have flourished in the past five years with anti-capitalist marches and campaigns by environmentalists and anti-globalisers against corporations like McDonald's, Shell and Esso, and against global warming or international trade. Mostly organised on the web by activists working below the radar of the mainstream media, they have taken the establishment by surprise in many countries and only been reported by independent media.
"The whole world's marching," said Helmut, a German student in London. "This peace party should be better than the millennium celebrations."
· The Stop The War Coalition (STWC) is planning a display of mass direct action designed to bring Britain to a standstill on the day any war starts with Iraq. The protests would involve demonstrations in the centre of London and other big towns and cities, wildcat strikes by anti-war supporters and mass sit-ins at schools, colleges and universities across the country.
A spokeswoman for the SWTC said: "We do think there will be a whole wave of civil disobedience if war breaks out. People want to be peaceful and are quite slow to anger, but they will be very angry if after Saturday's mass show of opposition Tony Blair refuses to listen." |
Before we start, you can and must combat propaganda by saying global warming. Do not say climate change. This admonition cannot be repeated enough. Please pass it on.
To say climate change is to concede a fallacy. A lie. To say climate change is to admit complete and utter defeat. We were promised global warming, not climate change. Make them stick to their promise.
Now if the globe warms, the climate has changed. But the climate also changes if the globe cools. The climate changes if it becomes wetter or again if it becomes drier. It changes if there are more storms or fewer. It changes if there are thicker or thinner clouds. It changes if the first day of frost is earlier or later. In short, the climate always changes. Absolutely always. No power on earth can stop it.
To say “climate change” is to concede the tacit argument that anything that happens does so because of mankind. This is preposterous and will lead to devilry on the part of our beneficent leaders. The new Pew study is proof of this.
Incidentally, if you’re quoting an author who has mistakenly said “climate change” when he meant “global warming”, use the literary device of swapping the error with brackets. Thus “Are you a climate change denier?” becomes “Are you a [global warming] denier?”
The answer is, incidentally, Reality Herself is a global warming denier.
Tom Richard from the Examiner emailed me yesterday for comments on the new Pew survey on [global warming] beliefs. I was out and by the time I had returned I missed his deadline, so I’m commenting now. Read Richard’s piece “Pew Research: Most Americans don’t think global warming a serious problem.” Note that Richard wisely says global warming.
The picture at the top is lifted from the survey and is proof global warming propaganda works. Just look! Some 77% of Latin Americans have been duped and agree that “[Global warming] is harming people now.” This is false. It is not true. It is absurd. Yet three-quarters of the folks down below believe it. And so do two out of every five norteamericanos.
Is it really 77% of all adult Latin Americans, given the immensity and diversity of that continent? I mean, can we rely on the precision of this number? No, probably not. And the same is true for the other areas surveyed. Pew reports a theoretical uncertainty bound, but it’s safe to at least double, perhaps even triple, this. So it might not be 77%, but anywhere from (I’m guessing) 60%-90%.
It doesn’t matter. The correct answer is 0%. Global warming is not harming people now. The temperature has bounced around these past two decades, but it hasn’t warmed in any real sense. Since global warming hasn’t happened, it can’t have harmed any person.
Real actual climate change can, it is true, cause harm. Earlier frosts mean smaller crops. But real actual climate change can, it is just as true, cause benefits. Later frosts mean larger crops. Notice that Pew never asked anybody if real actual climate change is helping people now.
The presumption is that any change in the weather (yes, weather) is caused, perhaps not wholly but surely predominately, by man. This is asinine and false—and dangerous. Politicians and activists who want to accumulate power and money want you to believe it, though. They lie, they insinuate, they hint, they cajole, they spew weasel words to get you to believe what is false.
And it works! Dammit, it works beautifully.
Their immoral actions are paying off. Half the globe has swallowed the lie. Want more proof? Look at the difference in answers between “[Global warming] is harming people now” and “Very concerned that [global warming] will harm me personally.” Fewer people think they personally will suffer if the temperature soars a fraction of a degree (Celsius) averaged globally. Stated another way, more people think they’ll be okay, but it’s the other guy who’s in danger.
But this can’t be so. It’s just one planet, right? The discrepancy is proof again that propaganda inculcates a vague indefinable fear and a strong desire that something need be done. You yourself might be okay, because after all a slight warming is harmless, but they other guy, well, he needs government intervention.
This harmful desire is proved later in the survey when scads and scads of otherwise sane adults agree that “Our country should limit greenhouse gas emissions as part of an international agreement.” This is translated as, “Since the climate always changes, please make this permanent and ineradicable crisis a priority with the government for all time.”
And that’s translated to, in its simplest form, “Please make slaves of us.”
Addendum We know we do not know how the atmosphere works to any important degree because climate models do not make skillful predictions, which they would if we did understand the atmosphere. Thus it is a lie, an outright whopper, to claim knowledge where we have proof of its absence. |
Subaru has announced its decision to withdraw from the 2009 World Rally Championship. Like fellow Japanese manufacturer Suzuki, which withdrew from the world's premier rally series yesterday, Subaru's sudden decision was in response to the widespread economic downturn that is badly affecting the automotive industry globally.
The announcement means that only two of this year's manufacturer teams, world champions Citroen and Ford, remain. Subaru finished third in this year's manufacturers' championship, behind the first-string Ford team. Its two main drivers, Chris Atkinson and former world champion Petter Solberg, finished fifth and sixth respectively in the drivers' standings.
Also like Suzuki, Subaru has been a staunch supporter of rallying at all levels, and various incarnations of its unique flat-four "boxer"-engined Imprezas became synonymous with the sport.
In its 20-year involvement with the World Rally Championship, the Subaru team, in conjunction with its long-term partner, the Banbury-based rally preparation specialist and engineering concern Prodrive, won six World Rally Championship titles.
The marque, and particularly its road-going, homologation special versions of the Impreza, became celebrated in the UK. Subaru provided the impetus for the late, lamented Scot Colin McRae to win the world title, while also allowing Englishman Richard Burns to become a major force in world rallying.
Prodrive chairman David Richards, who only days ago said that he and his team would be reviewing the financial implications of their involvement with rallying at the highest level, said: “Subaru’s departure from the World Rally Championship is a great loss as it is one of the sport’s icons. The Subaru World Rally Team has created true champions such as Colin McRae and Richard Burns and its absence will be felt by many the world over. Although this decision closes a significant chapter in Prodrive’s history, our focus now turns to the future.”
The good news for the sport in general is that the decision does not affect Prodrive's commitment to its customer rally teams for the 2009 season.
The introduction of new World Rally Championship technical regulations in 2010 could provide Prodrive with an opportunity to re-enter the championship with a new team. |
Image caption Police and health and safety officials have begun investigations
An 18-year-old rider has died after a collision at the British Superbikes Championship meeting in Lincolnshire.
Ben Gautrey fell on the first lap of the Metzeler National Superstock 600 race at Cadwell Park.
After initially being treated on the track, the Southport rider was taken by air ambulance to hospital where he died from head and chest injuries.
Several riders, who were also involved, were uninjured. Race organisers said it was a "tragic and freak accident".
The race was immediately stopped.
'Super young guy'
Police and health and safety officials have launched investigations.
British Superbike Series director Stuart Higgs said: "I am so desperately sad that Ben died from the injuries he sustained at Cadwell Park.
"He was a really super young guy on his debut season at national level showing plenty of promise having won the Thundersport GB Moto450 Championship the previous year."
Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption 18 year old rider killed at British Superbike championship meeting
Race winner Ben Wilson, a team-mate of Mr Gautrey, said: "This was a fantastic race and a win that I dedicate it to my team-mate Ben."
Mr Gautrey had been competing for the MWR Kawasaki Team at the meeting.
The British Superbike Championship meeting was held over three days at Cadwell Park, the third time a championship race has been held at the circuit near Louth.
The round at Cadwell Park is the final one before the championship is split into two, with the top six riders going on to challenge for the title in the remaining three rounds.
Cadwell Park staged two rounds of the 2010 British Superbike Championship because of redevelopment work at Donington Park. |
UPPER EAST SIDE — An Upper East Side real estate broker and cancer survivor was harassed by her landlord and evicted from her apartment because her management company was afraid she wouldn't be able to pay the rent if the illness came back, she claims in a federal lawsuit.
Heatheran Kristopher, 43, said she was forced out of her $2,250 per month apartment on East 81st Street by a landlord who began hounding her within a month of taking over the building in 2011, according to the lawsuit filed Jan. 25 in Manhattan Federal Court.
"I feel completely alone, I feel completely lost right now," Kristopher told DNAinfo.com New York Monday, as she stood inside her empty first-floor apartment at 336 E. 81st St.
"I know it's only an apartment, but it's just what I went through here. I healed myself here. I came home from chemo and laid in this backyard. I feel safe here."
"There's nowhere else I can turn at this point," she added, saying she's crashing on friends' couches while she tries to find a place to live.
Kristopher said the high-pressure bid to force her out of the building began in September 2011, less than a month after Stone Street Properties LLC bought her building from the previous landlord Icon Management.
She said she had signed a new two-year lease with Icon in August 2011, but had not received a printed version of the lease by the time Stone Street Properties took over.
According to the court papers, Stone Street co-founder Robert Morgenstern showed up at her door unannounced in September 2011, and began shouting at her that she owed him $5,000.
When she told him she had cancer, he allegedly snapped.
"How do I know you're not going to get cancer again?" Morgenstern yelled, according to the court documents.
Kristopher, who recently founded her own real estate firm, had lived in the apartment since 2008, just before she was diagnosed with ovarian and colon cancer and began chemotherapy and radiation treatment at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, according to the lawsuit.
She had fallen behind in rent by more than $10,000 during her cancer treatments, but had caught up by the time Stone Street took over. She wanted to stay in the building in part because of its proximity to Sloan Kettering and because the first floor home made it easy for her to move around.
"They were doing anything and everything to get rid of me," she said.
Stone Street staffers began to insist that her new lease was invalid and refusing to honor its terms, the documents said. Instead, they urged her to sign a six-month lease.
"This way you're not locked in if you do get sick again," Stone Street leasing agent Cody Moore allegedly said. "I strongly suggest you sign this or you will be put on the black list."
Stone Street also tried to increase the rent by $700 per month and get her to pay six months rent up front, the lawsuit says.
On Nov. 22, 2011, the landlord filed a petition to evict Kristopher and a week later she filed a disability discrimination claim with the New York Division of Housing and Urban Development and the New York State Division of Human Rights.
After a nearly seven-month investigation, the New York State Division of Human Rights found that there was "probable cause for discrimination on the basis of [Kristopher's] disability," according to a report dated May 25, 2012.
However, the agency did not find evidence that Morgenstern moved to evict her because she filed the complaint with HUD. Kristopher later withdrew the human rights complaint in order to file the federal lawsuit.
Kristopher won a number of delays in the eviction proceedings, but she was forced to clear out Monday after the state Supreme Court upheld the removal.
"She's a sour-grapes tenant who was evicted because she had no lease," said Morgenstern, who denied making the cancer comment.
"I categorically deny any wrongdoing."
Kristopher, a spokeswoman for Ihadcancer.com, said she went to war with the building to protect herself — and to help others who might find themselves in the same boat.
"I'm an advocate for cancer patients. I work with cancer patients. I volunteer, I go to chemo with them," she said. "I'm not going to allow this to happen."
As part of the investigation, HUD asked Stone Street for a list of other tenants in the building who had fallen behind on their lease and were also then offered a six-month agreement, according to the investigation report. The company failed to provide the information.
While she does not hold any illusions about getting her apartment back, Kristopher said she hopes the suit will dissuade other building owners from discriminating against people in similar situations.
And she is committed to staying in the city, in part to honor her mother, who lived in Manhattan until she died of cancer when Kristopher was 10 years old.
"I feel close to my mom here. Every day everything reminds me of her," she said.
"I'm just going to fight this until the end. I have to. It makes me feel not like the victim." |
Overview
Sex headaches are brought on by sexual activity — especially an orgasm. You may notice a dull ache in your head and neck that builds up as sexual excitement increases. Or, more commonly, you may experience a sudden, severe headache just before or during orgasm.
Most sex headaches are nothing to worry about. But some can be a sign of something serious, such as problems with the blood vessels that feed your brain.
Symptoms
There are two types of sex headaches:
A dull ache in the head and neck that intensifies as sexual excitement increases
A sudden, severe, throbbing headache that occurs just before or at the moment of orgasm
In some people, both types of headaches are combined.
Most sex headaches last at least several minutes. Others may linger for hours or even two to three days.
Many people who have sex headaches will experience them in clusters over a few months, and then they may go for a year or more without having any sex headaches. Up to half of all people with sex headaches experience them over the course of about six months. Some people may only have one attack during their lives.
When to see a doctor
Sex headaches aren't usually a cause for concern. But consult your doctor right away if you experience a headache during sexual activity — especially if it begins abruptly or it's your first headache of this type.
Causes
Any type of sexual activity that leads to orgasm can trigger sex headaches.
Abrupt-onset and slow-to-build sex headaches can be primary headache disorders not associated with any underlying condition. Sex headaches that come on suddenly are more likely to be associated with:
A widening or bubble in the wall of an artery inside your head (intracranial aneurysm)
An abnormal connection between arteries and veins in the brain (arteriovenous malformation) that bleeds into the spinal fluid-filled space in and around the brain
Bleeding into the wall of an artery leading to the brain (dissection)
Stroke
Coronary artery disease
Use of some medications, such as birth control pills
Inflammation from certain infections
Sex headaches associated with loss of consciousness, vomiting, stiff neck, other neurological symptoms and severe pain lasting more than 24 hours are more likely to be due to an underlying cause.
Risk factors
Sex headaches can affect anyone. But risk factors for these headaches include:
Being male. Men are more prone to having sex headaches.
Men are more prone to having sex headaches. History of migraines. Being prone to migraines increases your risk of sex headaches.
Prevention
Sometimes sex headaches can be prevented by stopping sexual activity before orgasm. Taking a more passive role during sex also may help. |
The Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKEX) is planning to launch a blockchain-powered private market aimed at helping smaller firms obtain financing.
HKEX chief executive Charles Li detailed the plan, which would play out through a separate venture dubbed HKEX Private Market, in an August 1 note.
The disclosure came in response to a question about tapping local technology resources – and whether Hong Kong is positioned to do so. Though no firm launch date has been disclosed, Li said that the platform would kick off sometime in 2018.
“The Private Market will serve as a ‘nursery’ for early stage companies before they are ready to enter public markets,” he explained. “They can conduct pre-IPO financing and other activities on an off-exchange venue not under the regulatory remit of the Securities and Futures Ordinance.”
As reported previously, Li has been eyeing on the blockchain technology to upscale the operation of HKEX. Earlier this year, during a media event, Li disclosed a three-to-four year plan to reduce costs at the exchange, which could ultimately move to integrate the tech into its post-trade systems.
Hong Kong’s central bank has also tested the tech, disclosing in April that it had been testing a digital currency along with several unnamed banks and distributed ledger startup R3.
Stock market graph image via Shutterstock |
This level design article is about the past and the present of the hostage rescue mode in Counter-Strike. Showcasing the inherent issues that accompanied the scenario allowing the bomb/defuse mode to gain traction and popularity. This article will also present what can be done, level design wise, to remedy some of the shortfalls and allow the scenario to be viable.
A historical background
Counter-Strike officially started life in June 1999 with the release of beta 1, and it shipped with four maps, that’s right, four whole maps. They were all hostage rescue maps and the prefix used for these maps was cs_ as opposed to the standard deathmatch maps starting with dm_. This prefix was an abbreviation of the game’s name (Counter-Strike) which hints to this hostage-rescue scenario being the only one in the minds of Gooseman and Cliffe, the creators of CS, at the time of launch.
Fast forward a couple of months, beta 4 rolled out in November 1999 bringing to the table a new scenario, bomb defuse. The new maps carried the prefix de_ and while one would think that the hostage rescue maps would be switched to hr_ prefix, they kept the same prefix which started to be referred to as the “Classic Scenario”. Counter-Strike was built on hostage rescue scenario.
I started playing CS in beta 2 in August 1999 (I totally missed beta 1, screw me) and maps like Assault and Siege were all the rage at LAN parties. The nearest LAN/internet café was a 5-minute drive from my place, and LAN parties with friends used to be a blast full of shouting, cursing, bluffing, noob-trashing; the standard menu for a CS session. Good times.
Siege, the oldest CS map (beta 1), and Assault (beta 1.1) were the epitome of the game. You had to dive in as a CT deep into the T stronghold to rescue the hostages and bring them back to safety. These maps were the most played on LANs and embodied the style of early CS gameplay. At the LAN place where I used to wage my virtual battles, Assault equaled CS, literally. A fun fact is that when Dust came out, I started a LAN session with this map and everyone in the room shouted at me: "What the hell is this? We wanna play CS!" For my friends, Assault was CS.
However, those rosy days for hostage rescue began to turn into grim grey when folks started playing bomb defuse scenario and realized how…fun it was. A map like Dust almost single-handedly pushed the scenario into higher ground with its bright environment/textures, clear/wide paths and its ease of use and noob-friendliness. A year later, around Summer 2000, Counter-Strike was now equivalent to Dust for my friends.
How did this happen? What went wrong?
Inherent flaws of hostage rescue
Hostage rescue is a very delicate and tough scenario for law enforcement operators in the real world. It puts the assailing team at a great disadvantage against heavily-armed barricaded hostage-takers who are probably using civilian hostages as human shields and as a bargaining chip for a later escape.
As you can deduce, transferring this scenario as realistically as possible into the game will not fare well, and this disadvantage will carry on for the CT team. The problem is only exacerbated when you add the more or less “flawed” game mechanics to the scenario. This is exactly what went wrong with hostage rescue scenario in case you are still wondering about the rhetoric questions at the end of the historical background introduction. The popularity of cs_ scenario started dwindling and the rise of the bomb/defuse scenario only made things worse.
Almost all the early cs_ maps featured a relatively tiny hostage zone/room having one entryway usually sealed with closed doors that the CT must open to get access inside. This room was typically located behind T spawn which made the area a camping ground and made camping that zone an obvious and rewarding tactic for Ts. The doors having to be manually opened with a loudening sound made things worse and negated any surprise or sneaky rush towards the hostages. A classic example is the hostage area and T spawn in cs_assault.
I dare not think of how many Ts are camping behind those doors
Another equally important camp fest occurred in the hostage rescue zone. Early designs made the rescue zone relatively small with one or two access paths that can be defended from one location. If the CT team manages to reach the hostages and rescue them, the Ts could easily fall back to the rescue zone to camp and patiently wait for the CTs to show up. The hostage rescue zone in cs_italy is a nice example to showcase how one T could camp in the southernmost spot in the zone allowing him to monitor both entryways, from market and from wine cellar, within the same field of view. CT slaughter was almost a guaranteed thing to happen.
A CT will show up any second now; imminent slaughter commencing in ...3, 2, 1
A third flaw was the hostages themselves. They were difficult to escort and protect and were easily stuck or left behind in various parts of the maps between their initial hostage zone and the final rescue zone. I lost count of how many times I rescued the hostages and ran as fast as I could to the rescue zone, reaching it with a big grin on my face only to turn around and find out that only one or two of the four hostages actually followed me; the others were randomly stuck on a ladder, door frame, window ledge, vent, chair, table…I could go on but my blood is starting to boil just thinking of this.
To add insult to injury, hostages could also be killed or “stolen” for ultimate trolling. When Ts were stacked on money, they could easily kill all the hostages, basically turning the round to a frustrating terrorist hunt for CTs. In early CS versions, a CT teammate could press the “use” key on a hostage that you were already escorting to steal it. This would leave you helplessly wondering where the hell did the 4th hostage go in case you did not catch the teammate performing the action.
Lastly, maps themselves contributed to the issues that were piling up against hostage rescue scenario. If you are a CS veteran and you were around the early betas in 1999, you would most certainly remember how quickly hostage rescue maps were pruned from one beta to another; some maps even had a life span of 1 week before being discarded out of the official roster. Most of these early cs maps featured dark, nightly environments that were unfriendly to both newcomers and established players. Other maps had a confusing-as-hell labyrinthine layout that confused even the most great-sense-of-direction players, and made remembering paths nigh impossible. Some of these maps had narrow twisted paths and choke points, vents, and ladders that not only frustrated players (especially CTs) but also made rescuing and escorting the hostages more of wishful thinking. The icing on the cake was the different gimmicks introduced in some maps that made a frustrating gameplay/layout even more annoying: some maps had a machine gun nest in T spawn allowing Ts to master and perfect the art of CT slaughtering while other maps had flammable drums that could be shot and blasted for the ultimate carnage right next to the hostage zone. Good example maps include cs_prison, cs_bunker, cs_iraq, cs_hideout, cs_facility, cs_desert, among many others.
Meanwhile, bomb/defuse scenario was gaining grounds at an increased rate and before too long, hostage rescue was relegated to a distant second place in terms of popularity among players and level designers alike.
As a small experiment, I tallied the number of custom hostage and defuse maps submitted on Gamebanana for Counter-Strike Source and Global Offensive. For CS:GO, there are 761 de_ maps against 157 hostage maps while for CS:S, the figures are 4060 de_ for 1244 cs_ maps. The disparity is rather meaningful as the ratio in CS:GO is 4.85:1 while for CS:S the number is 3.26:1. This means that for each hostage map in CS:GO there are almost five maps of bomb/defuse whereas this number drops slightly to almost three maps for CS:S. With CS:GO putting extra focus on competitive gameplay, this ratio is bound to further grow widening the rift between bomb/defuse and hostage rescue maps.
That’s it? Is it done for cs_ maps? Shall we prepare the obituary or is there a magical solution to breathe some fire and life in them?
Solutions for viability
There is a magical solution that involves you transferring a large sum of cash to my bank account, then my “guys” will contact your “guys” to deliver the “solution”. The drop point will be at the…apparently, there has been a mix-up, this is for another “deal” …nervous chuckle.
Seriously though, while there is no magical solution that will lift hostage rescue onto the rainbow, there are a couple of things that level designers can do to start injecting some momentum to the scenario. Luckily for us, Valve has already paved the way (so these “Volvo pls fix pls ” do work after all?). In March 2013, Valve introduced a major CS:GO update that completely overhauled the hostage rescue scenario mechanics and introduced cs_militia as well. The update was a game changer and a much needed tweak towards a better hostage rescue gamemode.
We now have two hostages instead of four, and the CTs only need to rescue one of them to win the round. Moreover, the hostage does not stupidly follow the CT but instead is carried on the CT’s shoulders. Obviously the movement speed of the CT carrying the hostage is decreased but this “inconvenience” is countered with added bonus round time and the fact that the CT doesn’t have to glance over his shoulders every five seconds to make sure the hostages are still following him (this kind of distraction can prove fatal to the CT escorting the hostages). The hostages’ spawn location is randomized and can be controlled by the level designer. A nice change is that hostages don’t die anymore thus cutting any chance of Ts trolling (you still lose money when you shoot a hostage – shooting a hostage is pretty pointless now akin to shooting yourself in the foot).
This is all good news if you ask me; hostage rescue is on the right path to become popular and viable again. With Valve doing the first half of the change, level designers have the duty to continue with the second half.
Hostage defuse?
As a first suggested solution, let us start treating hostage rescue as bomb defuse. Let’s be honest, bomb defuse works really well, so why not transfer this “experience” into hostage rescue. What we can do is to have a hostage rescue map’s layout mimic one of bomb defuse – that is have two hostage zones that are similarly placed as two bomb sites. We need to start treating a hostage zone like a bomb site with all accompanying techniques of rushing, pushing, faking, peeking, holding, smoking, flashing, etc. The good thing about this is that whatever knowledge, skill, and layout awareness that players have acquired from defuse scenarios will transfer effortlessly to the hostage rescue scenario; you do not need to learn new tactics and strategies. The roles will be inversed: instead of Ts rushing bomb sites and CTs defending, CTs will push hostage zones and Ts will defend and rotate.
Sounds logical, right? Some people might argue that having 2 separate hostage zones is not “realistic” and my answer is Counter-Strike was never about realism (carrying and running around with a 7 kg (15.5 lb), 1.2 m (47.2 inch) AWP sniper rifle with 25x telescopic sight, quickscoping and headshotting opponents is the epitome of “realism”). If you want a realistic hostage rescue scenario, then you are better off playing the original Rainbow Six Rogue Spear and SWAT 3 from 1999, or the more recent ARMA and Insurgency for a realistic military setting. I practice what I preach and I already implemented this technique in my last map “cs_calm”. The map was a remake of my CS 1.5 map from 2003 and obviously I made the “mistake” at that time to follow the trend set by official maps of having one hostage zone right behind T spawn. A playtest on Reddit CS:GO servers back in March 2015 confirmed that this setup won’t work well as Ts will inevitably abuse the hostage zone.
I made some radical layout changes towards T spawn and hostage zone and created two new hostage zones on the upper and lower levels of the map that are connected by a back hallway to allow quick rotations (in addition to the one through T spawn). Obviously, there is no direct line of sight between hostage zones to prevent 1-zone camping. Ts have absolutely no incentive to camp one zone as CTs can reach the other one, rescue the hostage and head back to the rescue zone without being spotted from the other zone. CTs actually have a chance of winning the round by rescuing the hostages.
I like to believe the new layout worked well. Only time and more hostage rescue maps will tell.
Layout of the map "cs_calm"
Rescue zone anti-camping
We have remedied the hostage zone camping but we still need to tend to the rescue zone camping issue. A solution to this is to have two rescue zones in a similar setup to what is nicely done in cs_office. While Ts can still camp one zone, they risk a big chance of having CTs reach the other rescue zone. Again, CTs will have a viable option to save the hostages without being shredded by camping Ts. If the layout does not allow or facilitate having two rescue zones, then one big rescue zone with multiple entrances (three is a good number) should work fine. The trick here is to have the entrances not easily covered within the same field of view to prevent camping.
Into the zone
Just as we established that we should treat hostage zones like bomb sites, it goes without saying that each hostage zone should have at least 2 to 3 entry points. It’s pretty pointless to have only one entrance as this totally defeats the purpose of spreading hostages into two zones. The different entryways should also not be covered within the same field of view of one T; if a T decides to camp the zone, then he should be able to cover two entrances from one point leaving the third one more or less at a dead angle and viable for a CT rush or stealth/sneak surprise.
Showcase of Hostage Zone A on the map "cs_calm"
The above screenshot showcases “Hostage Zone A” in cs_calm. A terrorist will typically camp near the hostage covering the two encircled entrances. The third entrance from upper level denoted by the arrow is not in the direct FOV, and is prone to a surprise attack by CTs that could catch the camping T off guard. If possible, try to spread the entrances on different vertical levels to spice things up and keep Ts on their toes.
Lastly, it is a good idea to have a connector between hostage zones to allow fast rotations but without having a direct line of sight between hostage zones. We want to make the scenario fairer to CTs but not at the expense of Ts, inadvertently making it unfair for them.
Conclusion
Hostage rescue is a fun scenario if you ask me. It had many inherited and added flaws that contributed to its waning but it’s nothing that can’t be reversed. We, as level designers, need to push some changes to put the scenario back on track. What I just showcased in this article might not be the only viable solutions but they certainly are a step in the right direction. Level designers are intimidated by players who shun away from cs_ maps, and this turns into a vicious circle where players avoid hostage rescue maps and mappers in return avoid designing them. We need to break this cycle and designers need to bravely embrace the solutions I presented here or come up with their own solutions. The more cs_ maps that come out and get tested, the more we could validate these solutions as viable.
In either case, we need to get proactive towards hostage rescue scenario; after all, this is the cornerstone that Counter-Strike was built upon. |
Image caption Fighters from the Free Syrian Army, who are trying to topple the Assad regime
Assets worth £100m belonging to Syrian leaders have been located and frozen in Britain, the BBC has learned.
The European Union imposed sanctions on President Bashar al-Assad's regime after it violently suppressed anti-government protests.
Most of the UK assets is cash held in bank accounts by people and organisations named in the EU's action.
Thousands of people have been killed in Syria since the uprising began against President Assad in March 2011.
The White House says the killing in Damascus of three top figures at the heart of Syria's defence establishment on Wednesday showed President Assad was losing control.
The attack prompted the UN Security Council to delay until Thursday a vote on a Western-sponsored resolution calling for tougher sanctions on Damascus.
Russia has said some countries are inciting the opposition rather than calming it down.
Last year, the EU banned crude oil imports from Syria and in February it expanded sanctions to block trade in gold, precious metals and diamonds with Syrian public bodies and the central bank.
Earlier this year, President Assad's British-born wife, Asma, was added to the list of people whose assets were frozen and more names are expected to be added to the list in the coming weeks.
Image caption President Assad and his British-born wife Asma are banned from travelling to EU countries
The BBC's Security Correspondent Frank Gardner says: "On the ground, on the phone and on the internet, financial trackers in the US and Europe are working to trace and freeze the assets belonging to President Assad and members of his regime."
Our correspondent said the British government's Asset Freezing Unit lists 129 proscribed individuals from Syria and 49 companies, all subject to EU sanctions.
But Iain Willis, at the business intelligence firm Alaco, says it is just a fraction of the fortune amassed by the Assad family and its close associates during 41 years in power.
He estimated the figure at £1bn and says most of it is beyond the EU's reach, deposited in Russia and other countries that have yet to apply sanctions on Damascus. |
Not to be confused with Eritrean War of Independence
The Eritrean–Ethiopian War, one of the conflicts in the Horn of Africa, took place between Ethiopia and Eritrea from May 1998 to June 2000, with the final peace only agreed to in 2018, twenty years after the initial confrontation.[5] Eritrea and Ethiopia, two of the world's poorest countries, spent hundreds of millions of dollars on the war[23][24][25] and suffered tens of thousands of casualties as a direct consequence of the conflict.[26] Only minor border changes resulted.
According to a ruling by an international commission in The Hague, Eritrea broke international law and triggered the war by invading Ethiopia.[27] At the end of the war, Ethiopia held all of the disputed territory and had advanced into Eritrea.[28] After the war ended, the Eritrea–Ethiopia Boundary Commission, a body founded by the UN, established that Badme, the disputed territory at the heart of the conflict, belongs to Eritrea.[29] As of 2018 , Ethiopia still occupies the territory near Badme, including the town of Badme. On 5 June 2018, the ruling coalition of Ethiopia (Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front), headed by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, agreed to fully implement the peace treaty signed with Eritrea in 2000,[30] with peace declared by both parties in July 2018.[5]
Background [ edit ]
From 1961 until 1991, Eritrea had fought a long war of independence against Ethiopia. The Ethiopian Civil War began on 12 September 1974 when the Marxist Derg staged a coup d'état against Emperor Haile Selassie. It lasted until 1991 when the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF)—a coalition of rebel groups led by the Tigrayan People's Liberation Front (TPLF)—overthrew the Derg government and installed a transitional government in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa. The Derg government had been weakened by their loss of support due to the fall of communism in Eastern Europe.
During the civil war, the groups fighting the Derg government had a common enemy, so the TPLF allied itself with the Eritrean People's Liberation Front (EPLF). In 1991 as part of the United Nations-facilitated transition of power to the transitional government, it was agreed that the EPLF should set up an autonomous transitional government in Eritrea and that a referendum would be held in Eritrea to find out if Eritreans wanted to secede from Ethiopia. The referendum was held and the vote was overwhelmingly in favour of independence. In April 1993 independence was achieved and the new state joined the United Nations.[32][33]
In 1991, the EPLF-backed transitional government of Eritrea and the TPLF-backed transitional government of Ethiopia agreed to set up a commission to look into any problems that arose between the two former wartime allies over the foreseen independence of Eritrea.[34] This commission was not successful, and during the following years relations between the governments of the two sovereign states deteriorated.[32]
Determining the border between the two states became a major conflict, and in November 1997 a border committee was set up to try to resolve that specific dispute. After federation and before independence, the line of the border had been of minor importance because it was only a demarcation line between federated provinces, and initially the two governments tacitly agreed that the border should remain as it had been immediately before independence. However, upon independence the border became an international frontier, and the two governments could not agree on the line that the border should take along its entire length,[32] and they looked back to the colonial period treaties between Italy and Ethiopia for a basis in international law for the precise line of the frontier between the states. Problems then arose because they could not agree on the interpretation of those agreements and treaties,[35] and it was not clear under international law how binding colonial treaties were on the two states.[36][37]
Writing after the war had finished, Jon Abbink postulated that President Isaias Afewerki of Eritrea, realising that his influence over the government in Ethiopia was slipping and given that "the facts on the ground, in the absence of a concrete border being marked—which anyhow lost much of its relevance after 1962 when Eritrea was absorbed by Ethiopia—have eminent relevance to any borderline decision of today" calculated that Eritrea could annex Badme.[39] If successful, this acquisition could be have been used to enhance his reputation and help maintain Eritrea's privileged economic relationship with Ethiopia. However, because Badme was in the province of Tigray, the region from which many of the members of the Ethiopian government originated (including Meles Zenawi, the former Ethiopian prime minister), the Ethiopian government came under political pressure from within the EPRDF as well as from the wider Ethiopian public to meet force with force.
War [ edit ]
Chronology [ edit ]
After a series of armed incidents in which several Eritrean officials were killed near Badme,[40] on 6 May 1998,[41] a large Eritrean mechanized force entered the Badme region along the border of Eritrea and Ethiopia's northern Tigray Region, resulting in a firefight between the Eritrean soldiers and the Tigrayan militia and security police they encountered.[40][42][43]
On 13 May 1998 Ethiopia, in what Eritrean radio described as a "total war" policy, mobilized its forces for a full assault against Eritrea.[44] The Claims Commission found that this was in essence an affirmation of the existence of a state of war between belligerents, not a declaration of war, and that Ethiopia also notified the United Nations Security Council, as required under Article 51 of the UN Charter.[45]
Map of the disputed territories on the Eritrea–Ethiopia border.
The fighting quickly escalated to exchanges of artillery and tank fire, leading to four weeks of intense fighting. Ground troops fought on three fronts. On 5 June 1998, the Ethiopians launched air attacks on the airport in Asmara and the Eritreans retaliated by attacking the airport of Mekele. These raids caused civilian casualties and deaths on both sides of the border.[46][47][48] The United Nations Security Council adopted Resolution 1177 condemning the use of force and welcomed statements from both sides to end the air strikes.
There was then a lull as both sides mobilized huge forces along their common border and dug extensive trenches.[49] Both countries spent several hundred million dollars on new military equipment.[23] This was despite the peace mediation efforts by the Organization of African Unity (OAU) and the US/Rwanda peace plan that was in the works. The US/Rwanda proposal was a four-point peace plan that called for withdrawal of both forces to pre-June 1998 positions. Eritrea refused, and instead demanded the demilitarization of all disputed areas along the common border, to be overseen by a neutral monitoring force, and direct talks.[50][51]
With Eritrea's refusal to accept the US/Rwanda peace plan, on 22 February 1999 Ethiopia launched a massive military offensive to recapture Badme. Tension had been high since 6 February 1999, when Ethiopia claimed that Eritrea had violated the moratorium on air raids by bombing Adigrat, a claim it later withdrew.[52] Surveying the extensive trenches the Eritreans had constructed, Ethiopian General Samora Yunis observed, "The Eritreans are good at digging trenches and we are good at converting trenches into graves. They, too, know this. We know each other very well".[53]
Following the first five days of heavy fighting at Badme, by which time Ethiopian forces had broken through Eritrea's fortified front and was 10 kilometers (six miles) deep into Eritrean territory, Eritrea accepted the OAU peace plan on 27 February 1999.[54][55] While both states said that they accepted the OAU peace plan, Ethiopia did not immediately stop its advance because it demanded that peace talks be contingent on an Eritrean withdrawal from territory occupied since the first outbreak of fighting.[56]
On 16 May the BBC reported that, after a lull of two weeks, the Ethiopians had attacked at Velessa on the Tsorona front-line, south of Eritrea's capital Asmara and that after two days of heavy fighting the Eritreans had beaten back the attack claiming to have destroyed more than forty-five Ethiopian tanks; although not able to verify the claim, which the Ethiopian Government dismissed as ridiculous, the BBC reporter did see more than 300 dead Ethiopians and more than 20 destroyed Ethiopian tanks.[57] In June 1999 the fighting continued with both sides in entrenched positions.[58] About a quarter of Eritrean soldiers were women.[59]
"Proximity talks" broke down in early May 2000 "with Ethiopia accusing Eritrea of imposing unacceptable conditions".[60][61] On 12 May the Ethiopians launched an offensive that broke through the Eritrean lines between Shambuko and Mendefera, crossed the Mareb River, and cut the road between Barentu and Mendefera, the main supply line for Eritrean troops on the western front of the fighting.[62][63]
Ethiopian sources state that on 16 May Ethiopian aircraft all returned to their bases after attacking targets between Areza and Maidema, and between Barentu and Omohager, while heavy ground fighting continued in the Dass and Barentu area and in Maidema. The next day Ethiopian ground forces with air support captured Das. Eritrean forces evacuated Barentu and fighting continued in Maidema.[64] Also on 17 May, due to the continuing hostilities, the United Nations Security Council adopted Resolution 1298 imposing an arms embargo on both countries.[65]
By 23 May Ethiopia claimed that its "troops had seized vital command posts in the heavily defended Zalambessa area, about 100 km (60 mi) south of the Eritrean capital, Asmara".[61] But the Eritreans claimed they withdrew from the disputed border town of Zalambessa and other disputed areas on the central front as a "'goodwill' gesture to revive peace talks"[66] while Eritrea claimed it was a 'tactical retreat' to take away one of Ethiopia's last remaining excuses for continuing the war;[67] a report from Chatham House observes, "the scale of Eritrean defeat was apparent when Eritrea unexpectedly accepted the OAU peace framework."[68] Having recaptured most of the contested territories—and having heard that the Eritrean government would withdraw from any other territories it occupied at the start of fighting in accordance with a request from the OAU—on 25 May 2000, Ethiopia declared the war was over.[3][69][70] By the end of May 2000, Ethiopia occupied about a quarter of Eritrea's territory, displacing 650,000 people[71] and destroying key components of Eritrea's infrastructure.
The widespread use of trenches has resulted in comparisons of the conflict to the trench warfare of World War I.[49] According to some reports, trench warfare led to the loss of "thousands of young lives in human-wave assaults on Eritrea's positions".[72] The Eritrean defences were eventually overtaken by a surprise Ethiopian pincer movement on the Western front, attacking a mined, but lightly defended mountain (without trenches), resulting in the capture of Barentu and an Eritrean retreat. The element of surprise in the attack involved the use of donkeys as pack animals as well as being a solely infantry affair, with tanks coming in afterwards only to secure the area.[73]
Regional destabilisation [ edit ]
The fighting also spread to Somalia as both governments tried to outflank one another. The Eritrean government began supporting the Oromo Liberation Front,[74] a rebel group seeking independence of Oromia from Ethiopia that was based in a part of Somalia controlled by Mohamed Farrah Aidid.[75] Ethiopia retaliated by supporting groups in southern Somalia who were opposed to Aidid, and by renewing relations with the Islamic regime in Sudan—which is accused of supporting the Eritrean Islamic Salvation, a Sudan-based group that had launched attacks in the Eritrea–Sudan border region—while also lending support to various Eritrean rebel groups including a group known as the Eritrean Islamic Jihad.[76][77]
Casualties, displacement and economic disruption [ edit ]
Eritrea claimed that 19,000 Eritrean soldiers were killed during the conflict;[78] most reports put the total war casualties from both sides as being around 70,000.[21][79][80][81][82][83] All these figures have been contested and other news reports simply state that "tens of thousands" or "as many as 100,000" were killed in the war.[22][26] Eritrea accused Ethiopia of using "human waves" to defeat Eritrean trenches. But according to a report by The Independent, there were no "human waves" because Ethiopia instead outmaneuvered and overpowered the Eritrean trenches.[84]
The fighting led to massive internal displacement in both countries as civilians fled the war zone. Ethiopia expelled 77,000 Eritreans and Ethiopians of Eritrean origin it deemed a security risk, thus compounding Eritrea's refugee problem.[74][85][86] The majority of those were considered well off by the Ethiopian standard of living. They were deported after their belongings had been confiscated.[87] On the Eritrean side, around 7,500 Ethiopians living in Eritrea were interned, and thousands of others were deported. Thousands more remain in Eritrea, many of whom are unable to pay the 1,000 Birr tax on Ethiopians relocating to Ethiopia. According to Human Rights Watch, detainees on both sides were subject in some cases to torture, rape, or other degrading treatment.[88]
The economies of both countries were already weak as a result of decades of cold-war politics, civil war and drought. The war exacerbated these problems, resulting in food shortages. Prior to the war, much of Eritrea's trade was with Ethiopia, and much of Ethiopia's foreign trade relied on Eritrean roads and ports.[89]
Aftermath [ edit ]
Cessation of hostilities [ edit ]
On 18 June 2000, the parties agreed to a comprehensive peace agreement and binding arbitration of their disputes under the Algiers Agreement. A 25-kilometer-wide Temporary Security Zone (TSZ) was established within Eritrea, patrolled by the United Nations Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE) from over 60 countries. On 12 December 2000 a peace agreement was signed by the two governments.[90]
Continued tensions [ edit ]
On 13 April 2002, the Eritrea–Ethiopia Boundary Commission that was established under the Algiers Agreement in collaboration with Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague agreed upon a "final and binding" verdict. The ruling awarded some territory to each side, but Badme (the flash point of the conflict) was awarded to Eritrea.[91][92] Both countries vowed to accept the decision wholeheartedly the day after the ruling was made official.[93] A few months later Ethiopia requested clarifications, then stated it was deeply dissatisfied with the ruling.[94][95][96] In September 2003 Eritrea refused to agree to a new commission,[97] which they would have had to agree to if the old binding agreement was to be set aside,[91] and asked the international community to put pressure on Ethiopia to accept the ruling.[97] In November 2004, Ethiopia accepted the ruling "in principle".[98]
On 10 December 2005, Ethiopia announced it was withdrawing some of its forces from the Eritrean border "in the interests of peace".[99] Then, on 15 December the United Nations began to withdraw peacekeepers from Eritrea in response to a UN resolution passed the previous day.[100]
On 21 December 2005, a commission at the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague ruled that Eritrea broke international law when it attacked Ethiopia in 1998, triggering the broader conflict.[101]
Ethiopia and Eritrea subsequently remobilized troops along the border, leading to fears that the two countries could return to war.[102][103] On 7 December 2005, Eritrea banned UN helicopter flights and ordered Western members (particularly from the United States, Canada, Europe and Russia) of the UN peacekeeping mission on its border with Ethiopia to leave within 10 days, sparking concerns of further conflict with its neighbour.[104] In November 2006 Ethiopia and Eritrea boycotted an Eritrea–Ethiopia Boundary Commission meeting at The Hague which would have demarcated their disputed border using UN maps. Ethiopia was not there because it does not accept the decision and as it will not allow physical demarcation it will not accept map demarcation, and Eritrea was not there because although it backs the commission's proposals, it insists that the border should be physically marked out.[105]
Both nations have been accused of supporting dissidents and armed opposition groups against each other. John Young, a Canadian analyst and researcher for IRIN, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs news agency, reported that "the military victory of the EPRDF (Ethiopia) that ended the Ethiopia–Eritrea War, and its occupation of a swath of Eritrean territory, brought yet another change to the configuration of armed groups in the borderlands between Ethiopia and Eritrea. Asmara replaced Khartoum as the leading supporter of anti-EPRDF armed groups operating along the frontier".[106] However, Ethiopia is also accused of supporting rebels opposed to the Eritrean government.[107]
At the November 2007 deadline, some analysts feared the restart of the border war but the date passed without any conflict.[108] There were many reasons why war did not resume. Former U.S. Ambassador David Shinn said both Ethiopia and Eritrea were in a bad position. Many fear the weak Eritrean economy is not improving like those of other African nations while others say Ethiopia is bogged down in Mogadishu. David Shinn said Ethiopia has "a very powerful and so far disciplined national army that made pretty short work of the Eritreans in 2000 and the Eritreans have not forgotten that."[108] But he stated Ethiopia is not interested in war because America would condemn Ethiopia if it initiated the war saying "I don't think even the US could sit by and condone an Ethiopian initiated attack on Eritrea."[108]
Arbitration through the Permanent Court of Arbitration [ edit ]
As decided in the Algiers Agreement, the two parties presented their cases at the Permanent Court of Arbitration to two different Commissions:
Eritrea–Ethiopia Boundary Commission[109] The International Bureau serves as Registry for this Commission established pursuant to the Agreement of 12 December 2000 between the Government of the State of Eritrea and the Government of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, with a mandate "to delimit and demarcate the colonial treaty border based on pertinent colonial treaties (1900, 1902 and 1908) and applicable international law". Its first progress report to the UN Secretary-General was presented on 19 June 2001. The Eritrea–Ethiopia Boundary Commission delivered its Decision on Delimitation of the Border between Eritrea and Ethiopia to representatives of the two governments on Saturday, 13 April 2002. ... On 19 November 2003, the Commission met in The Hague with representatives of the parties. The President of the Commission made an opening statement expressing the concern of the Commission at the lack of progress in the demarcation process, setting out the Commission’s understanding of the positions of the parties and indicating that if progress was to be made, certain rigid positions would have to be modified. Following that meeting, the Commission concluded that, until the positions of either or both of the parties were modified, there was nothing more that the Commission could do. Eritrea–Ethiopia Boundary Commission[110] The Eritrea–Ethiopia Boundary Commission ruled that Badme lies in Eritrea.[91][92] Eritrea–Ethiopia Claims Commission The Eritrea–Ethiopia Claims Commission (the Commission) was established and operates pursuant to Article 5 of the Agreement signed in Algiers on 12 December 2000 between the Governments of the State of Eritrea and the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia (the "December Agreement"). The Commission is directed to decide through binding arbitration all claims for loss, damage or injury by one Government against the other, and by nationals (including both natural and juridical persons) of one party against the Government of the other party or entities owned or controlled by the other party that are (a) related to the conflict that was the subject of the Framework Agreement, the Modalities for its Implementation and the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement, and (b) result from violations of international humanitarian law, including the 1949 Geneva Conventions, or other violations of international law. Eritrea Ethiopia Claims Commission[111]
In July 2001 the Commission sat to decide its jurisdiction, procedures and possible remedies. The result of this sitting was issued on August 2001. In October 2001, following consultations with the Parties, the Commission adopted its Rules of Procedure. In December 2001 the Parties filed their claims with the Commission. The claims filed by the Parties relate to such matters as the conduct of military operations in the front zones, the treatment of POWs and of civilians and their property, diplomatic immunities and the economic impact of certain government actions during the conflict. At the end of 2005 final awards have been issued on claims on Pensions, and Ports. Partial awards have been issued for claims about: Prisoners of War, the Central Front, Civilians Claims, the Western and Eastern Fronts, Diplomatic, Economic and property losses, and Jus Ad Bellum.
The Ethiopia–Eritrean claim committee ruled that:
15. The areas initially invaded by Eritrean forces on that day [12 May 1998] were all either within undisputed Ethiopian territory or within territory that was peacefully administered by Ethiopia and that later would be on the Ethiopian side of the line to which Ethiopian armed forces were obligated to withdraw in 2000 under the Cease-Fire Agreement of 18 June 2000. In its Partial Award in Ethiopia’s Central Front Claims, the Commission held that the best available evidence of the areas effectively administered by Ethiopia in early May 1998 is that line to which they were obligated to withdraw in 2000. ... 16. Consequently, the Commission holds that Eritrea violated Article 2, paragraph 4, of the Charter of the United Nations by resorting to armed force to attack and occupy Badme, then under peaceful administration by Ethiopia, as well as other territory in the Tahtay Adiabo and Laelay Adiabo Weredas of Ethiopia, in an attack that began on 12 May 1998, and is liable to compensate Ethiopia, for the damages caused by that violation of international law. Eritrea Ethiopia Claims Commission[112]
Christine Gray, in an article in the European Journal of International Law (2006), questioned the jurisdiction of the Commission making such an award, because "there were many factors which suggested that the Commission should have abstained from giving judgment". For example, the hearing of this claim, according to the Algiers agreement was to be heard by a separate commission and to be an investigation of exclusively factual concern not compensation.[113]
2018 Peace Agreement [ edit ]
The Ethiopian government under the leadership of new prime minister Abiy Ahmed unexpectedly announced on 5 June 2018 that it fully accepts the terms of the peace Algiers Agreement (2000). Ethiopia also announced that it would accept the outcome of the 2002 UN-backed Eritrea-Ethiopia Boundary Commission (EEBC) ruling which awarded disputed territories including the town of Badme to Eritrea.[114]
Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki noted the “positive signals”.
Eritrea Foreign Minister Osman Saleh led the first Eritrean deleagtion to Ethiopia in almost two decades when he visited Addis Ababa in late June 2018.[115]
At a summit in July 2018 in Asmara, Eritrea's President Isaias Afewerki and Ethiopia's Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed signed a joint declaration formally ending the state of war between Ethiopia and Eritrea.[5][116] [117] Following the peace agreement, on July 18, 2018, after twenty years Ethiopian Airlines restarted its operations to Eritrea. Flight ET0312 left Bole International Airport to Asmara.[118][119]
Timeline: Continuing border conflicts [ edit ]
Eritrea (green) and Ethiopia (orange)
On 19 June 2008 the BBC published a time line (which they update periodically) of the conflict and reported that the "Border dispute rumbles on":
2007 September – War could resume between Ethiopia and Eritrea over their border conflict, warns United Nations special envoy to the Horn of Africa, Kjell Magne Bondevik.
2007 November – Eritrea accepts border line demarcated by international boundary commission. Ethiopia rejects it.
2008 January – UN extends mandate of peacekeepers on Ethiopia–Eritrea border for six months. UN Security Council demands Eritrea lift fuel restrictions imposed on UN peacekeepers at the Eritrea–Ethiopia border area. Eritrea declines, saying troops must leave border.
2008 February – UN begins pulling 1,700-strong peacekeeper force out due to lack of fuel supplies following Eritrean government restrictions.
2008 April – UN Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon warns of likelihood of new war between Ethiopia and Eritrea if peacekeeping mission withdraws completely. Outlines options for the future of the UN mission in the two countries.
Djibouti accuses Eritrean troops of digging trenches at disputed Ras Doumeira border area and infiltrating Djiboutian territory. Eritrea denies charge.
2008 May – Eritrea calls on UN to terminate peacekeeping mission.
2008 June – Fighting breaks out between Eritrean and Djiboutian troops.
2016 June – Battle of Tsorona between Eritrean and Ethiopian troops BBC[33]
In August 2009, Eritrea and Ethiopia were ordered to pay each other compensation for the war.[33]
In March 2011, Ethiopia accused Eritrea of sending bombers across the border. In April, Ethiopia acknowledged that it was supporting rebel groups inside Eritrea.[33] In July, a United Nations Monitoring Group accused Eritrea of being behind a plot to attack an African Union summit in Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia, in January 2011. Eritrea stated the accusation was a total fabrication.[120]
In January 2012, five European tourists were killed and another two were kidnapped close to the border with Eritrea in the remote Afar Region in Ethiopia. In early March the kidnappers announced that they had released the two kidnapped Germans. On 15 March, Ethiopian ground forces attacked Eritrean military posts that they stated were bases in which Ethiopian rebels, including those involved in the January kidnappings, were trained by the Eritreans.[33][121]
Notes [ edit ]
References [ edit ]
Abbink, Jon (2003). "Badme and the Ethio-Eritrean Border: The challenge of demarcation in the Post-war period" (PDF) . Africa: rivista trimestrale di studi e documentazione: . 58 (1–4): 219–231.
Banks, Arthur; Muller, Thomas; and Overstreet, William, ed. Political Handbook of the World 2005-6 (A Division of Congressional Quarterly, Inc.: Washington, D.C., 2005), p. 366. 156802952-7
Further reading [ edit ]
Coordinates: |
DALLAS -- The new couple at 10141 Daria Place accepted an invitation to a neighborhood dinner party last month. The guest list totaled eight. The main dish was chicken potpie. George and Laura Bush left their cul-de-sac in the back of a dark sedan, exited through a Secret Service checkpoint and rode down streets bordered by lawn signs adorned with gigantic W's to welcome them home.
It had been a bad week for the country. President Obama spoke on television about the burdens he had inherited in office: anti-American sentiment, two wars, a recession. But it had been a good week at 10141 Daria Place. The Bushes shared stories over dinner about their return to Texas after eight years in Washington. They had improved their sprinkler system and hung custom-made green drapes. Neighbors had brought over homemade cookies and a potted houseplant.
Not until late in the dinner party did the former president speak in any depth about his two terms in the White House. He told one of his favorite stories, about a trip to Bucharest, Romania, in 2002. More than 200,000 people had come to hear him speak in a town square, he said. The sky turned dark. A cold rain fell. The Romanian president introduced him and -- look at that! A huge rainbow emerged on the horizon, and the Romanians burst into applause.
"Magical," Bush said.
The presidency that is remembered on Daria Place bears little resemblance to the one that most of the country continues to blame for its problems. Bush left Washington on Jan. 20 with two-thirds of Americans disapproving of his job performance -- one of the worst ratings ever for an outgoing U.S. president. In his return to private life, he has maintained tranquility by adhering to a basic philosophy:
He lives squarely in the remaining 33 percent.
Bush works with a dozen aides from his administration, socializes with friends he has known for decades and lives in a conservative neighborhood that voted for him -- both times -- by a ratio greater than 2 to 1. And while the rest of the world mulls and debates his legacy, Bush has told friends that he prefers not to use the "L word." He dismisses analysis of his presidency as premature, regrets little and refrains from engaging in the snippety back-and-forth between the Obama administration and Bush loyalists such as Karl Rove and Dick Cheney. Bush feels content with his presidency, friends said. Now he will try to explain his two terms by writing a book and building a presidential center at Dallas's Southern Methodist University so that history will have the means to judge him fairly.
"Over the course of being president for eight years, you become, in some respects, immune to all the noise out there," said Dan Bartlett, who was a senior aide to Bush for more than a decade. "He's secure in the place he's in. He's confident in the decisions he made. There's none of that 'Shoulda, woulda, coulda.' "
His security is maintained by a daily routine that, intentionally or not, barricades him from the disapproving two-thirds of the nation. The 43rd president spends most weekends with his wife at their isolated ranch in Crawford, Tex., where he likes to wake up early, roam the 1,600 acres with a chainsaw and cut new bike trails. Most of his weekdays are spent 95 miles north, in Preston Hollow, an upper-class section of Dallas where he lived for seven years before becoming governor of Texas in 1995. He has declined to give interviews, except to discuss baseball or his book, and neighbors remain silent so as not to violate his privacy.
About once each week, Bush travels to give a speech or raise money for his $300 million presidential center, but he always moves inside an insulated bubble. On a trip to Calgary, Alberta, last month, he flew into town on a private jet and ate in a private room at a restaurant with three friends and the Secret Service. Eighty police officers provided extra security and closed streets for his motorcade so that he could cruise through downtown to a luncheon where 1,500 guests had paid $400 to hear him talk about "eight momentous years in the Oval Office," according to the invitation. The 250 protesters who waited to catch a glimpse of Bush instead settled for hurling their shoes at his picture.
In Washington, Bush spoke longingly of a quiet post-presidency that would allow him to bring Laura coffee in bed and meander into work around 9 a.m., but he has struggled to slow down, friends said. Bush almost always arrives at his Dallas office by 7:30 a.m., a few minutes before many of his employees. He works on his book with the help of a speechwriter, leaves for a late afternoon bike ride and spends his evenings reading or watching televised golf or baseball. Neither he nor Laura likes to cook, so they have relied on food brought by friends or prepared meals from EatZi's, a local market.
Their 1.13-acre property -- valued at about $2.4 million -- is cocooned by 40 acres of private land and a trout-filled lake. Two oak trees shade the front yard. The Secret Service occupies a house next door. Entrance into the cul-de-sac is restricted by a barrier of orange cones, two police cruisers and four Secret Service agents who scan the perimeter with binoculars. The Bushes plan to install a permanent gate outside the cul-de-sac later this year. |
TV manufacturers constantly compete to have the biggest consumer TV on the market, showing their plus-size wares at CES. But when it comes to custom one-off models, the sky's the limit. Case in point: the Titan Zeus.
The aptly named Zeus is a TV so large, one struggles to find the right adjective to describe it. Colossal? Gargantuan? Unearthly? At 370 inches diagonal — or more than three times the size of most "gigantic" TVs — the set is truly in a size class of its own.
See also: 14 Songs That Made Film Adaptations Come To Life
So far the UK-based Titan Screens has sold only one of these kaiju TVs to a buyer who wants to remain anonymous, according to Engadget. Little wonder: The behemoth costs about $1.6 million, and that doesn't include the arena-size living room for which you'd need to house the 26 x 16-foot panel.
And make no mistake, this is a panel. While enormous home-theater projection screens have existed for decades, the Titan Zeus is a standalone television, with pixels and everything. Quite a few pixels, in fact — it has 4K resolution, and the screen has a 4:3 aspect ratio, per renderings on the Titan website.
A similar, ultra-widescreen version of the Zeus is planned to go on display at Cannes this summer. Mounted on top of the city's Le Grand Hotel, it will be visible from the entire bay, according to this video from Curb Media.
Our dream: Hook up a gaming rig to that baby, and play a little Crysis 3 on it. C'mon, guys, what do you say? |
When we did the “Ring of Lost” strip, a few different people were intrigued at the idea of Velen’s Book Club. So consider today’s comic a bit of a follow-up!
Actually, there’s almost enough readable books in WoW that you COULD have a book club! You’ve got the serious lore ones, the Schools of Arcane Magic texts, the Steamy Romance Novels, fun one-offs such as Crawgol’s Silithid Field Guide (The Authoritotal Handbook)…the list goes on and on.
Personally, some of my favorite books are the ones that can be found during the Death Knight starter zone. I highly recommend taking a few moments and reading the Guide to the Side Effects of Reanimation and Corpulous’ Mess Hall Rules. They’re full of great life tips that any would-be adventurer should always be sure to remember. For example: “No eat self.”
Sage advice. |
Image caption A plan of what the winter sports' complex will look like in Cardiff Bay
The next phase of Cardiff Bay's International Sports Village has been unveiled.
Developers cut the turf for a £16m twin ice rink centre on the site which will also include a new snowdome, a hotel, public plaza, apartments and restaurants.
The 3,000-seat ice arena was given planning permission by Cardiff council earlier this month.
Construction of the centre is expected to start in August.
The ice rink is the first phase of a £250m scheme, which includes an indoor ski slope and shopping centre.
A 32-storey tower, luxury hotel and 800 new homes, and offices are also included in future planned phases.
Reputation
This development will not only look fantastic but will also create thousands of jobs, Heather Joyce , Cardiff Council leader
Work on the first phase will include two ice pads and the main rink will be used to host Cardiff Devils matches.
Cardiff council leader Heather Joyce said: "This development will not only look fantastic but will also create thousands of jobs, attract tens of thousands more visitors to the city and provide homes - including affordable homes - for people in Cardiff.
"The end results will be state-of-the-art facilities that everyone can use, including, crucially, two ice rinks which will provide a new home for the Cardiff Devils and offer people a range of winter sports to try out.
"This will all go a long way to enhancing Cardiff's reputation as a world-class sporting capital city."
Cardiff council broke off its deal with Planet Ice, which won the initial tender for the development, in a row over funds.
The sports village currently has a 50m pool, white water facility and temporary ice rink.
The old Wales National Ice Rink in Cardiff city centre, which opened in 1986, closed in 2006 to make way for redevelopment. |
ALLEN PARK, Mich. -- Imagine this. You were the best athlete in your high school. Then you were a star player in college. Now you're mentioned as one of the best defensive backs in the NFL.
You've covered tall receivers, and you've covered fast receivers. You've covered big receivers, and you've covered skilled receivers.
But this week, the Detroit Lions are on the schedule, and you're about to deal with all those traits in one imposing package. You're tasked with defending Calvin Johnson, the 6-foot-5, 236-pound superstar who ran a 4.35-second 40-yard dash in borrowed shoes at the 2007 scouting combine.
Calvin Johnson demolished Brandon Carr and Dallas to the tune of 14 catches and 329 yards last season. Gregory Shamus/Getty Images
"It should be illegal for a guy to be that tall and that big and that fast. They should have banned him from the NFL," Oakland cornerback Charles Woodson said, laughing. "But he's one of those guys, man -- he's a freak of nature."
You've seen the film. You've watched him embarrass defenses and catch touchdown passes in triple coverage. You saw him rack up 329 yards on 14 catches -- the most receiving yards in a regulation game in league history -- when the Dallas Cowboys challenged him with single coverage last season.
Eventually, you will find yourself in a situation where your help disappears, and it's just you against him. At that point, you realize that facing Johnson is like nothing else in football.
"If the safety is not over the top of you and that 6-foot-5 giraffe who is running a 4.3 40 on a [go] route ..." said Cortland Finnegan, who's faced Johnson in college and the NFL. "That's when you go, 'We've got issues. We've got problems.'"
This is your assignment. Here, through the eyes of those who have done it before, is what the experience is like and how to handle it.
'You can't prepare for him'
Heading into training camp, Johnson said he thinks the Lions are capable of winning the Super Bowl. If that is to happen, Johnson will have to be at his best even as opponents devise new plans and tap new personnel to impede him. Detroit's NFC North foes combined to draft seven defensive backs this year -- including two first-rounders.
They will soon learn that preparing to face Johnson is unique. A number of NFL players are difficult to emulate with a scout team -- Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson and Cincinnati Bengals receiver A.J. Green are two prime examples -- but even among elite players, Johnson poses particular problems.
Longtime defensive back Charles Woodson has learned which routes Johnson runs most often. Jeff Hanisch/USA TODAY Sports
Johnson has been targeted an average of 9.5 times a game during his career -- more than all but a handful of receivers. His physical attributes, combined with that work rate, demand a different kind of preparation.
"When you go against him, you count on the scout team wideout that mimics him and acts like Calvin Johnson," New York Giants cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie said. "But you'll never get the real picture."
Johnson's height, speed and bulk make it virtually impossible for defenders to get an accurate read on what they will face come game day. It's not just physical gifts that give Johnson an advantage. He spends a day every week dissecting his routes and locations. He critiques every element of his performance in the previous game and prior matchups. |
All aboard the Tennessee hype train.
Last season, the Volunteers showed vast improvement in Year 3 under coach Butch Jones’ tenure, posting a 9-4 (5-3) record and winning the final six games of the year by an average margin of 22.2 points — including a 45-6 drubbing over No. 13 Northwestern in the Outback Bowl.
So you can imagine the kind of attention Tennessee is beginning to receive heading into a 2016 season that has quite possibility cleared a path to the program’s first SEC East Division title since 2007.
It doesn’t look like the proverbial microscope is going away anytime soon, either. ESPN television analyst Kirk Herbstreit was asked what Florida’s chances are to repeat as division champs this season on Twitter, and instead of focusing on the Gators, he went ahead and provided his prediction for the East’s winner.
East is wide open. Gators will always have a shot to win it. I like the Vols and Josh Dobbs to win the East this yr https://t.co/gh8SpOYry6 — Kirk Herbstreit (@KirkHerbstreit) May 21, 2016
Tennessee returns 17 starters to the field in 2016, which is tied for the 5th-most in the country.
Hahahaha!!!!
I like that. I'll take that role. I'll start the wagon early. I think they're legit this yr. We'll see https://t.co/Ji1VqgB65B — Kirk Herbstreit (@KirkHerbstreit) May 21, 2016
The Vols have longed for a chance to once again compete for championships, and this could finally be the year they return to the SEC title game for a shot to play in the third annual College Football Playoff. |
— In a warm high school gymnasium where basketball hoops hung from the rafters, six Republican presidential hopefuls appeared Wednesday before a crowd of parents and community members to detail their plans to improve America’s public schools, which many of them described as being in crisis.
Jeb Bush, the former governor of Florida; New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, former Hewlett-Packard chief executive Carly Fiorina; Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, Ohio Gov. John Kasich and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker discussed education issues at the day-long forum at Londonderry High School, six months ahead of the New Hampshire primary.
Campbell Brown — a former CNN reporter who is now an education advocate and editor of the Seventy Four, an education Web site — said her organization sponsored the event in the hope of pressing candidates to move beyond sound bites and rhetorical swipes often heard in debates.
But in 45-minute interview sessions with Brown, the conservative candidates offered largely the same opinions. They said they view teacher unions as playing an outsize role in education, and they want to expand school choice by encouraging charter schools and voucher programs. And given that they all believe that the role of the federal government should be diminished, they said they would encourage — but not mandate — their favored changes.
Asked whether she believed that any federal programs are working, Fiorina offered no examples but replied that the U.S. Education Department should be audited.
“When Washington spends more money, the quality of the education does not improve,” she said. “What doesn’t work are big bureaucratic programs from Washington, D.C. What doesn’t work are people spending money on mandated programs either at the state or the federal level.”
The candidates diverged only on the politically hot issue of the Common Core State Standards. The academic standards — created by a bipartisan group of governors and state education chiefs and endorsed by the Obama administration — aim to bring some amount of uniformity to public schooling. Although adoption of the standards was left up to states, many candidates have framed Common Core as an example of how the federal government is trying to impose its will on local government.
Bush, a longtime Common Core supporter, argued for the necessity of high standards, whether they are the Common Core or something else.
“Higher standards . . . yields higher student achievement,” Bush said. “If people don’t like Common Core, fine. Just make sure your standards are higher than the ones you had before.”
Kasich echoed that sentiment and defended his state’s adoption of the standards.
“What I believe in Ohio is we should have higher standards,” Kasich said. “If other states don’t want to do that, that’s fine.”
Christie, Walker and Jindal all once supported the standards but now oppose them. Jindal has emerged as one of the most aggressive opponents of the standards, suing the federal government in an effort to dismantle them. Brown pressed them to explain why they pivoted.
Republican presidential candidate Carly Fiorina, a former Hewlett-Packard chief executive, speaks during an education summit Wednesday, Aug. 19, 2015, in Londonderry, N.H. (Jim Cole/AP)
Christie said he shifted his position on Common Core because he believed that it was no longer working in New Jersey. Walker said he listened to concerns that it was taking away too much control from local officials. And Jindal said he was misled, believing that local and state officials would be given the opportunity to provide meaningful input.
All of the candidates said they support expanding school choice, and some highlighted their records of giving more families money to send their children to private school via vouchers. Jindal said he favors giving everyone vouchers.
“One of the things that I’d like to see is universal choice . . . even for parents that can afford it on their own. Why should they pay twice?” Jindal said. “Why should they pay taxes and then tuition?”
For Pauline McKivergan, a Republican from Londonderry, education will weigh heavily on her mind when she heads to the polls. She decided to home-school her four children after finding that private school didn’t provide enough rigor. She wishes there could be tax credits for home-schooling parents because educating her children has been expensive.
“I really liked the conversation about choice and that public school isn’t one-size-fits-all,” McKivergan said.
Kristen Sweet, an independent voter who attended the event, said she is uncomfortable with the idea of vouchers, even though her 7-year-old daughter attends parochial school.
“I think that’s a tough one, because what would happen to all the schools the children were pulled out of?” said Sweet, who said she is undecided about the presidential election, which is more than 14 months away.
Teachers unions — a frequent target for GOP candidates and for Brown, who has filed a suit challenging unions and teacher tenure — took more hits. Christie rehashed his now-famous line, declaring, “I have no problem with saying that the teachers’ unions deserve a political punch in the face, which they do.”
Kasich joked that he would like to “abolish all teachers’ lounges, where they sit together and worry about ‘Woe is us.’ ”
Outside, dozens of supporters of teachers unions rallied, some of them chanting “Bernie! Bernie!” for presidential candidate Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.). Many said they are bothered that many candidates pin public schools’ failings on teachers and their unions.
Asked about Kasich’s teacher-lounge comment, special-education teacher Allison Estes-Browne laughed.
“Teachers’ lounges are spaces where teachers actually collaborate,” Estes-Browne said, adding that she doesn’t often hear whining in the lounge of her school, Plymouth Elementary.
Although education rarely rates as a top issue for voters in presidential elections, the forum’s organizers see the 2016 cycle as a rare opportunity to elevate education concerns: Eleven of those vying for nominations on both tickets are current or former governors, meaning that they have been forced to weigh in on how much of a role the federal government should play in educating the children of their respective states.
Democratic front-runner Hillary Rodham Clinton, who garnered the endorsement of the American Federation of Teachers, has announced a $350 billion plan to reduce the cost of college and offer relief for debt-burdened college graduates.
The Seventy Four has scheduled an Iowa education forum for Democrats in October. |
ASHBURN, Va. -- Washington Redskins quarterback Robert Griffin III's recovery period was made a little clearer Wednesday, putting a possible return at around eight weeks.
Robert Griffin III is expected to miss around eight weeks, according to Redskins coach Jay Gruden. Patrick Smith/Getty Images
Coach Jay Gruden said the third-year quarterback will be in a cast for the next 10 days, after which he'll likely spend four to six weeks rehabilitating his dislocated left ankle.
Griffin suffered the injury in the first quarter of Sunday's 41-10 win over Jacksonville. Initial fears of a possible fracture were dismissed Monday, and he required no surgery.
Kirk Cousins will start in place of Griffin, and when asked what would happen if he was playing well upon Griffin's return, Gruden said they'll worry about that later.
"Right now, we're going to prepare with Kirk Cousins as our starter and Robert's going to rehab, and all decisions after that will come after that," Gruden said. "But right now, we're going to go try to do the best we can and get Kirk ready to go and beat Philadelphia."
In the 31 games he has started, Griffin has left four with an injury. Cousins took over for him at the end of last season, although that occurred when then-coach Mike Shanahan shut Griffin down for the season to make sure he was healthy for the offseason. |
Carbohydrates; As the name indicates, they consist of a Carbon atom (Carbo-) attached to a Hydrogen and an Oxygen atom in the ratio of 2:1, similar to water H 2 O (-hydrate from hydra in latin meaning water). They have a general chemical formula of (CH 2 O) n where n is usually any number ranging from 2 onwards.
The most popular carbohydrates have n= 3 (triose) or 5 (pentose) or 6(hexose). Since most carbohydrates are sweet and sugary, sugar nomenclature end with “ose.”
They can be classified as single unit sugars which are calledmonosaccharides (mono means one, saccharide means sugar), ordisaccharide (“di” means two therefore two unit sugars joined together), or oligosaccharides (3 to 50 unit sugars joined together) or polysaccharides (“poly” means many and it is above 50 units of sugar joined together). The bond that holds the saccharides together to form carbohydrates is called glycosidic bond and is formed by the loss of a water molecule when two carbohydrates come together and are subsequently joined by the oxygen atom of one of the two saccharides molecules.
Glycosidic bond being formed by the proximity of two monosaccharides.
Carbohydrates are usually used as a food source since sugars are used to convert into energy . Example: Glucose (C 6 H 12 O 6 ) is a monosaccharide or single unit sugar and is a common source of energy for the body. However, glucose is generally stored as an aggregated giant molecule starch in plants or glycogen in animals. They are polysaccharides or polymers (macromolecules). Actually “poly” means many, and “mer” means molecules therefore it means many molecules.
Three important disaccharides are maltose, lactose, and sucrose which are used as fodder to either make the storage macromolecules or to break-down into monosaccharides for converting the sugar into energy.
In addition to it’s role as energy storage, carbohydrates are also used in plant cell wall in the form of the polysaccharide cellulose to give the cell structure, and is an important signal receptor on the plasma membrane of cells where the signal will induce the cell to perform specific functions. This is done when oligosaccharides linked to proteins on the plasma membrane work as signal receptors or markers for cell recognition and interaction.
All monosaccharides contain hydroxyl groups (OH) and are therefore alcohols. Sugar structures can be represented in many ways. Example: Ribose (the most common 5-carbon sugar can be shown as a linear molecule containing 4 hydroxyl groups and one aldehyde group.
Ribose- Fischer Projection.
This linear representation is called a Fischer projection. In its usual bio chemical form, however, the structural ribose is a ring with a covalent bond between the carbon of the aldehyde group (C-1) and the oxygen of the (C-4) hydroxyl group. This ring form is known as Haworth projection. The ring is not actually flat, it can adopt about twenty different conformations in which certain ring atoms are out-of-plane.
Ribose- Haworth’s Projection. Click on image for credit.
Another example is Glucose, which is the most abundant 6-Carbon sugar. (Insert Diagram) It is the monomer of the polysaccharide Cellulose and the storage polysacchride Glycogen and Starch.
Formation of Glycogen from Glucose. Click on image for credit.
In these polysacchrides, each glucose residue is joined covalently to the next bio covalent bond between C-1 of one glucose molecule and a hydroxyl group of another. This bond is called the glycosidic bond. In cellulose, C-1 of each glucose residue is joined to the C-4 hydroxyl group of the next residue. The hydroxyl groups on adjacent chains of cellulose interact non-covalently, creating strong insoluble fibers.
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A husband killed his wife and himself after he discovered she wasn't a virgin when they married, an inquest was told yesterday.
Roger Goswell, 66, stabbed 63-year-old Susan to death at their home before smashing his car into a tree when she finally revealed her 46-year secret.
Roger and Susan Goswell (Pic:INS)
Just weeks before the tragedy, the wealthy retired property developer had been discharged from a psychiatric hospital after a suicide attempt - against the wishes of his worried family.
Relatives told the hearing they had begged doctors not to release him because he was mentally ill with a history of violence and had already made threats to kill his wife.
The couple's eldest daughter Sarah Bevan said: "Perhaps if people had taken things more seriously then maybe they would still be here today." In an email to health chiefs, she wrote that she did not want her dad to be "another front page story" involving a patient who should not have been released.
Sarah's sister Rebecca Merrick told the inquest how her dad vowed to finish off Susan with an elderflower bottle after she told him she had slept with another man before they wed in 1961.
She added: "He said he felt upset that my mother wasn't a virgin. He felt he had his heart broken."
And Mr Goswell's sister Marie King said: "I'm surprised that my brother was not sectioned, having made a threat to his kill his wife."
Police said the couple had a tempestuous marriage but finding out his wife was not a virgin when they married tipped an already disturbed Mr Goswell over the edge.
He tried but failed to gas himself in his car at their home in West Chiltington, West Sussex, last November. He was taken to hospital then transferred to a Priory Clinic in Hove, East Sussex.
Mr Goswell was discharged on December 17. Three days later, Susan called police, claiming he had threatened to kill her.
On December 23, he ploughed his Smart car into a tree and died that night.
Officers later found his wife's bloodsoaked body in the lounge of their luxury home. The hearing continues. |
Hopegrown Spotlight: Cannabis Dad
September 2, 2017
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I am a forty-eight year old husband and father of five kids. Along with owning my own business, I am also an active member of my local catholic church and generally seen as a leader in my community. One thing nobody knows about me is that I consume cannabis every day.
I had my first experience with cannabis as an adolescent and after smoking marijuana for about two years, I eventually stopped to pursue a track scholarship. The scholarship landed me at a major Division 1 program and I went on to have a successful collegiate career.
Living With IBS
After college, I began consuming cannabis again and then later quit again because I had young children. It was not till after I had been extremely sick with debilitating IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome) in my early late 30's that I returned to cannabis- this time for medical reasons.
Before using marijuana to treat my symptoms my life was miserable. I couldn't eat without major discomfort. I was losing weight at an alarming rate and the doctors had no answers for me. For relief, I turned to cannabis. And it worked! I smoked a little everyday after work and years later I have been able to eat normally and gain back all the weight.
The "Cannabis Closet"
With running a successful business, raising five kids and maintaining a happy-healthy marriage, people often ask me, ‘How do you do it?’ I want to answer, ”cannabis" but alas our society still has a bad stigma so I don’t. But lately, I have found myself slowly coming out of the “cannabis closet” and wanted to share my story. It continues to relieve my IBS symptoms along with reducing stress and pain from chronic arthritis.
hopegrown spotlight
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Addendum to Optimization….
Apparently a lot of people assumed I was switching to DX11 and dropping DX9 support. I plan to make both versions available. The DX9 version should run on Windows XP and all newer versions of windows. The DX11 version actually will work with DX10 level hardware, and should work on Windows Vista and anything newer. Additionaly, there’s also both 64-bit and 32-bit versions of both the DX9 and DX11 executables. I don’t really need both versions, but the 64-bit version is slightly faster on a 64-bit system, and the 32-bit versions are needed for those without a 64-bit OS.
I originally thought to ship just the DX9 version since it will work on everything, but the DX11 version shows definite and impressive improvement in both CPU and GPU usage on some systems. For people that can take advantage of it, that’s a win. I like smooth framerate gameplay experiences, and I’m sure a lot of other users do as well.
As a side note, at the urging of a developer working on some newer console hardware, I did some additional performance tests for not just GPU performance, but testing CPU performance of DX9 vs DX11 both using instancing and a full set of draw calls. In most cases, while instancing didn’t increase frame rate by much, it saved a bit of CPU time. This gives more time for AI, pathfinding, and general gameplay code to run. |
This post today on my Facebook news feed blew me away.
I have known this man writing the status, as an acquaintance for many years, only recently I sat with him on a train journey into Nottingham for a course I was attending, he was off to work, the journey he takes five days a week.
It turns out he actually works with homeless people, so his compassion is not only genuine but he practice’s it for a job also…
It has made me feel truly wonderful knowing that there are still people out there that don’t judge others.
My hope is never flawed but sometimes the action of others merely for their own gain does wear heavy on my shoulders.
So therefore to see such a refreshing fantastic admission of honest raw concern for someone less fortunate than himself is heartwarming and has given me a new lease of enthusiasm to carry on spreading the word of goodwill and kindness through my blog…..
Onwards we travel with love in our hearts…..
Mandy x |
What are the danger signs for a project going south? Including the ones you should have recognized? These may sound all too familiar.
We’ve all been there: The project went horribly wrong. Neither the stakeholders nor the creative team is happy with the application or product – if it ever did ship. You wish you could erase the experience from your resume. Perhaps it would look better if you said you spent that year playing piano in a house of ill repute?
With 20-20 hindsight, you realize that the signs were there all along, but you didn’t recognize them. Or, if you’re more experienced, you have learned to recognize the danger signs, and you know when it’s time to (a) fix them or (b) bail.
I want to save other project managers and team members from such anguish. So I asked people to share how they recognized when a project was in trouble.
Sometimes the sign means, “This shows we’re in trouble, but it can be fixed” rather than, “We’re about to explode. Quit now!” Good luck with determining which is which.
But, if you’ll forgive a word from our sponsor, perhaps getting project management training can help you avoid a few of these emergencies, or at least recognize trouble before it’s too late for the team — or your own career.
Meeting behavior often is a clue.
Attendance drops at your meetings. Everyone is busy elsewhere. Or busy with their cell phones.
The CEO always comes late for meetings. Her first action is to veto every decision made before she arrived.
No regular project meetings are held. Or they’re regularly canceled, usually at the last moment.
A representative example:
A visit from the Big Brass wasn’t bad news. A visit from our team leads wasn’t bad news. But if the middle manager between those two called a meeting? It was time to bend over, grab our ankles, and brace for impact.
Communication goes dark
You send status updates or ask questions and get no response. (This is not a fatal sign, but you should get to the bottom of it quickly.)
Your most critical knowledge workers suddenly start taking on other work for other projects.
Travel budgets are cancelled or put on hold, even for in-person team meetings that directly affect the project progress.
A representative example:
“I once had a senior executive at a Global 50 company show me her calendar while we were trying to schedule a project kickoff meeting. She had one half hour that was not booked for the entire week – including lunches. When we paged forward to the following week it was exactly the same. If the key stakeholders aren’t willing to make time to kick off the project in the first place, they’ll never give it the priority required. Run!”
Deadlines and goals shift, rarely concurrently.
The team misses deadlines repeatedly. They have many good explanations.
There are constant changes in a project’s direction. Worse: Those changes aren’t shared adequately with the people doing the actual work.
The product manager tells you after a milestone or two that this is not what he wanted.
Requirements change rapidly and suddenly. Especially when that means all the work you’ve done is abandoned.
The team missed the first milestone and did not adjust future milestones.
No decision ever sticks.
Your work is put on hold temporarily “while we re-prioritize.”
Representative example:
Announcement of new initiatives such as “rapid stabilization programmes” for the project, extra contractors piling on board to rapidly push the train wreck through, doubling of budgets.
The project champion is gone
The only manager anyone respects – the catalyst – quits and takes a job elsewhere. Expect people to leave in waves, thereafter.
You can’t attract and keep star players, even early in the project.
The client starts looking for other work.
You find yourself reporting to someone lower in the hierarchy than the original client.
Representative example:
Getting sign-offs for work completed seems impossible. Or the client starts insisting on other non-specified work in addition to your existing completion points. Or the client wants personal freebees as part of the project.
Expert advice is ignored
The people in charge refuse to listen to problems. Instead, they ignore the issue and march ahead anyway.
The product doesn’t even begin to work, but Sales is lining up buyers for it.
You are told, “You’re not being a team player” when you point out the bug count is still increasing and functionality is incomplete, after the project already had one deadline extension.
Someone says with a straight face, “We’ll handle 100% of testing through automation.” Especially if automation isn’t budgeted into the delivery timeline. Doubly so when they’ve never delivered a project tested that way. Tripled when they offload the automation to someone outside of planning and development.
Representative example:
“I visited the Chief Architect directly, and told him my concern. He listened politely, thanked me, and I left. About an hour later, my boss came to my desk and asked, ‘What did you just do?’ I briefly explained the meeting, and he said, ‘You don’t do that here! You need to go through channels.’ (I’d mentioned the technical problem to him and another manager days earlier, and neither one had gotten back to me.) The boss got angry with me and basically told me to keep my mouth shut about things that I didn’t have permission to discuss. … It looked to me like they were more concerned with ‘following protocol’ than whether the information was useful or not.” The product never shipped, and the key technical problem was the one reported.
Decisions are made for political reasons, not project success
Management begins to micromanage engineering decisions based on business decisions rather than engineering decisions, such as choosing components based on vendor agreements rather than suitability to task.
You realize the project’s milestones are dependent on people external to the project who have no motivation to help your project. These people may not have ill intent; they are busy putting out their own fires or your project completion does not reflect any glory on them. But it means all your dates are fantasy at best, pretty lies at worst.
The sponsor insists upon speed, but won’t take the time for proper planning, explaining, “We have to get started right away.”
Representative example:
The project sponsor insists upon defining the solution instead of the objectives: “Early in my career, I was tasked with implementing a pre-identified software package. It was a terrible solution; sales dropped over 40% upon deployment. It required another 6 months to identify the correct solution, sell it over the objections of certain parties, and deploy it.”
And finally, the hard-to-classify
A competitor announces a new product that squashes yours.
The client is late paying… twice in a row.
I’m sure you’ve had your own moments when you realized the project was doomed. Share them with us on Twitter @CertWise and @estherschindler – so we all can commiserate.
And to learn what to do when you encounter a problem, perhaps you might bone up on the project management fundamentals or consider an online training course to better prepare you for the challenges. |
Amarni's teacher had asked her to take home a signed permission note because it was incomplete, which was against the school's risk management plan, the court heard. This sparked a "chain of events" that led to the student being in the deep end of a pool in which she should not have been allowed to swim, counsel representing the Dirani family, Anthony Black, told Westmead Coroner's Court.
During his cross-examination today of school principal Rita Porteous, Mr Black asked: "That that situation could occur is a significant failure of the risk management plan, isn't it?" Ms Porteous replied: "That it could occur, yes." Mr Black: "That it did occur is evidence that the risk management plan was defective, at least in its implementation."
Ms Porteous told the court she believed that it was "reasonable" supervision for teachers to be standing along the pool watching children in the water. She also said it was not a problem to send home an incomplete note for Amarni as she was a "responsible student".
"She was a compliant student and would aim to carry out what was asked of her to the best of her ability," Ms Porteous said. The school's former assistant principal, Bronwyn Whelan, defended the teachers, saying they were doing "a good job". She said there had been up to eight teachers supervising the Olympic pool area, and they were scattered along the edge of that area.
"They were doing their job, they were doing a good job," she told the court. But this prompted Amarni's uncle, Aimen Dirani, to interrupt the court, saying: "They didn't do a good job."
He then walked out of the inquest. The court has been told that the teachers' aides were supervising children with special needs and other teachers were in the wading pool area and the canteen. The court also heard today that Stuart Holstein, the teacher who organised the excursion and who pulled Amarni out of the pool would not be required to give evidence.
Earlier, the court had heard that Mr Holstein was in a "fragile state" and had only recently returned to work at another school.
The court had previously heard that Amarni's permission slip for the excursion had circled that she could swim up to 20 metres. However, her father who signed the permission slip was adamant that he had not circled it.
Senior Constable Dianne Erhardt told the court this week that it was unknown whether Amarni's mother, Dalal Dirani, whom she believed did not have as good command of the English language as Mr Dirani, might have circled the permission slip without understanding it. The inquest continues. |
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