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2620 GBPS is it's last updated Value. It is not just for League of Legends but for Internet in General that has to pass in that Region. It is called: DE-CIX And was last updated on the 24th of October 2013. Considering Amsterdam's (AMS-IX) Is about to hit 2.6k GBPS and where is the new data center for EUW is going to be built, do consider a Increase to 2.7-3 GBPS in that next major upgrade from the Germans. Do note that DE-CIX is the biggest Eastern and Central Europe controller. We will be changed in the future to Amsterdam's which is more Western Europe directed, And closer to the UK's (3rd Biggest World Wide) Data Center. Hope this is not against the Rules to post the official link's this is common data and is released by the providers themselves. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Internet_exchange_points_by_size Full list of all Exchange Points. And the Link's as I do not wish to spam link's of all Data Center's each can check out for themselves. Also note a lot of hidden info exist's in such, and this is data may not be 100% accurate, for obvious reason's no company will admit its true limit or release its full information or else it would be easy to shut down most of the internet as we know it.
The Flash this Tuesday drew 3.7 million total viewers and a 1.4 demo rating (per finals), ticking up 9 percent and a tenth to outdraw its ABC (repeats) and Fox rivals and tie an NCIS rerun (12 mil/1.4) for the time slot demo win. Leading out of that, a Legends of Tomorrow encore did 1.7 mil and a 0.6. Elsewhere in the ratings…. ABC \| Leading out of comedy reruns, Agent Carter (2.9 mil/0.9) shed a few eyeballs while holding onto its series-low rating. What Would You Do? returned to 2.6 mil/0.7. NBC \| Hollywood Game Night (4.5 mil/1.2) dipped a tenth, while Chicago Med (7.6 mil/1.7) inched up a tenth and Fire (8.5 mil/1.8) was steady. FOX \| Grandfathered (2.5 mil/0.9) was steady, while New Girl (2.8 mil/1.2), Brooklyn Nine-Nine (2.4 mil/1.0) and The Grinder (2 mil/0.7) all dipped a tenth. Want more scoop on Arrow, or for any other show? Email insideline@tvline.com and your question may be answered via Matt’s Inside Line.
Megan August 19, 2011 This fall I've decided to open up my home to New Yorkers interested in the possibilities of backyard food production and self reliance. I'm offering an intensive, all day course on "backyard homesteading" on Sunday, September 25th from 9 a.m.-5.p.m. Some of the topics that will be covered are: -Raised Bed Gardening (building beds, planning and maintenance) -Foraging and Wild Edibles -Composting -Raising Chickens -Beekeeping -Pickling, Canning and other forms of food preservation -DIY Cleaning and Body Products with Liz Neves of Raganella -Homebrewing with Jerry Madden of Tipsy Parson and we will touch on other topics such as rainwater collection, rooftop gardening, root cellaring, vermicomposting and making your own household cleaning and body products. I'll be serving coffee and homemade donuts in the am and I'll provide lunch and beers/Cheerwine cocktails in the afternoon. Students will get to leave with some great books from my publisher, packets of seeds, a couple bottles of homebrew and preserved items to enjoy. The cost of materials is included in the Eventbrite ticket price. Please spread the word! It's going to be so much fun! xo, Meg
Democrats nationwide are risking alienating young minority voters if they don’t pursue progressive policies, according to progressives who surveyed and studied the demographic. Former pollster on President Barack Obama’s campaign Cornell Belcher conducted a series of focus groups in Florida and Wisconsin the surveyed millennial minority voter’s opinions about the status of the Democratic Party, and whether or not they planned to vote for the party moving forward, and the results were grim, according to a report from The Hill. “You’re damn right, I don’t have any loyalty to Democrats,” one participant in the Florida focus group said. “If Republicans want to get real about shit that’s happening in my community, I would vote for every one of them. Then maybe Democrats would take us seriously too.” The study also revealed that a lot of young minorities either didn’t vote in the 2016 presidential election or voted for a third party candidate, a move that not that many appeared to regret. “Though they hold strongly negative views of Trump and feel his presidency is an embarrassment, these voters do not regret voting third party or choosing not to vote in the 2016 election,” the Civic Engagement Fund wrote in their report, provided to The Hill. “They view their decision as an effective means to shake up the system in 2016 and in future elections.” In order for Democrats to court young minority voters, the party has to switch from a policy of pursuing white, working-class voters to a policy more inclusive towards other voting groups, according to African-American Studies Professor Clemmie Harris, a move that means pursuing policies championed by Sen. Bernie Sanders. “The Democratic Party will likely continue to fail in its desire to attract younger generations of black voters because its strategies for outreach to the African-American community were based on a civil rights era paradigm,” Harris said. Clinton lost with women, voters under 29, Hispanic voters, as well as voters who made less than $50,000 a year, according to exit polling data published in November, days after the election ended. Follow Phillip On Twitter Have a Tip? Let us Know Content created by The Daily Caller News Foundation is available without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.
Jared Goff must have a better second year in order for the LA Rams to be relevant. The team cannot afford another mediocre year. Last offseason, the LA Rams jumped up in the draft to grab Goff with the first overall pick to solidify the face of the franchise. That decision ended up being a shaky pick as Goff took awhile to fully develop from college to the NFL level and struggled in his first season. Goff finally got the starting nod in week 11 until the rest of the season and looked horrendous with a QBR of 22.9 in his seven starts. Many look at Goff as a bust but is that a fair ruling? The kid only has one year of experience under his belt, we cannot put him up with Ryan Leaf and JaMarcus Russell. The Rams as a whole were bad and when your only option is to chuck it off to Gurley in the flats, then you have a problem. Don’t get it wrong, Goff was bad, but you have to cut him some slack. Goff was tormented in the backfield with 26 sacks in only seven games. That is 21 fewer sacks than Russell Wilson, who leads the league with 47 sacks. That’s ridiculous in that time span! Unfortunately, when you’re the quarterback of a losing team and you look awful; the blame tends to focus on you. The Rams front office finally made a smart move this past offseason with the firing of Jeff Fisher which should’ve happened last offseason. In the hiring process, the focal point was to revamp the offense which would lead to the Rams being the talk of Los Angeles again. The hiring of Sean McVay and his spread scheme should ultimately lead to a better season for Goff and the entire offense. Goff played in the spread scheme in college so he should have more comfort and a better mindset on the field. The additions of Robert Woods, Cooper Kupp and Gerald Everett should supply Goff with more weapons that should spread the field, than just relying on Todd Gurley and Tavon Austin. In all, Goff is going to have a bounce back year and going to lead the resurgence of the Rams offense. Even Gurley shares this sentiment, via NFL.com, He definitely had a great OTAs, great minicamp. Coaches have been doing a good job with him. Just his preparation, him being there all day, he’s been great so far, man, so I’m definitely looking forward to (the season). Goff won’t do what Derek Carr did for the Raiders but he’ll show the NFL why he went number one overall. The future of the LA Rams offense is heading nowhere but up. Although Goff had a disappointing rookie season, we can expect much more out of him next season.
October Anime Music Release Schedule. Please let me know if I missed out on something. 8th October Hi sCoool! SeHa Girl OP “ セハガガガンバッちゃう!! ” – Hi☆sCoool! セハカﾞール ” – Hi☆sCoool! セハカﾞール Amazon Free! Eternal Summer OST Composer: Tatsuya Kato Amazon/CDjapan Love Stage OST Composer: Ryosuke Nakanishi Amazon/CDJapan Space Dandy 2 OST 15th October Denki-ga no Honya-san OP “ 齧りかけの林檎 ” – 竹達彩奈 Amazon/CDJapan Cross Ange OP “ 禁断のレジスタンス ” – 水樹奈々 ” – 水樹奈々 Amazon/CDJapan Nanatsu no Taizai OP “ 熱情のスペクトラム / 涙がきえるなら ” – いきものがかり ” – いきものがかり Amazon/CDJapan Grisaia no Kajitsu OP “ 楽園の翼 ” – 黒崎真音 ” – 黒崎真音 Amazon/CDJapan Sabagebu! OST Composer: Yasuhiro Misawa Amazon/CDJapan Majimoji Rurumo OST Composer: Manual of Errors Amazon/CDJapan 22nd Oct Amagi Brilliant Park OP “ エクストラ・マジック・アワー ” – AKINO with bless4 ” – AKINO with bless4 Amazon/CDJapan Amagi Brilliant Park ED “ エレメンタリオで会いましょう！ ” – Brilliant 4 ” – Brilliant 4 Amazon/CDJapan Garo OP “ 炎ノ刻印-DIVINE FLAME- ” – JAM Project ” – JAM Project Amazon/CDJapan Hi sCoool! SeHa Girl ED “ 若い力 -SEGA HARD GIRLS MIX- “ “ Amazon/CDJapan Waremete OP “ Le jour ” – 佐藤聡美 ” – 佐藤聡美 Amazon/CDJapan Waremete ED “ 明日また会えるよね ” – 佐々木佳織,古川ゆい Amazon/CDJapan Fate/Stay Night: Unlimited Blade Works OP “ Ideal White ” – 綾野ましろ ” – 綾野ましろ Amazon/CDJapan Ore, Twintail ni Narimasu OP “ ギミー！レボリューション ” – 内田真礼 Amazon/CDJapan Ore, Twintail ni Narimasu ED “ ツインテール・ドリーマー！ ” – ツインテイルズ ” – ツインテイルズ Amazon/CDJapan Mahouka OST2 Compose: Taku Iwasaki Amazon 29th Oct Denki-gai no Honya-san ED “ two-Dimension’s Love ” – denk!girls Amazon/CDJapan Gundam G no Reconguista OP “ BLAZING ” – GARNiDELiA Amazon/CDJapan Garo ED “ CHIASTOLITE ” – 佐咲紗花 ” – 佐咲紗花 Amazon/CDJapan Cross Ange ED “ 凛麗 ” – 喜多村英梨 ” – 喜多村英梨 Amazon/CDJapan Sora no Method OP “ Stargaser ” – Larval Stage Planning Amazon/CDJapan Gugure! Kokkuri-san OP “ Welcome!!DISCOけもけもけ ” – コックリさん、狗神、信楽 Amazon/CDJapan Hitsugi no Chaika 2 OP 『漆黒を塗りつぶせ』by 野水いおり』by 野水いおり Amazon/CDJapan Hitsugi no Chaika 2 ED “ ワタシハオマエノナカニイル ” – by coffin princess Amazon/CDJapan Argevollen OST 1 (bd 1) 31th Oct Daitoshokan no Hitsujikai OP “ On my Sheep ” – 中恵光城 Amazon/ CDJapan Tokyo Ghoul 1st Mini-Soundtrack (bd2) Advertisements
A police chief who bared her breast in a drunken tirade against a junior colleague will discover if she keeps her £109,000 (€128,000) a year job next week. A police chief who bared her breast in a drunken tirade against a junior colleague will discover if she keeps her £109,000 (€128,000) a year job next week. Police chief who exposed her breast waits to find out if she keeps €128,000 job Assistant Chief Constable Rebekah Sutcliffe told Superintendent Sarah Jackson that her "credibility was zero" after she had a "boob job" and berated her as a "laughing stock" who would be judged professionally "on the size of her tits". She then went on to pull down the front of her dress to expose her left breast to her Greater Manchester Police (GMP) colleague and say: "Look at these, look at these, these are the breasts of someone who has had three children. They are ugly but I don't feel the need to pump myself full of silicone to get self-esteem." A disciplinary panel found her to have breached the standards of professional behaviour relating to respect and courtesy and discreditable conduct, but recommended she should not be sacked, following a gross misconduct hearing last week. Next Tuesday the hearing will sit again to determine what disciplinary action will be imposed. The disciplinary panel consisting of chair Rachel Crasnow QC, Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Constabulary Sir Tom Winsor and independent member Alastair Cannon found her gross misconduct had taken Ms Sutcliffe to "the very precipice of dismissal". But they recommended to GMP Deputy Chief Constable Ian Pilling that she should receive a final written warning. Mr Pilling is not bound by their recommendation and his decision is final. Ms Sutcliffe, 47, admitted misconduct in failing to treat Ms Jackson with respect or courtesy and that she abused her position and authority. She also acknowledged that her actions discredited the police service. However, she had denied it amounted to gross misconduct. Ms Sutcliffe who was the most senior female Greater Manchester Police officer at the time, verbally attacked her younger subordinate following a gala dinner at the national senior women in policing conference last May. The haranguing in the early hours of May 6 at Manchester's Hilton Hotel concluded when Ms Sutcliffe told her colleague she was no longer going to support a further promotion for her. Ms Jackson, who was appointed by Ms Sutcliffe as a temporary superintendent in a secondment role, later said she was "shocked, mortified, embarrassed and ashamed" at the comments made by her superior. Ms Jackson, who has since transferred to Cumbria Constabulary, had suffered "great anxiety from the night itself and since" the hearing was told. Press Association
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The top U.S. communications regulator plans to unveil proposals Monday for ensuring Web traffic is not slowed or blocked based on its content, sources familiar with the contents of the speech said on Friday. Customers look over Apple products at the company's retail store in San Francisco, California April 22, 2009. REUTERS/Robert Galbraith Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski will announce plans to ask his fellow commissioners to adopt as a rule net neutrality and four existing principles on Internet access issued by the agency in 2005, one of the sources said. Net neutrality pits open Internet companies like Google Inc against broadband service providers like AT&T Inc, Verizon Communications Inc and Comcast Corp, which oppose new rules governing network management. Advocates of net neutrality say Internet service providers must be barred from blocking or slowing traffic based on its content. But service providers say the increasing volume of bandwidth-hogging services, like video sharing, requires active management of their networks and some argue that net neutrality could stifle innovation. “He is going to announce rulemaking,” said one source familiar with the speech due to be delivered at the Brookings Institution, a public policy think tank. The rule proposal will also try to seek greater clarity into what constitutes “reasonable” network management by Internet providers. The FCC could formally propose the rule aimed at both wireless and landline Internet platforms at an open meeting in October. Because of the implications for applications such as Internet phone calling services, like those provided by eBay Inc’s Skype and Google, agency staff are expected to propose setting a lengthy public comment period before any final action. The Monday speech coincides with a deadline for the FCC to file a court brief in a case against Comcast, which is challenging whether the agency has the authority to regulate actions involving the Internet. The FCC is expected to defend its position by arguing that the agency has broad authority under the 1996 Telecommunications Act. Public interest groups praised Genachowski for moving forward with a rule that would protect speech and commerce, predicting the policy move would be a big win for consumers. “It will be a big win for consumers if the FCC delivers strong net neutrality rules that apply across all technologies,” Ben Scott, policy director at Free Press, said in a statement.
Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption David Jenkins, who led the independent inquiry, said there should be a national inspector A national inspector should be created for crematoriums after bereaved parents were unable to receive their babies' ashes, an inquiry has concluded. About 60 families are believed to have been affected by failures at Shrewsbury's Emstrey crematorium between 1996 and 2012. The Shropshire Council-commissioned report said poor training and out-of-date equipment were mainly to blame. The council said it would be shocked if there were not similar cases. David Jenkins, who led the independent inquiry, said he had been "struck by the absence of authoritative national guidance". 'Historic' failures He recommended the government appoint an independent inspector to oversee standards across England. Keith Barrow, leader of Shropshire Council, said he "would be shocked if this wasn't happening all over the country". Staff at Emstrey told the inquiry they were not aware babies' ashes could be recovered from the cremators. Some said training did not cover the possibility of manually overriding the equipment, which the manufacturer has said would have provided infant ashes. The report said no ashes were handed over to parents of children under the age of one between 1996 and 2013. Mr Jenkins said the practice seemed "to have been accepted locally as the norm". Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Jordan Howard said she was devastated The inquiry in Shrewsbury followed an investigation by BBC Radio Shropshire, which prompted a campaign by local parents under the Action for Ashes banner. It followed a similar investigation in Scotland after failures at the Mortonhall crematorium in Edinburgh. A Freedom of Information inquiry by the BBC last year found the ashes of more than 1,000 babies were not handed to their parents between 2008 and 2013. Image copyright Family photos Image caption About 60 families did not have their babies' ashes returned to them 'Felt like body snatching' Shropshire Council said since new equipment was installed at the end of 2012, babies ashes had been recovered in all cases. Old equipment meant the small quantity of ashes resulting from a baby's cremation were lost in the system, as staff failed to manually override the cremators. By 2009, staff told the inquiry the equipment was in "poor condition", with only "basic" maintenance. The computer control system, meanwhile, was "archaic" and obsolete". Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Shropshire Council chief executive Clive Wright offered ''his sympathy and sincere apologies to the bereaved families for the distress they have suffered'' Cooperative Funeral took over the running of the Emstrey site in 2011 and said its first priority was to replace the aging equipment. The new cremators have a specific setting for cremating infants. Some parents told the inquiry that having even a "teaspoonful" of ashes would have helped them come to terms with the death of their babies. One said failing to hand over ashes "felt like body snatching". Glen Perkins, who formed the Action for Ashes campaign group, lost his daughter Olivia to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome in 2007. "We don't have a headstone or plaque in the ground for her because we had nothing to put there," he said. "I don't know where my baby is. Is she mixed in with someone else, has she been scattered at sea, in a river or a beach?" Mr Jenkins said it was clear there was "no more painful experience" than losing a child and that the issue of infant cremation should be treated as of "the utmost importance". Shropshire Council said it would be liaising with parents and Cooperative Funeralcare to ask their views on a suitable memorial or memorial service. Analysis: Nick Southall, BBC Radio Shropshire It started two years ago - we were told about the case of a two-month-old baby. Then we submitted a Freedom of Information request to Shropshire Council, which owns the crematorium, and found out about 30 cases dating back over a decade. We already know this inquiry has gone back further to the late 1990s and in all they have identified 60 cases where the ashes were not recovered and were not returned, and the question is why? Shrewsbury isn't alone with this problem - its a postcode lottery in England and Wales. The likelihood of getting remains depends on where you live. Documents show infants at Emstrey were cremated in the same conditions as adults. If those conditions aren't modified, the small amount of ashes generated in a baby's cremation are at risk of being blown away by air jets used in the process. I spent time at South West Middlesex crematorium, which guarantees the return of ashes, to find out how it was done. I have seen human remains from a 23-week-gestation foetus, which proves if you modify the cremation conditions, you recover ashes. Today's report has concluded staff at Emstrey didn't modify those conditions to stop this from happening. Families now face a lifetime of not knowing what happened to their children's remains, with the possibility they were lost in the cremator machinery's flue system and later strewn in the garden of remembrance.
New Delhi: Stepping up attack on Aam Aadmi Party, Congress today termed its mass contact programme 'mohallah sabhas' as another way of trying to "mislead" people of the city before the next Assembly election. Delhi Congress president Arvinder Singh Lovely said AAP was launching the programme with an aim to increase its vote-bank but the party will not succeed as people have decided to reject it following its 49-day rule. "People of Delhi have understood that how AAP resort to theatrics. In its 49-day ruling, AAP didn't float any tender for any development work. Through the programme, they will again try to mislead people," Lovely said addressing a press conference along with senior leader Mukesh Sharma. Accusing AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal of not allowing internal democracy in the party, he said important decisions in the party are taken without discussions with volunteers and others. "If AAP was so concerned about the mohalla sabhas, why did it not bring a bill on it. The truth is that not even a draft of the bill was prepared," Lovely said. Earlier this week, Kejriwal had announced holding mohalla sabhas across 27 assembly segments where AAP candidates had won in the Assembly polls in December last year. The aim of the initiative is to ask people how to spend MLA Local Area Development funds and reconnect with the people with an aim of recovering the "lost ground" before the Assembly polls. AAP had won 28 seats but the party sacked one of its MLAs for "anti-party activities". Lovely also raised the issue of power outages in the national capital and alleged that AAP and BJP were responsible for the situation. "AAP and BJP are responsible for the power situation. When Congress was in power for 15 years, there was no power and water shortage, but now people are continuously facing such problems. Congress leaders would soon meet LG on this," he said. He said if the situation does not improve, then Congress would launch a series of protests in the city. PTI Firstpost is now on WhatsApp. For the latest analysis, commentary and news updates, sign up for our WhatsApp services. Just go to Firstpost.com/Whatsapp and hit the Subscribe button.
For American Muslims, being highly religious does not necessarily translate into acceptance of traditional notions of Islam. While many U.S. Muslims say they attend mosque and pray regularly, sizable shares also say that there is more than one way to interpret their religion and that traditional understandings of Islam need to be reinterpreted to address the issues of today. By some conventional measures, U.S. Muslims are as religious as – or more religious than – many Americans who belong to other faith groups. Four-in-ten (43%) Muslim Americans say they attend mosque at least once a week, including 18% who say they attend more than once a week, according to a 2017 Pew Research Center survey. An additional 32% say they attend once or twice a month, or a few times a year. These attendance levels are comparable to those of U.S. Christians, 47% of whom say they attend services weekly or more, and greater than the 14% of American Jews who say the same. A majority also say that they pray at least some or all of the salah, or ritual prayers required of Muslims five times per day. Among all U.S. Muslims, fully 42% say they pray all five salah daily, while 17% pray at least some of the salah every day. A quarter say they pray less often, and just 15% say they never pray. And nearly two-thirds of U.S. Muslims (65%) say that religion is very important in their lives, similar to the share of U.S. Christians who say the same (68%), and higher than the share of U.S. Jews who say this (31%). An additional 22% of Muslims say that religion is somewhat important in their lives, while fewer say that religion is not too or not at all important to them. At the same time, American Muslims openly acknowledge that there is room for multiple interpretations of the teachings of Islam. A majority (64%) say there is more than one true way to interpret the faith’s teachings, while just half as many (31%) say there is only one true way to interpret Islam. And it’s not just less-religious Muslims who express this sentiment: While 72% of Muslims who say religion is somewhat (or less) important in their life say they are open to multiple interpretations, a majority (59%) of those who say religion is very important in their life also say there is more than one true way to interpret the faith. Among U.S. Christians, there is a similar balance: 60% say there is more than one true way to interpret the teachings of their religion, while 34% say there is just one true way. About half (52%) of all U.S. Muslim adults also say that traditional understandings of Islam must be reinterpreted to reflect contemporary issues, while 38% maintain that traditional understandings of Islam are all that are needed to address today’s issues. On this question there is more of a difference of opinion among Muslims when it comes to how important religion is in their lives. Those who say religion is very important in their lives are evenly divided (43% say traditional understandings should be reinterpreted vs. 46% who say traditional understandings are all that is needed), while about seven-in-ten (71%) of those who say religion is less important express the view that Islamic teachings need to be reinterpreted. Topics: Muslims and Islam, Religious Affiliation, Religious Beliefs and Practices, Muslim Americans
With open enrollment for Obamacare about to begin, small- and medium-sized businesses are not hiring because of uncertainty surrounding the implementation of the law, the CEO of nation's fifth-largest staffing company said on Monday. "Companies are really not interested in hiring full-time people. That's really the issue with Obamacare," Express Employment Professionals boss Bob Funk told CNBC's "Squawk Box" on Monday. Funk, a former chairman of the Kansas City Federal Reserve, admitted that this trend is a "boon" for his business, but "not healthy for the country as a whole." (Read more: Most Americans against defunding Obamacare: Survey) On October 1, consumers are scheduled to be able to buy health insurance from state exchanges for coverage effective Jan. 1, 2014. Most individuals are required to carry insurance under President Barack Obama's 2010 Affordable Care Act or face fines. Back in early July, the White House and the Treasury Department announced a one-year delay in a major provision that would have required employers with at least 50 full-time workers to provide health insurance or pay a penalty. That'll now go into effect in 2015. (Read more: A wild week ahead as Senate confronts shutdown deadline) Steven Rattner, Obama's former auto czar at Treasury, disputes Funk's assertions. "I don't think with the approach of Obamacare you see in the numbers people suddenly stopping hiring. "Everybody has these anecdotal reports of this and that, and certainly the logical argument, they're going to go to part-time, but you just can't find it in the numbers," argued Rattner, current chairman of Willett Advisors. Funk countered, "We're out there on Main Street and Obamacare is affecting the job hiring picture. Whether it's in the numbers or not, it is affecting small and medium-sized businesses. They're not going to hire until they know what their costs are going to be." "We don't know what the rules are going to be," Funk added. "But they haven't written half of the rules … and it's affecting business, and permanent hiring out there. That's why our industry is growing quite rapidly." Rattner conceded at least something of Funk's point. "I don't doubt that Obamacare has created a temporary period of uncertainty," he said. "If you're going to tell me Obamacare is the cause of the tepid recovery for the last five years, I think that's a stretch." —By CNBC's Matthew J. Belvedere. Follow him on Twitter @Matt_SquawkCNBC.
Kathleen "Kay" McNulty Mauchly Antonelli (12 February, 1921 – 20 April 2006) was an Irish-American computer programmer and one of the six original programmers of the ENIAC, one of the first general-purpose electronic digital computers. Early life and education [ edit ] Programmers Betty Jean Jennings (left) and Fran Bilas (right) operate the ENIAC's main control panel. She was born Kathleen Rita McNulty in Feymore, part of the small village of Creeslough in the Gaeltacht area (Irish-speaking region) of County Donegal, Ireland, on February 12, 1921, during the Irish War of Independence. On the night of her birth, her father, James McNulty, who was an Irish Republican Army training officer, was arrested and imprisoned in Derry Gaol for two years. On his release, the family emigrated to the United States in October 1924 and settled in the Chestnut Hill section of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania where James found work as a stonemason.[2] At the time, Kathleen was unable to speak any English, only Irish; she would remember prayers in Irish for the rest of her life.[3] She attended parochial grade school in Chestnut Hill and Hallahan Catholic Girls High School in Philadelphia. In high school, she had taken a year of algebra, a year of plane geometry, a second year of algebra, and a year of trigonometry and solid geometry.[4][5] After graduating high school, she enrolled in Chestnut Hill College for Women. During her studies, she took every mathematics course offered, including spherical trigonometry, differential calculus, projective geometry, partial differential equations, and statistics.[2] She graduated with a degree in mathematics in June 1942, one of only a few mathematics majors out of a class of 92 women.[5] During her third year of college, Kathleen looking for relevant jobs, knowing that she wanted to work in mathematics but did not want to be a school teacher. She learned that insurance companies' actuarial positions required a master's degree; therefore, feeling that business training would make her more employable, she took as many business courses as her college schedule would permit: accounting, money and banking, business law, economics, and statistics.[6] Career as a computer programmer [ edit ] A week or two after graduating, she happened to see a US Civil Service ad in The Philadelphia Inquirer looking for women with degrees in mathematics.[6] During World War II, the US Army was hiring women to calculate bullet and missile trajectories at Ballistic Research Laboratory, which had been established at the Aberdeen Proving Ground in Aberdeen, Maryland, with staff from both the Aberdeen Proving Ground and the Moore School of Engineering at the University of Pennsylvania .[7] She immediately called her two fellow math majors, Frances Bilas and Josephine Benson about the ad. Benson couldn't meet up with them, so Kathleen and Fran met in Philadelphia one morning in June 1942 for an interview in a building on South Broad Street (likely the Union League of Philadelphia Building).[citation needed] One week later, they were both hired as human "computers" at a pay grade of SP-4, a subprofessional civil service grade. The starting pay was $1620 annually. Kathleen stated the pay was "very good at the time".[8] They were notified to report to work at the Moore School of Engineering. Their job was to compute ballistics trajectories used for artillery firing tables, mostly using mechanical desk calculators and extremely large sheets of columned paper. The pay was low, but both Kathleen and Fran were satisfied to have attained employment that used their educations (having had no prior employment experience) and that served the war effort.[6] Her official civil service title, as printed on her employment documentation, was "computer."[9] She and Fran began work with about 10 other "girls" (as the female computers were called[10]) and 4 men—a group recently brought to the Moore School from Aberdeen Proving Grounds. Kay and Fran conducted their work in a large, former classroom in the Moore School; the same room would later be the one where the ENIAC was built and operated until December 1946.[6] Despite all their coursework, their mathematics training had not prepared Kay (as she came to be called early on at the Moore School) and Fran for their work calculating trajectories for firing tables: they were both unfamiliar with numerical integration methods used to compute the trajectories, and the textbook lent to them to study from (Numerical Mathematical Analysis, 1st Edition by James B. Scarborough, Oxford University Press, 1930) provided little enlightenment.[6] The two newcomers ultimately learned how to perform the steps of their calculations, accurate to ten decimal places, through practice and the advisement of a well-liked supervisor, Lila Todd.[11] A total of about 75 young female computers were employed at the Moore School in this period, many of them taking courses from Adele Goldstine, Mary Mauchly, and Mildred Kramer.[12] Each gun required its own firing table, which had about 1,800 trajectories. Computing just one trajectory required approximately 30–40 hours of handwork with a calculator.[7] After two or three months, Kay and Fran were moved to work on the differential analyser in the basement of the Moore School, the largest and most sophisticated analogue mechanical calculator of the time, of which there were only three in the United States and five or six in the world (all of the others were in Great Britain). The analyser had been lent to the University of Pennsylvania for the duration of the war.[6] Using the analyser (invented by Vannevar Bush of MIT a decade prior and made more precise with improvements by the Moore School staff), a single trajectory computation—about 40 hours of work on a mechanical desk calculator—could be performed in about 50 minutes.[citation needed] Kay was further promoted to supervising calculations on the analyser.[2] The analyser room staff worked six days a week, with their only official holidays as Christmas and the Fourth of July.[6][13] Career as an ENIAC programmer [ edit ] The Electronic Numerical Integrator And Computer was developed for the purpose of performing these same ballistics calculations between 1943–1946. In June 1945, Kay was selected to be one of its first programmers, along with several other women from the computer corps: Betty Snyder, Marlyn Wescoff, and Ruth Lichterman, and a fifth computer named Helen Greenman (nicknamed "Greenie"). When Greenie declined to go to Aberdeen for training because she had a nice apartment in West Philadelphia and a 1st alternate refused to cut short a vacation in Missouri, Betty Jean Jennings, the 2nd alternate, got the job, and between June and August 1945 they received training at Aberdeen Proving Grounds in the IBM punched card equipment that was to be used as the I/O for the ENIAC. (Later, Kay's college schoolmate and fellow computer Fran Bilas would join the team of ENIAC programmers at the Moore School, though she did not attend the initial training at Aberdeen.)[6] The computer could complete the same ballistics calculations described above in about 10 seconds, but it would often take one or two days to set the computer up for a new set of problems, via plugs and switches. It was the women's responsibility to determine the sequence of steps required to complete the calculations for each problem and set up the ENIAC according; early on, they consulted with ENIAC engineers such as Arthur Burks to determine how the ENIAC could be programmed.[11] In 1996, Kay said that John Mauchly pronounced the name of the computer "EN-ee-ack", unlike the common pronunciation at the time of "EEN-ee-ack".[citation needed] The ENIAC was programmed using subroutines, nested loops, and indirect addressing for both data locations and jump destinations.[14] During her work programming the ENIAC, Kay McNulty is credited with the invention of the subroutine[citation needed]. Her colleague, Jean Jennings, recalled when McNulty proposed the idea to solve the problem where the logical circuits did not have enough capacity to compute some trajectories. The team collaborated on the implementation.[15] Because the ENIAC was a classified project, the programmers were not at first allowed into the room to see the machine, but they were given access to blueprints from which to work out programs in an adjacent room. Programming the ENIAC involved discretising the differential equations involved in a trajectory problem to the precision allowed by the ENIAC and calculating the route to the appropriate bank of electronics in parallel progression, with each instruction having to reach the correct location in time to within 1/5,000th of a second. Having devised a program on paper, the women were allowed into the ENIAC room to physically program the machine.[11] Much of the programming time of the ENIAC consisted of setting up and running test programs that assured its operators of the whole system's integrity: every vacuum tube, every electrical connection needed to be verified before running a problem.[11] Kay McNulty was transferred to Aberdeen Proving Ground's Ballistics Research Laboratory along with the ENIAC when it was moved there in mid-1947. She was joined by Ruth Lichterman and Fran Bilas, but the other three women began families or started other jobs, preferring to stay in Philadelphia rather than relocate to the remote Aberdeen and live an Army base life.[16] Family life [ edit ] Kay McNulty (later Mauchly, later Antonelli) ENIAC programmer ENIAC co-inventor John Mauchly, who had since departed his post as a professor at the Moore School to found his own computer company along with Presper Eckert, made frequent trips to Washington, D.C. during this period, and stopped in to check up on the ENIAC in Aberdeen. Mauchly had already hired Betty Jean Jennings (who had married and now went by Jean Bartik) and Betty Snyder (now called Betty Holberton) and had hoped to attract Kay to his fledgling company as well. But Mauchly's wife had died in a September 1946 drowning accident, and as a recent widower with two children, Mauchly instead proposed to Kay, who was almost 14 years his junior.[citation needed] Resigning her post at Aberdeen, and without the blessing of her Irish Catholic parents, she married him in 1948. They lived initially in his row house on St. Mark's Street near the University of Pennsylvania, and later in a large farmhouse called Little Linden in Ambler, Pennsylvania.[citation needed] With Mauchly, Kay had five children.[2] She later worked on the software design for later computers including the BINAC and UNIVAC I computers whose hardware was designed by her husband.[2] Later life [ edit ] John Mauchly died in 1980 following several bouts of illness and recoveries, and she married photographer Severo Antonelli in 1985. After a long struggle with Parkinson's disease, her second husband died in 1996; Kay had suffered a heart attack while caring for him, but made a full recovery.[citation needed] Following Mauchly's death, Kay carried on the legacy of the ENIAC pioneers by authoring articles, giving talks (frequently along with Jean Bartik, with whom she remained lifelong friends), and making herself available for interviews with reporters and researchers. She was inducted into the Women in Technology International Hall of Fame in 1997 along with the other original ENIAC programmers, and she accepted the induction of John Mauchly into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in Akron, Ohio in 2002.[2] Kay died from cancer in Wyndmoor, Pennsylvania, on April 20, 2006, at the age of 85.[7] Legacy [ edit ] During the hey-day of ENIAC, proper recognition escaped Kay and her fellow 'computers'. The invisibility of "The Refrigerator Ladies" (both from being women and the secrecy of their work, especially during the war) kept them from the public eye. Now, many years later, their contributions are just starting to be justly recognized. In 2010, a documentary called, "Top Secret Rosies: The Female "Computers" of WWII" was released. The film centered around in-depth interviews of three of the six women programmers, focusing on the commendable patriotic contributions they made during World War II. In July 2017, Dublin City University honored her by naming their computing building after Kathleen (Kay) McNulty.[17] See also [ edit ]
The contraption in the image above started as a crazy concept only a few months ago, and it’s already being deployed as a functional product in China. The elevated bus is meant to be a cheaper solution to subways, and a way to use existing roads for public transport without contributing to traffic congestion. DON’T MISS: iPhone 7 survival guide: Release date, specs, pricing and more Called the TEB-1, or Transit Elevated Bus, the public transportation concept was tested in China on Tuesday. The TEB-1 travels on special rails placed on either side of any roadway and is powered by electricity, CNET explains. The bus can transport up to 300 people, while regular vehicles are able to pass underneath. Also impressive is the driver's cockpit (see video below) which offers a great view of traffic – maybe he should be called a captain, given the size of the "ship" he's piloting. transit-elevated-bus-2 More The TEB-1 pilot is made of a single car, but the initial design imagined busses made of multiple cars connected to each other which could transport an even larger number of people at a time. While very exciting, the bus may also be terrifying at first for the people in the cars traveling underneath it. Imagine a tunnel that travels over your head as you drive. transit-elevated-bus-3 More Assuming the pilot is successful, TEB-1 busses could be deployed in cities where existing roads would actually allow transportation authorities to build the appropriate tracks and bus stops. The video below further explains the TEB-1 concept, and how it became an actual product. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jhfUn2Zen00 Trending right now: See the original version of this article on BGR.com
Ron Paul co-sponsors H. Res. 888 Chris Rodda print page Thu Feb 28, 2008 at 04:21:26 PM EST "The notion of a rigid separation between church and state has no basis in either the text of the Constitution or the writings of our Founding Fathers. On the contrary, our Founders' political views were strongly informed by their religious beliefs. Certainly the drafters of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, both replete with references to God, would be aghast at the federal government's hostility to religion." Joining the ranks of historically challenged members of Congress to sign onto Randy Forbes's litany of Christian nationalist lies about American history is none other than presidential candidate Ron Paul, who, in an article on his campaign website about the courts and the "elitist, secular Left" driving religion from the public square, shows off his own ignorance of our Constitution. The Constitution is "replete with references to God?" Even Randy Forbes, in his replete with inaccuracies resolution, only found one God reference in the Constitution -- in the document's date -- "a religious punctuation mark," according to Mr. Forbes. "Whereas the delegates to the Constitutional Convention concluded their work by placing a religious punctuation mark at the end of the Constitution in the Attestation Clause, noting not only that they had completed the work with 'the unanimous consent of the States present' but they had done so 'in the Year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and eighty seven';" In keeping with my promise from a prior post -- that each time this legislative abomination gets more co-sponsors, I'm going to debunk another one of its lies -- I'm going to debunk another one of its lies. "Whereas in 1864, Congress passed an act authorizing each state to display statues of two of its heroes in the United States Capitol, resulting in numerous statues of noted Christian clergymen and leaders at the Capitol, including Gospel ministers such as the Revs. James A. Garfield, John Peter Muhlenberg, Jonathan Trumbull, Roger Williams, Jason Lee, Marcus Whitman, and Martin Luther King Jr.; Gospel theologians such as Roger Sherman; Catholic priests such as Father Damien, Jacques Marquette, Eusebio Kino, and Junipero Serra; Catholic nuns such as Mother Joseph; and numerous other religious leaders;" Now, obviously, the fact that these statues are in the Capitol's National Statuary Hall is not a lie. As I noted in another post on this resolution, this is why Randy Forbes's biggest cheerleader, pseudo-historian David Barton, carefully chooses from only 9 of the resolution's 75 "Whereases" -- the 9 that describe the existence of physical religious references and artwork in and on public buildings -- to use as examples of its historical facts. So, to be clear, I am not saying that Mr. Forbes is lying by saying that the statues in this "Whereas" exist. The distortions are in Mr. Forbes's descriptions of some of the statues, and in the fact that one of the statues itself is based on a story that is simply not true. As an example of what I mean by distortions in Mr. Forbes's descriptions of the historical figures depicted in the statues, look at his description of James A. Garfield, who in the "Whereas" is described as a Gospel minister -- the Rev. James A. Garfield. Garfield, although not actually an ordained minister, was, in fact, a preacher before entering politics, but this, of course, is not the reason that the state of Ohio chose him as one of the two figures to represent their state in the Statuary Hall. Obviously, Ohio chose Garfield, whose statue was installed in 1886, because he was a president from their state who had been assassinated five years earlier. With a recent poll showing the disturbing lack of knowledge of even the most basic events in American history among our country's 17-year-olds, there's a good chance that many young people reading H. Res. 888 would be completely unaware that Garfield had even been a president, and might actually think that his statue is in the Capitol because he was a minister. The next statue in Mr. Forbes's "Whereas," that of Rev. John Peter Muhlenberg, actually was placed in the Statuary Hall by the state on Pennsylvania to portray a religious story. The problem with this one is that the story it depicts never happened. Since I already wrote a detailed rebuttal of the Muhlenberg myth this past summer for other reasons, I'm just going to repeat that here. From "PBS Show Gets it Right with the Story of Peter Muhlenberg's Robe" Originally posted on August 4, 2007 With the beating PBS has been taking lately over its unfortunate decision to air the pseudo-documentary, "Wall of Separation," I wanted to write something about one of my favorite PBS programs, one that never fails to live up to the standards that we expect from PBS. In stark contrast to the perpetuation of the religious right's American history myths with its recent airing of"Wall of Separation," a recent episode of PBS's History Detectives included a segment disproving one of the most popular of these myths -- a myth that not only adorns the cover of one of David Barton's books and appears on a mousepad sold by WallBuilders, but is depicted in stone in the U.S. Capitol Building. The myth is the story of Peter Muhlenberg, the Lutheran minister who, since the mid 1800s, is said to have stood before his congregation in January 1776, and, after delivering a stirring, patriotic farewell sermon, removed his clerical robe to reveal the uniform of a Revolutionary Army officer, enlisting three hundred soldiers for his "German Regiment" on the spot. The Muhlenberg myth has been around for a long time, but, as seemingly harmless myths like this one often do when politically useful, it has recently become even more popular, being a dramatic example of an historical justification for exempting churches from the modern day 501(c)3 regulations prohibiting the preaching of politics from the pulpit. For those unfamiliar with PBS's History Detectives, the program's team investigates stories sent in by viewers, usually in possession of some interesting or mysterious historical artifact. In this case, the artifact was a Revolutionary era clerical robe, donated by the Henkel family to the Lutheran Theological Seminary in Philadelphia, and said to be the robe removed by Muhlenberg in 1776 to reveal his uniform. The result of History Detective Elyse Luray's investigation? The robe in question did belong to Muhlenberg, but the legendary disrobing is almost certainly just a myth. A transcript of the entire segment can be downloaded here. Occasionally, as in this case, I already know the answer to the mystery the History Detectives are trying to solve, so I wasn't surprised when the Muhlenberg expert visited by Elyse Luray, Gregg Roeber of Penn State University, dated the disrobing legend to 1849, attributing the story to Muhlenberg's grandnephew, Henry Augustus Muhlenberg. Although Peter Muhlenberg appears in my book primarily because of a completely unrelated lie, I did include a brief mention of the disrobing myth. I didn't go much further than the story's 1849 origin, however, because I plan to write more about this one in my eventual third volume, much of which will focus on how and why so many of the myths and lies, still in use by today's religious right, were invented during the nineteenth century. But, after watching the History Detectives segment, my curiosity got the better of me and I decided to dig out my notes on this one and look into it a bit more. To begin with, here's the story as it first appeared in Henry Augustus Muhlenberg's 1849 book The Life of Major-General Peter Muhlenberg of the Revolutionary Army. He [Peter Muhlenberg] was immediately commissioned, and proceeded to Dunmore to raise the regiment committed to his charge. Upon this occasion a well-authenticated anecdote is told of him, which gives us a deep insight into the character of the man, and the feelings which induced him to abandon the altar for the sword. It shows of what sterling metal the patriots of olden time were formed. Upon his arrival at Woodstock, his different congregations, widely scattered along the frontier, were notified that upon the following Sabbath their beloved pastor would deliver his farewell sermon. Of this event numerous traditionary accounts are still preserved in the vicinity in which it took place, all coinciding with the written evidence. The fact itself merits a prominent place in this sketch, for in addition to the light it sheds upon the feelings which actuated the American people in the commencement of the revolutionary struggle, it also shows with what deep earnestness of purpose Mr. Muhlenberg entered upon his new career. The appointed day came. The rude country church was filled to overflowing with the hardy mountaineers of the frontier counties, among whom were collected one or more of the independent companies to which the forethought of the Convention had given birth. So great was the assemblage, that the quiet burial-place was filled with crowds of stern, excited men, who had gathered together, believing that something, they knew not what, would be done in behalf of their suffering country. We may well imagine that the feelings which actuated the assembly were of no ordinary kind. The disturbances of the country, the gatherings of armed men, the universal feeling that liberty or slavery for themselves and their children hung upon the decision the Colonies then made, and the decided step taken by their pastor, all aroused the patriotic enthusiasm of the vast multitude, and rendered it a magazine of fiery passion, which needed but a spark to burst into an all-consuming flame. In this spirit the people awaited the arrival of him whom they were now to hear for the last time. He came, and ascended the pulpit, his tall form arrayed in full uniform, over which his gown, the symbol of his holy calling, was thrown. He was a plain, straightforward speaker, whose native eloquence was well suited to the people among whom he laboured. At all times capable of commanding the deepest attention, we may well conceive that upon this great occasion, when high, stern thoughts were burning for utterance, the people who heard him hung upon his fiery words with all the intensity of their souls. Of the matter of the sermon various accounts remain. All concur, however, in attributing to it great potency in arousing the military ardour of the people, and unite in describing its conclusion. After recapitulating, in words that aroused the coldest, the story of their sufferings and their wrongs, and telling them of the sacred character of the struggle in which he had unsheathed his sword, and for which he had left the altar he had vowed to serve, he said "that, in the language of holy writ, there was a time for all things, a time to preach and a time to pray, but those times had passed away;" and in a voice that re-echoed through the church like a trumpet-blast, "that there was a time to fight, and that time had now come!" The sermon finished, he pronounced the benediction. A breathless stillness brooded over the congregation. Deliberately putting off the gown, which had thus far covered his martial figure, he stood before them a girded warrior; and descending from the pulpit, ordered the drums at the church-door to beat for recruits. Then followed a scene to which even the American revolution, rich as it is in bright examples of the patriotic devotion of the people, affords no parallel. His audience, excited in the highest degree by the impassioned words which had fallen from his lips, flocked around him, eager to be ranked among his followers. Old men were seen bringing forward their children, wives their husbands, and widowed mothers their sons, sending them under his paternal care to fight the battles of their country. It must have been a noble sight, and the cause thus supported could not fail. Nearly three hundred men of the frontier churches that day enlisted under his banner; and the gown then thrown off was worn for the last time. Henceforth his footsteps were destined for a new career. This event occurred about the middle of January, 1776; and from that time until March, Colonel Muhlenberg seems to have been busily engaged in recruiting. After the great impulse already received, it is natural to suppose that his success was rapid; and such accordingly we find to be the fact. It was probably the first of the Virginia regiments ready for service, its ranks being full early in March. By the middle of that month he had already reported this fact to the Governor, and received orders to proceed with his command to Suffolk. On the 21st the regiment commenced its march for that place.(1) Here's the paragraph about this from my book: Muhlenberg is also the subject of a very popular myth that appears not only in religious right American history books, but a number of other books about the Revolutionary War. The story is that, on January 21, 1776, Muhlenberg preached his last sermon, at the end of which he dramatically ripped off his clerical robes, revealing an army uniform underneath, and issued a call to arms. Not a single contemporary source supports this story. It was created by Muhlenberg's grandnephew, Henry Augustus Muhlenberg, in his 1849 book The Life of Major-General Peter Muhlenberg of the Revolutionary Army, and is based on nothing more than a figurative statement in Samuel Kercheval's 1833 book A History of the Valley of Virginia, which said that Muhlenberg "laid off his gown and took up the sword." In spite of the fact that the story isn't true, there is a statue of Muhlenberg in the United States Capitol building, donated by the State of Pennsylvania in 1889, that depicts him taking off his clerical robes to reveal his uniform. Henry Augustus Muhlenberg actually listed five sources in his notes for this story. The only one I included in the excerpt above, however, was Samuel Kercheval's 1833 book A History of the Valley of Virginia, mainly because Kercheval's book is the only one of H.A. Muhlenberg's five sources to even mention Peter Muhlenberg's clerical attire, albeit in a figurative manner. This is the entire passage from Kercheval's book: The reverend Mr. Peter Muhlenberg, a clergyman of the Lutheran profession, in the county of Shenandoah, laid off his gown and took up the sword. He was appointed a colonel, and, soon raised a regiment, called the 8th, consisting chiefly of young men of German extraction. Abraham Bowman was appointed to a majoralty in it, as was also Peter Helphinstine, of Winchester. It was frequently called the "German regiment." Muhlenberg was ordered to the south in 1776, and the unhealthiness of the climate proved fatal to many of his men.(2) Before getting to H.A. Muhlenberg's other four sources, it needs to be explained why Samuel Kercheval is probably the most important of the five, and why the absence in Kercheval's book of anything indicating that an event as dramatic as that described by H.A. Muhlenberg took place is the best evidence that it didn't. Samuel Kercheval was born in 1767 and grew up in Stone Bridge, Virginia, less than thirty miles from Woodstock, the site of the alleged disrobing. General John Smith, to whom Kercheval dedicated his book, settled in 1773 in Winchester, Virginia, also less than thirty miles from Woodstock. Kercheval wrote in his dedication that he had known General Smith for fifty years, and that it was Smith who provided him with much of the information for his book, something that is evident from the many notes throughout the book attributing various anecdotes to Smith. In addition to Kercheval's and Smith's close proximity to Woodstock at the time, Smith received his commission as a colonel on January 8, 1776, less than two weeks before Muhlenberg is said to have given his farewell sermon, and remained at Winchester as, among other things, a recruiting officer under, according to his pension records, Generals Morgan and Muhlenberg. So, what are the chances that both Kercheval and Smith would have forgotten an event as memorable as Muhlenberg's dramatic sermon and disrobing? ...that Colonel Smith, a nearby army officer in this sparsely populated area, wouldn't have remembered that three hundred soldiers were recruited in a single day? ...that Samuel Kercheval would have omitted such a striking local story of patriotism in a book full of far less significant anecdotes? The following are H.A. Muhlenberg's sources from the notes in his 1849 Life of Major-General Peter Muhlenberg. The list, of course, included Kercheval's book, despite the fact that it clearly does not support the story. The facts stated in this account of General Muhlenberg's farewell sermon are abundantly established by all contemporaneous accounts. See particularly Thatcher's Military Journal, p. 184; Howe's Historical Collections of Virginia, p. 468; Kercheval's History of Valley of Virginia, p. 188; Rogers's Remembrancer of American Heroes, Statesmen, and Sages, p. 366; and Baird's Religion in America, p. 113.(3) So, what about the other four sources? Thacher's Military Journal, while written in 1778 by an army officer who did know Peter Muhlenberg, is not a good primary source for this story. All it shows is that Muhlenberg, by this time a brigadier general, seemed to be becoming a bit of a legend in his own time. James Thacher was a young army surgeon from Massachusetts, who, moving south as the war moved south, attached himself to the 1st Virginia Regiment until a Massachusetts regiment moved into the area. The following is the journal entry containing Thacher's second hand account of the story, heard two years after it allegedly occurred. November 3d.-Having made a visit to Fishkill, I returned in company with Dr. Treat, our physician-general, and found a large number of gentlemen collecting to partake of an entertainment, by invitation of Brigadier-General Muhlenburg, who occupies a room in our hospital. The guests consisted of forty-one respectable officers, and our tables were furnished with fourteen different dishes, arranged in fashionable style. After dinner, Major-General Putnam was requested to preside, and he displayed no less urbanity at the head of the table than bravery at the head of his division. A number of toasts were pronounced, accompanied with humorous and merry songs. In the evening we were cheered with military music and dancing, which continued till a late hour in the night. General Muhlenburg was a minister of a parish in Virginia, but participating in the spirit of the times, exchanged his clerical profession for that of a soldier. Having In his pulpit inculcated the principles of liberty, and the cause of his country, he found no difficulty in enlisting a regiment of soldiers, and he was appointed their commander. He entered his pulpit with his sword and cockade, preached his farewell sermon, and the next day marched at the head of his regiment to join the army, and he does honor to the military profession.(4) Even this account from Thacher differs significantly from H.A. Muhlenberg's 1849 story. There is no dramatic disrobing, and no mention at all of the content of Peter Muhlenberg's sermon. According to Thacher, Peter Muhlenberg entered the church in his uniform. Thacher also writes that Muhlenberg marched off with a regiment the very next day, while, even according to H.A. Muhlenberg's story, it was several months before the regiment was filled and began to march. In reality, neither H.A. Muhlenberg's nor Thacher's accounts are supported by the dates of each company's formation or the enlistment dates of the soldiers. There are no surviving records of the Eighth Virginia Regiment from before 1777. Fortunately, however, most of the surviving 1777 muster rolls show the enlistment dates of the original soldiers who enlisted in the spring of 1776, including those who were killed or no longer with the company for other reasons. So, it is possible, using the rolls of these companies and a few other sources, such as statements from the pension applications of individual soldiers from the rest of the companies, to piece together enough information about the formation of this regiment to be certain that H.A. Muhlenberg's claim that 300 men enlisted on the day of Peter Muhlenberg's farewell sermon is impossible. Not counting commissioned officers, the surviving muster rolls, for six out of the regiment's ten companies, show 424 men who enlisted in the spring of 1776. Not a single one of these men enlisted on the day that Peter Muhlenberg is said to have given his farewell sermon. While there were some men who did enlist in the last week of January, the majority were recruited, in their individual counties, in February and March. A full Virginia regiment at this time consisted of about 680 men, so even if every single man in the other four companies was at Peter Muhlenberg's sermon and enlisted on the spot, it couldn't have amounted to the 300 claimed by H.A. Muhlenberg. Add to this that only one of these four remaining companies was raised in a county near enough to Woodstock for it to be realistic to think that the men might have attended Muhlenberg's church, and another didn't even begin forming until April, and there is just no way that H.A. Muhlenberg's story could be true. Another problem with H.A. Muhlenberg's account is his placing the date of the sermon in the middle of January. Similar variations of the story, most of which date it to January 21, also have this problem. The problem is that Peter Muhlenberg wouldn't have been in Woodstock in the middle of January, or even on January 21. Although receiving his commission on January 12, which under other circumstances would make January 21 the likely date, he received it at the Virginia Convention in Williamsburg, at which he was also a delegate. The convention didn't adjourn until Saturday, January 20, and the records indicate that Muhlenberg stayed to the end. Obviously, he could not have reached Woodstock by the next day. H.A. Muhlenberg's next two sources, "Howe's Historical Collections of Virginia" and "Rogers's Remembrancer of American Heroes, Statesmen, and Sages," simply copy verbatim from the last two sentences of the two years after the fact, second hand account in James Thacher's journal entry, so neither can be considered an independent source. From Henry Howe's Historical Collections of Virginia: Gen. Peter Muhlenburg was a native of Pennsylvania, and by profession a clergyman of the Lutheran order. At the breaking out of the revolution, he was a young man about thirty years of age, and pastor of a Lutheran church at Woodstock. In 1776, he received the commission of colonel, and was requested to raise a regiment among the Germans of the valley. Having in his pulpit inculcated the principles of liberty, he found no difficulty in enlisting a regiment. He entered his pulpit with his sword and cockade, preached his farewell sermon, and the next day marched at the head of his regiment to join the army.(5) From Thomas Jones Rogers's A New American Biographical Dictionary: Or, Rememberancer of the Departed Heroes, Sages, and Statesmen of America: MUHLENBERG, PETER, a brave and distinguished officer during the revolutionary war, was a native of Pennsylvania. In early life he yielded to the wishes of his venerable father, the patriarch of the German Lutheran church in Pennsylvania, by becoming a minister of the Episcopal church, and participating in the spirit of the times, exchanged his clerical profession for that of a soldier. Having in his pulpit inculcated the principles of liberty, and the cause of his country, he found no difficulty in enlisting a regiment of soldiers, and he was appointed their commander. He entered his pulpit with his sword and cockade, preached his farewell sermon, and the next day marched at the head of his regiment to join the army.(6) H.A. Muhlenberg's last source, "Baird's Religion in America," is no better. Baird didn't copy Thacher word for word like Howe and Rogers, but cited Thacher's Military Journal in the following footnote. In one instance, an Episcopal Clergyman of Virginia, the Rev. Mr. Muhlenburg, relinquished his charge, accepted a commission as colonel in the American army, raised a regiment among his own parishioners, served through the whole war, and retired from the service at its close with the rank of a brigadier-general. The last sermon that he ever preached to his people before he left for the camp, was delivered in military dress. -- Thatcher's "Military Journal," p. 152.(7) So, why has this story remained so popular for so many years? Well, in part it's because of a poem. The poem, first published in 1862, was part of Thomas Buchanan Read's The Wagoner of the Alleghanies. A Poem of the Days of Seventy-six. While Read's story is set on the banks of the Skuylkill in Pennsylvania, and includes many references to the actual historical events that took place in that area, it also has some parts that are loosely based on stories from elsewhere. One of these is the Peter Muhlenberg story. In Read's original poem, as it appeared in The Wagoner of the Alleghanies, the church was at Berkley Manor, the Pennsylvania setting of the rest of the story, and the minister was a man with "snowy locks," not a young man of thirty like Muhlenburg. The story appears in a section of Read's poem titled"The Brave at Home," about the women preparing to say goodbye to the men -- mothers to sons, wives to husbands, and girlfriends to boyfriends. In fact, part of Read's description of the scene inside the church focused on Esther and Edgar, a young couple who would be separated when Edgar went off to war. The pastor came; his snowy locks Hallowed his brow of thought and care; And, calmly as shepherds lead their flocks, He led into the house of prayer. Forgive the student Edgar there If his enchanted eyes would roam, And if his thoughts soared not beyond, And if his heart glowed warmly fond Beneath his hopes' terrestrial dome. To him the maiden seemed to stand, Veiled in the glory of the morn, At the bar of the heavenly bourne, A guide to the golden holy land. When came the service' low response, Hers seemed an angel's answering tongue; When with the singing choir she sung, O'er all the rest her sweet notes rung, As if a silver bell were swung Mid bells of iron and of bronze. At times, perchance, -- oh, happy chance! -- Their lifting eyes together met, Like violet to violet, Casting a dewy greeting glance. For once be Love, young Love, forgiven, That here, in a bewildered trance, He brought the blossoms of romance And waved them at the gates of heaven.(8) "The Brave at Home" and "The Rising," the section immediately preceding it in The Wagoner of the Alleghanies, were popularized in the 1860s by the actor James Edward Murdoch, who did poetry readings to raise money to care for the wounded soldiers during the Civil War. In the late 1800s and early 1900s, Thomas Buchanan Read's poetry became very popular in elocution and reading books. Among the most often seen Read selections in these books were excerpts from the"The Rising" and "The Brave at Home," combined in various ways into one poem which began to appear under titles such as "The Rising in 1776" or "The Revolutionary Rising." In these condensed versions, sections like the one above were removed, which conveniently got rid of the description of the pastor having "snowy locks." Interestingly, every single one of the books I can find that contains a note that this was about the Muhlenberg disrobing story also just happens to use a version of the poem in which the "snowy locks" verse is omitted. Typical of this are William Holmes McGuffey's readers, which included a few stanzas from "The Rising" about Lexington and Concord, and then jumped to the following, from "The Brave at Home," omitting the section containing the stanza above, which falls after the first verse. 5. Within its shade of elm and oak The church of Berkley Manor stood: There Sunday found the rural folk, And some esteemed of gentle blood, In vain their feet with loitering tread Passed 'mid the graves where rank is naught: All could not read the lesson taught In that republic of the dead. 6. The pastor rose: the prayer was strong; The psalm was warrior David's song; The text, a few short words of might, -- "The Lord of hosts shall arm the right!" 7. He spoke of wrongs too long endured, Of sacred rights to be secured; Then from his patriot tongue of flame The startling words for Freedom came. The stirring sentences he spake Compelled the heart to glow or quake, And, rising on his theme's broad wing, And grasping in his nervous hand The imaginary battle brand, In face of death he dared to fling Defiance to a tyrant king. 8. Even as he spoke, his frame, renewed In eloquence of attitude, Rose, as it seemed, a shoulder higher; Then swept his kindling glance of fire From startled pew to breathless choir; When suddenly his mantle wide His hands impatient flung aside, And, lo! he met their wondering eyes Complete in all a warrior's guise. 9. A moment there was awful pause, -- When Berkley cried, "Cease, traitor! cease! God's temple is the house of peace!" The other shouted, "Nay, not so, When God is with our righteous cause: His holiest places then are ours, His temples are our forts and towers That frown upon the tyrant foe: In this the dawn of Freedom's day There is a time to fight and pray!" 10. And now before the open door -- The warrior priest had ordered so -- The enlisting trumpet's sudden soar Rang through the chapel, o'er and o'er, Its long reverberating blow, So loud and clear, it seemed the ear Of dusty death must wake and hear. And there the startling drum and fife Fired the living with fiercer life; While overhead with wild increase, Forgetting its ancient toll of peace, The great bell swung as ne'er before: It seemed as it would never cease; And every word its ardor flung From off its jubilant iron tongue Was, "WAR! WAR! WAR!" 11. "Who dares"--this was the patriot's cry, As striding from the desk he came -- "Come out with me, in Freedom's name, For her to live, for her to die?" A hundred hands flung up reply, A hundred voices answered "I!" (9) The following is from McGuffey's note on the sixth verse: 6. The pastor. This was John Peter Gabriel Muhlenberg, who was at this time a minister at Woodstock, in Virginia. He was a leading spirit among those opposed to Great Britain, and in 1775 he was elected colonel of a Virginia regiment. The above poem describes his farewell sermon. At its close he threw off his ministerial gown, and appeared in full regimental dress. Almost every man in the congregation enlisted under him at the church door. ...(10) As mentioned at the beginning of this post, the History Detectives did find the robe itself to be authentic. It was, in fact, owned by Peter Muhlenberg and given to Paul Henkel, a Lutheran minister in New Market, a town near Woodstock. According to one source, Muhlenberg was not well received in his former home upon his return from the war. The reason for this less than enthusiastic welcome is not clear, so I still have some more work to do on this story, but this does appear to be when Muhlenberg gave the robe to Henkel. 1. Henry A. Muhlenberg, The Life of Major-General Peter Muhlenberg of the Revolutionary Army, (Philadelphia: Carey and Hart, 1849), 50-54. 2. ibid., 337. 3. Samuel Kercheval, A History of the Valley of Virginia, (Woodstock, VA: John Gatewood, 1850), 124-125. 4. James Thacher, M.D., A Military Journal, During the American Revolutionary War from 1775 to 1783; Describing Interesting Events and Transactions of this Period; with Numerous Historical Facts and Anecdotes, from the Original Manuscript, (Boston: Cottons and Barnard, 1827), 151-152. 5. Henry Howe, Historical Collections of Virginia, (Charleston, SC: Babcock & Co., 1845), 468-469.6. 6. Thomas Jones Rogers, A New American Biographical Dictionary: Or, Rememberancer of the Departed Heroes, Sages, and Statesmen of America, (Easton, PA: Thomas J. Rogers, 1824), 366. 7. Robert Baird, Religion in America: Or an Account of the Origin, Relation to the State, and Present Condition of the Evangelical Churches in the united States, (New York: Harper & Brothers, 1844), 113n. 8. Thomas Buchanan Read, The Wagoner of the Alleghanies. A Poem of the Days of Seventy-six, (Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott & Co., 1866), 88-89. 9. McGuffey's Fifth Eclectic Reader, (New York: American Book Company, 1907), 201-203. 10. ibid., 203-204. To discuss this story, sign up for a free account Ron Paul co-sponsors H. Res. 888 \| 4 comments (4 topical, 0 hidden) comments (4 topical, 0 hidden) Ron Paul co-sponsors H. Res. 888 \| 4 comments (4 topical, 0 hidden) comments (4 topical, 0 hidden)
A San Jose janitor has been charged with two violent sex attacks – less than a month apart – on young women who were walking home from work along the same stretch of a busy roadway. Milton Meza, 29, was arrested on Oct. 4 after being identified through DNA testing from evidence found after both nighttime assaults, according to the Santa Clara County District Attorney. Meza is charged with kidnapping, rape, and assault with the intent to commit rape. He is in custody with no bail,and is scheduled to next appear in court on Jan. 21. “This case illustrates the combination of excellent police work and the effectiveness of DNA databases,” prosecutor Clarissa Hamilton said in a statement. Around 11:30 p.m. on Sept. 7, the first woman reported being attacked as she was walking home from work along a sidewalk beside McKee Road near Interstate 680. The defendant grabbed the 18-year-old and pulled her into some bushes. He choked her, smashed her head against the ground, threatened to kill her, and sexually assaulted her, prosecutors said. She was helped by a passerby, who saw her on a median strip frantically seeking help. The second victim was attacked on Oct. 1 as she was walking home from work at 11:15 a.m. along the same stretch of sidewalk where the previous victim was attacked. In this case, prosecutors said the 20-year-old woman was on the phone with her boyfriend when she was attacked and pulled into the bushes. She managed to get away and ran for help. Police found DNA evidence that led them to the first assault and Meza. Anyone with information about the cases should call San Jose Police Detective Michael Nasser at (408) 277-4102.
Since you have just recovered from the white-gold/black-blue dress, and then the color shifting track top, here’s another color experiment that is messing with people’s perceptions and dividing opinion. The experiment was created by Optical Express to show off the wide variety of visual interpretations we can create from the same stimulus. Check out the color above. Would you say it is blue or green? Now look at the central image, labeled 2, below. What color would you say that is? Image credit: Optical Express Out of 1,000 respondents, 64 percent said the first (top) image showed the color green, while 32 percent believed it to be blue. However, when the same participants were asked to label the color when it was laid next to two other noticeably blue shades, over 90 percent said it was green. According to Optical Express, the values on the RGB (red, blue, green) color model show that the image has 0 red, 122 green, and 116 blue – meaning the color is technically green. Although, understandably, no answer is concretely correct as we all perceive and interpret color in different ways. If your interpretation of the color is significantly different to others, however, it could hint at a form of color blindness. It is also worth considering that language also plays a big role in this, as it could simply be we define colors differently even if we see and understand them to have the same qualities. Stephen Hannan, Clinical Services Director at Optical Express, explains: “Every single person is unique and as a result, our brains process information differently. Depending on how you interpret colors, one person might see it one way, while the very next person who looks at it might see it differently,” MailOnline reports. “Light enters the eye and hits the retina, which is the light-sensitive tissue at the back of the eye,” he added. “The light is converted to an electrical signal which travels along the Optic Nerve to the Visual Cortex in the brain. The brain makes its own unique interpretation of this electrical signal.”
Five villagers including two women were killed in mortar shelling and firing by Pakistani troops across the international border in India's northern state, Jammu and Kashmir. Indian news channel NDTV reported that 25 people were injured in the cross-border firing. "Pakistani Rangers resorted to heavy and unprovoked firing and shelling of mortars on 10 border outposts and civilian areas along the international border in Arnia belt of Jammu district from 10 p.m. last night," a spokesman for the Indian Border Security Force (BSF) told the Press Trust of India (PTI) news agency. BSF soldiers guarding the Indian border returned fire. No casualties have been reported from Pakistan. Villages in the Indian side of the border suffered severe damages and loss of livestock, according to Devender Singh, sub-divisional Police Officer who spoke to PTI. "People living in critical zones along the border will be evacuated," he added. Both India and Pakistan stake a claim to the Himalayan region of Jammu and Kashmir and have fought three wars over the disputed territory since 1947, after winning independence from British colonial rule. The two governments agreed to a ceasefire in 2003, which has been violated several times. There have been several attempts to restore peace talks between the two countries, which have never really taken off after terrorist attacks in Mumbai in November 2008 that saw more than 160 people were killed. India accuses Pakistan of harboring terrorists and supporting the Muslim separatist movement in Kashmir - an accusation which Pakistan denies. mg/mz (pti, dpa)
What's the market value of a Pokémon game that Nintendo's parent company only kinda sorta controls and publishes? About $9 billion. That's how much value Nintendo's stock has gained since last Wednesday, with the shares shooting up 25% on Monday alone. In total, they have risen by almost 40% since the release of Pokémon Go, reflecting investors' glee at Nintendo finally using its beloved characters and intellectual property to make a hit mobile game. The gaming giant has largely sat out the mobile era, focusing instead on making games for its own consoles. But now that is has a smash hit on its hands — one that sits atop the iOS App Store for free and top-grossing apps despite bugs, connectivity issues, alleged armed robberies, and one Wyoming teen finding a dead body while playing it. Nintendo was valued at almost $28 billion on Monday afternoon. But the company won't be collecting all the money generated by Pokémon Go. Instead, it owns stakes in both the Pokémon Company and Niantic, the game's developer, which spun out from Google's parent company Alphabet last year. Analysts at the Japanese investment bank Nomura said that the huge surge in Nintendo's stock price "looks excessive based on profits from Pokémon Go alone," which they estimated to be only about $10 to $20 million annually for Nintendo itself.
For the Gods perceive things in the future, ordinary people things in the present, but the wise perceive things about to happen — Philostratus, Life of Apollonius of Tyana, VIII, 7 What a difference a month makes! In Bottoming Out (321Energy, September 10, 2008) I predicted that oil prices would settle in the $75-$80 range (NYMEX WTI monthly average) by 2010 or in 2009 if the economy continued to decline. Today's bargain price for a barrel of oil is about $73. I still believe the longer term 2009 price will fall into line with my original prediction when OPEC makes deep production cuts and the current credit crunch begins to ease. A recession in the United States is in full swing even as we wait for lagging government indicators to catch up with the Conference Board and reality. Our oil consumption is a proxy signaling levels of economic activity. The IEA's September Oil Market Report (OMR) states that "the correlation between economic activity and oil demand is very strong. Between 1983 and 2007, US GDP grew by 3.2% per year on average, while demand expanded by 1.1% per year on average over the same period" (graph below). U.S. oil demand is way down. Last week's EIA status report shows that "product supplied" (actual consumption) in the United States fell to 18.660 million barrels per day (b/d), the lowest level since July, 1999 (xls data series). This week's report is even lower at 18.614 million b/d. Dramatically lower oil consumption is yet another sign of our ailing economy. The plunge in demand does not betoken a response to high oil prices or a sudden miraculous increase in our energy efficiency. The 4-week moving averages show that product supplied fell from 20.292 million b/d in the last week of August to 18.660 in the first week of October, a fall of 8% in a mere 6 weeks. This dip occurred after oil prices, which averaged about $133/barrel (NYMEX WTI monthly) in both June & July, fell to $116.61 in August and then further to $103.90 in September. No doubt high oil prices have prompted Americans to curtail some of their oil consumption. We would also expect some lag between the high summer prices and falling demand as consumers take the time necessary to make adjustments. Some of the downturn is due to regional spot shortages following the hurricanes. However, the short-run price elasticity of gasoline demand (discussed here) could not possibly be as large as the demand swan dive indicates. The price elasticity of diesel fuel demand is probably even lower. Distillate fuel oil demand was 6.9% below the 2007 level in the latest EIA report, which points to a decrease in trucking volumes. Jet fuel was down 6.4%, signaling a similar fall in air travel. Sagging U.S. car sales, even where people choose more fuel-efficient vehicles, could not have had much effect in such a short period of time. "The research firm [Global Insight] predicts U.S. new-car sales to total 13.6 million this year, a 16 percent drop from the 16.1 million vehicles sold in 2007." Finally, rising jobless claims must be affecting vehicle miles traveled because, as CNN Money's Steve Hargreaves helpfully points out "unemployed people tend to drive a lot less" (Oil Prices: Buckle Up for a Wild Ride (October 8, 2008). The IEA's September Oil Market Report states that "The oil price doubled in real terms between 1978 and 1980, leading to a 9.9% oil demand contraction over that period." Despite the much lower energy intensity (energy consumption per GDP) in the United States now, which is supposed make oil use less sensitive to economic conditions, demand has fallen 8.9% compared to the 2nd week of October, 2007, with most of that coming in the last 7 weeks. Such is the depth of the economic slowdown in the United States. What about the longer term outlook for the oil markets? The Medium Term Economic Outlook I assume the correlation between GDP growth and oil demand (graph above) since 1983 will remain largely the same in the medium-term (2009-2013). Making a significant increase (>10%) in our oil efficiency without our sacrificing economic health is a gradual process that takes a decade or more unless society makes a concerted effort along those lines. Achieving greater efficiency also depends on the pace of new car sales, which depends in turn on the strength of the economic recovery. So we must look at the economic forecasts to assess how much of a comeback OECD oil consumption will make after current recession. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has released their World Economic Outlook (October, 2008). The advanced (OECD, without Eastern/Central Europe) economies are forecast to recover quickly after 2009 with real GDP rising to 3% and then falling to 2.5% in 2013 (graph below and Table A1 Summary of World Output, p. 259). The emerging economies, which have clearly demonstrated higher output growth since the mid-1990s, slow down during the recession but recover a bit to achieve a growth rate of 6.9% by 2013. Many observers don't believe the IMF's optimistic forecast. In How to Get Growth Back on Track, Michael Mandel casts doubt on whether the output growth recorded previously in 2004-2007 was real, citing stagnant real wages and salaries, Americans' over-reliance on credit and dubious worker productivity figures. This view will come as no surprise to those who read Our Phony Economy (ASPO-USA, May 21, 2008) or are familiar with the work of Kevin Phillips. The main product and export of the United States now appears to have been mortgage-backed collateralized debt obligations. Mandel's point is that if recent growth was illusory, how are we going to achieve such growth levels after the current downturn? Mandel also cites pessimists (realists?) who would argue with the IMF: "There will be less innovation [in finance] and less credit expansion, so the speed limit for the growth of the economy will be lower," says Mohammed El-Erian, co-chief executive at Pimco, the giant bond-fund manager." This will be the regime for several years." Adds Rajeev Dhawan, director of the Economic Forecasting Center at Georgia State University: "This credit problem, whenever it's solved, will have its fallout on the future growth rate of the economy. It is going to cost resources that could have been used for other things." [like energy infrastructure...] China remains the key to all future oil consumption scenarios. The IMF expects China to keep growing, and so do the Chinese (The Guardian, October 10, 2008). China's economy will grow 10.1 percent in 2008 and 9.5 percent in 2009 despite the crisis engulfing global markets, the government's top think-tank [the IMF] said in a report released on Friday [cited above, see Table A4, p. 265] The forecasts by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) are more optimistic than those of the IMF, which said this week it expects 9.7 percent growth in Chinese gross domestic product this year and 9.3 percent in 2009. "The financial crisis and the world economic slowdown will have an impact on us, but they won't change the fundamentals of the Chinese economy," Chen Jiagui, vice-head of CASS, told a conference. China's GDP expanded 10.1 percent in the second quarter from a year earlier, down from 11.9 percent in all of 2007. "The slowdown in 2008 and 2009 should be read as a normal fluctuation in growth. There is not enough evidence to say that an economic downturn is taking place," the think-tank said in the report. Domestic investment and consumption would keep the world's fourth-largest economy on track, the report said. [China's China's GDP expanded 10.1 percent in the second quarter from a year earlier, down from 11.9 percent in all of 2007. "The slowdown in 2008 and 2009 should be read as a normal fluctuation in growth. There is not enough evidence to say that an economic downturn is taking place," the think-tank said in the report. Domestic investment and consumption would keep the world's fourth-largest economy on track, the report said.[China's 3rd quarter GDP growth slowed to 9%.] Even now during the worst part of the economic downturn, China's "crude-oil imports totaled 15.03 million metric tons (3.54 million b/d) in September, about 10% above the 13.66 million tons a year earlier" (or 4.89 million b/d, depending on the source). Here's a projection for future Chinese oil demand, assuming their domestic production plateau (about 4 million b/d) continues: I believe anemic growth in the OECD countries along with the continued strong growth forecast by the IMF in the emerging nations is the most likely scenario in 2009-2013. As I discussed in Bottoming Out, non-OECD oil demand will slow a bit during the current downturn but should remain robust in 2009 and thereafter. American oil demand is falling more precipitously than I had imagined possible even a month ago, so demand growth in the developing world (the BRIC countries, the Persian Gulf) will not completely offset falling consumption in the OECD in the next year or so. American oil consumption is also likely to rebound some from its current level in the coming months. Looking at what we have so far, the following scenario looks reasonable: The correlation between GDP growth and oil demand (IEA graph above) since 1983 will remain largely the same in the medium-term (2009-2013) China and other developing economies will be consuming more oil in the coming years as their economic growth slows but remains strong OECD oil average annual consumption will bottom out somewhere well below 2006 consumption levels in 2009 Economic recovery in the advanced economies will be slow, characterized by low growth rates in the medium-term The rebound in OECD oil consumption will thus lag well behind burgeoning consumption in the emerging economies Taken together, none of this is particularly alarming as long as the word's oil supply can continue to grow. But if we add the following condition The global crude oil supply will hit a permanent ceiling in 2011, as argued in Peak Oil Is A Done Deal (ASPO-USA, July 16, 2008) then the implications for the U.S. and the world's other advanced economies are enormous, and it is to this I now turn. Demand Destruction versus Suppression The IEA's Oil Market Report discusses the consequences of the decrease in U.S. oil consumption. As oil demand continues to shrink in the OECD as a result of adverse fundamentals – the economic slowdown and the high oil price – there is ongoing debate on whether this loss will be permanent or temporary – i.e., whether demand has been ‘destroyed’ or merely ‘suppressed’, notably in the US, the largest OECD (and global) oil consuming country. Although, at first glance, historical evidence would lend some credence to the ‘suppression’ view, the ‘destruction’ case may be more persuasive and points to profound long‐term consequences. The 'suppression' argument relies on what happened after high oil prices following the oil supply shock of the late '70s and early '80s led to a demand crash. After 1983, an increasing global oil supply supported rising OECD demand, a trend that continued more or less uninterrupted until 2006. This cyclic view depends on the idea that a similar pattern will re-emerge this time, with lower oil prices stimulating demand again after the current recession. This view assumes, contrary to the supply data since 2005, that oil production can respond to demand as required. The IEA argues, correctly in my view, that falling OECD consumption in the last few years likely represents a permanent move toward conservation and efficient oil use, i.e. we already reached peak demand in the U.S. and elsewhere in the developed world in 2006. (See pp. 8-9 of the OMR to read the discussion.) The IEA believes a "more pertinent question" is ...whether the ongoing structural shift towards greater energy efficiency will be more pronounced than in the past. Even though the current price slide from its July all‐time record high is largely related to fundamentals (the severe contraction in OECD demand, most notably in the US), the oil market will likely remain tight given the continued strength of demand growth outside the OECD and supply‐side constraints. From that perspective, sustained high prices and sluggish economic activity (the economic rebound in the OECD is not expected to occur before late 2009 at best) will continue to support the current wave of structural adjustments, which will further reduce US consumption per capita in the medium to long term. [emphasis added] The ongoing and permanent realignment of global oil consumption (graph below) is now accelerating. The OECD's share of the oil pie was 62% in 1990 but only 57% in 2007. Following current trends, oil demand in the developing world will make up about 46% of global oil consumption by 2011, a substantial redistribution of who gets to consume the available oil. And by 2015, the non-OECD share may be closing in on 50% (graphs below). For example, once China is consuming 9 million barrels per day in 2011, they will be loathe to give back any of that share to the world market, even if government fuel subsidies are lifted in the future. The same is true of Saudi Arabia, Russia or India. In a future price competition for oil between wealthy China and the debt-ridden United States, who would you place your money on? In the past a rising tide lifted all boats. The oil pie was much larger in 2007 than it was in 1990, which left room for growth for all oil consumers. That won't be possible this time around if a peak in the world oil supply occurs in the medium-term. Thus we come to the real meaning of the IEA's "continued strength of demand growth outside the OECD and [oil] supply constraints." Eventually, every barrel of oil will be "allocated" according to who is using what, and only competitive price wars for oil will change the established arrangement, although the specific price/demand dynamics are sure to be complex and, from our vantage point in 2008, unpredictable. The IEA states that "sustained high prices and sluggish economic activity ... will continue to support the current wave of structural adjustments." Yes, that's the hope, but the writing is already on the wall if my argument is correct. Whatever amount of oil we're consuming in 2011 is likely to be the most oil we're ever going to get to use. We will be forced to make structural adjustments or suffer the economic consequences. I don't believe the full implications of this accelerating structural shift in who consumes the world's oil have been understood in the United States, the European Union, Mexico, Korea, Japan, or by the IEA itself. Non-OPEC Production Going Down Hill I've made the "peak oil" argument in my Done Deal article and elsewhere, so I will not belabor the point here. However, the EIA's October Short Term Energy Outlook contains important updates about declining oil production outside of OPEC, thus reinforcing how urgent it is for us to examine how relative oil scarcity will affect our economic growth in the future. From the EIA: Non‐OPEC supply had been expected to increase in the second half of the year after declining by almost 300,000 bbl/d during the first half of 2008 compared with year‐earlier levels. However, a series of supply disruptions, especially the closure of the Baku‐Tbilisi‐Ceyhan oil pipeline and the impacts of Hurricanes Gustav and Ike upon the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, led to a revision in this Outlook. As a result, non‐OPEC supply is expected to decline by about 115,000 bbl/d during the second half of 2008, compared with the year‐earlier level, and consequently non‐OPEC supply growth in 2008 is now expected to be negative for the first time since 2005. The 2009 growth in non‐OPEC supply of 730,000 bbl/d is expected to largely meet the anticipated increase in global consumption, barring delays in new projects and unanticipated disruptions. The United States, Azerbaijan, and Brazil represent the bulk of non‐OPEC supply growth in 2009, although some of the growth in two of these countries simply represents a return to normal production conditions. Let's put this in perspective. When I wrote These Are the Good Years (ASPO-USA, February 20, 2008), the EIA was forecasting that non-OPEC production would grow 0.9 million b/d in 2008 and 1.5 million b/d in 2009. At the time, I cut the EIA's forecast in half (over both years). When I published Peak Oil Is A Done Deal, the EIA still expected growth of 230,000 barrels per day in 2008 and 830,000 in 2009. Now, the EIA reports that non-OPEC production declined in 2008, partially due to the BTC and hurricane disruptions, and will only grow by 730,000 barrels per day in 2009, some of which "simply represents a return to normal production conditions." How will lower oil prices affect the gloomy non-OPEC situation?1 It depends on the marginal cost of production for new projects. The average cost for the most expensive new projects -- known as the marginal cost of production -- is about $75-$80 a barrel, according to London-based analysts Bernstein Research. "In the long run we continue to believe that oil and gas prices will trend up in line with the marginal cost of supply," said Bernstein. "However, prices should continue to cycle between the cash cost at the bottom, $45-$50 a barrel, and the price of demand destruction, $110-$125 at the top." I think it unlikely we'll see $110-$125 during a U-shaped recession (barring a severe disruption) but $50/barrel is possible, which would signal a total economic collapse in the OECD countries. A sustained run of oil prices below $70/barrel will certainly delay new oil projects, but volatile prices in the range Bernstein Research cites will have the same effect. In both cases, low prices, along with lack of capital for upstream oil exploration & production, would severely impair the non-OPEC world's ability to replace (let alone exceed) declining output in the medium-term Examples of price-project dependencies are not hard to find. Concerning Jack/St. Malo in the ultra-deepwater Walker Ridge, Gulf of Mexico, Chevron Vice-Pres. Steven P. Thurston recently said "we believe we will find a commercial solution," but obviously a commercial solution depends on oil prices staying (well) above their break-even point. At the tar sands, new projects, not existing ones, will certainly be in trouble (Calgary Herald, October 17, 2008). As First Energy's William Lacey was quick to point out Thursday, oilsands operations did not shut down when oil hit $10 a barrel in 1998 and early 1999. "They will keep running, no matter what . . . unless there is a massive shift somewhere . . . these are not easy projects to shut down or start up. But it's the new projects like Fort Hills that we estimate need a $115 oil price to achieve a 10 per cent after-tax return, that are in the territory of now being uneconomic," he said. As to what the break-even oil price is for these operations, Lacey says the way to look at it is the cash cost per barrel to operate. The cash cost calculation typically includes operating costs, including expenses such as general and administrative costs, royalties and interest expense. A recent analysis by Paul Horsnell of Barclays summarized the precarious supply situation down the road. There is a strong asymmetry on the supply side in that quantities tend to respond faster to sharply lower than sharply higher prices. It does not take long at low prices for supply to be compromised right along the curve. Once projects are canceled or delayed, it can take a long period of higher prices before they start to move forward again. Our view is that sub-$90 per barrel, the world faces a serious supply side crunch as little as two years away. While all the attention is on demand, in the background credit conditions, liquidity preference and price uncertainty are such as to mean that large chunks are already falling off the supply profile for both oil and alternative energies. We would then tend to disagree with the view that a falling oil price is the main bright spot. If the source of the price fall is an expectation of a weaker global economy, and if it is just setting the world up for a more severe energy crisis, then that does not look like unambiguously good news. I would be remiss if I concluded this section without noting that the EIA's Outlook points out that U.S. "domestic oil production has been steadily declining since the 1970s and the 2008 projection for crude oil production falls under 5 million bbl/d for the first time since 1946." You read that correctly — since 1946. The dip below 5 million b/d is due to the hurricane disruptions, so it is only a temporary setback, but this statistic should serve as a warning to America to sober up. Oil production above 5 million b/d will likely become a thing of the past after 2012. The sharp price rise to $147/barrel back in June also serves as a warning of Things To Come. Worse yet, as production outside of OPEC falters, our dependency on the cartel increases, which will not come as welcome news to the unenviable Barack Obama, who has pledged to get American off Persian Gulf and Venezuelan oil in 10 years. Perhaps he should worry about replacing Mexican imports and prepare for less oil from the tar sands, which "could be to the oil industry what sub-prime lending was to the banking sector." A Race Against Time Shouldn't we welcome decreased oil consumption in the United States? Less demand will decrease our imports, lowering the tax on American consumers and shoring up our trade balance. To the extent that reduced oil use does not affect our economic health, implying a further decrease in our energy intensity with respect to liquids fuels, we should be happy with our ability to get along without the oil. But if reduced oil consumption in the U.S. after 2010 begins to cause economic hardship, impairing our ability to get back on our feet again, we should be quite concerned. Wars get started over this kind of thing. The IEA believes a structural shift may be in place, citing a move to more efficient vehicles, the drop in vehicle-miles-traveled, the tentative demise of suburban sprawl, and changes in business practices to promote efficiency. But the jury is still out: The available evidence so far, albeit admittedly anecdotal, suggests that US consumers are both expecting the oil price to stay high and the economy to remain subdued. Nevertheless, we have kept our US 2009 forecast largely unchanged until more tangible proof of these trends becomes available. If my analysis of our longer term oil consumption is correct, or nearly so, then we might view the next 3 years as a window of opportunity, our last chance to reduce our oil dependency through voluntary structural changes. Otherwise, all changes will be made under duress. These adjustments, in line with the new spirit of socialism, will have to be promoted, coordinated and largely paid for through federal policies that specifically target oil consumption. Unfortunately, there is little in Barack Obama's energy plan that indicates an appropriate level of concern, whereas ample measures are proposed to fight global warming. Alas, Democrats have never understood the oil industry and probably never will. C'est la vie. Contact the author at dave.aspo@gmail.com Notes 1. Here's an extraordinary statement: OPEC President Chekib Khelil and officials from Iran and Qatar have called on the group to reduce output after prices dropped from a record over $147 a barrel in July on slowing demand in developed economies like the United States. Khelil on Monday said non-OPEC oil producers like Russia, Norway and Mexico also should cut production to help stabilize sagging prices. He said that if oil prices fell below $70 a barrel, many oil projects internationally “will be delayed or die.” Norway, Mexico, Russia cut production? That should be no problem! Norway and Mexico have been "cutting" production for years now, and Russia started "cutting" production this year.
If the 50 states were each independent countries, Alabama's rate of incarceration would be the fifth-highest of any nation in the world. That's one finding in a new study of global incarceration rates conducted by the Prison Policy Initiative. Alabama's rate of incarceration - at 987 people in jail or prison for every 100,000 people - dwarfs those of every nation around the globe, including those of troubled countries like Iraq, Cuba and Syria. The state's incarceration rate even far exceeds that of the world's most-incarcerated nation, the U.S., which has 693 people behind bars for every 100,000 people, according to the study. Alabama is far from the only jail-happy state in the South, though. Washington, D.C. imprisons a higher proportion of its population than any other state, country or territory at a whopping 1,196 people per 100,000. But Louisiana and Georgia aren't far behind, with 1,143 incarcerated people per 100,000 and 1,004 incarcerated people per 100,000, respectively. "Louisiana has been called 'the world's prison capital. The state imprisons more of its people, per head, than any of its U.S. counterparts. First among Americans means first in the world,'" the study states. "But in the global context, how far behind are the other 49 states, really? This report finds that the disturbing answer is "'Not very far.'" Even the least-incarcerating U.S. states far outpace the vast majority of the world's nations when it comes to incarceration rates. "The two U.S. states that incarcerate the least are Vermont and Massachusetts, but if those states became independent nations, they would rank as the 11th and 12th greatest users of incarceration on the planet," the study states. "So while a handful of nations with recent social and political traumas have incarceration rates that are similar to our least punitive states, the rich stable countries that this nation considers its peers have incarceration rates five to ten times lower than the United States does."
US Republican presidential candidates Donald Trump, Ted Cruz and Marc Rubio might not agree on much but there's one thing their constituents, and in Trump's case neighbours, have in common: a passion for lesbian porn. While the trio lock horns to earn their party's nomination to stand for the White House, visitors to PornHub who live in New York, where Trump hails from, Texas, where Cruz is state senator, and Florida, where Rubio is also a senator, are most likely to enter the word "lesbian" into the website's search bar. And their home states aren't the only ones. Most of the West, Midwest and East Coast, also search for the word, making it the top ranking one in more states than any other. Stepping up north, we find that "step sister" is the preferred search in states like Wyoming, Montana, Minnesota, Ohio and Maine, while "step mom" scores big in Alaska, Washington, Kentucky and New Hampshire. Bernie Sanders has been painted as the hard-left candidate and it appears his constituents in Vermont are keen on their art – "cartoon" was the most popular search term in the north-eastern state. In January the website revealed "lesbian" was also the most popular search term entered by British visitors in 2015, and eye-watering annual statistics showed it received 21.2 billion visits last year. The UK was the second most porn-hungry nation behind the United States followed by India, Canada and Germany.
A Mexican national who was originally arrested for allegedly being in possession of multiple guns and methamphetamine is now also facing charges for being in the U.S. illegally. Jose Alfredo Bustos-Bustos, an illegal immigrant, was arrested in January after being stopped in a vehicle by police, allegedly seizing more than 1,000 grams of meth, and later, nine firearms from his residence, according to court records obtained by Breitbart Texas. Police said they saw Bustos-Bustos involved in a drug exchange before pulling him over. When police searched Bustos-Bustos’ home, they allegedly found the following firearms: 9mm Smith & Wesson Pistol .25 caliber Hunter Firearms pistol .22 caliber Jennings pistol 9 mm HiPoint pistol 12 gauge Mossberg Shotgun 62 mm Norinco AK47 rifle .38 caliber Smith and Wesson Air Weight revolver .223 caliber M&P AR15 style rifle .38 caliber revolver with obliterated serial number Also inside the apartment, police say, was a statue of Saint Jesus Malverde, whom police said in court records is the patron saint of drug traffickers. After court hearings on the case, Bustos-Bustos was released on bond, despite his illegal immigrant status, until the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) filed a federal complaint nearly a month later, court records reveal. Bustos-Bustos was taken into federal custody by ICE, with the agency saying the illegal immigrant had a prior criminal history and had already been ordered to be deported by an immigration judge in Fresno, California. Bustos-Bustos was ordered to remain in ICE custody, as prosecutors are afraid that releasing him would prompt him to flee before he is charged. The illegal immigrant is awaiting a deportation hearing where he is expected to be deported. John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart Texas. Follow him on Twitter at @JxhnBinder.
AMD’s long awaited competitor to Nvidia’s GTX 1080 may be right around as the company teases the launch venue for its upcoming Vega GPU. The teaser came straight from the Senior Director, Global Marketing and Public Relations, Radeon Technologies Group at AMD Chris Hook. Who posted a picture of the launch venue for Vega on his facebook page. Vega is the code name of AMD’s next generation high performance graphics architecture featuring 14nm FinFET technology and second generation stacked High Bandwidth Memory. In many ways Vega is the successor to AMD’s last flagship graphics chip Fiji. The world’s very first GPU to feature high bandwidth memory and the heart and soul that powers AMD’s Fury X, Fury & Nano graphics cards. AMD Teases Vega GPU Launch, GTX 1080 Radeon Competitor May Be Coming Sooner Than Expected The VEGA teaser is a teaser in every sense of the word. Chris Hook did not reveal too much but just enough to hook us in, pun definitely intended. The photo he posted on his facebook page shows what looks like a large industrial space that’s in desperate need of “renovations” as Chris put it. Unless Hook is attempting some kind of elaborate prank here, this will be where the venue will eventually be held once the place is set up and ready to go. So it’s quite clear that while VEGA may very well be coming sooner than we had expected it’s still several months away at the very least. The VEGA GPU architecture was first announced by AMD‘s head of the Radeon Technologies Group Raja Koduri at the company’s big “Capsaicin” media event held earlier this year. Out of Capsaicin came the very first long term GPU roadmap that we’ve seen from AMD since the introduction of the very first GCN graphics products in 2011. the company’s Graphics Core Next architecture, or GCN for short, is now leveraged across the company’s entire graphics portfolio. From discrete GPUs, to APUs and console semi-custom SOCs. The just launched Polaris based RX 400 series products are based on the company’s 4th generation GCN architecture. According to several filed patents and some very interesting leaks via AMD’s engineering staff VEGA is based on a brand new iteration of GCN. At Capsaicin no specific launch dates were given for VEGA, not even Polaris for that matter. Despite the fact that it was it had been scheduled to launch just a few months after the event. VEGA In October…? With that being said, the company’s official roadmap suggested that VEGA would launch in 2017. We’ve heard some whispers since VEGA’s official announcement back in March which suggested that AMD was aggressively attempting to push the launch ahead to October of 2016, rather than early 2017. VEGA’s Development Reached A Major Milestone in June If you’ve been keeping taps on WCCF and hardware news you’ll remember that AMD’s Chief Architect of the Radeon Technologies Group Raja Koduri had revealed back in late June that VEGA had passed a major development milestone. In fact Koduri tweeted several photos of the celebration right after he delivered the news. Design team is thrilled with your response. Celebrated a milestone with the team. Long way to go before you see it pic.twitter.com/duQVBBGict — Raja Koduri (@GFXChipTweeter) June 23, 2016 Koduri did not offer much detail about what the milestone specifically was. It could have been the very first working silicon out of the fab, or final tapeout of the product. Whatever it was, it was clearly a huge deal. Incredibly proud of our gpu design team here in shanghai that delivered polaris family and next Vega pic.twitter.com/ejvFJW1DoY — Raja Koduri (@GFXChipTweeter) June 23, 2016 We broke the news on the Vega 10 code name in an exclusive back in January. This is the infamous “Greenland” reincarnate that AMD has been working on for so many years. The VEGA architecture hadn’t been announced until March, and the “Vega 10” chip hadn’t been mentioned in a public setting until Raja broke the news about the major milestone a couple of months ago. Now we have Chris Hook’s sneaky teaser. It definitely seems like the pace is picking up around VEGA. We’d be genuinely surprised if AMD did not at least announce one or both of its upcoming VEGA GPUs before the year’s end even if no products are launched. Vega 10 Specs WCCFTech Polaris Vega Pascal Pascal Pascal Year 2016 2017 2016 2016 2017 GPU Polaris 10 Vega 10 GP102 GP104 GP102 Graphics Card RX 480 TBA GTX TItan X Pascal GTX 1080 GTX 1080 Ti Process 14nm 14nm 16nm 16nm 16nm Transistors In Billions 5.7 TBA 12 7.2 12 Stream Processors 2304 4096 3584 2560 3328-3840 Performance 5.8 TFLOPS 12 TFLOPS 11 TFLOPS 9 TFLOPS 10 TFLOPS Memory 8GB GDDR5 16GB HBM2 12GB GDDR5X 8GB GDDR5X 12GB GDDR5X Memory Bus 256bit 4096bit 382bit 256bit 382bit Bandwidth 256 GB/s 512 GB/s 480 GB/s 320 GB/s 480 GB/s VEGA Built On 14nm FinFET – Features Second Generation – HBM2 – Stacked High Bandwidth Memory Leaked & rumored specs. The Fiji GPU powering the R9 Fury series is AMD’s largest ever graphics processing unit. It’s also the world’s first to feature the 3D structured, 2.5D stacked High Bandwidth Memory technology. This standard was co-invented by AMD and SK Hynix, one of the world’s largest memory makers. The advantages of vertically stacking dies are many. One of which is the enablement of significantly greater densities compared to GDDR5. HBM cubes also occupy a lot less space than GDDR5, allowing engineers to achieve tremendous area savings on the printed circuit board of the graphics card. This is what enabled AMD to make the popular R9 Nano, a tiny six inch graphics cards with 8 TFLOPS of compute. A figure that greatly overshadows similarly sized cards. There other advantages to HBM, namely how it’s packaged. Because the memory chips sit next to the GPU on an interposer, a very short distance away from the GPU die, it allows engineers to create immensely wider memory busses with reduced latency and very low power requirements. The end result translates to a memory standard that’s fast, scalable, very power efficient and very area efficient. VEGA Is All About Bringing HBM To The Masses The Radeon Technologies Group’s plan is to introduce HBM2 technology with the upcoming VEGA graphics architecture across more market segments compared to where the technology currently exists. Which is confined only to the highest end segment of the market. If everything goes according to plan VEGA will be the first architecture to bring HBM to all segments of the graphics market, up and down the stack. HBM2 is the second generation of the vertically stacked High Bandwidth Memory standard that AMD introduced last year with the Radeon R9 Fury X graphics card, the R9 Fury and the R9 Nano. Second generation High Bandwidth Memory is not only faster than the first generation but it also scales to capacities 8 times larger than HBM1. HBM2 feature 1GB per die and up to 8 Hi stacks for 8GB per cube. Which is eight times more than the highest capacity currently available per cube on HBM1. Additionally, HBM2 operates at twice the speed of HBM1 for double the memory bandwidth. This means that VEGA 10 can be configured with up to 32GB of HBM2 memory for a total of one terabyte/s of memory bandwidth. Paired with over four thousand next generation stream processors VEGA 10 will be the most potent graphics chip from AMD yet. That is until the next big thing comes out. As is the nature of the beast. AMD Radeon Graphics Architectures WCCFTech Year Consumer Product GPU Process Transistors In Billions Performance Memory Bandwidth Southern Islands 2012 HD 7970 Ghz Tahiti 28nm 4.3 4.1 TFLOPS 3GB GDDR5 264GB/s Volcanic Islands 2013 R9 290X Hawaii 28nm 6.2 5.6 TFLOPS 4GB GDDR5 320GB/s Caribbean Islands 2015 R9 Fury X Fiji 28nm 8.9 8.6 TFLOPS 4GB HBM1 512GB/s POLARIS 2016 RX 480 Polaris 10 14nm 5.7 5.2 TFLOPS 8GB GDDR5 256 GB/s VEGA 2017 RX Vega 64 Vega 10 14nm 12.5 13 TFLOPS 8GB HBM2 480GB/s VEGA Refresh VEGA 2 2018 2018 TBA TBA TBA Vega 20 12nm 7nm 12.5 TBA TBA TBA TBA 32GB HBM2 TBA 1 TB/s NAVI 2019 TBA Navi 10 7nm TBA TBA Nextgen Memory TBA
According to tech blog The Information, Google is planning on making a move into the home-security market and is seriously considering purchasing the security startup known as Dropcam via Nest, its latest acquisition for $3.2 billion which deals with developing energy saving thermostat and smoke alarms systems. The Google move comes as Apple is reportedly preparing to turn the iPad into a universal ‘home remote’ that could control everything from TVs to washing machines and lights. However, it isn’t clear at what stage the talks are at right now and whether they are progressing. Dropcam, a San Francisco-based security firm, which was founded in 2009 by Greg Duffy and Aamir Virani, offers cloud-based Wi-Fi video monitoring service with free live streaming, two-way talk and remote viewing using a $150 internet-connected camera. All of the functions are operated via a special app developed by the company. The app enables users to view live feeds, zoom and record footage. It also has a night vision mode with digital zoom, said the report on The Information. Dropcam recently unveiled a feature that uses video analysis technology and enables its cameras to detect unauthorized people sneaking about in your house. The cloud-powered software then automatically sends an alert to the account user. The company also has a subscription product that lets you record up to seven days’ worth of video from your Dropcam. You can go back at any time and review the footage and save clips. Dropcam’s CEO Greg Duffy revealed in a recent interview with Business Insider that the company has been growing steadily “on pretty significant numbers,” but refused to dwell into any particulars. It has been reported that the the startup has raised nearly $50 million so far. More and more companies have recently started focusing their attention towards the internet of things and developing services for smart items. Apple is rumored to be launching its own ‘smart home’ program at its developer conference next week, where as Microsoft revealed its own internet of things program for businesses at its own developer conference BUILD earlier this April. Google in the mean time acquired and clarified its goals for Nest under the leadership of its founder, Tony Fadell, an ex-Apple employee known popularly as the “Father of the iPod” explaining that Nest would serve to “reinvent unloved but important devices in the home.” It can be concluded that if Google successfully acquires Dropcam, it won’t be too long before it expands further into home security and automation, by tying in actions and activities to specific movements, such as turning on lights when you enter the room and native on-device notifications for important alerts.
This petition therefore requests Brisbane City Council build a minimum grid network of protected bi-directional separated bike lanes along the north-west side of Ann Street, the north eastern side of Edward Street, the south-east side of Margaret Street, the south eastern side of Herschel Street, and that the protected bike lane along the north-eastern side of George Street be completed. A minimum grid network of protected bike lanes within the CBD will bring Brisbane into line with other world cities including New York, London, Paris, and Sydney, which have all recognised the benefits of providing safe, separated and protected bike lanes to allow people who want to get around by bicycle to do so safely and conveniently. Residents draw to the attention of the Council, the need for a minimum grid network of protected bike lanes within the Brisbane CBD to allow people of all ages and abilities to safely access destinations in the CBD by bicycle. This minimum grid will bring economic benefits to the city as more people are able to access businesses and shops using active transport, and it will make the CBD more attractive to visitors and tourists. Vulnerable road users such as people on bicycles are not able to safely and confidently share the road with motor vehicles – including trucks and buses – even when the speed limit is 40 kilometres per hour. On two of the major CBD thoroughfares, speed limits remain at 60 kilometres per hour. Bicycle awareness zones (BAZ) (have been shown internationally) to do nothing to increase the safety of people on bicycles, or their perception of safety. Cyclists using footpaths in an area that is busy with pedestrian traffic is not a desirable outcome. Providing protected bike lanes in lieu of on-street parking and by better managing taxi and loading zones will not disrupt business in the CBD. By carefully selecting streets and orientations, a network of protected bike lanes can be built with next to no disruption to the bus network. Petition Reference: CA16/664334 and CA16/677106 Thank you for your petition requesting that Council install a grid of protected bike lanes within the inner CBD. Your petition has been investigated and it was considered by the Establishment and Coordination Committee as delegate of Council during recess at the meeting on 23 January 2017. It was decided that the petitioners be advised of the information below. Council appreciates the passionate advocacy of Brisbane’s cycling community in prioritising and delivering for enhanced cycling infrastructure across the city. Through our strong partnership with the cycling community, Council has invested $220 million over the last eight years to build the bikeway network. In the 2016-17 budget, Council committed a further $100 million to the bikeway program over the next four years. One of the biggest challenges facing Council is balancing the competing demands for road and kerb space on our narrow CBD streets. As Brisbane continues to grow and develop, this challenge will only get harder. Council aims to deliver a road network for all users and achieve an appropriate balance between cycling and active transport, bus movements, bus set-down and layover areas, loading zones, taxi areas and private vehicles. To achieve this balance and improve safety, Council has reduced the speed limit on the majority of inner city streets from 50 km/h to 40 km/h. Council has investigated the impacts of installing a grid of protected bi-directional separated bike lanes and has determined that the installation would remove access to significant stretches of road and kerb space, requiring the reallocation of traffic lanes, road capacity and kerbside allocation. This would adversely affect public transport providers such as bus and taxi services. The circulation of buses, taxi services, cyclists, pedestrians and general traffic for the next four to five years is already likely to be heavily disrupted by major new developments, such as the Queen’s Wharf Brisbane (QWB) project. Network changes required to enable construction of these projects will place higher transport demands on George Street, Ann Street, Turbot Street, Edward Street and Margaret Street. This will compromise Council’s short-term ability to reduce the current public transport and general traffic capacity of these streets. While it is acknowledged that bi-directional separated bike lanes could potentially improve use for cyclists in the CBD, when considering upgrading infrastructure, Council must determine if the benefits of the upgrade outweighs the impact to the city. In this case, installing bi-directional separated bike lanes in the CBD could improve convenience for cyclists, but the impact to kerbside parking allocation, public transport and traffic congestion would not justify the benefits. It should also be noted that Council received a number of similar requests to install a grid of protected bike lanes across the inner CBD in early 2016 prior to the Council election. At that time the Lord Mayor publically confirmed that Council did not propose to install a grid of bi-directional separated bike lanes in the CBD. Council’s recommendation on this matter remains consistent with the Lord Mayor’s previously announced position. As such, Council does not propose to install the proposed grid of bi-directional separated bike lanes in the CBD. Council will however continue to investigate alternative options on a case-by-case basis to improve safety and awareness for pedestrians and cyclists. Could you please advise the other petitioners of this information. If you have any further questions, please contact Mr Mark Pattemore from Council’s Transport Planning and Strategy, Brisbane Infrastructure on 07 3403 8888.
“NAFTA was signed by Bill Clinton. NAFTA has been a catastrophe, an absolute catastrophe for our country.” —Donald Trump, interview with Bret Baier of Fox News, May 6, 2016 “NAFTA was given to us by Clinton. We can’t take any more of the Clintons.” —Trump, during a rally in Charleston, W.V., May 6 “NAFTA, signed by Bill Clinton, has been a total disaster for the United States.” —Trump, in an interview on CNN, May 2 Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee for president, has long attacked free-trade pacts, in particular the North American Free Trade Agreement. For a politician who is remarkably inconsistent in his policy stances, opposition to NAFTA and trade deals has been a lodestar. BuzzFeed even located an October 1993 speech in which Trump attacked NAFTA as a bad deal. “It’s a no-brainer,” Trump said, according to a news report. “The Mexicans want it, and that doesn’t sound good to me.” But there are a lot of things that Trump gets wrong about NAFTA, including its basic history. He repeatedly associates it with President Bill Clinton, but that’s only half right. The Facts Bill Clinton was certainly a supporter of NAFTA who pushed approval through Congress. But it was negotiated and signed by President George H.W. Bush. (Here’s a photo.) Moreover, more Republicans than Democrats voted for the deal, as the trade pact was vehemently opposed by labor unions. One key ally for Clinton was then-House Minority Whip (and later House speaker) Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.), who is said to be on Trump’s list of possible running mates. NAFTA was a successor to a free-trade pact with Canada. Bush had viewed NAFTA as a political opportunity, an achievement for his reelection campaign. He initialed the deal on Aug. 12, 1992, before the GOP convention, and then formally signed it in December 1992, after he had lost the election to Clinton. Clinton had supported the pact during the presidential campaign but said he wanted to negotiate side agreements with Mexico concerning enforcement of labor and environmental laws. He didn’t pursue ratification in Congress till after those agreements were reached in August 1993 — but the deals were denounced by labor and environmental groups as too weak. So Clinton did not negotiate NAFTA, nor did he sign it. But he did put his political prestige on the line to get it approved by Congress — even as two top Democrats, House Majority Leader Richard Gephardt (Mo.) and House Majority Whip David Bonior (Mich.), opposed it. In the House, NAFTA passed 234-200; 132 Republicans and 102 Democrats voted in favor of it. The Senate approved NAFTA 61-38, with the backing of 34 Republicans and 27 Democrats. In both the House and the Senate, more Democrats voted against NAFTA than for it — a signal that the Bernie Sanders wing of the Democratic Party was strong even then. Clinton held a signing ceremony for the implementing legislation on Dec. 3, 1993, flanked by former presidents and congressional leaders of both parties. But that’s not the same as negotiating and signing the treaty with Mexico and Canada. The trade agreement went into effect on Jan. 1, 1994. Trump also tends to greatly overstate the impact of NAFTA. In the interview on CNN, he suggested that the manufacturing job losses in New York, Pennsylvania and Maryland — “45 percent, 50 percent of manufacturing is gone”— were attributable to NAFTA. “NAFTA has been a disaster for our country,” Trump said. “NAFTA has to be totally gotten rid of. Something has to happen with NAFTA.” As we have noted repeatedly before, economists have not reached any firm conclusion on the impact of NAFTA, but many think that claims of massive job losses are overstated. The Congressional Research Service in 2015 concluded that the “net overall effect of NAFTA on the U.S. economy appears to have been relatively modest, primarily because trade with Canada and Mexico accounts for a small percentage of U.S. GDP [gross domestic product].” The Economic Policy Institute, however, pegs the jobs loss from NAFTA at about 700,000 through 2010. (Trump in the past has cited EPI estimates.) New York, for instance, has lost about 400,000 manufacturing jobs since 1993, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics — and EPI estimates the job losses in New York from NAFTA to be about 34,000. So, clearly, something else is going that has affected manufacturing jobs. Robert E. Scott, EPI’s chief economist, says his estimates show that trade with China and other Pacific Rim nations has accounted for 277,000 jobs lost in New York state. “For some countries, such as China and Japan, currency manipulation is a key driver of those processes,” Scott said. “The failure to include enforceable prohibitions on currency manipulation in these deals is a major flaw that has contributed significantly to the growth of trade deficits and job losses.” EPI’s estimates are not universally accepted, but it is striking that even skeptics of free-trade agreements find Trump’s claims regarding NAFTA to be overblown. Trump’s campaign never responds to fact-checking questions, but it could be that Trump is just using NAFTA as shorthand for all trade deals. “I don’t speak for Trump or defend his claims,” Scott said. “However, I do believe that NAFTA was the template for dozens of trade deals done by the United States and other countries in the post-’93 period.” The Pinocchio Test Whatever one thinks of the merits of NAFTA, it is important to get the history right. The trade deal was negotiated by a Republican president and passed with mostly Republican votes. Bill Clinton certainly pushed hard for its passage, even over the objections of many Democrats, but you cannot assign all of the blame — or give all of the credit — for NAFTA to Bill Clinton. Compared to many of Trump’s misstatements, this error may not rank particularly high. But precision in language and knowledge of history is important for a would-be president. Trump undercuts his message on trade when he exaggerates the numbers and gets the history backwards. Two Pinocchios (About our rating scale) Send us facts to check by filling out this form Check out our 2016 candidates fact-check page Sign up for The Fact Checker weekly newsletter
It is really, really, really hard to believe. But as bad as internet access is in Canada, it just got worse. Yesterday, Shaw Communications, a Canadian telecommunications company and internet service provider (ISP) that works mostly in Western Canada announced they are launching Movie Club, a new service to compete with Netflix. On the surface this sounds like a good thing. More offerings should mean more competition, more choice and lower prices. All things that would benefit consumers. Look only slightly closer and you learn the very opposite is going on. This is because, as the article points out: “…subscribers to Movie Club — who initially can watch on their TV or computer, with phones and tablets planned to come on line later — can view content without it counting against their data plan. “There should be some advantage to you being a customer,” Bissonnette said.” The very reason the internet has been such an amazing part of our lives is that every service that is delivered on it is treated equally. You don’t pay more to look at the Vancouver Sun’s website than you do to look at eaves.ca or CNN or to any other website in the world. For policy and technology geeks this principle of equality of access is referred to as net neutrality. The idea is that ISPs (like Shaw) should not restrict or give favourable access to content, sites, or services on the internet. But this is precisely what Shaw is doing with its new service. This is because ISPs in Canada charge what are called “overages.” This means if you use the internet a lot, say you watch a lot of videos, at a certain point you will exceed a “cap” and Shaw charges you extra, beyond your fixed monthly fee. If, for example, you use Netflix (which is awesome and cheap, for $8 a month you get unlimited access to a huge quantity of content) you will obviously be watching a large number of videos, and the likelihood of exceeding the cap is quite high. What Shaw has announced is that if you use their service – Movie Club – none of the videos you watch will count against your cap. In other words they are favouring their service over that of others. So why should you care? Because, in short, Shaw is making the internet suck. It wants to turn your internet from the awesome experience where you have unlimited choice and can try any service that is out there, into the experience of cable, where your choice is limited to the channels they choose to offer you. Today they’ll favour their movie service as opposed to (the much better) Netflix service. But tomorrow they may decide… hey you are using Skype instead of our telephone service, people who use “our skype” will get cheaper access than people who use skype. Shaw is effectively applying a tax on new innovative and disruptively cheap service on the internet so that you don’t use them. They are determining – through pricing – what you can and cannot do with your computer while elsewhere in the world, people will be using cool new disruptive services that give them better access to more fun content, for cheaper. Welcome to the sucky world of Canada’s internet. Doubling down on Audacity: The Timing Of course what makes this all the more obscene is that Shaw has announced this service at the very moment the CRTC – the body that regulates Canada’s Internet Service Providers – is holding hearings on Usage Based Billings. One of the reasons Canada’s internet providers say that have to charge “overages” for those who use the internet a lot is because of there isn’t enough bandwidth. But how is it that there is enough bandwidth for their own services? As Steve Anderson of the OpenMedia – a consumer advocacy group – shared with me yesterday “It’s a huge abuse of power.” and that “The launch of this service at the time when the CRTC is holding a hearing on pricing regulation should be seen as a slap in the face to the the CRTC, and the four hundred and ninety one thousand Canadians that signed the Stop The Meter petition.” My own feeling is the solution is pretty simple. We need to get the ISPs out of the business of delivering content. Period. Their job should be to deliver bandwidth, and nothing else. You do that, you’ll have them competing over speed and price very, very quickly. Until then the incentive of ISPs isn’t to offer good internet service, it’s to do the opposite, it’s to encourage (or force) users to use the services they offer over the internet. For myself, I’m a Shaw customer and a Netflix customer. Until now I’ve had nothing to complain about with either. Now, apparently I have to choose between the two. I can tell you right now who is going to win. Over the next few months I’m going to be moving my internet service to another provider. Maybe I’ll still get cable TV from Shaw, I don’t know, but my internet service is going to a company that gives me the freedom to choose the services I want and that doesn’t ding me with fees that apparently, I’m being charged under false pretenses. I’ll be telling by family members, friends and pretty much everyone I know, to do the same. Shaw, I’m sorry it had to end this way. But as a consumer, it’s the only responsible thing to do.
Health organizations across the globe have taken a strong stance against the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal, saying it would shoot up drug costs and hurt hamper people in poorer countries. The controversial deal is up for a vote in the Senate on Tuesday to allow President Barack Obama fast track authority in negotiating the deal. The trade measure -- which was largely negotiated in secret among the United States and 11 other countries and involves about 40 percent of the world's economy -- has been criticized for its provisions addressing pharmaceutical companies. The agreement reportedly features patent protections that critics have said would be stifling to generic drug companies that are able to provide low-cost medicines. Those in poorer countries would especially struggle to pay for expensive drugs. The Foundation for Aids Research (amfAR) said in press release that the deal could "greatly delay" low-cost generic drugs from entering the marketplace, and could potentially keep drug prices high for those who can least-afford it. Generic drugs, the foundation reported, are especially crucial for nearly 12 million people with HIV in low or middle-income countries, and have helped achieve the successes in the ongoing fight against the HIV epidemic. "While we recognize the importance of intellectual property protection in spurring innovation and incentivizing investment, the Trans-Pacific Partnership includes proposed provisions that go above and beyond what is required by international law and show a disregard for public health,” said amfAR Chief Executive Officer Kevin Robert Frost in a statement. “If the TPP moves forward, it will set a dangerous global precedent and put lifesaving drugs beyond the reach of millions of people with HIV/AIDS, cancer, tuberculosis and hepatitis C.” The deal could expand what drugs will be allowed to be patented, extend patent protections and make generic producers do costly clinical trials, among other provisions, according to Vox. The trade agreement could also reportedly make it easier to extend a patent length for a minor change and eliminate pre-patent opposition from an advocacy group, according to an AIDS Healthcare Foundation statement. Doctors Without Borders, which often relies on generic medications, has called for changes to the deal, saying in a statement it "would restrict access to affordable, lifesaving medicines for millions of people." The physicians group has lobbied hard against the measure, even flying planes toting an anti-deal message. "We are doing anything we can to make sure the public is aware," Judit Rius Sanjuan, who oversees the organization's U.S. drug access campaign, told National Journal. A coalition of Peruvian civil society organizations released a statement Monday issuing a warning against the negotiations, saying it could have an effect on the country's ability to acquire medicine, among other complaints. A study by health specialists in Australia -- one of the 12 countries involved in the deal -- was highly critical of the deal, as well, saying it would drive up costs, reported the Sydney Morning Herald. Joseph E. Stiglitz wrote in an opinion piece for the New York Times in January that the trade deal could inhibit generic drugs from providing competition and decrease regulation for big pharmaceutical companies. On the other hand, a Washington Post editorial said that providing a temporary monopoly to drug companies furthers innovation and the trade deal is working to make the system better.
Anonymous asked: Anna used her new fishing pole from Frozen Fever to 'catch' some of Elsa's paperwork and run away with it. I JUST HAD A GREAT IDEA. HOLY SHIT. I was gonna do 3 sentences, or something longer that’s just pure silliness, but then– I’ll just let you read on, Anon. :D As much as Elsa loved her sister, she was starting to regret giving her that fishing pole for her birthday. “What the–Anna!” the queen indignantly exclaimed as the documents she had been in the midst of writing suddenly flew off her desk, a fishing hook lodged in their corners. Her head whipped to the side just in time to see a flash of red as the princess bolted down the hallway with a giggle. And, of course, Elsa chased after her. “Not again!” That’s the tenth time this week! “Go to sleep already, you stinker!” Anna called as she slid down the banister, trusty fishing pole resting on her shoulder as Elsa’s paperwork fluttered after her on the line. “I’ll confiscate that if I have to! I’ll make it a royal order, so help me–” “I want you to get rid of it. Somehow.” Kristoff rubbed the back of his head, trying not to show how affected he was by the scowling, irritable queen before him. “But…wasn’t it your birthday present to her?” he ventured, hoping he didn’t sound as nervous as he felt. “As much as it annoys you, I think you and I both know that Anna probably cherishes that thing because you gave it to her.” “I know that!” Elsa grumbled, wringing her hands as her shoulders drooped. “It’s just…I know she means well, but paperwork is very important in running the kingdom!” “And taking breaks is important, too,” the ice harvester reminded her as gently as he could. “Anna knows that. She’s not doing this solely to tease you. She wants you to relax, have fun, spend time together, chase after her–” “What?” “–and the reason why is because she loves you. Very much,” Kristoff finished, meeting her gaze and trying to convey the truth. Gods, he didn’t want to have to say it. It would spoil everything. “Anna…” “…loves you,” he completed for her, taking note of the quiver to her lip and the hope in her eyes. “Tomorrow. Give the fishing pole one last chance. Trust me.” And she did. When the paper flew off her desk like it had many times before, Elsa did not shout in frustration like she usually would. She did, of course, call for Anna, rolling her eyes in dismay as it disappeared out her door. Normally the queen would’ve jumped to her feet and dashed after the errant document, but instead Elsa simply stood up, and calmly walked out of her study. The paper waited for her at the end of the hallway, and as she drew nearer, it jerked around the corner. All the while, Anna remained hidden from her sight. Eventually, her sister led her to one of the rooms in the castle they hardly ever used. Anna stood there, cheeks flushed pink as she held that fishing pole behind her. Elsa was honestly expecting more of a fight out of her, but before she could say anything on the matter, she noticed where Anna’s gaze was steadfastly directed. Slowly, the queen bent over to pick up the single sheet of paper attached to the end of the hook, her heartbeat loud in her ears. There were two simple words written on it in Anna’s unique scrawl. Kiss me? “I-I-I know this isn’t the best way, but I just…It seemed like such a good idea! A-At the time. A-And really, this thing’s pretty handy, y’know?” Anna nervously babbled on, but really, Elsa didn’t care for a single word of it. Because Anna’s lips were right there, and it would be a shame to keep them waiting any longer.
Apple CEO Tim Cook. Justin Sullivan/Getty Images Apple is thinking about how it can figure out exactly how you feel at any given moment in order to show you the most relevant advertisements. In a patent application the company filed Thursday, Apple describes a hypothetical system that would analyze and define people's moods based on a variety of clues including facial expressions, perspiration rates, and vocal patterns. To be clear, Apple patents just about everything it does, with most applications never amounting to anything with regard to the actual products Apple releases. Still it's interesting to see how Apple is thinking about predictive, contextual advertising at such a granular level, especially in light of its battle with companies like Google and Facebook to offer search products (Siri, the App Store) that know precisely what a user is looking for — even if the user has not expressly communicated his or her desire. The patent application, No. 13/556023, describes system that would determine a sort of baseline mood for a given user by collecting and analyzing a mixture of physical, behavioral, and contextual data. The system would then compare this baseline to the data it collects from a user as the ad is about to be served to figure out what mood the user is in and subsequently, which ad the system should send to him or her. While at this point you can generally assume that any ad you see from an even remotely sophisticated online advertiser will take into account behavioral clues like what content you have clicked on in the past, and contextual clues like where you live, Apple would broach new ground were it to start tracking the look on your face or how fast your heart is beating to determine your mood. And yet, Apple is not alone in thinking about how to determine users' emotions at any given moment. Google futurist Ray Kurzweil is working to improve its search function to the point where humans could type in a sentence, and the computer could understand the query on an emotional level. And earlier this month, Yahoo acquired Aviate, a company that organizes and searches for phone apps based on what it thinks you'll be looking for at a certain time.
There are Navy SEALs, and there are Team Guys. Both go through the same training, work at the same team, and wear the same uniform. The difference exists well beneath the selection process, the name on the side of the building, and the cloth and metal that designate a military occupation. The distinction between the two is defined by motivation. One is there for himself, one is there for the Team. To an insider, it is obvious. To an outsider, I would imagine that it is impossible to tell the difference. Becoming a Navy SEAL is not difficult. Enlist or commission, complete the required training, earn your trident, and your designator in the military system will be changed. You will forever have earned the right to call yourself a SEAL. For some, the journey metaphorically ends there. The title is all they wanted, the title was the singular goal. They may say the right things, but their actions tell the true story. To many, it seems like an amazing accomplishment. It is meaningful in some ways, and meaningless in others. It is a job title. Whether you enjoy the publicity that the modern-day SEAL community receives, or it makes you sick to your stomach, it is not going anywhere. The publicity, the movies, and the books are a problem. They combine to create unrealistic expectations, which in turn create impending failures. They are a distraction, at best. They are selective in the stories they tell, much like people are selective in how they “portray” their lives on social media. The mediums are incomplete, and they lack the ability to unpack a complicated occupation. The spotlight is dangerous because it constantly tugs at your ego, your desire to be recognized for doing something that many think is impossible. It appears warm under the spotlight, and it is seductive. I have felt it myself, and I suspect to one degree or another, everyone does. If you are not careful, a job title will become all that you have, and all that you will ever be. The publicity attracts people who are there for the wrong reasons. It attracts people who are seeking attention, not an outlet to serve others. It attracts people who want to be known as a SEAL, because they see that “title” as their reward for service, instead of realizing that their service is the reward itself, and a privilege. They see their service as a tool for their future, something that will open doors that they likely have no business stepping through, instead of as a tool for others, designed to create space for this country and its citizens to be what they choose to be. The life of a SEAL is hard, both physically and mentally. We work hard, and yes, we play hard. We live our lives at the outermost boundary, where many would be extremely uncomfortable. For some, it becomes the only place where you feel comfortable. It can be difficult to manage and contain when you lose that outlet, even more so when you leave and lose the camaraderie and support of those you serve with. The community is not full of choir boys, and it should never be. Mistakes will be made, and some of them will be catastrophic, and horrific. The wrong people occasionally make it through. The mistakes, and those individuals do not reflect the community as a whole. They stand as a reminder that no process is perfect, and that regardless of the size of the lawn, there will always be weeds. These characteristics, traits, and struggles are present in every organization, inside of the military and out. They are not unique to the SEAL Teams, an organization that most consider to sit at the apex, and that is why I use them as an example. Every organization will have those that are there for the right reason, and those that exist for self-serving purposes. Some may be in leadership positions, and some may be at the bottom rung, attempting to climb at breakneck speed. You have no control over those people, you can only control yourself, and you have a choice to make. Do you want to be a SEAL, or do you want to be a Team Guy? A team guy does not care about job title. A team guy does not care about gear, weapons, uniforms, or any of the other countless “shiny objects” that can distract you. A team guy does not obsess over what kind of car they drive, what it says on their business card, cubicle, or office wall. A team guy cares about the mission, and the people to their left and right. They know the spotlight exists, but they are not willing to step on the heads of those around them to climb in to it. They would rather arrive together, and share in the reward, than arrive alone, and covet it for themselves. It is easy to be a SEAL, it is hard to be a Team Guy. An organization of SEALs may sound impressive, but it’s the organization full of Team Guys that is unstoppable. Don’t chase a title, chase a purpose.
Microaggressions are those subtle (and sometimes not so subtle) things we do to distance ourselves from minorities, be they someone from another race, or culture, LGBT people, etc. The term “microaggression” was coined by psychiatrist and Harvard University professor Chester M. Pierce in 1970 to describe insults and dismissals he regularly witnessed non-black Americans inflict on African Americans[1]. Most people are well-intended and do not mean to be offensive at all—but they are. Some of these include: “What are you?” (to a biracial person) “You don’t act like a black person.” “I am colorblind.” “Why do you sound white?” “Is that really your hair?” “Are you the first in your family to go to college?” Today the term ‘microaggression’ is also being used to describe insults and dismissals of women and LGBT people. Kevin Nadal does a great describing microaggressions against LGBT individuals in his book, That’s So Gay: Microaggressions and the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Community[2]. Some microaggressions against LGBT people include: “I’m not being homophobic; you're being too sensitive.” “Have you ever had real ?” “So, who's the man in the relationship?” “That's totally cool with me as long as I can watch.” “You are so Jack on ‘Will and Grace’ or Cam on ‘Modern Family.’” “I would never date a bisexual man he can’t commit or make up his mind” “What’s going on down there” (To a Transgender person) Some verbal microaggressions I’ve heard against women are: “I wouldn’t work for a woman.” “If you dress like a slut, you’re asking for it.” “She thinks like a man.” (intended complement) “You’re being too emotional. You need to look at this logically.” “I’m impressed that a woman could do that.” “Why don’t you just get back in the kitchen.” (supposed joke) Misandry I been noticing more and more microaggressions toward men, but I’ve found surprisingly little discussion of this trend. There is a word most people have never heard of: Misandry, meaning hatred of men. It corresponds to misogyny, hatred of women. By noticing microaggressions directed against men, we can uncover a lot of ‘hidden’ misandry. Here are some examples I've come across: “Men only think with their dicks.” “A man wouldn’t understand.” “Men just want a hole to put it in.” “Men can’t hear the word no.” (when rejected sexually) “Men are obsessed with lesbian .” “Really? You don’t like ?” “He’s, you know, ‘artistic.’” “Be a man.” Men are womanizers, man-whores, man-sluts” I’ve even heard women say things like, “Balls are gross. I hate them.” If a woman overheard men talking about vaginas being dirty and disgusting, she’d surely think this was misogyny and microaggression, but why not the other way around? Many otherwise enlightened people seem to think that putting a man down by shaming him for the transgressions of a few men or for his inadequate physicality is a sort of privilege or entitlement. They are not even aware of their misandry. Patriarchy Mostly we know that men, especially heterosexual white men, have privileged status in our society, that they are mostly blind to their privilege, and that we live in a patriarchal world. But let’s look at our assumptions for a moment. What does it mean, for instance, when we tell someone to “man up” or “toughen up?” We often think of patriarchy as hurting women, but we don’t talk about how it also hurts men. Patriarchy includes a rigid standard of looks and behavior, and men who fail to follow the standard are tormented ruthlessly. Conforming men may be ‘blind to their privilege,’ but nerds and sissies are fair targets for contempt. A man who dares not be ‘manly’ is scorned by women as well as men. Those “crybabies” deserve what they get. In his book, I Don’t Want to Talk About It: Overcoming the Secret Legacy of Male [3] author and psychotherapist Terrence Real says, “Boys and men are granted privilege and special status, but only on the condition that they turn their backs on vulnerability and connection to join in the fray. Those who resist, like unconventional men or gay or bisexual men, are punished for it.” I completely agree with him. The language of hate and The old adage, “Sticks and stones may hurt my bones, but words can never hurt me,” is wrong. Words can and do wound. They perpetuate ‘norms’ that give rise to bigotry, misogyny, misandry, racism, homophobia, and more. Given how “manliness” is enforced by both men and women, is it any wonder that men have become ‘fair targets’ for a running commentary of contempt? Even the absence of online discussions of microaggressions against men is itself a microaggression because the absence renders the problem invisible. Some discussions of microaggressions toward women and minorities even say that since men are privileged they can't experience microaggressions. But many men are not privileged. These men have been rendered invisible and at the same time marked as fair game. It pathologizes men when we assume something is wrong with a guy who doesn’t like sports, isn’t ‘tall, dark, and handsome,’ or otherwise doesn’t fit a ‘manly’ . It also pathologizes men when we assume the worst transgressions of a few are characteristics of all. It doesn’t help women (or blacks or LGBT individuals) to engage in the sport of putting down men. We might begin by extending to men our sensitivity about the harm done by microaggressions. It could open the door to compassion and help us build a more humane world. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microaggression_theory [2] Nadal, Kevin. 2013. That’s So Gay: Microaggressions and the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Community. [3] Real, Terrence, 1998. I Don’t Want to Talk About It: Overcoming the Secret Legacy of Male Depression.
Mercury Vindicated from the Alchemists at Court is a Jacobean-era masque, written by Ben Jonson and designed by Inigo Jones. It was performed at Whitehall Palace on Twelfth Night, 6 January 1615. King James I liked it so much that he ordered a repeat performance the following Sunday, 8 January. The masque was initially published in the first folio collection of Jonson's works in 1616, and was included in the collected works from that point on. The show [ edit ] The masque portrays the god Mercury driving out a crew of alchemists that have abused his nature. The anti-masque, set in an alchemical laboratory, featured twelve alchemist figures, and twelve "imperfect creatures" wearing helmets shaped like alembics. After their dances, they were dispersed by the intervention of the god, and the scene changed to a "glorious bower," in which Mercury, along with Prometheus and a personification of Nature, ushered in the dance of the masquing courtiers, who were twelve "Sons of Nature." For source material for this work, "Jonson drew on Sendivogius's satirical Dialogus Mercurii, Alchymistae et Naturae...."[1] Jonson treats alchemists as charlatans in his text, as he does in his play The Alchemist. The words "at Court" in the full title of the work have provoked scholars to debate the actual meaning and significance of Jonson's text, since real alchemists were not particularly well represented at James's court. The work is clearly more symbolic than literal, though critics disagree on the specifics of its meaning. Politics [ edit ] The masque was significant in the internal politics of the Stuart Court, in that it marked a major step in the ascension of George Villiers as the new favorite of King James. For several years, Robert Carr, 1st Earl of Somerset had held that wholly unofficial but very powerful position, as well as rising to major official posts such as Lord Chamberlain; but Somerset's role in the 1613 murder of Sir Thomas Overbury was becoming a major scandal. A Court faction opposed to Somerset — which included Lucy Russell, Countess of Bedford, the patroness of John Donne and other poets, including Ben Jonson—was actively promoting Villiers as a replacement for Robert Carr. To the date of the masque, their promotion of Villiers has not been enormously successful;[2] Mercury Vindicated was staged, at least in the estimation of some contemporaries, with the "principal motive" of "the gracing of young Villiers and to bring him on the stage."[3] The plan was eventually successful, and Villiers, as the new Duke of Buckingham, replaced Somerset as the royal favorite, not merely through the remainder of James's reign but into the reign of his son and successor Charles I. Dating [ edit ] Scholars have disputed the order in which two of the Jonson-Jones masques were performed at Court. Traditionally, Mercury Vindicated was assigned to the 1614–15 Christmas holiday season, and The Golden Age Restored to the following 1615–16 season.[4] C. H. Herford and Percy Simpson, in their edition of Jonson's works, argued that the two masques had been chronologically transposed in the 1616 Jonson folio, and that TGAR actually preceded Mercury Vindicated.[5] Their argument received some general acceptance for a time, but was refuted by later researchers.[6][7] The masques in the 1616 folio appear to be arranged in a consistent chronological order; Mercury Vindicated is second to last in the volume, and TGAR is the final work included. Recent scholarship tends to rely on the implications of the original text, and treats the two masques as presented in that order.[8][9] References [ edit ]
1. Measure traffic If you’re going to be working hard to drive traffic leading up to your project launch and also throughout the actual campaign, then you need a way to measure how effective your efforts are. Yes, you could use Bitly to track traffic, however, it can be a pain to remember to use Bitly links every time you want to let someone know about your Kickstarter campaign. Instead, you could create a landing page and install google analytics (see how at the end of this post). With google analytics, you can set conversion goals, gain insight into geographical data, and even see results in real-time. In addition, if a blogger decided to link to your Kickstarter campaign, although that may provide some value throughout the 30-60 day campaign duration, after your Kickstarter is over, it would be a worthless link. Any SEO value that the link passed would go to Kickstarter, not your personal website or business. Yes, people may continue to find your campaign from around the web and decide to check out your business link provided in the campaign page, but wouldn’t it be great if you could hold onto that SEO value that you accumulated during the marketing phase? This way, you can tailor messages based on the stage of your campaign or direct them to a sales page post-Kickstarter. Learn more about this below. 2. Controlling Visitor Flow By using a landing page, you can customize the information a visitor sees and, depending on the phase of the campaign, display different calls to action. For example, if you are in the preparation phase of the campaign, you could use your landing page to direct your supporters to a ThunderClap.It campaign, where they can pledge their social support so that your customized message will be tweeted out upon launch. If you are in the final days of your Kickstarter campapign and need existing supporters to spread the word about your campaign, you could change the landing page so that it’s easy to share your campaign on a variety of social networks. You could then direct them to that landing page in a Kickstarter update. Finally, when your campaign is over, you can turn your landing page into a pre-order page or use a customized URL with Shopify to turn the landing page into an ecommerce store. 3. Conduct AB Testing From what I’ve noticed, there are a large number of successful physical products on Kickstarter. Selling physical products via retail outlets or other distributors is awesome, don’t get me wrong, but the incredible thing about online marketing/sales is that you can have access to real-time data about how people interact with your website and gain in-depth insight into their buying behavior. It’s easy to think once you’ve had a success on your hands that you have the magic touch. I’m more guilty of this than anyone else! Yes, having a vision is important and sometimes this means going against the immediate trends. However, it’s crucial to let real-world data drive everyday business decisions, not your ego. You can AB test your landing page to determine what types of wording and layouts yield the best conversions (click throughs to the campaign page or social sharing). In the past, I’ve used Unbounce as a quick and easy way to set up an AB testable landing page. How do you create a landing page? It all depends on your level of coding ability. If you have no coding ability what so ever, I’d recommend using a company like Unbounce or LeadPages, as they offer out of the box solutions. If you are familiar with website design, you could use a free or paid wordpress template coupled with google analytics. A quick google search yields: “10 Best Landing Page WordPress Themes.” You could also use the famous “Hacking Kickstarter” landing page. The open source template is available on GitHub. My question to you Do you think creators should use a landing page for their Kickstarter proejct? If not, why? Let me know if you’ve had a good experience with any other types of landing page software providers.
Source: Lin, Zhou,Lei, et al., used with permission. Red areas designate abnormal white matter in internet addicted teens “Taken together, [studies show] internet is associated with structural and functional changes in brain regions involving emotional processing, executive , , and control.” --research authors summarizing neuro-imaging findings in internet and gaming addiction (Lin & Zhou et al, 2012) But what about kids who aren't "addicted" per se? Addiction aside, a much broader concern that begs awareness is the risk that screen time is creating subtle damage even in children with “regular” exposure, considering that the average child clocks in more than seven hours a day (Rideout 2010). As a practitioner, I observe that many of the children I see suffer from sensory overload, lack of restorative , and a hyperaroused nervous system, regardless of diagnosis—what I call electronic screen syndrome. These children are impulsive, moody, and can’t pay attention—much like the description in the quote above describing damage seen in scans. Although many have a nagging sense that they should do more to limit screen-time, they often question whether there’s enough evidence to justify yanking coveted devices, rationalize that it’s “part of our kids’ culture,” or worry that others—such as a spouse—will undermine their efforts. Digest the information below, even though it might feel uncomfortable, and arm yourself with the truth about the potential damage screen time is capable of imparting—particularly in a young, still-developing brain. Brain scan research findings in screen addiction: Gray matter atrophy: Multiple studies have shown atrophy (shrinkage or loss of tissue volume) in gray matter areas (where “processing” occurs) in internet/gaming addiction (Zhou 2011, Yuan 2011, Weng 2013,and Weng 2012). Areas affected included the important frontal lobe, which governs executive functions, such as planning, planning, prioritizing, organizing, and (“getting stuff done”). Volume loss was also seen in the striatum, which is involved in reward pathways and the suppression of socially unacceptable impulses. A finding of particular concern was damage to an area known is the insula, which is involved in our capacity to develop and compassion for others and our ability to integrate physical signals with emotion. Aside from the obvious link to violent behavior, these skills dictate the depth and quality of personal . Compromised white matter integrity: Research has also demonstrated loss of integrity to the brain’s white matter (Lin 2012, Yuan 2011, Hong 2013 and Weng 2013). “Spotty” white matter translates into loss of communication within the brain, including connections to and from various lobes of the same hemisphere, links between the right and left hemispheres, and paths between higher (cognitive) and lower (emotional and survival) brain centers. White matter also connects networks from the brain to the body and vice versa. Interrupted connections may slow down signals, “short-circuit” them, or cause them to be erratic (“misfire”). Reduced cortical thickness: Hong and colleagues found reduced cortical (the outermost part of the brain) thickness in internet-addicted teen boys (Hong 2013), and Yuan et al found reduced cortical thickness in the frontal lobe of online gaming addicts (late adolescent males and females) correlated with impairment of a cognitive task (Yuan 2013). Impaired cognitive functioning: Imaging studies have found less efficient information processing and reduced impulse inhibition (Dong & Devito 2013), increased sensitivity to rewards and insensitivity to loss (Dong & Devito 2013), and abnormal spontaneous brain activity associated with poor task performance (Yuan 2011). Cravings and impaired function: Research on video games have shown dopamine (implicated in reward processing and addiction) is released during gaming (Koepp 1998 and Kuhn 2011) and that craving or urges for gaming produces brain changes that are similar to drug cravings (Ko 2009, Han 2011). Other findings in internet addiction include reduced numbers of dopamine receptors and transporters (Kim 2011 and Hou 2012). In short, excessive screen-time appears to impair brain structure and function. Much of the damage occurs in the brain’s frontal lobe, which undergoes massive changes from puberty until the mid-twenties. Frontal lobe development, in turn, largely determines success in every area of life—from sense of well-being to academic or success to relationship skills. Use this research to strengthen your own parental position on screen , and to convince others to do the same. For more help on managing screen-time, visit www.drdunckley.com/videogames/. For more information on how the physiological effects of electronics translate into symptoms and dysfunction--as well as how to reverse such changes--see my new book, Reset Your Child's Brain. References: Dong, Guangheng, Elise E Devito, Xiaoxia Du, and Zhuoya Cui. “Impaired Inhibitory Control in ‘Internet Addiction Disorder’: A Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Study.” Psychiatry Research 203, no. 2–3 (September 2012): 153–158. doi:10.1016/j.pscychresns.2012.02.001. Dong, Guangheng, Yanbo Hu, and Xiao Lin. “Reward/ Sensitivities Among Internet Addicts: Implications for Their Addictive Behaviors.” Progress in Neuro- & Biological Psychiatry 46 (October 2013): 139–145. doi:10.1016/j.pnpbp.2013.07.007. Han, Doug Hyun, Nicolas Bolo, Melissa A. Daniels, Lynn Arenella, In Kyoon Lyoo, and Perry F. Renshaw. “Brain Activity and Desire for Internet Video Game Play.” Comprehensive Psychiatry 52, no. 1 (January 2011): 88–95. doi:10.1016/j.comppsych.2010.04.004. Hong, Soon-Beom, Jae-Won Kim, Eun-Jung Choi, Ho-Hyun Kim, Jeong-Eun Suh, Chang-Dai Kim, Paul Klauser, et al. “Reduced Orbitofrontal Cortical Thickness in Male Adolescents with Internet Addiction.” Behavioral and Brain Functions 9, no. 1 (2013): 11. doi:10.1186/1744-9081-9-11. Hong, Soon-Beom, Andrew Zalesky, Luca Cocchi, Alex Fornito, Eun-Jung Choi, Ho-Hyun Kim, Jeong-Eun Suh, Chang-Dai Kim, Jae-Won Kim, and Soon-Hyung Yi. “Decreased Functional Brain Connectivity in Adolescents with Internet Addiction.” Edited by Xi-Nian Zuo. PLoS ONE 8, no. 2 (February 25, 2013): e57831. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0057831. Hou, Haifeng, Shaowe Jia, Shu Hu, Rong Fan, Wen Sun, Taotao Sun, and Hong Zhang. “Reduced Striatal Dopamine Transporters in People with Internet Addiction Disorder.” Journal of Biomedicine & Biotechnology 2012 (2012): 854524. doi:10.1155/2012/854524. Kim, Sang Hee, Sang-Hyun Baik, Chang Soo Park, Su Jin Kim, Sung Won Choi, and Sang Eun Kim. “Reduced Striatal Dopamine D2 Receptors in People with Internet Addiction.” Neuroreport 22, no. 8 (June 11, 2011): 407–411. doi:10.1097/WNR.0b013e328346e16e. Ko, Chih-Hung, Gin-Chung Liu, Sigmund Hsiao, Ju-Yu Yen, Ming-Jen Yang, Wei-Chen Lin, Cheng-Fang Yen, and Cheng-Sheng Chen. “Brain Activities Associated with Gaming Urge of Online Gaming Addiction.” Journal of Research 43, no. 7 (April 2009): 739–747. doi:10.1016/j.jpsychires.2008.09.012. Kühn, S, A Romanowski, C Schilling, R Lorenz, C Mörsen, N Seiferth, T Banaschewski, et al. “The Basis of Video Gaming.” Translational Psychiatry 1 (2011): e53. doi:10.1038/tp.2011.53. Lin, Fuchun, Yan Zhou, Yasong Du, Lindi Qin, Zhimin Zhao, Jianrong Xu, and Hao Lei. “Abnormal White Matter Integrity in Adolescents with Internet Addiction Disorder: A Tract-Based Spatial Statistics Study.” PloS One 7, no. 1 (2012): e30253. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0030253. Rideout, Victoria J., Ulla G. Foehr, and Donald F. Roberts. “Generation M2: in the Lives of 8- to 18- Year Olds.” Kaiser Family Foundation Study (2010). http://kff.org/other/poll-finding/report-generation-m2-media-in-the-lives/. Weng, Chuan-Bo, Ruo-Bing Qian, Xian-Ming Fu, Bin Lin, Xiao-Peng Han, Chao-Shi Niu, and Ye-Han Wang. “Gray Matter and White Matter Abnormalities in Online Game Addiction.” European Journal of Radiology 82, no. 8 (August 2013): 1308–1312. doi:10.1016/j.ejrad.2013.01.031. Yuan, Kai, Ping Cheng, Tao Dong, Yanzhi Bi, Lihong Xing, Dahua Yu, Limei Zhao, et al. “Cortical Thickness Abnormalities in Late with Online Gaming Addiction.” Edited by Bogdan Draganski. PLoS ONE 8, no. 1 (January 9, 2013): e53055. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0053055. Yuan, Kai, Chenwang Jin, Ping Cheng, Xuejuan Yang, Tao Dong, Yanzhi Bi, Lihong Xing, et al. “Amplitude of Low Frequency Fluctuation Abnormalities in Adolescents with Online Gaming Addiction.” Edited by Krish Sathian. PLoS ONE 8, no. 11 (November 4, 2013): e78708. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0078708. 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Saturday 5. Hitting the Trail, 9 a.m. Grab a well-made cappuccino at Caffé Streets and head for the Wood Street entrance to the 606, once an elevated rail line, now a wide, welcoming walkway that takes runners, strollers and cyclists through northwest-side neighborhoods. Urban and pastoral meet-up: The El rolling overhead at Milwaukee Avenue. On North Humboldt Boulevard you’ll find the marker at 1667, where L. Frank Baum wrote “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz” (his home has since been torn down). Follow your own mellow, quick road to North Avenue and Roeser’s Bakery, in business since 1911. Allow time for scouting before taking a number — Swedish flop coffee cakes, maple bacon long johns and a boatload of bismarcks (pastries from $1.19). Take them across the street to Humboldt Park, where the statue of the explorer Leif Eriksonspeaks (it’s part of the Statue Stories Chicago program). This Leif, the voice of the Second City alum Fred Willard, gives props to himself and gently disses Columbus (Columbus could not be reached for comment). 6. Art in the Park, 11 a.m. The National Museum of Puerto Rican Arts & Culture (free) is in the oldest surviving structure in Humboldt Park: stables built in the 1890s. Inside the red-roofed building with its gables and turrets, contemporary Puerto Rican art is on view (paintings by Oscar Luis Martinez, who lives in the city, were recently shown in the second-floor gallery). 7. A Jibarito and Cabrito, 1 p.m. You can go the buffet route or get table service at La Palma, a cheerful Puerto Rican cafe in Humboldt Park (in a mural, a grinning frog plays the bongos). Take the table; that way you can ask the enthusiastic servers which filling they recommend in the jibarito ($7.75), the sandwich in which disks of plantain serve as a crisp bun; you can’t go wrong with pernil(slow-roasted pork). The tender cabrito (goat stew), a weekend special, is another must ($12.95 with side dishes). 8. Ice Cream Dreams, 2 p.m. Claim a stool at Spinning J, a sweet twirl on an old-time soda fountain (the 1920s marble counter came from a pharmacy in Milwaukee) opened last year by the baker Dinah Grossman and Parker Whiteway. Ms. Grossman makes outstanding pies — banana cream drizzled with caramel, lemon Shaker (from $5) — and shakes, sodas and floats (from $6.50) are superb. The sassafras in the house-made root beer: foraged. 9. Get to the Greek, 7 p.m. The chef David Schneider was of the opinion that Greek cuisine, and culture, had become something of a “cartoon” and he didn’t like it. So he devised his excellent restaurant Taximin Wicker Park to “show that there’s regionalism in Greece.” Try the fried cauliflower with whipped feta ($8); the cloud of tzatziki with cucumbers and dill ($6); the duck gyro with a pomegranate reduction ($25); and a bottle of Greek red from a list deep with discoveries. Mr. Schneider, whose mother is Greek and who has spent considerable time there, makes his own yogurt and breads (the pita is outstanding). It’s a good-looking place — vaulted ceilings, copper-topped tables — with an abundance of energy. The rooftop recently opened for the season. At this elevation, Mr. Schneider will be serving lamb roasted as shepherds doin the mountains of Crete. 10. Blues Project, 9 p.m. The Happy New Year banner was still up in April at Rosa’s Lounge in Logan Square, but it doesn’t seem out of date — this is an upbeat place, from the greeting at the door to the dynamic performance by Lil’ Ed & the Blues Imperials (weekend tickets $12 to $20), led by Ed Williams, who plays a scorching slide guitar. Rosa Mangiullo and her son Tony, a drummer, opened the club 32 years ago, after moving to Chicago from Milan. “To me blues is an honest form of expression,” Mr. Mangiullo said. Vaclav Havel, then the president of the Czech Republic, was in the house in 1993. Magic Slim played — Mr. Havel’s request. 11. Tiki Time, 11:30 p.m. The cocktail magazine Imbibe named Lost Lake its bar of the year for 2016, and three sips into a Tic-Tac-Taxi (two rums, coconut, passionfruit, lime; $12), you are pretty sure the vote was unanimous. This blast of “Blue Hawaii” comes from Paul McGee, among the city’s most praised bartenders, and Shelby Allison, his wife. Drinks are beautifully balanced; the Lost Lake with aged rum and pineapple has a nip of Campari ($12), and sherry sidles into more than one cocktail. The room nods to places like Don the Beachcomber — lots of bamboo, banana-leaf wallpaper — and the soundtrack includes new-wave surf (“Bikini Sunset” by the Volcanos) and reggae. It’s a giddy getaway; the banana adorning a daiquiri, carved to resemble a dolphin (complete with clove eyes), really is smiling at you.
Here it is – the original internet-famous healthy cookie dough dip! Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Dip It’s like an unbaked form of the popular Deep Dish Cookie Pie. I don’t know about you, but when I make that cookie pie, quite a bit of the raw dough gets consumed in the process! So I figured, why bother baking it at all? Especially with the summer weather approaching, this cookie dough dip is a great way to get your chocolate chip cookie fix without turning on the oven. But will “normal” people like it? Often, I’m unsure if a recipe with which I am in love will be a hit with the general population of people who aren’t used to healthy food. Yes, I have my wonderful taste-testing friends, but by now, they pretty much know that anything I’m asking them to taste will be healthy. Therefore, I worry their judgment might be biased (i.e. they might think, “Well, this is good… for a healthy dessert.) I don’t want my desserts to be good for a healthy dessert. I want them to be good, period. The following is directly from my About Chocolate Covered Katie page. I refuse to believe one must give up delicious food in order to be healthy… Healthy food can taste incredible when it’s prepared the right way. Healthy Cookie Dough Dip? I brought this healthy cookie dough dip to a party. But I didn’t tell anyone it was healthy, and I didn’t tell anyone it was mine. I simply set the dip down on the table amidst the other snacks. Something amazing happened… People tried the dip. They went back for seconds. Then thirds. Everyone kept asking, “Who brought the cookie dough dip? I need this recipe!” And I can’t tell you how many girls said, “Ugh I gotta stop eating this stuff” or “Where are my fat pants?” When I finally admitted the dip was healthy (and that it contained chickpeas!), no one would believe me. Therefore, this chickpea cookie dough dip recipe is a winner. You can, of course, just eat this healthy cookie dough dip by the spoonful. For the party, I served it with graham crackers, but fresh fruit would also be nice. Or you could get crazy and dip in any of these Healthy Cookies Recipes! 2015 edit: When I asked readers to vote for their top 5 favorite recipes from the blog to include in the new Chocolate Covered Katie Cookbook, this cookie dough dip won by a landslide! The recipe has been featured by Cooking Light, Bon Appetit, CNN, Shape, Glamour, The Philadelphia Inquirer, and The Huffington Post; and it has inspired bloggers everywhere to post their own versions of the now-famous dip on their blogs. Healthy Cookie Dough Dip Healthy Cookie Dough Dip Total Time: 10m Print This Recipe 4.89/5 4.89 / 5 95 Ingredients 1 1/2 cups chickpeas or white beans (1 can, drained and rinsed very well) (250g after draining) 1/8 tsp plus 1/16 tsp salt just over 1/8 tsp baking soda 2 tsp pure vanilla extract 1/4 cup nut butter of choice (If you use peanut butter, it will have a slight pb cookie dough taste, so if you don't want this, try the Deep Dish Cookie Pie, unbaked. instead) up to 1/4 cup milk of choice, only if needed Sweetener of choice (see note below, for amount) 1/3 cup chocolate chips or sugar free chocolate chips 2-3 tbsp oats or flaxmeal Instructions Add all ingredients (except for chocolate chips) to a good food processor, and process until very smooth. Then mix in the chocolate chips. (Some commenters have had success with a blender, but I did not. Try that at your own risk, and know the results will be better in a high-quality food processor such as a Cuisinart.) If made correctly and blended long enough, this should have the exact texture of real cookie dough! See the following link for: Sugar-Free Cookie Dough Dip Sweetener Notes: I used 2/3 cup brown sugar when I first made this for the party. Liquid sweeteners (agave, maple, etc.) are fine as well, as is evaporated cane juice. You can get away with less sugar– some people will be perfectly fine with just 3 tbsp for the whole recipe! And if you don’t want any sugar, be sure to check out the “no-sugar” version linked above. More About The Cookbook Also, if you want to make homemade & vegan cookie dough ice cream, try stirring spoonfuls of the cookie dough into this Coconut Ice Cream recipe. Your life might never be the same again… 4.89/5 (95) 4.89 / 5 95
Today I spoke with Natalia, creator/director of Showtime’s Polyamory: Married & Dating. She told me they’re hoping to film Season 2 in the Midwest! They want to show that polyamory is not just a coastal trend, but thriving right here in the Bible Belt. It sure is – I know TONS of awesome polyfolk! Please take a look at her message below. If this is something you might be interested in, drop her a line asap! Hello Community, Thank you all for your amazing support with the show, it means the world to me. I’m reaching out in hopes of speaking with poly families interested in sharing their story with me. I’m looking for polyamorous families that are charismatic, healthy, active; can be unmarried but practicing poly (don’t all have to live together); bisexuality is welcome in both male and female partners; and are open to sharing all aspects of their love lives. Between the ages of 25-50 would be ideal. Diversity and flexible schedule would be great! As I think you have seen, I am a person of integrity and my intent is to portray polyamourists as loving, mature adults who are capable of carrying on multiple loving relationships in a society that has programmed us for monogamy. I’ve had so many people reach out to me, mono people struggling in their relationships telling me the show changed their lives for the better. Despite what Dr. Drew said, I believe 100% that Polyamory is a sustainable way of living — and I would like to continue the pro-Polyamory conversation in the mainstream. If you are interested in speaking with me, I would love to hear from you! Email me at natstertv (at) yahoo (dot) com . It would help if you’ve seen the series to get a sense of what is expected. Also, I would greatly appreciate a picture along with your email so I can keep track of who’s who. Thanks again, much love to everyone, I look forward to speaking with some of you! – Natalia
Veritas Cluster File System (CFS) The examples here are : Before you configure CFS Check the status of the cluster # cfscluster status NODE CLUSTER MANAGER STATE CVM STATE serverA running not-running serverB running not-running serverC running not-running serverD running not-running Error: V-35-41: Cluster not configured for data sharing application # vxdctl -c mode mode: enabled: cluster inactive # /etc/vx/bin/vxclustadm nidmap Out of cluster: No mapping information available # /etc/vx/bin/vxclustadm -v nodestate state: out of cluster # hastatus -sum -- SYSTEM STATE -- System State Frozen A serverA RUNNING 0 A serverB RUNNING 0 A serverC RUNNING 0 A serverD RUNNING 0 Configure the cluster for CFS # cfscluster config The cluster configuration information as read from cluster configuration file is as follows. Cluster : MyCluster Nodes : serverA serverB serverC serverD You will now be prompted to enter the information pertaining to the cluster and the individual nodes. Specify whether you would like to use GAB messaging or TCP/UDP messaging. If you choose gab messaging then you will not have to configure IP addresses. Otherwise you will have to provide IP addresses for all the nodes in the cluster. ------- Following is the summary of the information: ------ Cluster : MyCluster Nodes : serverA serverB serverC serverD Transport : gab ----------------------------------------------------------- Waiting for the new configuration to be added. ======================================================== Cluster File System Configuration is in progress... cfscluster: CFS Cluster Configured Successfully Check the status of the cluster # cfscluster status Node : serverA Cluster Manager : running CVM state : running No mount point registered with cluster configuration Node : serverB Cluster Manager : running CVM state : running No mount point registered with cluster configuration Node : serverC Cluster Manager : running CVM state : running No mount point registered with cluster configuration Node : serverD Cluster Manager : running CVM state : running No mount point registered with cluster configuration # vxdctl -c mode mode: enabled: cluster active - MASTER master: serverA # /etc/vx/bin/vxclustadm nidmap Name CVM Nid CM Nid State serverA 0 0 Joined: Master serverB 1 1 Joined: Slave serverC 2 2 Joined: Slave serverD 3 3 Joined: Slave # /etc/vx/bin/vxclustadm -v nodestate state: cluster member nodeId=0 masterId=1 neighborId=1 members=0xf joiners=0x0 leavers=0x0 reconfig_seqnum=0xf0a810 vxfen=off # hastatus -sum -- SYSTEM STATE -- System State Frozen A serverA RUNNING 0 A serverB RUNNING 0 A serverC RUNNING 0 A serverD RUNNING 0 -- GROUP STATE -- Group System Probed AutoDisabled State B cvm serverA Y N ONLINE B cvm serverB Y N ONLINE B cvm serverC Y N ONLINE B cvm serverD Y N ONLINE Creating a Shared Disk Group and Volumes/Filesystems serverA # vxdctl -c mode mode: enabled: cluster active - MASTER master: serverA serverA # vxdisksetup -if EMC0_1 format=cdsdisk serverA # vxdisksetup -if EMC0_2 format=cdsdisk serverA # vxdg -s init mysharedg mysharedg01=EMC0_1 mysharedg02=EMC0_2 serverA # vxdg list mysharedg enabled,shared,cds 1231954112.163.serverA serverA # cfsdgadm add mysharedg all=sw Disk Group is being added to cluster configuration... serverA # grep mysharedg /etc/VRTSvcs/conf/config/main.cf ActivationMode @serverA = { mysharedg = sw } ActivationMode @serverB = { mysharedg = sw } ActivationMode @serverC = { mysharedg = sw } ActivationMode @serverD = { mysharedg = sw } serverA # cfsdgadm display Node Name : serverA DISK GROUP ACTIVATION MODE mysharedg sw Node Name : serverB DISK GROUP ACTIVATION MODE mysharedg sw Node Name : serverC DISK GROUP ACTIVATION MODE mysharedg sw Node Name : serverD DISK GROUP ACTIVATION MODE mysharedg sw serverA # vxassist -g mysharedg make mysharevol1 100g serverA # vxassist -g mysharedg make mysharevol2 100g serverA # mkfs -F vxfs /dev/vx/rdsk/mysharedg/mysharevol1 serverA # mkfs -F vxfs /dev/vx/rdsk/mysharedg/mysharevol2 serverA # cfsmntadm add mysharedg mysharevol1 /mountpoint1 Mount Point is being added... /mountpoint1 added to the cluster-configuration serverA # cfsmntadm add mysharedg mysharevol2 /mountpoint2 Mount Point is being added... /mountpoint2 added to the cluster-configuration serverA # cfsmntadm display -v Cluster Configuration for Node: apqma519 MOUNT POINT TYPE SHARED VOLUME DISK GROUP STATUS MOUNT OPTIONS /mountpoint1 Regular mysharevol1 mysharedg NOT MOUNTED crw /mountpoint2 Regular mysharevol2 mysharedg NOT MOUNTED crw serverA # hastatus -sum -- SYSTEM STATE -- System State Frozen A serverA RUNNING 0 A serverB RUNNING 0 A serverC RUNNING 0 A serverD RUNNING 0 -- GROUP STATE -- Group System Probed AutoDisabled State B cvm serverA Y N ONLINE B cvm serverB Y N ONLINE B cvm serverC Y N ONLINE B cvm serverD Y N ONLINE B vrts_vea_cfs_int_cfsmount1 serverA Y N OFFLINE B vrts_vea_cfs_int_cfsmount1 serverB Y N OFFLINE B vrts_vea_cfs_int_cfsmount1 serverC Y N OFFLINE B vrts_vea_cfs_int_cfsmount1 serverD Y N OFFLINE B vrts_vea_cfs_int_cfsmount2 serverA Y N OFFLINE B vrts_vea_cfs_int_cfsmount2 serverB Y N OFFLINE B vrts_vea_cfs_int_cfsmount2 serverC Y N OFFLINE B vrts_vea_cfs_int_cfsmount2 serverD Y N OFFLINE CFS allows the same file system to be simultaneously mounted on multiple nodes in the cluster.The CFS is designed with master/slave architecture. Though any node can initiate an operation to create, delete, or resize data, the master node carries out the actual operation. CFS caches the metadata in memory, typically in the memory buffer cache or the vnode cache. A distributed locking mechanism, called GLM, is used for metadata and cache coherency among the multiple nodes.1. Based on VCS 5.x but should also work on 4.x2. A new 4 node cluster with no resources defined.3. Diskgroups and volumes will be created and shared across all nodes.1. Make sure you have an established Cluster and running properly.2. Make sure these packages are installed on all nodes:VRTScavf Veritas cfs and cvm agents by SymantecVRTSglm Veritas LOCK MGR by Symantec3. Make sure you have a license installed for Veritas CFS on all nodes.4. Make sure vxfencing driver is active on all nodes (even if it is in disabled mode).Here are some ways to check the status of your cluster. On these examples, CVM/CFS are not configured yet.During configuration, veritas will pick up all information that is set on your cluster configuration. And will activate CVM on all the nodes.Now let's check the status of the cluster. And notice that there is now a new service group cvm. CVM is required to be online before we can bring up any clustered filesystem on the nodes.This procedure creates a shared disk group for use in a cluster environment. Disks must be placed in disk groups before they can be used by the Volume Manager.When you place a disk under Volume Manager control, the disk is initialized. Initialization destroys any existing data on the disk.Before you begin, make sure the disks that you add to the shared-disk group must be directly attached to all the cluster nodes.First, make sure you are on the master node:Initialize the disks you want to use. Make sure they are attached to all the cluster nodes. You may optionally specify the disk format.Create a shared disk group with the disks you just initialized.Now let's add that new disk group in our cluster configuration. Giving all nodes in the cluster an option for Shared Write (sw).Verify that the cluster configuration has been updated.We can now create volumes and filesystems within the shared diskgroup.Then add these volumes/filesystems to the cluster configuration so they can be mounted on any or all nodes. Mountpoints will be automatically created.Display the CFS mount configurations in the cluster.That's it. Check you cluster configuration and try to ONLINE the filesystems on your nodes.Each volume will have its own Service group and looks really ugly, so you may want to modify your main.cf file and group them. Be creative!Good Luck!
2017 was an exciting year for supporters of hemp. The stigma surrounding this plant has continued to decrease as more and more people discover hemp’s almost limitless uses . While hemp isn’t completely legal in the U.S. (yet), there’s growing bipartisan support in Congress, and at every level of our government, in support of full legalization. And since we’re big fans of CBD oil , a healing supplement made from hemp , we were thrilled that more people learned about CBD and its many benefits . Global attitudes are changing too, with some of the most influential authorities on international drug policy also changing their tune about CBD in 2017. It’s not all good news, of course: cannabis still has some powerful enemies, but overall this year gave us hope for hemp. Below, we’ll look at the highs and lows of hemp over the past 365 days. THOUSANDS DISCOVER CBD OIL AS GROWING SCIENTIFIC EVIDENCE SUPPORTS CBD’S BENEFITS One of the most remarkable stories of 2017 was apublished in August by HelloMD and Brightfield Group which revealed that 42 percent of CBD users give updrugs. Though it’s not a fully scientific, “double blind” style study (the 2,400 people who responded were drawn exclusively from the user base of HelloMD, a pro-cannabis website), it shows that many people are discovering that CBD helps them feel healthier. That’s probably no surprise given the ever-growing mountain of scientific evidence supporting the use of CBD. An important study released in May by the New England Journal of Medicine gave new support to the idea that CBD can help kids with epilepsy : The average number of seizures per month decreased from 12.4 to 5.9 in subjects receiving CBD, versus a reduction of just .8 in the control group who took the placebo. Additionally, about 43 percent of the subjects receiving CBD saw their seizures decrease by at least half. 5 percent actually became completely seizure free with CBD, compared with 0 of the controls. Much more research into CBD oil’s benefits is needed, but over the past year we’ve looked at preliminary evidence that suggests it can help with chronic pain , anxiety , insomnia , inflammation and joint pains (especially topical CBD ), schizophrenia , and depression . INTERNATIONAL AUTHORITIES RETHINK GLOBAL DRUG POLICY ON CBD In April, the World Anti-Doping Authority ruled that athletes will be allowed to use CBD oil starting in 2018. Though they made the policy change in 2017, many sportswriters point to the choice by MMA fighter Nate Diaz to vape CBD oil after a bout in 2016 as a key influence in the change. UFC fighters will also face different rules when it comes to drug testing thanks to his act of defiance, and we expect more people — not just athletes — will be open to trying CBD as a result. Of even greater importance for the future of international drug policy, the Expert Committee on Drug Dependence, a division of the World Health Organization , reported that CBD oil is safe and should remain completely legal. The ECDD, whose recommendations help determine which substances remain legal and illegal on worldwide, went even further by suggesting CBD oil deserves further scientific research because of its incredible potential: “There is also evidence that CBD may be a useful treatment for a number of other medical conditions,” noted the ECCD. … The “diverse” range of conditions for which CBD has been considered by scientists as a possible treatment is “consistent with its neuroprotective, antiepileptic, hypoxia-ischemia [controlling the flow of oxygen], anxiolytic, antipsychotic, analgesic [pain relieving], anti-inflammatory, anti-asthmatic and anti-tumor properties.” Although the WHO still considers psychoactive cannabis to be a dangerous drug without medical benefits, we were pleased to see that the committee will be reevaluating other cannabinoids , and the plant as a whole next year. DESPITE THAWING ATTITUDES TOWARD HEMP, STATE & FEDERAL GOVERNMENT STILL FIGHT AGAINST CBD The WHO’s support for legal CBD oil puts the global community at odds with some elements in the U.S. government that continue to fight against the legalization of hemp and cannabis. In late 2016, in a move that many hemp experts consider absurd, thedeclared that CBD oil illegal. Industry advocates insist that various Congressional bills and legal precedents make CBD legal to extract from hemp and sell, and they’re ready to go to court to keep it available if necessary. In general, individual CBD consumers have not been affected by these legal challenges and even the DEA admits that individual CBD users should be safe from prosecution . However, there were a few unfortunate and costly crackdowns against CBD vendors. Indiana State Excise Police seized CBD products from dozens of stores in the state over the summer. A detailed investigation by the Indianapolis Star revealed that a law meant to legalize CBD for people with epilepsy had provided police with an excuse to crack down on CBD vendors, even though the law (unlike a similar one that just went into effect in Texas ) doesn’t provide patients with a clear way to legally buy CBD. Although the Indiana Attorney General later insisted that CBD is illegal, other state officials (and their dogs ) vowed to resist, with lawmakers promising to revisit the issue in an upcoming session of the Indiana General Assembly. CANNABIS HAS INCREASING BIPARTISAN SUPPORT AMID US HEMP BOOM More states began their own hemp programs in 2017, or expanded existing programs to great success. Vote Hemp reported that the U.S. grew 23,346 acres of hemp in 2017, a significant increase from 2016’s total of just 9,770 acres. This growth is just the beginning, with Wisconsin among the latest to jump on the hemp legalization bandwagon and states like Pennsylvania promising to significantly increase the number of acres allowed in 2018. “Whether this bill gets passed or not this is a growing movement, this is an unstoppable movement. We will get this stuff done whether it’s this … bill or not. This plant will be legalized.” Hemp returned to the U.S. in a big way in 2014 after decades of prohibition, with the passage of that year’s Farm Bill, whichthe growth and sales of hemp for research purposes. With hemp appearing on more and more farms of all sizes since then, this once-controversial plant has, even among some of the most conservative lawmakers. While the, a bill to completely legalize hemp in the U.S., stalled in 2017, the fact that it had enthusiastic sponsorship by both Republicans and Democrats suggests it’s only a matter of time. John Ryan ofagreed with us when we asked him about the bill in August: Attitudes are changing in individuals too. With every person who tries CBD or another hemp product , and with each state that legalizes recreational or medicinal marijuana, more people realize that what was once called a “demon weed” is actually a miraculous crop that can help humanity. Despite some dark moments over the past year, it seems like they’re great things ahead for this plant. We hope you’ll join us in nurturing America’s love affair with hemp in 2018. DISCOVER THE TOP CBD BRANDS The market is getting saturated with many different CBD brands. We’ve compared the top brands to help you with your decision. Check it out.
By Jack Burns In 2012, HSBC, one of the world’s largest banks, settled with the U.S. Government, avoiding criminal prosecution of its executives, for helping to launder money for Mexican drug cartels as well as Al Qaeda. According to the US Senate’s report, which investigated the matter, HSBC provided a “gateway for terrorists to gain access to U.S. dollars and the U.S. financial system.” Loretta Lynch, while serving as the U.S. District Attorney in NY said HSBC engaged in a, “sustained and systemic failure to guard against the corruption of our financial system by drug traffickers and other criminals and for evading U.S. sanctions law.” As a result of the criminal charges for money laundering and admitted guilt in four counts against the global banking firm. “HSBC has agreed to forfeit 1.256 billion dollars, the largest forfeiture amount ever by a financial institution for a compliance failure,” Lynch stated. At the time of the charges and the agreed upon resolution, HSBC Group Chief Executive Officer, Stuart Gulliver, said in a statement, “We accept responsibility for our past mistakes. We have said we are profoundly sorry for them.” He also promised that the bank had taken, “extensive and concerted steps to put in place the highest standards for the future.” But that was then. This is now. Just this week, as The Free Thought Project reported, the bank is now working with the Justice Department to keep those “concerted steps” a closely guarded secret. The bank and the DOJ want the compliance report, which has already been compiled, to be kept a secret much like a criminal’s parole meetings are guarded. But while the bank may prove ultimately successful in keeping its post-settlement behaviors under wraps, the entire ordeal seems to have taken a toll on the bank’s bottom line. Comparatively speaking, 2016 was a terrible year for HSBC. The bank reported a 2.48 billion dollar profit, down 82 percent from the previous year’s earnings of 13.52 billion. The bank cited various reasons for its losses. In a statement to the Hong Kong stock exchange, HSBC chairman Douglas Flint said, “We highlight the threat of populism impacting policy choices in upcoming European elections, possible protectionist measures from the new US administration impacting global trade, uncertainties facing the UK and the EU as they enter Brexit negotiations.” Blaming both Brexit and the populist election of Donald Trump (implied) may serve to abate the fears of the bank’s investors for the moment, and may serve to illustrate just who stands to gain should the UK remain in the European Union, but it does not resolve the scandals with which the bank has previously been embroiled. The far more plausible reason for this megabank’s demise is the fact that the people — who have the real power — have voted with their dollars and decided to bank elsewhere. Since the bank was forced to pay well over a billion dollars in fees to the U.S. government, the financial institution has suffered some hard times. However, the small penalty was trivial compared to the bank’s previous profit windfall. Now, however, the bank announced it would be ending nearly 50,000 jobs worldwide and relocating 1,000 of its employees from the UK to France in a move to continue to generate revenue in the event Brexit officially takes place. Also, last year, The EU Commission fined HSBC and other banks for their part in price fixing the Euro, an action which involved, yet again, a criminal cartel. So, putting things into perspective, one of the largest banks in the world was found guilty of laundering money for drug cartels responsible for political assassinations, beheadings, and pumping the American landscape with a continuous flow of illegal drugs, arms, and money — and not one single bank executive went to jail. Then, after they’re found guilty of doing the same thing in Europe, again, no one went to jail. We tend to believe that is called executive privilege, and in other words, corruption. The good news is that it appears the people are refusing to finance it any longer. American Natural Superfood - Free Sample But in contrast to the high crimes and misdemeanors of rich bank executives, an Idaho mom, as TFTP reported, gave a tablespoon of marijuana butter to her daughter who’d suffered from intractable seizures. For the simple action of giving a life-saving natural medicine to her daughter, which didn’t involve aiding and abetting the enemy (which HSBC was charged with) she had her children taken away from her, and was arrested. Sadly, this is what ‘justice’ has become in the ostensible Land of the Free. It’s high time we stop relying on the ruling elite to hold each other accountable — as this never happens. You have the power, you control who you fund with your own money. As Matthew Cooke explains below, the banks are nothing without your money. Jack Burns writes for TheFreeThoughtProject.com, where this article first appeared.
Developers are proposing a slew of new residential towers over 400 feet high on the busy Denny Way corridor, seizing on the City Council’s rezone of South Lake Union to allow for greater height and density. South Lake Union’s Denny Way corridor is growing up. Developers are proposing a slew of new residential towers over 400 feet high on the busy corridor between Aurora Avenue North and Interstate 5, two years after the Seattle City Council rezoned South Lake Union to allow for greater height and density. The city’s apartment boom shows no signs of losing steam. The latest proposal — two 42-story residential towers with 420 units each on opposite sides of a block — comes from H5 Capital in Beverly Hills, Calif. It proposes to demolish the one-story building occupied by The 13 Coins restaurant and erect the towers on both sides of an eight-story building in the middle of the block whose occupants include The Seattle Times. Known as 121 Boren Ave. N., the project is on a block bounded by Denny Way, Boren Avenue North, John Street and Terry Avenue North. The proposal will get its first public hearing Oct. 7 before the city’s design-review board. The Seattle Times Co. sold the two buildings to H5 Capital in 2011 for $36 million. The paper is about four years into a 10-year lease in the structure, said Times spokeswoman Jill Mackie. Officials for H5 Capital didn’t respond to requests for comment Thursday, nor did representatives of 13 Coins. The new development would provide 350 parking spaces for each tower, which means not every unit would come with a stall. Matt Griffin, who developed Via6 in Denny Triangle, said his experience there shows him that downtown residents, if they own cars, use the parking stalls to store their cars for occasional use. “They know they can’t move in the traffic either,” Griffin said. The Denny corridor would sprout a bumper crop of tall towers if developers all move ahead with their plans: On the same block, Mack Urban has proposed a 40-story residential building at the northwest corner. The project, known for now as 1001 John Street or 124 Terry Avenue, is on land purchased in December for $11.5 million. Just across Boren, British Columbia-based Onni Group is pursuing permits for four high-rise residential towers on the two city blocks it owns: two 41-story towers at 1120 Denny Way, where the corridor meets Fairview Avenue North; and 29- and 36-story towers on the block to the north of that, the site of the landmarked Seattle Times Co. building, city records show. While the four towers combined would contain 1,910 units, their parking garages would have capacity for more than 2,580 vehicles, according to city records. Some of those parking spaces are committed to H5’s tenants in the building across the street. To the west, Holland Partner Group has applied for a permit for a 40-story apartment tower with 461 units at 970 Denny Way, city records show. The developer, which bought two parcels for $20.1 million in March, plans to include parking for 374 cars — and 188 bikes. Ducky’s Office Furniture had a showroom on the southern parcel, but has moved it south to Seattle’s Georgetown neighborhood. Down the hill at Westlake Avenue North, Vulcan has big plans for its block that now is home to South Lake Union Discovery Center and a playfield. The Seattle developer has applied for a 41-story residential tower at the southeast corner of Ninth Avenue North and John Street and an 18-story office tower at the northwest corner of Westlake Avenue North and Denny Way, plans filed with the city show. The project also will have about 28,000 square feet of retail. Vulcan will get feedback on its plan at a design-review board meeting Wednesday. The developer is asking the city to give up a public alley, partly so Vulcan can build an 848-stall parking garage underground. Developers of these projects are seeking height and density bonuses in exchange for contributing funds to city priorities, such as affordable housing, child care and farmland preservation. Those were the carrots the City Council offered in hopes of leveraging the neighborhood’s skyrocketing growth. “Despite all the talk about the incentives not being used, a lot of the newer tower projects are using them to get additional height,” said Jake McKinstry, a principal at Spectrum Development Solutions, which has developed affordable housing in Seattle. Only two towers are allowed per block in South Lake Union compared with four in downtown, and the towers must maintain a 60-foot separation, city planners say. Those rules are designed to preserve views and keep corridors from turning into shadowy canyons. That means the three towers proposed by H5 Capital and Mack Urban for a single block are unlikely to all be built. Developer Griffin, who led the development of downtown’s Pacific Place mall, says those tower-spacing rules may be counterproductive. “In my mind, it ends up spreading out the downtown, and I believe that density is our friend,” Griffin said. “We need more people per block to make the retail and restaurants healthy.” If the city is trying to protect people’s views from being blocked by a new tower, it’s “the case of we cater to the people who got here first as opposed to being open to people who want to come in the future,” Griffin said. Units with blocked views will rent for less or sell for less. In a city facing soaring rents and home prices, he asked, “is that necessarily a bad thing?”
Fox News Barack Obama appears on The O'Reilly Factor Barack Obama sat down to an interview with Fox News' Bill O'Reilly on Fox tonight and shockingly it looked like a TV interview. Though he was speaking with Democrats' most reviled host on their most disparaged network, no one Photoshopped his head onto Osama bin Laden's body or produced Jeremiah Wright from behind a secret panel. Instead in the first of four segments designed to milk the interview Obama had a combative but respectful back-and-forth with O'Reilly, tonight on the subject of national security. O'Reilly asked first if Obama believed we are in a "war on terror," a kind of semantic loyalty oath to see if he would hedge on the term. "Absolutely," he said. O'Reilly led him through questions on Iran, Afghanistan and Iraq, occasionally bickering with Obama ("You're not going to send ground troops [into Pakistan], and you know it!") or making a pronouncement without asking a question. Obama pressed his case that the war in Iraq had misdirected America's resources, saying that the surge had worked "beyond our wildest dreams" but placing that in the context of the cost of the preceding five years of the war and reminding O'Reilly that the Iraqis have not yet stepped up to self-governance. (And, in what was probably an intentional dig at McCain, making the point that he knew the distinction between Sunni and Shi'a.) Obama's visit came in a campaign notable for candidates avoiding various media. Most Democratic candidates, including Obama, largely shunned Fox during the primaries. (Obama has gone on Fox News Sunday.) John McCain canceled on Larry King earlier this week to punish CNN for Campbell Brown's having dared to ask a McCain aide too many follow-up questions about Sarah Palin's foreign policy credentials. And Palin, thus far, has been avoiding all national media interviews, save one with People magazine. Michael Wolff reports in the current Vanity Fair that Obama's rapprochement with Fox happened after an air-clearing meeting with Rupert Murdoch and Fox News chief Roger Ailes. And it's about time. For God's sake, if you think it's in America's interest to speak to international adversaries, you ought to be able to sit down with a guy whose TV show you don't like. The Democratic argument against "legitimizing" Fox News by appearing was as ridiculous as McCain's snub of softballer King and Palin's residency in the Candidate Protection Program and politically counterproductive, to boot. Is Fox Karl Rove's new home? Fine. Did it flog the Wright story, call Michelle Obama "baby mama" and suggest a "terrorist fist bump"? Sure. Did O'Reilly get in a scuffle with an Obama staffer on a New Hampshire rope line? Hey, who hasn't? The fact remains that according to Pew Research over half of Fox News' audience members are Democrats or Independents. Their votes are legitimate, whether Fox News is or not. And to continue to freeze out Fox would go against one of Obama's most consistent messages: that people are sick of red-vs.-blue America divisions and that we should be able to talk with people who disagree with us. In that sense, Obama made his strongest argument simply by showing up. O'Reilly at least gave Obama props for that. In typical O'Reillian fashion, the host had two analysts on immediately after the segment, essentially to assess how well he had interviewed Obama (verdict: great!), and O'Reilly praised him for coming onto the show. "He's a tough guy, Obama ... I looked at him eye to eye he's not a wimpy guy." Obama, after all, had stared down Papa Bear. And in the No-Spin Zone, that's the greatest leadership credential of all.
Travel through a wormhole So on the internet it's kind of hard to get a realistic impression of what travelling through a wormhole could look like. If you look around a bit you'll find things like: this wormhole simulation video based on the actual maths of general relativity, this scene of the movie "Interstellar", which is epic but completely inaccurate for the interior for artistic reasons (the exterior seems legit), and this "Interstellar" thing I made, which is maybe sort of accurate, but in reality is just hacked together without knowing anything about general relativity or differential geometry. None of these show what a wormhole with a long "throat" would look like. This simulation does. Controls Use AWSD + mouse controls to move around on PC, and drag up, left and right to move forward and rotate on mobile devices. Side note: on some mobile devices and on PCs with certain GPUs the rendering might be rather grainy. If it happens to you: sorry about that! Click anywhere to continue
On June 2, the National Aeronautical and Space Administration (NASA) Office of the Inspector General released the results of an investigation into allegations that James Hansen, Columbia University climatologist and NASA scientist with the Goddard Institute for Space Sciences (GISS), had been censored by the NASA Headquarters Office of Public Affairs. The results were a vindication of Hansen and his various supporters who’d claimed that he’d been censored in his access to the media by NASA political appointees. But the report (“Investigative Summary Regarding Allegations that NASA Suppressed Climate Change Science and Denied Media Access to Dr. James E. Hansen, a NASA Scientist”) did not find any evidence that the censorship extended beyond the NASA Headquarters Office of Public Affairs or that the censorship had included Hansen’s research in any way. According to the Space Act of 1958, NASA has a legal requirement that information about its activities and research be made public: Of particular relevance to our investigation is section 203(a)(3) of the Space Act, which directs NASA “to provide for the widest practicable and appropriate dissemination of information concerning its activities and the results thereof.” (original emphasis) And the Inspector General found that in this particular case, this statutory requirement wasn’t met according to the preponderance of evidence: [W]e cannot envision a circumstance in which the Space Actâ€™s language or intent would permit, as “appropriate,” circumstances where Agency Public Affairs officials purposely deny, delay, tone down, or subordinate to lesser media the presentation of federally funded scientific research to the public, and in which the public clearly has a substantial interest, because they believed it to be inconsistent with Administration policies or priorities, which is what is reasonably reflected by the evidence…. We do not believe, however, that the Agencyâ€™s statutory mandate or regulatory commitments, with specific reference to its public affairs functions, allow for the intentional distortion of information or science in press releases the Agencyâ€”in its exercise of discretionâ€”has elected to issue. Likewise, purposefully withholding or delaying meritorious releases to ostensibly meet political objectives would also appear to stretch the mandate to provide “the widest practicable and appropriate dissemination of information concerning its activities and results thereof.” The report found that the NASA Headquarters Office of Public Affairs standard operating procedure during the period that the censorship occurred went basically like this: the scientist submits his press release to his local NASA PR offfice who work with the scientist to make it’s accurate and easily understood by the general public, a draft is sent to a subject expert in the NASA Headquarters Office of Public Affairs who then reverifies the accuracy of the information and, if it’s not accurate, works via the local NASA PR office to clear up any problems, and once any issues are cleared up, the press release is scrubbed for style and released. However, the report found that it didn’t always work this way: Public Affairs Officers and scientists employed in the fields of Earth science and astrophysics told our investigators that the NASA Headquarters Office of Public Affairs did not, on a consistent basis, apply the same Standard Operating Procedure for news releases, media advisories, news features, Internet postings, and media interviewsâ€”especially when it came to information that might be politically sensitive, such as climate change. Further, many of themâ€”to include career Public Affairs Officersâ€”characterized the news release approval process as “arbitrary” and questioned whether the Headquarters Office of Public Affairs was choosing to ignore its own Standard Operating Procedure. Some NASA scientists said that they even questioned the existence of an Office of Public Affairs Standard Operating Procedure, based on their ignored requests (to Public Affairs) for documentation of their internal policies…. According to present and former career Public Affairs Officers at NASA Headquarters and Field Centers that we interviewed,31 the NASA Headquarters Office of Public Affairs processed all media products that discussed “climate change” (or a variant thereof) in a unique manner during the pre-election period of the fall of 2004 through the spring of 2006. Describing the review process for climate change media products as extremely onerous, stressful, and heavy handed, it was their collective belief that there was an “air of political interference” and a desire by the political appointees in the NASA Headquarters Office of Public Affairs to support the Administration by reducing the amount or toning down the impact of climate change research disseminated to the public. Career employees described to us a Headquarters Office of Public Affairs environment where “looking good” was the preeminent motivator of their political appointee superiors and coworkers (rather than following a process with regard to their statutorily required research dissemination). According to the report, the political appointee most responsible for blocking Hansen’s access to the press was former Deputy Assistant Administrator for Public Affairs and Emmy award-winning journalist Dean Acosta. Almost all the career NASA Headquarters Public Affairs Officers told us that during 2004 through early 2006, it was “generally understood” that all “climate change” media text products were to be personally hand-carried to Mr. Acosta for review…. One witness, a former Headquarters Public Affairs Officer, informed our investigators that in October 2004, Mr. Acosta told him/her about his (Mr. Acostaâ€™s) concern that there were â€œtoo manyâ€ climate-related news releases being submitted for approval and that the Earth Science Mission Directorate Public Affairs Office needed to do a better job of â€œpreventingâ€ the development of climate-related and especially climate change news releases. Again, we found no direct evidence of affirmative actions by NASA personnel that were in furtherance of Mr. Acostaâ€™s remarks. We did, however, discover records that were gathered in support of NASAâ€™s management review of alleged scientific suppression in 2006,33 that reflected a subsequent reduction in climate-related news releases, from 48 in 2004 to 12 in 2005…. The scientists we interviewed claimed these delays and conversions were “politically motivated” as they lessened the impact of the story because the lack of timeliness and the forums chosen for dissemination resulted in the media outlets being less likely to pick up the stories. Mr. Acosta denies all this, stating that any delays were necessary due to the extensive editing required to create a product that the general public could understand. The NASA Field Center Public Affairs Officers and scientists that we interviewed deny the assertion that the releases needed extensive editing…. As a writer and journalist, I take great personal pride in the compliments I get from people about my ability to distill complex scientific and technological subjects down to language that non-specialists can understand. It takes effort and practice, but it’s not terribly difficult for me, and I’m not even trained in the art of writing or editing specifically for a non-scientific audience, as Mr. Acosta or his various subordinates almost certainly are. As such, the claims of the career NASA Field Center Public Affairs Officers that releases did not need extensive editing are, in my opinion and that of the NASA Inspector General, far more credible than Mr. Acosta’s. But while the report finds that Mr. Acosta, and to a lesser extent his former boss and current Assistant Administrator for Public Affairs, David R. Mould, were responsible for suppressing global warming science and Hansen’s contact with the press, James Hansen himself isn’t entirely off the hook either. The report found that, following his speech before the 2005 American Geophysical Union Conference, Hansen failed to follow official NASA procedures by alerting the Office of Public Affairs about some of his press contacts, and several articles were printed or interviews aired before Acosta could be notified. This led, according to the report, to Mould and Acosta contacting the GISS and demanding that all GISS employee interviews had to be approved by the Headquarters Office of Public Affairs. As someone who has worked for private industry for my entire career to date, I can reasonably confidently state that, if Hansen had worked for any one of the companies I’ve worked for, he’d have been severely disciplined or fired instead of being merely reined in by the PR people for going around them. Hansen’s behavior may have been tolerated by the GISS because he’s an academic, a respected scientist, and a government employee, but no corporation would have done so. That being said, however, the greatest interference (arguably) that occurred was this: During the teleconference, according to the Public Affairs Coordinator, Messrs. Mould and Acosta verbally directed the Coordinator that, unlike previous practice, all Goddard Institute for Space Studiesâ€™ postings to its Web site must be approved by senior Science Mission Directorate officials and the Headquarters Office of Public Affairs. This was a departure from previous policy insomuch as this level of approval included the Web posting of scientific journals, data releases, science briefs, and news features…. The Headquarters Office of Public Affairs has authority only over press contacts – it has no authority over access to scientific publications or Web content intended for a scientific audience. And so this new policy instituted on verbal order was unprecedented, and almost definitionally an attempt to censor the data released from Hansen and the GISS. And that’s when things got really messy. On December 16, 2005, the Chief of the Goddard Space Flight Center Office of Public Affairs, was telephonically contacted by Messrs. Mould and Acosta. The Chief advised us that Mr. Acosta told him/her that the Headquarters Office of Public Affairs’ policy concerning a “heads-up” on media inquiries had changed and that the Headquarters Office of Public Affairs now wanted to know everything that Dr. Hansen was doing…. As a result, the Chief felt Dr. Hansen was being “singled out” by the Headquarters Office of Public Affairs, which prompted him to send an e-mail to Dr. Hansenâ€™s supervisors notifying them of the Headquarters Office of Public Affairsâ€™ desire that the Goddard Space Flight Center Office of Public Affairs monitor Dr. Hansenâ€”and that the Chief did not think that was their job. On December 20, 2005, the Chief of the Goddard Space Flight Center Office of Public Affairs sent an e-mail to Messrs. Acosta and Mould memorializing the directions given during the teleconference in an attempt to get written confirmation of these directives. Neither Mr. Acosta nor Mr. Mould replied to the e-mail. Both later claimed to NASA leadership and congressional staff that they never received it. Congressional staff informed our investigators that Messrs. Mould and Acosta denied that the contents of the e-mail accurately reflected what was discussed and that the teleconference with the Goddard Institute for Space Studies Public Affairs Coordinator was not an initiation of a monitoring effort but was only a reiteration of the “heads-up” policy already in place. In contradiction to this denial, the three Headquarters Office of Public Affairs officials who were party to the December 15, 2005, teleconference all concurred that the contents of the e-mail message both accurately summarized the directions given during the teleconference and the way that the NASA Headquarters Office of Public Affairs worked. Our investigation confirmed that that e-mail from the Chief of the Goddard Space Flight Center Office of Public Affairs was, in fact, drafted, sent, and received by others who were on the same distribution list as Messrs. Acosta and Mould. Further, a forensic examination of electronic data obtained from Mr. Acostaâ€™s NASA-issued computer revealed that the e-mail had been successfully delivered to Mr. Acostaâ€™s e-mail address and it had been saved to his hard drive as a normal function of e-mail retrieval from the server. The examination of available data further showed that he (or someone operating his equipment) had received and reviewed the e-mail on his Blackberry device, and then forwarded it to another Headquarters Office of Public Affairs staff member for advice, who, in turn, responded to him via e-mail correspondence. Note that this means Acosta lied under oath to Congress. And so, while this report was not a criminal investigation, it may still have uncovered evidence of perjury. And in case that’s not enough evidence for you, here’s yet more, in this case evidence that Mould and Acosta threw an underling under the bus to save themselves: Of interest, the Agencyâ€™s position is that Mr. Deutsch was the Headquarters Office of Public Affairsâ€™ representative who denied National Public Radioâ€™s request to interview Dr. Hansen. To a degree, that is true. According to Mr. Deutsch, however, this denial was based on the direction given to him by his supervisor, Mr. Acosta, which we believe is credible. Mr. Acosta denies giving such direction and, indeed, NASA appears to have adopted the position that Mr. Deutsch (as a 24-year-old GS-9 in his first job in Government) acted independently when making the decision to deny National Public Radioâ€™s request…. Particularly troublesome to us is that when the denial of the National Public Radio interview became controversial, Mr. Deutschâ€™s leadership distanced themselves from him on this issue by not taking responsibility for any actions taken in connection with the interview denial. Instead, Messrs. Mould and Acosta intimated that Mr. Deutsch had acted alone in denying the request from National Public Radio, when, in fact, Mr. Deutsch was simply carrying out their orders or intent. While the report found that there had been manipulations of Hansen’s access to the press, it did not find that there had been any such manipulations of his access to scientific journals, nor was there any such pattern within NASA at all: In the course of our investigation, we neither received nor discovered any complaints or concerns regarding the operating procedures or implementation of those procedures used for NASAâ€™s release of scientific and technical reports. Further, the NASA Office of Inspector Generalâ€™s Office of Audits corroborated our observations in a recent audit, noted earlier, which found no evidence that the STI review process was used to inappropriately suppress the release of scientific data. Again, of the 287 authors surveyed at the four Field Centers reviewed, none indicated that they had personally experienced or knew of anyone else who had experienced actual or perceived suppression of their research. Further, a published review conducted by the Government Accountability Office estimated that 91 percent of NASA researchers believe that the Agency supports dissemination of research results through publications. (original emphasis) And the report also found no evidence that there had been an attempt to suppress Hansen’s research via budget cuts: We found no credible evidence that the Agency had used the budget as form of scientific suppression. While the overall budget for the Science Mission Directorateâ€™s Earth Science Division declined, the decline was associated with the Agencyâ€™s decision to retire the Space Shuttle by 2010, complete the International Space Station, and transition to the next-generation space vehicle in furtherance of the Presidentâ€™s Vision for Space Exploration. In addition, the Inspector General found no evidence that, although reports were provided to the White House Press Office in advance of publication, there was any White House “approval” of the press releases: [O]ur investigation found no direct evidence that non-NASA officials serving within the Administration were editing/approving the release of climate change media products. We did, however, find evidence that the NASA Office of Public Affairs routinely notified Administration officials of newsworthy events and, in one case, appeared to be coordinating with Administration officials with respect to the timing of a climate-related press conference and news release…. [O]ur investigation found that at least one climate change news release, â€œAura Sheds New Light on Pollution,â€ was intentionally delayed by NASA Headquarters Office of Public Affairs until after the election. We could not, however, substantiate other allegations of over â€œmonth long delaysâ€ in getting releases approved or released during the pre-election period. So, where does this go now? The report is not intended to be the results of a criminal investigation, even though the investigation discovered possible criminal activity in at least one case (perjury before Congress) and possibly others. But the fact that Acosta is so pointedly identified as the primary player (with Mould as secondary) can’t do his two recent employers, first DC-based PR firm Qorvis Communications and now Chicago-based Boeing, any favors. There is still a stink of ego-driven “he said, he said” conflict here, but the preponderance of evidence points to the conclusion that the NASA Headquarters Office of Press Affairs did interfere with climate scientists, and especially James Hansen’s, access to teh press for a period of time. According to federal law, that’s certainly against regulations and may, or may not, be criminal. Regardless, though, NASA’s Office of the Inspector General found that there was undue interference by political appointees on the public’s access to scientific information, and that alone will give yet more ammunition to those who continue to claim such interference has been widespread during the Presidency of Bush II. There is one piece of good news, though – the research and reporting of results in scientific journals was not distorted, largely because the NASA Headquarters Office of Press Affairs lacked the organizational authority to do so. But we should make sure that, in other instances and organizations where the press office has authority over the science reporting, distortions have not occurred. Other articles on this report:
English [ edit ] Etymology [ edit ] From Medieval Latin anōdynos (“stilling or relieving pain”), from Ancient Greek ἀνώδυνος (anṓdunos, “free from pain”), from ἀν- (an-, “without”) + ὀδύνη (odúnē, “pain”). Adjective sense “noncontentious” probably through French anodin (“harmless, trivial”), of same origin. Pronunciation [ edit ] Adjective [ edit ] anodyne (comparative more anodyne, superlative most anodyne) ( pharmacology ) Capable of soothing or eliminating pain. 1847 , Littell's Living Age , number 161, 12 June 1847, in Volume 13, page 483: Many a time has the vapor of ether been inhaled for the relief of oppressed lungs; many a time has the sought relief been thus obtained; and just so many times has the discovery of the wonderful anodyne properties of this gas, as affecting all bodily suffering, been brushed past and overlooked. , , number 161, 12 June 1847, in Volume 13, page 483: 1910, Edward L. Keyes, Diseases of the Genito-Urinary Organs, page 211: The citrate is the most efficient as an alkali, but irritates some stomachs, the liquor the most anodyne, the acetate the most diuretic. ( figuratively ) Soothing or relaxing. Classical music is rather anodyne. ( by extension ) Noncontentious, blandly agreeable, unlikely to cause offence or debate. bland inoffensive noncontentious 2003 , The Guardian , 20 May 2003: It all became so routine, so anodyne , so dull. , , 20 May 2003: 2004 , John Dickie, Cosa Nostra: A History Of The Sicilian Mafia , Hodder & Stoughton, →ISBN : , Hodder & Stoughton, What is less known about Cavalleria is that its story is the purest, most anodyne form of a myth about Sicily and the mafia, a myth that was something akin to the official ideology of the Sicilian mafia for nearly a century and a half. 2010, "Rattled", The Economist, 9 Dec 2010: States typically like to stick to anodyne messages, like saving wildflowers or animals. But every so often a controversy crops up. Translations [ edit ] Noun [ edit ] anodyne (plural anodynes) ( pharmacology ) Any medicine or other agent that relieves pain. ( figuratively ) A source of relaxation or comfort. 1890 , Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray , ch. VII: The air was heavy with the perfume of the flowers, and their beauty seemed to bring him an anodyne for his pain. , Oscar Wilde, , ch. VII: 1929, Virginia Woolf, A Room of One's Own, page 79: So, with a sigh, because novels so often provide an anodyne and not an antidote, glide one into torpid slumbers instead of rousing one with a burning brand. Translations [ edit ] any medicine or other agent that relieves pain Bulgarian: болкоуспокояващо ( bolkouspokojavašto ) Catalan: analgèsic Finnish: kipulääke (fi) French: analgésique (fr) m Russian: болеутоля́ющее n ( boleutoljájuščeje ) , анальге́тик (ru) m ( analʹgétik ) a source of relaxation or comfort Catalan: calmant (ca) Finnish: lievitys (fi) French: calmant (fr) m Russian: успокое́ние (ru) n ( uspokojénije ) Spanish: tranquilizante m Derived terms [ edit ] References [ edit ] Anagrams [ edit ] French [ edit ] Pronunciation [ edit ] Adjective [ edit ] anodyne Latin [ edit ] Pronunciation [ edit ] Adjective [ edit ] anōdyne
Image copyright Liam Daniel Image caption The Theory of Everything - biopic of Stephen Hawking - is credited with boosting the box office The UK box office has seen a 10% rise in ticket sales in the first half of the year, compared to the same period in 2014. Figures released by the British Film Institute (BFI) show there have been 83 million tickets sold so far this year. The BFI added that the market share of UK films was 32% - up from 26.8% last year. The figures include joint UK-US productions including The Avengers: Age of Ultron and The Theory of Everything. But it also includes independent films such as the Shaun the Sheep Movie, which made £13.7m and Far From the Madding Crowd, starring Carey Mulligan, which made £6.1m. It is the highest share for UK films since 2012, the BFI added. Image copyright Studio Canal Image caption Aardman's Shaun The Sheep movie takes the character away from the farm-based setting of the hit TV series A total of 358 films were released in cinemas in the UK and the Republic of Ireland in the first half of the year. Together they grossed £591m, compared to £490m from 342 films over the same period last year. The biggest earning film so far this year is Jurassic World, which has grossed more than £57m so far. The Avengers: Age of Ultron which was made in the UK is in second place with £48m. Amanda Nevill, CEO of the BFI, said the report "shows that UK audiences are continuing to flock to the cinemas, ensuring film continues to be a vibrant contributor to the economy. "It is particularly exciting for the UK creative sector to see films made in the UK achieving a strong share of the UK box office market." The box office should continue to be healthy over the next six months, with the likes of Star Wars: The Force Awakens and James Bond film Spectre boosting cinema attendance. Films in production The BFI report also includes details on how much is being spent on film production in the UK. The first six months of the year has seen £594m spent on film production spread across 79 films. Inward investment has accounted for £518m of that figure, across 21 movies. Domestic UK films budgeted at £500,000 and above have contributed £56m, across 24 films. Amanda Nevill called the figures "encouraging". "At this stage of the year, the overall spend on film production is encouraging with a higher percentage of spend being made in the UK but with new productions in the pipeline and due to start filming in the coming months, the full year's statistics at year end will give us a fuller picture," she said. Figures released also show that £279m has been spent so far this year on 30 high-end TV productions, including the final series of Downton Abbey, Churchill's Secret, The Dresser and the third series of Endeavour.
On Thursday 30 December 1675, a startling proclamation was printed in the London Gazette: Whereas it is most apparent, That the Multitude of Coffee-houses of late Years set up and kept within this Kingdom . . . and the great resort of Idle and Disaffected persons to them, have produced very evil and dangerous Effects, as well for that many Tradesmen and others do therein mispend much of their time, which might and probably would otherwise be employed in and about their lawful Callings and Affairs; but also, for that in such Houses, and by occasion of the meetings of such Persons therein, divers false, malitious and scandalous Reports are devised and spread abroad, to the Defamation of His Majesties Government, and to the Disturbance of the Peace and Quiet of the Realm; His Majesty hath thought it fit and necessary, That the said Coffee-houses be (for the future) Put down and Suppressed . . . (read the whole proclamation on the London Gazette website) There was a public uproar and he had to back down, but His Majesty Charles II did have a point. Anyone reading Hooke’s diary is under no illusions that a good deal of Hooke’s time that might otherwise have been spent doing who knows what, possibly one of his several lawful callings, was in fact employed in meeting friends at Garraway’s or Jonathan’s. Furthermore, every Restoration Londoner knew that the coffee-house was the place to go for false, malicious and scandalous reports (second only to the palace of Whitehall for really juicy gossip). Hooke probably didn’t go specifically for the scandal, although occasionally he ran across scandal in the course of a visit. He went to meet friends, talk to people, and read the latest news from home and abroad. Of course, the main topic of conversation on 30 December 1675 was the royal proclamation. You could run into just about anyone at a coffee-house, from shoe-makers to courtiers. Hooke’s friends and associates had their own particular haunts – Hooke often visited Man’s with Sir Christopher Wren, and select Fellows of the Royal Society regularly adjourned to the Crown Tavern in Threadneedle Street after meetings. In the 1670s Hooke’s favored establishment was Garraway’s in Exchange Alley, run by Thomas Garraway; in the 1680s and 1690s he preferred Jonathan’s, kept by Jonathan Miles, again in Exchange Alley. Hooke sometimes visited Jonathan’s three times in a day, and usually met some of his particular friends there. He recorded such visits in a truncated fashion in his diary. Part of an entry for Thursday 17 January 1689 reads: . . . at Jon Gof Lod Sp Wal: Hayn. Mev. Cur. Pag. of flood. Atlantis &c . . . meaning ‘at Jonathans. [met] Godfrey, Lodwick, Spencer, Waller, Hains, Meverell, Currer, Paggin. [talk] of flood. Atlantis, &c’. The listing of names became almost compulsive for Hooke in the later part of his diary – this is a typical entry. On this occasion the talk turned to the Biblical flood and its consequences, something Hooke was particularly interested in at this time as part of his theorising about the history and formation of the earth. On other visits Hooke was more interested in reading the latest news printed in the London Gazette, or papers from Scotland, Ireland, Holland and Paris. It was at Jonathan’s that Hooke first learnt of the death of Queen Christina of Sweden (he noted this on Monday 18 March 1689, and again on Thursday 9 May, when the Paris Gazette apparently ran an obituary of the prominent monarch). Happenings closer to home were also discussed, including London mayoral elections and military affairs in Scotland and Ireland. Just one contemporary drawing of the interior of a seventeenth-century coffee-house exists, now in the British Museum collections. (view it here) It’s just a watercolour sketch, but it gives a good impression of the tobacco pipes, coffee and conversation on offer – a convivial place to spend an evening with Hooke and his friends. Advertisements
Big spenders... still! QPR agree deal for £6.3m Colombian striker Zapata QPR have agreed a deal that rises to £6.3m for Estudiantes’ Duvan Zapata. The Colombia Under 20s striker is due in London on Monday but he will still need to gain a work permit before the deal can go through. Big spending: Zapata of Estudiantes still needs a work permit before the deal can be confirmed QPR will appeal on the grounds Zupata is a special talent. Defender Anton Ferdinand, 28, has left QPR by mutual consent. He spent the second half of last season on loan at Bursaspor and is expected to join Antalyaspor on a free transfer. QPR manager Harry Redknapp is also keen to offload Samba Diakite. Redknapp said: ‘Diakite wants to go. We won’t stand in his way. He’s had knee surgery and he’s not fit at the moment.’ Out: Ferdinand has left Loftus Road by mutual consent
FERGUSON, Missouri — For a time, little more than a few inches of space separated a delicate line between peace and chaos. Protesters tested the limits of the invisible boundary Friday night, toeing dangerously close to the row of officers lined up to protect the police headquarters here. Warnings from law enforcement officials that they may soon begin arresting people were easily drowned out by music and chants from the thickening crowd. Photographers readied their cameras, waiting for something to pop as demonstrators on the front lines stared down their opponents, leaving little room to breathe. All except for Shermale Humphrey — she was facing the other way. While the fallout of a teen’s death at the hands of a police officer focused heavily on the day-to-day injustices incurred by young black men, it’s the women who helped turn a string of protests into a movement, by seamlessly shifting between the roles of peace-keepers, disrupters, organizers and leaders. In Ferguson on Friday night, Humphrey knew exactly what to do when she saw a young man — barely 15-years-old — struggling to contain the energy and anger building up inside him. Carving space between a police officer dressed in full riot gear and a 6’3’’ tall teen on edge, Humphrey, a tiny young woman with a slight frame easily lost in a crowd, became the physical shield protecting the two sides. “She’s got an officer in SWAT gear inches from her, and she’s just says, ‘You know what? Ain’t nobody putting their hands on him,’” Thenjiwe McHarris said of her friend on the protests’ front-lines, recounting Friday night. “Unafraid too. You gotta see there’s so much power in that.” Since Aug. 9, when a police officer shot and killed unarmed 18-year-old Michael Brown in broad daylight, women have made up a significant number of the protesters in the streets. Many of the women heard their voices go hoarse after spending hours leading chants and making up rhymes. A number of them have been arrested — even more than once. Others say they’ve spent more time behind bars since Brown’s death than the man who killed him. “It’s usually men on the forefront, but we gotta step up, we gotta show them that we all are equal,” Humphrey said, “White and blacks gotta be equal as man and woman.” The protests in Ferguson have given birth to a movement led by groups that are consistently in the trifecta of those marginalized in society — young women of color. In the weeks since the community was roiled by violence and a brutal police crackdown, activist groups like Millennial Activists United emerged on Twitter and the familiar faces on the front-lines of the protests, founded almost entirely by women. “We’re less concerned with what the police response will be,” said Ashley Yates, one of the founding leaders of MAU. “We want people to come out, we want people to share our resistance.” One of the most prominent people to take the protests’ message to a national scale by being a barometer of shifting emotions in Ferguson is not only an elected official, but a black woman. Maria Chappelle-Nadal, a Missouri state senator known in part for her controversial and sometimes even profane opinions, rose to national prominence almost overnight due to her response to the protests. “There are multiple stories of people who are out here and I spent a lot of time with young people. I felt the anger in these young people’s hearts,” Chappelle-Nadal said. “As a legislator, being black, being a woman … we’re pigeonholed, we’re put into a box. I’m sick of it.” For McHarris, women have always been the driving force behind movements. This time, they’re not invisible — people are paying attention. “Historically, women have always been leading,” McHarris said. “A lot of times women are often unseen leaders because women are all just doing it — we’re all just doing the work.”
A Spanish High Court judge today ordered former deputy Catalan premier Oriol Junqueras and seven other former members of the regional cabinet to be held in pre-trial custody, after questioning them over their role in their illegal bid to secede from Spain. The entire Catalan government was removed on October 28 after the separatist coalition in power voted to declare independence inside the regional assembly. The central government in Madrid used powers under Article 155 of the Constitution to temporarily suspend Catalonia’s powers of self-governance, and called regional elections for December 21. Judge Carmen Lamela today decided to hold all eight former officials in custody. They face charges of sedition, rebellion and misuse of public funds. These are the former Catalan officials who will be held in pre-trial detention: left to right, starting with the top row, Oriol Junqueras, Meritxell Borràs, Raül Romeva, Dolors Bassa, Josep Rull, Carles Mundó, Jordi Turull, Joaquim Forn. The last one,Santi Vila, can avoid prison if he posts bail set at €50,000. Only Santi Vila, the former head of the Catalan business department, has evaded preventive prison, and was instructed instead to post a bond of €50,000. Vila was the only summoned official to take questions from someone other than his own lawyer today. He resigned before the regional assembly voted on the unilateral independence declaration, to underscore his opposition to it. The judge decided that the suspects are a flight risk because of their high incomes and the fact that other former officials who had been summoned to court on the same day instead fled to Belgium – including former Catalan premier Carles Puigdemont. Junqueras, Jordi Turull (from the presidency department), Raül Romeva (international affairs), Josep Rull (territory), Carles Mundó (justice), Meritxell Borràs (government), Joaquim Forn (interior) and Dolors Bassa (labor) were all due to immediately be taken to jail on Thursday evening. The judge decided that the suspects are a flight risk because the summoned officials fled to Belgium Borràs and Bassa were later taken to jail in Alcalá de Henares; Turull, Romeva, Rull, Forn, Junqueras, Mundó and Vila were reunited in Estremera after having been earlier held at a number of different prison facilities. Jordi Sànchez and Jordi Cuixart, the leaders of the pro-independence groups National Catalan Assembly (ANC) and Òmnium, are currently being held without bail in Soto del Real prison ahead of trial for sedition charges, based on their role organizing protests during Civil Guard and National Police operations aimed at seizing material destined for the October 1 illegal referendum on independence in the region. In her writ, the judge said today that the suspects’ actions were “premeditated and perfectly prepared and organized.” For over two years they systematically ignored decisions issued by the Constitutional Court in their drive for independence, wrote Judge Carmen Lamela. To achieve independence for Catalonia, the accused, according to the judge, “made use of the population to encourage acts of public insurrection, disobedience and collective resistance to the legitimate authority of the state, occupying to that effect highways, streets and public buildings and subjecting officers of the law to incessant harassment.” Earlier in the day, the High Court public prosecutor requested an arrest warrant to be issued for former Catalan regional premier Carles Puigdemont. The request submitted to the High Court judge in charge of this stage of the case also includes the former Catalan ministers Antoni Comín, Meritxell Serret, Lluís Puig and Clara Ponsati. The High Court public prosecutor requested an arrest warrant for former Catalan regional premier Carles Puigdemont The writ reads: “The accused Carles Puigdemont Casamajo has publicly stated his intention to not appear in court and has requested, as have Antonio Comín and Meritxell Serret, to address the court via videolink, without offering any information about their location. In light of the foregoing, the court is called upon to order a national and international search and arrest warrant.” Belgian prosecutors said that as soon as they receive the European arrest warrant, they will apply the law. The federal ministry will be the recipient and thus in charge of carrying it out, according to sources familiar with the situation. Spanish diplomats in Belgium said that there have never been any problems with Belgian authorities, and that they expect full cooperation on the legal and police fronts. Puigdemont’s lawyers, particularly the Belgian attorney Paul Bekaer, have promised to try to prevent his arrest if an EU warrant comes through. Reaction from politicians was swift to follow news today of the jailing of the eight former members of the Catalan government. On Twitter, the leader of Podemos, Pablo Iglesias, called for “freedom for political prisoners.” “I am ashamed that in my country opponents are locked up. We don’t want independence for Catalonia, but today we say: freedom for political prisoners,” he wrote. Barcelona Mayor Ada Colau posted on Twitter that it was “a black day for Catalonia.” “The government democratically chosen at the ballot boxes, in jail,” she wrote.
I haven’t been sleeping much lately. I’ve been nervous. The stretched-thin Stanford lifestyle I’ve been avoiding since I arrived on campus is finally catching up with me, and I’ve been up late (or late for me, at least) working, or at least busying myself with things that feel enough like work to make me feel better about myself. So when sometimes Animal Collective member Deakin (née Josh Dibb) released a soothing, warm album called Sleep Cycle last Friday, it seemed like a gift. I’ve been waiting for the long-discussed Deakin solo album since the multi-instrumentalist announced he was working on it way back in 2009, and here it is, at a time I need Dibb’s gentle music more than ever. The long waiting period for Sleep Cycle suggests that Dibb may not share my propensity for busying himself into the night (he’s spoken of a “fatal perfectionism” and self-doubt that delayed the album), but from the opening track, “Golden Chords,” all was forgiven in my mind. A simple track, relying mostly on Dibb’s voice and acoustic guitar, “Golden Chords” feels cozy, and has become a lullaby of sorts for me, a way to quiet my mind and my worries. Deakin’s doesn’t usually take lead vocals on Animal Collective songs, with “Wide Eyed” from 2012’s Centipede Hz as his only vocal showcase in the band’s 16-year career. It’s nice to hear Dibb’s voice featured centrally on “Golden Chords.” His voice isn’t as charismatic as those of his bandmates, but it pairs perfectly with the intimacy of the song and the lyrics, which offer reassurance to a discouraged friend or perhaps, given his difficulty in creating the golden chords of this album, to Deakin himself. Listen here. Image from here.
video: FAA Has Approved Norwegian Air for TF Green, $69 Fare to Ireland One Step Closer GoLocal has learned that the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has issued a critical letter of approval for Norwegian Airlines. This is the most pivotal step to the realization of the high quality, low fare carrier to operate in Rhode Island. Norwegian faced strong opposition from U.S. pilots unions and both Rhode Island Congressmen David Cicilline and Jim Langevin co-sponsored a 2016 House Resolution 5090 that if passed would block Norwegian Air’s subsidiary — the entity that will operate in Rhode Island — from approval. Norwegian has already held job fares in Rhode Island and may hire up to 200 to work at Green. Latest in T.F. Green Norwegian News On Friday, Langevin changed position and now says he supports the same position of the RI Airport Corporation. In an interview on Friday, Cicilline claimed that his 2016 resolution did not specifically impact Norwegian Air. “But it is also very important that those jobs respect U.S. labor standards that what the bill did. It did not pass. I regret it didn’t. We want labor standards complied with, but your story in wrong..." But, the Southwest Airline's Chip Hancock who heads the Governmental Affairs Committee for the pilots' union said that Langevin and Cicilline’s resolution was introduced to stop Norwegian. He and other pilot union leaders meet with the Trump White House last week asking the new administration to block Norwegian. Hancock told GoLocal in a phone interview that “passage of HR 5090 would have stopped Norwegian’s expansion.” Hancock said that the airline pilots union will continue to take action in federal court in the D.C. Court of Appeals. In addition, he thought that the pilots would continue to press for legislative action in 2017. View Larger + Despite the opposition of Langevin and Cicilline, other Rhode Island business leaders and even top Rhode Island union leaders support the effort to expand the airport. On Thursday, Senate Majority Leader Dominick Ruggerio told GoLocal in a phone interview that he strongly supports Norwegian Air’s arrival at T.F. Green. Ruggerio is a top labor leader and serves as an Administrator for the New England Laborers Labor Management Coop Trust. “This could be a major addition to the airport. International flights at low fares would help the airport, tourism, business and labor," said Ruggerio. "I know some of the pilots have issues, but I strongly support the expansion of Norwegian in Rhode Island.” Norwegian is expected expected to launch with $69 one way fares to Ireland — less than the cost of taking the Acela train to New York City. Ruggerio said to GoLocal Thursday night that the addition of Norwegian could help business and jobs across the state. “It is one of our biggest opportunities to grow the airport and the economy," said Ruggerio. On Wednesday while appearing on GoLocal LIVE, Governor Gina Raimondo cited Norwegian Air’s importance in recruiting major company to relocate to Rhode Island. She called Norwegian Air a “game changer” for Rhode Island. Related Articles Enjoy this post? Share it with others.
While voter identification laws are a hot button issue in national politics, those laws aren't usually discussed in the broader context of identification requirements in various aspects of everyday life. For starters, border patrol agents dozens of miles away from an international border ask for identification purportedly to root out illegal immigrants. Identification is required at the doctor's office, for increasing amount of medication, at the airport, on trains and now even for some interstate bus trips, for renting a car, getting into most government buildings, and so on in that manner. A mere fifteen years ago much of this may have seemed unthinkable. So while the debate over whether voter ID laws are effective or whether they infringe on the right to vote (which ought to be universal given citizenship, which should be based on residency and necessary and proper paperwork) continues, it misses the point that citizens and non-citizens alike who don't have identification have a harder time accessing all kinds of goods and services, government and otherwise, often due to government regulations and edicts. This is not just an issue of taking a bus instead of flying, as former homeland security secretary Janet Napolitano once suggested for those tired of the security theater at the airport. And a bus is increasingly not an option either. In Houston Representative Barbara Jackson Lee (D) lauded the Department of Homeland Security sending TSA agents onto local buses! Eventually it becomes about the freedom of movement at the most basic level. Witness this interaction between an officer and a man who told them he was waiting to pick up his kids from the local charter school. Note how quickly it escalates despite the man's calm demeanor, all over a demand to produce identification: Minnesota City Pages identified the man, who spoke to them, as Chris Lollie. He was arrested for "disorderly conduct" and "obstructing the legal process," and was charged with those crimes as well as trespassing. They were, unsurprisingly, all dropped. Police insist they were dealing with an "uncooperative male refusing to leave" and said there were no complaints filed after the incident (many incidents of police brutality can go unreported), which happened in January but video of which only emerged online this month. The YouTube user who posted claims the cellphone was seized for six months (likely the length of time before charges were dropped and the "investigation" ended). If it's a war zone out there for cops, it's the "civilians" that often seem most at risk. Sensible rules of engagement for cops, as well as effective disciplinary processes, are needed to attempt to root out behaviors and attitudes like those of the officer's in the video.
Mr. Fukuda has already urged the leaders of the Group of 8 nations to adopt numerical targets as they discuss new ways to curb carbon dioxide emissions, a focus of treaty talks aimed at a new global agreement by the end of 2009. The existing pacts, the original climate treaty from 1992 and the Kyoto Protocol, which expires in 2012, have been called failures by energy and climate experts. The rising cost of energy is expected to dominate the meeting, on Hokkaido, the northern island of Japan. President Bush and other leaders are facing calls to expand offshore drilling and to rein in hedge funds and other investors blamed for speculating on world energy markets. Japan is by many measures the world’s most energy-frugal developed nation. After the energy crises of the 1970s, the country forced itself to conserve with government-mandated energy-efficiency targets and steep taxes on petroleum. Energy experts also credit a national consensus on the need to consume less. It is also the only industrial country that sustained government investment in energy research even when energy became cheap again. “Japan taught itself decade s ago how to compete with gasoline at $4 per gallon,” said Hisakazu Tsujimoto of the Energy Conservation Center, a government research institute that promotes energy efficiency. “It will fare better than other countries in the new era of high energy costs.” According to the International Energy Agency, based in Paris, Japan consumed half as much energy per dollar worth of economic activity as the European Union or the United States, and one-eighth as much as China and India in 2005. While the country is known for green products like hybrid cars, most of its efficiency gains have been in less eye-catching areas, for example, in manufacturing. Corporate Japan has managed to keep its overall annual energy consumption unchanged at the equivalent of a little more than a billion barrels of oil since the early 1970s, according to Economy Ministry data. It was able to maintain that level even as the economy doubled in size during the country’s boom years of the 1970s and ’80s. Newsletter Sign Up Continue reading the main story Please verify you're not a robot by clicking the box. Invalid email address. Please re-enter. You must select a newsletter to subscribe to. Sign Up You will receive emails containing news content , updates and promotions from The New York Times. You may opt-out at any time. You agree to receive occasional updates and special offers for The New York Times's products and services. Thank you for subscribing. An error has occurred. Please try again later. View all New York Times newsletters. Japan’s strides in efficiency are clearest in heavy industries like steel, which are the nation’s biggest consumers of power. From 1972 to 2006, the Japanese steel industry invested about $45 billion in developing energy-saving technologies, according to the Japan Iron and Steel Federation. Advertisement Continue reading the main story The results are visible at the Keihin mill on Tokyo Bay, run by Japan’s No. 2 steelmaker, JFE Steel. Massive steel ducts snake from the blast furnaces and surrounding buildings. These capture heat and gases that had previously been released into the air or burned off as waste. Now, they are used to power generators that produce 90 percent of the plant’s electricity. (The plant’s main fuel remains the coal used to heat its huge blast furnaces.) Such innovations allow the mill to produce a ton of steel using 35 percent less energy than it did three decades ago, said Yoshitsugu Iino, group leader of JFE Steel’s climate change policy group. Mr. Iino calculates that if the global steel industry adopted Japanese conservation measures, it could reduce carbon emissions by some 300 million tons a year. But even with corporate efficiency gains, Japan’s emissions of carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse-gas emission from human activities, have grown, largely because of rising living standards and continued reliance on coal, according to climate scientists. James E. Hansen, NASA’s leading climatologist, sent an open letter to Mr. Fukuda on Thursday seeking a greater commitment to emissions cuts. At next week’s summit meeting, Japan plans to back an initiative that could make its frugal energy levels the new standards for global industries. Now, its government is pushing an initiative that could set Japan’s levels of energy conservation as targets for global industries. Mr. Fukuda has proposed what is called a sector-based approach to new targets for reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. This means is setting the same numerical goals for all companies in an industry, regardless of location. The Kyoto Protocol set mandatory national limits for industrialized countries. The sector approach has been embraced by Japanese industry groups, which say their high levels of efficiency should become the global standards. This would also give Japanese companies more opportunities to sell their energy-saving technologies and skills around the world. The Bush administration has focused on developing sector-by-sector partnerships with Japan and other countries to find ways to curb emissions, but remains opposed to mandatory limits. Kawasaki Heavy Industries, which makes the waste heat generator at the cement factory in Kumagaya, started developing the technology in 1979. But the generators were too expensive to sell outside Japan while energy prices were low. But overseas orders took off three years ago, after energy prices began rising. Since then, the company has sold 64 units, mainly through a joint venture in China. “Japan rushed to embrace these technologies back in the 1980s,” said Katsushi Sorida, head of the waste heat plant department at Kawasaki Plant Systems, a subsidiary that markets and installs the units. “Now the rest of the world is finally catching up.”
Don’t eat me – it’s bad for the environment (Image: Stephen Saks Photography/Alamy Stock Photo) Early this year, the top nutrition advisory panel in the US offered some common-sense advice to the federal agencies writing the nation’s dietary guidelines: Americans, the panel said, should be urged to eat less meat for the sake of the environment. On Tuesday, the Obama administration effectively responded “Thanks, but our hands are tied”. Agriculture secretary Tom Vilsack and health and human services secretary Sylvia Burwell, whose agencies are currently at work writing the final guidelines, buried the news in a joint statement. The statement paid lip service to the idea that “the environment and sustainability are critically important” but ultimately concluded that the nutritional guidelines are not “the appropriate vehicle for this important policy conversation about sustainability”. What the appropriate vehicle is, the two did not say. The timing of the announcement, though, tells us plenty about why Vilsack and Burwell decided to ignore an expert panel that their agencies have traditionally listened closely to when drafting their pyramid- and plate-themed guidelines. Washington climate wars Yesterday, both secretaries were scheduled to testify in front of the Republican-led House Committee on Agriculture. The panel’s chairman, K. Michael Conaway, was among the Republican leaders who had a freak-out, supported by the livestock industry, over the idea that the administration would dare to consider the sustainability of Americans diets – particularly when doing so would mean telling people to cut down on their meat intake. Representative Robert Aderholt, the Alabama Republican who chairs the subcommittee in control of the Agriculture Department’s purse strings, earlier this year even went as far as to threaten budget cuts if the department decided to follow the nutrition experts’ advice. Given that, it appears the Obama administration is simply, albeit sadly, unwilling to open up another front in Washington’s climate wars at a time when Republicans are unwilling to accept the scientific consensus about global warming. The political rationale for avoiding the fight, though, is much easier to justify than the scientific case for doing so. The eat-less-meat proposal had the backing of both public health officials, who argued that it could save the nation billions of dollars in healthcare costs, and climate scientists, who saw it as a way to curb US emissions. Beefing up emissions As I explained earlier this year, the climate case for eating less meat is particularly powerful: livestock accounts for 14.5 per cent of the world’s human-caused emissions, nearly half of that coming from the resources needed to grow and ship the corn and soy that most of the animals eat, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization. A typical meat-eater’s diet is responsible for almost twice as much global warming as your typical vegetarian’s and almost triple that of a vegan, according to a report published in the journal Climatic Change last year. That Oxford University study suggested that cutting your meat intake in half could cut your carbon footprint by more than 35 per cent. Beef is particularly damaging to the planet. According to the National Academy of Sciences, it results in five times more greenhouse gas emissions than pork or chicken, while requiring 28 times more land and 11 times more irrigation. In the end, though, science never seemed to have much of a chance against the meat industry, which has a history of flexing its lobbying muscles until policymakers in Washington submit to its will. Sadly, the only question left now is whether the same familiar story will play out again in five years’ time, when the next administration gets the chance to draft another set of dietary guidelines. This article was first published on Slate
Florida's Republican governor on Monday took 21 more first-degree murder cases away from a Democratic prosecutor who has said she will no longer seek the death penalty. Gov. Rick Scott gave the cases being handled by Orlando-area State Attorney Aramis Ayala to neighboring judicial circuit State Attorney Brad King. Ayala has come under fire recently after announcing she wouldn't seek the death penalty against Markeith Loyd or any other defendant. Loyd is charged with killing an Orlando police lieutenant and his pregnant ex-girlfriend earlier this year. Scott took the Loyd case away from Ayala last month and reassigned it to King. "If you look at these cases they are horrendous cases," Scott told The Associated Press. "And so I'm going to continue to think about the families and that's how I made my decision today." In a statement, Scott added that "Ayala's complete refusal to consider capital punishment for the entirety of her term sends an unacceptable message that she is not interested in considering every available option in the fight for justice." Ayala's spokeswoman said Scott never notified her office about his order and that the prosecutor instead learned about it through the news media. "Ms. Ayala remains steadfast in her position the Governor is abusing his authority and has compromised the independence and integrity of the criminal justice system," said Eryka Washington. Ayala has said she plans to ask the Supreme Court to overturn the governor's action stripping her of the Loyd case. Ayala's decision to no longer seek the death penalty for defendants has stirred strong opinions. Civil rights groups and faith groups have praised her, while many Republicans lawmakers and law enforcement have criticized her. Orange County Sheriff Jerry Demings said regardless of her position on the death penalty, Ayala needs to follow the law. "Whenever decisions are made regarding the prosecution of individuals, the prosecutor must take into consideration the will and the desire of the victim's survivors," he said. Democratic state Rep. Sean Shaw of Tampa called Scott's actions a "gross abuse of his power." "The governor is attempting to set dangerous precedent that would destroy the idea of independence for state attorneys throughout Florida who must now fear political retribution by the state's most powerful politician if they make a decision he disagrees with," Shaw said in a news release.
George Dawson (January 19, 1898 – July 5, 2001) was called "America's favorite poster child for literacy"[1] after learning to read at the age of 98. His life story, Life Is So Good, was published in 2000. Early and mid-life [ edit ] Dawson was born in Marshall, Texas, in 1898 as the first of five children, a farmer's son, and grandson and great-grandson of African-American slaves. One of his earliest childhood memories, he later said, was watching a 17-year-old black boy being lynched after being "accused of impregnating a white girl."[2] His job at a saw mill supported a large family. At the sawmill, his employer convinced him to sign an X on a paper he could not read, which he later surmised must have made some claim that he was ineligible for military service. After turning 21, he traveled extensively throughout the US, Canada, and Mexico; in 1928, after nine years of travel and work, he returned to find his family had moved away, leaving no clue as to their new home: "I wondered why they hadn’t let me know. Then again, how would they have found me? Even if they’d known where I was, I wouldn’t have been able to read their letter."[3] He married Elzenia Arnold, a literate woman, and they moved to Dallas, where Dawson began to work for the city in road repair, and went on to have seven children, helping them all with their homework despite not knowing how to read. In 1938, he took a job with a dairy, where he worked until his retirement at the age of 65. Later life [ edit ] When Dawson was aged about 98, a man was making door-to-door visits on behalf of a local adult education program. Dawson overcame his initial reluctance to reveal his illiteracy, telling himself, "All your life you’ve wanted to read. Maybe this is why you’re still around."[3] On first meeting instructor Carl Henry, a retired teacher, he learned that the oldest student to that time had been a woman in her fifties. Dawson learned to read and even went on to study for his GED at the age of 98. He died on July 5, 2001, after suffering a stroke.[4] Fame [ edit ] His autobiography, Life Is So Good (co-written with Richard Glaubman), was published in 2000 and received attention in the national media.[2] He appeared on Oprah and told his story in the June 2001 issue of the inspirational magazine Guideposts. Dawson was posthumously honored when the Carroll Independent School District named a middle school after him in Southlake.[4]
Same Camera, Different Century: Capturing Civil War Sites, 150 Years Later Hide caption Todd Harrington holds a developed wet plate up to the light to check its exposure. Previous Next Claire O'Neill/NPR Hide caption The wet-plate camera used by Alexander Gardner after the Battle of Antietam was like this one: It had two lenses, which created a "stereo" image, or two identical images side by side on one plate. Previous Next Claire O'Neill/NPR Hide caption Here's what you see when you go under that little black cloth. Naturally, the view is in color — though at first it's a bit surprising. You can see how the camera's twin lenses project two identical images. But it takes some getting used to: The images on the focus plate are upside down and backward. Previous Next Claire O'Neill/NPR Hide caption To work like Gardner did in the field, the photographer needs a portable darkroom. The interior of Todd Harrington's is like an alchemist's laboratory. Previous Next Claire O'Neill/NPR 1 of 4 i View slideshow Believe it or not, there's a lot of food involved in wet-plate photography. Egg whites (albumen) are used to make the glass plates adhesive to the light-sensitive chemicals. And one way to keep the plates from drying out after processing is to coat them in honey. It's also physically demanding, so you get really hungry. Enlarge this image toggle caption Claire O'Neill (@clairevoyant)/Instagram Claire O'Neill (@clairevoyant)/Instagram These are the things I learned in the field with wet-plate photographer Todd Harrington. For the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Antietam, we asked him to retrace the steps of Civil War photographer Alexander Gardner. We wanted to capture the same scenes with the same equipment — to see how things have changed. (Kind of like the nerd's version of Dear Photograph.) Turns out, not much has changed. The land surrounding that historic battle site has been beautifully preserved. We arrived early one morning this month as the park staff was pitching tents in preparation of the anniversary festivities. But at some of the peripheral sites where Gardner photographed, a serene quiet fell over the healed landscape. Of course, there are traces of modernity — like telephone lines, paved roads and Porta-Potties. But the main difference between Gardner's original images and the ones re-created by Harrington is the one thing that made Gardner's so memorable: the bodies of fallen soldiers. One reason we were so interested in this particular set of images — that is, the ones Gardner took at Antietam — is because in his day, those images were groundbreaking. Up to that time, war photography tended to portray a rosy picture of war, like heroic soldiers posing for portraits after battle. The day of fighting at Antietam remains the bloodiest in American military history. And for the first time, Gardner turned the lens on the dead soldiers awaiting burial. The photos were displayed in New York City about a month after the battle. As Harrington told me: "It was consternation. No one had ever seen anything like that. It horrified the public." toggle caption Claire O'Neill/(@clairevoyant)/Instagram We also wanted to gain a better appreciation of what Gardner's work entailed. And let me just say: It's crazy difficult. (Meanwhile, I was documenting the whole process on Instagram, and don't even know how to begin reconciling that.) "It was quite a herculean effort to get up here carrying all your encumbrances," Harrington explained. Just to get to Antietam, Gardner would have packed up all of his equipment, fragile plates and chemicals — plus enough food — into his wagon. He would have made the 70-mile commute from Washington, D.C., along bumpy, unpaved roads, with the threat of Confederate cavalry along the way. Once at the site, he had to figure out a strategic place to set up his portable darkroom — and then lug his heavy camera around the hilly terrain where bodies had already been sitting out in the sun for days, if you can imagine the smell. There are more than a dozen steps involved in each exposure — and, therefore, about a dozen variables that could go wrong. It took Harrington a full day's work to get six successful images — a relatively productive day. Granted, his task entailed the additional obstacle of finding the exact spot where Gardner stood, and the exact camera angle, which was no easy feat. "It seems very, very difficult to work in that kind of environment. But he did — and he did fabulous at it," Harrington concluded at the end of the day. "Again, you're making your film every time; you're carefully composing; there are so many things that could go wrong," he says. "We're just pleased he was as accomplished as he was to give us a legacy to study."
The LBC outlet located along P. Rodriguez Street in Barangay Libertad, Bogo City got robbed two days ago. It was the third LBC robbery this month following Barangay Tabok, Mandaue City and Barangay San Nicolas, Cebu City. Two robbers entered the establishment shortly before 9 a.m. and reportedly took away cash worth Php 70,000, a mobile phone worth Php7,000, and a pocket WiFi of one of the employees. SunStar reported that one of the robbery suspects, clad in sweatshirt, cargo short pants and a blue cap, pulled out a .38 revolver and held the three employees(manager Melecio Maitom and customer associates Angel Mary Estrera and Camelo Damos) at gunpoint. Hermano Mallari, Bogo City police chief, interviewed by The Freeman thought there might be a backup waiting outside. The robbers fled on board separate motorcycles without plate numbers. Mallari also told The Freeman that it is likely that the robbers were not from the City of Bogo as they were not afraid of being identified. They reportedly did not wear masks to conceal their faces. Read more about the robbery:
The Item is an item in the game The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. Description [ edit ] A giant energy crystal made using lost ancient techonology. Cores this large are an extremely rare find. A researcher would probably know how to use this. Strategy Guide/Tips [ edit ] A crafting item used to make or upgrade Ancient weapons and shield. Giant Ancient Core Locations [ edit ] In the following shrines you can find Giant Ancient Cores, usually in a chest towards the end of the shrine: N Location Walkthrough Map 1 Dah Hesho Shrine Walkthrough 2 Kuhn Sidajj Shrine Walkthrough 3 Maag Halan Shrine Walkthrough 4 Mirro Shaz Shrine Walkthrough 5 Ritaag Zumo Shrine Walkthrough 6 Shora Hah Shrine Walkthrough 7 Kah Okeo Shrine Walkthrough Also if you're into Giant Ancient Core Farming, you can get them from:
The Baldwin brothers are going to war over Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton. Actor Stephen Baldwin joined the FOX Business Networkâs Maria Bartiromo to discuss why heâs at odds with his brothers over the presidential election. Continue Reading Below âMaria, I was going to ask you to like slap me around on your show today because Iâm in a little bit of a Twitter war with my brother, but itâs not serious, we are having fun, we are having our opinionsâ¦Iâm for Trump [and] Alec and Billy [are] for Mrs. Clinton â thatâs great,â he said. But Stephen says heâs âseeing sizeable push back.â âWhen my brother Billy jokes around and said my dad, if he were alive heâd slap you upside the head for supporting Trumpâ¦Boy those Democrats are so violent,â joked Baldwin. He also discussed how his brother took him on while impersonating Donald Trump on Saturday Night Live. Advertisement âI had a sense that something like that was coming but that all gets back to something I said at the third debate, somebody said to me, âyou like your brotherâs Trump impersonation?â The truth is, I love the impersonation, itâs funnyâ¦What I said in that response to that question was, âwhat I donât think is funny is how they are mocking this whole reality of this election. I donât think this election is very funny. I think the stakes are way too high.â" When it comes to whatâs most important to him during this election, he said, âWhatâs going to drive life and the quality of life in this country to a better place quickly is the economy. So many people are suffering.â And he thinks that Trump is the guy to get the U.S. economy on the right track. However, when it comes to discussing his views with his brothers, Baldwin said, âI donât try to beat a dead horse here. If Alec and Billy donât see the corruption or if they are willing to look the other way like so many other people, thatâs on them.â
Image zoom Matt Baron/BEImages After 11 years of marriage, Courteney Cox and David Arquette acknowledge they’ve hit more than a few rough patches. Now the Hollywood pair, who are parents to 6-year-old daughter Coco, have “agreed to a trial separation that dates back for some time,” they say in a statement. “The reason for this separation is to better understand ourselves and the qualities we need in a partner and for our marriage,” they say. “We remain best friends and responsible parents to our daughter and we still love each other deeply. As we go though this process we are determined to use kindness and understanding to get through this together.” They add: “We are comfortable with the boundaries that we have established for each other during this separation and we hope that our friends, family, fans and the media also show us respect, dignity, understanding and love at this time as well.” RELATED: Photo Special: It’s Over!: The Most Shocking Splits Cox, 46, and Arquette, 39, met in 1996 while filming Scream and were married three years later in San Francisco. Their daughter was born in 2004. Just last summer In Style magazine reported that Cox showed up for an interview without her wedding ring and candidly said, “We’ve done couples therapy in the past.” “We’re not lazy about our marriage,” Cox said in the August issue. “We have the same arguments we’ve had for years.” RELATED: David Arquette Doesn’t Need Help with His Marriage, but Thanks for Asking
Les, aged 71, will be remembered not just for his 35-year contribution to football in Australia, but for being a much-loved colleague, mentor and friend who has left a unique legacy. To say he will sorely missed is an understatement. Many Australians know Les as Mr Football, who began working with SBS when it launched as a television broadcaster in 1980. The world lost a football colossus this morning, Les Murray AM. He fought well into extra time but whistle has blown. His legacy is lasting — Craig Foster (@Craig_Foster) July 31, 2017 His role went far beyond being a football commentator. The growth, popularity and success of football in Australia today is absolutely a reflection of his passion and advocacy for the game that he loved. SBS passes on their deepest sympathies to his family, including his partner Maria and his daughters Tania and Natalie. They ask that their privacy is respected during this difficult time. "No one better embodied what SBS represents than Les Murray. From humble refugee origins, he became one Australia’s most recognised and loved sporting identities," SBS Managing Director, Michael Ebeid said. "Not just a football icon, but a great Australian story and an inspiration to many, to say that his contribution to SBS and to football was enormous, doesn’t do it justice. This is a devastating loss for all of us at SBS. Our thoughts are with his family and all that loved him."
Tuesday was cool and cloudy in Washington, D.C., somewhere in the mid-40s; just the sort of day you reach for a snug parka or warm hat, head out with an umbrella or pair of good rain boots…or stop by the lobby of House Speaker John Boehner’s office and strip down to your buck-naked birthday suit. Yessiree, that’s just what a rousing band of AIDS activists did in the “never a dull day” epicenter of our national government. Shouting such feisty slogans as “Boehner, Boehner, don’t be a dick, budget cuts will make us sick,” three women and four men showed up unannounced in the lobby of Boehner’s Longworth House office and proceeded to get naked, exposing bedazzled bodies painted with slogans like “AIDS CUTS KILL” and “FUND HOPWA,” all for the shock and awe of the staffers in attendance (who says office jobs are dull?). At issue is the proposed $1.2 billion in cuts being discussed as remedy to the looming “fiscal cliff” budget crisis. The activists, purportedly from Act Up, were clearly there to make as sensational a statement as they could: they stood arm-in-arm, three facing one way, four the other, making it impossible for onlookers to avoid either the messages painted on their skin or…their skin. It didn’t take long for the D.C. police to show up, quick to alert the protesters that their state of undress would not be tolerated. According to TheStir.CafeMom Only the three women were arrested — “for lewd and indecent acts.” Apparently they were mingling, still naked, with the crowds outside the office while the four men had left. That’s what we ladies get for always wanting to socialize. The Huffington Post offers a tweet-by-tweet breakdown of the event, along with a selection of NSFW photos, and every media resource available has covered the story from head to toe (pun intended), maximum media exposure the activists had in mind. But despite the sniggering responses and drama of their display, the intent of the group was sincere. From the New York Daily News: “People with AIDS are sick and tired of being pushed over the cliff,” said Jennifer Flynn, 40, of New York City, who was among those arrested. “We need to make sure they stop going after people with AIDS.” Michael Tikili, 26, of New York City, said he is HIV-positive and depends on Medicaid for treatment. “Just the idea of these programs being cut is horrible,” Tikili said. The protest occurred as congressional leaders and President Barack Obama seek a deal to avert automatic spending cuts and tax increases in January. A coalition of AIDS activist groups gathering in Washington for Saturday’s World AIDS Day organized the protest. As for Speaker Boehner, apparently he has some cushy offices over at the Capitol Building and rarely shows up at the Longworth location. Maybe he ought to stop by more often; he appears to be missing out on some of the more outspoken local color. Follow Lorraine Devon Wilke on Twitter, Facebook and Rock+Paper+Music; for her archive at Addicting info click here; details and links to her other work: www.lorrainedevonwilke.com.
By Steve Mascord Rugby League, like all sports, can be repetitive. Repetitiveness does not, however, equal tedium. There is short-term repetitiveness: five drives and a kick, for instance. There’s the team that loses every week, the team that wins every week, the coach who always blows up about the referee. But there is also repetitiveness that spans years, or decades, or generations. Our minds don’t process these things as monotonous because we see things in terms of our own lifespans. We see them as “cycles”. That team effort 🙌@jamieshaul's try that sealed a semi-final spot for @hullfcofficial pic.twitter.com/fT4zwlfnzR — The Challenge Cup (@TheChallengeCup) June 19, 2017 Perhaps in the view of the central character of the Rolling Stones’ “Sympathy For The Devil”, the entire history of Rugby League would seem like a single set of six. One of the cycles we see in rugby league equates to the old saying “you’ve got to lose one to win one”. There is a deep-seated belief that no matter how well a team is travelling in a given season, lack of big game experience will count when the blow-torch of a sudden death game is applied. Salford will find out the veracity of this “cycle” when they meet Wigan in the semi-final of the Challenge Cup on July 30 at Halliwell Jones Stadium. For Castleford, their elimination from that competition at the hands of Hull on Sunday would seem to prove the maxim – and Hull coach Lee Radford showed himself to be a believer after the 32-24 success. DP: I thought it was a poor performance from us, we made a really bad start to the match. pic.twitter.com/iIr4L8GvnL — The Challenge Cup (@TheChallengeCup) June 18, 2017 “Knock-out football is where you’ve got to be at your best,” Radford said, after discussing the need – leared by bitter experience – to “peak” at certain times in a campaign. “I don’t think the media gave us any opportunity, gave us a chance. “When the draw came out, the amount of pumping up of their (Castleford)’s tyres they’ve had leading into this game, lit a fuse with some of our players, I thought. “They’re top of the tree in the competition, and rightly so. Daryl’s done a fantastic job with them. “All the year, we’re banging the drum about peaking at the right time.” LR: This is the juicy bit of the year now, this is where the excitement starts. If your spiking in these games, that's when it counts. pic.twitter.com/mXoK2RJCPj — The Challenge Cup (@TheChallengeCup) June 18, 2017 The question now is whether Cas’ can learn enough from one sudden-death loss to avoid a repeat in the Super Eights. “There’s some key lessons for us to learn,” said their coach, Daryl Powell. “One thing we have done this year is when we’ve lost, we’ve responded pretty well. “You lose big games, disappointing games, but you’ve got to bounce back quickly.” With the likes of Wigan and Hull getting key players back from injury, the “trendy” sides like the Red Devils and Tigers will be under intense pressure over the next two months. Over the course of a generation, these events will seem like a blink of the eye. But if these sides, unfancied at the start of the season, can hold their nerve then the balance of power in Super League will be changed in a meaningful way. One piece of repetitiveness – the exclusive coterie of Super League-winning clubs – could be banished forever.
Editor's note: We love the author's insight and honesty in his last point... if you are going to follow this how-to, be sure you have another job to fall back on. He got smart like this by NOT sitting in front of MTV all day, which we were fascinated to learn is the nemesis of rock music. How to Stick It to the Man The title tells it all. This is how to shove it to an authority figure. They have held you down too long. It's time to fight back. Steps 1. Identify the 'man'. You don't want to hurt an average Joe like yourself. 2. Listen to ro ck music . This is key. Rock was born to stick it to the man. 3. Stop watching MTV. This is the man's way of corrupting rock. 4. Stop giving into the man. If he is your boss, then slack off during work . If you're in school, then slacking and not participating in extra curricular activities is a must. 5. Find other people who are tired of being spat on, and hang out with them. 6. Remember it's everyone vs. the man. Even the evil henchmen that work for the man are being cheated out of what they have earned. 7. Never give the man extra. You only associate with him to survive. Nothing more. 8. Preps in school are going to become the future 'man' for many people. So try and stop them while they are young. 9. This fight will never finish. You must go on trying to secure your place in a free ride. Not everyone can have freedom and an easy life, make sure you are not one of them. 10. Start your own business. Maybe it will grow huge and you will become the 'man'. Good for you. Tips * Watch OFFICE SPACE, SCHOOL OF ROCK, BRAVEHEART, DODGEBALL, ANIMAL HOUSE, OLD SCHOOL. These will give you the 411 on the man and how to beat him. * Listen to underground music. * Find Jake Green. * Keep your mission on the downlow. (The man will squash you in the open.) * Don't overdo it. * Read this on company time. Warnings The man is everywhere. Your teacher, principal, boss, prep and CEO all have billions of dollars, resources and people at their disposal. They will not take being stuck well. Proceed with caution and don't blame me when they toast you for this. You have been warned! Things You'll Need * A free spirit * Free time * Another job lined up Article added: 21 December 2007 wikiHowl collects funny how-to articles deleted from wikiHow, and brings them to you when you are looking for a laugh. wikiHow's content is shared under a Creative Commons license ; with author credits for these silly or bizarre how-to's available via wikiHow's Deletion Log . Identify The Man. He will be wearing a suit.
It’s well known that patients struggle to clearly communicate their end-of-life wishes to those calling the shots at critical moments—generally doctors and family members. But, in case anyone was wondering, tattooing your wishes onto your body does not clear things up. Emergency medicine doctors in Florida struggled to figure out how to respectfully care for an unconscious 70-year-old man with a chest tattoo that read “Do Not Resuscitate” followed by what appeared to be his signature. In a case report published Thursday in the New England Journal of Medicine, the doctors recounted: This patient’s tattooed DNR request produced more confusion than clarity, given concerns about its legality and likely unfounded beliefs that tattoos might represent permanent reminders of regretted decisions made while the person was intoxicated. The unresponsive patient was brought to the emergency department by paramedics. He had high blood-alcohol levels and no identification or family with him. After a few hours, hospital staff saw his condition slipping. His blood pressure dropped and acids were building up in his blood. Despite the prominent tattoo, the doctors didn’t know if they should trust it. They contacted social workers to try to find his next of kin and made several attempts to revive him enough to get him to confirm his wishes. But the revival attempts failed. “We initially decided not to honor the tattoo, invoking the principle of not choosing an irreversible path when faced with uncertainty,” the doctors reported. But the effort with which the patient seemed to take to have the message inked onto his body nagged at them. After stabilizing him, they called for an ethics consultation. The ethics consultants sided with honoring the tattoo. “They suggested that it was most reasonable to infer that the tattoo expressed an authentic preference, that what might be seen as caution could also be seen as standing on ceremony, and that the law is sometimes not nimble enough to support patient-centered care and respect for patients’ best interests,” the doctors recalled. Luckily, at the same time, social workers located his patient information, including a copy of his Florida Department of Health “out-of-hospital” DNR order, which matched the wishes of his tattoo. “We were relieved to find his written DNR request, especially because a review of the literature identified a case report of a person whose DNR tattoo did not reflect his current wishes,” the authors note. The patient, who had a history of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, diabetes mellitus, and atrial fibrillation, continued to decline in health throughout the night. He died without further efforts of resuscitation, as requested. NEJM, 2017. DOI: 10.1056/NEJMc1713344 (About DOIs).
I wonder if anyone's going to make a deal and spill the beans on Walker: Three individuals - including a former top aide to Gov. Scott Walker - were charged Thursday with felonies as part of the ongoing John Doe investigation into Walker staffers. Tim Russell, a longtime Walker campaign and county staffer, was charged with two felonies and one misdemeanor count of embezzlement. One source said the charges are tied to Operation Freedom, an annual military appreciation day held at the zoo. In 2010, Walker's county administration had asked prosecutors to investigate what had happened to $11,000 raised in 2007 for the event. Russell's attorney, Michael Maistelman, could not be immediately reached for comment. Also charged Thursday was Brian Pierick, Russell's longtime partner and a staffer at the state Department of Public Instruction, and Kevin Kavanaugh, Walker's appointee to the Milwaukee County Veteran Service Commission. Kavanaugh is charged with five felonies for theft and fraudulent writings by a corporate officer. He was the treasurer of the Milwaukee Purple Heart chapter at the time of the dispute over the $11,000 for Operation Freedom. Pierick, 48, was charged with two felony counts for child enticement. He is an office operations assistant at DPI dealing with education for homeless children and youth, according to the agency's website. Walker spokesman Chris Schrimpf had no immediate comment on the news but said the office would provide one later in the day. "We're still looking at it," he said. Russell, who was housing director for Walker at the county, is facing Class G and Class I felonies. A class G felony carries a fine of up to $25,000 and up to 10 years in prison or both. A class I felony carries a fine of up to $10,000 and up to three and a half years in prison or both. In August 2010, authorities seized Russell's county computer just weeks before the gubernatorial primary.
CLOSE Looks like Donald Trump has a new supporter: Speaker of the House Paul Ryan. After voicing concerns over the presumptive GOP nominee, Ryan tweeted that he will be voting for Trump in the 2016 presidential election. USA TODAY House Speaker Paul Ryan of Wis. meets with reporters on Capitol Hill (Photo11: J. Scott Applewhite, AP) After a month of meetings and phone conversations, House Speaker Paul Ryan went to his hometown newspaper to declare what many saw was inevitable. Ryan endorsed presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump on Thursday, saying he would vote for the New York mogul in the fall. "It's no secret that he and I have our differences," Ryan wrote in an opinion piece submitted to the Janesville Gazette. "I won't pretend otherwise. And when I feel the need to, I'll continue to speak my mind. But the reality is, on the issues that make up our agenda, we have more common ground than disagreement." Those close to Ryan said the Janesville Republican and 2012 GOP vice presidential nominee reached the decision earlier this week. He spoke most recently to Trump sometime last week. Trump's courting of Ryan has gone on for weeks as he sought to unite the Republican Party. In style and substance, Ryan and Trump are polar opposites. Ryan has emerged as an intellectual force in conservative circles, while Trump brashly stormed through the Republican primaries, collecting enough delegates to secure the party's nomination. In doing so, Trump appeared at odds with party principles on entitlements and national security. He also made immigration a central focus of the race, while Ryan had spent years trying to secure a compromise on the complex issue. Ryan campaign spokesman Zack Roday said the column is an endorsement of Trump. Following Ryan's announcement, Trump tweeted that it was "great to have the endorsement and support of Paul Ryan. We will both be working very hard to Make America Great Again!" So great to have the endorsement and support of Paul Ryan. We will both be working very hard to Make America Great Again! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 2, 2016 In his role as House speaker, Ryan has emerged as a key bridge between the party's establishment and more conservative wing. He also wields enormous power, helping shape his party's agenda. In early May, Ryan told CNN he wasn't "ready" to back Trump. Four days later, he told the Journal Sentinel said he was willing to step down as chairman of the GOP convention if Trump asked. In his opinion piece, Ryan wrote of the importance of House Republicans putting together an agenda to unite the party as well as the country. House Republicans will be rolling out that agenda beginning next week. "One person who we know won't support it is Hillary Clinton," Ryan said of the likely Democratic presidential nominee. Ryan wrote: "Donald Trump and I have talked at great length about things such as the proper role of the executive and fundamental principles such as the protection of life. The list of potential Supreme Court nominees he released after our first meeting was very encouraging." Ryan said the main focus of the talks revolved around the House policy agenda in such areas as health care, national security and the economy. "We've talked about the common ground this agenda can represent," Ryan said in his Janesville column. "We've discussed how the House can be a driver of policy ideas. We've talked about how important these reforms are to saving our country. And we've talked about how, by focusing on issues that unite Republicans, we can work together to heal the fissures developed through the primary. "Through these conversations, I feel confident he would help us turn the ideas in this agenda into laws to help improve people's lives. That's why I'll be voting for him this fall." In an interview with the Associated Press, Ryan said Trump didn't offer any deals in exchange for the endorsement. Ryan said the two still have their differences but he wanted to reach the right "comfort level" before endorsing Trump. "It is my hope the campaign improves its tone as we go forward and it's all a campaign that we can be proud of," Ryan said. Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz blasted Ryan's move. "When he initially refused to endorse Trump four weeks ago, Paul Ryan said it was time to set aside bullying and belittlement," she said in a statement. "But with his tepid, halfhearted endorsement (Thursday), Ryan has backed away from his own criticisms of Trump's dangerous, divisive campaign, bowed down, kissed the ring, and conceded that Trump is the leader of the Republican Party." Read or Share this story: http://usat.ly/1X1cpCO
Imagine the Google Glass headgear, which currently makes some camera-shy onlookers nervous, shrinking down to near-invisibility—say, into a super-thin transparent layer that sits on the cornea. Google certainly has, as we now know from a recently published patent filing from October 2012. The notion of smart contact lenses itself isn’t particularly new. Earlier this year, in fact, Google introduced the “moonshot” idea of an eye-worn lens embedded with a wireless chip for health monitoring. But this latest concept could be way smarter than that, as it would—in theory—allow wearers to snap photos with just the blink of an eye. Here’s Looking At You, Kid Back in January, Google announced its Google X experimental lab was testing a glucose-reading contact lens for diabetics. The project had nothing to do with Google Glass, the tech giant claimed. And yet, it was hard to ignore that Glass founder Babak Parviz was a co-founder on the contact project. Parviz is also listed as a co-inventor in the newly disclosed Google patent filing brought to light by Patent Bolt—likely No. 20140098226, titled “Image Capture Component On Active Contact Lens.” He’s similarly listed on several other related patents. The “image capture component” is exactly what it sounds like: a camera. The idea is to embed a minuscule camera right on or in the lens that would be controllable through blinking gestures. According to the filing, it would be “configured to generate raw image data corresponding to a gaze of a wearer of the contact lens….” In other words, when the user’s gaze shifts, the view of the camera would follow right along without compromising the wearer’s vision. In some cases, it might even take the place of sight. For instance, blind pedestrians using Google’s smart lenses could get a warning—like a voice alert from their Android smartphone—when they approach a busy intersection. The camera would work in concert with a control circuit and a sensor—whether a photodiode, a pressure sensor, a conductivity sensor, a temperature sensor, an electric field sensor or a micromechanical switch. The sensor would determine the eye’s orientation and status, which could be key for other functions. Taken together with Google’s other related patents, the company seems to be looking at advanced eye-tracking that can trigger functions in, say, an Android phone, Google Glass, smart television, gaming or audio system, or car navigation. If this invention ever comes to market—and that’s a huge “if”—we might see people turning pages in their ebooks by just blinking, or flipping through their music library by fluttering their eyes. That all sounds great, but it won’t work without power, and you can’t stick a battery pack on a contact lens. To tackle this, Google figures a separate transceiver could transmit power wirelessly, or the sensors could somehow generate the necessary energy. Of course, anything can sound cool on paper. The big question is whether users would feel comfortable with having a power source or receiver on their eyeballs. Well, that’s one of the big questions. Eye Spy In the past, variations on eye control typically depended on hi-definition cameras pointed at the user. But this approach takes the opposite tack, by building the sensors and cameras into the lenses themselves. This could allow for an unprecedented level of accuracy. If it works well, and if it ties in with existing and emerging technologies, then it could genuinely change quite a few games—fields from medical to law enforcement and military. The stakes could be high for individuals as well. The first adopters would probably be tech enthusiasts pining for cutting-edge human-to-computer gesture control—or harboring deep-seated Six Million Dollar Man bionic-eye fantasies. But think of what it could do for people suffering with limited mobility or sight impairments. A primary issue with this appliance, however, could have to do with those miniature camera components. This is, after all, a world in which Google Glass wearers get targeted for attacks. And the system, as proposed, would be capable of facial recognition. If people are uncomfortable with face-worn cameras pointing at them, how will they feel if teensy, undetectable cameras show up in contact lenses? It’s very possible they may never have to face that scenario. Tech companies often file one-off patents for all sorts of things that never see the light of day. On the other hand, this is no random occurrence. Google has applied for at least seven related contact lens patents, which may suggest that Parvik and his company are serious about making Google smart contacts a reality. Feature image courtesy of Google; patent image via Patent Bolt; Six Million Dollar Man image screencapped and slightly altered from the DVD release (via YouTube user jamiesurgener)
Krotz Springs, Louisiana (CNN) -- Residents of towns along the swollen Mississippi River on Sunday packed up their valuables and made last-ditch efforts to place sandbags and makeshift levees outside their homes, trying to protect themselves and their homes from rising waters. "I have never experienced anything like this in my life," said Brett Ansley, 24, as he was hitching up his trailer home in Krotz Springs, Louisiana, to move it to higher ground. "It's crazy. It's unreal." These efforts occurred as the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers opened two additional gates Sunday morning on the Morganza spillway, located about 115 miles northwest of New Orleans. This is after opening the first two bays the previous day. A collective gasp as Louisiana town braces for flood The plan is to let out water from as many as one-fourth of the spillway's 125 bays to spare the Louisiana cities of Baton Rouge and New Orleans from severe flooding, Corps spokesman Ricky Boyett has said. But it maystill affect nearly 4,000 people who live along the river, as it sends water toward homes and farmland in the Atchafalaya Basin, according to Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal. "At this time, we are currently monitoring the river, but it is too early to know if additional gates will be opened today," Boyett wrote in an e-mail to CNN. Some of the spillway's gates will likely be open for weeks, and it'll be at least that long before the river falls safely below flood stage and those who have evacuated can safely return, said Col. Ed Fleming, the Corps' New Orleans district commander. Stars talk about the flooding and response Fleming said the decision to open the spillway, along with similar decisions made in recent weeks as the floodwaters moved southward, was done to address a historic excess of water in the Mississippi River and its tributaries. While the spillways will divert water away from Louisiana cities, low-lying central parts of the state will be flooded. Across the South and lower Midwest, floodwaters have already covered about 3 million acres of farmland, eroding for many farmers what could have been a profitable year for corn, wheat, rice and cotton, officials said. Authorities in St. Landry Parish issued a mandatory evacuation that affected about 2,000 people -- including about 750 people living in 240 homes in Krotz Springs. Residents in other areas were under a voluntary evacuation, with authorities encouraging but not ordering them to leave. Don Menard, the parish's president, said Sunday afternoon that water levels in Krotz Springs appear lower than expected -- though he said he thought they'd rise considerably after midnight, and especially if and when more floodgates are opened. NBA's Grizzlies inspired by fans in flooded Memphis "It's the fear of the unknown," Menard said, noting estimates that the water could rise 10 to 15 feet in spots. "These are predictions, no one knows for sure what will happen." CNN iReporter Faisal Abou-Shahla posted a video of flooded homes in St. Francisville, Louisiana, about 30 miles north of Baton Rouge. He said he shot the video on Saturday, after the first gate was opened on the spillway. Abou-Shahla said he lives in Baton Rouge and was visiting his fiancee's parents in St. Francisville. Some city residents "were waiting until the last second to leave," he said Sunday, while others used whatever they could to try to minimize damage to their homes for when the high waters roll in. "There were a few seemingly futile attempts to put sandbags up," said Abou-Shahla. Following the opening of the spillway, the National Weather Service revised its flood forecasts and lowered projected cresting levels in some Louisiana towns. Forecasters also said the river may crest earlier than first thought in some areas. "The river at Baton Rouge through New Orleans will crest sooner than upstream locations due to Morganza spillway operations," said the latest forecast, issued Saturday. "After crests, stages will remain at the same levels and New Orleans will fluctuate near flood stage while Bonnet Carre and Morganza are operated." Authorities previously opened gates on the Bonnet Carre spillway, located upstream from Morganza. Already on Sunday, waters in Vicksburg, Mississippi, had reached record levels of 56.2 feet , the weather service reported. This is well above the 43-foot flood stage, but still short of the forecasted crest of 57.5 feet on Thursday. Levels in Natchez, further south downriver, were two feet higher than the record set in 1937 on Sunday, but just under three feet shy of the 63-foot crest expected Saturday. The weather service said the river was also cresting Sunday in New Orleans and Reserve, Louisiana, because of the spillway operations. At Reserve, the river was cresting at 28.2 feet, above the historic 1929 flood level of 26 feet. At New Orleans, however, the crest was 17 feet, about four feet below the historic level of 1922. Spillways explained Residents were counting on a levee for protection. In addition to the mainline levee along the river, starting near Vicksburg and extending northeast for more than 20 miles, a so-called backwater levee offers shelter. The backwater levee is designed to keep water from backing into the Yazoo River delta and is designed lower than the mainline levee so that water can flow over it. Peter Nimrod, the Mississippi Levee Board's chief engineer, said Sunday there was a "remote" chances the levees could be breached, though he expressed confidence they would hold. Even if it stays intact, the expectation is excess water will rush over them for several days. "There will be a lot of sleepless nights, when this thing starts overtopping," Nimrod said. "It will be a very stressful time for everyone." CNN's Ed Lavandera, Martin Savidge, Justin Lear, Jacqui Jeras and Ashley Hayes contributed to this report.
The world champion St. Louis Cardinals stopped by the Edward Jones Dome today to see the St. Louis Rams take on the New Orleans Saints. Fresh of their Friday night World Series win, they even brought the Commissioner's Trophy, giving Rams fans a rare glimpse at victory inside the Edward Jones Dome. The last time the Cardinals won the World Series, in 2006, the Rams were in the middle of a six game losing streak, during Scott Linehan's first season as head coach. Linehan's bunch ended up finishing the season at 8-8, a record Rams fans can only dream about this year. The Rams hope to catch a little of the same magic that propelled the Cardinals to an amazing World Series win, featuring multiple comebacks throughout August and all the way through the playoffs before staving off elimination with a dramatic, historic game six comeback win. The Rams are 0-6.
(CBS News) The couple that races together stays together! All together now: the couple that races together stays together! At least that's what Jake Wile believes, and from the looks of this touching video of Jake proposing to girlfriend Maggie while fulfilling their need for speed, I certainly believe it. Check out this video posted by him that really puts the rrrrrrromance in race-car driving. And if you don't have a smile on your face by the end of this clip, you are officially dead inside. Is this not the coolest couple you've ever seen? They were already kind of awesome in the fact that they like to race cars -- and autocross race at that, but this proposal was one of the best and most unique I've seen (save for the guy, who pretended his plane was crashing, but don't get my started on that one, because I would have said no!). Jake is so cool, that once he gets his yes from Maggie, he drives off -- without a steering wheel, and then casually asks for said wheel back. Bad a, my friend, bad a! Though Maggie isn't so shabby herself, teasing Jake that he messed up her times for the whole day. That a girl, keep those priorities straight!
In the wake of Android 4.1 Jelly Bean's announcement this week, Adobe has issued a note saying that it hasn't been developing and testing Flash against it and there won't be any "certified implementations" offered — in other words, the age of Flash on smartphones is effectively drawing to a close. The company had previously opted out of supporting Chrome for Android — the heir apparent to Android's built-in browser — so this announcement comes as little surprise now that Chrome has come out of beta. If you still want to install Flash on your phone, now is the time to do it: Adobe says that it will be disabling fresh installs from Google Play on August 15th, meaning you'll only be able to update after that point if you already have it installed.
The Making of Frictional Games Frictional don't make very pleasant games, we admit In fact, sometimes they are just downright nasty Those of us who love being scared witless have had pretty slim pickings recently. Yes, Resident Evil made us jump when the dogs smashed through the window and Eternal Darkness had that bit with the bathtub - even Condemned had that alarmingly unnerving level with the shop dummies…but those highlights were all ages ago. Very few companies seem willing or able to make really scary games anymore, especially on PC.Which makes Frictional Games, a small indie studio operating out of Sweden, all the more notable.‘It started out with Jens helping me out with a hobby project of mine, the unfortunately canceled Unbirth,’ said Thomas Grip, co-founder of Frictional Games. ‘After that we worked together on other projects and ended up creating the Penumbra Tech Demo during a school course. The tech demo became such a success that we started planning a commercial version with another guy named Anton. On January the first 2007, Frictional Games was officially born.’ Penumbra , for the uninitiated, is an episodic first person survival horror title with a bit of twist. The in-house developed HPL engine gives the experience a much more real and visceral energy, with in-game actions having this unnerving ability to, well, feel real. Where most games assign player actions to a single ‘Use’ button, the HPL engine forces you to make physical movements that correlate with what you expect to happen on screen; if you want to open a door you have to reach out and grab the handle. It allows the sublime physics system to be utilized for some ingenious puzzles, and some incredibly brutal combat.Though the series has now found fame thanks to the Humble Indie Bundle, and various Steam sales, things weren't too rosy to start with.‘I think we sold 2000 Overture units online and 3000 Black Plague online units during the first month of release,’ said Grip. ‘The initial online sales were not very good and retail was taking a lot of time to get anything from, because we would first have to pay back the advance. I’m not sure if we’re up on the retail costs yet, actually.’Despite the sales figures there’s a sense that Frictional is pleased that the series even made it to completion; the team had an especially torrid time with their second episode in the Penumbra series, Black Plague. Having suddenly gone from students working in their spare time to a professional development team, Frictional was hurt by a lack of experience.‘[For Black Plague] we used the money we earned from Overture to fund the game, but ran out of cash half-way because of the retail publisher continuing to be unreliable,’ says Thomas. ‘They pretty much scammed us on 2/3 of the money we should have had.’ It was only with the aid of established PC publisher Paradox Interactive, which provided a much needed cash injection, that the series was able to move forward.The episodic releases that Frictional had planned proved troublesome too, as the idea of selling games to audiences in chunks seemed alien and off-putting to many. Back in 2007 – only a few years objectively, but an eon in the fast-moving games industry – Frictional was very positive about the idea. Thomas especially thought it was a model that was worth trying out on the basis that ‘by making a good first episode you could get gamers hooked and then easily release more episodes instead of starting on a new game.’Unfortunately, the episodic structure didn’t go down as well as Frictional might have hoped – though the series was properly finished for series fans.‘Because of money issues it pretty much failed directly, like so many other episode based games. We decided to just re-work the two final episodes into one final game, which would become Black Plague, and get it all over with.’It was a tough decision for the team, but few could really begrudge them from refocusing their skills elsewhere in search of more financial stability – the developers still hope to one day pay themselves ‘a normal wage’. It’s especially hard to feel bitter when you consider the quality of the project they refocused on, the spine-chilling Amnesia: The Dark Descent…
CNN anchor Erin Burnett labeled President Trump the "hypocrite-in-chief" on Thursday after the president signed his 50th executive order in office. "Hypocrite-in-chief — President Trump doing something today he harshly criticized President Obama for doing. Trump signed his 50th executive order today," Burnett said on her show "Out Front." Trump earlier Thursday signed an executive order directing government agencies to begin to roll back parts of ObamaCare, after Republicans in Congress failed to pass legislation to repeal and replace former President Obama's signature health care law. ADVERTISEMENT Burnett noted that on the campaign trail Trump frequently took to criticizing Obama for signing executive orders when he was in office. "We have a president that can't get anything done so he just keeps signing executive orders all over the place," Trump said in January 2016, according to The Washington Post. “Nobody wants to listen to [Obama], including the Democrats, so he just goes around signing executive orders," he said in November 2015. However, his criticism of Obama's executive orders goes back further than the campaign trail. "Why is @BarackObama constantly issuing executive orders that are major power grabs of authority? This is the latest," Trump tweeted in 2012. Why is @BarackObama constantly issuing executive orders that are major power grabs of authority? This is the latest http://t.co/4IVBckTE — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 10, 2012 Sen. Rand Paul Randal (Rand) Howard PaulWhite House pleads with Senate GOP on emergency declaration The Hill's Morning Report — Emergency declaration to test GOP loyalty to Trump The Hill's 12:30 Report: Trump escalates fight with NY Times MORE (R-Ky.), who was also critical of Obama's past executive action, defended Trump's health care order on Thursday, saying Trump was not creating a new law with the measure. "We've read the original law and we believe what the president did today is basically an interpretation of the original law, and doesn't create new territory," Paul said on CNN.
In 2005, McKinsey & Co, the global consulting company, conducted at the request of the Moroccan Government a report on the country’s economic strategy and drafted a comprehensive industrial program known as “Emergence”. The program listed several promising sectors likely to grow in which the country had to focus in order to achieve rapid development. Oddly enough, this strategy plan did not identify Aeronautics as a possible key sector for the Kingdom. At the time, McKinsey’s believed that Morocco simply didn’t have “what it takes” to invest in this field. Too much technology involved, not enough infrastructures, and lack of skilled workers were amongst the main challenges identified by the consulting firm. Yet, for the past ten years, Morocco has been developing an ambitious aeronautics industry worth nearly a billion dollars. Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) have been pouring into this very competitive sector, in which the Kingdom wasn’t meant to invest in the first place. Throughout this period, some key world players such as Boeing , French company Safran and Canadian manufacturer Bombardier , made substantial investments in building “increasingly sophisticated factories” . Over the last months, the pace of foreign investment in aeronautics even seemed to accelerate. Last Wednesday, during the Farnborough air show in London, two new major investments totaling 45 million euros (US$61 million) were announced by the Moroccan government with Aerolia - a subsidiary of Airbus group- and Alcoa , a world leader in aluminum production . With these new investments, Morocco hopes to give a strong signal to the Market that it is ready to become a “global” aeronautics player, attracting spare-parts manufacturers as well as services providers in this field. Actually, a combination of conjectural and structural changes allowed Morocco to become an increasingly credible aeronautics player. The new industry, which employs some 10,000 people, accounts now for 5% of Morocco’s exports. At the regional level, Morocco was able to overcome the “Arab spring” turmoil through a constitutional reform that redistributed executive powers between the Monarchy and the government. This “silent revolution” allowed Morocco to be perceived as “resilient” by major aeronautics firms, which have long-term investment cycles and for which stability and security on the long run are a key issue. For some analysts, the boom of aeronautics contributed to the country’s resilience. On the structural level, the global aeronautics industry is changing rapidly and is looking for countries where the development of a sectorial cluster is possible. This is precisely the path chosen by Morocco through its new industrial strategy based on the promotion of industrial ecosystems through tax incentives and subsidized training programs. "Our goal is to build complete planes in the next ten years" The instigator of this strategy , Moroccan minister of industry and eminent African entrepreneur, Moulay Hafid Elalamy, is therefore enthusiastic about the potential of this sector and hopes that Morocco will be able to “build complete planes in the next ten years”. Although a step towards this direction has definitely been taken, some obstacles remain in order for Morocco to become even more attractive for major aeronautics players. Amongst those challenges the country is facing, red tape and obscure administrative procedures –mostly inherited from the colonial complex French administration- have to be addressed in order to ease the installation of industrial actors at large. A recent report released by the consultative body of the Moroccan Government, the Social and Economic Council , pointed out that Morocco needs to merge all its economic promotion agencies into one single structure and to endow this structure with important financial means and significant leadership capabilities. According to Paris-based weekly Jeune Afrique- usually well informed- the Moroccan government is considering creating a super-structure to be called Moroccan Agency for Trade Investment and Services (MATIS) , which would “rationalize its promotion efforts”. Many analysts deem this move, if it comes to fruition, would mean a radical shift in Morocco’s administrative culture, going from a French model with a lot of specialized agencies to a more U.S.-inspired model, with one big agency in charge of global promotion, like the U.S. Department of Commerce. This would be a revolution and would mean that Morocco is no longer projecting itself solely across the Mediterranean, but is seeking to create a tridimensional economic dialogue between the Americas, Europe, and Africa. In short, this means that the Kingdom is finally embracing globalization thanks to its competitive advantages: location, labor cost, and stability.
Magdalene survivors, including Maureen Sullivan second from left, outside Leinster House after the apology by Taoiseach Enda Kenny in February Magdalene survivors, including Maureen Sullivan second from left, outside Leinster House after the apology by Taoiseach Enda Kenny in February THE YOUNGEST MAGDALENE laundries survivor has spoken out against comments by two nuns who defended the institutions in an interview aired last night. Maureen Sullivan of the Magdalene Survivors Together Group told TheJournal.ie: “I think they [the nuns] are stopping the women from healing. The women were starting to heal and forgive but now it’s going to be very difficult for them.” An interview with the two unnamed nuns who were involved in running the laundries, dubbed Sister A and Sister B, featured on RTÉ Radio 1 programme The God Slot last night. When asked about an apology from the religious orders, Sister A said: “Apologise for what? Apologise for providing a service?” Later in the interview one of the sisters said: It’s easier for these women to blame the nuns than blame their mammy or their daddy. The interview was read on air under the condition that the sisters and their order were not revealed – which Sullivan said was a sign that the nuns were hiding again. She called on Sister A and Sister B to “say sorry for what they’ve said”. This is the first time that individual nuns from the religious orders involved in the Magdalene laundries have spoken about their views on the McAleese Report. Speaking about the issue of the money earned by the laundries, Sister B said that any money the laundry made went into food and housing: “We have always lived very frugal lives. The money went into feeding them [the women who worked in the laundries]“. Sullivan disputes this. “They didn’t feed us, they fed themselves,” she said. “They lived in warmth and ate comfort food. We didn’t. We kept them actually and I think they owe us.” During the interview Sister A elaborated on the issue of money, saying: “The laundry was a way to make a living and keep a roof over their heads”. She also said that the possible figure of €200,000 in compensation for survivors would be “excessive”. Sullivan pointed out that the religious orders have plenty of money. “We were horrified about [the interview] but in a way we’re not surprised because I think the Government was going to ask them to contribute,” she said. “This is about money.” In a statement, Magdalene Survivors Together said the group was “shocked, horrified and enormously upset” by how the nuns portrayed the laundries.
NSW Police engineered a situation where Thomson needed to be strip searched, reports Peter Wicks, and were unlucky not to keep him in gaol overnight. Thomson being paraded for the press pack after yesterday's "show arrest". SOME WOULD SAY that politics has become a sport made for spectators; some would even go so far as to say it has become a blood sport — and perhaps this is true. Unfortunately, if one looks at the public perception of politicians, and how much trust they have for their elected members, it becomes apparent that this sad spectacle of a sport is turning off its audience. Big time. This is not meant as a call on which side of the political playing field blame for this lies − I’ll let the trolls debate that on Twitter − it is just an observation. Yesterday was, of course, the first full day in "campaign" mode following the announcement of a Federal Election — and what a day it turned out to be. Those of us wondering whether this campaign was going to be fought in the gutter or fought on merits had their question answered yesterday with the arrest of Craig Thomson at his electoral office. Yesterday, at approximately 1 pm, Craig Thomson was arrested by a team of five police backed up by two further police waiting back at the car. He was arrested inside his electoral office and paraded out for the waiting media. The arrest was made for 150 charges of fraud in an investigation being conducted by Victoria Police. Officers from the NSW Fraud Squad made the arrest with members of the Victorian Police in attendance. Some would wonder if after all the calls for new investigations into Thomson from Shadow Attorney General George Brandis to the NSW Police Commissioner resulted in nothing, maybe Brandis’ begging still carries some weight with the Victorian Coalition Government. The timing of this arrest seems incredibly convenient, not only straight after an election is called, but also during Tony Abbott's speech at the press club. It was as if the whole event was being stage-managed, along the lines of “We will now cross to the NSW Central Coast live for the Thomson arrest” then “Back to you Tony...” Just over a week ago, I wrote a post about how slow the police were moving in their investigations; it appears they may have been listening, however I was hoping for something a little more substantial. Abbott yesterday, looking like the cat who's got the cream. There are, however, other factors than just the validity of the charges to take into consideration. Firstly, the arrest itself seemed unusual in its circumstances and how it came about. Victoria Police claimed that Thomson had been asked by them to surrender himself last year prior to Christmas and a warrant issued for his arrest. Both Thomson and his lawyer, Chris McCardle, strenuously deny this claim, saying that all they asked of Thomson was to help them with their enquiries — something he would have had to travel interstate at Christmas to do. So, which side should we believe? I don’t pretend to be an expert in law enforcement, but I reckon that, if I was going to arrest someone, I would not give them over a month's notice that I was going to do it — but that’s just me. I can assume from yesterday's events that when laying a charge involving using a credit card to purchase ice cream in Victoria, it takes a team of seven armed officers and a media horde to bring the perpetrator in — particularly after giving them over a month to get their esky packed and their passport in order. One only hopes that when the Victorian Police finally decide to pull their finger out in the ongoing investigation into Kathy Jackson that they don’t give her quite so much notice. In his press conference yesterday, Col Dyson, the head of NSW State Crime Command’s Fraud and Cybercrime Squad also seemed unsure about the alleged warrant from Vic Police — not confirming the warrants validity, instead saying “I believe” whenever discussing its content. If someone in that position chooses his words so carefully, maybe we shouldn’t make any hasty judgment calls regarding the warrant − which is yet to be produced publicly − and about what it actually says. There has also been talk of whether police themselves have acted unlawfully in this arrest. Section 14 of the Parliamentary Privileges Act 1987 tells us that an MP cannot be arrested within five days of attending parliament. Despite the advice given to many members of the media, including Independent Australia that this law was applicable, and which was included in last night's post by David Donovan,we can now confirm that this act appears to apply to civil arrests only, not criminal arrests. We apologise for any confusion. However this once again throws up the question of this being a civil matter rather than criminal. Another interesting point, that was first reported on Independent Australia,was the strip search of Craig Thomson by NSW Corrective Services after his arrest. It seems that humiliation was the order of the day here, and it begs the question — if they can do this to a Federal Member Of Parliament, what hope does the average John or Jane Doe have? One also wonders if the purpose of the strip search was to look for distinguishing features to help verify the story of an "honest" prostitute, who may later appear. This has been suggested by many followers of the case. No matter what the reason, Corrective Services found no hidden guns, no drugs, no explosive devices, and certainly no receipts from brothels tucked away where the sun don’t shine. Allegations of political motives certainly seem justified when we note that police give former HSU boss Michael Williamson was given 24 hours to appear at Maroubra Police Station to be charged for allegations against him. Yes, despite these charges and allegations being astronomical in comparison with Thomson's, Williamson was able to maintain his dignity and walk into the police station without escort. On the other hand, Thomson was arrested without notice, before a writhing media circus and paraded in front of the cameras surrounded by detectives; I’m surprised they didn’t handcuff him for added effect. NSW Police have today confirmed to me in writing that Michael Williamson was not subjected to a strip search, despite his charges being far more serious than Thomson's. I wonder if former Liberal Senator Mary Jo Fisher was subjected to a strip search when she was charged in South Australia for theft and assault? Former Liberal senator and part-time thief Mary Jo Fisher outside court. Was she strip searched? After speaking with a Corrective Services spokesperson today, it can be revealed that a very different approach to the charges and bail was used by NSW Police to ensure Thomson was strip searched. In Michael Williamson's case, bail was granted by police so that Corrective Services are not involved. In Thomson's case, bail for Thomson was refused by police, although it was granted shortly afterwards by a magistrate. Bail is normally not granted to someone who is considered a flight risk. Considering that, if Victorian Police are to be believed, Thomson had over a month's notice of being arrested, it seems ludicrous in the extreme that he would be considered a flight risk. If police refuse bail, then the Corrective Services temporarily take custody of the accused before a magistrate determines bail. The Corrective Services spokesperson also confirmed that the timing of the bail refusal for Thomson by police should have resulted in Thomson spending the night in gaol. Corrective Services Officers apparently worked after the cutoff time for processing − in their own time − as they felt sympathy for Thomson and wished to spare him the humiliation of a night in gaol. Bail was of course granted by a magistrate within a short time, minutes in fact. This new information will surely add fuel to the fire that this was a politically motivated arrest. We all know how bad it would look for Thomson and the Government if the media had been able to show Thomson in a jail cell, even if it was on a technicality. Given that the bail process was clearly engineered to ensure a strip search, one must also presume that it was engineered to try to have Thomson in a cell overnight. One also wonders about the integrity of both the NSW and the Victorian Police Force, and the political pressure that may have been exerted by the Coalition Police Ministers in both states. It seems that the Coalition have the Police running their election campaign for them at the moment, so perhaps the Police Integrity Commission should look into this matter. I have asked NSW Police Minister Michael Gallacher in writing if he was in any way involved in the timing, or involved in any way in yesterday's arrest. Predictably, I have yet to receive a response. NSW Police Minister, the Liberal Party's Michael Gallacher — has he been pulling strings? Maybe it's just me, but I also considered it strange that the magistrate made it a condition of bail that Thomson not make contact with "anybody he has paid for sex". Does this not seem like the presumption of guilt? Isn't the law supposed to work the other way — like the innocent until proven guilty way? Despite all of this, there were some pieces of good news to come out of yesterdays grand opera. Those wondering whether the election campaign was going to be a mudslinging competition, certainly know now how the Coalition appear to be steering their campaign with their absence of policy. Now that allegations regarding MP’s sexual lives are something the Coalition apparently seem to think is open for public debate, can we now look forward to some frank debate on the sex lives of other MP’s — like, say, Christopher Pyne, Alex Hawke, and even Sophie Mirabella, rather than just Thomson and Slipper? That could be very illuminating indeed. The other good news to come out of yesterday is that we now know that Kathy Jackson, who is, of course, under investigation by Vic Police is still in the country and hasn’t fled. Yet. Kathy proved yesterday, when interviewed on 2UE, that saying “Ya know” a thousand times does not make you sound like you know much at all. Her interview with James Morrison also showed that if you aren’t prepared to make ridiculous, bold, and unsubstantiated statements regarding corruption of a government, a good shock jock will help fill in the gaps for you. Kathy also told right-wing blogger Michael Smith that: “all these good people, people like Marco Bolano in Victoria who’s honest as the day is long and a hard-working person lost out in an election...” Kathy Jackson: selective memory or amnesia? These good people Kathy refers to, took a Union and almost bankrupted it. There appears to have been a lot of hard work done in spending the members' money on their own self interests, not much work done for members. Kathy neglects to mention Honest Marco’s court intervention order, or his breaking of that order for stalking, harassing, and intimidating a woman he was opposing. Kathy also neglects to mention the 40 boxes of evidence, some of which has been shown and reported here, being combed through by Victorian detectives. She neglects to mention her own credit card expenditure on her three HSU credit cards that dwarfs that of Thomson. She suffers amnesia when it comes to her former husband's alleged brothel habits and other spending of members funds with wanton abandon. Perhaps Jackson's selective memory is why she only seems to be taken seriously by the extreme right-wing elements of the press. After all is said and done, as a fellow lover of good ice cream, I can sympathise with Thomson on that charge at least. I have often said in jest: “This ice cream is so good it should be a crime”. In Victoria, apparently it is. Editor's note: I has been reported that Craig Thomson has launched defamation action against NSW Premier Barry O'Farrell after comments he made today: (Read IA's full Jacksonville investigation by clicking here.) This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Australia License
The controversial "Noah," starring Russell Crowe, was No. 1 at the box office. (Photo11: Niko Tavernise) Holy box office. Noah, the biblical epic starring Russell Crowe, sailed to the top at theaters this weekend, unseating Divergent after just one week at No. 1 and clobbering Sabotage, Arnold Schwarzenegger's third straight flop. Noah cruised to $44 million, according to studio estimates from Rentrak. Analysts expected $30 million from the film, the latest in a raft of faith-themed movies out this year. Son of God ($57.9 million) and God's Not Dead ($22 million) eclipsed projections — and God's Not Dead remains in the top five. Heaven Is for Real (April 16) and Exodus (Dec. 12) remain on tap. CLOSE USA Today Movie Critics Scott Bowles and Claudia Puig discuss "Noah" and tell you whether to "Catch It," "Rent It," or "Skip It" in this week's edition of The Screening Room. Analysts say that Noah's audience expanded beyond the religious because director Darren Aronofsky added plenty of Hollywood touches to give the $125 million picture the feel of a mainstream disaster flick. MORE: The weekend's top 10 films "It certainly feels like the 'biggest' film of 2014," says Tim Briody, analyst for Box Office Prophets. But how long will it reign? Noah finds itself in rarefied air: a special-effects movie that pleases critics — but apparently not fans. About three-fourths of reviewers gave the movie a thumbs-up, according to Rotten Tomatoes. But only 49% of moviegoers liked it, the site says. And the movie earned a C from pollsters CinemaScore, imperiling its long-run box-office prospects. Ray Subers of Box Office Mojo says that the movie may have alienated Christian audiences anticipating the film would hew closer to the Bible and not the "unexpected fantasy elements in the movie." CLOSE Paramount has dealt with many issues surrounding the promotion of 'Noah' with Russell Crowe. USA Entertainment Now's Carly Mallenbaum hears from Bryan Alexander about why some countries won't distribute the star-studded Darren Aronofsky film. VPC Still, Noah collected plenty enough to dethrone Divergent, which took second with $26.5 million. The best-seller adaptation has collected $95.3 million in 10 days, and two sequels are in the works. Muppets Most Wanted claimed third with $11.4 million, followed by Mr. Peabody & Sherman with $9.5 million. God's Not Dead was fifth with $9.1 million, marking another Hollywood rarity: two Christian-themed films in the top five. Sabotage, Schwarzenegger's latest and the only other major newcomer of the weekend, claimed seventh place with $5.3 million, about $3 million below expectations. The film comes on the heels of two box-office disappointments last year: Escape Plan, which collected $25 million, and The Last Stand, which mustered only $12 million. Final figures are expected Monday. Read or Share this story: http://usat.ly/1f9ZwQq
Description TNG Comparison TNG to TNG-R Description TNG-R The visual effects of TNG were top-notch in the 1980s but usually rather blurry. All visual effects had to be reconstructed in HD for TNG-R. The sequence of cutting the skull monster in half was considerably improved for TNG-R: "The Emissary". The original version of TNG: "The Royale" showed a curious US flag with 52 stars and the field of stars resting on a red stripe. The mission patch below the flag is a re-use of the Apollo 17 patch, with only the word "Apollo" removed. The patch still bears the number "XVII" and the name of the actual astronauts, Cernan, Evans and Schmitt. The flag is still the same. The patch, however, was corrected for TNG-R: "The Royale". The number "XVII" was replaced with "Charybdis - NASA", and the names of the Apollo 17 astronauts with "First Beyond the Solar System". The list of comedians in TNG: "The Outrageous Okona" and the list of Earth deep space launches from 2123 to 2190 in TNG: "Up the Long Ladder" contain several in-jokes, such as names of people involved in the production of Star Trek . Some names were changed for TNG-R: "The Outrageous Okona", replacing them with names of people that were involved in the remastering of TNG. In TNG-R: "Up the Long Ladder" the VK Velikan is no longer commanded by Gene Roddenberry but by Mike Volland. It is also no longer on a mission "to explore strange new worlds" but is engaging in "stellar chart mapping". The HMS New Zealand is now on a diplomatic mission to Aldebaran instead of Alderaan. The SS Seattle is on a diplomatic mission to SR-47 now and no longer does "ADR looping". In TNG: "The Schizoid Man" data seen on the viewscreen contains references to different fields of science. nDNA is short for nuclear DNA. HCOOH is formic acid. A stands for adenine, T for thymine, C for cytosine, G for guanine and U for uracil, all five are nucleobases. Uracil and thymine normally never appear together, as thymine (only in DNA) is replaced by uracil in RNA. The text on the display was newly created for TNG-R: "The Schizoid Man". There are several differences between the TNG-R text displays and the original, such as "O" (instead of C) in a DNA sequence and nonsensical words like "angie" (instead of "angle"). In TNG: "The Measure of a Man" P icard views the Starfleet transfer orders on the desktop monitor in his ready room. The graphic was added in post production. The graphic was created from scratch for TNG-R: "The Measure of a Man". The font of "40271" is a different one. The text still isn't legible. In the original version of TNG: "Time Squared" the beginning of the shuttlepod video was re-used from the USS Yamato logs seen in "Contagion". If one watches closely, the words "Access File = Captain's Log * USS Yamato * NCC 71807" can be made out. The logs are correctly labeled with "USS Enterprise NCC-1701-D" in TNG-R: "Time Squared". Riker views photos from his family album in TNG: "The Icarus Factor". The skyline on the first photo was updated with buildings such as the Burj al Arab in TNG-R: "The Icarus Factor". In TNG: "Q Who" we can see stock footage of Shuttle 01 - Sakharov from "Unnatural Selection", while the dialogue mentions "Shuttle 6". Variations of the Type-7 Shuttle The registry of the shuttle was accordingly fixed for TNG-R: "Q Who". Although Wesley identifies the shuttle as "Shuttle 2" in TNG: "Samaritan Snare", it can be clearly seen in this reused shot from "Unnatural Selection" that he and the captain are departing in Shuttle 01, the Sakharov. The shuttle mock-up was relabeled for TNG-R: "Samaritan Snare". It is now the Einstein - Shuttle 02 (taken from a chart visible in the shuttlebay since "Evolution"). In other shots in the episode the shuttle is still mislabeled though. If one compares this shot of the Borg cube in pursuit of the USS Enterprise-D with an earlier shot of the ship in TNG: "Q Who", one can see that the footage is upside down here. The Borg cube is no longer upside down in TNG-R: "Q Who". All scenes with starships were originally created with motion control photography. Generally season 2 uses recomposited original shots of the studio miniatures. One exception is the Erstwhile, which was replaced with a CG model for one shot in TNG-R: "The Outrageous Okona". A new CG model of the Klingon BoP appears in two shots of TNG-R: "A Matter of Honor". This shot from TNG-R: "Peak Performance", unlike the previous ones from the same episode, shows a CG model of the Hathaway. There are several slight differences to the physical model. Filming equipment is visible in a couple of season 2 episodes, as well as some other things that should normally not come into sight. In TNG-R: "The Child", the sandbag behind Wesley is no longer visible thanks to the reframing. The equipment is not visible any longer in TNG-R: "The Schizoid Man" because the shot was slightly reframed. A carpet patch was digitally retouched at the beginning of this scene in TNG: "Time Squared" ( but reappears in a later shot). Several matte paintings can be seen in the original episodes of the second season, sometimes to supplement real shots with actors. A new digital matte was created for TNG-R: "Loud as a Whisper". The two beautiful sceneries on the holodeck were digitally recreated from scratch for TNG-R: "The Dauphin". The surface of Iconia in TNG-R: "Contagion" is an entirely new CG creation that closely follows the lines of the original. The original matte painting was replaced with digital set extensions for TNG-R: "Q Who". For TNG-R: "Samaritan Snare" the matte painting of Starbase 515 was modified to look less like Angel One. Three rounded roof tops were added, and most notably a helix-shaped tower. The tree in the foreground was changed as well. In addition, a flock of birds was added, the tiny human figures which were part of the original matte painting are moving now and the shuttle can be seen landing on a platform. Like already in season 1, many planets were rather blurry in the original episodes of season 2. A much more detailed planet Solais V was created for TNG-R: "Loud as a Whisper". The planet Theta 116 VIII was recreated for TNG-R: "The Royale", including some turbulent storms. The Starbase Montgomery planet was newly created for TNG-R: "The Icarus Factor". Yet, it looks rather blurry in some of the shots.
Each year as Breast Cancer Awareness Month draws to a close there are mixed emotions amongst women's health advocates. On the one hand, all those walks, runs and pink ribbons raise billions of dollars for charity. On the other, in some cases it's hard to trace what's being done with that money and the list of companies that seem to be promoting breast cancer awareness while profiting from less-than-healthy products grows every year. It's a familiar problem in the realm of cause marketing. Several years ago when companies began throwing around environmental claims without backing them up, accusations of greenwashing grew louder and louder until the Federal Trade Commission began cracking down on various claims related to the sustainability and carbon footprints of products, and companies began to tone down their green marketing for fear of backlash. Now cancer advocacy is butting up against similar problems, particularly as consumers and the media become more aware of the issue of pinkwashing. In the Beginning, There Was Peach What is now the pink ribbon actually began as a peach ribbon, tied in its early days to specific policy work. Charlotte Haley, a woman who's grandmother, sister and daughter had all dealt with breast cancer was inspired by the red ribbons she had seen for AIDS awareness, and began pinning peach ribbons to cards that read, "The National Cancer Institute annual budget is $1.8 billion, only 5 percent goes for cancer prevention. Help us wake up our legislators and America by wearing this ribbon." Around the same time, in the early 1990s, Susan G. Komen for The Cure had begun to hand out bright pink ribbons to participants in its Race for the Cure. In 1992, Alexandra Penney, then editor-in-chief of Self magazine, was working with Evelyn Lauder of Estee Lauder on her second Breast Cancer Awareness month issue and came up with the idea of creating a ribbon that the company could hand out at cosmetics counters. At the same time, Liz Smith, a columnist for the magazine, wrote a story about Haley and her ribbon. Penney called Haley, telling her the magazine would like to partner with her on the ribbon campaign, but Haley wanted none of it. "She said we were too commercial," Penney has said. "We didn’t want to crowd her, but we really wanted to do a ribbon. We asked our lawyers and they said, ‘ Come up with another color.” They chose pink and the first major pink ribbon campaign was born. Komen has now trademarked its particular pink ribbon, but because neither the color nor the general ribbon symbol can be trademarked, companies not affiliated with Komen--or any charity for that matter--can, and do, use a pink ribbon however they wish. "Sometimes the use of the pink ribbon in and of itself is the end, companies can claim that using it helps to raise awareness, and that is the extent of what they're doing," says Karuna Jaggar, Executive Director of Breast Cancer Action, a watchdog and advocacy group. The term "pinkwashing" was coined by Breast Cancer Action in reference to companies that either promote breast cancer awareness without donating at all, are deceptive or not transparent about where any funds raised go, or put a pink ribbon on a product with known or suspected links to cancer. The group launched its Think Before You Pink campaign in 2002 and has found at least one product every year since to be the poster child of pinkwashing. In 2007, the campaign targeted car companies, including Ford, BMW and Mercedes, that "sell cars to raise money for breast cancer, while the cars themselves produce air pollutants linked to breast cancer." In 2008, Think Before You Pink targeted Yoplait for putting pink lids on yogurt containing milk from cows treated with the hormone rGBH, which has been linked to breast cancer. After hearing complaints from tens of thousands of consumers, Yoplait removed rGBH from its products. In 2010, when Susan G. Komen for The Cure partnered with Kentucky Fried Chicken on a "pink bucket" campaign, Breast Cancer Action launched its "What the Cluck?" petition, urging consumers to let both KFC and Komen know what they thought of the partnership. High-fat diets have been conclusively linked to cancer risk, and although Komen's intention was to promote KFC's new grilled chicken and vegetable meals, the pink buckets also carried fried chicken. This year, Breast Cancer Action went after Komen itself when independent lab tests revealed chemicals of concern in Promise Me, a perfume commissioned by the charity. According to the tests, the perfume contains chemicals not listed in the ingredients that are regulated as toxic and hazardous. The new documentary, Pink Ribbons, Inc., due out in 2012 and based on a book by the same name, highlights not only the more obvious examples of pinkwashing, but some of the undercurrents of the pink ribbon movement in general. A group of women living with Stage 4 breast cancer talk about how difficult it is to find support in a movement that's all about being upbeat and strong enough to beat cancer. The film's narrator takes us through the history of the breast cancer movement, which started with advocacy and a push for better public policy, but that some feel has lost both its edge and its purpose in the quest for more corporate funding. Is Pinkwashing Really a Problem? Nancy Brinker, executive director of Susan G. Komen for the Cure, has said that while women are still dying from breast cancer, there can never be enough pink. "But in the end, the pink is a functional effort," she told Forbes recently. "The work of our foundation is where the beef is. It’s where all this ends, where all this leads to. The funding of research hat wouldn’t be done any other way. And the addressing of disparities that wouldn’t be tackled any other way. The pink is a means to an end." According to Elizabeth Thompson, president of Susan G. Komen for the Cure, Komen's process for selecting corporate partners effectively weeds out any company or product that is not in sync with the charity's mission, which is, according to its website, "to save lives, empower people, ensure quality care for all and energize science to find the cures." Just under 5,000 companies a year come to us to do business, and we have a very solid process to review ingredients in products, we follow IARC [International Agency for Research on Cancer] standards and if we don’t understand the ingredients of a product, we have as a back-up a group at Harvard that helps us vet them," Thompson says. "Out of those 5,000 we only partner with about 275. The others are not selected either because of an ingredient list or because they don’t match up with our philosophy. We're looking for companies and organizations that want to do more than just slap a ribbon on something." Even the now-infamous KFC partnership was undertaken for specific reasons, according to Thompson, although that partnership was dissolved early after one year. "Dr. Funmi Olopade, one of the leading cancer researchers at the University of Chicago, called me the same day I was getting call after call criticizing the KFC campaign and she said, 'Liz, I think this KFC thing is the best thing Komen has done,'" Thompson says. "I asked her why and she said that a woman had come in to her clinic that day with a bucket and asked for a breast screening. They asked her, what was it that made you come in now? We had billboards in south Chicago and had a spokesperson at her church and that hadn't done it. She said, 'We bought this bucket and sat down as a family and my kids said mommy you don’t smoke anymore, you don’t drink, why haven’t you had your screening? We are always looking for ways to reach new audiences, and that campaign helped in that regard." Message In a Bottle On the other side of the debate, those concerned about pinkwashing say they're not just worried about promoting potentially unhealthy products, but about the message being off in general, namely the focus on both screening and a cure. "We need to be focused on prevention," says Stacy Malkan, author of Not Just a Pretty Face: The Ugly Side of the Beauty Industry, founder of the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, which has taken companies like Estee Lauder, Avon, and Revlon to task for being huge backers of pink ribbon campaigns and walks for the cure while at the same time refusing to discuss phasing out toxic chemicals in their products. "Despite all these multiple billions of dollars we’re no closer to a cure than we were. A cure is very elusive. There are so many contributing factors to cancer that the idea that there could be a magic pill that addresses all the different forms and be done with it is a fantasy. It’s nice to hope for a cure, but we can take action right now with prevention." Breast Cancer Action's Karuna Jaggar echoes these concerns. In the beginning, the pink ribbon campaigns were part of solving a visibility problem, but today the pink ribbons are blinding us to the real issues," Jaggar says. "The issue is no longer awareness, the issue is understanding the root causes of the disease. Awareness is often channeled into screening and mammography, with no recognition of the limits of mammography. Mammography is a tool, an important tool, but it is not the solution to the epidemic. It detects cancer after it has already occurred. Even women diagnosed early may die of the disease, and too often do. A New York Times article last month highlighted the limits of mammography as well, interviewing doctors about their concerns that pink ribbon campaigns have led women to believe that mammograms in and of themselves can prevent breast cancer. Komen's Thompson points out, however, that many women continue to skip these basic screenings. "A study released two months ago surveyed 1.5 million women and found that 50 percent of eligible women (meaning they were over 40 and insured) were not taking advantage of annual screenings," she says. "That means that there are early-stage cancers that aren’t being detected. So that’s very much an important part of where we are." Thompson also notes that the jury is still out on the science around environmental causes of breast cancer. "For many years there have been people who believe there are links between environmental causes and cancer, but we don’t have scientific evidence to back that up," Thompson says. "There are a lot of beliefs and emotions, but we are an evidence-based organization and right now the evidence isn't there." Nonetheless, Thompson says Komen did recently fund the largest ever study to the Institute of Medicine to review the correlation between environmental factors and breast cancer. That study is due out in two months. In the meantime, Jaggar and Malkan note that while it's difficult to say that this particular chemical causes that specific cancer, the evidence is mounting against certain ingredients (bisphenol-A, phthalates, mercury and lead to name a few) to the point where the precautionary principle should be invoked. "In the absence of scientific consensus, while we’re conducting the research, what do we do in the meantime?" Jaggar says. "When the weight of the evidence suggests a threat of harm, we believe you act to prevent harm before it occurs. You take every precaution to preserve women’s health. Just fifty years ago, the liftetime risk (if you lived, as the average woman did, to 85) of getting breast cancer was one in twenty. In 1984 it was one in fourteen, today it’s one in eight. That means it has grown from a personal risk of 5 percent to over 12 percent. That's approaching over a 250 percent increase in just 50 years. In the face of that alarming statistic, that’s where we take issue with Komen and others. When in doubt, leave it out." Malkan adds that more of the funds raised by pink ribbon campaigns need to be going to fund research into causes. Komen does donate millions of dollars a year to research and prevention, but it's still a percentage of the billion or so dollars raised annually. "There are many useful ways in which women have been helped by better treatment options and early detection, but we need to look at why so many women are getting breast cancer in the first place," Malkan says. "There are some important indicators that have been discovered – like the fact that breast cancer rates dropped slightly when so many women stopped using hormone replacement therapy –that’s huge, and that’s the sort of thing we should be investing research money in. Synthetic estrogens is another big one." Good Business In a perfect world, everyone advocating for women's health would be on the same team. As media and consumer attention around pinkwashing grows, that may just happen. "We're absolutely seeing more attention to the idea of prevention," Malkan says. "A very good example is the President’s cancer panel – they made a very strong statement that prevention is important and that we need to be doing more to regulate carcinogens, and those were mainstream scientists appointed by Bush saying we need to do something about this." To stem what they see as a surge of pinkwashing, Breast Cancer Action encourages consumers to first consider donating directly to a charity or research foundation they want to support, and then to ask five key questions before buying a pink ribbon product: How much money goes toward breast cancer, and is the company transparent about it? What is the maximum amount that will be donated? How are funds raised? Where does the money go and what sorts of programs does it support? What is the company doing to ensure its products aren't contributing to the breast cancer epidemic? More research is being conducted into environmental causes as well, and the results of those studies are becoming more and more public. With so many such reports surfacing, and Komen's own study of environmental links to cancer due out shortly, companies may voluntarily become more careful about the sorts of products they put pink ribbons on for fear of consumer backlash or even legal action. "The reason companies put pink on their stuff is likely to imply some sort of association with Komen or the cure, or breast cancer research in general," says Chris Cole, a partner at Manatt, Phelps & Phillips and a leading authority on false advertising. "The idea is to create a sense around their brand, and if they're not actually doing anything, then that’s false advertising plain and simple. Moreover, if they're implying to consumers that if they buy this product the company will give some profits to a charity then they're implying an association that’s not there and I think the Federal Trade Commission would definitely get involved in a particularly egregious case." The FTC updated its green marketing guides recently to address a similar problem with environmental claims and Cole says the agency is taking a closer look at cause marketing in general these days. "The FTC is definitely aware of this area and keeping tabs on cause marketing," he says. "I wouldn’t be surprised to see something come out of the more egregious cases to send a message to companies." According to Laurie Demerritt, COO and president of marketing research firm The Hartman Group, one way companies can protect themselves against claims of pinkwashing is to be more transparent--which is ironically one of the goals of the Think Before You Pink campaign as well. "Consumers are very clear that they want company’s sustainable, socially responsible practices to be more visible," Demerritt says. "There's a general sense out there that there are good things going on behind the scenes, but that companies aren’t talking about it. A lot of companies aren’t talking about it because they’re worried about activists coming after them, but consumers are generally more understanding." In fact, Demerritt notes that for the most part, concern over things like greenwashing or pinkwashing is driven by activists and what she calls "core" consumers, who make a point of educating themselves about such things. "Mainstream consumers generally believe that someone else is looking out for these things, that if there's something really wrong with a product that some government agency will figure it out, or that the company will do something about it themselves." Her group's research has also found that mainstream consumers don't respond well to a negative message. "With sustainability issues the switch really flipped around 2008 when companies shifted from negative campaigns focused on things like dying polar bears to more positive messages aimed at things people could do in their daily lives." However, woe to the company found violating the trust of their customers, Demerritt cautions. "Companies involved in cause marketing must be authentic," she says. "Otherwise the core consumers will find out and they will share that information broadly. They're a smaller group, but they're also more vocal and they're typically the people whose friends and family ask them for advice on various products."
Hey Friends! Today I wanted to touch on a subject I have been thinking about often as of late – tempo. The three fundamental “advantages” in Eternal that can be leveraged to win the game are card advantage, health advantage, and tempo advantage. One of the most difficult aspects of card games is understanding how important each of these resources is, and when to trade one resource for another. I may spend time in future articles to discuss health and card advantage, but for today we will focus on understanding tempo, as I feel this is one of the most misunderstood of the three. What is Tempo? The term comes originally from music, but the application of the term to chess seems like the actual origin for the purposes of card games. A “tempo” is basically a turn. If you make a move in chess that forces your opponent to react, your opponent has now “lost a tempo”. Take for example the following board. An overeager white player has advanced their knight to B5. When black moves a pawn to C6 the knight is now put in an awkward spot where it must either waste a turn retreating (sacrificing tempo) or lose their knight at no value (sacrificing board advantage). I introduce the concept from chess because I feel it is a “cleaner” concept there compared to cards. Although each player has a defined turn in a card game, the value of each turn is very different. I would define tempo as being a function of both power usage and board advantage. If Player 1 plays a Sandstorm Titan for 4 power, and Player 2 removes that creature from the board for 2 power, Player 2 has generated a tempo advantage since Player 2 spent less power than Player 1. A peculiar element of this scenario is that Player 2 could have cast Annihilate to actually kill the Titan, or Teleport to bounce it to generate the exact same tempo advantage. In the “philosophy of tempo” the only cards that really matter are the ones that are actually in play. Spells like casting Wisdom of the Elders or Sabotage do not impact the board at all, and therefore do not affect the tempo of the game. The player who has a tempo advantage is sometimes said to have “the initiative” which implies that the other player is forced to respond to what the player with the initiative is doing. There are many game states where neither player has the initiative, though this can mean a clear board, or a cluttered ground stall. For the purposes of this discussion, the “board state” includes Relic Weapons being equipped. The player that goes first has a tempo advantage to begin with, but this will diminish over the course of the game. Tempo and Power Advantage As was stated above, tempo is chiefly about power. You and your opponent make many exchanges over the course of the game, each of you trying to get better value than the other. Any exchange in which you spend less power than your opponent is favourable to you in terms of tempo. Fairly straight-forward stuff. There are some wrinkles to this, as power is a resource that you actually have some control over. The most obvious example is Initiate of the Sands or Secret Pages. These allow you to skip ahead in the power race, and get to bigger plays faster. What is interesting about Ramp strategies is that you often sacrifice power early to get ahead later. Secret Pages is a tempo neutral card, as it doesn’t influence the board at all. If you were to spend all your time casting Secret Pages your opponent could get far ahead of you on tempo. But, by skipping ahead in power, you can play big monsters faster than your opponent, such that you overtake your opponent’s board position. Now you’re ahead on tempo! For anyone who has played with or against Ramp decks in Magic or Hearthstone you can probably recall the bizarre tempo-warping nature of these decks. They often take multiple turns to increase their power, but start dropping haymakers almost every turn once they have their mana developed. As many of you will know, the danger of playing this style of deck is either falling too far behind on tempo in the early game, or that your opponent has the perfect answer to your big play. Looking at ramp decks in this way, we can see that the play patterns of the deck revolve around tempo gains and loses. Another aspect of power that relates to tempo is actually the composition of your powerbase. Mono-Fire and Mono-Justice aggro decks have a couple advantages over 2 faction decks, but one of the major gains is a power base that always behaves itself. Compare this to something like Icaria Blue. The combination of Seats, Seek Power, Eilyn’s Favor, and difficult influence requirements leads to a powerbase that is exceptionally clunky at times. By playing a deck such as this you need to accept the fact that you will be taking a hit in your early tempo in some percent of games by either having depleted power, or having to Seek Power for the correct Sigils, or just not hitting your influence needs on time. Tempo and Board Advantage Although making exchanges where you are paying less for your actions than your opponent is good for “tempo” this only matters if you are actually able to leverage your power advantage into board advantage. Take the exchange discussed above, where Player 1 plays a Sandstorm Titan on turn 4. Player 2 then plays Annihilate on her turn, and passes. In this case, has Player 2 actually generated a tempo advantage? No, not really. Since Player 2 didn’t use this extra 2 power, this exchange is essentially tempo-neutral. Instead lets imagine that Player 2 spends her extra 2 power on an Argenport Instigator. Now that is a great tempo-positive turn! In fact, I would argue that a play is only tempo positive if it manifests in some board advantage. We could take a snapshot of the board after every turn cycle and say who has gained/lost tempo. The player with a board advantage could be said to have a tempo advantage, and if the board state is unchanged after a turn cycle than we could say the tempo of the game is unchanged. Of course there are countless ways a “tempo neutral” turn cycle could take place. One player could play a unit, which the other kills or bounces, both players could cast card draw spells, or both players could just do nothing! It is only by looking at the composition of the board for each turn cycle that we can adequately assess the tempo gains/losses of each player. It doesn’t matter if you cast the most efficient card-draw spell every printed, if there is no change in the board state there is not real effect on tempo. Tempo and Card Advantage The relationship between card and tempo advantage is quite neat. Most often, the two are actually in conflict, and it is often possible to trade one of these resources for the other. Lets return to the example of Player 1 developing a Titan on turn 4. Player 2 takes her turn 4 to cast Teleport and remove the Titan, and develops a Crownwatch Paladin. Here Player 2 has developed a tempo advantage, but has actually sacrificed card advantage for this advantage. All other things being equal, Teleport causes you to spend a card for the purpose of developing a board advantage, but if you pay attention to the resources each player has access to, the player casting the teleport is down a card. Anyone experienced in card games will know that bounce spells are very high variance. In a fast format defined by tempo efficient bounce spells are extremely powerful, as the card advantage lose is almost irrelevant, since the game will often end with one or both players with cards still in hand. In more normalized formats the tempo advantage is irrelevant in the long run, and the tempo lose is more important. For those who have played Hearthstone, you would be very familiar with the Rogue spell “Sap”, which returns a unit to the opponent’s hand for 2 mana. This is almost identical to Teleport from Eternal, but Sap has seen play continually in Rogue lists, while Teleport is a fringe role-player. Why is this? The mechanics of Hearthstone are very rewarding to being ahead on tempo, as the combat system favors the attacker. In a game such as this sacrificing card advantage for tempo advantage is often a great strategy. Bounce spells are not the only example of trading card advantage for tempo. Combust allows you to sacrifice a unit to kill (presumably) a bigger unit. If we assume you spent a card on the sacrificed unit, you have used 2 cards to kill 1. So we can trade card advantage for tempo advantage, but what about the other way around? That one is easy – card draw! Wisdom of the Elders is a staple in almost every Primal deck but if you were to read this card from the perspective of tempo is reads “3PP – Do nothing”. The same thing applies to Devour, although on steroids as you are actually sacrificing a unit (board presence) to get ahead on cards. This is one of the hidden reasons Devour is so much worse than Wisdom of the Elders. On the surface, it is a 2-for-2 in terms of card advantage, as you sacrifice a unit and use a card to get 2 cards. Usually you are not even spending a whole card on the sacrifice, so it is closer to a 1.5-for-2 for only 2 power right? Well that 2-power cost is deceptive. You needed to play a unit that you later sacrificed. Sure, you are making an OK exchange if it is a Grenadine or whatever, but you usually are spending more power total for your card draw than you should be, and as a result you can get way behind on tempo. The Jito deck actually embraces a very different approach to this question. I would never classify Jito as a “Tempo” deck, though it certainly embraces some of the philosophy of tempo. Card that are still in your hand when the game ends didn’t matter, so are functionally “countered” by not making a difference in the game. If I play a deck with all 1 drops, I should be able to flood the board with units. Even if they are weaker than the average unit in your deck, by being so ahead on tempo in the early game, Jito gets to virtually answer all the cards in your hand by not allowing you to use them. My 1/1 in play is better than the 5/6 in your hand because only one of the two is actually in play! This form of “card advantage” is neat to consider, and shows the bizarre relationship between tempo and card advantage in a unique light. How to Value Tempo One of the most difficult aspects of understanding tempo is assess how to value it from game to game, as well as how the game advances. In the early game, both players are extremely tight on power, and often need to just make whatever play is the most power-efficient for the first few turns in order to stay at parity in terms of tempo. In the ultra late game, each player has enough power that tempo becomes almost irrelevant. In aggro mirrors tempo is exceptionally important, as both decks are best suited to play from ahead, while control mirrors can often ignore tempo entirely. I doubt any of that is news to you, but the more important challenge is understanding the in-between times. Unfortunately I can’t give hard and fast rules on the subject, since every match-up and every game plays out so differently. If you know a given match up usually ends before one of the two decks has had a chance to play all of its cards, tempo is probably important. Second, it is useful to understand if there are cards that can cause big tempo swings. My favourite example of this is Predator’s Instinct in decks like Xenan Killers. Turn 5 play Sandstorm Titan + Instinct > kill opponent’s 5/5? That is a big tempo swing in many games. Combat tricks are another example of this. In a matchup defined by tempo if someone is able to use Rapid Shot or Finest Hour to eat an opponent’s unit they can often leverage this to a tempo advantage. I have been thinking a lot recently about combat tricks in relation to tempo, as they are extremely powerful forms of interaction in games where power is tight. The 2-for-1 fear is much less pronounced when the defending player needs to power down every turn. Although different match ups have different sensitivity to tempo, I find the role of tempo to be very game dependant. Here is one common play pattern that I have run into a number of times. Lets say I am on Combrei, and my opponent is playing Rakano. On turn 2 they play a Champion of Glory (fully powered), and I respond with playing Siraf. On their turn they attack. For anyone who has played this matchup many times you should know that this means the Rakano player is representing a Torch (or occasionally a Finest Hour). If I block with Siraf they can play Torch and she will die before damaging the Champion. So what do I do? Well, it depends on my hand. If I I allow Siraf to trade with this 1-power spell, I am in danger of being out-tempoed over the course of the next couple of turns. With that said, it is not like the Torch is going to disappear just because I don’t block. I will be in the same position next turn. If my hand consists of another Siraf, I will often just bite the bullet now, and hope my opponent doesn’t have a strong follow up this turn, so that the second Siraf can block profitably. If I have a Silence unit like Desert Marshal in hand, I am more likely to let the damage through, and set up a better block next turn. There are many situations where you need to weigh whether a tempo loss, life total, or on-board material is most important. One unique twist on this whole tempo question is in the case of Relic Weapon battles. Anyone who has played a lot of Armory or Icaria Blue will tell you that going second in equipping your Relic Weapon is a big advantage. The first player to attack sets themselves up for a massive tempo loss when their opponent retaliates with a weapon of their own. In this case, being behind on tempo somehow allows you to get ahead. Tempo Decks The definition of tempo decks tends to be more controversial than other decks, owing to the often misunderstood concept of tempo. “Aggro” decks being aggressive, “Control” decks being controlling and “Midrange” decks being in between is super simple. If you read Patrick Chapin’s book “Next Level Deckbuilding” he does not have a “Tempo” section. Of the decks discussed there the two archetypes that best fall under the “Tempo” moniker would be “Fish” and “Aggro Control”. If you read these sections you will see that Chapin feels these two decks archetypes have some important similarities. Drawing from these, I will assemble some characteristics that make a deck a “Tempo” deck. Plays a number of hyper-efficient low cost threats. Attempts to establish early advantages, which it leverages with tempo-postive plays. Has an aggressive slant, but tends to be slower than linear-aggro decks. Is far more interactive than dedicated linear-aggro decks. Prefers to protect premium threats rather than overwhelm with interchangeable threats. Often uses evasive threats. Enjoys functioning at fast speed. Tends to be weak to linear aggro decks, but strong versus combo and control. In Eternal, I have seen some people describe this or that deck as a “Tempo” deck. Many of these classifications are somewhat loose, or in other cases outright wrong. For example, I once saw someone describe Stonescar Burn as a Tempo deck, which I feel is entirely incorrect. It certainly has hyper efficient threats, but very few of them are low cost. The deck also puts as little effort as possible into interacting with its opponent. Obliterate and Flame Blast are inefficient removal spells by the standards of the game. In fact, one of the reasons that I decided to write this article is because one of the most reliable routes to victory against Stonescar is to out-tempo them. Of the popular decks in Eternal, there are 2 that stand out as having a true “Tempo” component – Combrei Tempo and Haunting Scream. Lets look at these lists and see why. As you can see from this list, the pilot has built a relatively standard Combrei Aggro list, with a slight twist. Some cards that should stick out to you include Finest Hour, Protect, Slow, and Praxis Displacer. The first three cards are 1 power pieces of interaction that can completely disrupt an opponent’s plan. For example, casting a protect to counter an opponent’s Deathstrike is a hugely tempo-positive play. Finest Hour can often act as a 1-power removal spell, removing a blocker much more than 1-power worth of stats. Praxis Displacer is a very powerful Tempo card, as it allows you to remove a blocker while advancing your board (as well as having a nice synergy with slow). Decks of this type have a great match up versus Harsh Rule control decks, but can really struggle against Jito. Haunting Scream is not a true tempo deck. It clearly has some void-synergy-combo aspects to the deck. With that said, it clearly has some powerful tempo elements to speak of, as it often leverages tempo-positive plays in the mid game to develop board advantage way ahead of schedule. This particular version (from Jeff Hoogland) seems to lean into the tempo aspects of Scream much more than many builds by playing 4 copies of Permafrost, Levitate, and Annihilate, each of which “answer” a blocker for minimal cost. Direwood Beastcaller is probably one of the most tempo-positive plays in the game, as it allows you to develop roughly 6-8 power worth of value for only 3 (or 2) power. Pretty sick! A final card in this deck that is really fascinating to consider in the context of tempo is Recurring Nightmare. I will touch on this in more detail in the following section. Tempo in Eternal As with many aspects of card games, Eternal has asked us to rethink tempo. There are several mechanics and cards in the game that specifically relate to tempo. Lets take a moment to discuss cost changing, Warcry, Infiltrate, as well as one specific card – Recurring Nightmare. Cost reduction/increase The backbone of any card game is costing things properly. Literally any (mechanically feasible) card imaginable can be printed on the condition that is had the correct cost. A card that literally just said “You win the game” could easily be printed, although it would probably need to be 15 power in cost to be balanced. With this in mind, cards that let you cheat on cost have always been an attractive. In fact, some of the most busted cards of all time have been methods of avoiding costs (see Treasure Cruise or Affinity in Magic the Gathering, or Preparation in Hearthstone). Eternal also has some cost-reduction effects, though nothing totally insane has been built with them (at least not yet). Although several cost-reduction effects were removed from Eternal as we transitioned to Open Beta, there are 2 that remain. The first is Nesting Avisaur. This feathery dinosaur can reduce the cost of any card in hand by 2, but at the cost of card advantage. By putting a card from hand on top of your deck, you are essentially skipping your next draw step, but instead you get to save 2 power on another card. This trade off is very interesting, and obviously has spectacular synergy with Echo. In the post-Crown Nerf world there are fewer ways to abuse this ability, but I feel like there may still be some ways to take advantage of this cost reduction. One way or another, the choice of giving up a card for gaining 2 power is certainly neat. The second cost-reduction card currently in the game is Trail Stories. In case your memory of unplayable Rares is poor, this is a 0 cost Fire spell that reduces the cost of another spell by 1. Gaining small tempo advantages with a card like this seems… lacklustre. I personally believe a card like this could be totally busted in some combo deck in the future, but as a tempo card this is not exactly doing anything exciting. We can see that DWD doesn’t appear to be (too) afraid of cost reduction mechanics, and I would expect some cards utilizing this in the future. Interestingly, we also see cost increasing used as well. Slow is a fascinating discard-like effect. It is particularly neat card because of its limitations. Although you can hit a 1-power spell with Slow, who cares? Hitting a 2-cost spell is annoying, while 3-drop is very annoying. If you hit a 4+ drop, you have basically “discarded” the card, as it is unlikely to be played over the course of a normal game. This application of tempo is unique, as you are punishing slow decks by making them even slower, while being essentially meaningless against linear aggro decks. If tempo decks get more tools moving forward I would expect Slow to see more play as part of a tempo shell. Overall, Direwolf Digital seems open to messing with costs which is an exciting axis. I look forward to seeing more cards in this space in the future, as it add a fascinating dimension to game, and rewards players that correct evaluate those types of effects. Warcry I’m not going to get into this topic in great detail, as I wrote a whole article on “size advantage” in the past, which I originally posted on Reddit and later moved to RNGEternal. I made a fairly elaborate argument there about how Warcry triggers could be seen as a tempo advantage (as well as other advantages). The “TLDR” of that is Warcry allows you to play oversized units for less than you are supposed to, which can represent a massive tempo boost. Infiltrate The infiltrate mechanic has a much louder tempo component. If I am ahead on board, or if I can stop my opponent from blocking, I can get value from my infiltrate dudes! This advantage usually comes in the form of board advantage, but can also come in the form of card advantage (Gorgon Fanatic). In draft especially people will play cards like Flash Freeze or Jarrel’s Frostkin to create a window to attack with infiltrate units. A good Feln aggro deck will often leverage tempo advantages and Infiltrate triggers in the early game to quick victories. Recurring Nightmare For my money, this is one of the coolest cards in Eternal. I see new players all the time asking about Recurring Nightmare decks, as it just seems so powerful and fun to play. Although technically an “infiltrate” card, I feel the way it plays out in the game is different enough that it falls under its own category. What I find most intriguing about this card is how it poses a strange sort of tempo problem to solve. Lets assume for a moment that there were no card in the entire game that could interact with Nightmare. This is obviously not remotely true, but it is a handy assumption for the purpose of this exercise. Nightmare by itself represents a 5 turn clock (1+2+4+8+16=31). It is also possible to speed up this clock by 2 turns through the use of a single Rapid Shot. It will deal 5 damage the first turn, then have attack double to 10, but lose +4/+0 buff to fall to 6/1, and from there can do 6, then 12 (5+6+12=23, which is virtually 25). When looking at this kind of math, the card looks very scary. There is a catch though, even in the world where nothing can interact with Recurring Nightmare. You are spending 3 power a turn to set up a kill several turns down the road. If you are playing against any aggressive or even midrange deck, you can’t just spend turns 3-8 doing nothing but going face, since they will be attacking you at the same time. You need to buy yourself time, and for cheap, since much of your power if going to be tied up in replaying your Nightmare. One of the most interesting parts of the Nightmare plan is how all-in it can end up being. The first attack does almost nothing, other than set up a better second attack, which still makes very little difference. Any card that only deals damage to the opponent is by definition tempo-negative, since it does not effect the board. Therefore, when you are on the Recurring Nightmare plan you often find yourself in very difficult tempo-related problem. Is my Nightmare clock faster than their clock? Can they play anything that changes that math? Do I have the tools in hand to disrupt my opponent’s actions so they cannot outrace me? Do I have any spare power to protect my Nightmare with spells like Backlash? What types of disruption is my Nightmare most vulnerable to? Do I lose if Nightmare misses a hit? Being successful with a card like Recurring Nightmare requires careful assessment of timing, and an acute awareness of your opponent’s ability for counter-play, all of which is tied up in a neat tempo-assessment problem. Conclusions I hope reading this article has been an educational look into the role of tempo in card games. I know that through writing it I arrived at several new insights into the role of tempo in games. This topic has been rolling around in my head for months, and I’m very happy to get it out on the page. Tempo is a fascinating concept, which manifests itself in many different ways. If you would like me to write similar articles about card advantage and health advantage later on, let me know. As always feel free to share your thoughts in the comments and the Reddit post. I love to discuss your thoughts on content such as this! Share this: Twitter Facebook
Eleanor Hall reported this story on Monday, March 28, 2011 12:26:00 ELEANOR HALL: A nuclear medicine expert who was part of the medical relief effort after Chernobyl says the situation in Japan is nowhere near as dangerous to human health as Chernobyl but that there are worrying similarities. Dr Gale is a professor of haematology at the Imperial College London and he has just been in the Fukushima evacuation zone. He spoke to me a short time ago from Tokyo: ROBERT GALE: Of course, the eruption of a nuclear power station and contamination of soil and water and air around it is serious. The question is just how serious. You know, is this another Chernobyl or is this another Three Mile Island or somewhere in between? ELEANOR HALL: Well, you were part of the medical effort dealing with Chernobyl. How does this situation compare? ROBERT GALE: Well, it's, you know, speaking for the moment because things can change rapidly but this is not another Chernobyl. In Chernobyl we had an uncontained reactor with a release of huge amounts of radioactive materials into the environment and ultimately all over the northern hemisphere. Here we have contained reactors. We do have some spent fuel rods that are not contained and it is hard to imagine any situation in which you could ever get close to the health consequences of Chernobyl but I have to say that there are number of similarities. The complexity is certainly equal to Chernobyl in terms of trying to figure out how to contain the situation and how to mitigate the damage in the reactor. In fact in some ways the Chernobyl situation was quite a bit simpler because the entire reactor was exposed and it was possible to bombard it and stop the emissions whereas here we are dealing with an intact structure and human beings have to get inside it and try to figure out what is going on. ELEANOR HALL: Yes, to what extent are you concerned that the Japanese authorities still don't have the reactors under control and that they still can't isolate the source of this highly radioactive water? ROBERT GALE: That is not entirely surprising. This is a really complicated situation. I have just come back from being up there. You know, when you have physical damage to these complex machines, ultimately you have to get human beings in there to see what is going on and to put it right and I think this thing won't be sorted out for some while. I mean it is not going to be sorted out in the next 24 or 48 hours because there is proper caution in exposing people to unacceptable levels of radiation. ELEANOR HALL: So what sort of health dangers are likely? I mean presumably the workers are going to have the most severe effects but how many people in that area are likely to be affected and what sort of illnesses and effects will you see? ROBERT GALE: The workers are uniquely at risk for the dangers of high-dose radiation. High dose radiation destroys the bone marrow so they are the only ones at risk from that kind of damage where we consider using intensive medical interventions but the rest of the population and them are at risk for essentially three things. The most important one probably is cancer. There are the possibility of birth defects in children that are in the womb at the time of exposure and then there is the possibility of genetic abnormalities. We haven't seen the last two after the Chernobyl accident fortunately but we have seen cancers specifically thyroid cancers in young people. There are about 6,000 cases of that. That was caused predominantly because young persons drank milk that was contaminated with radio iodine. That is a preventable situation. Withdrawing milk from the market, giving people a non-radioactive form of iodine that can, I would say, almost entirely, not entirely but almost entirely prevent thyroid cancers and those actions have been taken. ELEANOR HALL: Now the Japanese government has banned the consumption of food and water from the Fukushima area. How long is the contamination of food and water there likely to last? ROBERT GALE: If the emissions were stopped today, all of the radioactive iodine would be gone in about 80 days, if that is the problem then about three months from now the problem would be over but when we are dealing with caesium which is also released from nuclear reactors, we are talking about needing 300 years for that all to go away. ELEANOR HALL: And do people know yet what isotopes they are dealing with? ROBERT GALE: Well, I think the problem now is radio iodine. There is caesium being released but that is a much less of an issue so I would be reasonably optimistic at this moment that most of the area around these nuclear power stations could be reinhabited, you know, people could return to a normal life of growing food and things of that nature but containing this thing and getting it under control is not going to be a matter of weeks or even months. This is a long-term project that could take a year or two or perhaps even more. ELEANOR HALL: And now radioactive isotopes are already leaking into the sea. The readings in the sea water spiked significantly in the last week. To what extent is that a concern for the population there that relies so heavily on seafood? ROBERT GALE: You know, radioactivity getting anywhere is a concern so I don't want to in any way downplay it but if we have to have a radioactive release, the best place for it is in the sea because it is immediately diluted out and that offers the greatest protection to the population. Now it will find its way into the food chain and so forth and so on but I think that is a relatively minor issue and it is in some ways fortunate that these depositions are occurring in the sea and not on land and now over populated areas. ELEANOR HALL: You mentioned that this could go on for years. The IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) is warning that the crisis will be long term. In medical terms, how dangerous is that? Is it more worrying the longer it goes on or is this at least better than a single catastrophic blast as happened with Chernobyl? ROBERT GALE: That is a tough question. The Chernobyl accident was absolutely a worst case scenario but it was happened and it was over and once the sarcophagus could be constructed over the reactor, people could return to a sort of normal existence. The problem that we face here in Japan is daily or even hourly reports of radionuclide levels in drinking water, in spinach and people are really dreadfully confused. They just don't know how to conduct their lives. Some people are, you now, sending their families overseas so in a public health and public information perspective, an ongoing disaster is far worse than a single event. ELEANOR HALL: That is Dr Robert Gale, professor of haematology at the Imperial College London. He has just been in the Fukushima evacuation zone and you can listen to a longer version of that interview on our website.
TEHRAN, Nov. 12 -- Since 2006, Iran's leaders have called for direct, unconditional talks with the United States to resolve international concerns over their nuclear program. But as an American administration open to such negotiations prepares to take power, Iran's political and military leaders are sounding suddenly wary of President-elect Barack Obama. "People who put on a mask of friendship, but with the objective of betrayal, and who enter from the angle of negotiations without preconditions, are more dangerous," Hossein Taeb, deputy commander of Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps, said Wednesday, according to the semiofficial Mehr News Agency. "The power holders in the new American government are trying to regain their lost influence with a tactical change in their foreign diplomacy. They are shifting from a hard conflict to a soft attack," Taeb said. For Iran's leaders, the only state of affairs worse than poor relations with the United States may be improved relations. The Shiite Muslim clerics who rule the country came to power after ousting Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, a U.S.-backed autocrat, in their 1979 Islamic revolution. Opposition to the United States, long vilified as the "great Satan" here in Friday sermons, remains one of the main pillars of Iranian politics. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad sent Obama a congratulatory letter last week, but by Wednesday his welcoming tone had dissipated. "It doesn't make any difference for us who comes and who goes," he said in a speech in the northern town of Sari. "It's their actions which are studied by the Iranian and world nations." On Wednesday, Iran test-fired a two-stage, solid-fuel rocket, Defense Minister Mostafa Mohammed Najjar announced on state television. He said the missile had a range of 1,200 miles -- meaning that it could reach Israel and U.S. targets in the Middle East. In Washington, Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said that he could not "independently confirm media reports indicating an Iranian missile launch," but added that "Iran's missile program is a concern that poses a threat to its neighbors in the region and beyond." In recent interviews, advisers to Ahmadinejad said the new U.S. administration would have to pull U.S. troops out of Iraq, show respect for Iran's system of rule by a supreme religious leader, and withdraw its objections to Iran's nuclear program before it can enter into negotiations with the Iranian government. "The U.S. must prove that their policies have changed and are now based upon respecting the rights of the Iranian nation and mutual respect," said Mojtaba Samareh Hashemi, the president's closest adviser. Ahmadinejad's media adviser, Mehdi Kalhor, said that "in fair circumstances" Iran would be open to talks. "But that is not when you have a bayonet pressed at your artery," he added, referring to the U.S. forces deployed in Iraq, Afghanistan and the Persian Gulf. Iran's leaders have long said they want to resolve the international concerns over the country's nuclear program through negotiations. Western governments have expressed concern that Iran's enrichment of uranium and other nuclear activities have been part of a weapons program. The Bush administration has demanded that Iran suspend uranium enrichment before talks can take place, a precondition that Iran has rejected on the grounds that the nuclear program is for peaceful purposes. In 2006, Ahmadinejad said that Iran "is after negotiations, but fair and just negotiations. They must be without any conditions."
Death & Life J. Krishnamurti You cannot be frightened of the unknown because you do not know what the unknown is and so there is nothing to be afraid of. Death is a word, and it is the word, the image, that creates fear. So can you look at death without the image of death? As long as the image exists from which springs thought, thought must always create fear. Then you either rationalize your fear of death and build a resistance against the inevitable or you invent innumerable beliefs to protect you from the fear of death. Hence there is a gap between you and the thing of which you are afraid. In this time-space interval, there must be conflict which is fear, anxiety and self-pity. Thought, which breeds the fear of death, says, ‘Let’s postpone it, let’s avoid it, keep it as far away as possible, let’s not think about it’- but you are thinking about it. When you say, ‘I won’t think about it’, you have already thought out how to avoid it. You are frightened of death because you have postponed it. We have separated living from dying, and the interval between the living and the dying is fear. That interval, that time, is created by fear. Living is our daily torture, daily insult, sorrow and confusion, with occasional opening of a window over enchanted seas. That is what we call living, and we are afraid to die, which is to end this misery. We would rather cling to the known than face the unknown—the known being our house, our furniture, our family, our character, our work, our knowledge, our fame, our loneliness, our gods—that little thing that moves around incessantly within itself with its own limited pattern of embittered existence. We think that living is always in the present and that dying is something that awaits us at a distant time. But we have never questioned whether this battle of everyday life is living at all. We want to know the truth about reincarnation, we want proof of the survival of the soul, we listen to the assertion of clairvoyants and to the conclusions of psychical research, but we never ask, never, how to live—to live with delight, with enchantment, with beauty every day. We have accepted life as it is with all its agony and despair and have got used to it, and think of death as something to be carefully avoided. But death is extraordinarily like the life we know how to live. You cannot live without dying. You cannot live if you do not die psychologically every minute. This is not an intellectual paradox. To live completely, wholly, every day as if it were a new loveliness, there must be dying to everything of yesterday, otherwise you live mechanically, and a mechanical mind can never know what love is or what freedom is. Most of us are frightened of dying because we don’t know what it means to live. We don’t know how to live, therefore we don’t know how to die. As long as we are frightened of life we shall be frightened of death. The man who is not frightened of life is not frightened of being completely insecure for he understands that inwardly, psychologically, there is no security. When there is no security there is an endless movement and then life and death are the same. The man who lives without conflict, who lives with beauty and love, is not frightened of death because to love is to die. Excerpt from Freedom from the Known by J. Krishnamurti ♥♥♥
Sen. Jim Bunning (left) mocked the manhood of Stephen Strasburg, after the rookie pitcher was scratched from his scheduled start Tuesday for shoulder soreness. \| AP photo composite by POLITICO Bunning brushes back Strasburg Hall of Fame pitcher Jim Bunning mocked the manhood of rookie Washington Nationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg after the 22-year-old phenom was scratched from his scheduled start Tuesday night because of shoulder soreness. “Five hundred twenty starts, I never refused the ball,” Bunning, a Kentucky senator who hurled a perfect game in 1964 and struck out 2,855 batters in his major league career, told POLITICO. “What a joke!” Story Continued Below Bunning had taken an interest in Strasburg, who like the Kentucky senator is a fireball-hurling right-hander. The senator has seen the Nationals ace four times and was at the ballpark Tuesday night, he said. But he clearly didn’t like what he saw — or rather didn’t see — when the youngster didn’t take the mound. “My arm!” Bunning sarcastically cried as he pretended to clutch his shoulder in the Capitol’s Statuary Hall. He said Strasburg's fallen greatly in his estimation. “He was in the top one percentile,” Bunning said, pinching his thumb and forefinger together. Now, Bunning said, he’s closer to the 50th percentile. In baseball and in politics, Bunning’s been known as a tough guy with a mile-wide mean streak. Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, his Kentucky colleague and fellow baseball fan, recently told a reporter he’d take Strasburg over Bunning if given the choice. For the record, Bunning started 519 games in his career, according to BaseballReference.com.
Her lawsuit against the Fort Worth Star-Telegram in the 1990s was laughed out of court. Democrats pulling for Wendy Davis to turn Texas blue in 2014 should hope she has developed a thicker skin since her first run for public office nearly two decades ago, which ended in a bizarre lawsuit against a local newspaper. Following an unsuccessful bid for a seat on the Fort Worth city council in 1996, Davis sued the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, along with parent companies ABC and Disney, for libel, alleging that the paper’s coverage of her campaign had been biased and “demonizing,” caused harm to her physical and mental health, and infringed on her “right to pursue public offices in the past and in the future.” Davis demanded “significant exemplary damages” in return. Advertisement Advertisement The suit, which was roundly dismissed on three separate occasions after Davis appealed all the way to the Texas Supreme Court, centered on a series of “libelous and defamatory” articles about her candidacy, which, she alleged, were authored “with an intent to inflict emotional distress” and to deny her rights under the First Amendment. Specifically cited is a Star-Telegram editorial published the day of the runoff election between Davis and opponent Cathy Hirt, whom the paper had endorsed. The editorial expressed “disappointment” at an opposition-research flier that Davis’s campaign had circulated in the days leading up to the election and that, among other things, attacked Hirt for failing multiple times to pass the Tennessee bar exam and raised questions about whether Hirt had practiced law in Texas illegally. “Perhaps the intensity of the fight has caused good people to act callously and recklessly and to abandon good manners,” the editors wrote. “Whatever, it seems tasteless for the Davis campaign to imply that Hirt — who has a doctorate and speaks three languages — is inferior because she, according to the flier, failed the Tennessee bar exam three times before passing it.” Advertisement Advertisement The editorial went on to criticize the Davis campaign flier for attempting to “impugn the integrity” of her opponent by painting her as beholden to the “power and money” crowd — even though Davis raised nearly twice as much money ($40,000) — and for including a series of laudatory quotes from Jerry Russell, founder of the Stage West Theatre in Fort Worth without disclosing that Russell is Davis’s father. The editors concluded on a mordant note: What we are saying today is nothing more than this: It is sad that victory means so much to some people that they will follow the time-honored rule of politics: To win, you must fight dirty and with innuendo. That’s what happens all the time nationally. It is not the rule here, but the exception. You would think someone who grew up here would know that. Advertisement Davis’s lawsuit argued that the editorial, and others like it, “was meant to injure [her] reputation . . . and thereby expose her to public hatred, contempt and ridicule.” It also criticized the Star-Telegram for failing to report on the allegations against Hirt detailed in the flier; Davis’s campaign had provided information on the allegations to the paper. The complaint itself was light on subtlety and nuance, arguing that the paper’s conduct “was extreme and outrageous in character, and so extreme in degree, as to go beyond all possible bounds of decency, as to be regarded as atrocious and utterly intolerable in a civilized community.” As a result of the paper’s actions, Davis alleged, she had “suffered and is continuing to suffer damages to her mental health, her physical health, her right to pursue public offices in the past and in the future, and to her legal career” and deserved financial compensation. Advertisement The suit was essentially laughed out of court. It was quickly dismissed by a district-court judge, who sustained all of the defendants’ objections, largely on the grounds that Davis had failed to present legitimate evidence to support her libel claim. It was unanimously rejected by an appellate court three years later and ultimately by the Texas Supreme Court. The defense appears to have had a relatively easy job arguing that Davis was challenging a newspaper’s right to express an opinion she disagreed with, a challenge that obviously ran afoul of the First Amendment. If Davis hopes to pull off what would certainly be a stunning upset in the Texas governor’s race, she may want to focus less on trying to police her critics and more on emphasizing her “pro-life” views. Advertisement — Andrew Stiles is a political reporter for National Review Online.
This article is part of a package of special coverage of climate change issues by CBC News leading up to the United Nations climate change conference (COP21) being held in Paris from Nov. 30 to Dec. 11. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says he's not only optimistic a deal will be reached during the United Nations climate change conference in Paris, but he's comfortable parts of that deal could be legally binding. Trudeau touched down in Paris Saturday night ahead of the two-week conference. He meets with French President François Hollande on Sunday. Leaders and climate negotiators from almost 200 countries are meeting from Nov. 30 to Dec. 11 to try to work out the broadest and longest-lasting deal so far to slow global warming. Justin Trudeau says around the world citizens are calling on their governments to act on climate change. 0:40 However, the prime minister says it's unlikely that obtaining carbon reduction targets will be mandatory. That's largely because it would be politically impossible for U.S. President BarackObama to get such legislation through the Republican-dominated Congress. The one thing we are focusing on now beyond targets, which have time and time been set and not met, is establishing a plan to actually meet those targets. - Prime Minister Justin Trudeau Trudeau says he believes it could be legally binding for countries to disclose how they are aiming to reach targets. "That's the balance President Hollande is looking for and certainly what we encourage," Trudeau said Saturday in Malta, where he wrapped up meetings with the heads of other Commonwealth countries. "I have tremendous faith in Parliament and my friendly opposition leaders to ensure we are held to account for the commitments we make." Concentrating on a plan The premiers of Alberta, British Columbia, Ontario, Quebec and Saskatchewan will meet Trudeau in Paris this weekend. It's a chance, as Alberta Premier Rachel Notley says, to show the world they're dealing with a new Canada. "I think it's just very, very important for people to see that they're dealing with a different thing now in Alberta, and hopefully they'll view our efforts to engage in international trade more positively as a result," she said. Trudeau will not provide a new greenhouse emissions target in Paris. He has committed to talking to the premiers within 90 days of the climate change summit to set targets. Environment Minister Catherine McKenna said the past target made under the Conservative government will be used as a minimum, referring to it as "a floor, not a ceiling." The Conservatives announced in May that Canada's contribution to this year's Paris talks would be a 30 per cent cut in greenhouse gas emissions below 2005 levels by 2030. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaks with the Canadian Ambassador to France Lawrence Cannon as he walks across the tarmac with his wife Sophie Gregoire-Trudeau and their children Ella-Grace Trudeau and Hadrien Trudeau as they arrive at the airport Saturday, November 28, 2015 in Orly, France. Trudeau is in Paris to attend the United Nations climate change summit. (Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press ) Trudeau said global warming could have "a catastrophic impact," especially for Canada's Arctic. "The one thing we are focusing on now beyond targets, which have time and time been set and not met, is establishing a plan to actually meet those targets and that's why it is so important to demonstrate the kind of ambitious commitments that Canada is making concretely around emissions reductions," he said. "We are focused on the plan to reduce emissions as much as we are targets." Trudeau to meet Indian PM Trudeau will sit down with his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi on Sunday night in Paris to make the case for a comprehensive climate change agreement. Modi took a pass on Malta, and his country is seen as a significant impediment to a global climate change pact, given India's refusal to rein in its galloping greenhouse gas emissions. Trudeau told reporters he remains optimistic India will come on board for the post-2020 climate pact being negotiated in Paris. He said citizens "are going to look very negatively at countries that don't participate." "For a concrete example of that, we need not look much further than our own story and the difficulty we had getting pipelines built because people didn't believe we were taking our environmental responsibilities seriously."
Demystifying ABS Pro for BMWs S1000 RR Moto Foto Blocked Unblock Follow Following Feb 26, 2017 Race ABS, ABS Pro and more marketing terms that BMW is using are different ABS features the BMW S1000RR offers. ABS Pro is BMW lingo for Cornering ABS that is relying on Bosch’s MSC base. At the time of writing this it is the latest safety feature that is added to BMWs motorcycle lineup and it is available in numerous models in 2017. It is also possible to retrofit the system to some older models, which is explained in detail in the attached BMW press release. A Brief ABS History Before we jump into the details around ABS Pro and how it works specifically on the S1000 RR, I collected some easy to digest information about ABS in general as well as cornering ABS for motorcycles. This is a great little clip about the progress of motorcycle ABS systems. BMW Motorrad official clip about ABS PRO So what did we learn? ABS Pro is not changing the laws of physics, but it is an ABS system that now also considers the forces that apply to a motorcycle while cornering. This allows it to stop a rider from locking up the tires while carrying lean angle and potentially helps to avoid some hairy situations. Notably here is that through smart usage of the front and rear-brake the bike maintains it’s lean-angle and course. This is a huge change, as the use of ordinary brake systems mid corner always cause the bike to stand up, which easily leads to running a corner wide or even leaving your current lane. But what about the cost ? 484.43 $ for the ABS Pro update is not a cheap software update in my books. So just the software for the update runs around 484$ and that prior to tax. Obviously you are going to ask : Is that worth it? — well safety features on motorcycles might safe your and a passengers life in the most extreme case. That considered, yes it is worth it especially if you run your S1000 on public roads. If your’s is a track only bike and you are an experienced ride: don’t get it. Why does BMW charge so much for a feature my bike should already have anyway ? — Originally BMW announced the 2015 model to have corner ABS at the time of launch. This was later silently dropped from the marketing material and the bike shipped with the necessary hardware installed but no ABS Pro. Probably liability reasons for such a crucial safety feature needed to be properly researched, to avoid making BMW Motorrad a target for lawsuits. Further software development, testing and licensing the product from Bosch must have cost BMW a small amount. Just think about the brave test-riders that had to go down numerous times, until the settings were perfectly adjusted for use on the S1000 RR. How-to setup ABS Pro on the S1000RR Once your bike has ABS Pro installed from the factory or your local dealer, as an retro-fit. It will be always on, IF you are in the supported ride modes. There is no extra ABS Pro switch or configuration. Being an actual German engineer, of course I consulted the manual and searched it completely for any ABS Pro mentioning. (A link for the download is at the end of this blog available and I highly recommend reading the manual for your exact bike version) The most interesting manual section of the 2017 model year in regards to ABS Pro is this part below:
AP Photo, Getty Images Marcus Mariota and Jameis Winston have been nearly flawless in 2013.With his dominant performance against Clemson, Jameis Winston has jumped into Heisman contention. In the latest ESPN Heisman Watch, Winston and Marcus Mariota are the top two Heisman candidates. After eight weeks, who deserves to win the Heisman? Why Mariota should win the Heisman Oregon quarterback Marcus Mariota is averaging 363 yards of total offense and has accounted for 28 touchdowns this season. He ranks in the top five of most statistical categories without even attempting a pass in the fourth quarter in five of Oregon’s seven games. Opponent-Adjusted Total QBR 2013 Leaders Mariota is a threat on the ground and through the air; he is the only player in the FBS that is averaging at least 10 yards per rush and 10 yards per pass attempt. Similarly, he is the only player that has at least 15 pass touchdowns and seven rush touchdowns. When passing the ball, Mariota does not turn the ball over. He has an FBS-high 197 pass attempts without an interception. In comparison, Winston has thrown three interceptions in 157 attempts. Dating back to last season, Mariota has thrown a Pac-12-record 265 passes without an interception. When running, Mariota implements the zone read to perfection. The Ducks have called a zone-read play on 56% of their carries and have averaged 7.5 yards per rush on such plays. When Mariota keeps the ball, Oregon averages 13.7 yards per rush and has six touchdowns. It is unfair to compare Winston to Mariota on this type of play because Florida State rarely runs a zone read. However, it is important to note that Winston is averaging 3.1 yards per rush and has three rush touchdowns compared to 10.1 yards per rush and nine rush touchdowns for Mariota. As a result of his offensive efficiency noted above, Mariota leads the nation in opponent-adjusted QBR (96.6). The leader in opponent-adjusted QBR in three of the last six seasons went on to win the Heisman, including Johnny Manziel last year. -Sharon Katz Why Winston should win the Heisman Heisman winners generally play well in their teams’ most important games, and Jameis Winston has had his two best games of the season against top-25 opponents. Against No. 3 Clemson and No. 25 Maryland, Winston averaged 418.5 pass yards per game and accounted for nine total touchdowns. Florida State won by a combined 100 points in those games. Throws of 20+ Yards This Season He is averaging 380.8 pass yards in four career ACC games with 16 touchdowns and two interceptions. He is the first player in the last 10 seasons to pass for at least 300 yards and three touchdowns in each of his first four conference games. Winston makes crowd-pleasing plays. He averages 5.7 completions per game of at least 20 yards, the fourth most in the FBS. He completes an AQ-high 61.8 percent of his passes thrown 20 yards or longer. That is about 12 percentage points higher than Mariota and at least 11 percentage points higher than each of the last three Heisman winners during their Heisman-winning seasons. Winston also does not get rattled by pressure. He is completing 71.2 percent of his passes when opponents send five or more pass rushers, the fourth-highest percentage among BCS AQ quarterbacks. Winston ranks second among AQ quarterbacks in yards per attempt (12.5) and touchdowns (9) on passes against the blitz. -- Rob Nelson These quarterbacks will have several chances to separate themselves the rest of the season. Mariota will face back-to-back top-15 opponents as Oregon faces No. 12 UCLA and No. 6 Stanford in its next two games. Winston will take on North Carolina State, which handed the Seminoles their first loss of the season last year, followed by No. 7 Miami.
Caitlyn Jenner is a confounding figure: transgender and Republican, reality star and grandparent, men’s Olympic champion and Vanity Fair cover girl, a public figure with a private struggle. It might seem like her story has something for everyone but the truth is that people who walk their own path have a funny way of pissing off the ideologically bound. In the week since Jenner’s “Call Me Caitlyn” announcement on the cover of Vanity Fair, she has already come under fire from all sorts of political corners. Fox News anchor Neil Cavuto immediately called her a sign of the “final days,” presaging a wave of transphobic disgust from the Right. The right-wing disgust has not been blanket, however. On Sunday, 2016 presidential contender Lindsey Graham, while making clear his opposition to marriage equality and abortion, told CNN: “I’m a pro-life, traditional marriage kind of guy, but I’m running to be president of the United States. If Caitlyn Jenner wants to be a Republican, she is welcome in my party.” Jenner has also faced hostility from the Left. Eric Sasson wrote for the New Republic that the photo shoot was “distressing” because it encourages the objectification of women. Gender Rights Maryland (GRMD) Executive Director Dana Beyer told Sasson that she would rather have seen Jenner in “a portrait of a professional and accomplished woman” than in “a cover girl bustier shot.” But none of these liberal reactions—and the many more too numerous to list here—have been quite as wrongheaded as the op-ed that appeared in The New York Times on Sunday. Feminist journalist Elinor Burkett—last seen “pulling a Kanye” at the 2010 Oscars—penned the rambling and speciously argued piece in which she repeatedly misgenders Jenner and accuses her of promoting gender stereotypes. “I have fought for many of my 68 years against efforts to put women—our brains, our hearts, our bodies, even our moods—into tidy boxes, to reduce us to hoary stereotypes,” Burkett writes, alleging that Jenner is undoing her hard work. Extrapolating from a few, offhand statements Jenner made in her interview with Diane Sawyer and in her Vanity Fair feature, Burkett paints Jenner as a caricature of femininity, someone who has no idea what it means to be a woman beyond “nail polish” and “girls’ nights.” “People who haven’t lived their whole lives as women … shouldn’t get to define us,” she declares. Really, Burkett’s mean-spirited critique seemed to boil down to her view that Jenner wasn’t a “real” woman, as she had not been born one anatomically: the oldest, most hurtful and disavowing transphobic canard. But Jenner isn’t defining anyone but herself. If anything, her tone in the past week has been open and personal—and far from the declarative position that Burkett falsely attributes to her. In the trailer for her upcoming E! reality series, Jenner says, “You go through all of this stuff and you start learning the pressure that women are under all of the time about their appearance.” That doesn’t sound like an imposter trying to impose a superficial definition of womanhood onto others, it sounds like a young woman—albeit a 65-year-old young woman—who is quickly learning what it means to live as one. This same humility is evident on Jenner’s Instagram, where she recently posted a picture of herself standing arm in arm with other women atop the caption: “Learn from those who have walked the path before you.” So if Jenner has never claimed to speak for all women—and she hasn’t—then what exactly is the cause of Burkett’s discomfort with her? At the risk of endorsing another hoary stereotype, Burkett seems to subscribe to the antiquated feminist notion that traditionally feminine style is incompatible with political empowerment. In a bit of clear bad faith, Burkett argues that the Vanity Fair shoot reveals “Caitlyn Jenner’s idea of a woman: a cleavage-boosting corset, sultry poses, [and] thick mascara.” Nevermind that she’s since been spotted wearing jeans and casual daywear. Burkett even takes aim at Jenner’s passing comment in the Sawyer interview that she looked forward to being able to wear nail polish without having to take it off right away. In the context of that interview, Jenner’s remark was a poignant synecdoche for the secrecy of her lifelong struggle. In Burkett’s hands, it becomes an excuse to deliver the snide stinger: “Nail polish does not a woman make.” But in the arena of style, too, Jenner has been anything but prescriptive. She’s been taking her cues from the fashionable women in her family, of which there are many. In part one of the Keeping Up with the Kardashians “About Bruce” special, Khloe Kardashian brings Jenner some Louboutins. “I don’t know her taste yet,” Khloe says, referring to Caitlyn, “so I’m trying to figure that out.” “Well, to be honest with you, I don’t know her taste either,” Jenner confesses. “But do you know how nice this is? Without even opening them, do you know how nice this is?” In the second part of the special, Kim Kardashian helps Jenner sort through her wardrobe, making a face at a daring leopard-print dress, which appears to be one of the most revealing items in Jenner’s closet. “I’ve got such an open mind,” Jenner says. “I like classy kind of stuff. That’s a little kind of, you know, your boobs are showing…” Before assuming that Caitlyn Jenner’s idea of a woman is restricted to being a bustier-clad seductress, perhaps she should be allowed some time to develop her own sense of style. From what we’ve seen so far, Jenner’s tastes are fairly conservative, despite the glamour of the Vanity Fair cover, and she’s been turning to the Kardashian clan for guidance through the early stages of her transition. The gracious Jenner that we see on Keeping up with the Kardashians is a far cry from the overprivileged wannabe woman that Burkett seems to see when she looks at her. But Burkett probably can’t be bothered to watch a show with so much cleavage and makeup. It’d be beneath her outdated feminist principles. The simple truth is that older feminists like Burkett often hypocritically hold transgender women to higher standards of dress and decorum than they do their cisgender counterparts. In a generous reading, it can be seen a form of hazing but, at its worst, it’s a thinly-veiled way to express generalized discomfort with the very idea of transgender women, especially those who present in a traditionally feminine way. As proof, consider that plenty of famous cisgender women have appeared in Vanity Fair in low-cut tops and lingerie with nowhere near the same level of scrutiny from feminists. As Lizzie Crocker notes, Jenner is the oldest woman to appear on the cover but, at age 64, Cher wasn’t far behind her, appearing on the December 2010 cover “dressed like a burlesque dancer in a black leotard, fishnet stockings, and dagger-like stilettos.” Where was Burkett’s searing op-ed about Cher’s Vanity Fair cover? Like Cher, transgender women don’t have an inherent responsibility to deconstruct feminine norms of appearance and behavior. As Jaclyn Friedman put it in her own rebuttal to Burkett’s piece on Dame, “Trans people are not magical gender warriors.” Transgender women can be feminists and they can not be feminists. They can be Democrats or, like Jenner, they can be wealthy Republicans. Their existence may be inherently politicized in the current American climate, but that doesn’t mean they must be political themselves. And therein lies the unifying problem with the varied responses to Jenner’s announcement, Burkett’s included: They all want her to be someone other than herself. Folks in the Fox News crowd want Jenner to ignore her need to transition for the sake of their own, bigoted comfort. On the other side of the aisle, critics like Burkett want something that may even be more pernicious because of its subtlety: They are fine with her being a woman so long as she obeys their constricting rules for proper womanhood. But Caitlyn Jenner is a legend twice over and legends don’t get that way by playing by other people’s rules. No one bound by the abstractions of a pre-programmed political worldview will be completely satisfied with her—not the Left, not the often-transphobic Right she claims as her own, and not the old-school feminists who question her womanhood and her wardrobe. For those who can see Jenner as a person and not a political chess piece, her independence won’t be a problem. Social data intelligence company Talkwalker told The Daily Beast that less than 20 percent of the social media conversation around Caitlyn Jenner was negative in the first 24 hours after the Vanity Fair reveal. Reactions to her transition have been generally favorable, especially in the fashion world. Her popularity to the general public may be surprising given her transgender status, but maybe it shouldn’t be. Her life has unfolded like a kaleidoscopic and distinctly 21st-century epic poem, with so many verses and such narrative variety that it’s hard not to find some piece of it engaging. There’s athletic prowess for the ESPN crowd, a public transition tale for the LGBT community, and a sensational family life for the millions of Kardashians viewers. For increasingly irrelevant political critics looking for a hill to die on, Caitlyn Jenner will continue to provide just that. But Jenner herself will keep on being, well, Caitlyn Jenner. That’s the only way to put it.
With Conor McGregor in talks to fight Floyd Mayweather, Ronda Rousey’s future unknown, and Jon Jones still serving a suspension, the UFC is lacking star power. But Tyron Woodley, one month removed from his second UFC welterweight title defense, thinks he could be the next big thing. The UFC welterweight champion, who defeated Stephen Thompson in the UFC 209 main event in March, expects to be one of the UFC’s biggest stars sooner than later. “You know the UFC doesn’t have that many stars. They have a lot of great fighters, but as far as actual stars, there is not very many of them in the UFC,” Woodley told BJPenn.com. “So with that said, I think that I am one of the guys that is right on the cusp of breaking through and becoming that star.” “The Chosen One” said he is in talks with the organization to compete at UFC 213, which is part of International Fight Week 2017 and will be one of the UFC’s biggest events of the year. “I think the UFC will put their heavy hitters on that card,” he said. “I don’t know exactly what they have planned, but I talked to (UFC president) Dana (White) not too long ago, and he asked me when I want to fight, and I told him that I want to fight then. So with that said, I think that is going to be a go. That is what we are shooting for.” With a number of champions talking about fighting in different divisions and potential super-fights, Woodley doesn’t want to be left out on the fun. He said a fight outside the 170-pound division could be in his immediate future. Even if he stays at welterweight, the winner of Demian Maia vs. Jorge Masvidal doesn’t appear to be his priority. “I don’t really feel confined to just fighting the number one contender,” he said. “I am not going to be the only weight class in the UFC that has to stay true to that old rule set, when everyone is showing us that that the game is really wide open for giving the fans the fights they want to see. “Why would I not try and produce a fight with (middleweight champion Michael) Bisping or Nick or Nate Diaz, Georges St-Pierre and (lightweight champion) Conor McGregor? Those guys are my first options right now.” That said, Woodley’s biggest goal, now that he’s reached the top of the 170-pound division, is still to be regarded as the greatest welterweight of all time. Fighting at a different weight, even against other UFC champs, won’t help. So to accomplish what he plans on accomplishing, Woodley has two matchups in mind. “I am at a point where I am greedy. I want the fight that is going to cement me as the legend, the greatest of all time,” he said. “There is two guys right now, where if I could beat those two guys I am then the greatest welterweight of all time. If I can beat Nick Diaz, if I can beat Georges St-Pierre, then nobody can say I am not the best welterweight fighter to ever step in the Octagon. It would make me better than Georges, better than Matt Hughes. I would be the best of all time.”
Several states have recently introduced bills that would allow people to withhold services to their fellow Americans if they base their decision on "sincerely held religious beliefs." In Arizona, one of these bills has made it all the way to Gov. Jan Brewer's desk, and she is currently deciding whether or not to sign the bill into law. These bills are deemed necessary by religious conservatives on account of several cases where Christian business owners refused to offer services to LGBT people, claiming that serving them would violate their own religious convictions about homosexuality and same-sex relationships. In one of the most celebrated examples, a case made it all the way to the Supreme Court of New Mexico, where it was ruled that a Christian photographer did not have the right to refuse to take photographs of a same-sex couple's commitment ceremony based on her religious beliefs. Giving a special pass that allows an individual with "sincerely held religious beliefs" to chose not to do business is fraught with problems. For instance, who is to decide what is sincere? Are the religious beliefs sincere if a cake seller will sell a cake to two divorced individuals for their second marriage but not to a same-sex couple for their first? Or does this cafeteria-style approach to Christianity expose a lack of sincerity of religious belief? This raises the question of who will determine the sincerity of a belief. The courts? If so, which religious leaders will advise the courts on that question, as it is clear that religious leaders increasingly disagree on the question of gay marriage and the full dignity of LGBT people? Also, will the freedom to refuse to serve those who offend "sincerely held religious beliefs" extend to people of one faith expressing hostility toward people of another faith? If a Christian believes that Hindus worship a deity or deities that she finds offensive, will she be allowed to refuse to photograph a Hindu wedding or make a cake for a Hindu holy day based on her "sincerely held religious beliefs"? And what about sincerely held beliefs that are not religious? At a time when 40 percent of people under 30 hold no specific religious affiliation, and when many of those identify as "spiritual but not religious," how will the laws address those with "sincerely held spiritual beliefs"? And given the rise of atheism and secular humanism, will those who espouse no formal religion also have their sincerely held beliefs protected? Religious people should be very hesitant to go down the path of discrimination based on "sincerely held" beliefs, as it could be used against them. What if someone were to claim that their sincerely held belief caused them to not serve fundamentalist religious people? If these bills pass, you can guarantee that the reputation of religious people is gong to take a serious hit. Laws that say we can pick and choose whom we work with based on our "sincerely held religious beliefs" are dangerous to our society. These bills promote further division at a time when America is already deeply divided, and they encourage self-segregation into isolated communities that only serve people with whom we are "sincerely" compatible. Most of us work every day with people about whom we have a sincere belief that their lifestyle, politics, religion, ways of earning a living, or sexual orientation are wrong and ill-informed and go against all that we hold sacred. We run across them driving taxis, doing our taxes, working in restaurants, selling our groceries, policing our neighborhoods, and even running our government. Although we may hold a sincere belief about how wrong they are, we try, as best a we can, to be civil to one another, recognizing that we are living in a diverse country made up of all kinds of people, some of whom we will agree with, and most of whom we will not. Bills that encourage communities to rip apart the fabric of America should be seen for what they are: discriminatory and deeply un-American. That is my sincerely held religious belief.
Announcement - January 29th The ticket sales for this year are now live and open to all: this includes ticket sales for training as well as the main conference event. Please see here for the tickets. We are pleased to announce two professional training plans covering distinct disciplines: 1) Wayne Ronaldson will be running his renowned red team training once again this year, but with a significantly more in depth syllabus. The training will span across 4 days, from 11th of June to 14th of June. 2) Matt Smith (Huxleypig), well-known for his work defeating high security disc detainer locks, will be teaching a day-long course on a variety of uncommon high security attacks, and various vulnerabilities in high security disc detainer locking systems, such as Protec 1 and 2. This course will run on Friday the 14th June 2019. In addition, the Lockpicking and Key Impressioning workshops will be running on 14th Friday. These smaller workshops will be run by expert trainers and the small cost of attendance will be used to cover the cost of the consumables that are used each year. This separated cost is reflected in the reduced general conference ticket price. As per the previous announcement, our call for papers and call for workshops is open. Please note that this year we are also looking for talks covering reverse engineering topics around embedded devices (commonly found in hardware used for security systems) as well as talks covering topics such as social engineering. Our sponsor drive is also open and we’re hoping that you and your company can help us out by getting involved and making sure OzSecCon has another amazing year! Announcement - January 4th We are pleased to announce we are back for a third year running! The call for papers and workshops is up. The call for papers and the call for workshops can be found at this link. Read on for more information! We are super excited to be back at the same venue as last year, the Heidelberg campus of Melbourne Polytechnic. This amazing venue allows us access to all of their physical security training tools and displays and gives us access to a huge space to work with. We have also decided to extend the con by one whole day, kind-of. The conference will be running on the 14th, 15th and 16th of June 2019 in Melbourne, Australia. For the first time, this means that we will be running the conference over three days. The additional day will be to allow for physical security training courses to take place focusing on beginner and intermediate skill levels. All equipment used in the workshops will also be available during the weekend (15-16th) to practice on, however, no formal instructor will be stationed and some items may be used during the various competitions happening throughout the weekend. That being said, we are a friendly and helpful community so anyone can always ask questions and someone will always be willing to help if they are able. Currently, the plan is as follows: 14th June - Workshops 15th June - Talks + Competitions + Demonstrations 16th June - Talks + Competitions + Demonstrations In addition to these mini workshops, we are also running multi-day professional training courses. These courses will be announced once the ticket sales are up in the very near future! If you are interested in running relevant professional training please email us, we would love to hear from you! And as in previous years, we need as much support from sponsors as we can manage. We’ve managed to get pretty close to breaking even the past two years and we’re hoping to make it happen this year. If you or your company might be interested in sponsoring OzSecCon for 2019, please let us know as soon as possible and drop us an email. Venue The Melbourne Polytechnic venue is located in West Heidelberg. This venue is also used to teach professional locksmiths and we have graciously been granted access to use the locksmithing and metalworking departments for our demonstrations and workshops. Please do not confuse the venue with the other campuses operated by Melbourne Polytechnic! This, in conjunction with multiple classrooms and lecture theaters means we will be able to run multiple different activities simultaneously throughout the weekend. The locksmithing and metalworking departments are located in building B, in the north-west of the campus. For more on the campus venue, see the Melbourne Polytechnic Heidelberg campus page. What we are about Talks The primary focus of the conference is to share experiences and knowledge of our expert presenters through detailed presentations covering the latest developments in physical security. We look at vulnerabilities and design choices across a wide spectrum of deployed solutions and cover technical topics like physical tool design as well as hardware and software reverse engineering. Previous talks focused on digital technologies have covered RFID attacks, red teaming, radio protocol reverse engineering while talks focusing on traditional physical security technologies such as safe entry, lock picking and high security lock vulnerabilities have been presented in the past. Professional Training OzSecCon offers attendees the ability to participate in in-depth and deeply technical courses covering a variety of topics. These practical courses are taught by industry and subject matter experts from all over the world with the aim being to encourage participants to look at physical security technologies in the same detail that digital networks are looked at. Workshops In addition to the professional training and talks, OzSecCon has also scheduled several smaller workshops focusing on learning specific skills such as lock picking and impressioning. These are run prior to the conference allowing attendees to learn in a hands on manner without having to miss the talks. Designed to be approachable for both beginners and experts in the subjects, it allows participants to brush up on their skills prior to competing in any of the subsequent competitions held over the weekend. Competitions Every year two competitions are run over the weekend, Lockpicking and Impressioning. A number of smaller competitions run by other groups also usually happen throughout the weekend but these are not directly organised by OzSecCon. Winners of Lockpicking will receive a flight, accommodation and entry to the Netherlands LockCon (up to the value of $2000 AUD) to represent the OzSecCon community and give them a chance to participate in the international open while they are there. Impressioning winners will also receive a prize to be determined at a later date. Rules for the competitions will be posted online in future.
New McLaren team principal Martin Whitmarsh has just come out into the Sepang paddock to speak to the media after the news that Lewis Hamilton and the team have been thrown out of the results of the Australian Grand Prix for ‘deliberately misleading’ the stewards over the incident with Jarno Trulli, involving overtaking behind the safety car. “Lewis was instructed to give the place back to Trulli, “said Whitmarsh. “The team thought, having not seen the incident, that it was the safest thing to do. That instruction was given to Lewis and he didn’t agree. Before that discussion was finished, Trulli had been passed. If we look at the speed traces and compare it to other periods, he didn’t do anything abnormal and it’s quite clear that Lewis shouldn’t have passed him. As soon as that happened we spoke to race control to ask if we could retake the place. race control was busy and couldn’t answer us.” He added that the team then thought when they met the stewards that they were aware of the radio conversations. This turned out not to be the case. He went on: “The stewards now believe that we weren’t explicit enough about that radio conversation and thought that was prejudicial to the decision that they reached. We regret that and it was a mistake by the team. “There is not implication that Lewis lied to the stewards. I don’t know what they meant by (deliberately misleading), you’d have to ask them. They clearly feel that the team didn’t give enough information about the radio conversation. “They believe that the omission of the information about the radio conversation between the team and Lewis was withheld and that is what they believe was misleading.” The suggestion being voiced here is that the FIA considers this matter so serously that it is considering taking this matter to the World Motor Sport Council where further sanctions might be applied. Coming less than two years after McLaren was fined a record $100 million for the Ferrari spying scandal, the team is trying very hard to deflect the impression that it has acted dishonestly again. Hamilton and McLaren being thrown out for misleading the stewards means that Trulli gets his third place back. Ironically he and his Toyota team had been thrown out of qualifying for having rear wings which were overly flexible and therefore illegal. Which of the two crimes is the worse? These two incidents certainly make two of the big manufacturer-backed teams in F1, appear less than honest..and this is only the first race of the season.
By By David Silverberg Mar 20, 2015 in Entertainment If there's any comedian who could fill Jon Stewart's enormous shoes at The Daily Show on Comedy Central, it's a legendary comedian who's earned the respect of TV fans worldwide: Dave Chappelle. Why would Chappelle work for this news show? His wildly popular Few comedians also have earned the kind of respect Chappelle has been showered with over the years. His intelligent humour is difficult to bash, even if some of his jokes seem immature at first blush. Chappelle likes to layer his sophomoric punchlines with nuance that isn't lost on those who's followed his career. Like Stewart, he understands how poking fun at society's foibles can earn not only laughs but knowing nods from those who can relate to his jabs. Also, Chappelle is a versatile actor, as evidenced by his numerous impersonations and characters on Chappelle's Show. Stewart never really dipped his toes into bits outside the The Daily Show desk, leaving that to his reporters such as Jason Jones and Samantha Bee. But Chappelle has acting chops. He can play the straight reporter or the weirdo or the pothead or the cantankerous senior. Speaking of, Stewart is no stranger to Chappelle; they both worked together on the film Half of The Daily Show includes Q&As with celebrities and notable intellectuals, and that's where Chappelle might not be the most comfortable. But he's earned the admiration of big names such as Kanye West, President Obama, Eddie Murphy, just to name a few. He's no newbie. Chappelle might not have the interviewing chops of a Jon Stewart but I think he could hold his own among the most well-known actors and sports personalities. He just might need a refresher course on those heady authors The Daily Show likes to invite. Ten years ago, the Ohio native walked away from a hit series on Comedy Central and a reported $50 million contract. Would he come back to his home network and take The Daily Show anchor chair? It's a long shot, but weirder things have happened (Brit James Corden as the And let's be honest on one more thing: Late-night talk shows are too white. They don't represent the cultural diversity seen across the U.S. The only black Americans on talk-shows are often the house musicians, such as The Roots drummer ?uestlove for The Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. With Chappelle hosting The Daily Show, his presence would be emblematic of a New America, where strong black personalities can showcase their talent on any medium. It's time for Chappelle to return to television. We've waited long enough. And there's no better home for him than The Daily Show. Editorial note: Digital Journal, during our magazine days, published a cover story on Dave Chappelle in 2006. See below: The Dave Chappelle spread in Digital Journal magazine in 2006 David Silverberg I figured it out, folks. When Jon Stewart, the long-time host of The Daily Show, steps down later this year, the best replacement would be Chappelle, who has been far from the public eye since he left his own sketch show nine years ago.Why would Chappelle work for this news show? His wildly popular Chappelle's Show skewered modern beliefs with the cynicism of a dozen Stewarts, and while he often focused on race relations in the U.S., he showed range by tackling issues such as class warfare, capitalist greed and inane celebrity chatter.Few comedians also have earned the kind of respect Chappelle has been showered with over the years. His intelligent humour is difficult to bash, even if some of his jokes seem immature at first blush. Chappelle likes to layer his sophomoric punchlines with nuance that isn't lost on those who's followed his career. Like Stewart, he understands how poking fun at society's foibles can earn not only laughs but knowing nods from those who can relate to his jabs.Also, Chappelle is a versatile actor, as evidenced by his numerous impersonations and characters on Chappelle's Show. Stewart never really dipped his toes into bits outside the The Daily Show desk, leaving that to his reporters such as Jason Jones and Samantha Bee. But Chappelle has acting chops. He can play the straight reporter or the weirdo or the pothead or the cantankerous senior. Speaking of, Stewart is no stranger to Chappelle; they both worked together on the film Half-Baked Half of The Daily Show includes Q&As with celebrities and notable intellectuals, and that's where Chappelle might not be the most comfortable. But he's earned the admiration of big names such as Kanye West, President Obama, Eddie Murphy, just to name a few. He's no newbie. Chappelle might not have the interviewing chops of a Jon Stewart but I think he could hold his own among the most well-known actors and sports personalities. He just might need a refresher course on those heady authors The Daily Show likes to invite.Ten years ago, the Ohio native walked away from a hit series on Comedy Central and a reported $50 million contract. Would he come back to his home network and take The Daily Show anchor chair? It's a long shot, but weirder things have happened (Brit James Corden as the host of The Late Late Show?). Besides, Chappelle did tell GQ he'd like to return to TV, albeit as a zombie in The Walking Dead . But this goes to show Chappelle might have that itch again, beyond performing sold-out stand-up shows across the U.S. What better fit for Chappelle than helming one of the most popular satirical shows in the world?And let's be honest on one more thing: Late-night talk shows are too white. They don't represent the cultural diversity seen across the U.S. The only black Americans on talk-shows are often the house musicians, such as The Roots drummer ?uestlove for The Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. With Chappelle hosting The Daily Show, his presence would be emblematic of a New America, where strong black personalities can showcase their talent on any medium.It's time for Chappelle to return to television. We've waited long enough. And there's no better home for him than The Daily Show.Editorial note: Digital Journal, during our magazine days, published a cover story on Dave Chappelle in 2006. See below: This opinion article was written by an independent writer. The opinions and views expressed herein are those of the author and are not necessarily intended to reflect those of DigitalJournal.com More about Dave Chappelle, Jon stewart, The Daily Show, Comedy central, Comedy Dave Chappelle Jon stewart The Daily Show Comedy central Comedy Television Host Stephen colbert
527 SHARES Share Tweet Pinterest Linkedin Flipboard So your friend came out as transgender/genderqueer/non-binary! Yay! The holidays are actually a pretty perfect time to show your friend your support, both by taking that old holiday advice to let the people you love know that you care and by giving them gifts that’ll help their transition. Take care to ask them if they’re comfortable with you gifting something specifically having to do with their identity, but if they are, here are some suggestions for gifts that’ll be useful for someone who’s transitioning their gender presentation. American Apparel gift card. Or, really, any clothing store gift card. I just like American Apparel because so much of their line is unisex and very neutral. If your friend is genderqueer and transitioning to an androgynous presentation, clothes that are neither masculine nor feminine are going to be tough to find. Recreating your entire wardrobe is an expensive proposition, so any help is appreciated! Hair styling products and tools. Whether your friend is FTM, MTF, or genderfluid or -queer, hair is often part of the kit and caboodle of transitioning. Cis people get to figure out a reliable hair routine over the course of years and sometimes decades, where people who are in transition have to learn new ‘do ins and outs over the course of months. Put your experience to good use! If you like a particular hair product or tool, gift it to your friend. One of my favorites, for non-binary people and FTM trans people, is J.S. Sloane Brilliantine pomade. It lets you sculpt your hair pretty precisely, but it doesn’t feel heavy – plus it smells good. A gift card to a salon. This is partially for haircut reasons (see above), but also, transitioning is really, really stressful. Maybe they want a mani-pedi or a facial! It feels really good to be pampered. Make sure the salon you choose is inclusive, of course, because no one wants someone’s hands on their head or face or hands if that person is a transphobe. If you happen to be in Chicago, I recommend Black Hearts Hair House with all my might. Makeup or makeup tools, if applicable. Makeup is another expensive proposition, and if my teenaged experience presenting female is any indication, it’s not immediately obvious what tools you need for the job. If you have a particular buki brush you love, gift it! As for makeup, if you give your friend a gift card for Sephora, Ulta, or a department store, make sure you go with them when they get matched for moral support, if they want you to. Perfume or cologne. Isn’t weird to think that scent is gendered? This is another thing that cis people probably take for granted, but for someone who’s transitioning, it’s part of the process of figuring out your presentation. I love, love, love L’Occitane en Provence’s Eau des Baux cologne, myself. It’s woody and subtly masculine. A purse, briefcase, or backpack. Are you overwhelmed by all the things that people in transition have to think about that comes automatically to cis people, yet? Well, us too! Consider my example: I’ve become accustomed to carrying a ton of stuff around with me all the time, so the idea of going as bare-bones as my husband – only having my keys, wallet, phone, and sunglasses on my person – is anathema to me. How do I carry a bag all the time – that isn’t a messenger bag – and still look neither feminine nor masculine? I’ve settled on a very plain but very modern-looking purse from Smateria, a leather briefcase, and a backpack so that I have options. A wallet. Same as above – wallets are gendered! A nice slim leather wallet for trans men, a pretty clutch wallet for trans women, and something simple in neutrals for non-binary friends can be a small but meaningful gift. I love the Museum of Contemporary Art (Chicago) store for pretty much everything, and I’ve had particularly good luck with bags and wallets there. I want to buy one of these nice, thin John Boos for Wurkin leather RFID wallets – I just can’t decide which color to choose. Shoes. Specific shoes if you know your friend has a preference, or a Zappos, Amazon, DSW, or Nordstrom Rack card if not. The advantage of an online store is that your friend can try on shoes in the privacy of their own home, plus Zappo has free shipping and returns. If your friend is in the market for loafers, I’m a big fan of Kenneth Cole. Winter accessories. It’s winter, everyone needs scarves and hats and gloves, and this is another weirdly gendered thing! If you want to be extra-super nice to your friend, you can pick something out from a milliner or a hat shop, like Sacred Feather in Madison, to get them a hat that’ll last years if not decades. (Seriously.) Jewelry. Whether it’s a necklace, a bracelet, a tie bar, cufflinks, earrings, or rings, replacing all of your accessories can again be pretty expensive. But it’s the little finishing touches we put on our outfits that can really define our personal style and make our gender presentation obvious. No matter how your friend is transitioning, one cool item is the metallic cuff from Little Wings Designs in Grand Rapids, MI – it’s a neutral gold that’d add oomph to anyone’s outfit. Original by Rebecca Vipond Brink

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